Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 Dec 3. Epub 2021 Dec 3.

Department of Anthropology, Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, USA.

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 Nov 30. Epub 2021 Nov 30.

Archaeogenetics Laboratory, Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic.

Objectives: Mode of subsistence is an important factor influencing dietary habits and the genetic structure of various populations through differential intensity of gene flow and selection pressures. Previous studies suggest that in Africa Taste 2 Receptor Member 16 (TAS2R16), which encodes the 7-transmembrane receptor protein for bitterness, might also be under positive selection pressure.

Methods: However, since sampling coverage of populations was limited, we created a new TAS2R16 population dataset from across the African Sahel/Savannah belt representing various local populations of differing subsistence modes, linguistic affiliations, and geographic provenience. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 15;176(4):652-671. Epub 2021 Sep 15.

Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Objectives: In humans, the pelvis is the most sexually dimorphic skeletal element and is often utilized in aging and sexing remains. The pelvis has become greatly relied upon in anthropological research (e.g. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 Oct 17;176(2):342-344. Epub 2021 Mar 17.

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 28;176(3):402-421. Epub 2021 Aug 28.

Department of Clinical Anatomy and Osteopathic Principles, Rocky Vista University, Parker, Colorado, USA.

Objectives: The presence of sexual dimorphism in the birth canals of anthropoid primates is well documented, and birth canal dimorphism tends to be especially robust among species that give birth to relatively large neonates. However, it is less clear whether birth canal dimorphism is accompanied by dimorphism in parts of the pelvis not directly under selection for birth, particularly including bi-iliac breadth, biactetabular breadth, lengths of the ischium and ilium, and 3D shape. This study investigates the patterns of dimorphism among anthropoid primates in those parts of the pelvis which do not directly contribute to the bony birth canal, here termed the non-obstetric pelvis. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 21;176(3):459-473. Epub 2021 Aug 21.

Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.

Objective: Frailty is the physiological stress that individuals suffer during their life. In past populations, frailty is conventionally assessed through the occurrence of different biomarkers of biological stress. Some efforts have been made to propose indexes that combine all biomarkers. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 21;176(3):474-485. Epub 2021 Aug 21.

Centre for Applied Bioanthropology, Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia.

Objectives: To provide a comprehensive analysis of perimortem cranial injuries found on human remains from the Eneolithic (ca. 4200 BCE) mass grave discovered at Potočani, Croatia, to test if the assemblage is a result of a deliberate violent episode on a massive scale.

Materials And Methods: Standard bioarchaeological analysis, including inventory of the preserved elements, minimum number of individuals, sex determination, age at death, as well as pattern and distribution of trauma, was recorded. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 19;176(4):584-605. Epub 2021 Aug 19.

School of Sociology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Objectives: We examine the prevalence and sociodemographic risk factors of skeletal indicators of stress in forensic samples of undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America.

Materials And Methods: Cranial and dental remains of 319 migrants recovered in the Arizona and Texas borderlands were assessed for porotic hyperostosis (PH), cribra orbitalia (CO), and linear enamel hypoplasias (LEH). Logistic regression models for each condition were estimated to test for associations with biological sex, age, recovery location, and whether individuals were identified. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 18;176(4):703-712. Epub 2021 Aug 18.

Minnesota Dental Research Center for Biomaterials and Biomechanics, University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Dental microwear formation on the posterior dentition is largely attributed to an organism's diet. However, some have suggested that dietary and environmental abrasives contribute more to the formation process than food, calling into question the applicability of dental microwear to the reconstruction of diet in the fossil record. Creating microwear under controlled conditions would benefit this debate, but requires accurately replicating the oral environment. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 10 16;176(2):308-320. Epub 2021 Aug 16.

Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

Objectives: Foot and ankle dysfunction in barefoot/minimally shod populations remains understudied. Although factors affecting musculoskeletal pain in Western populations are well-studied, little is known about how types of work, gender, and body shape influence bone and joint health in non-Western and minimally shod communities. This study examines the effect of human variation on locomotor disability in an agrarian community in Madagascar. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 12;176(3):528-535. Epub 2021 Aug 12.

CENIEH (National Research Center on Human Evolution), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, Spain.

Objectives: The aim of this report is to present the large deciduous tooth collection of identified children that is housed at the National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH) in Burgos, Spain.

Methods: Yearly, members of the Dental Anthropology Group of the CENIEH are in charge of collecting the teeth and registering all the relevant information from the donors at the time of collection. In compliance with Spanish Law 14/2007 of July 3, 2007, on Biomedical Research (BOE-A-2007-12945), all individuals are guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 10;176(4):625-637. Epub 2021 Aug 10.

CNRS, MC, PACEA, UMR 5199, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France.

