Among the variety of features inherent in representatives of different peoples, scientists are looking for features typical of large groups of the Earth's population. One of the first scientific classifications of population was proposed by K. Linnaeus. He identified four main groups of people who are characterized by similarities in skin color, facial features, hair type, and the like. His contemporary Jean-Louis Buffon called them races (arab. races - beginning, origin). Today, scientists define races not only by the similarity of hereditary features of appearance, but also by the origin of a particular group of people from a certain region of the Earth.

How many races are there on our planet?

Disputes around this issue have been going on since the time of C. Linnaeus and J.-L. Buffon. Most scientists in the composition of modern mankind distinguish four large races - Eurasian (Caucasoid), Equatorial (Negroid), Asian-American (Mongoloid), Australoid.

Race origins

Remember: view Homo sapiens originated in Africa, from where about 100 thousand years ago its gradual settlement began in Europe and Asia. People moved to new territories, looked for places suitable for living, and settled in them. Millennia passed, and separate groups of people reached the northeastern border of Asia. In those days, there was no Bering Strait yet, so Asia and America were connected by a land "bridge". Him and came to North America, immigrants from Asia. Over time, moving south, they reached South America.

Settlement continued for tens of thousands of years. Scientists believe that during the migration, racial characteristics were fixed, according to which the inhabitants of different regions of the planet differ. Some of these traits must be adaptive in nature. So, a mop of curly hair among the inhabitants of the hot equatorial zone creates an air gap, protects the vessels of the head from overheating, and the dark pigment in the skin is an adaptation to high solar radiation. Enhanced evaporation of moisture and, accordingly, cooling of the body contributes to a wide nose and large lips.

fair skin Caucasians can also be regarded as adaptation to climate. Vitamin D is synthesized in the body of light-skinned people under conditions of low solar radiation. The narrow slit of the eyes in representatives of the Asian-American race protects the eyes from sand during steppe storms.

Due to the resettlement of people, isolation and mixing became factors in fixing racial characteristics. In a primitive society, people united in small isolated communities, where the possibilities of marriage unions are limited. Therefore, the predominance of one or another racial trait often depended on random circumstances. In a small closed community, any hereditary trait can disappear if the person who has this trait leaves no descendants. On the other hand, manifestations of a certain trait can become massive, since, due to the limited number of marriages, it is not replaced by other traits. Because of this, for example, the number of dark-haired residents or, conversely, fair-haired ones, may increase.

Reasons for the isolation of human communities

The reason for the isolation of human communities there may be geographical barriers (mountains, rivers, oceans). Remoteness from the main migration routes also leads to isolation. On such a "lost island" people live in isolation, their appearance retains the features of distant ancestors. For example, the Scandinavians "mothballed" physical features that were formed millennia ago: blond hair, tall stature, and the like. For many millennia there was also a mixture of races. People born from marriages between representatives of different races are called mestizos. Thus, the colonization of America resulted in many marriages between Indians (representatives of the Mongoloid race) and Europeans. Mestizos make up about half of the population of modern Mexico. Usually, most of the racial traits in mestizos are less pronounced than in the extreme manifestations of these traits: the skin of Mexican mestizos is lighter than that of the Maya Indians, and darker than that of Europeans.

Since the 17th century, science has put forward a number of classifications of human races. Today their number reaches 15. However, all classifications are based on three racial pillars or three large races: Negroid, Caucasoid and Mongoloid with many subspecies and branches. Some anthropologists add to them the Australoid and Americanoid races.

Racial trunks

According to the data of molecular biology and genetics, the division of mankind into races occurred about 80 thousand years ago.

First, two stems emerged: Negroid and Caucasoid-Mongoloid, and 40-45 thousand years ago, differentiation of proto-Caucasoids and proto-Mongoloids took place.

Scientists believe that the origins of the origin of races originate in the Paleolithic era, although the process of modification en masse humanity only from the Neolithic: it is in this era that the Caucasoid type crystallizes.

The process of formation of races continued with the migration of primitive people from continent to continent. Thus, anthropological data show that the ancestors of the Indians who moved to the American continent from Asia were not yet established Mongoloids, and the first inhabitants of Australia were racially "neutral" neoanthropes.

What does genetics say?

Today, questions of the origin of races are for the most part the prerogative of two sciences - anthropology and genetics. The first, on the basis of human bone remains, reveals the diversity of anthropological forms, and the second tries to understand the relationship between the totality of racial traits and the corresponding set of genes.

