Lesson Plan

1. What human races do you know?
2. What factors cause the evolutionary process?
3. What influences the formation of the gene pool of a population?

What are the human races?

Human predecessors are Australopithecines;
- ancient people- progressive australopithecus, archanthropus (pithecanthropus, synanthropus, Heidelberg man, etc.);
- ancient people - paleoanthropes (Neanderthals);
- fossil people of modern anatomical type - neoanthropes (Cro-Magnons).

The historical development of man was carried out under the influence of the same factors of biological evolution as the formation of other species of living organisms. However, humans are characterized by such a unique phenomenon for living nature as the increasing influence on anthropogenesis of social factors (work activity, social lifestyle, speech and thinking).

For modern man Social-labor relations became leading and determining.

As a result social development Homo sapiens has acquired unconditional advantages among all living beings. But this does not mean that the emergence of the social sphere abolished the action of biological factors. Social sphere only changed their manifestation. Homo sapiens as a species is an integral part of the biosphere and a product of its evolution.

These are historically established groupings (groups of populations) of people, characterized by similar morphological and physiological traits. Racial differences are the result of people's adaptation to certain conditions of existence, as well as the historical and socio-economic development of human society.

There are three large races: Caucasoid (Eurasian), Mongoloid (Asian-American) and Austral-Negroid (Equatorial).

Chapter 8

Basics of ecology

After studying this chapter, you will learn:

What does ecology study and why does every person need to know its basics;
- what is the importance of environmental factors: abiatic, biotic and anthropogenic;
- what role do environmental conditions and internal properties of a population group play in the processes of changes in its numbers over time;
- about different types of interactions between organisms;
- about the features of competitive relations and the factors that determine the outcome of competition;
- about the composition and basic properties of the ecosystem;
- about energy flows and the circulation of substances that ensure the functioning of systems, and about the role in these processes

Back in the middle of the 20th century. the word ecology was known only to specialists, but nowadays it has become very popular; it is most often used when talking about the unfavorable state of the nature around us.

Sometimes this term is used in combination with words such as society, family, culture, health. Is ecology really such a broad science that it can cover most of the problems facing humanity?

Kamensky A. A., Kriksunov E. V., Pasechnik V. V. Biology 10th grade
Submitted by readers from the website

Human races are historically established biological divisions of the species “Homo sapiens” (Homo sapiens) in human evolution. They differ in complexes of hereditarily transmitted and gradually changing morphological, biochemical and other features. The modern geographic areas of distribution, or areas, occupied by races make it possible to outline the territories in which the races were formed. Due to the social nature of man, races are qualitatively different from subspecies of wild and domestic animals.

If for wild animals the term “geographical races” can be applied, then in relation to humans it has largely lost its meaning, since the connection of human races with their original areas is disrupted by numerous migrations of masses of people, as a result of which a mixture of very different races and peoples and new human associations were formed.

Most anthropologists divide humanity into three large races: Negroid-Australoid (“black”), Caucasoid (“white”) and Mongoloid (“yellow”). Using geographical terms, the first race is called the equatorial, or African-Australian, the second, the European-Asian, and the third, the Asian-American race. The following branches of large races are distinguished: African and Oceanian; northern and southern; Asian and American (G. F. Debets). The Earth's population now amounts to over 3 billion 300 million people (data for 1965). Of these, the first race accounts for approximately 10%, the second - 50%, and the third - 40%. This is, of course, a rough summary, since there are hundreds of millions of racially mixed individuals, numerous minor races and mixed (intermediate) racial groups, including those of ancient origin (for example, Ethiopians). Large, or primary, races occupying vast territories are not completely homogeneous. They are divided according to physical (corporal) characteristics into branches, into 10-20 small races, and those into anthropological types.

Modern races, their origin and taxonomy are studied by ethnic anthropology (racial studies). Groups of the population are subjected to research for examination and quantitative determination of so-called racial characteristics, followed by processing of mass data using the methods of variation statistics (see). For this, anthropologists use scales of skin color and iris, hair color and shape, eyelid shape, nose and lips, as well as anthropometric instruments: compasses, goniometer, etc. (see Anthropometry). Hematological, biochemical and other examinations are also carried out.

