Racial characteristics other than skin colour - evolved for a purpose or just random?

Question

Each race has other characteristics which set them apart in addition to skin colour.

Is there any reason why the people of Asia should have straight hair, while the people of Africa do not? Lip thickness? Nose size? etc... Has the environment had any effect on shaping these differences or is it random?

Answer 1

Strictly speaking, ALL mutations are random. If they serve any useful purpose, that is determined only after the mutation appears. There are, in fact, a great number of non-functioning, non-interfering, or at least benign mutations that hang around for no good reason at all.

If you were born with a mutation that gave you toenails that were 3% thicker, you'd probably pass it on to your offspring. That doesn't necessarily make it a purposeful mutation that increased your chances for survival. It might just be that it was packaged along with a perfectly good set of genetic traits, and that it didn't interfere with them in any significant way.

Answer 2

well if you start placing it down to characteristics you do realize people you say are in the same race

scottish/arabs,mediteranians ALSO have different features and characteristics

Answer 3

Racial this, racial that, nose size, head size, skull shape, butt shape, hair texture, eye shape, pigmentation, etc.........

There is so much negative racial-minded talk  going on here.

Go get a life people.

Answer 4

Some are random, some are caused by selection.

Generally I'd have to agree with most of Lexico's answer, except that epicanthic folds to the eyes are more commonly seen in desert populations, so it's probably more to keep grit out of the eyes, as the eyeshape forces the lashes down to act as a kind of filter over the cornea. It works the same for snow though.

European thin lips are an adaptation to cold weather, less suface area mean less likely to chap or get frostbite. Full lips may be sexier, but don't do well in freezing winds.

Long thin European noses are adapted to warm up cold air so it doesn't shock the lungs. African noses are wider to let in as much air as possible, no warming necessary.

Blue eyes are more sensitive to red light, and would allow better vision around the campfire on long European winter nights.

European's hands are more tolerant of the cold, and remain more usable at lower temperatures.

Black Africans have much longer limbs. Great for hot climates, but according to the US army this makes black recruits twice as likely to get frostbite as white soldiers.

Population differences in limb length (AKA crural index).

Lapps               79%        

modern Inuit        81.5%      

Belgium             82.5%    

S.African white     83.2%    

Yugoslav            83.75%    

American white      82.6%    

Kalahari Bushman    83.4%    

New Mexico Indian    84.6%    

S.African black     86.4%    

Arizona Indian      85.5%    

Melanesian          84.8%    

Pygmy               85.1%    

Egyptian            84.9%    

American Black      85.25%    

Populations on colder climates tend to have rounder heads, to retain heat better.

Black Africans have teeth that are much larger, stronger and with complex grinding surfaces on them, possibly because a larger part of their stone age diet was tough grains and roots. Most of the rest of the world has much smaller, smoother teeth, as hard food wasn't eaten much by European and Asian hunter gatherers.

Africans and South Asians have a pregnancy nearly a week shorter than Europeans, and the highest twinning rates in the world are in Nigeria. This is probably an adaptation to the very high child mortality rate from malaria. They need to reproduce faster just to cover their losses.

People in isolated ares with a limited food supply quickly diminish in size to become pygmies. Pygmy people also have much shorrter overall lifespans. The norm for Mbuti pygmies is to stop growing at twelve, hit peak fertility at 16, and menopause in their twenties. They have a lifespan about 60% of a Europeans in a similar environment, they age faster.

Long hair is great in a cold environment, as it keeps the back of the neck warm. But gets matted with sweat and traps insects in the tropics.

Populations are adapted to eat different diets. Pre-industrial societies are generally insulin resistant, and are only adapted to eat low amounts of carbohydrates. They also produce lower amounts of amylase (starch digesting enzyme). These means they tend to get obese and diabetic if they suddenly swap over to a modern diet.

Answer 5

for a purpose...when we evovled through the ages we pick up and we lose traits.

blacks - strengths

chinese - agility

whites - endurance

Answer 6

The characteristics such as skin colour, hair type, eye shape, etc are nothing whatever to do with evolution.