However, there is no agreement among geneticists. Some adhere to the theory of uniformity of the entire human gene pool, others argue that each race has a unique combination of genes. However, recent studies more likely indicate the correctness of the latter.

The study of haplotypes confirmed the relationship between racial traits and genetic characteristics.

It has been proven that certain haplogroups are always associated with specific races, and other races cannot obtain them except through the process of racial mixing.

In particular, Luca Cavalli-Sforza, a professor at Stanford University, based on an analysis of the “genetic maps” of European settlement, pointed out significant similarities in the DNA of the Basques and the Cro-Magnon. The Basques managed to preserve their genetic uniqueness largely due to the fact that they lived on the periphery of migration waves and practically did not undergo miscegenation.

Two hypotheses

Modern science relies on two hypotheses of the origin of human races - polycentric and monocentric.

According to the theory of polycentrism, humanity is the result of a long and independent evolution of several phyletic lines.

Thus, the Caucasoid race was formed in Western Eurasia, the Negroid race in Africa, and the Mongoloid race in Central and East Asia.

Polycentrism involves the crossing of representatives of protoras at the borders of their ranges, which led to the appearance of small or intermediate races: for example, such as the South Siberian (mixing of Caucasoid and Mongoloid races) or Ethiopian (mixing of Caucasoid and Negroid races).

From the standpoint of monocentrism, modern races emerged from one region of the globe in the process of settling neoanthropes, who subsequently spread across the planet, displacing more primitive paleoanthropes.

The traditional version of the settlement of primitive people insists that the human ancestor came from Southeast Africa. However, the Soviet scientist Yakov Roginsky expanded the concept of monocentrism, suggesting that the habitat of the ancestors of Homo sapiens went beyond the African continent.

Recent studies by scientists from the Australian National University in Canberra have cast doubt on the theory of a common African human ancestor.

So, DNA tests of an ancient fossilized skeleton, which is about 60 thousand years old, found near Lake Mungo in New South Wales, showed that the Australian aborigine has nothing to do with the African hominid.

The theory of multi-regional origin of races, according to Australian scientists, is much closer to the truth.

An Unexpected Ancestor

If we agree with the version that the common ancestor of at least the population of Eurasia came from Africa, then the question arises about its anthropometric characteristics. Was he similar to the current inhabitants of the African continent, or did he have neutral racial characteristics?

Some researchers believe that the African species Homo was closer to the Mongoloids. This is indicated by a number of archaic features inherent in the Mongoloid race, in particular, the structure of the teeth, which are more characteristic of the Neanderthal and Homo erectus.

It is very important that the population of the Mongoloid type has a high adaptability to various habitats: from equatorial forests to the arctic tundra. But representatives of the Negroid race are largely dependent on increased solar activity.

For example, in high latitudes, children of the Negroid race have a lack of vitamin D, which provokes a number of diseases, primarily rickets.

Therefore, a number of researchers doubt that our ancestors, similar to modern Africans, could have successfully migrated around the globe.

northern ancestral home

Recently, more and more researchers claim that the Caucasoid race has little in common with the primitive man of the African plains and argue that these populations developed independently of each other.

Thus, the American anthropologist J. Clark believes that when representatives of the "black race" in the process of migration reached Southern Europe and Western Asia, they encountered a more developed "white race" there.

Researcher Boris Kutsenko hypothesizes that at the origins of modern humanity there were two racial trunks: Euro-American and Negroid-Mongoloid. According to him, the Negroid race comes from the forms of Homo erectus, and the Mongoloid race from Sinanthropus.

Kutsenko considers the regions of the Arctic Ocean to be the birthplace of the Euro-American trunk. Based on the data of oceanology and paleoanthropology, he suggests that the global climate changes that occurred at the border of the Pleistocene and Holocene destroyed the ancient continent - Hyperborea. Part of the population from the territories that had gone under water migrated to Europe, and then to Asia and North America, the researcher concludes.

As evidence of the relationship between Caucasians and North American Indians, Kutsenko refers to the craniological indicators and characteristics of the blood groups of these races, which "almost completely coincide."

fixture

The phenotypes of modern people living in different parts of the planet are the result of a long evolution. Many racial traits have obvious adaptive value. For example, dark pigmentation of the skin protects people living in the equatorial belt from excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays, and the elongated proportions of their bodies increase the ratio of body surface to its volume, thereby facilitating thermoregulation in hot conditions.