Belonging to one or another racial division is determined in men 20-60 years old based on a set of genetically stable and fairly characteristic signs of physical structure.

Further descriptive signs of the racial complex: the presence of a beard and mustache, the coarseness of the scalp hair, the degree of development upper eyelid and its folds - the epicanthus, the slope of the forehead, the shape of the head, the development of the brow ridges, the shape of the face, the growth of body hair, the type of build (see Habitus) and body proportions (see Constitution).

Skull shape options: 1 - dolichocranial ellipsoid; 2 and 3 - brachycranial (2 - round, or spheroid, 3 - wedge-shaped, or sphenoid); 4 - mesocranial pentagonal, or pentagonoid.

Unified anthropometric examination on a living person, as well as on the skeleton, for the most part on the skull (Fig.), allows you to clarify somatoscopic observations and make a more correct comparison of the racial composition of tribes, peoples, individual populations (see) and isolates. Racial characteristics vary and are subject to sexual, age, geographic and evolutionary variability.

The racial composition of humanity is very complex, which largely depends on the mixed nature of the population of many countries in connection with ancient migrations and modern mass migrations. Therefore, in the land area inhabited by humanity, contact and intermediate racial groups are found, formed from the interpenetration of two or three or more complexes of racial characteristics during the crossbreeding of anthropological types.

The process of racial miscegenation increased greatly during the era of capitalist expansion after the discovery of America. As a result, for example, Mexicans are half mixed race between Indians and Europeans.

A noticeable increase in interracial mixing is observed in the USSR and other socialist countries. This is the result of the elimination of all kinds of racial barriers on the basis of correct scientifically based national and international policies.

Races are biologically equivalent and blood related. The basis for this conclusion is the doctrine of monogenism developed by Charles Darwin, i.e. about the origin of man from one species of ancient bipeds great apes, and not from several (the concept of polygenism). Monogenism is confirmed by the anatomical similarity of all races, which could not, as Charles Darwin emphasized, arise through convergence, or convergence of characteristics, of different ancestral species. The species of monkeys that served as the ancestor of humans probably lived in South Asia, from where the earliest people settled throughout the Earth. Ancient people, the so-called Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), gave rise to “homo sapiens”. But modern races did not arise from Neanderthals, but were formed anew under the influence of a combination of natural (including biological) and social factors.

The formation of races (raceogenesis) is closely related to anthropogenesis; both processes are the result historical development. Modern man arose over a vast territory, approximately from the Mediterranean to Hindustan or somewhat larger. From here, Mongoloids could have formed in the northeast direction, Caucasoids in the northwest, and Negroids and Australoids in the south. However, the problem of the ancestral home of modern man is still far from being completely resolved.

In more ancient eras, when people settled on Earth, their groups inevitably found themselves in conditions of geographic and, consequently, social isolation, which contributed to their racial differentiation in the process of interaction of factors of variability (q.v.), heredity (q.v.) and selection. With an increase in the number of isolates, new settlement occurred and contacts with neighboring groups arose, causing crossbreeding. Natural selection also played a certain role in the formation of races, the influence of which noticeably weakened as the social environment developed. In this regard, the characteristics of modern races are of secondary importance. Aesthetic, or sexual, selection also played some role in the formation of races; sometimes racial characteristics could acquire the meaning of identifying characteristics for representatives of one or another local racial group.

As the human population grew, both the specific importance and the direction of action of individual factors of raceogenesis changed, but the role of social influences increased. If for primary races miscegenation was a differentiating factor (when miscegenated groups again found themselves in conditions of isolation), now miscegenation levels out racial differences. Currently, about half of humanity is the result of crossbreeding. Racial differences, which naturally arose over many millennia, must and will, as K. Marx pointed out, be eliminated by historical development. But racial characteristics will continue to manifest themselves for a long time in certain combinations, mainly in individuals. Crossbreeding often leads to the emergence of new positive features of physical makeup and intellectual development.

