Human Variation and Race

A high level of solar radiation is an environmental stress that can negatively impact the survival of humans by disturbing homeostasis.  UVA and UVB radiation are dangerous impacts resulting from sun exposure and can penetrate our skin deep into the dermis layer. Although this sounds dangerous some exposure to sun is healthy, it all has to be done in moderation. The pro of UV rays is that it allows our body to produce Vitamin D.  When our bodies are not exposed to these rays in moderation we can experience, what is called, overexposure the cons of this are: sunburns and damage to our skin which can result in skin cancer. On the opposing side, not enough Vitamin D being produced in the body can cause high blood pressure and skeletal deformities (seen in the pelvis).  Skin cancer and deformities are considered damage to our genetics and in result disturbs our homeostasis and negatively impacts the survival of the human species.

Short-Term Adaptation

Unfortunately humans do not have a short term adaptation to overexposure to solar radiation. In result we will burn without proper protection such as sunscreen.

Facultative Adaptation

A facultative adaptation that we have from UV rays is when our skin tans. The tan color of our skin occurs when we are exposed to these rays and sunlight; our bodies produce a protection in our skin with an increase in melanin.  The increase of melanin in our skin may last for a while, but with reduced exposure to the sun and UV rays there too, will be a reduction in melanin. This is why in the winter months everyone’s complexion is much fairer and in the summer much darker.

Developmental Adaptations

A developmental adaptation that has occurred is the natural color of our skin and the levels of melanin that make our skin color.  People with a low concentration of melanin are seen to be of much lighter complexions with those with a higher concentration are seen to be of a much darker complexion.  This difference is apparent and conclusive as we see individuals from Northern Europe with fair skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair; these individuals do not have a melanin protective barrier and thus will burn much easier. Those who live in much harsher sun exposed conditions such as areas in Africa are seen to have a darker complexion to protect them from the sun for much longer a period. Although these individuals have a longer tolerance, they too will burn if overexposed.

Cultural Adaptations

We as a society have come up with many cultural adaptations for protection from solar radiation.  Some of these include shelters, sunscreen, hats, umbrellas, and clothing.  Because of this our culture has seen a reduction for high levels of melanin needing to be produced in our skin.  Today people of all skin pigmentation are populated around the world due to travel and migration over many years.

The benefit of studying human variation across environmental clines allows us to understand and research the environmental stressors on individuals in certain populations depending on where they are or do over periods of time.  If we were to move individuals from their regular surroundings and what they have adapted to into a new environment, they too ‘overtime’ would adapt to their new surroundings.  An example of how this information from explorations can be useful to help us is how people with fair skin who live in the far north have an advantage if their skin ‘has little shielding pigmentation’.  When there is weak ultraviolet radiation the body will produce less melanin, because of this individuals with dark pigmentation will not be able to produce enough vitamin D in their bodies which can cause rickets disease and osteoporosis.  This information can help us understand the benefits and disadvantages of sun exposure and solar radiation on those with varying skin pigmentation; and also allows us to understand how these variations occurred over time.

I would use race to understand the variation of adaptations by distinguishing where in the world a group of people who have experienced very similar adaptations to stressors and where they have originated.  This will help us understand their ancestral traits and see how these traits may have developed over time.

The study of environmental influences on adaptations is a better way to understand human variation than by the use of race because we can see the how individuals have adapted to fit their environment over time.  This allows us to see patterns within people who are in the same environment or very similar ones.  It also allows us to see how humans can inherit and define our genetics whether it is to need a fair complexion or a darker one. It allows us to see that we are all the same and it is only our adaptations to the environment that is allowing us to define each other as different when we should not.

Language Blog

Part One:
I found this experiment to be somewhat difficult, but not impossible to accomplish a conversation and get a statement across.  I found that the partners of this conversation, found it to be almost exhausting.  It was like playing a game of charades for every sentence and they were loosing their patience. Soon I found them altering their questions to ones that were easier for me to answer. For example; yes and no questions.  It made it easier for me because everyone understands what a head shake up and down or left to right means yes or no.  I think the speaking culture has an advantage over the culture who uses symbolic language. I feel that people, especially in this time and day, are very impatient and don't have the time to spend and concentrate on those who are dependent on symbolic language. When we use our words we can express ourselves quickly.  Individuals who have difficulty communicating with spoken language are those in the deaf communities.  I have learned and appreciated the art of symbolic language using sign language because my sister had taken it just as an elective in high school, and turned out she was really good at it and enjoyed learning it as a second language.  Those who are fluent in sign language can communicate just as fast as those who speak when they are communicating with those who are knowledgable in sign language.  They use a lot of expression in their faces and the force of their hand movements since they do not have the inflection in their voices like those who can speak do.

