Trump, Koko the gorilla, and reading alien minds

Despite incongruous hand proportions, Trump has long been compared to one our closest relatives, the orangutan. Even if Bill Maher hadn’t popularized the likeness (about which, Trump sued him), and even if Trump wasn’t tinted like the lovely orange primate, people were going to go there.

It’s what we do. When we’re not photoshopping our leaders into Hitler, we’re calling them apes.

But you don’t see much joking about a primate presidency anymore. Any comparisons to apes now are decidedly unfunny. When Jane Goodall got involved--and she can be hilarious--it got serious.

“In many ways the performances of Donald Trump remind me of male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals,” she told The Atlantic during the 2016 presidential election. “In order to impress rivals, males seeking to rise in the dominance hierarchy perform spectacular displays: Stamping, slapping the ground, dragging branches, throwing rocks." A more aggressive display was likely to lead the male to higher positions in the hierarchy and allow it to maintain its status for longer, she said.Mr Trump's election campaign was littered with bombastic statements and since becoming President, he has issued increasingly aggressive threats towards North Korea.*

It’s easy to see why folks have lost their senses of humor about Trump. For coping, the adage ‘If you didn’t laugh you’d cry’ is so 2016. As I like to sing along with Roger Waters, “You're nearly a laugh, but you're really a cry.” I cry every time Trump grins through the GOP’s favorite tune “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” I cried when he took credit for Christmas. And those are just the peccadilloes!

Worse than the peccadilloes are the ape jokes.

As mirrors for humanity, apes are brilliant. There is so much room for humor here, but it’s been the domain of racists for so long that even good-natured silliness about someone’s ape-ness is tainted. If you don’t understand or disagree, then you’re probably white and have no experience as touchstone here. One way to take a peek at what’s going on out there is to Google “Obama ape” and look at the images and their sources. Go ahead and Google “throwing bananas” too. What you see is just a snippet of the sordid legacy of generations upon generations of modern science-inspired racism that has weaponized our shared evolutionary history, humankind’s sacred origins story, against ourselves. [Please join me in exhaling a “fuuuuck youuuu” to no one in particular.] This baggage is grounded in ignorance, misunderstanding, and biased narratives masquerading as facts. So, to be terribly brief, there’s a mound of garbage that comes with calling people apes. I look forward to the day when all humans, no matter their geographic ancestry, can giggle good-naturedly about their ape-ness without even a twinge of a memory of some old fart’s racism. By the way, apes have a leg up on us; they’ve got senses of humor and they don’t got racism.

Yeah. And, as entities in their own right, apes are brilliant. But they’re not brilliant enough to save themselves from our species’ environmental impact, so they are incredibly vulnerable to extinction. So, using them to diss humans, disses them in the process. Joking as if they’re lesser-evolved humans or just plain stupid or stuck-in-evolution’s past is the last thing they need. Charleton Heston’s infamous “damn dirty ape” be damned! This, and the racist context, are the two main reasons why so many folks I know weren’t and aren’t laughing along with the Trump-ape comparisons. [If you’re tempted to tell me to ‘lighten up’, please to go block yourself.]

Now that we’ve all spent at least a year obsessing over everything Trump says and does, it should be clear to anyone who’s spent a lick of time with an ape that there is no ape like Trump.

Though, make no mistake. Trump is an ape. We all are.

Or, he isn’t and we all aren’t.

It’s really a matter of whether you prefer the label or not, whether you think humans have evolved into such a weird ape that we no longer deserve the name any more than we deserve to be called monkeys or fish. For some, “ape” is recent history. To others, ‘ape’ still applies. Either way, everyone agrees that we’re mighty similar. So, despite my reservations about the jokes, I’m resuscitating the Trump-ape theme here, but with a twist.

Here’s why. My social media feed is obsessed with speculating about what Trump is thinking. I empathize because I too would like to know, but also because this relentless, seething curiosity is very much like mine when it comes to Koko the gorilla. If you’re unfamiliar, I’m talking about a world-famous primate, known for possessing rudimentary language skills, who was supposedly raised as a human. I would love to know what Koko’s thinking, and journalism seems to be at odds with my goals. For many, journalism is equally frustrating when it comes to Trump.

wikimedia

About a week ago, the New York Times posted a transcript of an interview with Trump in which he mused on nuclear war without question. And there were so many other topics covered. And it was fact-checked, which resulted in, to no one’s surprise, a bunch of falsehoods. The usual fall-out was everywhere: Is he intentionally lying, covering up his ignorance, suffering from Dunning-Kruger, dim, or insane? Or all of these? A combo? For not finding many or any penetrating questions, folks were up in arms, accusing the New York Times of bad journalism, depauperate standards, failing our democracy, failing Americans. Others defended the newspaper, saying that the transcript of Trump speaking should speak for itself, and powerfully so, no matter how incoherent it is, and precisely for that reason.