In contrast to the inhabitants of low latitudes, the population of the northern regions of the planet, as a result of evolution, acquired a predominantly light skin and hair color, which allowed them to receive more sunlight and satisfy the body's need for vitamin D.

In the same way, the protruding "Caucasian nose" evolved to warm the cold air, and the epicanthus of the Mongoloids was formed as a protection of the eyes from dust storms and steppe winds.

sexual selection

It was important for ancient man not to allow representatives of other ethnic groups into his range. This was a significant factor in the formation of racial characteristics, thanks to which our ancestors adapted to specific environmental conditions. Sexual selection played a large role in this.

In each ethnic group, focused on certain racial characteristics, their own ideas about beauty were fixed. Whoever these signs were more pronounced - he had more chances to pass them on by inheritance.

While the tribesmen, who did not fit the standards of beauty, were practically deprived of the opportunity to influence the offspring.

For example, from the point of view of biology, the Scandinavian peoples have recessive traits - skin, hair and light-colored eyes - which, thanks to sexual selection that lasted for millennia, formed into a stable form adaptive to the conditions of the north.

The population of our planet is so diverse that one can only be surprised. What kind of nationalities, nationalities you will not meet! Everyone has their own faith, customs, traditions, orders. Its beautiful and unusual culture. However, all these differences are formed only by the people themselves in the process of social historical development. And what underlies the differences that appear externally? After all, we are all very different:

• blacks;
• yellow-skinned;
• white;
• with different eye colors
• various heights, etc.

It is obvious that the reasons are purely biological, not dependent on the people themselves and formed over thousands of years of evolution. This is how the modern races of man were formed, which theoretically explain the visual diversity of human morphology. Let us consider in more detail what this term is, what is its essence and meaning.

The concept of "race of people"

What is a race? It is not a nation, not a people, not a culture. These concepts should not be confused. After all, representatives of different nationalities and cultures can freely belong to the same race. Therefore, the definition can be given such as the science of biology gives.

Human races are a set of external morphological features, that is, those that are the phenotype of a representative. They were formed under the influence of external conditions, the impact of a complex of biotic and abiotic factors, and were fixed in the genotype during evolutionary processes. Thus, the signs that underlie the division of people into races should include:

• growth;
• skin and eye color;
• structure and shape of hair;
• hairiness of the skin;
• features of the structure of the face and its parts.

All those signs of Homo sapiens as a biological species that lead to the formation of the external appearance of a person, but do not affect his personal, spiritual and social qualities and manifestations, as well as the level of self-development and self-education.

People of different races have a completely identical biological springboard for the development of certain abilities. Their general karyotype is the same:

• women - 46 chromosomes, that is, 23 pairs of XX;
• men - 46 chromosomes, 22 pairs XX, 23 pairs - XY.

This means that all representatives of a reasonable person are one and the same, among them there are no more or less developed, superior to others, higher. From a scientific point of view, everyone is equal.

Types of human races, formed over about 80 thousand years, have an adaptive value. It is proved that each of them was formed in order to provide a person with the possibility of a normal existence in a given habitat, to facilitate adaptability to climatic, relief and other conditions. There is a classification showing which races of Homo sapiens existed before, and which are at the present time.

Race classification

She is not alone. The thing is that until the 20th century it was customary to distinguish 4 races of people. These were the following varieties:

• Caucasian;
• australoid;
• negroid;
• Mongoloid.

For each, detailed characteristic features were described by which any individual of the human species could be identified. However, later the classification became widespread, which includes only 3 human races. This became possible due to the unification of the Australoid and Negroid groups into one.

Therefore, the modern types of human races are as follows.

1. Large: Caucasoid (European), Mongoloid (Asian-American), Equatorial (Australian-Negroid).
2. Small: many different branches that were formed from one of the large races.

Each of them is characterized by its own characteristics, signs, external manifestations in the appearance of people. All of them are considered by anthropologists, and the science itself that studies this issue is biology. Human races have interested people since ancient times. Indeed, completely contrasting external features often became the cause of racial strife and conflict.

Genetic studies of recent years allow again to talk about the division of the equatorial group into two. Consider all 4 races of people who stood out earlier and have become relevant again recently. We note the signs and features.

australoid race

Typical representatives of this group include the indigenous people of Australia, Melanesia, Southeast Asia, and India. Also the name of this race is Australo-Veddoid or Australo-Melanesian. All synonyms make it clear which minor races are included in this group. They are the following:

• australoids;
• veddoids;
• Melanesians.

