HUMAN, EVOLUTION AND ENVIRONMENT

Human ecology: definition and contents. Elements of prehistorical ecology, palaeobiology and human evolution. Environment and its main changes during Quaternary. The physical environment: climate and bioma (the bioma of forest, savanna, desert and sub-arctic zones). Actual human populations: human variability and racial classifications. Analysis of the concept of "race". Human populations: somatic, physiological and cultural characteristics and land distribution. Adaptations of the human populations to the different natural and artificial environments: physiological adaptation, genetic adaptation, cultural adaptation. Man and the climatic environment: biological and cultural strategies of adaptation to the different climates and habitat. Man, territories and alimentary resources: energetic requirement, bioma, productive processes and economy of scale. Demografic aspects.