There was a time that I would be in the frustrated Ask Trump a damn penetrating question! camp. But now I am ambivalent. And it’s not because I’m hopeless. It’s because of a gorilla who loves kittens, how she’s portrayed and publicized, and what I can read between the lines about what’s going on between her ears.

To be continued…

(Dear reader, I will link here when Part 2 is posted.)

*It’s those most recent threats in last night's Button Tweet that prompted me to post this here, rather than attempt to get it in the Washington Post as originally planned. If I learned anything as a writer in 2017 it’s that while Trump is keeping writers busy, he’s keeping journalists and editors even busier.

There is no obstetrical dilemma

Josie Glausiusz wrote a very nice piece published at Undark today called,

Of Evolution, Culture, and the Obstetrical Dilemma: Anthropologists are revisiting long-held beliefs about human evolution and the difficulty of human childbirth

In it, I'm thrilled to get something I furiously worry about across to a wide audience with this part toward the end of the piece:

“I worry that this idea [of the obstetrical dilemma] is justifying status-quo high rates of C-sections and other childbirth interventions,” Dunsworth says. “People say, ‘it’s just evolution — there’s nothing we can do, and here’s how technology helps, and that’s fabulous. But I know we’re overdoing it. Everybody knows that.”

It's a complicated issue, the obstetrical dilemma (OD), so it's no surprise that there are missing pieces in this particular discussion. The most important, biggest flaw in OD thinking is its assumption that we're born early, an assumption that is featured at the start of the piece with Karp and Washburn. But it's not true. We are not born early and that didn't make it in there. When you stop believing we're born early, the whole thing starts to crumble.

And here's where I am now with some of this...

First of all, we need to change the story so that it's not, no matter how slightly, bolstering unnecessary childbirth interventions. Though my OB/GYN seemed unfamiliar with the obstetrical dilemma hypothesis when I explained it to her as she gave me a pap smear, I think the thinking is pervasive in medical schools. This hunch is getting support on Twitter as we speak. (For some context, I am the first that I know of, several decades after the 'obstetrical dilemma' was born, to tack on "hypothesis" to the name of the idea.)

And, second of all, here's where I get "crazy"(see the piece for crazy) but all over again... Okay. In 2012, in one of a series of blog posts about our then recent paper questioning the obstetrical dilemma hypothesis I wrote this:

Women aren't called broads for nothing. We have, on average, larger dimensions of the pelvis that comprise the birth canal (linked into broader hips) than men do and this is not just relatively but absolutely and this is not just in the U.S., this is species-wide (1). 

There is no better explanation for this than it's due to selection for successful childbirth.

I think I was wrong. I think I know a better explanation for why women have bigger "obstetric" dimensions in the pelvis than men and I THINK IT'S BECAUSE WE HAVE FEMALE-SPECIFIC ORGANS THAT GROW INSIDE AND OCCUPY THAT SPACE AND THEY DO NOT.

Stay tuned for more about vaginal, clitoral, and uterine growth and space-taking... yessssss.

This year's (2017) textbook-free Introduction to Human Origins and Evolution

This is a tradition now. You can search the archives for previous years' and for my philosophy behind this course. It's always evolving. 

As usual there is no textbook. Students only need to get the much-loved book by Alice Roberts, The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being ("IUB"), and read it all along with many other articles as you'll see below.

This year I was happy to see a study supporting my own practice which I take to be common sense--that we should teach genetics before evolutionary theory for explaining how it works (e.g. its mechanisms): http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2002255

I haven't looked in a while, but teaching genetics before the mechanisms of evolution is not the approach of a single one of the textbooks for this course and that's one of the many reasons I stopped using them!

So, minus the in-class handouts and worksheets, here are the daily portfolio assignments for the newest incarnation of my big introductory, general education course on human evolution. As usual, I apologize for the formatting issues caused by pasting from a Word Document into this blog.  It's all yours if you want it....

 Fall 2017

APG 201: Human Origins and Evolution

3 credits

Dr. Holly Dunsworth

1. Observe and Explain - This view of life. Our place in nature

Big Questions: What is the anthropological perspective? What is the scientific approach to understanding human origins? What is a human? How do humans fit on the Tree of Life?

