bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ethnoprimatology
Authors: Ellwanger Amanda L.
Published: October 2018

Ethnoprimatology is the study of human–nonhuman primate interconnections. Ethnoprimatological investigations use an interdisciplinary approach to examine dynamic biological, ecological, and sociocultural dimensions of the primate interface, including bidirectional pathogen exchange, ecological competition and coexistence, and the role of nonhuman primates in people's worldview, ethnomedicinal practice, and economic systems. The approach has significant value for conservation because it offers a holistic, integrated understanding of the combined influence of nonhuman primate behavioral ecology, human ecology, and culture on conservation outcomes. In the future, ethnoprimatology will continue to experience growth in research interest, methodological advances, and theoretical and applied contributions to the understanding of the human–nonhuman primate interface.
European fossil record
Authors: Smith Fred H.
Published: October 2018

Europe was the last Old World continent to be inhabited by hominins but was historically where interest in human prehistory originated. European research established the deep biocultural evolution of humans and provided much of the interpretive framework for that evolution. The earliest humans appear to have reached Europe around 1.3 million years ago. Hominin fossils are relatively rare in Europe until the advent of Neandertals, but the pre‐Neandertal record played an important role in early models of later human evolution and is critical for the understanding of pre‐Neandertal taxonomy today. The Neandertal and Upper Paleolithic modern humans are represented by a large fossil record. Although modern humans are late arrivals in Europe (∼ 40 thousand years ago), the pattern of relationships between them and the indigenous Neandertals is central to the understanding of later human evolution and the nature of modern human origin Old World‐wide.
Evolution
Authors: Weiss Kenneth M.
Published: October 2018

“Evolution” is the process by which life on Earth has changed since its common beginning about 4+ billion years ago—a process that led to its present diversity. Fundamentally, evolution is genetic change over time that is driven by the factors that affect survival and reproductive success, including chance and the ability to adapt to local conditions. Another form of evolution occurs during the lifetime of an individual, as a fertilized egg divides and its cells differentiate into its various organs. While many elements of the evolutionary process are simple and long‐known, the complexity and alternative genetic pathways that recent research has identified lead to a revised view of evolution that is more varied and subtle than is often recognized.
Growth, evolution of
Authors: Bernstein Robin M.
Published: October 2018

Human growth proceeds through several different stages, including infancy, childhood, juvenility, and adolescence. These stages are differentiated by several factors, including dental, skeletal, and reproductive maturation. Humans have notably prolonged pre‐adolescent development, shared with great apes but taken further, possibly to decrease the energetic costs of growth while acquiring important social and technical skills. Estimation of chronological age in fossil hominins complicates reconstruction of the modern human growth trajectory, although it is unlikely that it was in place until after
Homo erectus/ergaster
.
Bioarchaeology, evolving paradigms
Authors: Temple Daniel H.
Published: October 2018

Paradigms reflect the context for producing knowledge and interpreting results within scientific research. The earliest paradigms associated with physical anthropology in the United States were tethered to the fixity of characters and essentiality of traits within categories. Thus the earliest physical anthropological explorations of human skeletal and dental remains were typological. Cultural ecology and the new physical anthropology emphasized environmental interactions and evolutionary process. The incorporation of these paradigms informed studies of human skeletal and dental remains within physical anthropology and dislodged the typological approach. Modern paradigms associated with the osteological paradox, social bioarchaeology, quantitative genetics and migration, developmental biology, and cultural adaptation and resilience were granted agency through cultural ecology and the new physical anthropology. The evolution of these paradigms represents unprecedented outgrowth in biological anthropology and provides the epistemological foundations for research that involves the human skeleton and dentition in an archaeological context through the new millennium.
F
ischer,
E
ugen
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

Eugen Fischer (1874–1964) was a German physical anthropologist whose energy, political skills, and obsessive concern with racial markers, racial purity, and eugenic principles helped to elevate him to the highest ranks of German science between the world wars. As an author, he helped to inspire and justify the racist doctrines of the Nazi regime; as an administrator and jurist, he collaborated in carrying out the official “race hygiene” programs that resulted in the forced sterilization of millions of Germans. Fischer was exceptional in his power and influence, but his racism and devotion to eugenics were by no means unusual among biological anthropologists of the time, in Germany and elsewhere.
Fitness
Authors: Vitzthum Virginia J.
Published: October 2018

