Visit our textbook-specific Online Learning Center Web site at www.mhhe.com/relethford8e to access the exercises that follows.
Dermatoglyphics
http://www.handanalysis.net/library/derm_easter3.htm.
Read the "Fingerprints on the Easter Islands" article on the IIHA (International Institute of Hand Analysis) Web site. The article discusses both dermatoglyphics (measurement of palm and fingerprints) and issues of race and human variation.
The construction of the huge monoliths on Easter Island remains a mystery since Captain Cook first discovered them in the early nineteenth century. How was dermatoglyphics used to find a solution?
Comparative fingerprint data was used in the study. From which population were fingerprints compared to the Easter Islanders'?
What were the "scientific" interpretations concerning racial superiority?
What were the results?
A SNP Off the Old Block
http://www.sciencemag.org/products/sequel.dtl.
Read Peter Gwynne and Guy Paga's article "Technologies in Genomic Research: The Sequel." The article discusses technologies originally developed for the Human Genome Project and how in the twenty-first century they will help revolutionize such diverse fields as agriculture, medicine, and crime-fighting. Scroll down to the subhead "A SNP Off the Old Block." This section discusses single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs. Continue reading through the sections "Dawn of Personalized Medicine" and "Attack on the Killer Pathogens."
As a DNA base pair, why are SNPs useful?
How do SNPs play an important role as disease markers?
What do SNPs tell us about how truly unique we are as individuals? How will this help in treating disease?
How will this information become useful against microbial pathogens?
The Biological Race Concept
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f00/web2/ramon2.html.
Read Gloria Ramon's essay "Race: Social Concept, Biological Idea." In it, she traces the concept of race, the attributes once thought to identify race, and the validity of "race" in the twenty-first century.
In 1758, Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus established the concept of race, referring to human "varieties" as part of his classification system. What were the races he identified?
On what basis were differences attributed?
How many races did European scientists later identify?
What was the scientific justification?
Biological anthropologists use three criteria for determining variation in animal species. What are the three?
