Biological Races in Humans
Open accessAbstract
Races may exist in humans in a cultural sense, but biological concepts of race are needed to access their reality in a non-species-specific manner and to see if cultural categories correspond to biological categories within humans. Modern biological concepts of race can be implemented objectively with molecular genetic data through hypothesis-testing. Genetic data sets are used to see if biological races exist in humans and in our closest evolutionary relative, the chimpanzee. Using the two most commonly used biological concepts of race, chimpanzees are indeed subdivided into races but humans are not. Adaptive traits, such as skin color, have frequently been used to define races in humans, but such adaptive traits reflect the underlying environmental factor to which they are adaptive and not overall genetic differentiation, and different adaptive traits define discordant groups. There are no objective criteria for choosing one adaptive trait over another to define race. As a consequence, adaptive traits do not define races in humans. Much of the recent scientific literature on human evolution portrays human populations as separate branches on an evolutionary tree. A tree-like structure among humans has been falsified whenever tested, so this practice is scientifically indefensible. It is also socially irresponsible as these pictorial representations of human evolution have more impact on the general public than nuanced phrases in the text of a scientific paper. Humans have much genetic diversity, but the vast majority of this diversity reflects individual uniqueness and not race.
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While some species can be divided into biological races or subspecies, Homo sapiens is not one of them.
“While some species can be divided into biological races or subspecies, Homo sapiens is not one of them.”
From Anthroposophy and Racism (2025) · cites this paper as Templeton 2013
The genetic differences within our species are very small and do not follow the dividing-lines between the traditional races.
“The genetic differences within our species are very small and do not follow the dividing-lines between the traditional races (Jablonski and Chaplin 2000;Serre and Pääbo 2004;Templeton 2013;Yudell et al. 2016).”
From Anthroposophy and Racism (2025) · cites this paper as Templeton 2013
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References 62 · Cited by 279
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- Authors
- Templeton, A. R.
- Affiliations
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Templeton, Alan R.
- ORCID
- Templeton, Alan R.
- Venue
- Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-09
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 262-271
- ISSN
- 1369-8486 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3737365
- OpenAlex
- W2023875393
- Cited by
- 279
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 48 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 60 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 7.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5p50gm065509-10)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P50-GM65509., P50-GM065509)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Race, Genetics, and Society
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Keywords
- biological race, human population genetics, skin color, adaptive traits, genetic differentiation, human evolution, genetic diversity, concept of race
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Physiological, Africa, Animals, Pan troglodytes, Biological Evolution, Humans, Genetic Variation, Racial Groups
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