In this lesson you will learn about how representatives of the species Homo sapiens differ from each other. The lesson will discuss human races and their external characteristics. You will learn about transitional groups and ethnic groups, as well as about mixed races: mestizos, mulattoes and Sambos. With all the diversity of representatives of our species, it should be noted that it still retains integrity, and the abilities and capabilities of people are primarily related to upbringing and environmental conditions. The concept of race is criticized today because, having penetrated into politics, it has lost its connection with biological science and acquired unscientific characteristics.

All modern humans belong to the same species, Homo sapiens. About 15 thousand years ago, the range of our species was divided into several large subareas, which led to the geographic isolation of human populations. This led to the formation of phenotypically different groups of populations - races.

As a result, the Caucasian race was formed in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Hindustan (Fig. 1).

It is characterized by light or dark skin, straight or wavy soft hair, good development of facial hair in men (a beard and mustache), a narrow protruding nose, and thin lips. Caucasians have a highly profiled face, that is, it has a sharp relief (see video).

Rice. 1. Representatives of the Caucasian race

The Mongoloid race formed in most of Asia and North and South America.

It is characterized by yellowish skin, straight, often coarse hair, a flattened wide face, strongly prominent cheekbones, average width of the nose and lips, and noticeable development of the epicanthus (the fold of skin above the upper eyelid in the inner arches of the eye) (Fig. 2).

Mongoloids from Asia spread to North and South America.

Rice. 2. Representatives of the Mongoloid race

On the territory of Africa and Australia formed Australian-Negroid race.

Its representatives have dark skin color, curly or wavy hair, a wide or slightly protruding nose, thick lips and dark eyes (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Representatives of the Australian-Negroid race

There are no clear boundaries between races. In addition to the three main races, there are more than 30 minor races and even more transitional groups and ethnic groups (see video).

Representatives of different races can have children together. They all belong to the same biological species. This also confirms their high biological similarity, as well as such morphological details as fingerprints and other features.

Mixed marriages result in mixed races. For example, mulattoes- this is the result of a combination of Negroid and Caucasian races, mestizos- Mongoloid and Caucasoid, and sambo- Negroid and Mongoloid (Fig. 4).

These mixed races are now in very high numbers. Thus, on the American continent, mulattoes predominate over pure Negroids.

Rice. 4. Representatives of mixed races

The differences between human races are the result of geographic variability that had adaptive significance in the distant past.

For example, skin pigmentation is more intense in tropical people. Dark skin is less damaged by the sun's rays, since a large amount of melanin prevents ultraviolet rays from penetrating deep into the skin and protects it from burns.

The curly hair on the head of Negroids creates a kind of cap that protects the head from the scorching rays of the sun (see video).

A wide nose and thick, swollen lips with a larger surface area of ​​mucous membranes promote evaporation and high heat transfer. The narrow palpebral fissure and epicanthus in Mongoloids are an adaptation to life in semi-desert landscapes.

It is interesting that the population of South Africa, living in similar geographical conditions, acquired some characteristics similar to the Mongoloids (see video).

The narrow, protruding nose of a Caucasian helps warm the inhaled air (see video).

Thus, all people are representatives of a single species, Homo sapiens. Human races are a consequence of long-standing geographical isolation.

The globalization of the twentieth century is gradually blurring the boundaries between races and ethnicities.

Bibliography

People fall in love, get married and start families. It doesn’t matter that two people are completely different and have very little in common, they are united by love. A special contrast is obtained in couples who are not at all similar in appearance, in those who belong to different races. And, accordingly, they give birth to children who are very different from others.

It is believed that children from mixed marriages are much healthier and more beautiful. In most cases this is true, but, unfortunately, this is observed only in the first generation and does not manifest itself in the future. It happens that people with too different genetic lines, on the contrary, may have children born weak and with various abnormalities. The reason for this is the intrauterine conflict between the fetus and the mother due to the presence of the father’s genes in the baby’s genotype.

Many people believe that all children from mixed marriages are mestizos. But it is not so. Métis- these are people born from the Mongoloid and Caucasian races. But the fruit of the combination of the Negroid and Caucasian races are mulattoes. Sambo are those people who are born from parents belonging to the Negroid and Mongoloid races. Although more often all people born from mixed marriages are called mestizos.

Now let's see who a child from a mixed marriage might look like. Thus, crossing the black and white races will always lead to the birth of a child with dark skin. And in general, he will be more like his black parent. And all because the genes that determine the main characteristics of the Negroid race are dominant in relation to the Caucasian race. These include the color of skin, eyes, hair, skull structure, shape of lips, eyes, nose and others. It is also worth noting that more or less dark skin color and obvious signs of race will depend on which parent is a representative of the Negroid race. So, for example, if the mother is white and the father is black, then the child as a result will not have such obvious signs of the Negroid race than if it were the other way around (father is white, mother is black). This happens because in the black race the X chromosome is not only the carrier of basic qualities, but also dominant over the Y chromosome. And in the white race, the Y chromosome is dominant. It follows that racial qualities in the Negroid race are most likely transmitted through the mother, and in the white race through the father. Let's not forget that this concerns the first generation of children. What will happen next is more difficult to predict.

