ANTH 1001 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Lactose Intolerance, Lactase Persistence, Acclimatization
Document Summary
Lactase! enzyme that allows you to digest lactose, which is a sugar in milk. Humans can digest milk as babies, but most of us lose the ability after weaning. Populations with long histories of dairying are typically lactase tolerant. Mutation for the ability to digest milk as adults would have provided a natural selective advantage. Our species is polytypic!phenotypically different populations in a species. Polytypism is result of diversity of environments that we inhabit. Our populations diversify because of natural selection, but our populations remain within a single species because of gene flow. Race is not a biologically useful grouping of humans. Adaptation from an evolutionary perspective is the result of natural selection. From a human variation perspective, adaptation is any beneficial modification that relieves environmental stress and enhances survival of individuals. Acclimatization as adaptation- acclimatization occurs at the level of individual. Demonstrates the plasticity of human response to environmental stress.
