The short term solution for the cold would be to find large animals (since they can survive in the cold more) and use their skin as a blanket for retain body heat.
The facultative solution would be to shiver to help the body warm up (in my genetics class, I learned that if the human body temperature were to drop one degree from 98 degrees, a body's natural reaction is to shiver).
A developmental solution would be that human skin gets thicker through time so that humans can keep all the heat stored in their bodies for much longer.
Being there wont be small animals roaming about in the cold, it will be hard to find food. Once a one finds food, they'll have to preserve it to make it last. A way of preserving food, is to keep it on ice- however if there isn't any ice around, one can use spices to preserve the meat. The poor in India still use this method today, they don't own anything to preserve the meat, so the douse the meat in different kinds of spices which is why Indian food is to be considered very spicy in general (we are just used to eating so much spice). Another way for finding food is to go on the ice and fish- fish can survive in cold water so one can have an option of fishing for food.
The benefits we gain from studying this is basic needs of survival. If we have no food, we can hunt. If we have no warmth, we hunt for animal skin. Hypothetically, if natural disasters would wipe out the city life, factories, and everything we humans have built, we would have to start over from scratch and learn how to survive without the advantage of having everything at your fingertips like we do today.
One can use race to understand the different adaptations of human variation by knowing that each race is divided by region and how they survive. If one is in an area where everyone is working together and they all have a natural flow with one another when it comes to survival, we would know that there is a possibility that they belong to the same race. Knowing the environmental influences on adaptations is a better way to understand human variation because humans act according to their surroundings, no matter what race.
I did cold weather aswell, and should have put responses to the drop of body heat, it didn't come to mind, but good job with your post very informative
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about "homeostasis", we're talking about maintaining physiological conditions that are necessary for the body to function efficiently. So the question here is why the body can't function below the optimum temperature of 98.6 degrees? What happens to the body when it's core temperature drops?
ReplyDeleteShort term adaptations (along with facultative and developmental) are physiological adaptations, meaning they occur automatically in the body without any conscious effort on our part. What you have identified is a cultural/behavioral practice to deal with cold stress, one that requires action on our part, so this doesn't meet the definition of "short-term". An example of a short term adaptation to cold stress is shivering. You've identified this as a facultative response, but it falls into this first category.
A facultative response requires that genes be turned on or off, and an example of this for cold stress would be vasocontriction, which closes down vessels in the surface of the skin to reduce heat loss. This is discussed in the assignment module resources.
Do you have a source for the "thick skin" adaptation? The fatty layer below the skin may increase, but not the skin itself. This would be a facultative response, since it is a change in a person's lifetime. A developmental change is something a person is born with and will change little, if at all, during their life. An example is a short, compact body shape (satisfying Bergmann and Allen's rules) which reduces surface area and helps to keep heat in the body core.
I'll allow the cultural section, but this doesn't explain how people use culture to maintain their body core homeostasis.
I hope we don't have to see civilization wiped out before we can benefit from what we learn from this type of study? :-) Can knowledge on adaptations to cold climates have medical implications? Help us develop clothing that retains heat more efficiently? Can we develop new means of home/building construction that might help increase heat retention? How can we actually use this information in an applied fashion?
"One can use race to understand the different adaptations of human variation by knowing that each race is divided by region and how they survive."
But then you are still using adaptations and not race. Can you actually use race to understand human variation? It is perfectly acceptable to answer "no" to this question.
To answer this question, you first need to explore what race actually is. Race is not based in biology but is a social construct, based in beliefs and preconceptions, and used only to categorize humans into groups based upon external physical features, much like organizing a box of crayons by color. Race does not *cause* adaptations like environmental stress do, and without that causal relationship, you can't use race to explain adaptations. Race has no explanatory value over human variation.
Please note: I'm noticing that you and Samamtha Morales have nearly identical posts. This isn't about plagiarism... I realize you likely just worked on this assignment together, which is just fine. The problem is, both of you made the same exact errors and I'm writing the same exact corrections. If you are working with someone, make sure they (and you) are taking advantage of all the available course resources and make sure you are thinking for yourself in these assignments. It make be easier to follow the lead of someone else, but if they don't understand the material well, it will cost you in the long run.
DeleteI Seriously didn't work with anyone. I don't even know that person. Maybe she looked onto my post as an example? because I do not know anyone in this class. Nor talk to anyone in this class
DeleteThis post was my research and no one else's.
DeleteHey Kirsten,
ReplyDeleteWhen you say little animals go to hide, do you mean they hibernate? I like that you bring up ways to preserve meat. For they would need it to survive when food is scarce.