1.1 - Introduction to course

Assigned Reading/viewing

What is it like to be a biological anthropologist? A Field Paleontologist's Point of View – Su (Nature Education)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-59719064

Notes from the Field: A Primatologist's Point of View – Morgan (Nature Education)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/notes-from-the-field-a-primatologist-s-54334509

Expedition Rusinga (video; 8 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y1puNyB9e8  

The ape in the trees – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)

http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-ape-in-trees.html

How Do We Know When Our Ancestors Lost Their Tails? (video; 4 min)

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365211775/

Prompt:  This is an in-class prompt that you will be given in class.

[TRANSCRIBE YOUR ANSWER TO THE IN-CLASS PROMPT HERE.]

1.2 - Do animals know where babies come from?

Assigned Reading/viewing

“Do animals know where babies come from?” by H. Dunsworth (Scientific American)- Located on Sakai, and linked here:

http://www.nature.com/scientificamerican/journal/v314/n1/full/scientificamerican0116-66.html?foxtrotcallback=true

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

[WRITE YOUR ANSWER HERE, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH FOR ALL BELOW…]

1.3 - Scientific process 

Assigned Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 1: Beginnings - Roberts

How Science Works (video; 10 min):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH0_xC7q9tU&feature=youtu.be--flowchart

Understanding science: How Science Works, pages 1-21; starts here:

http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/howscienceworks_01

Carl Sagan’s Rules for Critical Thinking and Nonsense Detection

https://www.noodle.com/articles/carl-sagans-rules-for-critical-thinking-and-nonsense-detection

10 Scientific Ideas That Scientists Wish You Would Stop Misusing

http://io9.com/10-scientific-ideas-that-scientists-wish-you-would-stop-1591309822 

Prompt 1: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t. What do you expect to learn from the rest of the book?

Prompt 2:  This has two parts, A and B. First, choose oneof the following well-known and established observations. Indicate your choice by highlighting it.

1. Children from low income homes show evidence of malnutrition.
2. In most humans, the right humerus (upper arm bone) is larger than the left one.
3. Pregnant mothers who smoke tend to have smaller babies than mothers who do not smoke.
4. Chimpanzees living in zoos tend to be overweight compared to their relatives living in the wild.

A.    Without using anything but your own mind, come up with two different hypotheses to explain that one observation.

B.    Briefly describe how you would test these hypotheses you have offered. Include discussion of the methods and variables for obtaining evidence and the kinds of evidence that you would need to find to both refute and to support each hypothesis. 

1.4 - Linnaeus and the Order Primates

Assigned Reading/viewing

Characteristics of Crown Primates – Kirk (Nature Education)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/characteristics-of-crown-primates-105284416

Prompt: Answer the following questions (complete sentences are not necessary) by sticking to the reading above and these excellent resources:

Arkive: http://www.arkive.org/

Animal Diversity Web: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/

Primate Factsheets: http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets

Encyclopedia of Life: http://eol.org/

Time Tree: http://www.timetree.org/

1.    My primate is a(n)  [will be assigned to you in class]

2.    What is the species?

3.    Here is a link to a video of this species:

4.    Where does it live on Earth?

5.    What is the range of its habitat? Describe the nature of the habitat.

6.    Is your primate nocturnal, diurnal, or crepuscular?

7.    What does it eat?

8.    How does it move about? 

9.    How does it socialize? (i.e. solitary? groups?...)

10.  How does it raise offspring? (i.e. solitary? groups?...)

11.  Body size (both kg/g and lb/oz)? Are male and female different?

12.  Coloration?

13.  What are its predators?

14.  Is it protected or endangered?

15.  Anything else fascinating about it?

16.  At what point in the past (millions of years ago) did it share a most recent (aka “last”) common ancestor with humans? (go to www.timetree.org to find out)

1.5  - Overview of Primate taxonomy

Assigned Reading/viewing

Many primate video clips –Posted on Sakai

Additional resources

Old World monkeys – Lawrence and Cords (Nature Education)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/old-world-monkeys-83033815

Prompt: In 200 words or more, write about your primate video viewing experience, for example, you might write about what you saw, at face value, or you might want to write about what defied your expectations or what surprised you, or what you would like to learn more about.

Prompt: Without looking at any resources except for these films, come up with some categories for the different types of primate locomotion, give those categories names and definitions, and list which species in the films fall into which categories you’ve created.

1.6 - Primate diet and locomotion; ecology and anatomy

Assigned Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 2:Heads and brains – Roberts

Additional resources

Primate locomotion – Gebo (Nature Education)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primate-locomotion-105284696

Our Fishy Brain (video; 2.5 mins) http://video.pbs.org/video/2365207797/

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

[Prompt for practice: Label all the bones that you can on the human skeleton. No need to demonstrate it here. Print out an  image and draw on it, but no need to scan into your portfolio (let’s keep this low tech, I trust you!). If you cannot name them all using only your memory, use a quality on-line resource (like https://askabiologist.asu.edu/bone-anatomy) to help you. (Do not concern yourself with the location of the individual carpals and tarsals but point out where the carpals and tarsals are.) ]

[Prompt for practice: Go to http://www.eskeletons.org/ and based on what you see, draw the os coxa (half of the pelvis) of a chimpanzee and a human. (Same as before, do on your own, no need to include here… let’s keep it low tech.)]

