bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
New higher primate fossils from the middle miocene deposits at Majiwa and Kaloma, Western Kenya
Authors: Pickford M. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThis paper records new ramapithecine and dryopithecine fossils and localities in Kenya and discusses their geological, paleoenvironmental and faunal contexts. Descriptions of the primate specimens are followed by comparisons with other Kenya and Pakistan material. The taxonomic and phylogenetic significance of the new material is discussed.
Principal components method and nonmetric two‐dimensional scaling method for quantitative dermatoglyphic traits of the taimir aborigines
Authors: Galaktionov O. K. , Efimov V. M. , Lemza S. V. , Goltsova T. V. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe quantitative dermatoglyphic traits of the Taimir aborigines have been studied in this paper. The correlation matrix of the traits was analyzed by a nonmetric two‐dimensional scaling method and by a principal components method. Comparative contribution of palmar and digital traits variation to the principal components is under discussion.
Symmetrical reduction of M3 and hypoconulid loss in M. mulatta
Authors: Phillips‐Conroy Jane E. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractAn adult male rhesus macaque from Morgan Island was found to have reduced third upper molars and to have lost the hypoconulid on the lower third molar. The pattern of reduction was symmetrical, with hypocone, metacone, and eleven of thirteen upper cheek tooth measurements markedly diminished in size. Mandibular cheek teeth were less affected. The pattern of size reduction yields a specimen whose individual teeth resemble in size those of Cercopithecus aethiops in particular and the Cercopithecini in general in its ‘derived’ features of M3 reduction, hypoconulid loss, and reduced cheek tooth size.
Diet and the evolution of modern human form in the Middle East
Authors: Schoeninger Margaret J. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractFully modern human form, more gracile than the antecedent archaic modern form was evident by 30,000 years ago. One hypothesis to explain this decrease in skeletal robustness is that change occurred in human diet and that this change was associated with a decrease in activity levels required in both individual and group behavior. It is possible to study dietary change directly using trace element analysis of strontium levels in bone. The amount of strontium in bone reflects the amount of strontium in diet. Since plants contain higher levels of strontium than do animal soft tissues, the level of bone strontium will differ between individuals according to the proportion of plant and animal products in their diets. In this study the ratio of strontium:calcium in human bone to strontium:calcium in faunal bone is compared for samples of archaic modern humans (from Mugharet et Tabũn, Mugharet es‐Skhũl, and Jebel Qafzeh) and fully modern humans (from Mugharet el‐Kebara and Mugharet el‐Wad) from Israel. The use of a ratio controls for potentially unequal strontium levels in soils at different sites and for different diagenetic histories between sites. The results of the analysis are internally reliable, reflecting bone strontium levels rather than technique error; therefore, they reflect diet.It appears that a change occurred in the amount of animal protein in the diet of humans but that this change occurred almost 20,000 years after the first appearance of skeletally modern humans. These results refute the hypothesis that the morphological transformation to modern human form occurred as a result of behavioral changes involved in obtaining previously unused foods. If any decrease in human activity level occurred between archaic modern and fully modern humans, this decrease probably was due to alterations in the means of procuring or processing the same kinds of foods that had been utilized earlier in time.
Variations on dermal ridges in nine population groups of maharashtra, india. III. Asymmetry and interdigital diversity
Authors: Chakraborty Ranajit , Malhotra Kailash C. , Tateno Yoshio 
Published: February 2006

AbstractVariations in asymmetry and interdigital diversity for the three finger‐dermatoglyphic traits, total finger ridge count (TRC), absolute total finger ridge count (ARC), and finger pattern intensity index (PII) have been studied here from a sample of 646 males belonging to nine population groups from Maharashtra, India. It is seen that at such local level of population differentiation the ridge count measures TRC and ARC discriminate the population better as compared to PII. A considerable amount of variations also exist in their asymmetries and interdigital diversities and these suggest the possibility of their genetic controls. Such genetic controls might mediate both asymmetry and interdigital diversity jointly, as there seems to be positive correlation between these measures with respect to all the three finger‐dermatoglyphic traits.
High‐resolution computed tomography for the comparative study of fossil and extant bone
Authors: Tate Judith R. , Cann Christopher E. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractSpecial methods have been developed to use computed tomography (CT) for 3‐dimensional imaging of both fossil and extant bones. Most commercial CT scanners cannot display the internal structure of fossils because the very high density is beyond the upper limits of the normal CT number scale (Hounsfield scale) of the scanners. X‐ray projections from CT scans of fossils were modified by scaling the data to provide an expanded CT number scale, allowing the internal structure of highly fossilized objects to be visualized. These images were compared with state‐of‐the‐art, high‐resolution CT images of extant bone. Special image reformatting software was used to provide qualitative and quantitative 3‐dimensional imaging.The recent rapid advances in CT technology have made this imaging modality the procedure of choice in much of diagnostic radiology. Use of this tool in paleoanthropology has been limited in the past by restricted access to scanners. However, new developments in CT will make this technique available to many researchers in the near future.
