Sean Stephenson, age 11, of Cottage Grove, Ore., for his question:
HOW ARE RACES OF MAN CLASSIFIED?
No two human beings in the world, including even identical twins, are exactly alike. But members of the same geographical race tend to show certain physical resemblances, just as members of the same family often resemble each other. Genetic makeup of races may change to meet changes in climate. Dark and light skin color, for example, are adaptions to different climates.
Anthropologists, the scientists who study man, tell us there are nine geographical races of man and hundreds of local races.
An old theory on the races said there were only three: Caucasoid or white, Mongloid or yellow and Negroid or black.
Today scientists say that larger and smaller groupings of mankind are the products of evolutionary change. They know that race differences result from a group's common ancestry, thousands of years of living in the same area and exposure to common selective forces.
The geographical races of man include African, American Indian, Asian, Australian, Euroopean, Indian, Melanesian, Micronesian and Polynesian.
African is a collection of related races in Africa south of the Sahara. It is frequently called Negroid.
American Indian is related to the Asian geographical race but differs in various blood grouping frequencies. The Asian is sometimes called Mongoloid and includes populations in Asia as well as Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Australian, which is also called Australoid, is a group of local races in Australia.
European is sometimes called Caucasoid and includes populations with light colored skin north of the Sahara in Europe and the whites of Australia, New Zealand, North and South America and South Africa.
Indian includes the populations of South Asia, extending from the Himalaya to the Indian Ocean. Melanesian includes the dark skinned peoples of New Britain, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Micronesian populations are found on a series of South Pacific islands including the Carolines, Gilberts and Marianas while the Polynesian populations range from Hawaii to New Zealand and from Easter Island to Ellice Island.
Local races are smaller population units than are geographical races. Some local races have millions of members while others are extremely small.
Within some local races there are sometimes more or less distinct subpopulations that some anthropologists call microraces.