Part Two:
I found this experiment very difficult; I kept trying to resist laughter as my partners and myself were speaking, one could say, monotonously.  It was confusing because you could not get a good understanding on whether someone was trying to be serious, funny, sarcastic, or was sad.  My partners were not affected because we only did the experiment for 15 minutes, but I believe that if we had to continuous for a much longer time, it could become frustrating to not be able to express yourself.  I think non-speech language techniques in our ability to communicate effectively is very important in our culture. We use it to fully understand what someone is saying, to see what we aren't saying, and to understand underlying sub-conscience feelings.  I know they use people who can read peoples actions to emotions in court rooms, it helps them try and understand if a person may be lying to the court.  Yes I believe people who are not very good in social settings are those who have difficulty reading body language.  The benefit to reading body language is to understand more than what someone is saying, we don't always say what we feel, but sometimes we show it without knowing. It helps us know when we should speak up or bite our tongues.  An environmental condition where there might be a benefit to not reading body language would be in situations in customer service. I have personal experience in this, sometimes customers and people are not the easiest to work with. As a person who is supposed to provide great customer service, you have to work really hard to not express when you are mad or frustrated. I think this would be a great place to not be able to read body language and only the outer happy expression we are supposed to show.

Piltdown Hoax

In the early 1900's (1910-1912) Charles Dawson found 'fossilized' fragments of a skull in Piltdown.  These fossils were supposedly the remains of an unknown species of an extinct hominin to which scientists believed could be a link between humans and primates; and were the oldest dated fossils yet to be discovered.  Later on in the 50's with increased knowledge on dating fossils by scientists it was found that the efforts of Dawson, Aurthur Smith Woodward, Samuel Woodhead, Martin Hinton and, Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin were all a hoax.  The new efforts of scientists to test these bones with chemical tests which proved that the bone fragments had been stained, the teeth on the jaw bone were manipulated and shaved, and the pieces matched those of a female orangutan and were only 600 years old.

These faults that come into play here in this scenario were that these pieces of bone were taken at face value and were not investigated and further researched. If these were further researched when the fossil pieces were first discovered scientists and others would have known that these were phony.  These faults negatively impacted the scientific process by affecting the integrity and honesty that scientists and professionals abide by.  This helped the scientific community build a series of honesty and ethical rules because there were so many phony stories and findings and breaches of truth and findings. Findings of scientists need to be of honest nature and research because other scientists use these findings and research to build upon new findings.

One of the main reasons for revealing the skull to be fraud was because many scientists were skeptical and they have very curious thoughts because there was really no proof so they did their own research to build upon Dawson's findings. Because technology had improved scientists were able to re-date the bones to an earlier time. The process that they used was using a newly available study process that was a fluorine absorption test and discovered that the bones were not over 500,000 years old but around 500-600 years old. Later on they discovered the bones to be a fraud and of different species and stained.

It is not possible to remove the "human" factor from science because it is our minds and thoughts and questions that bring up another ones error, or another thought on a discovery to build upon and find out something new or that was missed. I would not want to remove the aspect of human or human error because it is what keeps science going, without human questioning and curiosity we would not pursue further investigation. Yes there may be faults (on purpose or on accident), but sometimes this leads to new discoveries. This is why scientists follow the scientific method so that they can follow a guide line and save research, evidence, and proof of what they have discovered.

What I can take from this historical event regarding taking information at face value from an unverified source is that you can not always trust what you see at face value. You must investigate on your own, or look at the research. If not everything adds up, look in to it and ask questions. Asking questions is very important because without answers we can be lied to. No one questioned Dawson and didn't do so  until after his death did those in the scientific field start to investigate. If they would have asked questions and investigated early on, Dawson would not have been as prestige and honored as he 'falsely' was.