Prompt: Describe the similarities and differences in anatomy between chimp and human pelves/pelvises (do not worry about applying technical jargon). What kinds of behavioral differences might correlate with the anatomical differences in the pelvis and why?

[Prompt for practice: Go to http://www.eskeletons.org/ and based on what you see, draw the skull  (including teeth) of a chimpanzee and a human(Same as before, do on your own, no need to include here… let’s keep it low tech.).]

Prompt: Describe the similarities and differences in anatomy between chimp and human skulls and teeth (do not worry about applying technical jargon. What kinds of behavioral differences might correlate with the anatomical differences in skulls and teeth and why?

1.7 - continued 

Assigned Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 3:Skulls and senses – Roberts

Additional resources

Finding the Origins of Human Color Vision (video; 5 mins) http://video.pbs.org/video/2365207765/

We Hear with the Bones that Reptiles Eat With (video; 4 mins) http://video.pbs.org/video/2365207244/

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

1.8 - Primate encephalization, tool use and communication

Assigned Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 4:Speech and gills - Roberts

Additional resources

Primate Communication – Zuberbuhler (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primate-communication-67560503

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

1.9 - Primate sociality

Assigned Reading/viewing

The Human Spark 2: So Human So Chimp – PBS, hosted by Alan Alda (video; 55 mins IF LINK IS BROKEN JUST SEARCH FOR IT)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smODYrjeVms

Additional resources

What Influences the Size of Groups in Which Primates Choose to Live? – Chapman & Teichroeb (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/what-influences-the-size-of-groups-in-58068275

Primate Sociality and Social Systems – Swedell (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primate-sociality-and-social-systems-58068905

Primates in communities – Lambert (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primates-in-communities-the-ecology-of-competitive-59119961

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to The Human Spark 2, highlighting something you already knew and also something you learned that was brand new to you. What is the human spark?

1.10 - Evolution (shared ancestry over deep time) and Darwin's evidence for it

Assigned  Reading/viewing

Two chapters from The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: "Voyage…" (p. 71-81 ) and "An account of how several books arose" (p. 116- 135) http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F1497&pageseq=1

Additional resources

Amazing Places, Amazing Fossils: Tiktaalik (video; 5 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2vKlEUX7DI

The Ancient History of the Human Hand (video; 4 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUL8hKDdY84

Prompt: In 200 words or more, according to your impression of Darwin’s writings, reflect on the circumstances or experiences that influenced Darwin's thinking.

1.11 - Phylogeny

Assigned Reading/viewing

Reading a phylogenetic tree – Baum (Nature Ed)

 http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/reading-a-phylogenetic-tree-the-meaning-of-41956

Trait Evolution on a Phylogenetic Tree – Baum (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/trait-evolution-on-a-phylogenetic-tree-relatedness-41936

Prompt: How could someone falsify the accepted fact of evolution? Remember, for something to exist within the realm of that which is knowable via science, there must be a hypothetical way to falsify it.

**

2. Explain and Predict - Explaining the similarities and differences. How evolution works.

Big Questions: Why are we like our parents but not exactly? Why are we like other species but not exactly? How did human traits and human variation evolve? How do we know what the last common ancestor (LCA) was like?

2.1 - How eggs and sperm get made and how they make you

Assigned  Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 5:Spine and segments – Roberts

Additional resources

Gregor Mendel and the Principles of Inheritance – Miko (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/gregor-mendel-and-the-principles-of-inheritance-593

Mendelian Genetics: Patterns of Inheritance and Single-Gene Disorders – Chial (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/mendelian-genetics-patterns-of-inheritance-and-single-966

Developing the Chromosome Theory – O’Connor (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/developing-the-chromosome-theory-164

Genetic Recombination – Clancy (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-recombination-514

What is a Gene? Colinearity and Transcription Units – Pray (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/what-is-a-gene-colinearity-and-transcription-430

RNA functions – Clancy (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/rna-functions-352

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

2.2 - continued

Assigned Reading/viewing

Things Genes Can’t Do – Weiss and Buchanan (Aeon)

http://aeon.co/magazine/nature-and-cosmos/kenneth-weiss-anne-buchanan-genetics/

Additional resources

Phenotypic Range of Gene Expression: Environmental Influence – Lobo & Shaw (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/phenotypic-range-of-gene-expression-environmental-influence-581

Genetic Dominance: Genotype-Phenotype Relationships – Miko (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-dominance-genotype-phenotype-relationships-489

Pleiotropy: One Gene Can Affect Multiple Traits – Lobo (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/pleiotropy-one-gene-can-affect-multiple-traits-569

Polygenic Inheritance and Gene Mapping – Chial (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/polygenic-inheritance-and-gene-mapping-915

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t. Why is it important to consider what genes can and cannot do?

