High altitude impacts
us with lack of oxygen in each breath due to air getting thinner the higher and
higher it gets. This will shorten life span due to the heart having to pump
more blood to get the same results. The colder temperature will also restrict
movement as well as need to keep shelter. Another negative impact is every day
performance with things such as walking, working or herding, being physically
tired a lot faster also means in the event of predators or life risk
situations, the body would have a harder time to preserve one self.
A short term
adaptation to high altitude would be heavy breathing, it would be the easiest
way for the body to adapt to lower oxygen environments. Some of the stress from homeostasis with high
altitude and short term adaptation.
An example of facultative adaptation is the adaption is the
resistance to mountain sickness from slowly getting used to the altitude from
staying in the area for a longer period of time such as settling in an area. A
developmental adaptation would be higher lung capacity from generations spent
in high altitude as well as colder temperature resilience. A good example of
cultural adaptation would involve people that live in such places as Peru where
the people living in the sierras are now wearing thick clothing made of wool as
a part of their every day life.
Some of the benefits of studying human variation from this
perspective across environmental clines would be that we can see how each
different part of our species will slowly adapt into the environments and
perhaps in many millennia different adaptations of homo sapien will turn into a
more advanced homo. Some of the benefits
of this will be that as we adapt to these environments include prevention of
diseases in other places of the world that involve lack of air such as things
experienced in high altitudes.
Race is the most basic for of adaptations or areas, one of
the things with high altitude is that certain traits will show more than
others, height, weight and strength will change which will also change
depending on the diet in the immediate area. The study of adaptations with race
will let us understand more of the differences between someone from the high
altitude mountains as suppose to someone from nearby from the beach area, the
easiest example would be countries in south America and how some differences in
environment can drastically change your looks.
Overall, very good and nicely written with just a couple of points:
ReplyDeleteWhen you describe the facultative trait, you don't really describe the adaptation that prevents "mountain sickness". What changes occur in the body to adapt to this?
Studying these traits by the adaptive approach or by race are two different approaches and I'm asking you to evaluate the race approach. You seem to be lumping them in as the same approach. How are races determined and can this offer any insight into how human variation develops?
Make sure you check your post after you publish to see if your images come through. I would have liked to have seen them!
Marissela,
ReplyDeletei was quite interested to hear that you specified a culture such as one from peru in your assignment, i was quite entertained and pictured the different changes and cultural adaptations of what you said. i hope will enjoy seeing a little bit more of a culture such as this and their physical adaptations to the weather a lot more. good job.