Physical Anthropology

Physical anthropology, also known as biological anthropology, is the anthropological counterpart to the various biological sciences that deal with the study of human beings. Physical anthropology studies living human beings and also, non-human primates, along with extinct relatives and ancestors of humans, in different environmental stresses and conditions that exist, and existed, in the World. The two main aspects of study of this branch of anthropology are; human evolution and human variation. 

Human origin and evolution are one of the chief concerns of physical anthropologists. Through analysis of fossils and observation of living primates, they try to trace man's ancestry and understand his relationship with other living beings. Physical anthropology also tries to provide a comparative perspective on human uniqueness by placing Homo sapiens in the context of other living primates. The other major aim of physical anthropology is to understand human diversity and variation. being members of the same species, there is significant biological variation among the Homo sapiens. Not only visible traits but also biochemical factors such as blood type and susceptibility to diseases. Human beings have covered nearly all kinds of geographical zones of the World, hence the study of human adaptation is also an important part of physical anthropology. 

The initial concern of physical anthropology however was to describe the variation of a few features in human beings, mainly referring to measurements, computing indices and other statistics. Today, it not only describes the variation of hundreds of features but also encompasses the entire history and nature of biological change among human beings. This represents an enormous expansion in its scope. Because of the wide scope, physical anthropology can be divided into subbranches, each focusing on a different dimension of what it means to be human - from a biological perspective. Refer : Branches of - Physical/Biological Anthropology

Branches of - Physical/Biological Anthropology

• Human Growth and Development : This branch of physical anthropology concerns the process of growing to maturity (in biological terms: growth from a one-cell zygote to an adult human being).

• Understanding -
• different stages of growth
• patterns of growth
• effect of 
• nutrition
• environment
• genetic factors (influencing growth)
• Growth studies of populations reflect 
• variation amongst them
• growth rate of the nation

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• Human Evolution : This branch, as the name suggests, revolves around the origin and evolution of Homo sapiens as a distinct species. The word “human” in the framework of human evolution speak of the genus Homo. In order to understand human evolution we study hominids also. 

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• Human Osteology : The study of human bones. Evidences concerning osteology are frequently applied in forensic science. It holds important information in arenas like health, disease, physique, genetics of early populations, identification of unknown remains, criminal investigations, war crimes, etc.

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• Human Ecology : A biological discipline that deals with the interactions between organisms and their environment. 
• Environment = Physical Environment (temperature, water, wind, soil acidity, etc.) + Biological Environment
• Human Adaptation ( physiologic, developmental, genetic) to environmental stresses and variation is part of human ecology.
• Human beings are the most versatile species on Earth which can adapt to any environment. However, many other human ecological developments are probable in future. The growth of human population and how this growth is accommodated, the way they utilize these resources yet preserve the biodiversity is yet to be comprehended.

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• Human Diversity : Concerned with the study of human evolution and human biological variation. Human evolution involves extensive work on the discovery, analysis, and description of fossilized human remains. This mainly aids to identify the differences between humans and their nonhuman ancestors and how did present man emerge. To achieve this, it involves the comparative analysis of genetic codes. 

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• Human Variation : The term human variation is gaining popularity over its historical predecessor “race” in anthropology because of the exploitation of the term. It is suggested to use gene frequencies and biological traits of human populations by their geographic area. 

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• Human Genetics : Study of heredity, process by which characteristics are passed from parents to offspring. Involves the study of inheritance of gene (unit of hereditary in humans, common factor of most human traits). Provides information to the questions about :
• human nature
• understanding diseases and their effective treatment
• understand genetics of human life

           (Incorporates a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population genetics, developmental genetics, clinical genetics, and genetic counseling.)

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• Anthropological Genetics : Encompasses patterns of genetic similarity among different human populations to deduce demographic history. Genetic methods used to learn about human in the course of 
• its deviation from apes
• magnitude and how hominid population in geographical area originated
• initial migrations of anatomically modern humans.