In general, the characteristics of each group represented do not vary too much among themselves. There are several main features that characterize all small races of people of the Australoid group.

1. Dolichocephaly - an elongated shape of the skull in relation to the proportions of the rest of the body.
2. Deep-set eyes, wide slit. The color of the iris is predominantly dark, sometimes almost black.
3. The nose is wide, the bridge of the nose is pronounced flat.
4. The body hair is very well developed.
5. The hair on the head is dark in color (sometimes natural blonds are found among Australians, which was the result of a once-fixed natural genetic mutation of the species). Their structure is rigid, they can be curly or slightly curly.
6. The growth of people is average, often above average.
7. The physique is thin, elongated.

Within the Australoid group, people of different races differ from each other sometimes quite strongly. So, a native of Australia can be a tall blonde with a dense build, with straight hair, with light brown eyes. At the same time, the native of Melanesia will be a thin, short dark-skinned representative who has curly black hair and almost black eyes.

Therefore, the general features described above for the entire race are only an average version of their cumulative analysis. Naturally, miscegenation also takes place - a mixture of different groups as a result of natural crossing of species. That is why it is sometimes very difficult to identify a specific representative and attribute him to one or another small and large race.

Negroid race

The people who make up this group are the settlers of the following territories:

• Eastern, Central and Southern Africa;
• part of Brazil;
• some peoples of the USA;
• representatives of the West Indies.

In general, such races of people as Australoids and Negroids used to unite in the equatorial group. However, research in the 21st century has proved the failure of this order. After all, the differences in the signs shown between the designated races are too great. And some similarities are explained very simply. After all, the habitats of these individuals are very similar in terms of the conditions of existence, therefore, the adaptations in appearance are also close.

So, the representatives of the Negroid race are characterized by the following signs.

1. Very dark, sometimes blue-black, skin color, as it is especially rich in melanin content.
2. Wide eye slit. They are large, dark brown, almost black.
3. The hair is dark, curly, coarse.
4. Growth varies, often low.
5. The limbs are very long, especially the arms.
6. The nose is wide and flat, the lips are very thick, fleshy.
7. The jaw is devoid of a chin protrusion and protrudes forward.
8. Ears are large.
9. Facial hair is poorly developed, beard and mustache are absent.

Negroids are easy to distinguish from others by external data. Below are the different races of people. The photo reflects how clearly Negroids differ from Europeans and Mongoloids.

Mongoloid race

Representatives of this group are characterized by special features that allow them to adapt to rather difficult external conditions: desert sands and winds, blinding snow drifts, and so on.

Mongoloids are the indigenous people of Asia and much of America. Their characteristic features are as follows.

1. Narrow or slanting eyes.
2. The presence of epicanthus - a specialized skin fold aimed at covering the inner corner of the eye.
3. The color of the iris is light to dark brown.
4. characterized by brachycephaly (short head).
5. Superciliary ridges thickened, strongly protruding.
6. Sharp high cheekbones are well defined.
7. The hairline on the face is poorly developed.
8. The hair on the head is coarse, dark in color, of a straight structure.
9. The nose is not wide, the bridge of the nose is low.
10. Lips of different thickness, usually narrow.
11. Skin color varies in different representatives from yellow to swarthy, there are also light-skinned people.

It should be noted that another characteristic feature is short stature, both in men and women. It is the Mongoloid group that prevails in numbers, if we compare the main races of people. They populated almost all climatographic zones of the Earth. Close to them in terms of quantitative characteristics are Caucasians, which we will consider below.

Caucasian race

First of all, we will designate the predominant habitats of people from this group. This is:

• Europe.
• North Africa.
• Western Asia.

Thus, representatives unite the two main parts of the world - Europe and Asia. Since the living conditions were also very different, then the general signs are again an average option after analyzing all the indicators. Thus, the following features of appearance can be distinguished.

1. Mesocephaly - medium head in the structure of the skull.
2. Horizontal section of the eyes, absence of strongly pronounced superciliary ridges.
3. Narrow protruding nose.
4. Lips of different thickness, usually of medium size.
5. Soft curly or straight hair. There are blondes, brunettes, brown-haired.
6. Eye color from light blue to brown.
7. Skin color also varies from pale, white to swarthy.
8. The hairline is very well developed, especially on the chest and face of men.
9. The jaws are orthognathic, that is, slightly pushed forward.

