Module 6: Human Variation

Module 6 was developed by Kimberly Schwartz, University of Florida.

SLOs:

Students will be able to define and understand human variation
Students will understand the difference between inter and intra-species variation
Students will learn the different reasons human variation is present
Students will discuss lumping and splitting in terms of phenotypic variation
Students will critically examine the cranial morphology of multiple species and make their own decision on what are and aren’t different species.

Activity:

Look at the crania of Homo erectus and Homo ergaster and note the similarities and differences. Why might theses differences happen? Do you think Homo erectus and ergaster should be split into two different species or lumped into one? Why?

Resources:

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/evolutionary-genetics/

https://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/news/131104_lumperssplitters

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-Homo-ergaster-and-Homo-erectus

http://www.americananthro.org/ConnectWithAAA/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2583

https://www.nature.com/articles/ng1455

http://www.linfo.org/human_variability.html

3D materials:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:819046

male Homo sapiens: https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/character/anatomy/human-skull-male

female Homo sapiens: https://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/character/anatomy/human-skull-female

https://sketchfab.com/models/6637016ca4854ee79889c1f1ff958a85