Human Variation and Race Blog

High altitude affects the survival of humans negatively because even though high altitude and the sea level have the same percentage of oxygen, high altitude’s air pressure is 30% lower because the atmosphere is less dense.  This means, that the air molecules are farther apart.  At high altitudes, since the air pressure is lower it makes it more difficult for oxygen to enter our vascular systems and the result of this is hypoxia or oxygen deprivation.  Hypoxia usually starts with not being able to do normal physical activities such as climbing a set of stairs.  There can also be a lack of appetite, distorted vision, and difficulty with memorizing and thinking clearly.  If you are not able to adjust to high altitudes say when you go on a vacation, you may develop some symptoms that will let you know that you need to go back down to sea level.  In some serious cases, high altitude can lead to a fatality if the person cannot acclimatize correctly.  This environmental stress negatively affects the survival of humans because our body is not equipped to handle such drastic climate changes.  Our body is more susceptible to health problems in higher altitudes because of the fall in atmospheric pressure. 

Our bodies do a short-term adaptation to high altitudes by acclimatizing itself.  Acclimatization is where our bodies produce more red blood cells and capillaries to carry more oxygen.  Our lungs will increase their size to facilitate osmosis of oxygen and carbon dioxide.  The vascular network of muscle, which enhances the transfer of gases, also increases.  

A facultative adaptation that our bodies do when going into higher altitudes is producing more hemoglobin to carry oxygen throughout our bodies.  In order to do this you would need to take an IRON vitamin.  Iron produces hemoglobin.  In doing this you are helping your body acclimate to high altitudes by not stressing the body to much to produce more blood cells and capillaries to carry the oxygen.  

Humans that is more likely to be able to develop in a high altitude area better than most is someone whose ancestors have lived at high altitudes for thousands of years.  Since some peoples ancestors lived in high altitudes for so long, they are usually genetically more suited for the stresses at high altitudes. The solution for the Indians in the high mountain valleys of Peru and Bolivia has been that they are able to produce more hemoglobin in their blood and to increase their lung expansion capability.  Both of these things results in an increase of oxygen that is carried by the blood.  Tibetans and Nepalese live in higher altitudes and they generally breathe faster in order to take in more oxygen and to have broader arteries and capillaries.  This allows an increased rate of blood flow and subsequently greater amounts of oxygen delivered throughout their bodies even though they have relatively low hemoglobin levels.

A cultural adaptation that many people who climb or hike to higher altitudes for enjoyment or to conquer a goal they have set for themselves, have started using oxygen tanks.  The oxygen tanks help them to breathe since they are experiencing hypoxia.  The oxygen allows them to climb to higher altitudes without experiencing severe hypoxia symptoms.  It also helps the body to not work as hard to produce more red blood cells and capillaries to carry more oxygen. 

One of the benefits of studying human variation from this perspective across environmental clines is that, researches believe that living in higher altitude can actually help people that need to lose weight, lose it!  Researches say this probably happens because higher altitudes cause decreased appetite and your body is burning more calories in the higher altitude than it would by working out.  I think this is good because there are a lot of people who would rather not work out but still eat unhealthy.  Eating unhealthy and being overweight is not good for our bodies and causes many health risks.  Even though being in a higher altitude also causes many health risks, I think that living in a higher altitude is productive for people who are overweight and need to lose the weight in order to become healthier.  Even though there are, health risks living in a higher altitude if your body acclimates properly you should be good.

I would use race to understand the variation of the adaptations because it is in our genes and our ancestors culture as to why some humans have an easier time either living or adapting to high altitudes than others do.  If you trace back through history we would be able to figure out why the ancestors of the Indians in Peru and Bolivia chose to live in a higher altitude than settling everywhere else.  Race is traced back into almost everything if you think about it.  Every culture and race is different and has different ways of doing things and different beliefs.  There are races who believe in medicine men and medicine women to heal their wounded and sick.  Those cultures have their own truth and belief behind everything they do just like our culture does too.  Our ancestors settled where they did due to the reasons they have, that is why there are races that live in high altitudes and are able to handle that type of climate and there are races that cannot handle that climate and are not able to acclimate well.  So yes I would use race to understand the variation because I believe so many answers can be answered that way because of our ancestors history.

Language Blog

Part 1:

For the first part of this experiment, I found it extremely difficult to not speak.  I use my hands all the time when I am talking so that was not so hard for me.  My boyfriend and a few of my friends had a very hard time understanding me.  I almost felt like I was playing a game of charades.  It was very frustrating because in my mind with my hand gestures and the way I was explaining things without talking was making sense to me but to the others in the room they were having a very hard time trying to figure out what I was talking about.  I almost felt like I should have just sat in silence and let the rest of the room carry on with their conversations.  There were so many times I wanted to join in the conversation but knew that I could not speak with my voice.  Everyone in the room started to get a little annoyed with the fact that I could not speak.  My boyfriend and friends are the types who like things verbalized and explained to them and I was unable to do so, so it also became frustrating for them.

