Question Set 12

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University of Calgary *

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350

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Anthropology

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Jan 9, 2024

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1. How does an evolutionary perspective help us to understand human variation in: a) the ability to digest milk? In the human body, we have an enzyme called lactase that helps us to digest lactose, when we consume dairy products (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 331). However, not everyone has this enzyme that can help them digest milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. People who are lactose intolerant if they consume dairy, they can experience gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea, bloating, and gas (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 331). Looking across the world we can see different levels of lactose intolerance with Swedish at 5% and nearly 100% in the Asian population (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 331). Populations that have a lower percentage of lactose intolerance have a long history of cattle domestication and dairy farming (butter, cheese, milk) (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 331). Before dairy was introduced into the human diet, babies would reach a certain age where they would stop feeding on their mother’s breast milk and that enzyme would stop the production of the enzyme from being able to digest milk after weaning, meaning a good majority of our ancestors were lactose intolerant, because there was less access to dairy products, meaning at the time natural selection had picked the end to the production of lactase (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 331). When domestication of cattle occurred, the consumption of dairy would have been introduced into the diets of people, meaning the production of lactase would have to be turned on again to be able to digest dairy. At some point in time, a mutation would have occurred that natural selection found was helpful and humans would be able to have the ability to digest milk again. Being able to drink milk would have come with advantages, being able to get more nutrients in the body, more consumption of vitamin D, and having another liquid to drink during droughts (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 331). Some populations that have higher cattle domestication means they are more adapted to being able to consume lactose and be able to digest it properly. b) diabetes? Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by high blood sugar (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 329). There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 diabetes is the pancreas stopping the production of insulin that helps absorb glucose from the blood to the cells resulting in low sugar levels in the blood and type 2 is the failure of tissues to react to insulin produced by

the pancreas or insulin resistance which leads to high levels of sugar in the blood (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 329). In recent years the number of people with diabetes has skyrocketed, with more than 180 million people estimated to have either type 1 or type 2 diabetes with it becoming more common worldwide (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 329). With fewer people being active, high levels of obesity, and junk food, all of these are factors to human health. In Canada, the First Nations population compared to the general population is markedly higher (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 329). James Neel author of the work “Diabetes Mellitus: A “thrifty” Genotype Rendered Detrimental by “Progress”” writes about how the Inuit population of Canada, has a genotype that allows the storage of excess carbohydrates as fat in times of need, during shortages of food (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 329). But in the present, this genotype is no longer as useful as it once was in the past, because with food being more plentiful the genotype still promotes the storage of fat, which would lead to obesity and diabetes (Keenleyside & Lazenby. 2015. P, 329). Not only are Inuit being affected but everyone is, and each one could be affected by genetic and environmental factors. c) human growth and development? Human growth and development is a crucial element when it comes to the study of physical examination (Avulakunta, I & Balasundaram, P. 2023). Growth and development in humans is an increase in size (limbs, cranial capacity, bones, teeth) and the development of the brain and other parts of the body. Stages in human growth and development are; 1) feral stage, health issues that can affect postnatal growth, and 2) postnatal stage, the process of growth and development at different rates (infancy, toddler, childhood, adolescence (or teenager), and adulthood) (Avulakunta, I & Balasundaram, P., 2023. Pg, 3). When comparing the skull of Taung Child ( Australopithecus africanus ) and a human baby ( Homo Sapien ) at the same age of three months we can see a difference in cranial capacity. The Taung child has a similar cranial capacity to young chimpanzee babies compared to humans. This sign showed that the brain had not evolved to what we have now, back then. Meaning the Taung child had similar growth as a chimpanzee but one sign of difference was that it was just a bit smaller meaning brains were slowly starting their evolution of bigger brains. Using his skull has helped humans learn about early Hominid brain development and proved that humans learned how to walk on two legs before their brain was bigger.

2. You’ve been hired by the WHO to document patterns of acute and chronic stress among the Ayqeshem, a group of people who live in an isolated region of Papua New Guinea far from any roads or modern conveniences. After two-weeks of hiking up and own steep mountains blanketed in dense forests, you arrive at the Ayqeshem village. They welcome you and agree to give you one month to measure their acute and chronic stress, but only if you can clearly describe the steps you will take to do so. Describe these steps here. Before I go into the field I want to do some background research to see if similar studies have been done to be able to use those as reference points and to make sure I am not copying someone else’s work. Do some research on the people and what their lives are like and some common knowledge, if they speak another language I would try and learn some to be able to help me communicate with the people. Once I have done some research I would write a research question and write an active hypothesis and a null hypothesis in case my active hypothesis can’t be proven. Once I have my work ready I make sure I have proper equipment and supplies for the track and stay. After preparations, I will make my way over to New Guinea and get ready to start the 2-week journey to the site. For the first 2-3 days, do some observation work and explain to the people why it might be important to learn about acute and chronic stress levels to find ways to help the community and introduce yourself. During the observation, watch what the people’s lives are like, what people do, and how they behave. During that time get to meet some of the people to have them get a bit more comfortable with you. After doing observations, I would start to collect qualitative data (data that cannot be counted or used with numbers), by doing some interviews with the Ayqeshem asking them questions and doing group discussions to qualitatively assess stressors (things that push you out of your comfort zone) that could be unique or normal to the area, trying to learn what might cause these triggers of stress. Also look at cultural, social, and environmental factors that could be affecting people's stress. After collecting qualitative data, I would start to collect quantitative data (data that is represented numerically, and can be counted or measured) by taking the blood pressures of the people, by making sure the people are comfortable with that. Look at heart rate variability, you could simply use a watch to keep track or use a heart rate monitor chest strap (with the consent from the people) to measure their heart rates) could be used when they are performing daily activities and see if there are spikes in the heart rate at any point.