Fitnessrefers to the probability that a specific phenotype in a specific environment will contribute offspring to the next generation.Inclusive fitnessis an individual's own fitness plus those of its kin discounted by the coefficient of relatedness.Altruism(phenotypes that increase the fitness of others at a cost to the bearer's own fitness) may persist in a population if the inclusive fitness of altruism is greater than that of nonaltruistic alternative phenotypes. Evolution by natural selection is the inevitable consequence of variation in the relative fitness of different phenotypes. Because resources are finite and higher fitness can come at substantial cost to individual self‐maintenance, there are no necessary relationships between fitness and measures of individual well‐being or energy efficiency.Life‐history theoryprovides a framework for generating testable hypotheses regarding the impact on fitness of trade‐offs between allocating resources and time to reproduction or to somatic maintenance.
Foraging strategies
Authors: Vogel Erin R. , Kivai Stanislaus , Alavi Shauhin
Published: October 2018

The majority of the world's living primates inhabit lowland tropical rainforests, a diverse and often challenging habitat type to navigate. The large collection of field‐based research has demonstrated the incredible behavioral and dietary flexibility among primate species when coping with food resources that vary both spatially and temporally. Finding prey items, whether they are insects or plant parts, is challenging, and thus primates have evolved a variety of adaptations to acquire sufficient energy for survival. This entry discusses the cognitive and sensory mechanisms used by primates to find food, why they may include certain items in the diet while ignoring others, and social factors that may influence diet selection.
Functional morphology, postcranial, human
Authors: Knüsel Christopher J. , Sparacello Vitale
Published: October 2018

The functional morphology of the postcranial skeleton has the capacity to provide insights into both macroevolutionary and microevolutionary events that shaped human morphology in the past and provides a natural history of the species to the present time.
Genetic distance
Authors: Schurr Theodore G.
Published: October 2018

Genetic distances are quantitative measures of the genetic divergence between two sequences, individuals, or populations. They provide a relative estimate of the amount of time that has passed since two populations belonged to a single interbreeding group or ancestral population. Such distances also reflect historical relationships between populations in a species or among species. The processes that affect measures of genetic distance include mutation, genetic drift, and selection, with different methods of estimating these distances taking these factors into account in different ways. However derived, these genetic distances have allowed us to begin reconstructing the evolutionary history of our species and determine our biological relationships to other primates.
Genetic markers (SNPs/Satellites/STRs/RFLPs)
Authors: Dejean Cristina B.
Published: October 2018

Molecular biology techniques proved crucial to detect several polymorphisms in human genetic information contained at DNA level. Genetic markers, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) studied by restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), and satellites, such as short tandem repeats (STRs), are evidence of human variability. As genetic markers are generally found in different frequencies among human populations, biological anthropology employs them to understand human origins, to establish relationships between human groups, and to analyze if human populations are structured. In this article, these genetic markers are described, and some examples are included to illustrate their applications in the biological anthropology field.
Genotype
Authors: Mielke James H.
Published: October 2018

Understanding the concept of genotype is fundamental to comprehending genetic inheritance, evolution, and gene expression. Essential to this understanding is detailing the relationship of genotype to phenotype. The genotype of an individual organism is its actual genetic makeup, while the phenotype is the outward manifestation of that genotype. From a DNA perspective, the genotype codes for the phenotype. The genotype is a set of genetic instructions that interfaces with the environment to produce the organism's characteristics—its morphology, physiology, and behavior patterns. The description of an organism's genotype can either focus on single gene traits (Mendelian traits) or detail the underlying DNA sequences using molecular techniques.
Goodman,Morris
Authors: Wildman Derek
Published: October 2018

Morris Goodman (1925–2010) was an American geneticist and one of the founders of the field of molecular anthropology. He made fundamental contributions to the fields of phylogenetic systematics and molecular evolution. He is most well known for his contributions in deciphering the evolutionary relationships among living apes. In 1960, he provided the first solid molecular evidence that humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas formed a clade to the exclusion of all other living primates. Other contributions involved phylogenetic theory, rates of molecular evolution, and the evolution of oxygen transport and energy production. He was a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
Growth in utero, infancy
Authors: Miller Elizabeth M.
Published: October 2018

Fetal and infant growth is crucial for understanding the health and well‐being of populations. Early life has the fastest growth rates, with implications across the entire lifespan. Multiple references and standards exist for researchers and clinicians to quantify early growth and to demonstrate the considerable variation in growth rates in global populations. Fetal and infant growth is central to several theoretical orientations in biological anthropology, including human adaptation, developmental origins of adult health and disease, and life history theory.
Haeckel, Ernst
Authors: Kern Kevin
Published: October 2018

Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919) was an influential German biologist and natural philosopher who played a key role in popularizing Darwinism and using animal morphology to explore evolutionary development. Although he coined a number of terms still in use today (including “ecology,” “phylum,” and “stem cell”), he is perhaps best remembered for his now‐outmoded “biogenic law” (“ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”).
Haplotype/Haplogroup
Authors: Schurr Theodore G.
Published: October 2018

