Are Human beings speciating?

Question

My Biology professor said that humans are speciating. Can someoneplz elaborate on this in detail for me. Thank you yahoo ans.

Answer 1

No, humans are not speciating. Speciation is when one species splits into two species. For this to happen, populations need to be reproductively isolated From one another for a long enough time that interbreeding can't or won't happen.

Differentiation between different populations of humans did happen in the past, which is why we see physical differences between people from Northern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia. These populations never differentiated enough to be considered different species, but had they stayed isolated for long enough, that might have happened. With the advent of modern travel humans from one part of the globe can easily find their way to other parts of the globe. This allows ane exchange of genetic information between populations that were once isolated. This lessens the likelyhood that these populations will split off into different species.

Although humans aren't speciating, we are still evolving. As babies we can all digest milk, but as we become adults most humans become lactose intollerant. In societies that raise cattle for dairy lactose intollerance has dropped. Milk is a very nutricious substance, and the availability of that nutrition is a survival advantage, which is why the genes that allow milk digestion into adulthood have spread.

Answer 2

Humans are still very capable of speciating. Technology has enabled most humans to master our surroundings so natural selection is not effecting us as much anymore. However sexual selection is gonna be the key. One thing you can pay attention to is how there are different standards of beauty in different cultures. For example, Westerners tend to put much more emphasis on traits like height, physical fitness, and having masculine traits. While in East Asia there is a lot more emphasis on being slimmer, more intelligent, and having youthful traits. Although one can argue that all of the above mention traits are desired in all humans, I will say that some traits are more emphasized than others depending on the culture.

If globalization continues as it is now there is probably not enough genetic isolation to have a speciation event occur. However suppose the political relationship between nation states become very hostile due to cultural, racial, economic, or political dispute and such isolation were to last for many generations Speciation would most likely occur as a result of a differences in sexual selection. Speciation can also occur in the future event that humans become a space faring species and become isolated from each other for a long time.

Answer 3

Human beings are not speciating. Not at all. Our technology ensures that pretty much all humans reach reproductive age these days, there are no traits being selected for or against in human populations. Without any new traits there is no speciation.

Answer 4

In biology, evolution is the process in which some of a population's inherited traits become more common, at the expense of others, from generation to generation. This is usually measured in terms of the variant genes, known as alleles, that encode the competing traits. As differences in and between populations accumulate over time, speciation, the development of new species from existing ones, can occur. All organisms, including extinct species, are related by common descent through numerous speciation events starting from a single ancestor.

Mutation of the genes, migration between populations, and the reshuffling of genes during sexual reproduction creates variation in organisms. While a certain random component, known as genetic drift, is involved, the variation is also acted on by natural selection, in which organisms which happen to have combinations of traits that help them to survive and reproduce more than others in the population will, on average, have more offspring, passing more copies of these beneficial traits on to the next generation. This leads to advantageous traits becoming more common in each generation, while disadvantageous traits become rarer. Given enough time, this passive process can result in varied adaptations to changing environmental conditions.

The theory of evolution by natural selection was first put forth in detail in Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species. In the 1930s, Darwinian natural selection was combined with Mendelian inheritance to form the modern evolutionary synthesis. With its enormous explanatory and predictive power, this theory has become the central organizing principle of modern biology, providing a unifying explanation for the diversity of life on Earth.

Answer 5

I suspect that advances in transportation have slowed speciation. Very few people live in isolated populations now. Still, one structural change to the chromosome or a tissue type that prevents some people from successfully reproducing would be a critical speciation event.

Answer 6

My understanding is that speciation is the creation of a new species. If you consider H0mo sapiens a "human being" then, by the above definition, i dont think that we are speciating..however, if you look at the genus, H0mo, then yes. It did undergo speciation (ie. H.habilis, H. georgicus, H. erectus, etc.). However, all species of the genus H0mo (apart from H0mo sapiens) are now extinct.

Answer 7

Yes. If you notice that not everyone has the same characteristics, you will see that they are speciating.

Answer 8

Tell him we're not. Its more like genetic drift with a small degree of sexual selection.