All in all, from black and white parents a mulatto baby will be born with dark skin (various shades from black to light), dark hair and eyes, full lips, a large nose, and he himself will most likely be large. Although there are dark-skinned people with blue eyes, this is rare. In general, a wonderful and beautiful child, very different from others. Unless, of course, he was born somewhere in Latin America or where there are a lot of mulattoes. Unfortunately, in our country such children do not feel very comfortable, because they are not like everyone else and there are not so many of them.

A roughly similar situation, if parents are representatives of the Caucasian and Mongoloid races. Mongoloid genes are dominant. Most likely, from a Russian and Chinese father, the child will be born with yellowish skin, dark hair, and slanting dark eyes. This is, let's say, a typical representative of such a mixture. Although there are cases where a child does not at all resemble his Mongoloid parent, the characteristic features of this race are likely to appear in future generations. In addition, it is worth considering that both parents are most often not pure representatives of their races. A Russian or European may have both Chinese and Japanese in his family, in general, Mongoloid blood.

And a very interesting mixture results when one of the parents is Negroid, and the other is Mongoloid. Both have strong genes. But the darker skin color always dominates the lighter one. Therefore, in any case, the child will be dark, but may have a barely noticeable yellow tint, but such children may differ in other external characteristics. So, for example, the eye shape will most likely be that of the Mongoloid parent. But the body structure and tall height will be inherited from a dark-skinned parent. In addition, the hair may not be straight, like the Mongoloids, but curly, like the Negroids.

In general, genetics is a complex thing and it is problematic to reliably predict which traits he will inherit from which parent. But in any case, if this child is desired, then parents do not attach much importance to who their baby is like. After all, it didn’t bother them that they were completely different in appearance. And how others will look at it, let those around them worry.

Human race

Race- a system of human populations characterized by similarity in a set of certain hereditary biological characteristics. Traits that characterize different races often arise as a result of adaptation to different environmental conditions 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, the influence of climatic conditions and the general geographical environment on 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 the driving forces of race formation, anthropology comes into close contact with genetics, physiology, zoogeography, climatology, and the general theory of 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 the indigenous population of the Volga-Kama region is divided, 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 are 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

The natural range of pygmies is the western part of 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.

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Man represents one biological species, but why are we all so different? It's all due to different subspecies, that is, races. How many of them exist and what mixed ones are, let’s try to figure it out further.

Concept of race

The human race is a group of people who share a number of similar traits that are inherited. The concept of race gave impetus to the movement of racism, which is based on the belief in the genetic differences of representatives of races, the mental and physical superiority of some races over others.

Research in the 20th century showed that it is impossible to distinguish them genetically. Most of the differences appear externally, and their diversity can be explained by the characteristics of the habitat. For example, white skin promotes better absorption of vitamin D, and it appeared as a result of a lack of daylight.

Recently, scientists have increasingly supported the opinion that this term is irrelevant. Man is a complex creature; his formation is influenced not only by climatic and geographical factors, which largely determine the concept of race, but also by cultural, social and political ones. The latter contributed to the emergence of mixed and transitional races, further blurring all boundaries.

Big races

Despite the general vagueness of the concept, scientists are still trying to figure out why we are all so different. There are many classification concepts. They all agree that man is a single biological species, Homo sapiens, which is represented by various subspecies or populations.

Options for differentiation range from two independent races to fifteen, not to mention many subraces. Most often in the scientific literature they talk about the existence of three or four large races, which include small ones. Thus, according to external characteristics, they distinguish the Caucasian type, Mongoloid, Negroid, and also Australoid.

Caucasians are divided into northern ones - with blond hair and skin, gray or blue eyes, and southern ones - with dark skin, dark hair, brown eyes. They are characterized by narrow eyes, prominent cheekbones, coarse straight hair, and little body hair.

The Australoid race was long considered Negroid, but it turned out that they have differences. In terms of characteristics, the Veddoid and Melanesian races are much closer to it. Australoids and Negroids have dark skin and dark eye color. Although some Australoids may have light skin. They differ from Negroids in having abundant hair, as well as less wavy hair.

Minor and mixed races

Large races are too strong a generalization, because the differences between people are more subtle. Therefore, each of them is divided into several anthropological types, or small races. There are a huge number of them. For example, it includes the Negro, Khoisai, Ethiopian, and Pygmy types.

The term "mixed races" more often refers to populations of people that arose as a result of recent (since the 16th century) contacts of large races. These include mestizo, sambo, and mulatto.

Métis

In anthropology, mestizos are all descendants of marriages of people belonging to different races, regardless of which ones. The process itself is called crossbreeding. History knows many cases where representatives of mixed races were discriminated against, humiliated and even exterminated during Nazi policies in Germany, apartheid in South Africa and other movements.

In many countries, the descendants of specific races are also called mestizos. In America, they are the children of Indians and Caucasians, and in this meaning the term came to us. They are mainly distributed in South and North America.

