Question

Why are human beings who look so different from each other in terms of size, colour and looks said to belong to the same species?

Answer 1

The sex cells of the parents constitute the link between one generation to the next and pass on the characters or traits from both the maternal and paternal side to the offspring or we say that the hereditary information is carried from parents to the offsprings.

Complete answer:
The offspring are never a true copy of the parents. No two individuals are exactly alike and the members of any one species differ from one another in some characters or the other. These differences are known as variations. Let us take an example: height is a trait that’s why humans to show variation in their height like some are very tall, some are less tall, some have medium height and some have a short or very short height.

Human beings are widely different according to their size, colour, and looks but their genetic makeup or DNA is similar. The different levels of expression of these traits resulted in variations in size, colour and looks. However, humans have the same organization at the genetic level.

- The same number of chromosomes are present. Produce fertile offspring by interbreeding. Therefore, they belong to the same species.
- One type of several living species of great apes are humans. Humans evolved orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. About 7 million years ago all of these shared a common ancestor.
- The similarities in their DNA sequences.
- They have descended from the same ancestor
- They can reproduce among themselves

Note: The humans or animals reproduce by the process of sexual reproduction due to which a large number of variations are produced and no two humans look-alike or identical. The variation is important for increasing the chance of survival in the changing surroundings or environment.