In general, a European is easy to distinguish from others. Appearance allows you to do this almost unmistakably, even without using additional genetic data.

If you look at all the races of people, the photo of whose representatives is located below, the difference becomes obvious. However, sometimes the signs are mixed so deeply that the identification of the individual becomes almost impossible. He is able to belong to two races at once. This is further aggravated by intraspecific mutation, which leads to the appearance of new traits.

For example, Negroid albinos are a special case of the appearance of blonds in the Negroid race. A genetic mutation that disrupts the integrity of racial traits in a given group.

Origin of human races

Where did such a variety of signs of the appearance of people come from? There are two main hypotheses that explain the origin of human races. This is:

• monocentrism;
• polycentrism.

However, none of them has yet become an officially accepted theory. According to the monocentric point of view, initially, about 80 thousand years ago, all people lived in the same territory, and therefore their appearance was approximately the same. However, over time, growing numbers have led to a wider settlement of people. As a result, some groups found themselves in difficult climatic conditions.

This led to the development and fixation at the genetic level of some morphological adaptations that help in survival. For example, dark skin and curly hair provide thermoregulation and a cooling effect on the head and body in Negroids. And the narrow cut of the eyes protects them from sand and dust, as well as from blinding by white snow among the Mongoloids. The developed hairline of Europeans is a kind of thermal insulation in severe winters.

Another hypothesis is called polycentrism. She says that different types of human races descended from several ancestral groups that were unevenly settled around the globe. That is, there were initially several foci, from which the development and consolidation of racial characteristics began. Again, under the influence of climatic conditions.

That is, the process of evolution proceeded linearly, simultaneously affecting aspects of life on different continents. This is how the formation of modern types of people from several phylogenetic lines took place. However, it is not necessary to state for sure about the viability of this or that hypothesis, since there is no evidence of a biological and genetic nature, at the molecular level.

Modern classification

The races of people according to the estimates of current scientists have the following classification. Two trunks stand out, and each of them has three large races and many small ones. It looks like this.

1. Western trunk. Includes three races:

• Caucasians;
• capoids;
• negroids.

The main groups of Caucasians: Nordic, Alpine, Dinaric, Mediterranean, Falian, East Baltic and others.

Minor races of capoids: Bushmen and Khoisans. They inhabit South Africa. In the fold above the eyelids, they are similar to the Mongoloids, but in other ways they differ sharply from them. The skin is not elastic, which is why the appearance of early wrinkles is characteristic of all representatives.

Groups of Negroids: Pygmies, Nilots, Negroes. All of them are settlers of different parts of Africa, therefore they have similar signs of appearance. Very dark eyes, the same skin and hair. Thick lips and no chin protrusion.

2. Eastern trunk. Includes the following major races:

• australoids;
• americanoids;
• Mongoloids.

Mongoloids - are divided into two groups - northern and southern. These are the indigenous inhabitants of the Gobi Desert, which left its mark on the appearance of these people.

Americanoids are the population of North and South America. They have a very high growth, the epicanthus is often developed, especially in children. However, the eyes are not as narrow as those of the Mongoloids. Combine the characteristics of several races.

Australoids consist of several groups:

• Melanesians;
• veddoids;
• Ainu;
• Polynesians;
• Australians.

Their characteristic features have been discussed above.

Minor races

This concept is a rather highly specialized term that allows you to identify any person to any race. After all, each big one is subdivided into many small ones, and they are already compiled on the basis of not only small external distinguishing features, but also include data from genetic studies, clinical analyzes, and molecular biology facts.

Therefore, small races - this is what allows you to more accurately reflect the position of each individual in the system of the organic world, and specifically, in the composition of the species Homo sapiens sapiens. What specific groups exist was discussed above.

Racism

As we found out, there are different races of people. Their signs can be strongly polar. This is what led to the emergence of the theory of racism. She says that one race is superior to another, since it is made up of more highly organized and perfect beings. At one time, this led to the appearance of slaves and their white masters.

However, from the point of view of science, this theory is completely absurd and untenable. The genetic predisposition to the development of certain skills and abilities is the same for all peoples. The proof that all races are biologically equal is the possibility of free interbreeding between them with the preservation of the health and viability of the offspring.

