Human Variation & Race Blog

Through out time humans have been able to adapt to different environments and climates. which led to the us being able to expand throughout the world. but can there be some climates that are to harsh for the human species to adapt to? for example what affects can high altitude have on a person? this could be dangerous if not done cautiously because of the lack of oxygen and thin air.


an example of short term adaptation would be the way humans are able to adapt to high altitudes. this is done by breathing deeply and faster to maximize the amount of oxygen that gets into the blood. then the heart can pump the blood and oxygen through out the body. facultative adaptation research has found that over 140 million people have been able to adapt to living in a high altitude environment but this process does take longer. it can take up to multiple days or weeks. full adaptation depends on the altitude your at. the higher you go the longer it takes to complete full adaptation. after a long process your body must go through full adaptation is achieved when the red blood cells reach a high peck then stop. developmental and cultural adaptation for high altitudes would be through what we've learned in research. we have been taught what the causes of altitude sickness are. as a culture we do what we need to do to avoid this. for many while on high altitudes trips they prepare in advance. some choose to use medication and become physically fit before.

the study of human variation has been helpful in bringing important information as to how to avoid illness and dangers in high altitudes. even though everyone is different research found that people who are not prepared for high altitudes have the same illness symptoms. for example before trips such as hiking to high altitudes we've learned that  it is important to be physically fit and hydrated.  Things such as dehydration can cause the process of full adaptation to take longer which can cause illness or even death because of the lack of oxygen. it is also important to travel to higher altitudes slow to be able to regulate breathing in thinner air and adapt to having less oxygen.

Using the 4 different adaptations for high altitudes an example of race could be explained through the Tibetans, Andeans, and Ethiopians because of their genetic adaptations to their environment. This has happened because they've lived there for many generations and are no longer affected by any of the symptoms. But besides them there are many more different races and cultures in our world and it would not be accurate enough to use race because of the lack to represent the differences in individuals. because of this it would be better to use the variations in the environments and climates to see how individuals or species adapt on their own.

Language

Part 1

  The first part of this experiment was actually pretty challenging. I attempted it with my younger sister. the whole time it was actually pretty amusing because of how complicated it was to communicate without words to the person i talk all day and everyday. Without words we would literally have to get up and act things out or make funny motions to get each others attention. our gestures were at times really helpful but if or when we had to repeat them multiple times either me or her would give up in trying to get our point across.we were actually doing pretty well till she ended up getting frustrated when she was trying to ask for help and i had no idea what she was implying. this challenge made it clear how important verbal communication is in our lives. 

  It was interesting to see that my little sister was actually the one taking control of the conversation. but that really didnt surprise me since she's the loudest in my family and loves to talk to everyone and anyone. i feel in her mindset it was all a game and being as competitive as she is she was not gonna be the one to talk first. But of course her being a chatterbox she did which did not surprise me either.  

  In my opinion the culture with the spoken language would have the advantage in communicating complex ideas. i think this because complex ideas could be extremely important and would need to be clearly expressed. as for if they were to use symbolic language an important piece of information could be misunderstood or even missed. An example of two cultures today could be humans and animals. animals can not verbally communicate to people. for example if a pet needs something it cant verbally ask its owner for it. so the animal will try to get the owners attention and the person will observe the pets actions and behaviors to figure out what an animal might need.

Part 2 

  The second part of the experiment seemed more demanding then the first. It surprised me that this part was actually way more challenging. It took us about five tries before we could even get a solid sentence following the rules. even after that sentence we could only keep the seriousness for maybe one minute. besides that minute we struggled with our hand movements and facial expressions. whatever we were able to say we could definitely understand clearly but it made everything very difficult to wasn't seriously because of how weird we looked not being able to move or put emotion behind our words. 

  in my opinion the experiment showed that movement is very important. i feel that expression through movement and verbal communication are necessary together to make things clearly understood. a persons movements can literally set the tone for the conversion they are having. movements and expressions are what we use to show the difference between something serious and something with no seriousness. body language is one of the characteristics that makes us human and help by making communication easier between one another. being able to observe a persons body language is an advantage because it helps by being able to read and predict peoples actual feelings and emotions. a situation were body language might not be a reliable source could be if a person has an extremely serious facial expression someone might perceive them as them being mean or rude and non approachable. But in reality they could be the friendliest and kind person you could meet. which is why it is important not to judge someone without giving the opportunity to get to know them first.

Piltdown Hoax

 1. The Piltdown Hoax was brought to our attention in 1912 by scientist Charles Dawson. he claimed that a workman had given him a fragment of a jaw bone a few years before. the Pitdown hoax is a site located in England. Charles with the help of others decided to continue digging and was able to find other parts. but then many years later they came to the conclusion that their rare findings were all forged even the original. if the findings would've been real this would have the effected the scientific community by supporting Darwin's evolution theory. 

2. all scientists are very motivated people. I feel with this scenario negatively affected the scientific process was because all possibilities or explanations were over looked of how that piece of skull couldve come to be. Dawson and the others who helped had immediately jumped to the conclusion the skull could connect primates and humans. This possibly happened because of all the commotion and the pressure to make a grand scientific discovery Dawson had put on himself.

3. a scientist in 1949 tested all the fossils together by using fluorine but this just made the discovery more confusing when the fossils had a similar amount. A few years later Joseph Weiner had taken a closer look at the fossils and to his surprise he found that the teeth were actually grinned down and asked Kenneth Oakley to confirm his findings. over time scientists were able to use more advance testing to finally the determine that all the fossils did not belong together

4. i think it would be possible to remove the human factor but it it wouldn't be smart because our curiosity is what brings new ideas theories and findings to science. without and curiosity science would not have came to the conclusions it has today such as intriguing many others to clarify certain things just like the scientists that worked together here to investigate. 

5. what i learned through this event is that not everything we read or are taught is true. in our world today it is it is always better to investigate and build our knowledge through research. it never hurts to ask questions and to become well informed about anything you want to know.

Homologous and Analogous Traits

Homologous Trait

  

Two different species that possess a homologous trait would be humans and cats. Even though both of the species may look completely different the similarities lies in between the anatomy of both. the least noticeable but amazing similar trait would be in the limbs.

 The limbs of both humans and cats are built similarly. The human arm contains a bone structure of the humerus, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals, and the phalanges. the main differences between the structure would be where the support is in the limbs. Cats have more in phalanges because that is their main base of their paw when they walk and their ulna is longer then a humans to support the humerus and radius. 

Researchers recently found that the common ancestor of these two species would’ve been a small rat like insect eater that lived a few years after the dinosaurs but is now extinct

Analogous Trait

The two different species that possess analogous traits are a penguin and a fish. you might think these animals are completely different but they both have fin like structures.

 These fin like structures are very important to both animals. they help make it easier for both species to maneuver through their marine environments. but since one is a fish and the other a bird the trait can not be homologous. it is made obvious that the fin evolved for both species because it was their way of being able to adapt to their environments 
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The ancestors i found for both of these species were very different. researchers found that the penguin's oldest ancestor was a larger 36 million year bird they named Icadyptes salasi. The fishes oldest ancestor was a smaller fish that they traced back over 530 million years ago named ostracodermsso. i dont believe there could be a genetically common descent because of how different both species are. It makes sense that both of these species evolved with fins because it was what was necessary for them to adapt and survive in their environments.

          

DNA

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