Comparing of Primates

LEMURS

Lemurs are know as Prosimians or better yet the "pre monkey".  Leumurs mostly lived in tropical regions, but some also reside in dry deserts. Today they are mostly found on the island of Madagascar and near the Comoro Islands.  There are many different species of lemurs of which most live in trees and bushes, there is only one species who lives mostly on ground level, that would be the ringtail lemur. Nocturnal lemurs tend to live alone while those who are not tend to live in social groups with others. These 'morning' lemurs eat fruits and vegetables and tend to be very vocal.  It has been found that females are the dominant gender in this species. These dominant females express very aggressive behavior upon the males to express their power.  The environment plays a big role on females successful reproduction of off springs. Female Lemurs typically give birth to one off spring per year because of the environment. Mating season is only about 7-21 days and the females all mate around the same time each year.  In whole the environment effects lemurs in many ways. Because of the harsh environment that these animals live in living in groups allow these primates to survive longer and better because of the social benefits and the greater force of finding food, rather than the nocturnal ones who live on their own and have a lower success rate in survival. This also goes along with the small birth rate because of the environment that disadvantages the species in reproducing.

SPIDER MONKEY

Spider monkeys are under the family of New World Monkeys who are 'limited to tropical forest environments of southern Mexico, Central, and South America."  Spider monkeys live most of their lives up very high from the forest floors in the canopies.  They tend to live in groups of several dozen, but will move around independently in the area that the group is living.  The females tend to be the dominant one in this species as well.  Each female will produce one offspring every 3 - 4 year and the females are solely responsible for raising the offspring.  Because there is such a big group these primates plan out their foraging routes and plan where they will get food depending on how plentiful or scarce the supply is. These primates are small animals compared to the many big predators that leaves them up in the trees, this limits how and where they get their food, also the environment of scarce food at times and their level on the food chains has mothers spacing the amount of time between their offspring. This allows them to care for one baby until they can fend for themselves, mothers tend to carry their baby's on their back while the babies cling on.

BABOON 

The Baboon is within the Old World Monkey family. Old World Monkeys occupy many different environments in South and East Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the tip of Spain.  Some of the environments that they live in within these regions are tropical forest, arid grasslands, and mountain areas with heavy snows.  Baboons form troops that are very large, that contains a hierarchy.  These primates spend lots of time with one another, females especially tend to stay in a matrilineal group, while males have tendencies to move from many groups; these primates tend to be polygamous. Due to the hierarchy of this species, allows for the ones of higher stature to take food and water from those of lower rank. This in turn, especially during harsh seasonal conditions, can cause reproductive harm and sickness, and death. 

GIBBON

Gibbons are part of the ape family, specifically Hylobatidae; these primates originated from Southeast Asia.  They spend most of their time in trees in tropical rain forests.  These primates are very social and group together in small families much similar to humans (parents and off spring) and stay with the same mate for their life span.  Gibbons can only have one offspring at a time. Due to the destruction of rain forests, the Gibbons natural habitat, it is making it near to impossible for these small family groups to survive and defend themselves when trees are being cut down. Not only are Gibbon disappearing due to this, their slow 7month pregnancy with only one offspring makes it hard for a speedy reproductions of this species, making them endangered.

CHIMPANZEE

Chimpanzees are also part of the ape family known also as Hominidae and are found to originate in Africa.  They live in areas that are humid canopy forests, dry forests, and savannas.  These primates are very social and live in groups where the males are dominant.  Males are very closely bonded and stay in these social groups for life.  The only time the group breaks up is to go foraging for food. Because the males are dominant they can protect the group from harms way while the females can produce offspring and care for them.

Overall the environment seems to play a big role on impacting the sociality and mating patterns of these five species of primates.  This goes into how scarce food is, how harsh the elements are, and how prone to enemies these species are in their environment.  This in turn influences mating patterns and how social these animals are with one another.  Species who are not going extinct due to the deterioration of their habitat (who are not adapting well to this new environment) and those who are in smaller groups tend to effect their survival and reproduction rate. While those who are in big groups are able to find more food and protect one another.

Old World Monkey Habitat

Baboon Sociality and Mating 

New World Monkey Habitat

Spider Monkey Sociality and Mating 

Lemurs Habitat

Lemur Sociality and Mating

Ape Family Habitat

GIbbon Sociality and Mating 

Chimpanzee Mating and Sociality 

Analogy and Homology Comparison

Homologus Traits

The two species that acquire the Homologus Trait are chimpanzees and humans. There is much debate about the relationship of evolution in regards to humans and primates, but humans and primates have some similar traits. The trait I am focusing on between the two species are opposable thumbs.

