Still Evolving Human Evolution

Some people may believe that humans have reached their peak in evolution. They believe that there are no more necessary changes needed in our genes because survival of the fittest and natural selection don’t apply to us anymore, however we are still evolving, it may not seem obvious but there are a lot more recent changes than more people realise. One recent change that had occurred was blue eyes, “Blue eyes seem to have appeared in people who lived more than 9,000 years ago,” (J. Hawks, p.g 2) Although, there are more changes than just blue eyes, like the lactase mutation. The lactase mutation had begun roughly 7,500 years ago but in different regions of the world the mutation has only begun roughly 5,000 years ago. (J. Hawks. “Still Evolving”).

This adaptation triggers the social classification of race and these humans are looked at and treated differently because they are a different “race”. “Human "racial" diversity is a result of people in a geographic area intermarrying, being exposed to a number of biological processes, and adapting slowly to local environments.”(Eugenie C. Scott. Evolution And Origin Races). “As noted earlier, geographically localized populations--as result of adaptation, migration, and chance--tend to have some characteristic physical traits” (Carol Mukhopadhyay, Rosemary C. Henze. How real is Race? P.g 4) The authors discuss how a population evolves/adapts to their environment when they migrate, for example when they migrate north, the pigmentation in their skin lightens so they could absorb more vitamin d from the sun. The adaptation in human pigment began when they started migrating. This may not be a recent adaptation like blue eyes but still is an adaptation that occured later in human