2.3 - Inheritance, gene expression, Mendel's simplicity and reality’s complexity

Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 6: Ribs, lungs and hearts– Roberts

Additional resources

Hox Genes in Development: The Hox Code – Myers (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/hox-genes-in-development-the-hox-code-41402

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

2.4 - Mutation and gene flow

Assigned reading/viewing

Evolution is the only natural explanation – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)

http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2013/06/evolution-is-only-natural-explanation.html

The F-words of Evolution  – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)

http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2011/05/f-words-of-evolution.html

Another F-word of evolution  – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)

http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2011/05/another-f-word-of-evolution.html

Additional resources

Evolution Is Change in the Inherited Traits of a Population through Successive Generations – Forbes and Krimmel (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/evolution-is-change-in-the-inherited-traits-15164254

Mutations Are the Raw Materials of Evolution – Carlin (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/mutations-are-the-raw-materials-of-evolution-17395346

Mutation not natural selection drives evolution –  Tarlach (about Nei; Discover Magazine)

http://discovermagazine.com/2014/march/12-mutation-not-natural-selection-drives-evolution

Prompt: Reflect back on your answer to “what is evolution” from Day 1.1 of class. What did you get right? What did you get wrong? What did you omit? How do the three assigned readings shape your view of evolution? What are you still left wondering about evolution?

2.5 - Natural selection

Assigned Reading/viewing

none

Additional Resources

Natural selection, genetic drift and gene flow do not act in isolation in natural populations – Andrews (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/natural-selection-genetic-drift-and-gene-flow-15186648

Sexual selection – Brennan (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/sexual-selection-13255240

Prompt: Write an answer for each of the questions below. In other words, come up with a hypothesis to explain the evolution of each of the four phenomena. These are evolutionary scenarios that you are writing.  This is brainstorming, so have no fear, but you should still write with clarity.

1.    How did the mandrill get that colorful face? What about the rear?

2.    How did the colobus monkey get a long, specialized gut?

3.    How did silverback gorillas become twice as big as females?

4.    How did humans become “naked”? (i.e. how did we cease to be as furry as the other primates)?

2.6 - Genetic drift

Assigned Reading/viewing

The Evolution of Your Teeth (video; 3 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohq3CoOKEoo

Additional Resources

Neutral Theory: The null hypothesis of molecular evolution – Duret (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/neutral-theory-the-null-hypothesis-of-molecular-839

Negative selection – Loewe (Nature Ed)

 http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/negative-selection-1136

On the mythology of natural selection. Part I: Introduction – Weiss (The Mermaid’s Tale)

http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2014/07/on-mythology-of-natural-selection-part.html

On the mythology of natural selection. Part II: Classical Darwinism– Weiss (The Mermaid’s Tale)

http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2014/07/on-mythology-of-natural-selection-part_16.html

Secrets of Charles Darwin’s Breakthrough -  Bauer (Salon)

http://www.salon.com/2015/05/30/secrets_of_charles_darwins_breakthrough_the_real_story_of_how_we_got_to_evolution/

Prompt: Read on and answer questions when asked (A and B):

Remember…

•       Most of us were taught incorrectly or led, wrongly, to believe that ‘evolution’ = ‘natural selection’ and that all evolution occurs through natural selection. This leads us to see every evolutionary scenario, all the way from fairy tale ones to the most scientifically legitimate ones, as natural selection. This is, of course, not a correct understanding of evolution.

•       Natural selection can result in new adaptations or in the elimination of bad traits. The former is “positive” selection, the latter is “negative” and is always occurring no matter what. Positive selection does happen but is not easy to test, since natural selection occurs via differential reproductive success, but “survival of the luckiest” alleles via genetic drift can look exactly the same by increasing and decreasing allele frequencies just by chance. The difference between the two is that, in a selection scenario, the trait that’s evolving is causing the differential reproduction (whether enhancing or inhibiting, even if ever so slightly affecting it slowly over time), but in a genetic drift scenario the trait is randomly “drifting” to lower or higher frequencies merely due to chance (unlinked to the trait in question) effects on differential reproduction and chance passing of one allele or the other to offspring. Like selection, drift can completely fix or completely eliminate traits. Genetic drift is always occurring, and so is negative selection to some degree (filtering out mutations that prevent survival and reproduction) and positive selection to some degree (increasing the prevalence of mutations, new or old, that enhance survival and reproduction).

