how has natural selection affected the distribution of native skin pigmentation across the world

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Research Assignment Prompt: The Evolution of Human Skin Pigmentation

Part of being an anthropologist requires researching and understanding topics in an in-depth manner. In order to achieve this standard, you will be required to research and write about the following active research topic in anthropology:

How has natural selection affected the distribution of (native) skin pigmentation across the world?

This informative research assignment should involve the discussion of four major concepts:

  • Background information regarding why humans have skin pigmentation
  • An exploration of the environmental pressures responsible for native skin pigmentation distribution (i.e. what was killing/reducing reproductive rates) in both:
    • Equatorial areas
    • High latitudes
  • How dark pigmentation is an adaptation to the selective pressure(s) found near the equator
  • How light pigmentation is an adaptation to the selective pressure(s) found at higher latitudes

This paper should be presented as a synthesis of relevant information from all of your sources. As a research paper, I’m expecting it to focus on presenting the information with as little editorial commentary as possible.

*Please note that I do expect standard paragraph and essay formatting. For example, you should have a thesis statement at the end of the introductory paragraph, and each paragraph should be dedicated to a single topic with a topic sentence at its start.

*I am also expecting you to provide original work interpreting the information you come across. You can quote or paraphrase sources only if you offer citations of these sources. However, keep in mind that I’m interested in your interpretation and understanding of the information, so do not overuse quotes. You should use quotations to support your understanding, rather than letting these quotes present the ideas for you.

Minimum Page Length/Format:

The minimum length is 4 full pages of text. I would like the text double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial font with 1” margins all around.

Minimum Number of Scholarly Sources:

The student will be required to read and cite at least 4 scholarly sources. Acceptable scholarly sources will be peer-reviewed journal articles and books, or other sources at the professor’s discretion. Websites and blogs are not scholarly sources, although they may lead to scholarly sources (i.e. lead you to journal articles and/or books). In order to find scholarly sources, you will need to utilize Delta’s Library website, as well as the websites of nearby public libraries.

Cover Page

The finished paper should have a cover page, with the title of the paper, student’s name and date (at minimum).

Citation Style:

This paper requires both a bibliography page as well as in-text citations.

In-Text Citation

Any sentence which quotes, paraphrases, or otherwise expresses an idea that is not your own requires an in-text citation. This in-text citation can be formatted in many ways, but the preferred format is to offer only the author’s name and year of publication. Full citations are neither needed nor desired within the text of your paragraphs – they should be reserved for the bibliographic page.

Example:

Lightly pigmented skin appears to be a selective compromise between vitamin D production and prevention of folate photolysis (Jablonski and Chaplin, 2000).

Citation in Bibliography

For the sake of clarity, make sure that you are consistent in your formatting, and that I can easily find the source based on the information provided. Offering a website is not sufficient. For bibliographic citations, you should offer at minimum the following information.

For a Journal:

Author’s Name (in alphabetical order by last name), Date of Publication, Article Name, Journal Name, Journal Number, Page number(s).

Example:

Parra, EJ. 2007. Human Pigmentation Variation: Evolution, Genetic Basis, and

Implications for Public Health. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 50:85-105.

For a Book:

Author’s Name (in alphabetical order by last name), Date of Publication, Book Name, City Published in, Publisher.

Example:

Gebo DL. 2014. Primate Comparative Anatomy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

 
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