The race of the patient must be taken into account when assessing some data medical examination. This applies mainly to the peculiarities of the color of the integument. The skin color characteristic of a representative of the “black” or “yellow” race will turn out to be a symptom of Addison’s disease or icterus in a “white” one; A doctor will evaluate a purple tint of lip color and bluish nails in a Caucasian as cyanosis, and in a Negro as a racial feature. On the other hand, color changes with “ bronze disease", jaundice, cardiorespiratory failure, distinct in Caucasians, can be difficult to detect in representatives of the Mongoloid or Negroid-Australoid race. Corrections for racial characteristics are of much less practical importance and may be less frequently required when assessing physique, height, skull shape, etc. As for the alleged predisposition of a given race to a particular disease, increased susceptibility to infection, etc., these features, as a rule, do not have a “racial” character, but are associated with social, cultural, everyday and other living conditions, the proximity of natural foci of infection, the degree of acclimatization during relocation, etc.

Human race

Race- a system of human populations characterized by similarity in a complex of certain hereditary biological characteristics. Traits that characterize different races often appear as a result of adaptation to different conditions environment over many generations.

Racial studies, in addition to the above-mentioned problems, also studies the classification of races, the history of their formation and such factors of their occurrence as selective processes, isolation, mixing and migration, influence climatic conditions and the geographic environment in general for racial characteristics.

Racial studies became especially widespread in National Socialist Germany, fascist Italy and other Western European countries, as well as earlier in the United States (Ku Klux Klan), where it served as a justification for institutionalized racism, chauvinism and anti-Semitism.

Sometimes racial studies are confused with ethnic anthropology - the latter refers, strictly speaking, only to the study of the racial composition of individual ethnic groups, i.e. tribes, peoples, nations, and the origin of these communities.

In that part of racial research that is aimed at studying ethnogenesis, anthropology conducts research together with linguistics, history, and archeology. When studying driving forces race formation, anthropology comes into close contact with genetics, physiology, zoogeography, climatology, general theory speciation. The study of race in anthropology has implications for many problems. It is important for solving the question of the ancestral home of modern humans, using anthropological material as a historical source, illuminating problems of systematics, mainly small systematic units, understanding the laws of population genetics, and clarifying some issues of medical geography.

Racial studies studies geographical variations in the physical type of people, without taking into account linguistic and cultural isolation. And ethnic anthropology studies what racial variants and anthropological types are inherent in a given ethnic group, people. For example, to establish into which groups it is divided indigenous people Volga-Kama region, to identify their general portraits, average height, level of pigmentation - this is the task of a racial scientist. And to recreate the appearance and trace possible genetic connections of the Khazars is the task of an ethnic anthropologist.

Modern division into races

There are many opinions about how many races can be distinguished within the species Homo sapiens.

Studies of classical anthropology show that there are two trunks - eastern and western, equally distributing the six races of humanity. The division into three races - “white”, “yellow” and “black” - is an outdated position. Despite all their external dissimilarity, the races of the same trunk are connected by a greater commonality of genes and habitats than neighboring races. According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary, there are about 30 human races (racial-anthropological types), united in three groups of races, which are called “large races”. However, in non-scientific literature the term “race” is still applied to large races, and the races themselves are called “subraces”, “subgroups”, etc. It is worth noting that the races themselves (small races) are divided into subraces, and there is no consensus regarding the belonging of certain subraces to certain races (small races). In addition, different anthropological schools use different names for the same races.

Western trunk

Caucasians

The natural range of Caucasoids is Europe to the Urals, North Africa, South-West Asia and Hindustan. Includes Nordic, Mediterranean, Phalic, Alpine, East Baltic, Dinaric and other subgroups. It differs from other races primarily in its strong facial profile. Other signs vary widely.

Negroids

Natural range - Central, Western and Eastern Africa. Characteristic differences - curly hair, dark skin, widened nostrils, thick lips, etc. There is an eastern subgroup (Nilotic type, tall, narrowly built) and a western subgroup (Negro type, round-headed, medium height). The group of pygmies (Negrill type) stands apart.

