Research and Training in Anthropogeny

Anthropology 130 Extra Credit – UCSD CARTA 20 points maximum

UCSD is the home of CARTA: Center for Academic Research and Training in

Anthropogeny (the study of human origins). One of their web resources is a vast

database of comparative information on modern humans, other modern primates, and

fossil primates. Have you wondered whether apes have ABO blood groups? How about

if there is fossil evidence of musical practice? Just browsing the different sections of

their database should be an eye-opening activity.

Part One 1. Go to the MOCA (Matrix of Comparative Anthropogeny) part of the CARTA website

(they love acronyms there, apparently): https://carta.anthropogeny.org/moca/

domains

2. Browse the domain topics. Each link leads to several sub pages.

3. Find a topic that you want to investigate further. Do not click on that topic’s page yet!

4. Write a sentence prediction about what you find learn about this topic. Do you think

humans are different from other primates regarding this topic?

5. Now click the link and read what an expert has written on the topic. The font matters

in the writeup: bold text is rock-solid information, plain text is a supported

hypothesis but not rock-solid, and typewriter text is speculation with no direct

evidence.

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6. Write a short paragraph (200 words) answering these questions:

A. What did you find out about this topic?

B. Did what you find out match your earlier prediction or not?

7. Repeat for a second topic of your choice. You should end up with two sentence

predictions and two short paragraphs on two topics.

Turn in your completed assignment on Canvas on in class by the due date.

Grading A full score will be given to a reflection that addresses all of the required points. The breakdown of the assigned score are:

• Prediction for topic one. (3 point)

• Paragraph reflection on topic one (5 points)

• Prediction for topic two. (3 point)

• Paragraph reflection on topic two (5 points)

• College level writing: free from spelling and grammatical problems (4 points)

Conclusion I’ve learned a lot of answers to questions I did not know I had browsing the MOCA

database! For example, I did not know that great apes also get cavities in their teeth,

but only towards older age as their enamel wears down. Humans are different because

we get them earlier due to our high-sugar diet. Hopefully some topics got your attention

as well.

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