The number of Métis in Canada, in the narrow sense of the term, is 500-700 thousand people. Active mixing of blood took place here during colonization, mainly European men entered into contact with. Separating themselves, the mestizos formed a separate ethnic group speaking the Mythic language (a complex mixture of French and Cree).

Mulattos

The descendants of Negroids and Caucasians are mulattoes. Their skin is light black, which is what the name of the term conveys. The name first appeared around the 16th century, coming into Spanish or Portuguese from Arabic. The word muwallad used to be used to describe non-purebred Arabs.

In Africa, mulattoes live mainly in Namibia and South Africa. Quite a large number of them live in the Caribbean region and Latin American countries. In Brazil they make up almost 40% of the total population, in Cuba - more than half. A significant number live in the Dominican Republic - more than 75% of the population.

Mixed races used to have other names, depending on the generation and the proportion of Negroid genetic material. If Caucasoid blood was classified as ¼ of Negroid blood (mulatto in the second generation), then the person was called a quadroon. The ratio of 1/8 was called octon, 7/8 - marabou, 3/4 - griff.

Sambo

The genetic mixture of Negroids and Indians is called Sambo. In Spanish the term is zambo. As with other mixed races, the term changed its meaning periodically. Previously, the name Sambo meant marriages between representatives of the Negroid race and mulattoes.

Sambo first appeared in South America. The Indians represented the indigenous population of the mainland, and blacks were brought as slaves to work on sugar cane plantations. Slaves were brought from the beginning of the 16th century until the end of the 19th century. During this period, approximately 3 million people were transported from Africa.

The process of mixing races has been going on for a very, very long time. They can no longer be stopped. What is the process of mixing races called? Métisation. Many states have almost exclusively mestizos as their citizens, for example, Colombia.

It should be noted that there are no obstacles to interracial contact, to the formation of a new race. After all, all people belong to the same species, therefore they can engage in sexual intercourse, regardless of race.

As a result of mixing, mestizos are born - completely healthy and capable of further reproducing their own kind. In the world, there is crossbreeding between Caucasians and Negroids, between Negroids and Mongoloids, as well as between smaller branches of the main races. There are also many cases of the birth of so-called complex mestizos.

There are peoples and ethnic groups that were formed as a result of long-term mixing of races. These are the Khanty and Mansi - the result of the crossbreeding of Mongoloids with Caucasians.

The fact that mass, global miscegenation is occurring can serve as absolute proof of the kinship and similarity of all people on earth. This means that all theories and teachings about racism are just arrogance, just stupidity, just the lack of education of some individuals.

A born mestizo most often has characteristics intermediate between those of the mother and father. Of course, the past generation – grandparents – also plays a big role. After all, some traits (geneticists call them recessive) appear only after a generation.

What promotes miscegenation?

Firstly, there is migration and resettlement. In an era when a person can visit anywhere in the world almost unhindered, this is quite normal. Secondly, if any race or group of peoples “absorbs” nearby small nations.

Historical aspect

The processes of crossbreeding have been going on for several thousand years. It was they who led to the formation of modern races, as well as intermediate and mixed groups. It is interesting that some types of people who were isolated to varying degrees from others were able to maintain their individuality. For example, Eskimos, pygmies. But today they are gradually beginning to be “diluted” by other peoples.

There were times when mixing of races was unacceptable. For example, in Nazi Germany. Some states spent enormous amounts of money to prevent this phenomenon from happening.

The process of mixing different races of modern man

It only continues to gain momentum. Indeed, in the modern world, when socio-economic relations are in full bloom, many barriers to the formation of new races have disappeared. Society develops, and with it comes more opportunities, more freedom. Now there is no influence of natural selection. And today it is very difficult to find a person who is not somehow involved in this comprehensive process of racial mixing.

Race mixing: good or bad? What does race mixing lead to?

As a result of crossbreeding, the species unity of the entire human race and the fertility of offspring are preserved. But some small people or a small branch of a large race may disappear.

What does mixing of races lead to? Towards equalizing differences between different groups of peoples. But, on the other hand, to a new option, because the mestizo is different from its parents.

How to treat race mixing from a biological point of view?

From the point of view of social and everyday relations:

• It is difficult for a mixed-race child to live in a family where parents adhere to different traditions or even religions. This somewhat separates and confuses a personality that has not yet formed.
• Miscegenation can lead to an identity crisis. This happens after major wars or division of lands. Mestizos do not understand who to classify themselves as, or what country to be a citizen of.
• Children born from an interracial marriage may find it difficult to be part of a children's group. In any case, there will be a psychological barrier.

There is an opinion that racial mixing does not in any way affect the mental, physical, social and other characteristics of the unborn child.

There are many points of view on the problem of racial mixing. As you can see, there are arguments both for and against. Some of them have been scientifically proven, others are still just speculation. In any case, miscegenation does not lead to destructive events in the world as long as society maintains tolerance towards all races and nationalities.

Mixing of peoples. Traces of the Great Migration. Talking stones.