The terms “haplotype” and “haplogroup” are used to refer to a set of genetic variants that define individual genotypes and the genetic lineages or clusters to which they belong, based on shared mutations. The mutations used to define haplotypes and haplogroups include single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), indels, and short tandem repeats (STRs), which are linked together in the segment of DNA in which they occur. This DNA segment may consist of a portion of a gene or noncoding sequence, a gene, a genome (e.g., mitochondrial DNA or Y‐chromosome), or a larger piece of a chromosome. This entry describes the genetic basis for identifying haplotypes and haplogroups in genetic studies, and discusses the insights into human population history obtained from this research.
Heritability
Authors: Long Jeffrey C.
Published: October 2018

Heritability is the term applied to a pair of indices that are used to study variation in quantitative traits. This article gives the genetic and statistical foundations for these indices. It presents several uses for heritability statistics. Included among these uses are (1) describing the similarity between relatives, (2) predicting the response to selection, and (3) explaining the phenomenon of regression to the mean. The article describes both traditional and modern genomic methods to estimate heritability. It presents some key findings and generalizations about the genetic underpinnings of human traits.
High‐altitude adaptation
Authors: Moore Lorna G.
Published: October 2018

Human residents of high altitudes (> 2,500 m or 8,250 ft) have been the focus of efforts in biological anthropology aimed at understanding the basis of human biological variation and its role in evolutionary process. Recent advances have improved our understanding of the short‐term biological responses, as well as those occurring over lifetimes and generations, to the hypoxia of residence at high altitude. Differences between natives and newcomers and, more recently, extensive genetic analyses have provided evidence for the operation of natural selection in achieving genetic adaptation to high altitude. Future work is required to identify the particular genes, their functional consequences, and interaction with epigenetic and cultural processes.
Violence, history of
Authors: Klaus Haagen D.
Published: October 2018

Violence is a deeply rooted feature of the human experience, past and present. Bioarchaeological analyses of human skeletal remains provide direct and compelling forms of evidence characterizing the evolution, variation, and consequences of violence. This entry explores the methods by which bioarchaeological science reconstructs ancient violence, and considers a brief but global reconstruction of violence extending into the Middle Pleistocene. Many complex patterns emerge from this vista, including the ways that both conflict and peace are used as cultural strategies and the fundamental linkages of violence over the last 10,000 years to ecological instability and socioeconomic inequality.
Hominini
Authors: Hawks John
Published: October 2018

Hominini is a term within the Linnaean system of biological classification that refers to the group including living and fossil humans and other primates more closely related to humans than to chimpanzees and bonobos. The group Hominini is at the level of a biological tribe, and the term for members of this tribe is “hominin.” Hominini includesHomo,Australopithecus,Paranthropus, andKenyanthropus, and may also include Late Miocene and Early Pliocene forms includingArdipithecus,Orrorin, andSahelanthropus.
Hominoidea: conceptual history
Authors: Tuttle Russell H.
Published: October 2018

The superfamily Hominoidea traditionally included extant gibbons (
Hylobates, Hoolock, Nomascus, Symphalangus
), bonobos (
Pan paniscus
), chimpanzees (
Pan troglodytes
), gorillas (
Gorilla
spp.), orangutans (
Pongo
spp.), and fossil species. Stem Hominoidea are absent from Paleogene and Early–Middle Miocene deposits; fossils once thought to be so now reside in their own nominal superfamilies. Currently, Hominoidea comprises three families of fossil species (Griphopithecidae, Dryopithecidae, Oreopithecidae), three families with extant and fossil species (Hominidae, Pongidae, Hylobatidae) and a roster of specimens undetermined familially.
H
owell,
F. C
lark
Authors: Johanson Donald C.
Published: October 2018

Francis Clark Howell (1925–2007) was an extraordinary architect of modern paleoanthropology. His expeditions to the lower Omo Basin, Ethiopia, led to numerous fossil finds and the establishment of a Plio/Pleistocene chronology of eastern Africa.
H
owells,
W. W.
Authors: Friedlaender Jonathan
Published: October 2018

William White Howells played a key role in transforming American physical anthropology into a population‐based biological science in the decades following World War II. Most importantly, his applications of multivariate statistics to a comprehensive series of measurements on human skulls showed that normal variation within a population is so large that differences from one population to the next are relatively insignificant. This contradicted existing notions of distinct race types and race classifications. Conversely, fossil skulls dated earlier than 20,000 years ago fell so far outside his definition of modern human population variation that he argued they were not members of our species and most were unlikely to be direct ancestors of modern humans. He tended to favor the “Out of Africa” human origins theory. He also brought his perspective on anthropology to the general public in six popular books.
H
rdlička,
A
leš
Authors: Buikstra Jane E.
Published: October 2018

