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Evolutionary anthropology, the interdisciplinary study of the evolution of human physiology and human behaviour[1] and of the relation between hominids and non-hominid primates, builds on natural science and on social science. Various fields and disciplines of evolutionary anthropology include:
- human evolution and anthropogeny
- paleoanthropology and paleontology of both human and non-human primates
- primatology and primate ethology
- the sociocultural evolution of human behavior, including phylogenetic approaches to historical linguistics
- the cultural anthropology and sociology of humans
- the archaeological study of human technology and of its changes over time and space
- human evolutionary genetics and changes in the human genome over time
- the neuroscience, endocrinology, and neuroanthropology of human and primate cognition, culture, actions and abilities
- human behavioural ecology and the interaction between humans and the environment
- studies of human anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and differences and changes between species, variation between human groups, and relationships to cultural factors
Evolutionary anthropology studies both the biological and the cultural evolution of humans, past and present. Based on a scientific approach, it brings together fields such as archaeology, behavioral ecology, psychology, primatology, and genetics. As a dynamic and interdisciplinary field, it draws on many lines of evidence to understand the human experience, past and present.
Studies of human biological evolution generally focus on the evolution of the human form. Cultural evolution involves the study of cultural change over time and space and frequently incorporates cultural-transmission models. Cultural evolution is not the same as biological evolution: human culture involves the transmission of cultural information (compare memetics), and such transmission can behave in ways quite distinct from human biology and genetics. The study of cultural change increasingly takes place through cladistics and genetic models.
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MSc Biological Anthropology
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Transcription
>> AMANDA KORSTJENS: MSc Biological Anthropology is all about our place in nature, how we became who we are but also about learning to understand other primates, not just humans but also non-human primates. The students learn a lot about bone identification, they learn human identification but also the skeletons of animals. They learn about human evolution and about the behaviour and ecology of humans and other primates. >> SARA MCGUIRE: The course is very practical; we're allowed to look at specimens of human skeletal remains we also have different casts of different primate species and different human ancestral species, it's very interesting to look at those and compare them. Then in the courses we review different things like skeletal anatomy and all the things pertaining to the specimens we look at in the labs. I really love the anthropology lab it's amazing the collections fantastic, we are able to look at all the different kinds of individuals from all the different periods of time, especially the different pathological specimens are amazing. To look at all the different diseases on bone it's very interesting to see that what it does to the human body as far as studies go and the implications for forensic anthropology. We have gone on I believe three or four different field trips now. We went to the royal college of surgeons in London and we looked at different specimens at their different labs, we went to the chiropractors college locally and looked at specimens as well and most recently we went to monkey world and looked at all the different primates there. >> AMANDA KORSTJENS: We have a range of different guest lecturers, students are exposed to specialists in the field. We really want to help students build up this network for future job perspectives. The career prospects are quite good for students from this course. It is a relatively broad course and it trains students in identification of not just human skeletal material but also animal skeletal material which is quite unique so they have a good chance of finding a job in an archaeological unit. A lot of students end up going to work for human identification units, so they might go to mass disasters to help with skeletal identification of individuals, otherwise there is also the academia with training students in extensive research skills. I think students should choose to come to Bournemouth because we've got a long standing reputation in Biological Anthropology. The staff here are internationally known for their experience in a wide variety of topics which makes especially this course very interesting because students will be able to link with staff from different disciplines. >> SARA MCGUIRE: When I was looking at different postgraduate programmes, I was looking specifically for research on isotope studies and having the opportunity to come to Bournemouth has been amazing because my supervisor is so experienced within that field and he's been a real help. >> AMANDA KORSTJENS: We also have staff specialised in the primatology so you learn also about behaviour and ecology of primates and you can link with excellent ecological groups. >> SARA MCGUIRE: I think students should come to Bournemouth to study because it's an amazing opportunity especially for international students; the opportunities for studies, for research, for study abroad are tremendous.
See also
- Anthropology – Scientific study of humans, human behavior, and societies
- Dual inheritance theory – Theory of human behavior
- Evolutionary neuroscience – Study of the evolution of nervous systems
- Evolutionary psychology – Branch of psychology
- Homininae – Subfamily of mammals
- Philosophy of biology – Subfield of philosophy of science
- Sociobiology – Subdiscipline of biology regarding social behavior
References
- ^ Gibson, Mhairi A.; Lawson, David W. (2015). "Applying evolutionary anthropology". Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. 24 (1): 3–14. doi:10.1002/evan.21432. ISSN 1520-6505. PMC 4480655. PMID 25684561.