Evolutionary Anthropology

Effects Combat Sport vs. Video Games (Part 1/2)

A key component of evolution is competition. In the ancient world, populations were often capped by limited resources. This meant that ancient humans had to compete successfully in order to be dominant and get valuable resources for survival. This idea is reflected by the famous concept of “survival of the fittest”. This made the way humans responded to competition very critical.

Denisovans

A while back I made a post about Neanderthals, a species of extinct humans. Since then, I have received suggestions to also cover the Denisovans, which are another extinct species of humans.

Aryan Migration

I was talking to my father about why my mother’s family has much lighter skin than my father’s family and he mentioned something called the Aryan migration.

Upon further research, I found out that the Aryan migration theory says that around 2000 BC – 1500 BC, a group of Indo-Europeans traveled into India from the North West. They brought with them Sanskrit, their culture, and their genes (The Wire, 2021).

Babies’ Scalps

A recent study used an MRI to monitor brain activity in males and females when they were exposed to a certain compound, HEX. The study determined that when males were exposed to HEX, brain activity was 20% less aggressive compared to the control while females were 13% more aggressive. In addition, they found that HEX boosted communication in the brain between areas that control aggression in men while in women it did the opposite (Science, 2021).

Anthropology Museum

Recently, my family and I took a trip to Mexico City for spring break. While we were there, we got the chance to visit the Anthropological museum. It was one of the biggest and most impressive museums I have ever been to.

Neanderthals

All my life I have seen depictions of Neanderthals as big and dumb “cavemen” in cartoons. Last week, I learned a lot more about them.

Firstly, I learned that they are actually a completely different species from modern humans (Homo sapiens). This is surprising to me because our ancestors share around 99.7% of our DNA with them along with very similar behaviors. These include controlling fire, living in shelters, and being hunters and gathers (Smithsonian, 2021).

Sickle Cell Anemia

Along with Huntington’s disease, another genetic disorder I discussed in Biology class was sickle cell anemia. I find sickle cell anemia very interesting. Having a portion of your cells being of the sickle shape can be beneficial, but if all of them are that shape it can be very harmful.

Huntington’s Disease

In my Biology class, I have been learning about different genetic disorders. One that has caught my interest is Huntington’s disease because research shows that there may be an evolutionary advantage to having this debilitating disease.

Huntington’s disease results in progressive degeneration of neurons in the brain, caused by a change in the HTT gene, which makes a protein called huntingtin. The deformity in the HTT gene is an excess of CAG nucleotide repeats in the genetic code.

Lactose Intolerance 2

In the previous posts, I explored why my dad has lactose intolerance and concluded that it was because his Indian ancestors were likely late to domesticating livestock. Yet, both of my parents are South Asian, so why would my father be lactose intolerant while my mother is not?

Lactose Intolerance 1

My father is lactose intolerant. This means that his body no longer produces the enzyme lactase, which breaks down lactose, the sugar in milk. This is incredibly inconvenient and limiting for him. If he consumes pizza, mac and cheese or buttery cookies he has some serious digestive problems that leave him isolated in the bathroom for a few hours. Diarrhea and fatigue are part of the equation. His condition is mitigated to some extent by taking lactase pills but carrying the pills around and remembering to take them are a real hassle.