About This Chapter
Physical Anthropology - Chapter Summary and Learning Objectives
Let our experienced instructors show you how population genetics and the fossil record are used to study the evolution of humans and other primates. Over the course of a few short video lessons, they'll also teach you how this information can be used to explain our behavior and physical makeup as well as the geographic dispersal of human populations.
If you need additional resources to help you grasp these concepts, our physical anthropology chapter also contains multiple-choice quizzes, transcripts with links to supplementary text lessons and a practice chapter exam. Altogether, this chapter is designed to help you:
- Discover the uses of genetic evidence in the field of physical anthropology
- Describe the evolution and behavior of living primates
- Identify characteristics of some early human species
|How Genetics Helps Us Understand Human Behavior||Explain how genetic evidence is used to study human behavior.|
|Living Primates: Evolution, Adaptation & Behavior||Trace the evolution of primates to discover how various species have adapted to their environments. Survey primates' common physical and behavioral characteristics.|
|The Human Fossil Record & Human Evolution||Use the fossil record to chart human evolution. Compare and contrast the characteristics of Australopithecines, Homo erectus, Homo habilis and Homo sapiens.|
1. How Genetics Helps Us Understand Human Behavior
This lesson demonstrates how physical anthropologists use genetics to better understand the human experience. You'll learn how they combine their knowledge of both biology and the social sciences together to contribute to their field.
2. Living Primates: Evolution, Adaptation & Behavior
What do you have in common with other primates? What's different? This lesson begins to explore these questions, including the physical and behavioral adaptations that helped primates to evolve.
3. The Human Fossil Record & Human Evolution
Fossils can help tell the story of how we evolved. This lesson sheds light on our closest relatives from the past and what traits human beings have developed over time. You'll learn about those species that are extinct but who live on in our genes.
Earning College Credit
Did you know… We have over 200 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.
To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page
Transferring credit to the school of your choice
Not sure what college you want to attend yet? Study.com has thousands of articles about every imaginable degree, area of study and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you.
Other chapters within the Anthropology 101: General Anthropology course
- Introduction to Anthropology
- Theoretical Perspectives of Anthropology
- The Molecular and Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance
- Transmission/Mendelian Genetics
- Population Genetics and Evolution
- DNA Damage, Mutation, and Repair
- Geologic Time and Anthropology
- Archaeology and Anthropology
- The Origin and Dispersal of Humans and Culture
- Effects of Population on the Environment
- Domestication of Plants and Animals
- Ethnicity and Geography
- Geography of Land Resources
- The Nature of Culture
- Art and Anthropology
- Language and Communication
- Spatial Processes
- Settlement Patterns
- Societies in Anthropology
- Economic Systems
- Marriage, Family, and Kinship
- Political Organization
- Modernization and Application of Anthropology