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Racism
Racism is based on the false belief that such factors as intellect and various cultural attributes are inherited along with
physical characteristics.
o Such beliefs commonly rest on the assumption that ones own group is superior to other groups.
o Eugenics movements are good examples of racism
It is political ideology that has maintained a racially stratified society, not biology
o Racism promotes: social oppression, racist views discourage the oppressed from questioning their social positions and
racism promotes the status quo.
o Racism has costs (for all of us): It prevents the contributions of individuals, aggravates social problems such as poverty,
society invests time and money to defend social and institutional barriers, undercuts diplomatic relationships, restricts
communication between groups, inhibits social change, and promotes disrespect for law enforcement and decreases
chance for peaceful solutions
There is a fantastic website to visit, created by the AAA (American Anthropological Association) called Race: Are we so
different?
o Link: http://www.understandingrace.com/home.html
o Look over the various links and learn a lot!
Population Genetics 1
Population genetics is the study of the frequency of alleles, genotypes, and phenotypes in populations from a
microevolutionary perspective.
o A population is a group of interbreeding individuals (breeding group) and is marked by a degree of genetic relatedness
and shares a common gene pool.
In every generation, the genes (alleles) are mixed by recombination and rejoined through mating.
Factors that determine mate choice are geographical, ecological, and social.
Breeding isolates are populations that are isolated from other breeding groups.
Human population segments within the species are defined as groups with degrees of endogamy (mating
within the group).
FYI: The risk of cousin marriages is much lower than first thought. Read more here
FYI: To increase your fitness, marry your 2nd or 3rd cousin
Today there are greatly accelerated rates of exogamy (marrying/mating outside the group).
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Population Genetics 2
Population genetics research is based on the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium equation (theory)
o The mathematical relationship expressing under ideal conditionsthe predicted distribution of alleles in populations.
HW is central theorem of population genetics.
It is a math formula that starts from the idea of no evolution (null hypothesis) and says allele frequencies between
generations will be unchanging.
If they change, evolution has occurred and then the math tries to figure out the various contributions of the forces
of evolution to the changed frequencies.
o Factors that act to change allele frequencies
New variation (i.e., mutation)
Redistributed variation (i.e., gene flow or genetic drift)
Selection of advantageous allele combinations that promote reproductive success (i.e., natural selection).
Adaptive Significance 1
Human variation is the result of adaptations to environmental conditions.
There are actually three major ways to adapt to an environment:
o Genetically
o Culturally
o Physiologically (all organisms have mechanisms to respond to stress and to reestablish homeostasis)
Stress, in a physiological context, is any factor that acts to disrupt homeostasis.
The body responses to any factor that threatens its ability to maintain homeostasis. Homeostasis is a condition of
balance, or stability, within a biological system, maintained by the interaction of physiological mechanisms that
compensate for changes (both external and internal).
o Physiological adaptations can be short-term , long-term or permanent (called acclimatization) depending on the
duration of the environmental change and when it occurs; sweating is an example of this
o Developmental acclimatization is physiological adaptation that is permanent; chest shape to accommodate high altitude
is an example of this
Adaptive Significance 2
What are the factors that create differences in skin color?
Skin color is produced by melanin, hemoglobin and carotene
o Melanin is a pigment produced in the skin.
All people have about the same number of melanocytes. The primary difference in skin color is in the amount of
melanin produced by the melanocytes
The pigment melanin is responsible for the majority of variation in lightness and darkness in skin color.
There are two types: eumelanin (dark or brown) and pheomelanin (light or red brown)
o Hemoglobin is another pigment affecting skin color which gives oxygenated blood cells their red color.
o Carotene provides a yellow to orange factor.
Thickness of the outer skin layers also alters appearance
Age and sex can create differences in skin color.
Solar radiation, (ultraviolet rays) vitamin D, and skin color
o Ultraviolet Rays penetrate the skin and can eventually damage DNA within skin cells.
o The three major types of cells that can be affected are squamous cells, basal cells, and melanocytes (where melanin is
made). See diagram on page 83.
Adaptive Significance 3
Solar radiation, Vitamin D and skin color (continued)
Why dark skin color?
o Skin color and vitamin D overproduction (rejected with additional research)
o Those stressors are still under consideration:
Skin cancer (Ultraviolet light and cancer) rates
Skin cancer rates are higher in white skinned populations
More skin cancer in Texas than in Massachusetts
Most often in post-reproductive segments of population
Sunburn
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Infection due to the blistering from skin damage is a factor
Sunburn interferes with the ability to sweat
Folate (The damage to folic acid from solar radiation) was proposed by John Eaton (reported in Jablonski and
Chapin article)
Folate deficiency alters the sperm and leads to male sterility
Developing fetuses can be harmed (spina bifida)
Adaptive Significance 4
Solar radiation, Vitamin D and skin color (continued more)
o Why light skin color?
Stressor: Areas of low levels of ultraviolet radiation away from equatorial regions have decreased risk. But the risk
of rickets rises
Hypotheses:
Vitamin D hypothesis: It is widely accepted that the evolution of light skin is related to the synthesis of
vitamin D from the sun and stimulation of chemical compounds caused by ultraviolet radiation.