 I think that if this involved two different cultures that met for the first time I think that the ones who would be able to use their voices would be able to communicate better.  I think not being able to have a voice and be heard it is harder to communicate especially if you cannot sign or write down what you are trying to say.  I think an attitude that a speaking culture would have with a culture that can only use symbolic language would be frustrating and irritating.  They may feel like they would not accomplish anything because it could take them longer to understand what the symbolic culture is trying to say.  I would say Scientist use symbolic language in our culture today.  They do this for some research so others do not know what they are talking about.  Let’s say for instance there is an intern at a research center who does not know the symbolic language that other researches do.  This intern would have a very hard time understanding the researchers and scientist and I believe that would become very frustrating.  I think the intern could almost feel incompetent because he or she has know idea what they are talking about.

Part 2:

For the second half of this experiment, I had a hard time not using my hands.  I use hand gestures almost every time I speak.  I guess I did not realize how often I use and rely on symbolic language.  I ended up having to sit on the couch on top of my hands and not moving so that I would not use any type of symbolic language.  I almost felt like this experiment was harder than not using your voice to speak.  I do not think that my boyfriend or friends thought anything of me not using any type of symbolic language.  I think they more so cared that I could speak and were able to understand what I was saying.  What made this experiment the most difficult for me was that I actually had to concentrate to not move my head or give attitude with my body language and to not use my hands.  I felt almost trapped not being able to use any type of symbolic language.

I think that the use of “signs” in our language is very important.  I almost feel that signs add meaning to verbal language or that signs as in moving the head or hand or giving attitude with your voice makes whatever you are talking about that much  more important.  I see know that symbolic language or non-speech language is very effective in communicating because for me it gets the point across more than just verbal speaking. 

I do think that there are people who have difficulty-reading body language.  I know for one my boyfriend does.  He takes something I say very different if I have a certain type of body language going on than what I actually meant.  Therefore, there is a downside to not being able to read body language.  I think if you are the type of person who can read body language then you have quite a bit of an edge over others.  Being able to read body language helps to know how to take a comment or a conversation and to know what people are actually meaning and not insinuating what someone means.  I think that the type of environment where you wouldn’t want to be able to read or know about body language is when your meeting someone you don’t know.  You want to be as nice, personable, and professional as you can be when meeting someone new.  You do not want to come off with body language that has people thinking your standoffish and rude. 

Piltdown Man

The Piltdown Hoax was found in Piltdown Common is Sussex England in the early 1900’s.  I went ahead and researched the topic a little more because it caught my interest.  In the beginning of the video, it states that who found the Piltdown man remains a mystery to do this day.  However, in most of the articles I have read as well as later on in the video, they state that Charles Dawson is the one who found the Piltdown man.  When the Piltdown man was first found, the scientific community was ecstatic.  They thought that Dawson had found the missing link between humans and apes.

Scientists ended up discovering the hoax when they started to look more closely at the fossils.  They did a fluorine test that measured the fluorine content on the fossils so that scientist could roughly date the age of the fossils.  The remains showed that they were rather young.  They then launched a full-scale analysis on the fossils.  It showed that the remains had been stained and were superficial and the material had been cut when the bones had already been fossilized.  The scientists then looked at the Piltdown mans teeth under a microscope and saw that the teeth had been filed down to look like human teeth.  The jawbone that was with the Piltdown mans skull was that dated back less than 100 years and was a female orangutan jaw.  They also noticed that bones had been removed to make the jawbone look like it belonged.  The K-9 teeth had also been filed down to look like human teeth. 

One fault that I believe played a factor in this scenario was jealousy.  I think jealousy played a factor because Britain and Germany were rivals and wanted to up each other wherever and whenever they could.  Britain wanted to prove that they were the first birthplace to the human race.  Dawson was known to be an ambitious man and he may have wanted to be the first Englishman to find the first fossils.  I also think that too many people were in on this hoax to better only themselves and to be recognized and gain titles. 

Scientist before the hoax had their doubts.  As I stated previously the jawbone was that of an orangutan and the teeth, which belonged to an ape, had been filed down to portray human teeth.  Scientists increasingly regarded Piltdown as difficult to interpret and inconsistent with the path of hominid evolution as demonstrated by fossils found elsewhere.

The definition of “human” factors from science is understanding the properties of human capability.  So in my opinion I do not think that it would be possible to take away the “human” factor to reduce the chance of errors.  I say this because in order to try and understand why someone would try and pull of a hoax of this magnitude you need to have an understanding of humans and their behaviors.  Without that I think that it would be hard to figure anything out in this world whether it has to do with science or not.  I personally would not want to take the “human” factor out of science.  Humans play a role in science in almost every situation. 

