Tibetan highlanders have no trouble living at 13,000 feet above sea level and many Nepalese Sherpas, who are Tibetan, climb parts of Mount Everest without the supplementary oxygen most other people require.
How can we explain this in terms of evolution?
Responses
A The Highlanders fill a niche, much like Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands.The Highlanders fill a niche , much like Darwin's finches on the Galapagos Islands.
B Because of their small stature, the Highlanders require less oxygen than people who are taller.Because of their small stature, the Highlanders require less oxygen than people who are taller.
C The Highlanders have evolved unique physiological mechanisms for dealing with low oxygen levels.The Highlanders have evolved unique physiological mechanisms for dealing with low oxygen levels.
D The Tibetans split from the Han Chinese population thousands of years ago and became genetically isolated.The Tibetans split from the Han Chinese population thousands of years ago and became genetically isolated.
E The Highlanders have lived in this area for so many generations that they have become acclimatized to the oxygen conditions.
C The Highlanders have evolved unique physiological mechanisms for dealing with low oxygen levels.
It is believed that the Tibetan highlanders and Nepalese Sherpas have evolved genetic adaptations that allow their bodies to function with lower levels of oxygen, such as increased red blood cell production, efficient oxygen transport in the blood, and better utilization of oxygen at the cellular level. This adaptation likely occurred over generations of living in high-altitude environments.