Human Variation & Race

Human variation occurs because of the different types of environmental stress that take places and impact the human race.  The different types of stress that cause this impact are cold, heat, high levels of solar radiation, and high altitude. I chose to explore more about the stress that cold inflicts because I personally hate cold weather.

Cold weather negatively impacts the survival of humans because humans can only get accustomed to a very limited degree of coldness, so if the weather is extremely cold, the human survival rate decreases. Cold stress can lead to frostbite, hypothermia, and ultimately death.  Since we are of tropical origins it is even harder for us to adapt to cold climates.  

There are many ways in which we adjust to the different type of environmental stresses that we might face, for example:

1.     Short Term: Our bodies begin to shiver after reaching a certain degree below the normal body temperature, after a certain amount of elapsed time our bodies stop shivering and begin to suffer from hypothermia. 

2.     Facultative: People that live in cold climates are already adapted to the cold. As time passes, the basal metabolic rate in their bodies increases in order to adapt to the type of climate that they live in. 

3.     Developmental: Humans that live in cold climates are more likely to have a higher amount of body mass than the average human in order to hold in a higher amount of heat internally. 

4.     Cultural:  Diet can have a major impact in the way species adjust, especially humans. The main diet for those that live in cold climates is usually protein and fat because vegetation is pretty much non-existent.  

As proven above human variation allows us to see the difference in the human race not only physically but culturally as well and how we may or may not evolve over time. Explorations such as the one that we conducted today help us understand how others survive, what we as a race are capable of and how to help others that may be in need but that live under a different type of environmental stress.

I would use race to understand the variation of adaptations if I was considering the entire human race as a whole. If I was only dealing with one or two individuals I wouldn’t be able to categorize by race because that’s dominantly based on skin color.  The study of environmental influences on adaptations is a better way to understand human variation because different races can go under the same type of environmental stress and same races can go under different types of environmental stress, for example not all people from South Africa have dark skin and dark hair, there are plenty of South Africans that I personally know who have light skin, light hair and blue eyes but both groups are not considered to be the same race.

Language

Part 1:

My attempt to engage in a conversation with my sister for 15 minutes without using symbolic language was unsuccessful to say the least. I found it very difficult because I communicate on a day to day basis with speech.  

My sister had absolutely no idea what I was trying to say. She stared at me with the most confused face I have ever seen. I'm not sure if that means she isn’t the brightest light bulb in the room or if I looked like an untamed chimpanzee. It was difficult to stay in character and not say a word because we both kept laughing. There was a few occasions where I would shout a sentence out of frustration and she would respond, "That's nothing close to what you gestured!" . I don't think I am the only person who had difficulties with this form of communication because society in general is used to talking all the time, even if it's excessive.

If we had been two different cultures meeting for the first time, I would think the person who lives in an environment that required them to adapt to communicating without symbolic language would have an advantage.

The people who use symbolic language most likely look down on the people who do not use symbolic language. I say that because symbolic language is so common in this day and age, it's like breathing. So someone who is unable to communicate using symbolic language could be absolutely shocking and unbelievable to most people.

Nail salons are a prime example of communication difficulty among individuals. Most employees at nail salons have came over seas and only speak Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, etc. A description of a typical nail salon customer is a Caucasian female who speaks only English. I have seen many instances where customers get irritated with the employees because they do not understand the specifications of what type of service they would like. On the other hand, employees at these salons get frustrated trying to explain themselves to their customers and normally give up on their attempt and do whatever the customer wants.

Part 2:

My attempt to communicate with my sister only using speech was almost as difficult as not being able to use any speech. I am partially Italian and if you know anything about Italians you know they're loud and use hand gestures for everything.

            I'm almost certain my sister thought I was wearing a strap attaching my arms to my waist. Standing completely still made my voice go monotone and I felt like a statue. As a result my sister was completely bored with the conversation and felt it was bland.

I believe the use of  "signs" and non-speech language techniques in our language is very important because it adds animation and life to the topic that is being discussed.

There are people who have difficulty reading body language because they're not use to or don't understand it. The ability to read another person's body language is helpful because you could establish if the person is being truthful or not. For example, when I say, "Hey let's go to the gym!" and my sister says, "Ok"  while dragging her feet, I know she doesn't really want to go. But if she says, "Ok" and shoots out of her chair, I know she wants to go.

I feel the best situation to be incapable of reading a person's body language is in a hospital. Seeing a person in pain is not a pretty sight. It's sad, depressing, and would make me feel bad for not being able to do anything in that second to relieve them from their pain.