"Homologous traits are evidence of a shared ancestry."  Although there are many similarities to human and chimpanzee hands there are also differences which set them apart and have them on different branches.  The human hand's thumb is longer, more muscular, and more mobile than a primates thumb; there other fingers are shorter and flatter in comparison to primates.  The Chimpanzee's thumb is much shorter to create a better grasp for swinging on trees, along with their longer and curved fingers to assist with that task as well. Primates hands are also not as flexible because they use their knuckles for walking and need more support.

Chimpanzees and Humans originate from the animalia kingdom within the Mammalia class.The class the Anthropoidea came before the Hominoidea (apes and humans) branch according to the textbook Introduction to Physical Anthropology. The earliest fossils were found in East Africa.  These decedents are distinguished from old world monkeys by a larger nasal and palate region and larger brains.  Their hands and arms continued to evolve and develop.

Analogous Traits

Two species who have an Analogous Trait are dolphin fins and shark fins.  Both sharks and dolphins are species found to live in the depths of the ocean and survive within this environment. But they have evolved from two different species and their development of fins was pressured by their environment.

Dolphins evolved from Artiodactyla and is in the same family as hippos.  Dolphins lineage does not have any line of previous mammals who have fins.  Also, the shark has evolved from fish, making these two species Analogous.  The fins of sharks are very rigid and sturdy because they are supported by cartilage.  The fins of dolphins do not have this kind of support. Their fins are held up by collagen fibers.  The development of these fins was for the purpose of stability in water while swimming is what some researchers are saying.

Works Cited

"Anthropoids." Eskeletons. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. <http://www.eskeletons.org/treecat.html>.

"Using Homologies to Reconstruct Relationships." Using Homologies to Reconstruct Relationships. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. <http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/similarity_hs_11>.

Protein Synthesis

TRY AND DECODE! :)

CATTTACACGTGCACCGTTATATAAGAGAGCTTGAGTACCGCTATATTAATCCTAA

Historical Influences on Darwin

The contribution that Thomas Malthus made to Darwin’s Theory was of the most important. It is what got him Darwin and Wallace to expand their mind on a theory as to how evolution can occur. He published a book called Essay on the Principle of Population which got the ball rolling on Darwin’s concept of evolution theory.  The article states that his book “warned fellow Englishmen that most policies designed to help the poor were doomed because of the relentless pressure of population growth.  A nation could easily double its population in a few decades leading to famine and misery for all.” Darwin believed this could be related to animals and plants.  But as humans, and animals and plants included, we are not reproducing at unmanageable rate because the environment does not allow us to “reproduce to our full potential.”  “…The world is not overrun with them (bugs), or any other species, because they cannot reproduce to their full potential.  Many die before they become adults.  They are vulnerable to droughts and cold winters and other environmental assaults.  And their food supply, like that of a nation, is not infinite.  Individuals must compete…for what little food there is”.

Malthus helped answer questions such as: Do all organisms have the potential of reproducing exponentially? What is preventing organisms from reproducing at their potential? Do limited resources affect organisms and their environment? Will organisms with better access to resources be more successful in their reproductive efforts?

1. He states that in a perfect world where resources were limited and there was no outside force of survival instinct then this could be true, but naturally no animal, human, or plant has that potential.
2. The limited amount of resources food, water and environment, Malthus explained, was what limited organism from producing because they did not have the resources that they needed to survive.
3. Yes, the previous two statements answer this question in depth.
4. Yes, with more accesses to resources the better chance at successful reproduction is possible.

Darwin could have not come up with his theory of natural selection because Malthus theory of limited resources greatly ties in with this concept.  Darwin and Wallace had the idea they just needed the proof behind it which Malthus gave.  The idea that the environment, an outside force of which cannot be stopped because the earth can only give and take so much, led way to Darwin’s idea of natural selection. 

The churches had much influence, especially scientists, over society when their comments or actions stepped outside the boundaries of religion.  Because of this scientists had a difficult time speaking out about their thoughts, theories, and discoveries in fear of being ridiculed or worse. Because of Malthus’ book Essay on the Principle of Population it allowed Darwin and Wallace to develop the theory of natural selection with proof and evidence. This gave him the backing of his theories for evolution and natural selection and thus Darwin’s Theory was developed along with his book The Origin of Species.

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_14