Aleš Hrdlička (MD, 1892, 1894) is considered the “father” of American physical anthropology due to his roles in developing the discipline at the Smithsonian Institution, creating
The American Journal of Physical Anthropology
, for which he served as editor from its inception in 1918 until shortly before his death (1942), and serving as a driving force behind the formation of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, which held its first meeting in Charlottesville, Virginia (1930). His engagement in fieldwork, research, and publishing throughout his long career yielded seminal contributions to theories about peopling of the New World and human origins.
H
ulse,
F
red
Authors: Zegura Stephen L.
Published: October 2018

Frederick Seymour Hulse (1906–90) was a Harvard‐educated scholar who helped define many of the research agendas of modern biological anthropology. He was one of the first practitioners of a biocultural approach to human evolution. He also was an early proponent of anthropological genetics, and his research often centered on the effects of migration and included topics such as gene flow, adaptation, plasticity, natural selection, genetic drift, endogamy, and heterosis (hybrid vigor). His 1963 textbook
The Human Species
became
the
textbook in biological anthropology for over a decade. From 1967 to 1969 he served as president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and in 1974 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Human–primate conflict
Authors: Hill Catherine M.
Published: October 2018

Human–primate conflict is when humans experience “costs” as a consequence of primate presence or action. Common costs of coexisting with primates include damage to crops and property, and threat of injury or disease transmission to humans, livestock, and pets. Crop foraging behavior is recorded for a range of primate genera, and should be understood within the context of primate feeding strategies. Humans use a variety of means, lethal and nonlethal, to protect crops, livestock, and property against damage by primates, but their willingness to tolerate primates is influenced by social and cultural factors as well as economic impacts.
Hunting and scavenging
Authors: Sussman† Robert W. , Oliver Lana Kerker , Hart Donna
Published: October 2018

A generally accepted paradigm in western society paints humans as top predators, defined by a long history of hunting as a way of life. However, this may be a stereotype fostered by western culture rather than supported through indisputable scientific proof. Biological anthropologists, using fossil evidence, archaeological data, nonhuman primate comparisons, modern forager analogs, dentition analyses, reconstruction of paleoecology, stable isotope tests, and theoretical modeling have endeavored over many decades to uncover the origins of diet and lifestyle in human ancestors. Besides the hunting hypothesis, alternative theories regarding ancestral food acquisition exist, including both passive and power scavenging, dependence on plants such as tubers, and opportunistic omnivory. Diet and food acquisition are perceived to be closely connected to the evolution of brain size, behavior, and environmental adaptations, so research into these topics is a vital aspect of paleoanthropology.
H
uxley,
T
homas H.
Authors: Little Michael A.
Published: October 2018

Thomas Henry Huxley was a distinguished anatomist, paleontologist, and evolutionist, who had strong interests in human origins and evolution. A member of Charles Darwin's inner circle of scientists and supporters of evolution, he referred to himself as “Darwin's bulldog.” His major scientific contributions were in comparative anatomy and vertebrate paleontology, with special interests in human and primate evolution. As a materialist, he worked to transform British education from a theological‐based to a scientific‐based system. He coined the term “agnostic” to describe his own belief system.
Hypoxia
Authors: Moore Lorna G.
Published: October 2018

Hypoxia refers to the reduction in the pressure of oxygen in inspired air that results from a decline in barometric pressure or other factors serving to impede the amount of oxygen that enters the lung and/or the blood.
I
saac,
G
lynn
Authors: Sept Jeanne
Published: October 2018

Glynn Isaac (1937–85) was an archaeologist who studied human origins from an interdisciplinary perspective. He was best known for his investigations of Early Stone Age sites in the East African Rift Valley, and for making leading contributions to the understanding of the evolution of human behavior. Overall, Isaac demonstrated that archaeological investigations could reveal key behavioral evidence, central to paleoanthropology. He was a master at framing large questions about human origins that bridged boundaries between different disciplines, and brought colleagues together to grapple with the process of scientific understanding. He had become an influential paleoanthropologist at the height of his career before his untimely death in 1985 at the age of 48.
K
rogman,
W
ilton
Authors: Sauer Norm , Hefner Joseph T.
Published: October 2018

Wilton Krogman (1903–87) was one of the most influential physical anthropologists of the twentieth century. While he made significant contributions to a number of areas of the field, including human growth and development, he is best remembered for his 1962 book,
The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine
. The volume is credited with defining and setting the agenda for the field of forensic anthropology.
Language and speech
Authors: Schepartz Lynne
Published: October 2018

Language and speech are two fundamental expressions of human evolutionary development, yet they are also among the most controversial areas of paleoanthropology. The reasons for this involve issues of varying definitions and the need to draw behavioral inferences from morphological and archaeological data. In addition, there are two diametrically opposed theories regarding the evolution of language and complex behaviors: some scholars see language as an early development, clearly evident at the beginnings of the genus
Homo
, if not before. This perspective is largely held by paleoneurologists and primatologists. Other researchers, primarily archaeologists, view language as a late feature, characteristic of anatomically modern
Homo sapiens
.
L
asker,
G
abriel
Authors: Crawford Michael H.
Published: October 2018

