Language assignment experiment Anthro 101 #4

So here is the turn out on my "experiment". Some of this came out quite funny, other parts frustrating, some surprising and highly enlightening to myself and my "experiment" partners.

I should start out by saying that my first partner did not fare so well with this experiment. Since nobody else was home I thought it would be a fun way to spend some time with my son and also teach him a little about what mommy is doing for school (since he always hears me saying I'm doing homework or is watching me do homework), my son is 7 years old, a very bright, animated and enthusiastic 7yr old. I wasn't worried that he wouldn't get the idea of what I needed to do however I did not expect him to get so frustrated and stomp off, he's never done that before....EVER! So here it goes!
Part 1 started off well, as I said before my son was my buddy in this experiment,  that's how it started anyways. After explaining to him what we needed to do he was excited to help mommy as long as I promised I would tell you all that his name is Noah, that part was very important to him. We started the experiment and I set the timer. Noah carried on a conversation with me about how he wanted to go swimming and see his cousins, however he was looking for affirmation that this was ok. This is were the frustration started with us. Now since in this part I could use non verbal cues, it started out ok, almost a typical conversation while I'm listening to him or doing homework or taking care of his sister by no means does this type of communication dominate my house, however he wanted a YES or NO answer, I shook my head sideways as to say maybe for a 7 year old that was like saying yes, which started getting me frustrated. He said "mom just type it out" , I shook my head NO, he states "no I can't go? or no you can't type it out?" I shook my head yes and shook my finger to wait and he got mad. I have never seen my son so upset. We were only about 8 minutes into the experiment @ this point and he stomped off. I took off after him and made a weird noise that I truly don't even know what it was and he stopped, looked @ me and said "isn't you class supposed to be about the skulls on your computer and the monkey's on your book? Why are you doing this? It's stupid!" I don't allow that in my house and I think he saw from the rosy red color that I was originally to the vibrant red I had turned that I was NOT happy! We are now 12 minutes into this experiment ( more like a wake up call for me and Noah) and he says" is it time yet?" I'm thinking how am I ever going to do part 2 with him. I'm not. He sat there on his bed with his big eyes staring at me and asked me if I was mad at him, I shook my head no. I have never been more happy than when that timer went off 15 minutes! I should just say he did go to his cousins and go swimming but it was already planned AFTER homework. Noah and I learned a lot on that day. I have vowed to listen more closely to my son and he has promised that he won't assume he will wait till I can verbally acknowledge him with eye contact ( well at least verbal and a head nod). Which brings me to part 2. After part 1 I could not bring myself to do part 2 with him, because he is so animated I knew he would having me rolling with laughter just so we would have to start over and he could say he got me!
Part 2
So this part took place with my significant other. What started out a little boring got funny and annoying at the same time.  So after explaining to him what the assignment was and getting his two cents about this we embarked on this assignment. I am sure by this time you all have figured out that I'm a bit animated myself. What I thought would be easier because I was dealing with an adult wasn't! I started off the conversation with a few simple questions about his day. As he was answering my questions I found myself wanting to move my hands and move eye brows. I have never had to be so aware of my facial expressions as I was those 15 very long minutes! While he was talking about his day I would ask him another question in what I thought was a strictly monotone voice, what I didn't realize is that after having the ability to be so animated when I speak taming that would be nothing short of a miracle, which brought up a little laugh inside of me. As we carried on the conversation I could tell that he was getting annoyed that I showed no emotion for how well he did at his competition which actually hurt, because I am so very proud of his accomplishment and I wanted to give him a hug and smile and I couldn't, which in turn annoyed me that I was having this type of conversation with him about something so great. why couldn't we be having a conversation about the weather or the Kings game or work? Why about something so great? As time ticked on he told me that he doesn't like this side of me and that I could have never become a nurse if this was my attitude towards patients (which it is not). The last part of the conversation was about him asking me how it went with part 1 of this assignment and Noah. WHY?? I asked him why he would ask me such an in depth question at such a hard time? He said " I want to see how good you are at this?!?" I couldn't believe he was trying to pull the same thing I knew my son would do, trying to get me to crack. At that moment the bell went off and I found myself sinking into the chair and trying to get my facial muscles to work, and then hugging him and smiling @ him and telling him how proud I was. This assignment was not the least bit easy, I saw sides of myself and two people I love that I have not seen before.