Read this blurb from a website below about a very common perception of human evolution:

_______________________________________________________________________________

Wisdom teeth might be lost as people continue to evolve

Why the modern diet may make wisdom teeth unnecessary

About 25 to 35 per cent of people will never get their wisdom teeth

By: Astrid Lange Toronto Star Library, Published on Tue Jun 25 2013

http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/diseases_cures/2013/06/25/wisdom_teeth_might_be_lost_as_people_continue_to_evolve.html#

Wisdom teeth are the third and final set of molars that most people get in their late teens or early 20s. But not everyone does — the American Dental Association estimates that about 25 to 35 per cent of people will never get their wisdom teeth. Another 30 per cent will only get 1 to 3 of them. Anthropologists believe wisdom teeth evolved due to our ancestors’ diet of coarse, rough food — leaves, roots, nuts and meat — which required more chewing power and resulted in excessive wear of the teeth. Since people are no longer ripping apart meat with their teeth and the modern diet is made of softer foods, wisdom teeth have become less useful. In fact, some experts believe we are on an evolutionary track to losing them altogether.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

A.    Briefly explain the evolutionary mechanism behind the evolutionary scenario for future wisdom tooth loss that the author of the blurb alludes to. In other words, think about what the writer is really hypothesizing for future human evolution and rephrase his explanation, but scientifically, in terms of all or just some of the four main mechanisms of evolution that we discussed in class which are mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, and selection. Important! Banned words for your scenario include: Need(s/ed/ing), want(s/ed/ing), try(s/ed/ing), best, most and fittest.

B.    Write out an alternative scenario where natural selection is responsible for the loss of wisdom teeth in our future selves. If it’s not obvious, this will be a significantly different scenario from what the writer has imagined in the blurb and from what you wrote in response to ‘a.’ Important! Banned words for your scenario include: Need(s/ed/ing), want(s/ed/ing), try(s/ed/ing), best, most, and fittest.

2.7 - Malaria resistance and lactase persistence

Assigned Reading/viewing

None

Additional resources

Natural Selection: Uncovering Mechanisms of Evolutionary Adaptation to Infectious Disease – Sabeti (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/natural-selection-uncovering-mechanisms-of-evolutionary-adaptation-34539

Prompt: Answer the following questions:

A.    What are the components of natural selection scenarios?

B.    What are the potential benefits to losing grasping abilities in our feet? In what environmental context?

C.    Write an evolutionary scenario, using natural selection, to explain how humans lost grasping ability in our feet.

D.    Write an evolutionary scenario, without using any form of selection, to explain how humans lost grasping ability in our feet.

E.     Give a plausible explanation, in Darwinian terms (i.e. using the components of natural selection, or if you want, sexual selection), for how humans lost our body fur and are now what’s often called ‘the naked ape.’ There are many ways to answer this for full credit as long as you incorporate all the components of selection properly

F.     Explain body fur loss without selection, using drift:

2.8 - Building evolutionary scenarios

Assigned Reading/viewing

none

Prompt: Look back at 2.5, for each of your evolutionary scenarios (i.e. your answers to the four questions), describe which evolutionary mechanisms (discussed in class) that you hypothesized were at work.

1.    “How did the mandrill get that colorful face? What about the rear?” Mechanisms you used (even if you didn’t use the official terms):

2.    “How did the colobus monkey get a long, specialized gut?” Mechanisms you used (even if you didn’t use the official terms):

3.    “How did silverback gorillas become twice as big as females?”Mechanisms you used (even if you didn’t use the official terms):

4.    “How did humans become ‘naked’?” (i.e. how did we cease to be as furry as the other primates)? Mechanisms you used (even if you didn’t use the official terms):

Prompt: Rewrite each of the four explanations you wrote for 2.5 to make them more scientifically accurate, using only the four main mechanisms of evolution that we discussed in class and those terms: mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, and natural selection. You may need to just change a few words or you may need to completely revise the entire answer, it depends on what you originally wrote.  Important! Banned words for your scenarios include: Need(s/ed/ing), want(s/ed/ing), try(s/ed/ing), best, most, and of course fittest.