Discrete dental variations and biological distances of nubian populations
Authors: Greene David Lee 
Published: February 2006

AbstractDuring the 1963–1964 field season, the University of Colorado's Nubian Expedition excavated a series of Meroitic, X‐Group, and Christian cemeteries from Wadi Halfa Sudan. Recently a joint expedition sponsored by the Universities of Colorado and Kentucky excavated two additional Christian cemeteries from Kulubnarti, some 80 miles south of Wadi Halfa. Earlier analysis of discrete dental variations demonstrated that the Wadi Halfa populations did not differ significantly from one another. Application of the Smith‐Grewal multivariate measure of biological divergence, as modified by Sjøvold, and Green and Suchey, corroborates the original conclusion of biological stability and continuity for the Wadi Halfa populations, as well as demonstrating that the Kulubnarti populations are part of that pattern. None of the populations are significantly different from one another.
Allometric scaling in the dentition of primates and prediction of body weight from tooth size in fossils
Authors: Gingerich Philip D. , Smith B. Holly , Rosenberg Karen 
Published: February 2006

AbstractTooth size varies exponentially with body weight in primates. Logarithmic transformation of tooth crown area and body weight yields a linear model of slope 0.67 as an isometric (geometric) baseline for study of dental allometry. This model is compared with that predicted by metabolic scaling (slope = 0.75). Tarsius and other insectivores have larger teeth for their body size than generalized primates do, and they are not included in this analysis. Among generalized primates, tooth size is highly correlated with body size. Correlations of upper and lower cheek teeth with body size range from 0.90–0.97, depending on tooth position. Central cheek teeth (P and M) have allometric coefficients ranging from 0.57–0.65, falling well below geometric scaling. Anterior and posterior cheek teeth scale at or above metabolic scaling. Considered individually or as a group, upper cheek teeth scale allometrically with lower coefficients than corresponding lower cheek teeth; the reverse is true for incisors. The sum of crown areas for all upper cheek teeth scales significantly below geometric scaling, while the sum of crown areas for all lower cheek teeth approximates geometric scaling. Tooth size can be used to predict the body weight of generalized fossil primates. This is illustrated for Aegyptopithecus and other Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene primates. Regressions based on tooth size in generalized primates yield reasonable estimates of body weight, but much remains to be learned about tooth size and body size scaling in more restricted systematic groups and dietary guilds.
Effects of field size when using Kerley's histological method for determination of age at death
Authors: Stout Samuel D. , Gehlert Sarah J. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe field size at which a bone is read affects the results obtained when using Kerley's histological method for age estimation, even after applying the recommended correction factor. Whereas there is no tendency for any one of three field sizes tested to consistently underestimate or overestimate age, a field size closest to that used by Kerley in his original study had significantly lower variances for its age estimates, and thus provides greater reliability. This particular field size yields more precise estimates because it is sampling a pattern and number of structures more similar to that of Kerley.Correction factors cannot equalize the counts of osteons and osteon fragments because of spatial variations in the distributions of these histological structures. A field size similar to that used by Kerley in gathering the data from which he developed his regression equations must be used to assure that the same pattern and number of structures is being sampled. For this reason, we suggest a field size as close to 2.06 mm2 as possible be used when employing Kerley's method.
Pliocene hominid gait: New interpretations based on available footprint data from Laetoli
Authors: Charteris J. , Wall J. C. , Nottrodt J. W. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractNormative trends in the gait patterns of modern man can be used to reconstruct crucial characteristics of the bipedal behaviour of Pliocene hominids from their fossilized footprints. In this reconstruction the interrelated parameters of velocity, stride‐length, and cadence are determined from imprints made in damp volcanic ash some 3.7 million years ago. When early hominid footprint data is fitted to regression equations of high predictability for the interrelationship of these locomotor parameters in modern man, a pattern of gait emerges that contradicts previous reconstructions.