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• Population Genetics : Concerns with genetic structure of populations, i.e. 
• frequency of alleles (alternate form of genes)
• and its genotypes (genetic constitution)

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• Genetic Anthropology : Deals with combining DNA data with available physical evidence and past histories of civilizations. This facilitates scientists to assemble through existing genetic information in elucidating how the modern day Homo sapiens evolved through the millennia.

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• Nutritional Anthropology : Describes how particular social and cultural factor place people at risk for nutritional disorder or identifying health problems related to nutrition. It is gaining importance mainly due to concern and consciousness of people towards health. Anthropologists have contributed to the specialized fields of nutrition at a more holistic perspective, based on the historical, direct observation, and documentary accounts. The significance of this field lies in assessing health status of any population.

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• Molecular Anthropology : Comparatively newer branch of physical anthropology which deals with the molecular analysis. 
• It makes easier to understand the evolutionary links between ancient and modern human populations, as well as between contemporary species. 
• This enables to determine the closeness or distance in relationship between populations or within populations.
• Certain similarities in genetic makeup let molecular anthropologists determine whether or not different groups of people share a common geographical origin. (This paves way for anthropologists to trace patterns of migration and settlement, which gives an insight as to how contemporary populations have formed and progressed over time.)
• Plays a very important role in establishing the evolutionary tree of humans and other primates, including closely related species like chimpanzees and gorillas

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• Forensic Anthropology : Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical anthropology and human osteology in a legal scenario; when in a criminal case, victim’s remains are unidentifiable or in the advanced stages of decomposition, forensic anthropology helps in identification of the individual. (The term “forensic” refers to the application of this subfield of science to a court of law.)

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• Physiological Anthropology : Human physiology is a scientific study of the
• mechanical
• physical
• biochemical 

functions of humans in good health, their organs, and the cells which constitute them.)

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• Dental Anthropology : Scientific study of people (living/extinct primitive relatives) using the evidence of teeth. 

Practicing dentists, anatomists, radiologists, forensic scientists, biochemists and geneticists, archaeologists, paleontologists and zoologists apart from anthropologists are actively working in the field of Dental anthropology.

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• Primatology : Concerned with the study of Primates. Primates studied with the hope to gain more insight into human nature. Study of hominids includes all ape-like ancestors of man and the other great apes. Modern primatology boasts of newer and extremely diverse science ranging from - anatomical studies of primate ancestors and field studies of primates in their natural habitat, to - experiments in animal psychology and ape language.

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• Paleo primatology : Paleo primatologists take the assistance of fossil specimens by collecting, describing, and interpreting them them phylogenetically and functionally. As it is well understood that man is a primate evolved from non-human primates. The nonhuman primates are link to human physical history and status as mammals.

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• Paleoanthropology : is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship lines within the family Hominidae, working from biological evidence (such as petrified skeletal remains, bone fragments, footprints) and cultural evidence (such as stone tools, artifacts, and settlement localities).

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• Anthropometry : : Anthropometry as the name suggests consists of Greek word “anthropos” which means man, and “metry” meaning measure. In literal sense : understanding of physical variation, measurement of humans. In physical anthropology : measuring of the human individual. Plays extensive role in industrial design, clothing design, defense equipment, ergonomics and architecture. 

• Ergonomics : : Ergonomics is derived from two Greek words, “ergon” meaning work, and “nomoi” meaning natural laws, which means the science of work and a person’s relationship to that work. Fundamentally, the study of design equipment and devices that the human body, its movements, and how to carry about the work. (proper ergonomic design needed to avoid recurrent strain injuries)

• Demography : Scientific study of uniqueness and movement relevant to the human population illustrated by -
• size
• growth rate
• density
• vital statistics
• distribution of a specified population

Demographer must know both

• how to scientifically obtain information
• how to interpret it relatively

Demography is the basic statistics of human population which can be applied to any kind of human population which does not remain static. (i.e. changes over time/space) 

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