American Journal of Physical Anthropology

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410301pmid: N/A

Garn, Stanley M.; Burdi, Alphonse R.; Babler, William J.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410302pmid: 4372892

Male advancement in the developing hand was evidenced by 66 grossly and microscopically normal embryos in the 15–75 mm crown‐rump range. Male advancement was particularly pronounced in the younger (15–30 mm) embryos, both in the proximal hand region including the round bones of the wrist and in the distal hand region, comprising the metacarpals and phalanges. Thirty‐four additional embryos, abnormal in implantation or development or representing spontaneous abortion similarly evidenced male advancement in the early hand skeleton.

Richardson, Elisha R.; Malhotra, Shyam K.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410303pmid: 4432924

A longitudinal cephalometric study was conducted on the vertical growth of the cranium and anterior face on 60 inner city American Negro children, an equal number of boys and girls from four to nine years. Three vertical measurements were used for the purpose of this study. The head height was measured from sellion to bregma, bony nasal height from nasion to anterior nasal spine, and lower facial height from anterior nasal spine and lower facial height from anterior nasal spine to menton. The data were analyzed at annual ages and observations made relative to the growth trends. The findings of this study were compared with those on Caucasian children. No significant statistical difference was found in the mean head (cranial vault) height between the Negro and Caucasian children. The mean bony nasal height expressed as a percentage of subnasal height was found to be less in the Negro children. The difference decreased with age. The annual increment of growth in head height was greater from four to seven years than from seven to nine years. The findings are considered to imply that severe malnutrition may influence child growth.

Day, M. H.; Leakey, R. E. F.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410304pmid: N/A

A new fossil hominid partial skeleton (KNM‐ER 803) that was discovered from the Plio‐Pleistocene sediments to the east of Lake Rudolf is described. It includes parts of a femur, two tibiae, an ulna, two radii, a third metatarsal and several toe bones. There are also two teeth, an upper canine and an upper central incisor. A second new fossil hominid (KNM‐ER 164) is represented by a parietal fragment, two vertebrae and some hand bones. A third is represented by a massive left femur (KNM‐ER 999).

Houghton, Philip

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410305pmid: 4432925

Two forms of pre‐auricular groove may be distinguished on the iliac bone. One form occurs in both male and female, and marks the attachment of the inferior part of the ventral sacro‐iliac ligament. The second form is found only in some female pelves. It resembles the markings of pregnancy and childbirth on the posterior aspect of the public symphysis, and like them is a result of the physiological and pathological changes occurring at the site of attachment of the pelvic joint ligaments during this time. However, because of the greater strain borne by the sacro‐iliac joints, the pre‐auricular groove, in conjunction with the marking of the interosseous ligament of the joint, is a more sensitive indicator of past pregnancy and childbirth than is the pubic bone.

Naffah, Josette

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410306pmid: N/A

A comparison of finger and palmar dermatoglyphics in eight representative samples of the Lebanese population totaling 480 individuals, males and females, showed fairly similar characteristics in spite of the religious isolation of these groups. As in other populations of the Near and the Middle East, finger patterns in Lebanon are particularized by a higher whorl frequency and lower loop and arch frequencies than in Western Caucasoid populations. Palmar features are similar, as a rule, to those of other Caucasoid populations. But some differences exist: a high frequency of absence of triradius c, an inversion of sexual distribution of the third interdigital patterns, and a predominance of D line termination at position 9, in one female group only. These peculiarities are found in some of the other populations of the Near and Middle East. They indicate perhaps an ancient Mongoloid influence that numerous historic invasions of the whole region make possible.

Suarez, Brian K.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410307pmid: 4432926

The purpose of this paper is to show that if Brace's hypothesis concerning the role of random mutations in structural reduction (PME) is accepted for the sake of argument, then it cannot be used to explain hominid tooth size reduction since the Mousterian. Specifically it is shown that Brace's Hypothesis implies a smaller variance in dental asymmetry for Neandertal than modern man. Variance analysis reveals that, to the contrary, Neandertal dentitions are more variable than a large sample of modern man's. Finally it is shown that the sequence of dental asymmetry per tooth class is approximately the same in Neandertal as in modern man.

LeBlanc, Steven A.; Black, Babette

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410308pmid: 4432927

Posterior occlusal tooth areas were measured for a sample of Greek and Turkish populations spanning a 8500 year period. Rates of reduction of 2% per 1000 years for maxillary teeth and 1% per 1000 years for the mandibulary teeth were found. These rates are shown to be greater than those for earlier populations from Western Europe.

Nakata, Minoru; Yu, Pao‐Lo; Nance, Walter E.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410309pmid: 4473903

Thirty‐three cephalometric variables and height have been measured on each of 630 individuals (316 male and 314 female) from 157 families. After age and sex differences were adjusted for each measurement, a rotated factor analysis was undertaken to account for the variation by a limited number of linear combinations of the adjusted measurements. It was found that most of the variation could be explained by nine independent factors. Finally, correlation coefficients were computed on twins, siblings and parent‐offspring data for factor scores. The results suggest that each factor which is measured by a linear combination of a set of variables could result from the interaction of independent sets of genes with the environment.

Pawson, Stella; Milan, Frederick A.

doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330410310pmid: 4432928

Data on cerumen types were collected from two separate samples of Alaskan Eskimos. The observed frequency of the recessive dry allele further documents the existence of a genetic cline for earwax types in this region and world populations.