Parallel evolution—where different populations evolve similar traits in response to similar environments—has been a topic of growing interest to biologists and biological anthropologists for decades. Parallel evolution occurs in human populations thanks to myriad biological and cultural mechanisms that permit humans to survive and thrive in diverse environments worldwide. Because humans shape and are shaped by their environments, biocultural approaches that emphasize the interconnections between biology and culture are key to understanding parallel evolution in human populations as well as the nuances of human biological variation and adaptation. In this review, we discuss how biocultural theory has been and can be applied to studies of parallel evolution and adaptation more broadly. We illustrate this through four examples of parallel evolution in humans: malaria resistance, lactase persistence, cold tolerance, and high-altitude adaptation.

中文翻译：

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人类种群的平行进化：生物文化视角

平行进化——不同的种群进化出相似的特征以应对相似的环境——几十年来一直是生物学家和生物人类学家越来越感兴趣的话题。由于无数的生物和文化机制使人类能够在全球不同的环境中生存和繁衍，因此人类种群发生了平行进化。由于人类塑造环境并被环境塑造，强调生物学与文化之间相互联系的生物文化方法是理解人类种群平行进化以及人类生物变异和适应的细微差别的关键。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了生物文化理论如何已经并且可以更广泛地应用于平行进化和适应研究。