Classification and misclassification in sexing the Black femur by discriminant function analysis
Authors: Dibennardo Robert , Taylor James V. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractStepwise discriminant function analysis for sex assessment was applied to 130 North American Black femora. The measurements included femoral length and three midshaft dimensions likely to be preserved in archaeologically derived and forensic remains. The method correctly assigned sex for 76.4% of the sample (range 70.8–81.5%). This compares favorably with results achieved with other skeletal parts; it also compares favorably with results using the femur in sexing other racial groups. Among our other conclusions are: (1) a “general size factor” is one of major significance in correct classification and in misclassification of sex, and most misclassified individuals are anomalous for this factor; (2) the inconsistency in the relation between circumference and femoral length, which characterizes the remaining misclassified individuals, suggests that anomalous functional demands of body weight/musculature are at fault, and affect circumference more than length; and (3) discriminant function analysis of the same variables in Whites produced similar results, suggesting that sex overrides race in sex assessment; this was confirmed by cross‐validating the predictive accuracy of Black discriminant function coefficients on White data, and vice versa.
Beja And Nilotes: Nomadic pastoralist groups in the Sudan with opposite distributions of the adult lactase phenotypes
Authors: Bayoumi R. A. L. , Flatz S. D. , Kühnau W. , Flatz G. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractLactose tolerance tests with breath hydrogen determination were performed on 585 apparently healthy adolescents and adults in the Democratic Republic of the Sudan. Out of the total, 303 probands belong to the tribal group Beja, traditional nomadic pastoralists in the desert zone between the Nile and the Red Sea. The 282 Nilotes (mainly Dinka) are members of seminomadic cattle breeding tribes in the south of the Sudan. In both populations milk consumption is substantial but only in the Beja true milk dependence, sufficient to result in selective pressures in favour of the lactase persistence allele, is likely to exist. The proportion of lactose malabsorbers was 16.8% in the Beja and 74.5% in the Nilotes. The high prevalence of lactose malabsorption among the Nilotes fits into a converging gradient of lactase gene frequencies along the Nile Valley. The Beja are the first nomadic desert population in North Africa in whom a high prevalence of lactase persistence has been demonstrated on a numerically sufficient sample.
Skin colorimetry in Belize. II. Inter‐ and intra‐population variation
Authors: Byard P. J. , Lees F. C. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractSkin colorimetry readings taken in Belize, Central America (formerly British Honduras) with the two most commonly used portable reflectometers reveal significant differences in mean reflectance between Garifuna (Black Caribs) and Creoles, and between Garifuna in two settlements. These differences are related to variation in African, Indian, and European admixture, as estimated from serological markers.Sex differences are not evident in univariate comparisons, but females are significantly lighter than males in multivariate analyses of variance. Polynomial age trends exist in some groups for certain variables, but account for a very small amount of the variation in skin color within these groups.
Secular trend for stature in adult male Yucatec Maya to 1968
Authors: McCullough John M. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractStatures for 64 adult male Yucatec Maya (18+ years old, sons of campesinos) were measured in 1968 and compared with mean statures presented in results for previous studies. There were no significant changes in mean stature since 1895. If the sample is divided into 5‐year age groups, no secular trend is evident. Using osteological information from as early as the Late Preclassic, stature of adult Maya males has decreased 119 mm in a little more than 20 centuries (−0.06 cm/decade). Comparing the results with measurements from other Mesoamerican groups, only one – the Otomí – show evidence of significant secular change. It is possible that modern economic development schemes in Mesoamerica are too recent or ineffective to have had an effect on stature.
Problems of sampling and inference in the study of fluctuating dental asymmetry
Authors: Smith B. Holly , Garn Stanley M. , Cole Patricia E. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractRandomly distributed or “fluctuating” dental asymmetry has been accorded evolutionary meaning and interpreted as a result of environmental stress. However, except for congenital malformation syndromes, the determinants of human crown size asymmetry are still equivocal. Both a computer simulated sampling experiment using a combined sample size of N = 3000, and the requirements of adequate statistical power show that sample sizes of several hundred are needed to detect population differences in dental asymmetry. Using the largest available sample of children with defined prenatal stresses, we are unable to find systematic increases in crown size asymmetry. Given sampling limitations and the current inability to link increased human dental asymmetry to defined prenatal stresses, we suggest that fluctuating dental asymmetry is not yet established as a useful and reliable measure of general stress in human populations.
Differential long bone growth of children between two months and eleven years of age
Authors: Buschang Peter H. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractDiaphyseal lengths of the humerus, radius, femur and tibia of upper‐middle class White children between two months and 11 years of age show positive allometric growth, indicating substantial shape or proportional change. The segments of the lower extremity display greater allometric increase than the humerus and radius; variation in relative growth within each extremity is small and inconsistent. Sex differences are consistent, with slightly greater proportional increases demonstrated for boys. The results suggest that absolute intralimb variation in growth, following a disto‐proximo growth or maturity gradient, is due to initial differences in size or scale and not to differences in patterns of growth. Developmental variation between extremities is due to scaling plus variation in relative growth patterns.
