Natural Selection Research Paper

It all started over 400 years ago when Copernicus declared that the sun was the center of the universe. Throughout history the human race has based their life on this object that gives life, but cultures have changed over time and the sun's symbol has shifted from a nutrient to a question of someone's appearance. In the elder days, skin color diversified classes among rich and poor. Tan skin was a sign of hard work and labor while paler skin was a sign of higher class, tearooms, butlers and

H. erectus then traveled to other continents from there about two million years ago. These pre-modern humans that were spread out all over Asia and Europe were then believed to evolve into H. sapiens autonomously. This theory helps scientists to explain why there are genetic and phonotypical differences between “races”, such as skin color, hair color, facial features, and so forth. It additionally explains why we have some evidence of H. erectus fossils being in places other than Africa.

11. My hypothesis was fairly accurate. Those born with very light pigmentation in a high UV climate wouldn’t have survived, at the same time it makes sense that as the genetics changed more offspring of the successful colour would have been produced.

The skin colors differ because of the way evolution works. If you goto the sahara you will be expecting a lot more sun so vitamin D won't be as big as a problem unless you get to much, so people naturally evolved to have darker skin. While on the other hand the people living in the arctic evolved to have lighter skin to absorb more of vitamin D, this is because whiter skin reflects heat, but absorbs more vitamin D.

The article “Skin Deep” written by Nina G. Jablonski and George Chaplin discusses the evolution of skin color. Right from the beginning of the article, Jablonski and Chaplin debunked the existing theory that darker skin color evolved to protect humans against skin cancer. As a matter of fact, evidence has shown that skin color in humans is the product of natural selection. “Skin Deep” also discusses topics like melanin, skin cancer, and how human migrations took an important role in the evolution of skin color.

Over the millions of years organisms have been present on earth, there has been many forms of evidence to suggest animals are evolving through natural selection. However, the question still remains as to whether homo sapiens are still evolving through natural selection. Through the nature of science being subject to change and many new discoveries being made each day, it is difficult to make clear confined theories and conclusions, which will not be impacted on in the future.

5. In the film, Dr. Jablonski explains that melanin, located in the top layer of human skin, absorbs UV radiation, protecting cells from the damaging effects of UV. Genetics determines the type of melanin (i.e., brown/black eumelanin or red/brown pheomelanin) and the amount of melanin present in an individual’s cells. Based on this information, write a hypothesis for where in the world you would expect to find human populations with

Europeans found other races that were not like their own, and with this, ideas on who would be superior naturally arose. These races were clearly not like the Europeans, most of the time. The color of skin was a difference that basically no person missed. Those with fairer skin were surprised to find people with darker skin. These darker-skinned people’s culture was also unfamiliar.

Evolution is the process of biological change by which descendants come to differ from their ancestors. Natural Selection is when an individual with the best trait survive and breed in more population. Larger populations of organisms with the desired traits will then occur and organisms will evolve. The four principles of Natural Selection are variation, over production, adaptation, and descent with modification. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist and geologist saw two major trends within organisms which were variation and adaptation. Variations are differences in individuals’ physical traits compared to other individuals. In the Galapagos Islands Darwin noticed that finches had different beak sizes and shapes. Darwin then concluded that finches with thicker beaks lived in areas where nuts were the main food source and finches with smaller beaks tended to live in areas where insects were the main food source. Adaptation are features that allow an organism to better survive in their environment. There has been many adaptations in animals but one of the best has been living in groups because animals can then “help each other find food, defend against predators and care for their young” (animalpanet, n.d.). Overproduction is when organisms produce more offspring than the environment can support. Darwin stated that all animals over produce since offspring can reach reproduction age and have offspring of their own. For example, “even a slow breeder

Humans and their ancestors have been inhabitants of that land for thousands of years until migration to all corners of the globe started to occur. As migration continued so did natural selection. Outside of the tropics, in locations such as the poles, skin variation is different due to the lack of sun and is quite obvious. Adaptation to lighter pigmentation may have been driven by a need to increase UV absorption for vitamin D synthesis at high latitudes. In addition, the pigment of the poles inhabitants did not change rapidly. Instead it was done by becoming acclimated to the environment. Acclimatization is another kind of physiological response to environmental conditions, and it can be short-term, long-term, or even permanent. Acclimatization is the physiological responses to changes in the environment that occur during an individual’s lifetime. These responses to environmental factors are partially influenced by genes, but some can also be affected by the duration and severity of the exposure. After

As a student, I built a parameter that caused me to believe that an equation or a theory had a set goal to achieve and must provide a push in order to reach it. Natural selection completely breaks this barrier due to its passive and ubiquitous nature (True 2016). Natural selection does not evoke any force on any species to evolve nor does it create genetic variation. The individual, through mutations, risks, and understanding the benefit allow for the process of natural selection to work. At first, I also questioned how could an individual’s action have anything to do with natural selection. I learned that an individual’s gene does not change, therefore an individual can not adapt (True 2016). Although this is true, if a deeper look is taken into the world and some of the ways evolution occurs, the individual is of the utmost importance in causing natural

In this video Dr. Nina Jablonksi from Penn State University talked about the evolution of human skin color and why the gradient of skin color in humans exists. To begin this video she started by talking about melanin, which is the main pigment in human skin. Melanin is produced in the lower layer of skin and has two different types. The first type is called eumelanin, which is the most common type. Eumelanin usually gives skin and hair black and brown coloring. The second type of melanin is pheomelanin which is red and yellow in color. Certain amounts of these melanin are what determine the different shades of skin tones. Melanin helps absorb the ultraviolet radiation which helps protect the skin against the harmful and damaging effects of these

Researchers extracted DNA from the tooth of La Brana 1 and compared it to other samples collected from fossils found in Sweden, Finland and Siberia as well as 35 modern-day Europeans. They found that La Brana 1 was a Mesolithic man who had dark hair and dark skin, as well as surprising phenotype: “Further examination revealed that this individual carried the HERC2 rs12913832*C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and the associated homozygous haplotype spanning the HERC2–OCA2 locus that is strongly associated with blue eye colour (Olalde et. al. 2014).” La Brana is 7,000 years old, making it the earliest known hominid to have blue eyes. The results of the analysis indicate that the spread of light skin pigmentation alleles had not been completed in some European areas by the Mesolithic era. La Brana 1 indicates that lighter skin tones may have come after the blue eye mutation signaling that the gene may have crossed Europe previous to the shift from hunting to farming (Olalde et. al.

Melanin has played a significant role in human evolution. In this paper I will discuss the importance of melanin in its role in the human biological system and how it relates to the natural selection of suitable human life according to geography and environment.

We often connect ourselves to the world through our appearances. One of the first characteristics we notice about another human is the color of their skin. It is unavoidable, as the largest organ of the body, it covers and highlights our individual features and forms a protective wall against the elements. There is no escape from the social repercussions our pigmentation causes no matter what range of the very broad spectrum of color we fall into. I have never thought so much about the genetic and social evolution of skin and its properties until I read Nina Jablonski’s Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color. This book encompasses, in great detail, how our skin has evolved, adapted and mutated throughout time and in what