One life lesson that I can take from this event and just the world in general is that being greedy does not help you in the end. Dawson or the mystery man wanted to be the first to discover the Englishman fossils that would or could have been the first link between humans and apes.  However, in the end it was proven that the fossils were fake and to young.  So now whoever it was the mystery man or Dawson is discredited and had set research back.  Being greedy and selfish do not make you win in the end. 

Locomotor Patterns

Answer A: Environment

Lemurs: Lemurs like the treetops of tropical rainforests.  Lemurs were and still are native to the country Madagascar.  Lemur communities’ diversity and complexity increase with floral diversity and precipitation and are highest in rainforests that are of the east coast of Africa which are adjacent to the island of Madagascar, where rainfall and floral diversity are at their highest.  Lemurs spend most of their time in trees or bushes.  Lemurs that stay awake during the day live in groups and nocturnal lemurs normally live alone. 

Spider Monkey:  Spider monkeys live in tropical rainforests of South and Central America, from Southern Mexico to Brazil.  These new world monkeys live in the upper layers of the rainforest and forage in the high canopies.  Spider monkeys prefer large tracts of moist evergreen forests and they prefer undisturbed primary forests.  Spider monkeys are well adjusted to the life in the treeptops of the rainforest because they are strong and agile and can find food with the resources that they have. 

Baboon: Baboons are found in Africa.  Baboons are mostly vegetarian but they do prey on fish, birds, and small antelope.  They are active at irregular times throughout the day and night.  In Africa, baboons can raid human dwellings and have been known to prey on sheep and goats.  Baboons are extremely adaptable, the major requirements that baboons need for any habitat that they are in is water, and safe sleeping places.  Baboons like to sleep either in tall trees or on cliff faces.

Gibbons:  Gibbons live in subtropical rainforests from northeast India to Indonesia and north to southern China, including the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java.  Gibbons spend less than 1% on the ground, which helps to keep them safer.  Gibbons move from tree to tree by swinging their arms between branches.  Gibbons live in sleeping trees, which are the tallest trees in the rain forest.  These trees keep Gibbons safe from predators on the ground while they are sleeping.  The male and female gibbons sleep in separate trees.  Gibbons are known to sing throughout the day unless they are sleeping. 

Chimpanzee:  Chimpanzees habitats vary, but include dry savannas, evergreen rainforests, montane forests, swamp forests, and dry woodland.  To be able to live in all different types of habitats chimpanzees have to be very adaptable.  Chimpanzees live in large communities ranging anywhere from 10-100. 

Answer B: Locomotor Patterns

Lemurs:  For the most part Lemurs are quadrupedal meaning they walk on all fours.  However, they are also well-known leapers and climbers. 

Spider Monkey:  There are different types of locomotion that spider monkeys use.  The types of locomotion are quadrupedal (which is using all four limbs for locomotion as seen while walking or running) and suspensory locomotion (which is used when hanging, climbing or moving through the trees). 

Baboon:  Baboons locomotor pattern is quadrupedal and on their digits. Walking on their digits means walking on their toes with the heels not touching the ground.  This is known as being a digitigrade quadrupedalism

Gibbon: Gibbons main locomotor pattern is brachiating.  When gibbons brachiate, they use four fingers of their hands like a hook, they do not use their thumbs.  Gibbons are known for being very acrobatic and agile.  Gibbons lives are spent mainly in the trees.  It is very rare for a gibbon to be on the ground but when they are they walk bipedally ( on two legs).  Gibbons do not know how to swim, so they avoide water.  Gibbons are also able to walk along small branches high up in the air and stretch their arms our to help them keep their balance. 

Chimpanzee:  Chimpanzee usually walks on all fours, which mean they walk on the soles of their feet and the knuckles of their hands.  However, chimpanzees can also walk upright, meaning they will walk on their feet when they need to use their arms to carry something.  Chimpanzees are also known for their ability to swing from branch to branch in the trees, which is known as brachiating. 

Answer C:

For the Spider Monkey and the Gibbon, I would say that the way they move ( locomotor patterns) was influenced by the primates environment greatly.  If these three primates were not able to hang from a tree or able to swing from branch to branch and had to walk on the ground they would be more prone to being eaten by a bigger predator.  With the ability to hang from the trees and swing from the branches they are able to stay up in the high trees and keep themselves safe from the predators on the ground. 