Piltdown Hoax Blogpost Anthro 101 (#4) week 5

 Piltdown issues were discovered in 1912 by a worker in a farm & was given to the amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson, who disclosed them to the paleontologist Smith Woodward in the Geological Society of London. For years the debate has erupted about the origin of these remnants, and the press said that  it most likely corresponded to the “missing link” between apes and humans. The deception (hoax) was discovered by a dentist A.T. Marston who examined the teeth and did a fluorine absorption test. At this point when the truth was found out, it was a very argumentative because the British were ridiculed, scientific related fields of human evolution began to be more skeptical and people started to doubt the scientist. 

 One fault that came into play in this case was that the scientists got very excited. The early twentieth century was the golden age of paleontology, and the British were very frustrated because they had not found any human fossils while Europe and Africa had found an abundance. This was a big mistake because making an scientific investigation using feelings,  because a scientist but use the most objective options possible.

The contentment of the British ended when the dentist A.T. Marston found that the teeth of the skeleton belonged to an orangutan and the loose tooth to a monkey and a human skull. The confirmation was made because of the fluorine absorption test. The principle of this technique is simple: the bones absorb fluoride depending on how long they have been buried. The greater the amount of fluorine present the older the bone may be. The remains of Piltdown’s fragments(both the jaw and skull) contained trace amounts of fluoride. Therefore,  the fragments had been buried in recent times.

It is impossible to diminish 100% the human factor from science because science is accessable for humans who dedicate their lives to understand the mysteries of the universe. Scientists still make mistakes in their investigations, but it should not stop people from studying science.  The Piltdown was a dishonest person, however in the end credible scientist were able to figure out the truth. The only way to avoid another "hoax" is to have these scientists be more careful when theories like these are presented. 

  

This "story" was a warning in a way to all of us.  Scientists have to further investigate issues so that a hoax like this does not get as far as it did the first time, however their will always be people out there trying to disqualify science. Furthermore their needs to be further investigation followed by evidence into any and all "ideas" by people before they are made public which can cause quite an uproar in the science community as well as in the public.

Comparitive Primate Blog post week 4 Anthro 101 (#4)

Comparative Primate Blog Post

The trait I was to use is Locomotor patterns.
         
             Lemurs

a)     Lemurs: The lemurs are found in rainforests and are native to Madagascar. Some lemurs are nocturnal and they are usually found alone. Lemurs that are day dwellers are found in the trees or bushes. Some lemurs are herbivores. They eat plants, leaves, seeds and anything from the trees. There are some lemurs that are omnivores. Those Lemurs will eat lizards, insects, eggs of other animals and small mice.

b)    The locomotor pattern of the lemurs include, jumping from tree to tree, sometimes spanning fifty feet. They can use vertical clinging and suspensory climbing. They use their long tails for balance however they don’t use them to hang from treetops, they use their long arms and legs to grip trees. Their arms are longer than their legs (Brachiators).

c)     How can the trait be viewed as an adapdation to their environment? Because of the lemurs ability to swing swiftly from tree to tree they also jump from side to side while on the ground, which is not often, this forced adaptation to their environment helps them stay away from predators .

d)

Spider monkey

a)     Spider monkeys are found in the tropical rainforests of central and South America, as well as, the southernmost part of Mexico and Brazil. These primates also live high up in the trees to avoid predators therefore looking for food high up in trees. They like eating fruits, nuts, and eggs from other animals. It has been noted that spider monkeys are quite loud and will shake trees when predators are around.

b)    Their locomotor pattern is being able to move around using all four limbs and their tails. They have prehensile tails which means that the tail has been adapted to be able to grasp and hold trees. This means that their tails are very strong. They also have tactile pads on the underside of their tails which allows them to grasp objects, it is said that they use their tails almost as an extra hand to hold and manipulate food items.

