Anthropology 101 Student Blog

Week 3: Analogy/Homology Blog Post Homologus Traits a. I have chosen human beings and gorillas as both possessing the homologous traits of having arms with hands.  b. While the structure of human arms and gorilla arms are quite similar (two sections with a hand/palm at the end), the functions are quite opposite. Humans use arms and their adjacent hands/palms to grab, lift, and hold. Gorillas use their arms to grab, lift, hold, as well as walk while holding. The four limb walk of the gorillas allows them to maintain speed and strength which is needed for defense and climbing trees in their natural environment, while humans walk on two limbs to save energy and do not have the need for climbing trees or maintaining speed and strength while moving.  c. Generally, the common ancestor was a gorilla/ape/monkey like creature. Humans broke off of the species and evolved while the gorillas/monkeys/apes did not.   2. Analogous Traits a. I have...

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Charles Lyell, a friend and mentor of Charles Darwin, had the most influence on Darwin's work and his theory of Natural Selection. Lyell, outside of the friendship and mentorship of Darwin, argued: "that the geological processes we see today are the same as those that existed in the past." Lyell was a proponent of a theory called Uniformitarianism, where geological processes are the same over a long period of time. "Darwin, greatly influenced by Lyell, extended that principle to biology. Species, like geologic features, evolved gradually or died out gradually." The two points that were helped by Lyell's work are, "Individuals do not change, populations do" and, "in order for natural selection to occur, reproduction must occur."(PBS) The first point helps Darwin's theory by proposing that if change happens, it happens on a mass scale. The second point helps Darwin's theory by proposing that the species must continue to exist for ch...