Human variation and adaptation

Human Variation and Adaptation

In anthropology, it is said that the concept of race cannot be applied accurately to describe human variation. This is said because race is generally defined by the color of skin and where someone comes from, among other things. In other words, it is not a biological factor but a social one instead. That does not, however, make those of a different race a different species or a subspecies of humanity. There are still people who think this but there is no scientific, biological, or genetic evidence for it. Another reason to discount this argument is that it would be impossible to discuss human variation based on race because there are so many different racial characteristics, and many people of a particular race still look different from one another. All African-Americans do not have the same shade of skin color, nor do all Caucasians, all Latinos, or all people of the Asian race. There are many variations on the color of these individual's skin, hair, and eyes, among other characteristics such as height ranges, weight ranges, and facial characteristics.

While there are some commonalities among people of certain races that are seen as differences from people of other races, there is nothing at all to suggest that there are anthropological differences. This type of anthropology was popular for a time, and it mostly involved individuals who were trying to prove that one race was superior to another back in the nineteenth century. The data that helped them make their case was collected and the data that went against their case was rejected. By doing this, it looked as those Caucasians had larger skulls than African-Americans and they were therefore said to be more intelligent. However, the data were skewed and anthropologists of the present day know that skull size has nothing to do with intelligence and that all races are essentially equal from an overall standpoint with naturally-occurring variations that can be expected within any species.