They are the result of natural selection acting on the pre-existing genetic information.

Adam and Eve (and more recently Noah and his wife) had genetic information for all these characteristics. Descendant populations have 'devolved' to contain a subset of that genetic information.  This is well understood and has mechanisms such as found effect, genetic drift, alloptrapy, etc. The environment can have an effect on the genes which survive best in certain populations.

There is an excellent article here which explains it clearly.

http://www.creationontheweb.com/images/p...

The word evolution is used to mean many things. Sometimes people use it to describe natural selection (as above), and then claim that this is proof that apes evolved into man.

The idea that all life evolved from a single ancestor (goo to you) is an unproven hypothesis. It proposes that there has been a massive net increase in genetic information caused by mutations. However all observed mutations are info neutral or lossy. Fortunately for us, natural selection weed out most mutations.

Many evolutionists deliberately confuse natural selection with evolution. How many times have you heard that darwin's finches (NS) are proof of evolution?

Or bacteria? Or peppered moths?

None of these alleged proofs of evolution is anything but selection acting on pre-existing - created - gentic information.

It is worth being clear about the argument (whatever you believe)

http://creationontheweb.com/content/view...

Answer 7

For a purpose, although not for a purpose in the teleological sense (i.e. not to satisfy an original plan of an intelligent designer or the spirit of nature).

As for randomness, all naturally occurring genetic variation is random. It's the selection that decides what each variation can mean and how one particular change can benefit a particular gene carrier.

Hence functionality and randomness are not necessarily contradictory; they actually work hand in hand, perhaps working at different stages of the evolutionary process.

Here are some possible examples of this functionality of how a certain 'random variation' might have turned out to be a very useful genetic trait in humans. Once a useful trait gets introduced, it spreads in the slightly more successful offsprings that the carrier begets (of course, through mating, not reproducing on one's own which is impossible for humans in nature XD).

Dark skin pigmentation: the melanin offers protection from harmful UV rays, and possibly makes good use of the photo-chemical energy that occurs in the process

Light skin pigmentation: the lower pigmentation allows enough UV to pass thru thus allowing the conversion of carrotene and viatimin D essential for a healthy physiology.

Enlarged/Elongated nasal tract: (explained)

Double fold in the eyelid: helps withstand the harsh climate while trapped in the Norther Siberia cold.

Bigger bodily build: higher latitude-induced (the bigger, the better survivor in the northern cold)

Staight hair: perhaps to better deal with bodily lice which was prevalent throughout the archeological period and even until recent times. (People became free of lice only quite recently; the wig-wearing of pre-industrial Europe was to avoid the embarassment of lice dropping while in social engagement for instance.)

I have the slightest idea what useful purpose thick lips might have served; perhaps to become a better kisser? Thick lips are expressive and hot, nevertheless, with a very appealing effect! On a personal level, trust seems to be the body sign radiating out of person with thick lips for sure! ^^_

-----additional detail-----

re: "slender lilmbs" = better heat loss = cooling effect

re: "Whites need more all over fat for cold weather perhaps?" I would agree with your observation.

Answer 8

Very much environmentally motivated.

A longer thin nose (European/Anglo Saxon/white) gives the best chance for surviving in cooler moist areas.

A broader flat nose (Mid Africa/India/black/Asian) works better in humid hotter areas.

Skin Thickness is also very much a factor of the environment.

Hair type be it color/thickness/straight or curly are also controlled by the overall enviroment over a long period of time.

Answer 9

It's unclear.

There's a hypothesis floating around that some differences, including skin color, are due to sexual selection.

That is, if the females find yada attractive, it will be selected for, as guys with yada will get their choice of mates (or get more mates).

But there are some clear advantages to some characteristics in some climates. Whether that characteristic ever emerged to be selected for depends on whether that mutation ever ocurred in that group.

(If it's cold where you live, there's an advantage to having a longer nose, to warm up the air you breathe in, so your body works a little less hard to maintain body temperature, for instance.)