Gabriel Ward Lasker (1912–2002) played a prominent role in the development of human biology, biological anthropology, and anthropological genetics. He served as editor‐in‐chief of the journal
Human Biology
for 35 years, and guided generations of young scholars. He conducted field investigations in China, Mexico, Peru, and the alpine valleys of northern Italy, focusing on human plasticity of migrants and on surname analyses for reconstructing the genetic structure of human populations. He was recognized for his professional contributions with two highly prestigious awards for lifetime achievement: the Darwin Award from the American Association of Physical Anthropology and the Boaz Award from the Human Biology Association.
LeGrosClark,WilfridEdward
Authors: Smith E. O.
Published: October 2018

W. E. Le Gros Clark is known for his research on treeshrews and tarsiers and his early support for the view that they were representative of an Eocene mammalian stock from which all primates evolved. He is also known for his ardent support of the South African australopithecines as early hominids. His research in primate anatomy is a central part of the foundation for modern primatology.
L
eakey,
L. S. B.
Authors: Rosenberg Karen R. , Caspari Rachel
Published: October 2018

Louis Leakey (1903–1972) was a Kenyan natural historian and prehistorian, well known to both the scientific community and the general public. He made important archaeological and fossil discoveries throughout the Rift Valley of East Africa in what is now Tanzania and in Kenya, providing some of the earliest evidence known about human and ape prehistory. He made significant contributions to our knowledge and understanding of Miocene apes and early
Homo,
and was instrumental in encouraging early field studies of great apes in their native habitats.
M
alapa
Authors: de Klerk Bonita , Berger Lee R.
Published: October 2018

Malapa is one of 16 actively excavated sites in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site (COHWHS), located 40 km northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The deposits at Malapa contain well‐preserved fossil remains of the ca. 2‐million‐year‐old hominin species
Australopithecus sediba
, as well as abundant, well‐preserved fauna and flora.
Mandibular morphology
Authors: Vinyard Christopher J.
Published: October 2018

The mandible, or jaw, is a bone in the skull that makes up the skeleton of the lower part of the face. The mandible holds the lower teeth, or dentition, and provides attachment for several muscles involved in feeding and vocal communication. The mandible articulates with the rest of the skull at the temporomandibular joint. Mandibular movements occur at this joint during feeding, vocal communication and oral displays. Primates show considerable diversity in mandibular morphology that relates to feeding behaviors, diet and influences from the rest of the skull.
Mass disasters (
A
ustralia)
Authors: Oxenham Marc , Donlon Denise , MacGregor Donna , Lain Russell , Lowe Anthony , Wu Henry
Published: October 2018

With an estimated 20,000 Australian Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel missing from twentieth‐century conflicts, the task of locating, identifying, and providing a burial for those that gave their lives for their country is a daunting task. A small group of specialists, trained in a diverse range of disciplines, from military history through to human osteology, work with the Australian Unrecovered War Casualties–Army unit to undertake this task. Case studies from a range of conflicts and situations illustrate the nature of the work.
Massively parallel sequencing
Authors: Tackney Justin C.
Published: October 2018

Tremendous progress in the field of DNA sequencing technology since the mid to late 2000s has allowed an unprecedented accumulation of genomic information from a diverse set of organisms. These next‐generation sequencing platforms sequence thousands to billions of molecules in a DNA sample on a massively parallel scale, thereby increasing throughput and decreasing costs compared to the previous Sanger sequencing method. Individual laboratories can now pursue genomic projects, and consortiums are sequencing thousands of genomes at population scales. While platforms differ in chemistry and engineering approaches, there are two general technologies of short‐read and long‐read sequencing, each having their own strengths and weaknesses. A basic outline of an experimental design utilizing these platforms, the key terms in the field, and the technical concerns or limitations of next‐generation sequencing are highlighted in this entry.
Mating systems (primates)
Authors: Petersdorf Megan , Higham James P.
Published: October 2018

A mating system is a reflection of the distribution and pattern of reproduction across individuals of a social group. Primates show remarkable diversity in the types of mating systems exhibited, namely monogamy, polyandry, polygyny, and polygynandry. This entry describes each of these systems and discusses how differential sexual selection pressures have led to the extraordinary variation seen both among and within primate mating systems.
Microbiome
Authors: Mosher M. J.
Published: October 2018