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After collecting data from both qualitative and quantitative analysis it is time to analyze the data and try to identify patterns, correlations, and variations in stress levels. Make sure during this time you let the people know what you are doing and what you are finding. After writing a final draft of the work, send it off to editors (people who specialize in this area) and get feedback. If there are flaws, go back and fix them until everything is good. Let the people know that the work could be done over and over again, and make sure that they are still comfortable with you researching them. If the work is good you can finally publicize it to the world. You can also educate people on the findings and can give advice or methods to help cope with these forms of stress. 3. Revisiting a question from our third week of classes, do you think evolution has any bearing on your everyday life? Why or why not? (Your answer should be more informed than the one you submitted in class three.) During the past months (which is crazy) I have learned a lot about evolution and how it’s not only just phenotypes that are affected by natural selection but also genetics. I knew genes were affected but I didn’t know the extent of how much was truly affected. I never thought evolution affected my life except for being bipedal, having less hair, and having a bigger brain capacity. In Anth 305, we’ve discussed how we have behavioural and genetic adaptations to help humans warm or cool off their bodies depending on what their environment is. In colder climates, behaviours humans have adapted are putting on more layers and getting out of the cold area into a shelter environment. Genetic adaptations humans have developed are shivering to help keep our bodies warm and our veins will grow smaller to allow little blood out of the main core to keep it warm and functioning. But it’s not only behavioural and genetics that help us stay warm but also phenotypically plastic can help humans survive cold or hot climates. Two types of phenotypically plastic that help humans in different climates are acclimatization and development. I knew that humans were acclimatized to different parts of the world but I didn’t realize that humans had been evolving so much that we have these types of adaptations. I never thought that putting on a coat would be an adaptation to help keep me warm. Simple day things like that have gone through who knows (or you) many years of evolution to get used to doing simple things like sweating. Even things that I don’t notice during the winter are my limbs still being attached

to me thanks to Countercurrent heat exchange (CCHE), which helps keep limbs warm and not fall off from being cold. When I am with my friends or family I get to tell them all the cool things humans have done through evolution to help humans to survive. 4. One learning goal of this course is to answer the question “Is anthropology, specifically biological anthropology, a waste of time”; that is, would your taxes be better spent on other endeavors (see p. 3 of your syllabus for details). Does the discipline have anything to offer to humanity overall or you personally, going forward? Many people might only believe that biological anthropology is just the study of human evolution, but that’s only part of it. Biological anthropology has many different subcategories that are similar and vary in their own ways. Some subcategories of biological anthropology are paleoanthropology, primatology, human genetics, demography, growth & development, adaptation & variation, osteology, and molecular, and forensic anthropology. One of the studies that have helped us understand humans is studying diseases, disabilities, and viruses and how they have impacted humans. We can study humans and learn about different diseases and how some people have mutations that help protect themselves and how people without mutations against disease differ. Thanks to biological anthropology we have learned about why it’s important that when you are going higher up in elevation depending on where you are from depends on how many days you have to stay in a town to acclimatize to the elevation before you do a hike. We also have learned about how people from different parts of the world are able to maintain their homeostasis by having adaptations against different stressors. Forensic anthropology helps to solve difficult cases by being able to tell the difference between knife marks and rodent teeth scratches. It has now also been introduced with helping to find unmarked barrels at residential schools. In August of 2023, the Minegoziibe Anishinabe had forensic anthropologists do an archaeological dig in the basement of the church that was situated next to a residential school (Malone, K. 2023). In the basement ground penetrating radar was used to see if there were unmarked graves and it picked up 14 anomalies (Malone, K. 2023). The forensic shifted through the dirt and found no human remains buried under the church (Malone, K. 2023). The cause of the anomalies was because of big rocks. This gave the community relief

and made them wonder if the anomalies found in the fields were all unmarked graves. Biological anthropology can help answer so many questions and help give answers to those questions, which is why I believe tax money should be used to continue to help support this field of study.

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References Avulakunta, I & Balasundaram, P., (2023). Human Growth and Development. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved From: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK567767/#:~:text=%5B2%5D%20There %20are%20five%20significant,nine%20to%20eleven%20years%20old . Keenleyside & Lazenby (2015) A Human Voyage. Nelson Education. pp. 322-331 Malone, K. (2023). No Evidence of Human Remains Found Beneath Church at Pine Creek Residential School Site. CBC. Retrieved From: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pine-creek-residential-school-no-evid ence-human-remains-1.6941441 Wilson, W. (2023). Lab 12: Exploring Physical Variation Among Contemporary Peoples. University of Calgary. Wilson, W. (2018). The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology. (Wenda Trevathan). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Question Set 12

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