Pygmies

Pygmies compared to a person of average height

Natural range of pygmies - western part Central Africa. Height from 144 to 150 cm for adult men, light brown skin, curly, dark hair, relatively thin lips, large body, short arms and legs, this physical type can be classified as a special race. The possible number of pygmies can range from 40 to 200 thousand people.

Kapoids, Bushmen

Caucasoid (Eurasian) races

Northern forms Atlanto-Baltic White Sea-Baltic Transitional (intermediate) forms Alpine Central European Eastern European Southern forms Mediterranean Indo-Afghan Balkan-Caucasian Forward Asian (Armenoid) Pamir-Fergana Mongoloid (Asian-American) races

Asian branch of Mongoloid races Continental Mongoloids North Asian Central Asian Arctic race Pacific Mongoloids American races

Australoid (Oceanian) races

Veddoids Australians Ainu Papuans and Melanesians Negritos Negroid (African) races

Negroes Negrilli (Pygmies) Bushmen and Hottentots Mixed forms between Caucasians and the Asian branch of the Mongoloids

Central Asian groups South Siberian race Ural race and subural type Laponoids and sublapanoid type Mixed groups of Siberia Mixed forms between Caucasoids and the American branch of Mongoloids

American mestizos Mixed forms between the Caucasoid and Australoid major races

South Indian race Mixed forms between the Caucasoid and Negroid major races

Ethiopian race Mixed groups of Western Sudan Mixed groups of Eastern Sudan Mulattoes South African "coloreds" Mixed forms between the Asian branch of Mongoloids and Australoids

South Asian (Malay) race Japanese East Indonesian group Other mixed race forms

Malagasy Polynesians and Micronesians Hawaiians and Pitcairns

Idaltu

Idaltu (lat. Homo sapiens idaltu) is one of the most ancient races of people of the modern species. The Idaltu inhabited the territory of Ethiopia. The approximate age of the found Idaltu man is 160 thousand years.

see also

Notes

Links

The population of our planet is so diverse that one can only be surprised. What kind of nationalities and nationalities can you meet! Everyone has their own faith, customs, traditions, and orders. Its own beautiful and extraordinary culture. However, all these differences are formed only by people themselves in the process of social historical development. What lies behind the differences that appear externally? After all, we are all very different:

• dark-skinned;
• yellow-skinned;
• white;
• With different colors eye;
• different heights and so on.

Obviously, the reasons are purely biological, independent of people themselves and formed over thousands of years of evolution. This is how modern human races were formed, which explain the visual diversity of human morphology theoretically. Let's take a closer look at what this term is, what its essence and meaning are.

The concept of "race of people"

What is race? This is not a nation, not a people, not a culture. These concepts should not be confused. After all, representatives of different nationalities and cultures can freely belong to the same race. Therefore, the definition can be given as given by the science of biology.

Human races are a collection of external morphological characteristics, that is, those that are the phenotype of the representative. They were formed under the influence of external conditions, the influence of a complex of biotic and abiotic factors, and were fixed in the genotype during evolutionary processes. Thus, the characteristics that underlie the division of people into races include:

• height;
• skin and eye color;
• hair structure and shape;
• hair growth of the skin;
• structural features of the face and its parts.

All those signs of Homo sapiens as a biological species that lead to the formation of a person’s external appearance, but do not in any way affect his personal, spiritual and social qualities and manifestations, as well as the level of self-development and self-education.

People of different races have completely identical biological springboards for the development of certain abilities. Their general karyotype is the same:

• women - 46 chromosomes, that is, 23 XX pairs;
• men - 46 chromosomes, 22 pairs XX, 23 pairs - XY.

This means that all representatives of Homo sapiens are one and the same, among them there are no more or less developed, superior to others, or higher. From a scientific point of view, everyone is equal.

The species of human races, formed over approximately 80 thousand years, have adaptive significance. It has been proven that each of them was formed with the aim of providing a person with the opportunity for a normal existence in a given habitat and facilitating adaptation to climatic, relief and other conditions. There is a classification showing which races of Homo sapiens existed before, and which ones exist today.

Classification of races

She's not alone. The thing is that until the 20th century it was customary to distinguish 4 races of people. These were the following varieties:

• Caucasian;
• Australoid;
• Negroid;
• Mongoloid.