The microbiome is a substantial component of the complex and evolving ecosystem formed by humans, a vast array of microbes, and their collective genomes. Ongoing, reciprocal relationships between the human host and its microbiota have coevolved both structurally and functionally, with each component playing vital roles in the survival of the other. Dietary intake is a major influence on variation of the microbiome, whose major functions include mediating the development of human metabolic systems, extracting energy from foods, synthesizing vitamins, and priming the immune system. The human host is the eco‐niche for the microbiota, furnishing an array of nutrient support. The microbes transfer genes important to both metabolism and translation among themselves, enhancing their flexibility of adaptation to differing dietary environments and changes in host requirements during the lifecycle.
Migration/gene flow
Authors: Raghavan Maanasa
Published: October 2018

As people move, so do their genes. Migrations cause changes in the spatial distribution of genetic signatures, and mapping these signatures of gene flow over time can shed light on past movements. The evolutionary history of anatomically modern humans (AMH) has witnessed several key dispersals, from the migration out of Africa to the eventual peopling of the rest of the world. Since the initial peopling process, movement of peoples has occurred at numerous time points in prehistory and history, and over short distances as well as on continental and even intercontinental scales. Together, these events have heavily influenced the patterns in genetic diversity that we see today. Massively parallel sequencing coupled to advances in ancient genomics is adding tremendously to the growing literature on known and previously unknown migrations in the past, and how ancient gene flow events have shaped the present‐day human gene pool.
Monogamy in primates
Authors: Reichard Ulrich H.
Published: October 2018

Primate monogamy, or the condition of having a single partner, is a multifaceted, dynamic, and complex social and reproductive strategy. Monogamy is more common among primates than it is in other mammals. Two main routes may lead to social monogamy or pair‐living: (1) when a male guards a single female instead of searching for additional fertilization opportunities; or (2) when a male is needed to protect a female's progeny against infanticide. Lifelong social monogamy seems absent in primates, and re‐pairing usually occurs after a partner died, deserted, or was forcefully replaced. Sexual monogamy is rare in socially monogamous primates, and extra‐pair copulations (EPCs) have been documented across such diverse groups as pair‐living lemurs, tarsiers, New World monkeys, and apes. EPCs only sometimes result in conception, and the majority of molecular genetic studies on pair‐living primates indicate a low rate of extra‐pair young (EPY) (≤ 10%). Notable exceptions are the high rates of EPY (≥ 20%) found in Lariang tarsiers, fork‐marked lemurs, and fat‐tailed dwarf lemurs.
Mosaic evolution
Authors: DeSilva Jeremy M.
Published: October 2018

Ever since Darwin (1871), it has been widely recognized that humans share a relatively recent common ancestor with the African great apes. This fact has often been misinterpreted as implying that all of the features that distinguish humans from apes developed together in lockstep as humans evolved from a chimpanzee‐like ancestor. The misguided idea of the “missing link” emerges from this misunderstanding of how evolution works. However, it has become clear from the hominin fossil record that different characters have evolved at different rates—a process known asmosaic evolution.
N
apier,
J
ohn
Authors: Tuttle Russell H.
Published: October 2018

John Russell Napier was a principal founder of modern primatology, who established two highly productive programs on primate biology in London and one in Washington, DC. His classic publications on the morphology, function, and evolution of primate hands and locomotion are basic sources for modern researchers and informative to lay readers.
Infectious diseases, nonspecific
Authors: Weston Darlene A.
Published: October 2018

Nonspecific infection involves harm to the body through the invasion of unknown microorganisms. In bioarchaeology, nonspecific bone infections are commonly identified through the presence of three types of lesions—periosteal reactions, osteitis, and osteomyelitis—and used to make inferences about population health in the past. However, the interpretation of these lesions is not always straightforward and requires careful differential diagnosis, as the lesions themselves are nonspecific and can be found in association with a wide variety of diseases.
OlduvaiGorge
Authors: Bunn Henry T.
Published: October 2018

Geological deposits extending back two million years at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, provide well‐preserved fossil and archaeological evidence chronicling the biological and behavioral evolution of ancestral humans. Decades of research in the 20th century by Mary and Louis Leakey revealed key ancestral human fossils and archaeological sites of Early Pleistocene age, establishing the East African Rift Valley as the actual cradle of humankind and demonstrating the value of a team‐oriented approach in paleoanthropology.
O
sborn,
H
enry Fairfield
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857–1935) was a US paleontologist who wrote extensively on mammal evolution and evolutionary theory. A self‐absorbed, aristocratic racist and eugenicist whose theoretical ideas were largely swept away by the neo‐Darwinian synthesis in the 1930s, Osborn was important for his contributions to terminology and for his executive work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, which he helped build into one of the world's foremost centers of research in evolutionary biology.
Osteological landmarks
Authors: Black Michael
Published: October 2018