Objectives: We compared an early life stress indicator, linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), in the canine teeth of two male orangutan (Pongo spp.) morphs. Flanged males have large bi-discoid cheek pads and a laryngeal throat pouch, and they exhibit either the same or higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol throughout development compared with unflanged males, which lack secondary sexual characteristics. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 8;176(4):672-683. Epub 2021 Aug 8.

Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA.

In 1992, Norm Sauer called for a language shift in which practitioners would move away from the socially loaded term "race" and replace it with the less provocative term "ancestry." While many heeded the call and moved towards ancestry in their research and reports, the actual approach to research and analysis did not change. In response to this change, there was a large growth in ancestry estimation method development in the early decade of the 2000s. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 4;176(4):692-702. Epub 2021 Aug 4.

Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom.

We present a novel method to estimate original crown height (OCH) for worn human mandibular canines using a cubic regression equation based on ratios of worn crown height and exposed dentin. This method may help alleviate issues frequently presented by worn teeth in dental analyses, including those in bioarchaeology. Mandibular canines (n = 28) from modern day New Zealand and English populations were selected. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 2;176(3):504-520. Epub 2021 Aug 2.

CONICET-Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, CABA, Argentina.

Objective: In this study, we analyze breastfeeding and weaning practices in pre-Columbian complex hunter-gatherers from the lower Paraná River basin (South America).

Materials And Methods: We carried out bone isotope analyses concerning δ C in collagen and apatite, the spacing between both carbon sources and δ N in a sample of 23 subadult and adult individuals of both sexes recovered from Late Holocene archaeological sites, ranging from 1665 ± 45 to 680 ± 80 C years BP.

Results And Discussion: The results indicate that exclusive breastfeeding continued until the age of ~2 years, and weaning probably until 4 years of age. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 2;176(3):486-503. Epub 2021 Aug 2.

Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.

Objectives: Craniofacial morphology (CFM) is often used to address questions about the biological affinities of the earliest Americans, or Paleoindians, but resolution is complicated in part by a lack of well-preserved crania. The Wilson-Leonard 2 (WL-2) Paleoindian skull from Texas has never been fully analyzed because it is crushed and cannot be physically reconstructed. This study employs a digital restoration for comprehensive assessment and analysis of WL-2. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 2;176(4):559-571. Epub 2021 Aug 2.

Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Objective: Differences between self-perceived biogeographic ancestry and estimates derived from DNA are potentially informative about the formation of ethnic identities in different sociohistorical contexts. Here, we compared self-estimates and DNA-estimates in New Mexico, where notions of shared ancestry and ethnic identity have been shaped by centuries of migration and admixture.

Materials And Methods: We asked 507 New Mexicans of Spanish-speaking descent (NMS) to list their ethnic identity and to estimate their percentages of European and Native American ancestry. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 31;176(3):422-433. Epub 2021 Jul 31.

Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada.

Objectives: Variation in the external nasal region among human populations has long been proposed in the literature to reflect adaptations to facilitate thermoregulation, air conditioning, and moisture retention in local climates and environments. More specifically, adaptations in populations living in colder climates have often been assumed due to correlational relationships found between variation in the nasal region and climatic variables. Here, we test this hypothesis by applying a quantitative genetics approach based on the Lande model to assess whether variation in the nasal region can be explained by random neutral processes (e. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 10 30;176(2):237-248. Epub 2021 Jul 30.

School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Objectives: We study the genetic diversity between Classic Teotihuacan and its neighboring towns trying to understand how far or close they are at the genetic level.

Materials And Methods: We use cranial nonmetric traits to study a sample of 280 adult skulls from archaeological sites running from the late Preclassic to the early Postclassic. Samples of Classic Teotihuacan were studied for La Ventilla and San Sebastián Xolalpan neighbors. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 26;176(4):684-691. Epub 2021 Jul 26.

Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.

Objectives: Existing data on bonobo and chimpanzee dental eruption timing are derived predominantly from captive individuals or deceased wild individuals. However, recent advances in noninvasive photographic monitoring of living, wild apes have enabled researchers to characterize dental eruption in relatively healthy individuals under naturalistic conditions. At present, such data are available for only one population of wild chimpanzees. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 10 26;176(2):223-236. Epub 2021 Jul 26.

Molecular Biology Techniques Laboratory, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poznań, Poland.

Objective: We aim to identify maternal genetic affinities between the Middle to Final Neolithic (3850-2300 BC) populations from present-day Poland and possible genetic influences from the Pontic steppe.

Materials And Methods: We conducted ancient DNA studies from populations associated with Złota, Globular Amphora, Funnel Beaker, and Corded Ware cultures (CWC). We sequenced genomic libraries on Illumina platform to generate 86 complete ancient mitochondrial genomes. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 23;176(3):390-401. Epub 2021 Jul 23.