Human races are biological subdivisions of the Homo sapiens species, historically formed in the evolution of man. They differ in complexes of hereditarily transmitted and gradually changing morphological, biochemical and other features. The modern geographical areas of distribution, or areas, occupied by races, make it possible to outline the territories in which races were formed. Due to the social nature of man, races are qualitatively different from subspecies of wild and domestic animals.

If for wild animals the term "geographical races" can be applied, then in relation to man it has largely lost its meaning, since the connection of human races with the original areas is broken by numerous migrations of masses of people, as a result of which there was a mixing of the most diverse races and peoples and formed new human associations.

Most anthropologists divide humanity into three large races: Negroid-Australoid ("black"), Caucasoid ("white") and Mongoloid ("yellow"). Using geographical terms, the first race is called the Equatorial, or African-Australian, the second, the European-Asian, the third, the Asian-American race. There are the following branches of large races: African and Oceanic; northern and southern; Asian and American (G. F. Debets). The population of the Earth is now over 3 billion 300 million people (data for 1965). Of these, the first race accounts for approximately 10% of the second - 50% and the third - 40%. This is, of course, a rough total count, since there are hundreds of millions of racially mixed individuals, numerous minor races, and mixed (intermediate) racial groups, including those of ancient origin (eg Ethiopians). Large, or primary, races, occupying vast territories, are not completely homogeneous. They are divided according to physical (bodily) characteristics into branches, into 10-20 small races, and those into anthropological types.

Modern races, their origin and systematics are studied by ethnic anthropology (racial science). Population groups are subjected to research for survey and quantitative definition of so-called racial signs with the subsequent processing of mass data by methods of variation statistics (see). Anthropologists use for this scale the color of the skin and the iris of the eyes, the color and shape of the hair, the shape of the eyelid, nose and lips, as well as anthropometric instruments: compasses, goniometer, etc. (see Anthropometry). Hematological, biochemical and other examinations are also conducted.

Belonging to one or another racial subdivision is determined on men aged 20-60 according to a complex of genetically stable and quite characteristic signs of the physical structure.

Further descriptive features of the racial complex: the presence of a beard and mustache, the stiffness of the hair of the head, the degree of development of the upper eyelid and its fold - the epicanthus, the slope of the forehead, the shape of the head, the development of the superciliary ridges, the shape of the face, the growth of hair on the body, the type of addition (see Habitus) and body proportions (see Constitution).

Options for the shape of the skull: 1 - dolichocranial ellipsoid; 2 and 3 - brachycranial (2 - rounded, or spheroid, 3 - wedge-shaped, or sphenoid); 4 - mesocranial pentagonal, or pentagonoid.

A unified anthropometric examination on a living person, as well as on the skeleton, mostly on the skull (Fig.), allows you to clarify somatoscopic observations and make a more correct comparison of the racial composition of tribes, peoples, individual populations (see) and isolates. Racial characters vary and are subject to sexual, age, geographical and evolutionary variability.

The racial composition of humanity is very complex, which to a large extent depends on the mixing (miscegenation) of the population of many countries in connection with ancient migrations and modern mass migrations. Therefore, on the land area inhabited by mankind, contact and intermediate racial groups are found, formed from the interpenetration of two or three or more complexes of racial features during the miscegenation of anthropological types.

The process of racial miscegenation greatly increased in the era of capitalist expansion after the discovery of America. As a result, for example, Mexicans are half-mestizo between Indians and Europeans.

A noticeable increase in interracial mixing is observed in the USSR and other socialist countries. This is the result of the elimination of all kinds of racial barriers on the basis of correct scientifically based national and international policies.

The races are biologically equivalent and related by blood. The basis for this conclusion is the doctrine developed by Charles Darwin about monogenism, that is, about the origin of man from one species of ancient bipedal apes, and not from several (the concept of polygenism). Monogenism is confirmed by the anatomical similarity of all races, which, as Charles Darwin emphasized, could not have arisen through convergence, or convergence of characters, of different ancestral species. The species of monkeys that served as an ancestor for humans probably lived in South Asia, from where the most ancient people settled on the Earth. Ancient people, the so-called Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), gave rise to "reasonable man." But modern races did not originate from Neanderthals, but were formed anew under the influence of a combination of natural (including biological) and social factors.

The formation of races (racial genesis) is closely connected with anthropogenesis; both processes are the result of historical development. Modern man arose over a vast territory, approximately from the Mediterranean to Hindustan or somewhat more. From here, Mongoloids could form in the northeast direction, Caucasoids in the northwest, and Negroids and Australoids in the south. However, the problem of the ancestral home of modern man is still far from being fully resolved.

