Are humans only one species or Africans, Asians, Europeans, Mongolians etc are different species? They differ drastically in appearance.
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5This sounds like a Biology SE question to me.– Sean DugganAug 23, 2016 at 11:53
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4I'll suggest that the only reason they seem to "differ drastically" is because we're so focused on differences in appearance, thus ignoring the similarities. Jared Diamond, in his book The Third Chimpanzee, argues that any reasonable outside observer would classify Human Beings (all of them) and Chimpanzees as the same species.– MarkAug 23, 2016 at 12:13
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4@Mark I.e. he says that an extraterrestrial zoologist would classify humans as a third species of Chimpanzee (sometimes used as a collective noun for the entire Pan genus). The other two species being Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus. We would be Pan sapiens.– user30557Aug 23, 2016 at 12:55
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3@Dawn - Oops, you're right! Thanks for pointing that out.– MarkAug 23, 2016 at 13:13
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4The use of the word mongolian being seperate from Asian here reminds me of that dreadful 19th century 'Racial science' classification where they split everyone into Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid.– BorderlineBaguetteAug 23, 2016 at 15:57
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1 Answer
There is only one human species today, although there were more in prehistoric times. Whether they differ in appearance "drastically" is a subjective opinion, but maybe you are looking for a different term? Someone indigenous to Europe and Asia may have slightly different features, but they are not as physiologically distinct as, say, apes and orangutangs.
