Carolus Linnaeus contributed to which concept in anthropology?

• A. 1757 - Macroscopic classification of dog breeds
• B. 1757 - created racial classifications (H. sapiens Americanus, Africanus, etc.), origin of scientific racism
• C. Proposed natural selection
• D. Invented forensic DNA profiling

Answer: (B)

This question is about how early scholars began sorting human diversity and how that sorting fed into later ideas about race. Linnaeus helped develop a systematic framework for naming and classifying living beings, which he applied to humans as well. In his classifications, he grouped people into subspecies with geographic labels—Homo sapiens Americanus, Africanus, Europeanus, Asiaticus—and attributed various traits to these groups. This approach provided a seemingly natural basis for differences between peoples and laid the groundwork for what would become scientific racism.

That is why this option is the best choice: it directly links Linnaeus to the creation of racial classifications and the association of human groups with supposed inherent traits, a lineage that influenced anthropological thinking for generations. The other options miss the mark for this topic: classification of dog breeds reflects animal taxonomy generally, not human diversity; natural selection was proposed by Darwin; forensic DNA profiling is a modern technique far removed from Linnaeus’s work.