For each, detailed characteristic features were described by which any individual of the human species could be identified. However, later a classification became widespread that included only 3 human races. This became possible due to the unification of the Australoid and Negroid groups into one.

That's why modern views human races are as follows.

1. Large: Caucasoid (European), Mongoloid (Asian-American), Equatorial (Australian-Negroid).
2. Small: many different branches that formed from one of the large races.

Each of them has its own characteristics, signs, external manifestations in the form of people. All of them are considered by anthropologists, and the science itself that studies this issue is biology. Human races have interested people since ancient times. After all, completely contrasting external features often became the cause of racial strife and conflicts.

Genetic research in recent years allows us to again talk about the division of the equatorial group into two. Let's consider all 4 races of people who stood out earlier and became relevant again recently. Let us note the signs and features.

Australoid race

Typical representatives of this group include the indigenous inhabitants of Australia, Melanesia, Southeast Asia, and India. The name of this race is also Australo-Veddoid or Australo-Melanesian. All synonyms make it clear which small races are included in this group. They are as follows:

• Australoids;
• Veddoids;
• Melanesians.

In general, the characteristics of each group presented do not vary too much among themselves. There are several main features that characterize all small races of people of the Australoid group.

1. Dolichocephaly is an elongated shape of the skull in relation to the proportions of the rest of the body.
2. Deep-set eyes, wide slits. The color of the iris is predominantly dark, sometimes almost black.
3. The nose is wide, with a pronounced flat bridge.
4. The hair on the body is very well developed.
5. The hair on the head is dark in color (sometimes among Australians there are natural blondes, which was the result of a natural genetic mutation of the species that once took hold). Their structure is rigid, they can be curly or slightly curly.
6. People are of average height, often above average.
7. The physique is thin and elongated.

Within the Australoid group, people of different races differ from each other, sometimes quite strongly. So, a native Australian may be tall, blond, of a dense build, with straight hair and light brown eyes. At the same time, a native of Melanesia will be a thin, short, dark-skinned representative with curly black hair and almost black eyes.

Therefore, the above general signs for the entire race - this is just an average version of their aggregate analysis. Naturally, crossbreeding also occurs - the mixing of different groups as a result of natural crossing of species. That is why it is sometimes very difficult to identify a specific representative and attribute him to one or another small or large race.

Negroid race

The people who make up this group are the settlers of the following areas:

• Eastern, Central and Southern Africa;
• part of Brazil;
• some peoples of the USA;
• representatives of the West Indies.

In general, such races of people as Australoids and Negroids used to be united in the equatorial group. However, research in the 21st century has proven the inconsistency of this order. After all, the differences in the manifested characteristics between the designated races are too great. And some similar features are explained very simply. After all, the habitats of these individuals are very similar in terms of living conditions, and therefore the adaptations in appearance are also similar.

So, the following signs are characteristic of representatives of the Negroid race.

1. Very dark, sometimes bluish-black, skin color, as it is especially rich in melanin content.
2. Wide eye shape. They are large, dark brown, almost black.
3. The hair is dark, curly, and coarse.
4. Height varies, often low.
5. The limbs are very long, especially the arms.
6. The nose is wide and flat, the lips are very thick and fleshy.
7. The jaw lacks a chin protrusion and protrudes forward.
8. The ears are large.
9. Facial hair is poorly developed, and there is no beard or mustache.

Negroids are easy to distinguish from others by their external appearance. Below are different races of people. The photo reflects how clearly Negroids differ from Europeans and Mongoloids.

Mongoloid race

Representatives of this group are characterized by special features that allow them to adapt to fairly severe external conditions: desert sands and winds, blinding snow drifts, etc.

Mongoloids are the indigenous people of Asia and much of America. Their characteristic signs are as follows.

1. Narrow or oblique eye shape.
2. The presence of an epicanthus - a specialized fold of skin aimed at covering the inner corner of the eye.
3. The color of the iris is from light to dark brown.
4. distinguished by brachycephaly (short head).
5. The superciliary ridges are thickened and strongly protruding.
6. Sharp, high cheekbones are well defined.
7. Facial hair is poorly developed.
8. The hair on the head is coarse, dark in color, and has a straight structure.
9. The nose is not wide, the bridge is located low.
10. Lips of different thicknesses, often narrow.
11. Skin color varies among different representatives from yellow to dark, and there are also light-skinned people.