c)     As I mentioned above because of their prehensile tails it helps with gathering food and eating, because of this the environment has strongly influenced their locomotor adaptation. They are also very rarely found on the ground in order to escape their predators.

                  d)

Baboons

a)     Primarily baboons live in Africa and Arabia. They prefer the savanna and semi-arid habitats, very few live in the tropical rainforests. They spend most of their time on the ground however they can climb trees to eat and sleep as well as keep an eye on their possible predators. Baboons will eat pretty much anything they can find, fruits, seed, bark, farmers crops as well as meat.

b)    The locomotor pattern of a baboon is called “terrestrial quadrupeds”; this means that they use all four limbs to walk. Because of this trait the baboon’s arms and legs are the same lengths. They can also walk strait up.

c)     Their environment is important to their locomotor pattern because they use all four limbs equally and do not have a prehensile tail to use as an “extra limb”. Furthermore because of this their limbs tend to be stronger than those of the lemurs or spider monkeys.

 

d)

 

 

Gibbons

A)    Gibbons are mainly found in northeast India, Indonesia and southern china. Their habitats are tropical and sub tropical, usually liking the warmer climates and only live in trees. Because they live in the trees they eat fruits, twigs, leaves and insects. Gibbons are also the fastest of all the primates that live in the trees.

B)    Gibbons are medium in size and fast. They have wrists that have a ball and socket joint which allows them to completely rotate their hand. They use their arms to swing from tree to tree. Their locomotor pattern called “brachiating” allows them to swing with a hand over hand motion. When they do walk on land it is bipedally which means they walk on two feet.

C)    Gibbons have strong arms and legs and have adapted to their environment with their arms being longer in order to go from tree to tree and look for food as well as stay away from predators such as leopards, large snakes and other wild animals.

D)

 

 

 

Chimpanzee

 

A)    Chimpanzees live in social communities with lots of other chimps sometimes up to 100 at a time. They can live in the African rainforests or in woodland areas, swamps and forests. They primarily just need trees. Their diet is usually made up of plants, fruits, and leaves. At times they will eat insects, eggs and meat.

B)    Chimpanzees are quadrupeds, meaning they walk on all four limbs, however they can walk upright. Chimps have increased upper body strength so that they can move through the trees.

C)    Chimpanzee’s locomotor pattern has been greatly affected by their environment and very quickly. Chimps can climb quickly into trees, swing from tree to tree using their arms and they can walk standing up adapting to whichever environment they are in. Chimp’s arms are longer and stronger than their legs. Being able to change from swinging in the trees to walking on the ground works to the chimpanzee’s advantage in avoiding their predators.

D)

 

 

 

 

 

   

Anaology/homology blog post (Anthro 101 #4 week 3)

Anthropology 101 (#4) Week 3

 

 

Analogy/homology blog post

 

 

 

The two different species I chose were the Horses front legs and a humans arms as homologous traits. I found that both contain the humerus, radius and ulna bones. They exhibit differences due to the fact that humans are part of the primates and horses are part of the mammalian class. Humans use muscles and bones together in order to function.  However horses' bones are connected which allows the animal to lift its leg as well as run and jump. What connects both of these species is called *Eutheria,  a subclass of mammals all of which have a placenta and reach an advanced state of development before birth. ( Which took a lot of digging to find the common ancestor since the two species are from two different classes).

(*Madsci website)

 

 

Analogous

 

The Two species I chose were the webbed feet in ducks and the webbed feet in frogs.

 

Ducks use their webbing to push water faster, making it easier for them to swim and primarily have more webbing because they are in the water more. Ducks are aves and are not mammals as many people think. Ducks are also warm blooded.

Frogs while some have lots of webbing some have minimal webbing dependent on how much time they spend in the water. Frogs can use their webbing to swim as well as to grasp on to things, catch their food and climb. Frogs are amphibians and cold blooded.

Although no genetic history is shared between these two species they do share this trait. Their is no common ancestor between these two species which make them analogous.