We are humans / homo sapiens...
Category: Health, Science & Technology
Via: msaubrey-aka-ahyoka • 4 years ago • 16 commentsBy: Biology Online
Source: https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/human
We're humans / homo sapiens, which are a highly intelligent [arguable] species of primate that live on planet earth and require food and water to survive.
The following few points are from a comment I made in another article about “Elliot” Page:
- Biologically speaking: XX = female and XY = male. Physical body: vagina, uterus, ovaries, eggs & fallopian tubes (not to say that someone who's had a complete hysterectomy is not female, because vagina) = female | and penis & testicles with sperm and semen (again, not saying that a man that's had a vasectomy isn't male, because penis, testicles and semen) = male.
- Homo sapiens require egg & womb (no matter the means of womb; it could be manmade) + sperm to = another homo sapien.
- Therefore, if a homo sapien has XX chromosomes and vagina et.al., that human is female despite however she characterizes herself or whom she's attracted to, she is female biologically and physically speaking. The same in reverse; if a homo sapien has XY chromosomes and penis et.al., that human is male despite however he characterizes himself or whom he's attracted to, he is male, biologically and physically speaking.
- To simply claim oneself as a male or female or nonbinary really doesn't mean diddly to me. To me, that's like me claiming I'm a unicorn that farts rainbows and people accepting it as truth. If someone wants to go by a different name, I don't care, I'll use that different name, but don't go telling me that you're a man with a vagina and that's why you decided to change your name.
Biological definition of human:
noun
plural: humans
hu‧man, (h)yo͞omʹn
A bipedal primate belonging to the genus Homo , especially Homo sapiens (modern humans)
adjective
Of, pertaining to, having the attributes of, a being belonging to the species of the Homo sapiens
FACT: Homosapians require a sperm, an egg and a womb to grow said newly formed homosapian for reproduction by whatever means that may be achieved.
Overview
A human is a bipedal hominin characterized by having higher and vertical forehead compared with earlier hominins. The brain volume is about 1,400 cc. The teeth and jaw are smaller and the chin is prominent. Humans are the hominins capable of creating and using complex tools, solving problems by sense and reasoning, using symbols and language, and creating complex social structures. Over time, humans have demonstrated behavioral modernity and advancement.
Characteristics
Humans are regarded as a member of the biological kingdom Animalia (animals). In particular, humans belong to the tribe Hominini of the family Hominidae . Hominidae, in turn, belongs to the order Primate s, under class Mammalia (mammals) of phylum Chordata (chordates). Chordates are characterized by their possession of a notochord . Humans have notochords at one point in their lives, particularly during the embryonic stage. At fetal stage, the notochord becomes part of the vertebral column (similar to other vertebrate s). And by the time of birth, the neonate is brought forth by live birth, and then nourished with breast milk produced from the mother’s mammary gland s, which is a major distinguishing characteristic of mammal s.
Humans belong to the family Hominidae, particularly of the tribe Hominini (hominins). One of the common distinctive features of hominins is the possession of a highly developed brain . The brain of a human being is larger than the other hominins but not the biggest. Nevertheless, the human brain has advanced skills in abstract reasoning, articulate language, self-awareness, problem-solving, and sapience .
Humans have bipedal movement: walking on two legs with an erect carriage. They are skillful in handling objects with their hand s and opposable thumbs . They are regarded as one of the most adept runners over long distances because they have finer body hair and abundant (about two million) sweat glands over the entire body that help prevent heat exhaustion. 1 And compared with other hominins and non-human primates, humans are the ones capable of expressing themselves by spoken language. They have a rather intricate form of spoken language that goes beyond murmurs and other crude vocalizations.
Humans have relatively smaller teeth than other primates. The dental formula of humans is 2.1.2.32.1.2.3 . The true human diet is a matter of debate. According to certain paleoanthropologists, the early human diet is believed to be predominantly fish, meat, fruits, seeds, and vegetables. At present, this diet is referred to as a paleo diet (“caveman diet”). The name was based on the hunting and gathering lifestyle of early humans. Over time, the human diet has become so flexible that it led to a contemporary society with a versatile diet. Some of them have retained the omnivorous type of diet whereas others stick to purely vegetables and/or fruits.
Humans have been described as social animals . That is because they have been demonstrating a life of empathy, altruism, values, and ethics. They express themselves through aesthetics and art. They create an elaborate and diverse culture and tradition, and form societies.
Body
The human body morphology is bilaterally symmetrical . The body consists of: head , neck , torso , and four limb s. Unlike other animals, humans lack an external tail. They are sexually dimorphic . In essence, males and females exhibit differing characteristics apart from differences in sexual organs. On average, adult males are taller and heavier (based on average mass) than females.
The human body is comprised the following major body systems: integumentary system , muscular system , nervous system , reproductive system , skeletal system , digestive system , urinary system , respiratory system , cardiovascular system , circulatory system , lymphatic system , endocrine system , and immune system . Each of these systems is made up of organ s and tissue s that function as a whole. The organ s, in turn, are made up of tissues that carry out a particular function. The tissue s consist of cell s engaged in certain metabolic activities. An adult human body has about 100 trillion cells.