Piltdown Hoax

In Piltdown, England during the year of 1912, an amateur archaeologist named Charles Dawson made a jaw dropping discovery. During the summer of 1912 Dawson found an ancient human skull in a gravel pit that was perhaps a million years old. He asked Arthur Smith Woodward and Father Pierre Tayyar to accompany him in his dig. While digging in the pit the three made discoveries of various fossils. Among their discoveries was a jaw bone thought to have been part of the same skull Dawson discovered. The jaw appeared to be that of an ape’s but its teeth resembled that of a human’s. This led them to believe they had discovered living organism that developed from an ape and evolved into a human. In December of 1912, Woodward announced their discoveries and scientists were extremely enthusiastic. They named the discovered fossil the Piltdown Man. Arthur Keith was among the enthusiastic scientists at this time because the Piltdown Man supported his theory that humans developed a big brain before gaining the ability to walk upright. We now know that statement is false. The ability to walk upright was developed before the development of a bigger brain. Over the following three years, Dawson, Woodward, and Tayyar made many more fossil discoveries hushing people’s suspicions. For the next decade, the model of the Piltdown Man dominated research on human evolution. Dawson’s death in 1916 brought a halt to anymore fossil discoveries contributing to the Piltdown Man. In 1920, scientists made discoveries of ancient remains in Asia and Africa. These remains were thought to have been human ancestors that lived hundreds of thousands of years after the Piltdown Man. That meant the new discoveries did not jive with the Piltdown Man.

The turning point was after World War II. Scientists came up with a technique to better date fossils; measuring the fluorine content. In 1949, scientists conducted the fluorine test on the Piltdown Man fossils and discovered they were roughly a hundred thousand years old, which was relatively young. In 1953, the first full scale analysis with better dating methods was developed. After running that analysis on the Piltdown fossils, it was concluded that the fossils had been artificially stained and the teeth seemed to have been filed down. This meant the fossils were probably cut and put together after they were fossilized. It was then discovered that the jaw bone belonged to a female orangutan and dated to less than one hundred years ago. All of this led scientists to believe the Piltdown Man was forged.

Naturally, Charles Dawson was the prime suspect for the hoax. The discoveries of the fossils for the Piltdown Man began with him and halted when he died. Arthur Woodward was either Dawson’s coconspirator or he was deceived because he continued his dig after Dawson’s death. Father Pierre Tayyar was never suspected to be a part of the hoax because he simply wasn’t involved long enough to have contributed. Arthur Keith however could have benefitted substantially from the Piltdown Man’s discovery because it provided him with principle evidence for his pet theory on human evolution.

Carved bones found in an old trunk at the Natural History Museum in 1975 were analyzed by scientists in 1996. The analysis concluded the bones were modern artifacts with stains consistent with those of the Piltdown Man’s. These artifacts belonged to Martin Hinton. This made scientists think Hinton could have taken part in the hoax or could’ve made them as an experiment while helping investigate the fraud in the 1950s.

All humans lie or cheat at some point in their life. No matter how small or large the lie, a lie is a lie. No matter how serious or playful the scenario, cheating is cheating. Scientists are human so they cannot be held at a different standard. Before the Piltdown Man Hoax, it was not believed that a scientist would commit such a serious fraud. But, this hoax showed scientists that the praise received from such ground breaking discoveries inflicts a great deal of pride and accomplishment. All scientists want to make amazing, historical discoveries. Not all of them are capable or have the resources necessary. This does not mean they should follow Charles Dawson’s footsteps and create a hoax but being human and having a craving for praise, they might.

The human factor should not be removed from scientific equation. As humans, we make mistakes, learn, and grow. If a scientist is proven to be wrong about something, colleagues should analyze the mistake, find a way to correct it, and share it so the scientist can learn from the mistake made. The support among scientists is a crucial tool that aids historic discoveries.

This historical event supported my current belief of confirming information. I don’t think it’s smart to be gullible. You should always find supporting fact for information given by others. Don’t think just because someone is nice or part of your family that they won’t lie. Everyone lies but not everyone is naïve.

Comparing Primates

LEMURS (POSIMIANS/STREPSIRHINI)

1.   ENVIRONMENT: Lemurs are petite prosimians that are native to the island of Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. They reside in rainforests and spend the majority of their time on tree tops or in the forest midlevel, with the exception of the ring-tailed lemur that spends most of its time on the ground. Madagascar’s harsh seasonal climate forces lemurs to adapt to survive. For example, they store fat, have strict mating seasons, and hibernate when food sources are scarce. Ring-tailed lemurs, brown lemurs, and sifakas live in groups, stay awake during the day, and sleep at night. Mouse lemurs, Aye-Aye lemurs and dwarf lemurs stay awake at night and sleep during the day.