Department of Medical Anatomical Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, California, USA.

Objectives: Previous studies have shown that frugivorous anthropoids have wider incisors than folivores relative to body mass, and that catarrhines have relatively wider incisors than platyrrhines. This study reexamines these contrasts using mandibular length as a biomechanical standard to quantify relative incisor width.

Materials And Methods: Dental, mandibular, and body-mass data for 86 anthropoid species were taken from the literature. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 10 23;176(2):249-261. Epub 2021 Jul 23.

Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Objectives: The overarching hypothesis of the present paper is that ethnically and/or genetically diverse human populations may exhibit similarity in correlations between various aspects of human phenotypes due to the morphological integration process during the ontogenetic stages. To test this we investigated whether an association between craniofacial (CF) features and body composition (BC) variations is present in humans and the extent to which such possible associations are comparable in different populations. Furthermore, the paper examines the contribution of common genetic (additive) and shared familial environmental factors in assessing the correlation between CF and BC characteristics in humans. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 23;176(3):521-527. Epub 2021 Jul 23.

Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour (ICArHEB), Faculdade das Ciências Humanas e Sociais, Universidade do Algarve, Campus Gambelas, Faro, Portugal.

Objectives: Digital models are now frequently used in biological anthropology (bioanthropology) research. Despite several studies validating this type of research, none has examined if the assessment of dental wear magnitude based on Computerized Tomography (CT) scans is reliable. Thus, this study aims to fill this gap and assess if dental wear magnitude scoring based on CT scans provides results consistent with scoring based on direct observation of the physical specimens. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 21;176(4):606-613. Epub 2021 Jul 21.

Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, SUNY, Stony Brook, New York, USA.

Objectives: It seems to be commonly accepted that gestation length within the subfamily Colobinae lasts several weeks longer in the African tribe (Colobini) than in the Asian tribe (Presbytini) even though closely related taxa of similar body mass should have similar life histories. Suspecting problems with data provenance to cause the difference, we revisited the published records expecting similar gestation lengths in both tribes if based on vetted, accurate data.

Materials And Methods: We compiled published gestation length data for Colobini and Presbytini, labeling them as "unspecified" (n = 16) if the primary reference could not be located, methods were not described, and/or conceptions, the beginning of gestation, were determined based on sporadic observations of mating. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 10 17;176(2):321-331. Epub 2021 Jul 17.

Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois, USA.

Objectives: Current methods of quantifying defects of dental enamel (DDE) include either gross or low-level examination for linear enamel hypoplasia, histological analysis of striae of Retzius, or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of a tooth or a tooth cast. Gross examination has been shown to miss many defects. Other methods can be destructive, require transporting samples, and are expensive. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 10 17;176(2):295-307. Epub 2021 Jul 17.

Department of Anthropology and School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Objectives: We quantified variation in fecal cortisol across reproductive periods in Azara's owl monkeys (Aotus azarae) to examine physiological mechanisms that may facilitate biparental care. Specifically, we evaluated evidence for the explanation that owl monkeys have hormonal mechanisms to mobilize energy during periods when each sex is investing heavily in reproduction, that is, the gestation period for females and the infant care period for males.

Materials And Methods: Between 2011 and 2015, we monitored 10 groups of Azara's owl monkeys from a wild population in Formosa, Argentina and collected fecal samples from 26 adults (13 males, 13 females). Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 12 11;176(4):572-583. Epub 2021 Jul 11.

Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

Objectives: The World Health Organization estimates that almost 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide. African Americans are understudied for depression-related phenotypes despite widespread racial disparities. In our study of African Americans, we integrated information on psychosocial stressors with genetic variation in order to better understand how these factors associated with depressive symptoms. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 10 6;176(2):283-294. Epub 2021 Jul 6.

Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.

Objectives: One of the most contentious issues in paleoanthropology is the nature of the last common ancestor of humans and our closest living relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos (panins). The numerical composition of the vertebral column has featured prominently, with multiple models predicting distinct patterns of evolution and contexts from which bipedalism evolved. Here, we study total numbers of vertebrae from a large sample of hominoids to quantify variation in and patterns of regional and total numbers of vertebrae in hominoids. Read More

Am J Phys Anthropol 2021 11 1;176(3):349-360. Epub 2021 Jul 1.

Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Objectives: Infanticide in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) typically occurs in association with alpha male replacements (AMRs). Although infanticide is likely adaptive for males, it imposes costs on females that are difficult to quantify without long-term demographic data. Here we investigate effects of AMRs and infanticide on female reproductive success and how these costs affect capuchin groups. Read More