The goal of the Primate Genomics Initiative (PGI) is to facilitate collaborative evolutionary genomics research projects between Duke researchers using nonhuman and human primate models across diverse fields by combining research, training and service
Recent News
Fri Nov 20
Brief communication: Sexual dimorphism of the juvenile basicranium
The purpose of this article is to examine the level of sexual dimorphism exhibited in the foramen magnum and occipital condyles of juveniles, and to test the utility of this sexual dimorphism for estimating sex. Using five basicranial measurements taken from 36 juveniles of known sex and age from the Lisbon documented collection (Portugal), we evaluated sexual dimorphism in the juvenile cranial base. Our application of a method previously applied solely to adults indicated that
Oral health and frailty in the medieval English cemetery of St Mary Graces
The analysis of oral pathologies is routinely a part of bioarcheological and paleopathological investigations. Oral health, while certainly interesting by itself, is also potentially informative about general or systemic health. Numerous studies within modern populations have shown associations between oral pathologies and other diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and pulmonary infections. This article addresses the question of how oral health was associated with general health in past populations by examining the
Oval in males and triangular in females? A quantitative evaluation of sexual dimorphism in the human obturator foramen
Among the numerous pelvic traits presenting sex differences, the obturator foramen is classically described as being oval in males and triangular in females. However, no demonstrations or detailed studies seem available in the literature. The purpose of this work was to study quantitatively this trait using Fourier analysis, because this methodological approach is particularly well adapted for discrimination between different simple shapes. Using this approach, an outline can be characterized by a series of harmonics
Body proportions of circumpolar peoples as evidenced from skeletal data: Ipiutak and Tigara (Point Hope) versus Kodiak Island Inuit
Given the well-documented fact that human body proportions covary with climate (presumably due to the action of selection), one would expect that the Ipiutak and Tigara Inuit samples from Point Hope, Alaska, would be characterized by an extremely cold-adapted body shape. Comparison of the Point Hope Inuit samples to a large (n > 900) sample of European and European-derived, African and African-derived, and Native American skeletons (including Koniag Inuit from Kodiak Island, Alaska) confirms that
Population-specific deviations of global human craniometric variation from a neutral model
Past studies have revealed that much of human craniometric variation follows a neutral model of population relationships. At the same time, there is evidence for the influence of natural selection in having shaped some global diversity in craniometrics. In order to partition these effects, and to explore other potential population-specific influences, this article analyzes residuals of craniometric distances from a geographically based neutral model of population structure. W.W. Howells' global craniometric data set was used
Brief communication: Bone remodeling rates in Pleistocene humans are not slower than the rates observed in modern populations: A reexamination of Abbott et al. (1996)
Bone histomorphometry has been applied to the lower limb cortical bone of Pleistocene humans to establish age at death and to determine bone remodeling rates (Abbott et al.: Am J Phys Anthropol 226 (1996) 307-313). Both of these procedures require the determination of osteon density and mean osteon size. Previous analyses of Middle and Late Pleistocene human lower limb bones have produced bone remodeling rates that are slower than those determined in a more recent
Male preferences for female waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index in the highlands of Papua New Guinea
One hundred men, living in three villages in a remote region of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea were asked to judge the attractiveness of photographs of women who had undergone micrograft surgery to reduce their waist-to-hip ratios (WHRs). Micrograft surgery involves harvesting adipose tissue from the waist and reshaping the buttocks to produce a low WHR and an "hourglass" female figure. Men consistently chose postoperative photographs as being more attractive than preoperative photographs
Experimentally generated footprints in sand: Analysis and consequences for the interpretation of fossil and forensic footprints
Fossilized footprints contain information about the dynamics of gait, but their interpretation is difficult, as they are the combined result of foot anatomy, gait dynamics, and substrate properties. We explore how footprints are generated in modern humans. Sixteen healthy subjects walked on a solid surface and in a layer of fine-grained sand. In each condition, 3D kinematics of the leg and foot were analyzed for three trials at preferred speed, using an infrared camera system.