1.5: Human biological diversity Flashcards
Does diversity reduce or increase the further you get from the equator?
Reduce
How is language diversity distributed in terms of continents?
Europe has little diversity
Small islands have a lot of diversity
Reduction of diversity the further you get from the equator
How many languages are there in Papua New Guinea?
851
What were the 5 popular Western views on race in 1800s?
There is no connection between humans on different continents
Different races are different species; not related
Essentialism: the races are static and created by God and should never be mixed
There are superior and inferior races (Human Zoo showed hierarchy of the races)
Interbreeding of races leads to degeneration (Abraham Lincoln did not want social and political equality of white and black races and thought they should not be mixed)
What was Darwin’s view (1871) on the phenotypic classification of race?
‘Races graduate into each other…you cannot distinguish them’, ‘various races have similar inventive or mental powers’
What were Darwin’s 4 theories in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex
Humans have evolved from a common ancestor shared with apes
Africa was their place of origin
Natural selection was not the only evolutionary pressure at work
Races could be the product of sexual selection
Give three examples of how cultural differences have been misrepresented historically
1857: German miners working at the Feldhofer Grotto in the Neander valley dug up a skullcap – it looked human but was remarkably thick and had massive brow ridge; Thomas Huxley argued hat Europeans had the best-developed brains compared to aborigines with skulls similar to the Neander skull
Eugene Dubois found the first homo erectus in Indonesia and traced a primate tree to show how races supposedly evolved
Charles Dalson – Piltdown Man Hoax: he did not believe we evolved from smaller brained individuals, therefore he planted a fake skull – this delayed findings for 40 years
Describe the two hypotheses that theorised human migration from Africa:
Single origin hypothesis (‘out of Africa’/replacement theory): homo erectus in Africa 1-2 million years ago, 100,000 years homo sapiens in Africa, homo sapiens migrate to Europe, Asia and Australasia
Multiregional evolution: homo erectus in Africa 1-2 million years ago, homo erectus migrated to Europe, Asia and Australasia, 100,000 year ago they interbred
Which hypothesis for human migration from Africa is more reliable?
Evidence against multiregional: skull measurements of homo erectus and modern humans
Evidence for single origin:
Mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome – trace back to ‘Adam and Eve’ (about 2000 years ago modern humans emerged)
A lot of evidence from fossil records that modern humans emerged in Ethiopia – but contemporary evidence shows that a lot of remains were found in Asia at the same time
Where and when did humans evolve?
Humans evolved in Africa about 200 years ago; they have single origin
What percentage of genetic similarity are humans and chimps?
98%
What percentage of genetic similarity are all humans around the world?
99.9%
Is there greater variance within populations or between populations?
90% difference between individuals of the same population
10% difference between individuals of different populations
Was Darwin’s view (1871) on the phenotypic classification of race correct, and why?
Yes, we cannot separate humans by race
Because there is little genetic variance between individuals of different populations
Which is the most diverse continent?
Africa
