Expert: K Shows - 3/15/2006

Question
Can Eskimos and Bushmen interbreed? I hear that Eskimos cannot interbreed with a certain kind of human race..if it isn't bushmen...then what is the name of the other race?

Is there anymore examples of instances in which two human races cannot interbreed?

Answer
Vishnu,

I do not know of any instances where human "races" cannot interbreed.  In genetics, cultural "races" are considered to be merely genetic isolates, and all human genetic isolates are within the same species.  So, if a new species of human is found (which wouldn't actually be "human"), then I would believe that "races" between these species could not interbreed.  The definition of species is a group of related individuals that can breed and produce fertile offspring.

The reason that you do not see "Eskimos" and "Bushmen" interbreeding is that they come from isolated communities and very different climates and would likely never meet naturally.  It has nothing to do with genetics.

The only place I have found information on this topic is through hate-mongering websites that want to perpetuate the myth that one "race" is superior to another: Caucasians differ from Africans by one single base change that causes their skin to be darker (even caucasians have pigment in their skin-- just not as much).  DNA is virtually identical between humans-- hey, even chimps are 99.99% identical to all humans so we must be more identical than that!