1.    How did the mandrill get that colorful face? What about the rear?

2.    How did the colobus monkey get a long, specialized gut?

3.    How did silverback gorillas become twice as big as females?

4.    How did humans become “naked”? (i.e. how did we cease to be as furry as the other primates)?

2.9 – Species and speciation

Assigned Reading/viewing

Planet without apes? – Stanford (Huffington Post)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-stanford/planet-without-apes_b_1933073.html

Additional resources

Primate Speciation: A Case Study of African Apes – Mitchell & Gonder (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/primate-speciation-a-case-study-of-african-96682434

Why should we care about species? – Hey (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/why-should-we-care-about-species-4277923

Speciation: The origin of new species – Safran (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/speciation-the-origin-of-new-species-26230527

The maintenance of species diversity – Levine (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-maintenance-of-species-diversity-13240565

Macroevolution: Examples from the Primate World – Clee & Gonder (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/macroevolution-examples-from-the-primate-world-96679683

Prompt: In 200 words or more, reflect on the reading assignment and explain why apes are in danger of extinction (thoughtful guesses are welcome).

2.10  - Genomics, molecular clocks, and the LCA

Assigned Reading/viewing

Lice and Human Evolution (video; 11 mins) http://video.pbs.org/video/1790635347/

Additional resources

The Onion Test – Gregory (Genomicron)

http://www.genomicron.evolverzone.com/2007/04/onion-test/  

The Molecular Clock and Estimating Species Divergence – Ho (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/the-molecular-clock-and-estimating-species-divergence-41971

Prompt: What are molecular clocks for and how do they work? What do the molecular clocks of lice tell us about human evolution?

**

3. Test and Observe - Evolving humans, past and present. Ancient evidence for our extinct relatives. Human variation.

Big Questions: How did human traits evolve? How and why do humans vary? Should we look to our ancestors as a lifestyle guide? Are we still evolving? Why is human evolution misunderstood and why is it controversial?

3.1 - The earliest hominins

Assigned Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 7: Guts and yolk sacs – Roberts

Desktop Diaries: Tim White (video; 7 mins)

http://www.sciencefriday.com/video/08/09/2013/desktop-diaries-tim-white.html

Ancient Human Ancestors: Walking in the woods (video; 4 mins)

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365207936/

Additional resources

How to Become a Primate Fossil – Dunsworth (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/how-to-become-a-primate-fossil-135630567

Dating Rocks and Fossils Using Geologic Methods – Peppe (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/dating-rocks-and-fossils-using-geologic-methods-107924044

Overview of hominin evolution – Pontzer (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/overview-of-hominin-evolution-89010983

The Earliest Hominins: Sahelanthropus, Orrorin, and Ardipithecus - Su (Nature Ed):

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-earliest-hominins-sahelanthropus-orrorin-and-ardipithecus-67648286 

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

3.2 - Australopithecus and Paranthropus

Assigned Reading/viewing

Ardi-Ardipithecus ramidus and human evolution ((video; 3:33 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5c5syi0124

Lucy (video; 5 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Lkk6u-wQM

Trowelblazers (blog): http://trowelblazers.com/  

An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (blog): http://www.ellencurrano.me/blog/

Additional resources

Lucy: A marvelous specimen – Schrein (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/lucy-a-marvelous-specimen-135716086

The "Robust" Australopiths – Constantino (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-robust-australopiths-84076648

Prompt: Find a woman from the ‘Trowelblazers’ blog and briefly (in less than 100 words) describe why she is there. Do the same for ‘An Unsuitable Job for a Woman’.

3.3 - Technological and ecological hypotheses for encephalization

Assigned Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 8: Gonads, genitals and gestation – Roberts

Ancient Hands, Ancient Tools (video; 5 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_ew9J8lpwo

Additional resources

A Primer on Paleolithic Technology – Ferraro (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/a-primer-on-paleolithic-technology-83034489

Evidence for Meat-Eating by Early Humans – Pobiner (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/evidence-for-meat-eating-by-early-humans-103874273

Archaeologists officially declare collective sigh over “Paleo Diet”

http://hells-ditch.com/2012/08/archaeologists-officially-declare-collective-sigh-over-paleo-diet/

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

3.4 - Homo erectus

Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 9:On the nature of limbs – Roberts

Additional resources

Homo erectus - A Bigger, Smarter, Faster Hominin Lineage – Van Arsdale (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/homo-erectus-a-bigger-smarter-97879043

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

3.5 - Neanderthals

Reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 10: Hip to Toe – Roberts

Portfolio Assignment

In a half-page or more:  Reflect on Roberts’ chapters and be sure to include what it’s got to do with human evolution.

Additional resources

Archaic Homo sapiens – Bae (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/archaic-homo-sapiens-103852137

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

3.6 - Homo sapiens

Assigned reading/viewing

What happened to the Neanderthals? – Harvati (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/what-happened-to-the-neanderthals-68245020

The Neanderthal Inside Us (video; 4 mins)

http://www.nytimes.com/video/science/100000002887069/science-profile-svante-paabo.html?playlistId=100000002891080

Additional resources

The Transition to Modern Behavior – Wurz (Nature Ed)

 http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-transition-to-modern-behavior-86614339

Neanderthal Behavior – Monnier (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/neanderthal-behavior-59267999

Prompt: In 200 words or more, offer an explanation for what happened to the Neanderthals. Where did they go and why?