Reproducible osteological measurements depend on well‐defined osteological landmarks. The earliest use of landmarks for the measurement of human skeletal elements was conducted over 220 years ago. The early uses of landmarks were measurements for the racial classification of humans, and the analyses of these measurements used simple univariate comparisons. The increasing sophistication of anthropological thought and the development of the computer have fueled dramatic changes in the uses and analysis of landmarks over the past century. Today, landmarks can be used to analyze and visualize complex two‐ and three‐dimensional shape changes in osteological elements. Modern morphometrics has also drawn attention to the need to use homologous landmarks to maximize the biological meaningfulness of the resulting analyses.
Osteological paradox
Authors: Milner George R. , Boldsen Jesper L.
Published: October 2018

The “osteological paradox” refers to difficulties stemming from the use of skeletons from archaeological sites (mortality samples) as a basis for understanding the disease experience of once‐living populations. Coming to grips with this sampling issue is essential when developing quantitatively rigorous perspectives on changes over long periods of time in disease prevalence and the risk of dying from those pathological conditions.
Osteology/anatomy skeleton
Authors: Morris Alan G.
Published: October 2018

An understanding of the skeleton is fundamental to the study of biological anthropology. Fossil evidence and evolution, primatology, human variation, growth, bioarchaeology, and forensics all use osteological observations as their base. The skeleton is an important tissue medically and provides support, protection, movement, and reservoirs of calcium and nutrients for the body. The description of bones is very specific, but in general the bones can be divided into axial and appendicular, and often the skull is considered as functionally separate from the rest of the skeleton. The skeleton is not a dead tissue and it is important to realize that over 50 percent of the material in bone is not hard calcium.
Out of Africa hypothesis
Authors: Wilshaw Alex
Published: October 2018

The Out of Africa hypothesis is a model for the origin and dispersal of modern humans. The hypothesis contends that humans evolved in East Africa, dispersing to populate the rest of the world from c.70,000 years ago, replacing, rather than interbreeding with, the archaic hominins that were resident outside of Africa. Disagreements exist over the timing and routes of dispersals, however, the major contention, which brings the hypothesis into competition with the multiregional model, is whether modern humans interbred with the archaic populations that they eventually replaced, such as Neanderthals. This debate has become increasingly complex in recent years, especially considering ancient DNA evidence, and interim models like “leaky replacement” and “assimilation” have broken the dichotomy and gained support. However, despite over 30 years of debate, the issue is still not settled and aspects of the Out of Africa hypothesis remain some of the most contentious issues in human evolution.
Paleoanthropology
Authors: Rosenberg Karen R. , Rocek Thomas R.
Published: October 2018

Paleoanthropology is the scientific discipline that deals with human and primate evolution in both its biological and behavioral/cultural aspects. Although it began as a type of natural history, paleoanthropology is inherently biocultural, multidisciplinary, and collaborative, with the ecological, chronological, geological, and environmental context for human evolution provided by a range of scientists. This entry provides a brief overview, with references to selected additional entries that present greater detail on aspects of the discipline.
PCR
/
qPCR
Authors: Lorenz Joseph
Published: October 2018

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a means by which large quantities of a specific segment of DNA can easily be produced (amplified) from very small amounts of “template” DNA in the laboratory in a short period of time. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is a means of determining the concentration of a DNA solution. Due to its ability to create potentially billions of copies of a targeted portion of a genome, PCR from a small number of template DNA molecules has revolutionized many areas of research and has become a standard procedure in a variety of fields, including clinical diagnostics, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, forensic science, phylogenetic analysis, DNA barcoding, and the study of ancient DNA.
Socioecology, phylogeny, and social organization
Authors: Shultz Susanne
Published: October 2018

Shared evolutionary history means that closely related species tend to have more similar traits than distantly related species. Thus, in order to understand variation in species traits, it is necessary to disentangle shared history, environment, and chance (or stochasticity). This is true of primate social organization, although highly variable, social behavior in closely related species tends to be more similar. Some of the important questions about the evolution of traits include: (1) How much more similar are closely related species as compared to more distantly related ones (i.e., what is the degree of phylogenetic autocorrelation?) (2) How has the evolution of specific traits changed across the phylogenetic tree (are some groups associated with accelerated trait evolution)? (3) Do some traits evolve in tandem such that there is evolutionary coupling between traits? This entry provides an explanation of the use of phylogenetic comparative methods in primatology and anthropology.
Stress and growth
Authors: Nelson Robin G.
Published: October 2018

Over the course of the lifespan, humans encounter and must adapt to various psychosocial and physiological challenges. During childhood, we experience critical periods during which we are particularly sensitive to stimuli in our environment and received care from primary caretakers. Experiences of persistent stress or trauma during childhood can have deleterious effects on mental health and physical growth and development. Children who experience particularly challenging stressors including poverty, abuse, neglect, or exposure to violence face higher risk of delayed or diminished growth, obesity, mental health challenges including anxiety, depression and post‐traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), and chronic disease in adulthood. Current research investigates ways to mediate this risk via social support for primary caregivers and improvements in social conditions that may have transgenerational effects.
Population dynamics in primates
Authors: Lawler Richard R.
Published: October 2018

