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Re: Hominid Altitudinal-Latitudinal Adaptations
Paul Crowley (Paul@crowleyp.demon.co.uk)
Mon, 28 Oct 96 19:43:12 GMT
In article <01bbc43e$f5c3ffe0$b52270c2@default>
jdwaters@dircon.co.uk "John Waters" writes:
> Paul Crowley <Paul@crowleyp.demon.co.uk> wrote in article
> > I don't see how such adaptations are a problem
> > _once_there_is_a__good_food_supply_. Peruvian Indians
> > have "genetically" adapted to high altitude in the last
> > 6,000 years or so. That's an eye-blink in evolutionary
> > timescales.
>
> JW: Okay, Paul. If there was the same food supply
> altitudinally and latitudinally, which way would a specie
> go? In the direction which required the fewest genetic
> adaptations, or the direction which required the largest
> number of genetic adaptations?
They would go in *both* directions. See Peruvian Indians who
went high, Inuit who went north, and the rest of Hss who went
every which way. Or take any other successful species: Lions,
crows, rats, or sparrows. Food is, almost, all that matters.
Paul.
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