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Bajau People Have Evolved Bigger Spleens to Make More Oxygen Available for Diving

posted by martyb on Sunday April 22 2018, @02:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the next-up:-compare-top-tier-athletes dept.

takyon writes:

Bajau people, an ethnic group of "sea nomads" in Southeast Asia, have evolved bigger spleens that aid their frequent diving activity:

In a striking example of natural selection, the Bajau people of South-East Asia have developed bigger spleens for diving, a study shows. The Bajau are traditionally nomadic and seafaring, and survive by collecting shellfish from the sea floor.

Scientists studying the effect of this lifestyle on their biology found their spleens were larger than those of related people from the region. The bigger spleen makes more oxygen available in their blood for diving. The researchers have published their results in the academic journal Cell [open, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.054] [DX].

Located close to the stomach, the fist-sized spleen removes old cells from the blood and acts as a biological "scuba tank" during long dives.

The Bajau people live across the southern Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and, according to rough estimates, number about one million people. "For possibly thousands of years, [they] have been living on house boats, travelling from place to place in the waters of South-East Asia and visiting land only occasionally. So everything they need, they get from the sea," first author Melissa Ilardo, from the University of Copenhagen, told the BBC's Inside Science programme.

Also at Scientific American and GEN.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by BK on Sunday April 22 2018, @02:57PM (7 children)

    by BK (4868) on Sunday April 22 2018, @02:57PM (#670362)

    Not sure what you mean by 'race realist idiots'. Can you at least set up a strawman for us? Or if its complicated, a car analogy could help.

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  • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @03:55PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @03:55PM (#670377)

    I think he means people that claim races are different, and all people do not belong to the same magical group. In other words the "sane".

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @06:43PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @06:43PM (#670433)

      There is more variation within a single race than between the average of any given race. This story is actually a good example of how environment affects biology, so any group of people that has been disenfranchised and systematically actually CAN blame their oppressors for the plight of their progeny.

      Fools like you just desperately want scientific excuses for your various levels of bigotry.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @08:10PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @08:10PM (#670462)

        This story is actually a good example of how environment affects biology

        Sorry, but it is not. The spleens in question were actually smaller than usually reported (see my other post).

      • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Friday April 27 2018, @09:29AM

        by Wootery (2341) on Friday April 27 2018, @09:29AM (#672529)

        There is more variation within a single race than between the average of any given race.

        Depends on the attribute. For intelligence and strength, yes. For skin-colour, no.

        Fools like you just desperately want scientific excuses for your various levels of bigotry.

        Yup, there are lots of racist idiots looking for any excuse, but I find it's best to be slow to land that accusation on anyone specifically.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @04:21PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @04:21PM (#670384)

    Hang out on soylentnews for a day and you will see lots of idiots.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @05:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2018, @05:15PM (#670402)

      You've already met their king!

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday April 22 2018, @11:57PM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Sunday April 22 2018, @11:57PM (#670531) Journal

      Hang out on soylentnews for a day and you will see lots of idiots.

      Adaptation to environment, sort of a survival trait?

      (grin)

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