Presentation Type

Poster

Keywords

human adaptation, morphology, ecogeographical, anatomy, anatomical variation, diversity

Department

Sports Medicine

Abstract

Introduction: The recent upturn in our nation’s socio-political conversation has fueled interest in ensuring that college curricula is diverse and inclusive. Because human anatomy is ubiquitous across colleges, it may be a valuable avenue to purposefully incorporate topics of diversity in a way that positively impacts our socio-cultural relationships. Providing students with a scientific understanding of our visible differences may mitigate subconscious bias when we see others who have different features. Purpose: We investigated the biogeographical factors that contribute to the morphological variability of the face, hair, and body size; with the secondary aim of developing diverse and inclusive content to embed in a college-level human anatomy course. Discussion: Multiple forces act on a trait and/or individual to influence appearance; one such factor is physiological adaptation to the environment. The morphology of certain features (e.g., epicanthal fold, external nares, nasion, vermillion zone, melanin, hair shaft, and limb length) demonstrate a pattern of variation that correlates to biogeography, particularly latitude. Such that, the presence of an anatomical feature (e.g., epicanthal fold) is not limited to one ethnic/racial group but may be prevalent across groups living in similar environmental conditions. Anatomical structures that show this pattern of variation arise from the neural crest during embryological development. Future research should explore variation in other structures that derive from neural crest cells as well as a comparative examination of morphological variability in other species.

Faculty Mentor

Cooker Storm, Ph.D.

Funding Source or Research Program

Not Identified

Location

Waves Cafeteria

Start Date

25-3-2022 2:00 PM

End Date

25-3-2022 3:00 PM

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Mar 25th, 2:00 PM Mar 25th, 3:00 PM

Human adaptation and morphological variation: expanding diversity in anatomy curriculum

Waves Cafeteria

Introduction: The recent upturn in our nation’s socio-political conversation has fueled interest in ensuring that college curricula is diverse and inclusive. Because human anatomy is ubiquitous across colleges, it may be a valuable avenue to purposefully incorporate topics of diversity in a way that positively impacts our socio-cultural relationships. Providing students with a scientific understanding of our visible differences may mitigate subconscious bias when we see others who have different features. Purpose: We investigated the biogeographical factors that contribute to the morphological variability of the face, hair, and body size; with the secondary aim of developing diverse and inclusive content to embed in a college-level human anatomy course. Discussion: Multiple forces act on a trait and/or individual to influence appearance; one such factor is physiological adaptation to the environment. The morphology of certain features (e.g., epicanthal fold, external nares, nasion, vermillion zone, melanin, hair shaft, and limb length) demonstrate a pattern of variation that correlates to biogeography, particularly latitude. Such that, the presence of an anatomical feature (e.g., epicanthal fold) is not limited to one ethnic/racial group but may be prevalent across groups living in similar environmental conditions. Anatomical structures that show this pattern of variation arise from the neural crest during embryological development. Future research should explore variation in other structures that derive from neural crest cells as well as a comparative examination of morphological variability in other species.