Lack of vitamin D leads to rickets
There are several studies of darker-skinned, recent migrants to northern clines who suffer from rickets.
Cold adaptation (dark skinned WWII soldiers are greater risk than light skinned) but debated at this time
Camouflage or protective coloration hypothesis. Europe is snowy today and was very snowy during glacial
times
In Asia, the same cold-related phenomena exist as is Europe, but northern Asia is drier and less cloudy.
Actually, many north Asians are lighter than people from southern Europe.
Source: Skelton, R. (1997). Anthropology 360 lecture: Human variation. Retrieved from
http://www.anthro.umt.edu/notes/360
Adaptive Significance 5
Thermal Environment (Hot and Cold) (continued)
Body size and proportions also are also factors.
Bergmanns Rule considers the relationship of body mass or volume to surface area:
In mammalian species ,body size tends to be greater in populations that live in
colder climates.
As mass increases the relative amount of surface area decreases proportionately.
Because heat is lost at the surface, it follows that increased mass allows for
greater heat retention and reduced heat loss
Allens Rule considers shape of the body, especially appendages
In colder climates, shorter appendages, with increased mass-to-surface ratios, are
adaptive because theyre more effective at preventing heat loss.
Conversely, longer appendages, with increased surface area relative to mass, are more adaptive in warmer
climates because they promote heat loss.
Adaptive Significance 6
Thermal Environment (Hot and Cold)
o Mammals and birds have evolved complex physiological mechanisms to maintain a constant body temperature.
o Our ancestors evolved in a warm to hot environment as our adaptations to heat demonstrate. Today, humans are found
in a wide variety of thermal environments, ranging from 120 F to -60 F.
o Response to heat
We have sweat glands spread over our bodies (average 1.6 million!)
Body hair in humans is the same number as in chimps and gorillas, but the size is smaller .
Another mechanism is the ability for vasodilatation and vasoconstriction
Vasodilatation is the expansion of blood vessels, permitting increased blood flow to the skin.
Vasodilatation permits warming of the skin, and facilitates radiation of warmth in order to cool the skin.
Vasodilatation is an involuntary response to warm temperatures, various drugs, and even emotional states
(blushing).
Adaptive Significance 7
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Thermal Environment (Hot and Cold) (continued)
o Response to cold
We use heat, clothing and shelter as cultural adaptations
Our bodies carry a fat layer as insulation
Increasing the metabolic rate, shivering and even wrapping oneself into a ball are adaptations
Vasoconstriction is the narrowing of blood vessels to reduce blood flow to the skin.
Vasoconstriction is an involuntary response to cold and reduces heat loss at the skins surface.
With reduction of blood flow comes the risk of damage to tissues (frostbite)
High Altitude
o High Altitude Stresses
Hypoxia: Oxygen starvation or hypoxia is more common in high altitudes due to the relationship of barometric
pressure and altitude causing oxygen content to be less concentrated
Other Stresses: Ultraviolet radiation is greater at high altitudes. Thinner air also causes considerable heat loss, and
conditions are extremely dry.
Adaptive Significance 8
High Altitude (continued)
o Physiologic Responses
Physiologic Responses to Hypoxia
The body reacts to high altitude immediately, including increase in respiration and red blood cell production.
Possible hyperventilation, loss of appetite, and weight loss and memory loss can also occur.
Most changes are temporary.
Physical Growth in High-Altitude Populations
Chest dimensions and lung volume are greater at all ages in high-latitude Peruvian populations.
People are also shorter, related to delayed maturation. The changes are a direct result of hypoxic stress, rather
than genetics.
Increased chest growth is a functional adaptation to hypoxia, but smaller body size is not
Glucose use is more efficient among the Quecha of the Andes.
In Tibet alteration in the blood flow of the placental may be way to avoid loss of fetuses.
Adaptive Significance 9
Infectious diseases
o Caused by invading organisms such as bacteria, viruses, or fungi.
o Throughout human evolution, infectious disease has exerted selective pressures on populations and influenced the
frequency of alleles that affect the immune response.
o Until about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, humans lived in small nomadic hunting and gathering groups.
o With the advent of settled living and close proximity to animals, opportunities for humans to contract disease increased
o Some terms:
Microorganisms responsible for infectious disease are known as pathogens
Agents that serve to transmit disease from one carrier to another are called vectors. Mosquitoes are vectors for
malaria just as fleas are vectors for bubonic plague.
Term meaning continuously present in a population is endemic
A pandemic is an extensive outbreak of disease affecting large numbers of persons over a wide area.
A disease that is transmitted to humans through contact with nonhuman animals is called a zoonotic disease.
Adaptive Significance 10
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Impact of infectious disease
o Infectious diseases were less common among hunter-gatherers because of group mobility, low population density; lack
of domestic animals; and small population size
o When people settled down they were in more contact with the zoonoses and issues of sanitation arose.
o Before the 20th century, infectious disease was the number one limiting factor to human populations.
o Since the 1940s, the use of antibiotics has reduced mortality resulting from infectious disease.
o In the late 1960s, the surgeon general declared the war against infectious disease won.
o Between 1980 and 1992 deaths from infectious disease increased by 58%.
o Increases in the prevalence of infectious disease may be due to overuse of antibiotics.
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