It should be noted that another characteristic feature is not high growth, both in men and women. It is the Mongoloid group that predominates in numbers when comparing the main races of people. They populated almost all climatographic zones of the Earth. Close to them quantitative characteristics there are Caucasians, whom we will consider below.

Caucasian

First of all, let’s designate the predominant habitats of people from this group. This:

• Europe.
• North Africa.
• Western Asia.

Thus, the representatives unite two main parts of the world - Europe and Asia. Since living conditions were also very different, the general characteristics are again an average option after analyzing all the indicators. Thus, the following appearance features can be distinguished.

1. Mesocephaly - medium-headedness in the structure of the skull.
2. Horizontal eye shape, lack of pronounced brow ridges.
3. A protruding narrow nose.
4. Lips of varying thickness, usually medium in size.
5. Soft curly or straight hair. There are blondes, brunettes, and brown-haired people.
6. Eye color ranges from light blue to brown.
7. Skin color also varies from pale, white to dark.
8. The hairline is very well developed, especially on the chest and face of men.
9. The jaws are orthognathic, that is, slightly pushed forward.

In general, a European is easy to distinguish from others. Appearance allows you to do this almost without error, even without using additional genetic data.

If you look at all the races of people, the photos of whose representatives are located below, the difference becomes obvious. However, sometimes the characteristics are mixed so deeply that identifying an individual becomes almost impossible. He is able to relate to two races at once. This is further aggravated by intraspecific mutation, which leads to the appearance of new characteristics.

For example, albinos Negroids are a special case of the appearance of blondes in the Negroid race. A genetic mutation that disrupts the integrity of racial characteristics in a given group.

Origin of the races of man

Where did such a variety of signs of people’s appearance come from? There are two main hypotheses that explain the origin of human races. This:

• monocentrism;
• polycentrism.

However, none of them has yet become an officially accepted theory. According to the monocentric point of view, initially, about 80 thousand years ago, all people lived in the same territory, and therefore their appearance was approximately the same. However, over time, growing numbers led to a wider spread of people. As a result, some groups found themselves in difficult climatographic conditions.

This led to the development and consolidation at the genetic level of some morphological adaptations that help in survival. For example, dark skin and curly hair provide thermoregulation and a cooling effect for the head and body in Negroids. And the narrow shape of the eyes protects them from sand and dust, as well as from being blinded by white snow among Mongoloids. The developed hair of Europeans is a unique way of thermal insulation in harsh winter conditions.

Another hypothesis is called polycentrism. She says that different types Human races descended from several ancestral groups that were unequally distributed around the globe. That is, there were initially several foci from which the development and consolidation of racial characteristics began. Again influenced by climatographic conditions.

That is, the process of evolution proceeded linearly, simultaneously affecting aspects of life on different continents. This is how the formation of modern types of people from several phylogenetic lines took place. However, it is not possible to say for certain about the validity of this or that hypothesis, since there is no evidence of a biological and genetic nature, or at the molecular level.

Modern classification

The races of people, according to current scientists, have the following classification. There are two trunks, and each of them has three large races and many small ones. It looks something like this.

1. Western trunk. Includes three races:

• Caucasians;
• capoids;
• Negroids.

The main groups of Caucasians: Nordic, Alpine, Dinaric, Mediterranean, Falsky, East Baltic and others.

Small races of capoids: Bushmen and Khoisan. inhabit South Africa. In terms of the fold above the eyelid, they are similar to the Mongoloids, but in other characteristics they differ sharply from them. The skin is not elastic, which is why all representatives are characterized by the appearance of early wrinkles.

Groups of Negroids: pygmies, nilots, blacks. They're all settlers different parts Africa, therefore their appearance is similar. Very dark eyes, the same skin and hair. Thick lips and lack of chin protuberance.

2. Eastern trunk. Includes the following large races:

• Australoids;
• Americanoids;
• Mongoloids.

