Final answer:
Biological anthropology is the study of human evolution, variation, and the biological and cultural diversity of the genus Homo. It uses evolutionary principles like natural selection to understand how humans adapt to their environment and how this affects genetic and phenotypic variation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Biological Anthropology: Understanding Human Evolution and Variation: The field that deals with the evolution of and variation among human beings and their relatives is biological anthropology. This discipline explores the biological and cultural diversity of the genus Homo, examining how human ancestry evolved across different environments like exposure to UV radiation, dietary changes, and climate variability. A key concept is natural selection, which helps to explain human variability in relation to environmental and genetic factors. Biological anthropology relies on the foundational understanding that natural forces like mutation, natural selection, and speciation have driven the development of life on Earth. Major evolutionary advances in our species, such as skin pigmentation adaptations, are results of evolutionary responses to varying levels of ultraviolet light from the sun, demonstrating the intimate relationship between environment and human biology. Today, biological anthropology continues to be relevant as it helps to contextualize human adaptive strategies in an ever-changing world, including our ongoing evolutionary battle with new pathogens like the COVID-19 virus. Human diversity is a complex tapestry woven from a multitude of factors which transcend traditional racial categories, moving towards a more accurate focus on ancestry for understanding the human genetic spectrum.