For the Chimpanzee I would say that the locomotion trait has been adapted to the environment.  Chimpanzees are primates that can adapt to their environment really quickly.  The way they move adjust to where they are living.  Chimpanzee’s are able to walk on all fours or if they need to carry food or something else they are able to walk on two of their limbs.  Chimpanzees are also able to climb trees and suspend themselves from branches.  I think the chimpanzees locomotion trait works to their advantage sine they are able to adapt easily to any environment that they are in. 

Baboons walk on all fours and their digits which is the tips of their toes and the knuckles of their hands.  This locomotion trait I believe was adapted to help the baboons keep their hands and the soles of their feet from becoming to rough since they are not able to climb trees or hang from branches. 

Lemurs adapted to their environment rather well.  Since they are either on the ground or in the trees the locomotion movement of Lemurs has adapted well to their environment.  They are able to move on the ground rather quickly and if need be can leap into the trees and have great balance.

I would say that the influence the environment has on physical and behavioral traits has a huge impact.  I say this because we adapt to whatever situation or wherever we are so that we are compatible with what we are doing.  I believe the same is for primates.  The primates adapted to the environment that they were dealt.  Some primates got pushed out of their natural environment and was relocated to a new one.  With the new environment comes new issues, such as types of food, shelter, and the make up of the ground.  The primates learned how to walk to keep their feet and hands from becoming to rough and other primates figured out how to leap into the higher trees or keep their balance on a slimmer tree branch.  The environment impacts our traits immensely.  

Chimpanzee:

Baboon:

Spider Monkey:

Gibbons:

Lemur:

Week 3

Homologous

1. Whale fin and a human arm.  They are both vertebrates and mammals.

2. The whale fin consists of  a scapula (shoulder blade), humerus (upper arm bone), ulna and radius (fore arm bones), and a collection of metacarpals (wrist bones) and phalanges (fingers) that correspond to the hand and forearms.

The human arm consists of a clavicle, acromial end, acromion process, coracoid process, deltoid tubercle, humerus, capitulum, trochlea, radial tuberosity, semilunar notch olecranon process on the posterior side, radius and an ulna.

3.  From what I have researched the whales and humans most common ancestor that has the same structure of the forearm is the chimpanzee (arm).  Chimpanzee arms consist of everything that the human arm and whale fin consist of.

Analogous

1. Octopus eye and the human eye.  The octopus is a cephalopod and the human is a mammal. 

2. The human eye and the octopus eye are almost identical except for a few things.  One of those things is that the octopus eye forms from an epidermal placode through a series of successful infolding.  The human eye forms from the neural plate and induces the overlying epidermis to form the lens.

3. The common ancestor between the octopus and the human eye is known as the bilateria I believe that the common ancestor between the octopus eye and the human eye had the analogous trait.  From what I have read it says that if the octopus eye genes are expressed in the homolog in the deuterostomes or out-group bilaterians then they say you could reasonably consider that the genes would have consisted in the last common ancestor.

 Human Eye

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck Post 2

1.I chose Jean-Baptiste Lamarck because not only did Charles Darwin and him have similar theories, Darwin also respected Lamarck a great deal and also looked at him to be a great zoologist.

2. Lamarck published many book series that had to do with invertebrate zoology and paleontology.  From all of the books he wrote, Philosphie Zollogique, was the one that stated Lamarcks theories of evolution the best.

 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/lamarck.html

3.   The bullet point that I believe Lamarck’s theory of evolution is closely related to would be, “Individulas Do Not Evolve. Populations Do.” In the year 1801 Lamarck stated that, “ Time and favorable conditions are the two principals.” For me this means that individuals inherit the traits from people and generations before. I feel that this idea would solidify Darwin’s theories due to the fact that traits that are passed on over time will always change no matter what.

4. I believe that Darwin could still have come up with his theory of natural selection without any help or influences from other people theories or beliefs.

5.  The attitude of the churches I believe did not affect Darwin in any form. He believed in the natural selection and was going to publish his findings with or without the churches approval. The church did not approve of Darwin’s beliefs because it went against their beliefs. 

The Scientific Method

1. The student could possibly be one of those students who has to put no effort into the class to receive a good grade. The student can be one of those type of students who understand the material of the class and receive a good grade but shows up to class so the attendance does not effect their record.

2. I would test this hypothesis by sitting next to the student who likes to sleep and act like I am having difficulty with the assignment. I would then proceed to wake the student up to he/she for help. If the student is able to help me with the assignment then my theory would be supported that he/she is the type of student who can pass a class without any effort. If my theory did not work then my hypothesis would be falsified. 

3.  An example of an unfalsifiable and untestable explanation would be that the student was taking some type of prescribed medication that made him/her drowsy and that is why the student always falls asleep in class. This is untestable and would make this explanation unfalsifiable because I would not be able to tell if this was the case or not unless I just outright asked the student personal information.

Kelleylynn