d2jsp
Log InRegister
d2jsp Forums > Off-Topic > General Chat > Science, Technology & Nature > Should Humans Be Grouped As Same Species? > Or Should We Not Define Us As A Single?
1235Next
Add Reply New Topic New Poll
Member
Posts: 15,942
Joined: Aug 11 2007
Gold: 8,221.76
Apr 8 2013 01:45pm
Should all humans on Earth today be grouped in the same species?

What do you think and why?
Member
Posts: 5,628
Joined: May 29 2006
Gold: 5.00
Apr 8 2013 02:10pm
Can't see a reason why we wouldn't be.
Member
Posts: 17,045
Joined: Jan 29 2007
Gold: 6,048.98
Apr 8 2013 02:54pm
Quote (noob_whacker @ Apr 8 2013 12:45pm)
Should all humans on Earth today be grouped in the same species?

What do you think and why?


Well we all come from earth so we all earthlings? or do you want someone to hate or war with? Soo then if we do not look a like they must be aliens or another type of species? lmao
Member
Posts: 11,264
Joined: Sep 8 2006
Gold: 0.00
Apr 8 2013 05:09pm
I read this as 'groped' instead of 'grouped'.
Member
Posts: 10,812
Joined: Oct 15 2009
Gold: Locked
Warn: 20%
Apr 8 2013 05:24pm
Quote (noob_whacker @ Apr 8 2013 12:45pm)
Should all humans on Earth today be grouped in the same species?

What do you think and why?


The definition of a species is a group of animals that can interbreed and produce viable offspring (the offspring can breed as well). Using this definition, Eskimos, Asians, Africans, Europeans, and all the others are certainly the same species.

Sometimes with phenomenon such as ring species the definition can get murky, but it is not murky with human beings.
Member
Posts: 15,942
Joined: Aug 11 2007
Gold: 8,221.76
Apr 8 2013 07:31pm
Quote (Azrad @ Apr 8 2013 06:24pm)
The definition of a species is a group of animals that can interbreed and produce viable offspring (the offspring can breed as well). Using this definition, Eskimos, Asians, Africans, Europeans, and all the others are certainly the same species.

Sometimes with phenomenon such as ring species the definition can get murky, but it is not murky with human beings.


thanks wikapedia ;] lol

but sorta true

This post was edited by noob_whacker on Apr 8 2013 07:32pm
Member
Posts: 10,812
Joined: Oct 15 2009
Gold: Locked
Warn: 20%
Apr 8 2013 07:43pm
Quote (noob_whacker @ Apr 8 2013 06:31pm)
thanks wikapedia ;] lol

but sorta true


I didn't need Wikipedia to give you an answer to a 5th grade level question.
Member
Posts: 38,770
Joined: Sep 14 2005
Gold: 12,839.39
Apr 8 2013 09:10pm
Quote (noob_whacker @ Apr 8 2013 07:31pm)
thanks wikapedia ;] lol

but sorta true


i dont see how its just "sorta true".
Member
Posts: 33,701
Joined: Jul 17 2006
Gold: 1,990.00
Apr 8 2013 10:05pm
Quote (Azrad @ Apr 8 2013 05:43pm)
I didn't need Wikipedia to give you an answer to a 5th grade level question.


Member
Posts: 15,942
Joined: Aug 11 2007
Gold: 8,221.76
Apr 9 2013 10:50am
Subspecies are animal groups that are related, can interbreed, and yet have characteristics that make them distinct from one another. Two basic ingredients are critical to the development of separate subspecies: isolation and time. Unlike most animals, humans are a relatively young species and we are extremely mobile, so we simply haven't evolved into different subspecies.

The earliest hominids evolved from apes about 5 million years ago, but modern humans (Homo sapien sapiens) didn't emerge until 150,000-200,000 years ago in eastern Africa, where we spent most of our evolution together as a species. Our species first left Africa only about 50,000-100,000 years ago and quickly spread across the entire world. All of us are descended from these recent African ancestors.

Many other animal species have been around much longer or they have shorter life spans, so they've had many more opportunities to accumulate genetic variants. Penguins, for example, have twice as much genetic diversity as humans. Fruit flies have 10 times as much. Even our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, has been around at least several million years. There's more genetic diversity within a group of chimps on a single hillside in Gomba than in the entire human species.

Domesticated animals such as dogs also have a lot of genetic diversity, but this is mostly due to selective breeding under controlled conditions. Humans, on the other hand, have always mixed freely and widely. As a result, we're all mongrels: Eighty-five percent of all human variation can be found in any local population, whether they be Kurds, Icelanders, Papua New Guineans, or Mongolians. Ninety-four percent can be found on any continent.

Animals are also limited by habitat and geographical features such as rivers and canyons, so it is easy for groups to become isolated and genetically distinct from one another. Humans, on the other hand, are much more adaptable and have not been limited by geography in the same way. Early on, we could ford rivers, cross canyons, move great distances over a relatively short time, and modify our environment to fit our needs. We are also extremely mobile as a species. Even the remotest island tribe in the Pacific originally came from elsewhere and maintained some contact with neighboring groups.

We may think global migration is a recent phenomenon, but it has characterized most of human history. Whether we're moving halfway around the world or from one village to another, the passage of genes takes place under many circumstances, large scale and small: migration, wars, trade, slave-taking, rape, and exogamous marriage (marriage with "outsiders").

It takes a long time to accumulate a lot of genetic variation, because new variants arise only through mutation - copying errors from one generation to the next. On the other hand, it takes just a very small amount of migration - one individual in each generation moving from one village to another and reproducing - to prevent groups from becoming genetically distinct or isolated. Humans just haven't evolved into distinct subgroups.
Go Back To Science, Technology & Nature Topic List
1235Next
Add Reply New Topic New Poll