Primate population dynamics refers to how primate populations change in size and structure over time. Primate population dynamics have been characterized by numerous types of models, including life table analyses and matrix population models. Various factors influence fecundity and mortality, including food availability, competition, and predation. Primates generally follow a pattern of sex‐biased dispersal and philopatry, though there are numerous exceptions to this characterization. Population dynamic studies are increasingly used in an applied conservation context to determine how patterns of fertility and mortality interact with threats to the population—an approach known as population viability analysis.
Pre‐
N
eandertal Theory
Authors: Smith Fred H.
Published: October 2018

The pre‐Neandertal hypothesis represented modern humans and “classic” western European Neandertals as separate lines of descent from a less‐specialized archaic human stock that included early Neandertals and specimens that would now be considered Heidelbergs or early archaic humans. Pre‐Neandertal models were initiated in the work of Sergio Sergi and F. Clark Howell, with Howell emphasizing the role of adaptation to cold and geographic isolation in the emergence of the specialized, “classic” Neandertals. Because this model did not require a deep ancestry for modern human anatomical form and unequivocally derived modern humans from an archaic human stock, it differs from the pre‐sapiens model and serves as a theoretical ancestor of current “Out of Africa” models of modern human origins.
Primate conservation genetics
Authors: da Silva Maria J. Ferreira , Minhós Tania , Bruford Michael W.
Published: October 2018

Our closest relatives, the nonhuman primates, have been greatly affected during the Anthropocene and are now among the world's most threatened taxa. Primate conservation genetics aims at mitigating extinction risk by attending to genetic processes and preserving the species' adaptive potential. Primates are particularly susceptible to extinction by human disturbances. Nonhuman primates survive in small and fragmented habitat patches and are subject to important stochastic effects that threaten their persistence. Genetic diversity is considered essential for small and isolated populations and may be lost by genetic drift and inbreeding. Primate conservation geneticists commonly use polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based molecular markers and noninvasive DNA to investigate levels of genetic diversity and the population subdivision, to define conservation units of wild nonhuman primates, and to reduce illegal wildlife trafficking. Next‐generation sequences (NGS) applied to noninvasive sources of DNA promises to largely improve our understanding of the processes that affect endangered primates.
Primates: conceptual history
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

The many striking similarities linking humans to apes and monkeys led Linnaeus in 1758 to group them together in a single mammalian order, Primates. Almost all subsequent classifications of the mammals have included an order Primates centered on that core grouping. However, scientific definitions of this order have fluctuated owing to the shifting inclusions and exclusions of more peripheral groups such as lemurs, colugos, bats, treeshrews, and various extinct families. These fluctuations in scientists' conceptions of the order Primates have reflected not only the growth of biological knowledge but also changing fashions in systematic philosophies and the esthetics of classification.
P
roconsul
Authors: McNulty Kieran P. , Jansma Rutger J. W.
Published: October 2018

Proconsul
is considered the best‐known fossil ape from the early Miocene (ca. 23.0–16.0 million years ago (Ma)), documenting an early period of evolutionary diversification prior to the origin of modern lineages. Fossils attributed to this genus include nearly every element of the skeleton, demonstrating that this ape—unlike its modern successors—had pronograde posture and practiced above‐branch locomotion. However, certain features of its arms and legs suggest more modern ape‐like adaptations, as do its larger brain and slower dental development. Broadly conceived,
Proconsul
comprises six species. This taxonomic diversity has led some to divide its species into new genera.
Ugandapithecus
was established for the largest species,
Proconsul major
, and subsequently populated with new species defined by novel combinations of early Miocene
Proconsul
specimens as well as one middle Miocene species. Alternatively, the genus
Ekembo
was created for the two more derived species from Rusinga and Mfangano Islands, while keeping the other four species within
Proconsul
.
Puberty in nonhuman primates
Authors: Howells Michaela
Published: October 2018

Puberty is a life‐history stage in primates that is characterized by reproductive and physical development which results in sexual maturation. This life stage marks the transition from the social and physical characteristics of juveniles to those of an adult. This is an extensive phase in many primates when hormonally induced physiological, morphological, and behavioral maturations occur at different rates. Puberty results in a nonsynchronous pattern of maturity in reproductive, skeletal, and dental anatomy, body mass and behavior that ultimately results in adulthood. Timing of puberty in primates can be influenced by demographic, ecological, and social factors. Using a life‐history framework, it is evident that this period of development is critical for the social, physical, sexual, and neurological development of primates.
Pycraft,WilliamP.
Authors: Cartmill Matt
Published: October 2018

William P. Pycraft was an English zoologist and anatomist who published studies of the Piltdown, Boskop, and Kabwe remains and produced an extensive body of popular science writing on these and other topics.