The use of the coefficient of agreement and likelihood ratio test to examine the development of the tympanic plate using a known‐age sample of fetal and infant skeletons
Authors: Curran Bryan K. , Weaver David S. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractPrevious attempts to use the development of the tympanic plate as an aging standard for fetal and infant cranial remains have either produced only a developmental sequence (Anderson, 1960), or a sequence for which age has been estimated using another independent aging standard (Weaver, 1979). Following an evaluation of the first three stages of development of the tympanic plate using a known‐age sample of fetal and infant skeletal remains, a simple test of inter‐observer agreement, Cohen's coefficient of agreement (Cohen, 1960), is demonstrated using the developmental stages.
Segregation distortion at the transferrin locus in Macaca mulatta
Authors: Smith David Glenn 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe transferrin phenotypes of 256 rhesus monkeys and their parents were identified by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The segregation ratio for phenotypes involving only alleles of high electrophoretic mobility was statistically significantly higher than expected and suggests that selection favors these more negatively charged transferrins. Electrostatic‐dependent processes associated with the binding and transportation of iron might be responsible for this outcome.
Genetic variation in Bougainville and Solomon Islands populations
Authors: Lai Lawrence Y. C. , Bloom Jerry 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThis paper reports the findings of genetic variation in eight populations of the Solomon Islands. Blood specimens collected from 345 Aita, 191 Nasioi and 416 Nagovisi of Bougainville, 379 Lau, 453 Baegu and 385 Kwaio of Malaita, and 504 Ontong Java, and 328 Ulawa subjects were tested for A‐B‐O, M‐N‐S‐s, Rh, Hp, Tf, secretor, and red‐cell acid phosphatase systems. Considerable differences were found among the eight populations with respect to all polymorphic systems studied. It was not possible to distinguish Austronesian groups from non‐Austronesian groups on the basis of gene frequencies.
Tooth crown size differences between age groups: A possible new indicator of stress in skeletal samples
Authors: Guagliardo Mark F. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractJuveniles and adults from a prehistoric Amerindian skeletal series from Tennessee are compared for differences in the means and variances of the buccolingual dimensions of their permanent teeth. While there are no significant differences in variance, it is found that juveniles exhibit significantly smaller mandibular canines, first premolars, and first molars. The results are similar to those of a previous examination of an Amerindian skeletal collection from South Dakota. There is evidence to suggest that teeth may fail to develop to their maximum genetic size potential when there is interference from exogenous chronic stressors such as malnutrition or disease. Archeological and biological evidence demonstrates that both the Tennessee and South Dakota series represent groups that suffered considerably from environmental stressors. It is suggested that those persons who suffered most were more likely to die prematurely, thus explaining why juvenile skeletons tend to have smaller teeth. The conclusion is that the examination of age variation in crown size can be a useful supplement to other osteological indicators of stress in skeletal collections. The factor of sex ratio and the implications of the results for other kinds of dental metric studies are discussed.
Physical growth of St. Lawrence Island Eskimos: Body size, proportion, and composition
Authors: Johnston Francis E. , Ensroth Arthur E. , Laughlin William S. , Harper Albert B. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractGrowth patterns of body size, proportion, and composition were analyzed in 57 male and 56 female Eskimos from St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, ranging in age from 1.23 through 19.82 years. Age‐groups means for whites and blacks of the U.S. Health Examination Survey served as reference data. Relative to HES data, the Eskimo sample were shorter with lower values for leg length, while there were no differences from the reference values for sitting height. The Eskimos also had higher values of Quetelet's Index, the sitting height/height ratio, and the upper arm muscle circumference, while there were no differences in body weight or triceps skinfold thickness. Differences from the reference data were more pronounced in males than in females. The growth patterns for size and body proportion are in conformity with known relationships between morphology and climate.
A new fossil cebine from hispaniola
Authors: MaCphee R. D. E. , Woods C. A. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractAn incomplete mandibular fragment of a cebine monkey from an early Holocene Haitian cave deposit adds to the small but growing list of fossil Antillean primates. The jaw is of the correct size to belong to the same taxon as the partial maxilla of “Saimiri” bernensis from the Dominican Republic. Both finds probably represent a single species whose proximate ancestry lay closer to Cebus than to Saimiri, although more evidence will be required to substantiate this. No close relationship of the Hispaniolan fossils to the Jamaican platyrrhine Xenothrix is indicated.How monkeys managed to penetrate the West Indies is a biogeographical puzzle of the first order. Geographical vicariance events, island‐hopping, and purposeful or inadvertent introduction by humans seem rather implausible devices. On the whole, long‐distance, over‐water rafting from the Americas remains the most likely mechanism for past land vertebrate immigration into the Caribbean.