3.7 - Social hypothesis for encephalization

Assigned reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 11: Shoulders and Thumbs – Roberts

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include one thing you knew and one thing you didn’t.

IMPORTANT: For the remaining days, students will also be completing the workbook for the skin color lesson provided by the Smithsonian’s Human Origins team.  (http://humanorigins.si.edu/education/teaching-evolution-through-human-examples) We’ll be accomplishing it bit-by-bit in class and with assignments to carry on outside of class. The complete workbook is due on the last day of class, in class. I find that having something due then increases attendance for evaluations and  increases the audience for my final, profound thoughts.

3.8 - The evolution of Homo sapiens diversity; Evolution, race, racism, sex, and sexism

Assigned reading/viewing

Testing models of modern human origins with archaeology and anatomy – Tryon & Bailey (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/testing-models-of-modern-human-origins-with-96639156

Additional resources

Anthropological genetics: Inferring the history of our species through the analysis of DNA – Hodgson & Disotell (Evolution: Education and Outreach)

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12052-010-0262-9#page-1

Human Evolutionary Tree – Adams (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/human-evolutionary-tree-417

Paternity Testing: Blood Types and DNA – Adams (Nature Ed)

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/paternity-testing-blood-types-and-dna-374

Prompt: In 200 words or more, react to the assigned reading. Include a description of one question that is important and how these authors are going about helping to answer it here.

3.9 - continued

Assigned reading/viewing

Understanding Race: http://www.understandingrace.org/

Additional Resources

Human Skin Color Variation (NMNH): http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/genetics/skin-color

Prompt: Peruse the whole site ‘Understanding Race’ then take the Human Variation Quiz, there, and record all of the correct answers here. (No, you’re not being asked to share how you did on the quiz because many will feel embarrassed.)

3.10 - continued

Assigned reading/viewing

There's no such thing as a 'pure' European—or anyone else – Gibbons (Science)

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/theres-no-such-thing-pure-european-or-anyone-else

A lot of Southern whites are a little bit black – Ingraham (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/22/a-lot-of-southern-whites-are-a-little-bit-black/?utm_term=.19a493c03ee0

Prompt:  In 200 words or more, react to the assigned readings. Be sure to include your take on whether Gibbons is being literal or rhetorical when she writes “untainted by mixing with immigrants.”

3.11 - continued

Assigned Reading/viewing

From the Belgian Congo to the Bronx Zoo (NPR)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5787947

A True and Faithful Account of Mr. Ota Benga the Pygmy, Written by M. Berman, Zookeeper – Mansbach

http://adammansbach.com/other/otabenga.html

In the Name of Darwin – Kevles (PBS) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/darwin/nameof/

Are humans hard-wired for racial prejudice?  - Sapolsky (LA Times)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-oe-sapolsky-brain-and-race-20130728-story.html

Prompt:  In 200 words or more, react to the assigned readings. What’s the link between racism and evolutionary theory? Is Ota Benga’s treatment justified by evolution? Is equality and peace possible, given our evolutionary history?

3.12 - continued

Assigned Reading/viewing

How Donald Trump Got Human Evolution Wrong – Dunsworth (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/07/13/human-evolutions-biggest-problems/ 

Peace Among Primates – Sapolsky (The Greater Good)

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/peace_among_primates

Prompt:  In 200 words or more, react to the assigned readings. From your point of view, how prevalent is Trump’s take on human evolution in pop culture?  Do you believe it’s harmful? Why or why not?

3.13- continued

Assigned reading/viewing

Humans never stopped evolving – Hawks (The Scientist)

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46651/title/humans-never-stopped-evolving/

We are not the boss of natural selection – Dunsworth (io9)

http://io9.com/we-are-not-the-boss-of-natural-selection-it-is-unpwnab-1325126849

Prompt:  In 200 words or more, argue whether or not we’re still evolving. Why is this a question?

3.14 - Conclusions

Assigned reading/viewing

IUB, Chapter 12: The Making of Us - Roberts

Evolution reduces the meaning of life to survival and reproduction... Is that bad? – Dunsworth (The Mermaid’s Tale)

http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2012/06/evolution-reduces-meaning-of-life-to.html

Prompt:  In 200 words or more, briefly describe what you learned this semester and what, if anything, it means to you. Also, be sure to reflect on what you're still left wondering and describe how you could find the answers to your remaining questions.