2.   LOCOMOTION: Being quadrupedal, lemurs use all four limbs for locomotion. Their strong hand and fingers help them climb trees while their muscular legs are useful for jumping from tree to tree.

3.   ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE ON LOCOMOTION: Since lemurs are located in the forest, they’re locomotor patterns have adapted rather well. They’ve developed sufficient arm and leg strength allowing them to climb and jump from tree to tree.

     SPIDER MONKEY (NEW WORLD MONKEY/PLATYRRHINI)

1.   ENVIRONMENT: Spider monkeys reside in tropical rainforests located in Central and South America and are sometimes seen in Mexico. Some species even live in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. They’re most efficient in evergreen and mangrove forests. These monkeys live on the highest parts of trees and prefer not to be disturbed so they almost never come down.

2.   LOCOMOTION: Spider monkeys have very flexible and strong tails used as extra limbs to climb trees. They also have very long fore and hind limbs, hook-shaped hands, and extra mobility in their shoulder joints. Their three common locomotions are:

a)   Quadrupedal- Use all four limbs when walking or running.

b)   Suspensory- Swinging of their arms going one branch to another and maintaining a tail hold.

c)    Bipedalism- Use two limbs when leaping, walk and run on two legs, and travel mainly by swinging.

Other forms of movement are scurrying along tree limbs and taking leaps between small gaps between trees.

3.   ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE ON LOCOMOTION: The spider monkeys strong tail is one of its most beneficial body parts when it comes to its environment. It allows them to gather food with two hands while hanging off its tail. Since they stay on high tree tops, their strong grip and locomotion abilities gives them access to obtaining bird eggs, nuts, leaves, and spiders.

BABOON (OLD WORLD MONKEY/CERCOPITHECIDAE)

1.   ENVIRONMENT: Living in Africa and Asia, Baboons prefer savannas and other semi-arid habitats. Very few baboons live in tropical forests. They spend most of their time on ground but sleep in tall trees or cliff faces.

2.   LOCOMOTION: Baboons are digitigrades quadrupedalists; they walk on their toes and don’t let their heels touch the ground. Spending most of their time on the ground they primarily only climb trees to avoid predators, find food, or sleep. They do not have the ability to grip things with their tails.

3.   ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE ON LOCOMOTION: Since baboons spend most of their time on the ground, they walk on their digits (toes) so the soles of their feet don’t get damaged. Being on the ground so frequently also eliminates the need for them to develop a strong tail which New World Monkeys use to grip onto tree branches while collecting food. Baboons also have ischial callosities (rough areas on their buttocks) which allows them to sit for a long amount of time on the hard ground.

GIBBON (LESSER APE/HYLOBATIDAE)

1.   ENVIRONMENT: Gibbons reside in subtropical rainforests from Northeast India, Indonesia, and Southern China. Being arboreal animals, they spend almost no time on the ground, they move tree to tree by swinging their arms between branches.

2.   LOCOMOTION: Gibbons are brachiators; swing tree to tree in a hand over motion. Their long arms and curved fingers help them sing from tree to tree. They’re brachiating ability is so far developed that they can go as fast as 35mph.

3.   ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE ON LOCOMOTION: Since gibbons live spend 99% of their time in trees; the adaption of their arms is the most helpful to them. Their arms are strong, elongated, and have curved fingers giving them exceptional grasping abilities for when they’re brachiating from tree to tree.

    CHIMPANZEE (GREAT APE/HOMINIDAE)

1.   ENVIRONMENT: Chimpanzees live in social areas located in African rainforests, grasslands, and woodlands. They are primarily vegetarians sometimes but the males sometimes eat insects, eggs, and meat.

2.   LOCOMOTION: Chimpanzees are quadrupedalists and they “knuckle walk”. They also show signs of bipedal locomotion by standing and walking up straight. Chimpanzees also have elongated arms used for brachiating when they’re swinging from tree to tree.

3.   ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE ON LOCOMOTION: Having multiple locomotive abilities, chimpanzees can “knuckle walk” at a high speed to avoid predators and use their elongated arms to travel when brachiating. Their bipedal abilities also allow them to search for food and collect at the same time. 

SUMMARY

          Environmental circumstances greatly influence behavioral and physical traits. All five of the primates analyzed are all so alike. The main difference is their locomotion patterns. Their locomotion patterns are a direct correlation of the environment they live in. Arboreal environment ® brachiating is used as the main type of locomotion and the primates normally have elongated arms. Terrestrial environment® quadrupedal and the primate’s arms are proportioned to their legs. So, as you can see from the previous two sentences, the environment in which these five primates live in affect their physical traits.