In more ancient eras, when people settled on Earth, their groups inevitably fell into conditions of geographic and, consequently, social isolation, which contributed to their racial differentiation in the process of interaction of factors of variability (see), heredity (see) and selection. With an increase in the abundance of the isolate, a new settlement occurred and contacts with neighboring groups arose, which caused miscegenation. In the formation of races, natural selection also played a certain role, the influence of which, as the social environment developed, noticeably weakened. In this regard, the signs of modern races are of secondary importance. Aesthetic or sexual selection also played a certain role in the formation of races; sometimes racial features could acquire the value of identifying features for representatives of one or another local racial group.

As the human population grew, both the specific significance and the direction of action of individual factors of racial genesis changed, but the role of social influences increased. If for the primary races, miscegenation was a differentiating factor (when the miscegenated groups again fell into conditions of isolation), now mixing levels out racial differences. Currently, about half of humanity is the result of miscegenation. Racial differences that have naturally arisen over long millennia must be and will be, as K. Marx pointed out, eliminated by historical development. But racial traits will still manifest themselves for a long time in various combinations, mainly in individuals. Cross-breeding often causes the emergence of new positive features of the physical warehouse and intellectual development.

The race of the patient must be taken into account when evaluating some of the findings of the medical examination. This applies mainly to the features of the color of the covers. The color of the skin, characteristic of a representative of the "black" or "yellow" race, in the "white" will turn out to be a symptom of Addison's disease or icterus; the purple tint of the color of the lips, the bluish nails of the Caucasoid, the doctor will evaluate as cyanosis, in the Negro - as a racial feature. On the other hand, color changes in "bronze disease", jaundice, cardio-respiratory failure, distinct in Caucasians, can be difficult to determine in representatives of the Mongoloid or Negroid-Australoid race. Of much less practical importance are corrections for racial characteristics in assessing the physique, height, shape of the skull, etc., and so on. As for the alleged predisposition of a given race to a particular disease, increased susceptibility to infection, etc., these features, as a rule, do not have a “racial” character, but are associated with social, cultural, domestic and other living conditions, the proximity of natural foci of infection, the degree of acclimatization during resettlement, etc.

Humanity is currently represented by one species Homo sapiens (A reasonable person). However, this species is not uniform. It is polymorphic and consists of three large and many small transitional races - biological groups that differ in small morphological features. These features include: type and color of hair, skin color, eyes, shape of the nose, lips, face and head, proportions of the body and limbs.

Races appeared as a result of the settlement and geographical isolation of the ancestors of modern people in different natural and climatic conditions. Racial traits are hereditary. They arose in the distant past under the direct influence of the environment and were adaptive in nature. The following major races are distinguished.

Negroid (Australian-Negroid or Equatorial) The race is characterized by dark skin color, curly and wavy hair, a wide and slightly protruding nose, thick lips and dark eyes. Before the era of colonization, this race was common in Africa, Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Caucasoid (Euro-Asian) the race is distinguished by light or dark skin, straight or wavy hair, good development of facial hair in men (beard and mustache), a narrow protruding nose, thin lips. Representatives of this race are settled in Europe, North Africa, Western Asia and North India.

For Mongoloid (Asian-American) The race is characterized by dark or light skin, straight, often coarse hair, a flattened broad face with strongly protruding cheekbones, and an average width of lips and nose. Initially, this race inhabited Southeast, North and Central Asia, North and South America.

Although the great races differ noticeably from each other in terms of a complex of external features, they are interconnected by a number of intermediate types, imperceptibly passing one into another.

The biological unity of human races is evidenced by: 1 - the absence of genetic isolation and unlimited possibilities of interbreeding with the formation of fertile offspring; 2 - the equivalence of races in biological and psychological terms; 3 - the presence of transitional races between large races, combining the features of two neighboring ones; 4 - localization on the second finger of skin patterns such as arcs (in great apes - on the fifth); all representatives of races have the same pattern of hair arrangement on the head and other morphophysiological features.

Test questions:

What is the position of man in the system of the animal world?

What is the evidence for the origin of man from animals?

What biological factors contributed to human evolution?

What social factors contributed to the formation Homo sapiens?

What races of man are currently distinguished?

What proves the biological unity of races?

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