The human body contains multifarious types of cells, e.g. neuron s, white blood cell s, erythrocyte s, hepatocyte s, adipocyte s, stem cell s, bone cell s, myocytes , sex cell s, secretory cell s, etc . The cells of the human body are eukaryotic ; the cell contains compartmentalized structures called organelle s. The nucleus contains chromosome s that bear gene s that set the distinctive traits of an individual human being.
Like all other mammal s, humans are diploid eukaryote s. This means the body cell has two sets of chromosome s. A total of 46 chromosomes come from the two sets of 23 chromosomes where one set is paternal and the other is maternal. Of the 46 chromosomes, two of them make up the sex chromosome s, i.e. X chromosome and Y chromosome. According to the XY sex-determination system in humans and other mammals, a female has two X chromosome s whereas a male has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome .
Life cycle
Humans reproduce through internal fertilization by means of sexual intercourse. At copulation, the female copulatory organ ( vagina ) receives the male copulatory organ ( penis ). The penis ejaculates semen containing sperm cell s (male sex cells). The sperm cells travel through the female’s vagina , cervix , uterus , and then into the Fallopian tube whereby at ovulation an egg cell (female sex cell) is discharged from the ovary . Only one sperm cell would be able to fertilize the egg cell. The zygote that forms from fertilization divides mitotically and lodges in the uterus to develop into an embryo . The human embryo undergoes the following major embryonic stages: blastula » gastrula » neurula . The embryonic phase covers the first eight weeks of gestation . By the ninth week, the embryo develops into a fetus .
After nine months of gestation, the fetus would be fully grown and is set for birth. Unlike in other species, the birthing process in humans is painful and difficult. One of the consequences of bipedalism is a relatively narrow birth canal ( pelvis ). Added to this factor is the larger head size of human babies than those of other primate s. Thus, the baby turns around while passing through the birth canal – a feature that is not observed in other primates. Humans are also the only species that usually need help from other humans ( conspecifics ) to mitigate the dangers of birthing. The newborn is less developed and more vulnerable compared with the neonates of other primates. Nourishment is primarily via breastfeeding.
Human post-natal developmental stages are as follows: infancy » childhood » adolescence » adulthood » senility. Humans experience a growth spurt during adolescence wherein the body grows 25% in size. Sexual maturity is reached typically at 12 to 15 years of age and continues to develop at around the age of 18 in females and 21 in males. Unlike non-human ape females that are capable of giving birth until death, human females (women) are not. Women are one of the few species that go through a menopausal stage where they are no longer fertile and capable of birthing a child. Human males (men), in contrast, could remain fertile up to old age. Men may still be able to produce sperms even at senility depending on genetics and lifestyle choices. Nevertheless, the quality and the amount of semen and sperm cells usually decline with age.
According to World Health Organization’s Global Health Observatory (GHO) data, the average life expectancy at birth of the global population in 2016 is 72.0 years.
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Just some facts about being human.
That's the general rule. But like many rules, it has exceptions. Behavior is based on genetics, but managed by hormones, which vary greatly from one individual to another. The vast majority of homosap falls pretty close to the center of the bell curve, but there is variation around the center. Out at several sigma, the importance of hormones may overwhelm genes. There is a small portion of the population whose sexual identity is not primarily gene-based.
But it's a very small number. There's always exceptions to the "rule".
However, sexual identity is the mental [and I don't mean choice] part of this, which is not what I'm referring to here. Personal identification and how one feels, which is usually chemically related [body / hormone] doesn't make the genetics different some how. We can't change our chromosomes simply because we want to or somehow feel that we were born with the wrong set of chromosomes.
You're right that the topic is marginal. It's still real.
So the question for our society is, how much consideration will we have for this small minority? That is not a simple topic. Making huge investments is not reasonable, for example. Making changes in attitude, OTOH, seems reasonable to me.
I don't have an issue with people just the way they are. I've never mistreated someone for appearance or self-identity. If it doesn't affect me in any way, why would I?
I specifically have maintained facts only about the physiological characteristics that homo sapiens retain and what that means in regard to sex (M or F). What I posted about has nothing at all to do with the psychological or chemical characteristics that determine how an individual feels in contrast to those physiological characteristics.
You said
That is true for most people, but some have hormones that over-balance their genes.
There have been cases where gestation was affected by precocious hormones, where the person is XX, but has breasts and a vagina.
Such cases are rare, but they exist. The question is what, if anything, they mean for the rest of us.
XX is female. So, I don't understand what you're trying to say here. Hormones do not change our chromosomes.
Nothing because XX = female, which tends to have breasts and a vagina.
Oops! I screwed that sideways... I should have said "XY".
True. But in extreme cases, hormones can overwhelm genes, to produce the morphology of the opposite sex.
There have been cases, for example, when an adolescent woman, worried that she was not bleeding monthly, went to doctors for an explanation. Only to learn that she would never have her period, because she was a he. No one - parents or doctors - had never noticed any problems.