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Papiha, S. S.; Roberts, D. F.; White, I.; Chahal, S. M. S.; Asefi, J. A.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590102pmid: 6182804
For the determination of the group‐specific component (Gc) and phosphoglucomutase (PGM1) phenotypes, isoelectric focusing was performed on two samples, one of Jat Sikh of northwest India, the other of northeast English. The subtype frequencies of these two systems do not differentiate the two populations sampled. Synthesis of the existing data shows distinct PGM1 and Gc subtype frequencies in various ethnic and racial groups. The anthropological implication of these subtype frequencies is discussed.
Champin, J.; Pinto‐Cisternas, J.; Rodríguez, A.; Muller, G.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590103pmid: 7137328
A total of 226 individuals (101 males and 125 females), from La Sabana, a Venezuelan Negroid isolate, with ages between 8 and 60 years, were studied in order to characterize the population for its craniofacial variables and to study the behavior of these variables in relation to age and sex. The variables studied were grouped in three categories: direct cephalometric variables, which included 6 measurements taken directly on the individuals; indirect cephalometric variables, which included 18 measurements (9 angular and 9 linear), taken on lateral head films; and dental variables, which included 9 measurements taken from dental models. In general the direct variables showed the lowest coefficients of variation (CV), suggesting homogeneity within this sample. They were followed by the dental and the indirect variables, which had the highest CV values. In order to detect age and sex effects on the variables, sex and age group comparisons were performed with Student t tests. A greater proportion of significant differences were found among the direct variables, indicating that age and sex have more influence on this group of variables than upon the other two. Comparisons of our sample from La Sabana, with samples from African Negroid, Caucasoid, and Amerindian population show that La Sabana individuals have a craniofacial pattern basically Negroid, as we expected, although some contribution from Caucasoides and especially Amerindians is also suggested in our data.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590104pmid: 6753599
The measurements of Gigantopithecus blacki teeth from Liucheng are summarized and comparative statistics are calculated. Compared to the variability of tooth size in living nonhuman primates, emphasizing Pongo because of close ecological and genetic relationships, the hypothesis of a single species for Liucheng specimens is acceptable. The Liucheng sample pattern of variability in tooth size, as well as the South African robust australopithecines, differs from living nonhuman primates in the same way; the first molar is not the least variable of the molars, and the molars are relatively variable compared with the other teeth. Sexual dimorphism may be responsible for this pattern in both cases. Later G. blacki cheek teeth are significantly larger than early G. blacki. From early G. blacki to later, the expansion ratio in tooth breadth is more than in tooth length. The pattern of expansion is like that seen in South African australopithecines. Both G. blacki and South African robust Australopithecus seem to show continued adaptation to more powerful and efficient chewing. The diet of G. blacki is not known, and its reconstruction depends on estimates of body size that differ greatly.
Solow, B.; Barrett, M. J.; Brown, T.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590105pmid: 7137326
The length of the spinal column as a percentage of stature is smaller in the Australian aboriginal than in most other ethnic groups (Abbie, 1957). It is conceivable that relative lengths of the cervical column might influence population differences in craniocervical posture and craniofacial morphology. The present study aimed to elucidate this relationship by comparing head posture and craniofacial morphology in Australian aboriginals to the same features in a previously studied sample of 120 Danish students (Solow and Tallgren, 1976).
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590106pmid: 6753600
Multivariate and cluster analyses of human skeletal remains of seven regional groups and nine individual sites and periods reveal different patterns of relationships for the sexes. This complex pattern of morphological affinities probably depends on differential demographic features.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590107pmid: 7137327
The physical growth of middle to upper class children of primarily European ancestry attending the private French School in Laz Paz, Bolivia is described and analyzed to determine how high altitude affects growth in this group of children. The sample consists of 323 children, most between the ages of 8 and 14, who reside at altitudes between 3200 and 3600 meters, but who have spent different amounts of time at high altitude. Comparisons between children who differ in their exposure to high altitude, and comparisons between French School children and other samples of high and low altitude children were used to assess the effect of high altitude on growth. Children who had lived all their lives at high altitude were found to be smaller in terms of general body size than those who had spent the shortest amount of time at high altitude, confirming the results of previous investigations of child growth in the Andes. Most studies of indigenous Andean populations have found that chest dimensions relative to stature increase with altitude, but it is not clear that this same trend exists in Bolivian French School children. Although exposure to high altitude does affect the growth of French School children, their height is essentially the same as that of Guatemalan children of high socioeconomic status. Within the age range studied, the effect of high altitude is small relative to that of other environmental factors and genetic factors, even in these children of high socioeconomic status.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590108pmid: 6814259
Washburn's Late Divergence Hypothesis (LDH) makes a series of predictions about the phyletic affinities of extant hominoids and also predicts the locomotor behavior of the “formative ape,” the common ancestor to the African apes and humans, and of the earliest hominids. The present study explores some of these predictions in the light of distal humerus morphology. Multivariate analysis of distal humerus metrics, corrected for the within‐groups distortion of shape by size, was used to compare a broad sample of 22 modern anthropoid taxa with 15 fossils from the Fayum, Rusinga Island, Ft. Ternan, Neudorf an der March, Kanapoi, Kromdraai, Lake Turkana, and Hadar. The results of this analysis support some aspects of the LDH, while other aspects are unresolved. Specifically, the distal humeri of the large hominoids are very distinct from those of other anthropoids; however, Hylobates is not associated clearly with either hominoids or monkeys. This suggests that “brachiation” (sensu Hylobates) is too specialized a behavior and cannot explain the common set of characteristics known to unify the hominoids. Among the large apes, there is no discrimination that can be made between the African apes and Pongo, and Homo appears only slightly closer to Pongo than to the other apes. This offers little insight into the question of whether humans did, or did not, go through a “knuckle‐walking” stage in their ancestry. The Oligocene and Miocene distal humeri sustain Washburn's assertion that the “formative apes” resembled the suspensory quadrupedal platyrrhines like Ateles. The Miocene P. africanus specimen highlights the uniqueness of Hylobates in showing that this fossil “bridges” the morphology of the acrobatic cebids and the morphology of the larger apes; it appears to be clearly “intermediate” between the two groups. Hylobates, by contrast, has affinities with no fossil, does not connect with the apes, and is generally isolated except for its connection with colobines. Among the Plio‐Pleistocene fossils, the Hadar sample proves to be quite primitive, and may be close to the point where hominids and pongids diverged. The Kanapoi distal humerus (KP 271), far from being more “human‐like” than Australopithecus, clearly associates with the hyperrobust Australopithecines from Lake Turkana. The stratigraphically late Kromdraai distal humerus is the only hominid to be projected near Homo. The Plio‐Pleistocene hominids generally evince a pattern consistent with the prediction of a late separation of hominids and pongids. But, the results of this study, like many before it, fail to resolve the central question of whether the last common ancestor of the African apes and humans “knuckle‐walked.” It is suggested here that this may be an unresolvable problem.
doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330590109pmid: 6753601
Two large groups of prehistoric Eskimo skeletons from Point Hope, Alaska, were evaluated for dental wear and several measures of periodontal disease. Occlusal attrition was found to increase steadily with increasing age. Crown height decreased proportionately. Assessing periodontal disease by inspecting apparent alveolar recession was judged ineffective due to possible supereruption. Infrabony pockets, the result of severe localized periodontal disease indicated that in Ipiutak people between the ages of 25 and 30, and Tigara people between 35 and 40, more dental sites were affected by periodontal disease than were not. This suggests a cultural, genetic, or dietary difference between the two groups. Male/female differences were slight in all parameters studied.
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