Mongoloids are divided into two groups - northern and southern. These are the indigenous inhabitants of the Gobi Desert, which left its mark on the appearance of these people.

Americanoids - the population of Northern and South America. They are very tall and often have an epicanthus, especially in children. However, the eyes are not as narrow as those of the Mongoloids. They combine the characteristics of several races.

Australoids consist of several groups:

• Melanesians;
• Veddoids;
• Ainians;
• Polynesians;
• Australians.

Their characteristic features were discussed above.

Minor races

This concept is a rather highly specialized term that allows you to identify any person to any race. After all, each large one is divided into many small ones, and they are already compiled on the basis of not only small external distinctive features, but also include data from genetic studies, clinical tests, and facts of molecular biology.

Therefore, small races are what make it possible to more accurately reflect the position of each specific individual in the system of the organic world, and specifically, within the species Homo sapiens sapiens. What specific groups exist was discussed above.

Racism

As we have found out, there are different races of people. Their signs can be very polar. This is what gave rise to the theory of racism. It says that one race is superior to another, since it consists of more highly organized and perfect beings. At one time, this led to the emergence of slaves and their white masters.

However, from a scientific point of view, this theory is completely absurd and untenable. Genetic predisposition to the development of certain skills and abilities is the same among all peoples. Proof that all races are biologically equal is the possibility of free interbreeding between them while maintaining the health and vitality of the offspring.

MAIN HUMAN RACES

In modern humanity there are three main races:

Caucasoid

Mongoloid

Negroid

This large groups people distinguished by certain physical characteristics, for example, facial features, skin, eye and hair color, hair shape.

Races- these are not different forms of the same gene, but historically established groups of individuals, united by a number of characteristics. They arose as a result of human adaptation to environmental factors and geographic isolation. Racial characteristics are hereditary, and, apparently, some of them in the past were of an adaptive nature.

Adaptation of Negroids to life under elevated temperature striking: dark skin blocks ultraviolet radiation, which can cause somatic mutations(skin cancer), wide nose and thick, swollen lips with large mucous membrane surfaces promote evaporation with high heat transfer.

Classic Negroids have a lean build and long limbs - all this speeds up the removal of excess heat from the body. In the same way, all body proportions and rows physiological characteristics Eskimos indicate that for many generations they were subject to strict selection for survival in high Arctic latitudes.

The adaptive nature of the characteristics that collectively distinguish Caucasians is not so striking. Light skin, which allows ultraviolet rays to pass through, saves Caucasians from rickets, and a narrow, protruding nose warms the inhaled air. Caucasians are significantly less susceptible to colds. Northern Europe- a kind of reserve of recessive forms of genes that have become adaptive in a given place. Light skin, straight hair, blue or gray eyes - all these characteristics are recessive, that is, they are suppressed by more “strong” genetically dominant ones (dark skin, Wavy hair, dark eyes).

The characteristics of the Mongoloids are also adaptive - a flat and flat-nosed face, a fold in the corner of the eye - epicanthus - adaptation to the harsh climate of Central Asia with frequent dust storms. Having then settled throughout Asia from the tropics to the Arctic, the Mongoloids largely retained their characteristics, although they changed in many ways.

In terms of mental abilities, that is, abilities for cognition, creative and general labor activity, all races are the same. Differences in the level of culture are associated not with the biological characteristics of people of different races, but with social conditions development of society.

Anthropologists identify several dozen human races - the so-called races of the second and third order. It is impossible to give an exact figure, especially since many such groups merge, disappear, or, on the contrary, arise. These are the so-called contact groups. For example, in our country, about 45 million of the population belongs to the transitional Caucasoid-Mongoloid type. We can say that now, in an era of intense contacts between peoples and the withering away of racial prejudices, there are practically no “pure” races.

The future of races. Over time, the races will apparently merge into one. Two factors contribute to this process. The first of them is the separation of man from nature. Almost all over the Earth, people in cities eat the same food and spend most of their lives at normal, “room” temperature. Skin color and other racial characteristics cease to be adaptive; selection in this direction is no longer carried out.