Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their related non-human primates and their extinct hominin ancestors. It is a subfield of anthropology that provides a biological perspective to the systematic study of human beings.

Branches

As a subfield of anthropology, biological anthropology itself is further divided into several branches. All branches are united in their common application of evolutionary theory to understanding human morphology and behavior.

• Paleoanthropology, the study of fossil evidence for human evolution, studying extinct hominid and other primate species to determine the environment into which modern humans evolved, and how our species dispersed to eventually cover much of the earth's land mass.
• Primatology, the study of non-human primate behavior, morphology, and genetics. Reasons via homology and analogy to infer how and why similar human traits evolved.
• Human behavioral ecology, the study of behavioral adaptations (foraging, reproduction, ontogeny) from the evolutionary and ecologic perspectives, (see behavioral ecology). Human adaptation, the study of human adaptive responses (physiologic, developmental, genetic) to environmental stresses and variation.
• Human biology, an interdisciplinary field of biology, biological anthropology, nutrition and medicine, concentrates upon international, population-level perspectives on health, evolution, adaptation and population genetics.

• Bioarchaeology, the study of past human cultures through examination of human remains recovered in an archaeological context. The examined human remains usually comprises bones, but may include preserved soft tissue. Researchers in bioarchaeology combine the skillsets of human osteology, paleopathology, and archaeology, and often consider the mortuary context of the remains in the final analysis.

• Paleopathology is the study of disease in antiquity. This study focuses not only on pathogenic conditions observable in bones or mummified soft tissue, but also on nutritional disorders, variation in stature or the morphology of bones over time, evidence of physical trauma, or evidence of occupationally derived biomechanic stress.

• Forensic anthropology, the application of osteology, paleopathology, archaeology, and other anthropological techniques for the identification of modern human remains or the reconstruction of events surrounding a person's death.

 

Physical or biological anthropology deals with the evolution of humans, their variability, and adaptations to environmental stresses. Using an evolutionary perspective, we examine not only the physical form of humans - the bones, muscles, and organs - but also how it functions to allow survival and reproduction.

Within the field of physical anthropology there are many different areas of focus. Paleoanthropologist studies the evolution of primates and hominids from the fossil record and from what can be determined through comparative anatomy and studies of social structure and behavior from our closest living relatives. Primatologists study prosimians, monkeys and apes, using this work to understand the features that make each group distinct and those that link groups together. Skeletal biology concentrates on the study of anatomically modern humans, primarily from archaeological sites, and aims to understand the diseases and conditions these past people experienced prior to dying. Forensic anthropologists use the study of skeletal biology to assist in the identification and analysis of more recently deceased individuals. Such cases often involve complex legal considerations. Human biologists concentrate on contemporary humans, examining not only their anatomy and physiology but also their reproduction and the effects of social status and other factors on their growth and development.

Evolutionary perspectives encompass the origins of modern humans and of modern human diversity; the relationship between climate and human evolution; the evolution of language and cognition. What underlies all of these areas is the interpretation of archaeological and palaeontological evidence. Such evidence is considered within the broader theoretical context of evolutionary biology and furthermore draws on evidence from comparative morphology and behavioural research on both humans and non-human primates.
Evolutionary studies also extend to modern human biological and behaviour variation. One fascinating area of current interest is the degree to which human behaviour is rooted in biology rather than culture. In the general area of human ecology recent concerns emphasise the implications for vulnerable human groups of changes in climate, land tenure and economy. This area also impinges on questions of environmental conservation in the modern world. These more recent interests in human ecology occur alongside the more traditional concerns which focus on human biological variation and the correlates of this variation.

Anthrozoology

Anthrozoology (also known as "human–animal studies") is the study of interaction between living things. It is a burgeoning interdisciplinary field that overlaps with a number of other disciplines, including anthropology, ethology, medicine, psychology, veterinary medicine and zoology. A major focus of anthrozoologic research is the quantifying of the positive effects of human-animal relationships on either party and the study of their interactions.^[67] It includes scholars from a diverse range of fields, including anthropology, sociology, biology, and philosophy.

Biocultural

Main article: Biocultural anthropology

Biocultural anthropology is the scientific exploration of the relationships between human biology and culture. Physical anthropologists throughout the first half of the 20th century viewed this relationship from a racial perspective; that is, from the assumption that typological human biological differences lead to cultural differences. After World War II the emphasis began to shift toward an effort to explore the role culture plays in shaping human biology.

Evolutionary

Evolutionary anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of the evolution of human physiology and human behaviour and the relation between hominins and non-hominin primates. Evolutionary anthropology is based in natural science and social science, combining the human development with socioeconomic factors. Evolutionary anthropology is concerned with both biological and cultural evolution of humans, past and present. It is based on a scientific approach, and brings together fields such as archaeology, behavioral ecology, psychology, primatology, and genetics. It is a dynamic and interdisciplinary field, drawing on many lines of evidence to understand the human experience, past and present.

Forensic

Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical anthropology and human osteology in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are in the advanced stages of decomposition. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable. The adjective "forensic" refers to the application of this subfield of science to a court of law.

Palaeoanthropology

Paleoanthropology combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology. It is the study of ancient humans, as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints.

Organizations

Contemporary anthropology is an established science with academic departments at most universities and colleges. The single largest organization of Anthropologists is the American Anthropological Association (AAA), which was founded in 1903. Membership is made up of anthropologists from around the globe.
In 1989, a group of European and American scholars in the field of anthropology established the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) which serves as a major professional organization for anthropologists working in Europe. The EASA seeks to advance the status of anthropology in Europe and to increase visibility of marginalized anthropological traditions and thereby contribute to the project of a global anthropology or world anthropology.
Hundreds of other organizations exist in the various sub-fields of anthropology, sometimes divided up by nation or region, and many anthropologists work with collaborators in other disciplines, such as geology, physics, zoology, paleontology, anatomy, music theory, art history, sociology and so on, belonging to professional societies in those disciplines as well