Race (biology): Difference between revisions

According to [[Ernst Mayr]], "a subspecies is a ''geographic race'' that is sufficiently different taxonomically to be worthy of a separate name" <ref>{{cite book |author=[[Ernst Mayr]] |title=Populations, species, and evolution : an abridgment of Animal species and evolution|url=https://archive.org/details/populationsspeci00mayr |publisher=Belknap Press |location=Cambridge, Mass |year=1970 |pages= |isbn=0-674-69013-3 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref><ref>Mayr, Ernst 2002. The biology of race and the concept of equality. ''Daedalus'', Winter 2002, 89-94. [http://www.goodrumj.com/Mayr.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526072150/http://www.goodrumj.com/Mayr.html |date=2011-05-26 }}</ref>

In [[Taxonomy (biology)|biological taxonomy]], '''race''' is an [[informal]] rank below the level of [[subspecies]]. It may be used as a higher rank than "[[Strain (biology)|strain]]".<ref name="Gotoh">{{cite journal |title=Host race formation in ''Tetranychus urticae'': Genetic differentiation, host plant preference, and mate choice in a tomato and a cucumber strain |last1=Gotoh|first1=T. |last2=Bruin|first2=J. |last3=Sabelis|first3=M. W. |last4=Menken|first4=S. B. J. |date=1993 |journal=Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata |volume=68 |issue=2 |pages=171–178 |doi=10.1111/j.1570-7458.1993.tb01700.x|s2cid=86180826|url=http://dare.uva.nl/personal/pure/en/publications/host-race-formation-in-tetranychus-urticae-genetic-differentiation-host-plant-preference-and-mate-choice-in-a-tomato-and-cucumber-strain(f65be3cc-20be-4e11-8411-3e77d720f54b).html|type=Submitted manuscript}}</ref><ref name="Ritchie">{{citation |last1=Ritchie |first1=D. F. |last2=Dittapongpitch |first2=V. |year=1991 |title=Copper- and Streptomycin-resistant Strains and Host Differentiated Races of ''Xanthomonas campestris'' pv. ''vesicatoria'' in North Carolina |journal=Plant Disease |volume=75 |issue=7 |pages=733–736 |url=https://www.apsnet.org/publications/PlantDisease/BackIssues/Documents/1991Articles/PlantDisease75n07_733.pdf |doi=10.1094/pd-75-0733}}</ref> There are various [[definition]]s. Races may be [[Genetics|genetically]] distinct [[population]]s in the same [[species]], or they may be defined in other ways, e.g. geographically, or physiologically.<ref name="Morris race">{{cite book |chapter=Race |at="Biology" entry, p. 1777 |title=Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology |url=https://archive.org/details/academicpressdic00morr |url-access=registration |editor-first=Christopher |editor-last=Morris |date=1992 |location=San Diego / London |publisher=Academic Press (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) |isbn=978-0-12-200400-1 |quote=an interbreeding subgroup of a species whose individuals are geographically, physiologically, or chromosomally distinct from other members of the species}}</ref> [[Genetic isolate|Genetic isolation]] between races is not complete (some interbreeding takes place between the groups).

However, the genetic differences are not (yet) enough to put the groups into separate species.<ref name="Jaenike">{{citation |last=Jaenike |first=J. |year=1981 |title=Criteria for ascertaining the existence of host races |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=117 |issue=5 |pages=830–834 |jstor=2460772 |doi=10.1086/283771 |s2cid=84136840 }}</ref> The term ''race'' is recognized by some, but is not governed by any of the formal codes of [[biological classification]].<ref name=Aber/>

In former times, [[scientist]]s often divided [[human|human beings]] were often divided into [[Historical definitions of race|races]]. For example, they called people with a dark skin were called "[[Negroid]]" or "black race". But, human [[gene]] sequences are very similar compared to many other animals.<ref name="REGWG">{{cite journal |author= |title=The use of racial, ethnic, and ancestral categories in human genetics research |journal=Am. J. Hum. Genet. |volume= 77 |issue=4 |pages=519–32 |date= Oct 2005 |pmid=16175499 |pmc=1275602 |doi= 10.1086/491747 |last1=Race |first1=Ethnicity }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= Bamshad M, Wooding S, Salisbury BA, Stephens JC |title=Deconstructing the relationship between genetics and race |journal=Nat. Rev. Genet. |volume=5 |issue=8 |pages=598–609 |date= August 2004 |pmid= 15266342 |doi= 10.1038/nrg1401 |s2cid=12378279 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Tishkoff SA, Kidd KK |title=Implications of biogeography of human populations for 'race' and medicine |journal= Nat. Genet. |volume=36 |issue=11 Suppl |pages= S21–7 |date= November 2004 |pmid= 15507999 |doi= 10.1038/ng1438 |s2cid=1500915 |url=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Jorde LB, Wooding SP |title= Genetic variation, classification and 'race' |journal=Nat. Genet. |volume=36 |issue=11 Suppl |pages=S28–33 |date=Nov 2004 |pmid= 15508000 |doi= 10.1038/ng1435 |s2cid= 15251775 |url=}}</ref> This is one reason why modern [[biology]] says that there is only one human race.<ref>{{cite web|author=American Association of Physical Anthropologists|title=AAPA Statement on Race and Racism |website=American Association of Physical Anthropologists|accessdate=19 June 2020 |date=27 March 2019 |url=https://physanth.org/about/position-statements/aapa-statement-race-and-racism-2019/}}</ref><ref name="Templeton2016">Templeton, A. (2016). EVOLUTION AND NOTIONS OF HUMAN RACE. In Losos J. & Lenski R. (Eds.), ''How Evolution Shapes Our Lives: Essays on Biology and Society'' (pp. 346-361). Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press. {{doi|10.2307/j.ctv7h0s6j.26}}. That this view reflects the consenus among American anthropologists is stated in: {{cite journal|last2=Yu|first2=Joon-Ho|last3=Ifekwunigwe|first3=Jayne O.|last4=Harrell|first4=Tanya M.|last5=Bamshad|first5=Michael J.|last6=Royal|first6=Charmaine D.|date=February 2017|title=Anthropologists' views on race, ancestry, and genetics|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=162|issue=2|pages=318–327|doi=10.1002/ajpa.23120|last1=Wagner|first1=Jennifer K.|pmid=27874171|pmc=5299519}}</ref>{{rp|360}}