Anthropology 101, 6th Period

[the-ascended.livejournal.com]

Daniel's actually at the front of the class today. He's sitting at his desk, head down, but still! He's in the room.

"Sorry for missing Monday's class. In light of this, I'm having to rethink the syllabus. It's also going to mean that you'll need to do a bit more work independantly, although I will be around in office hours if you need me.

Okay. First up... we've got fifteen minutes to discuss the work you did last week on Charles Darwin and his theory of natural selection.

Next, primates."

Daniel got up, slightly unsteadily and pulled down the board. On it, was written:

Primates (general overview)

Location: live in tropical and semi-tropical environments, in forests
Body size: moderate size compared to other mammals (e.g., rodents - whales)
Locomotion: arboreal quadrupedalism / terrestrial quadrupedalism / vertical clinging and leaping (VCL) / forelimb suspension and brachiation / bipedalism
Diet: insects / fruit / leaves (some meat - chimps)
Social structure: mainly gregarious / social, but some are solitary (e.g., Aye Aye)
Activity timing: mostly diurnal and social, some nocturnal and solitary (e.g., some Malagasy lemurs)

"Now, I understand that there are a lot of odd words and things that you might not understand there, so now is the time to ask questions.

Homework... there was homework from the 16th, on major physical anthropologists, so if you could hand that in it would be great.

Today, I'd like you to look at the semi-orders of primates. Jack and Kiki, I want you to look at the characteristics of Strepsirhine and Blair and Han, the characteristics of Haplorhini. I want the basic characteristics like the ones listed on the board, but also, they both have other primitive or derived characterists, which help identify which semi-order they belong too. In for next lesson, please."

Comments

Re: Charles Darwin...

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"The theory is very well thought-out, and supported by many empirical studies," Kiki offers, having researched the topic thoroughly. "That is, it's a theory in the same way the theory of relativity, the theory of gravity, and cell theory are theories. Which is why the controversy around it is so bewildering to me - it's not a religious belief; it is a scientifically observable process. Furthermore, just as most educated people in the age of Columbus knew the world was round, most educated people - educated in the sciences, at least - in Darwin's day knew that evolution occured. But no one could devise a method for it until Darwin analysed his observations from his trip on the Beagle."