An integrative skeletal and paleogenomic analysis of stature variation suggests relatively reduced health for early European farmers.

Human culture, biology, and health were shaped dramatically by the onset of agriculture ∼12,000 y B.P. This shift is hypothesized to have resulted in increased individual fitness and population growth as evidenced by archaeological and population genomic data alongside a decline in physiological health as inferred from skeletal remains. Here, we consider osteological and ancient DNA data from the same prehistoric individuals to study human stature variation as a proxy for health across a transition to agriculture. Specifically, we compared "predicted" genetic contributions to height from paleogenomic data and "achieved" adult osteological height estimated from long bone measurements for 167 individuals across Europe spanning the Upper Paleolithic to Iron Age (∼38,000 to 2,400 B.P.). We found that individuals from the Neolithic were shorter than expected (given their individual polygenic height scores) by an average of −3.82 cm relative to individuals from the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic (P = 0.040) and −2.21 cm shorter relative to post-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.068), with osteological vs. expected stature steadily increasing across the Copper (+1.95 cm relative to the Neolithic), Bronze (+2.70 cm), and Iron (+3.27 cm) Ages. These results were attenuated when we additionally accounted for genome-wide genetic ancestry variation: for example, with Neolithic individuals −2.82 cm shorter than expected on average relative to pre-Neolithic individuals (P = 0.120). We also incorporated observations of paleopathological indicators of nonspecific stress that can persist from childhood to adulthood in skeletal remains into our model. Overall, our work highlights the potential of integrating disparate datasets to explore proxies of health in prehistory.

Importance of the postcranial skeleton in eusuchian phylogeny: Reassessing the systematics of allodaposuchid crocodylians.

Our current knowledge on the crocodyliform evolution is strongly biased towards the skull morphology, and the postcranial skeleton is usually neglected in many taxonomic descriptions. However, it is logical to expect that it can contribute with its own phylogenetic signal. In this paper, the changes in the tree topology caused by the addition of the postcranial information are analysed for the family Allodaposuchidae, the most representative eusuchians in the latest Cretaceous of Europe. At present, different phylogenetic hypotheses have been proposed for this group without reaching a consensus. The results of this paper evidence a shift in the phylogenetic position when the postcranium is included in the dataset, pointing to a relevant phylogenetic signal in the postcranial elements. Finally, the phylogenetic relationships of allodaposuchids within Eusuchia are reassessed; and the internal relationships within Allodaposuchidae are also reconsidered after an exhaustive revision of the morphological data. New and improved diagnoses for each species are here provided.

The earliest settlers of Mesoamerica date back to the late Pleistocene.

Preceramic human skeletal remains preserved in submerged caves near Tulum in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, reveal conflicting results regarding 14C dating. Here we use U-series techniques for dating a stalagmite overgrowing the pelvis of a human skeleton discovered in the submerged Chan Hol cave. The oldest closed system U/Th age comes from around 21 mm above the pelvis defining the terminus ante quem for the pelvis to 11311±370 y BP. However, the skeleton might be considerable older, probably as old as 13 ky BP as indicated by the speleothem stable isotope data. The Chan Hol individual confirms a late Pleistocene settling of Mesoamerica and represents one of the oldest human osteological remains in America.

A comparative analysis of the morphological characteristics of elite karatekas, judokas, taekwondoists, boxers and wrestlers / Análisis comparativo de las características morfológicas de karatistas, judistas, taekwondistas, boxeadores y luchadores de elite

The aim of this research was to use a system of 37 variables of morphological characteristics on a sample of 108 elite male athletes (25 karatekas, 27 judokas, 19 taekwondoists, 18 boxers and 19 wrestlers), aged 17 to 23, to determine any statistically significant differences between the groups of athletes in terms of variable means, so that during the training process, the selection of athletes could be carried out in a proper and objective manner and that the training transformation processes could be managed more effectively. After processing the data using the statistical method of a multivariate and univariate analysis of variance (MANOVA/ANOVA), we obtained results that indicate that among the karatekas, judokas, taekwondoists, boxers and wrestlers in the entire system of (multivariate) morphological variables there is a statistically significant difference between the means (p=0.000). The results of the research have shown that what we are dealing with are different morphological structures of athletes involved in different sports. Since in the longitudinal and transversal dimensionality of the skeleton the values are more pronounced for boxers, wrestlers and karatekas, during selection it is necessary to be vigilant, since these are morphological characteristics which are genetically limited and can only change up to only 2% during the training process, while for voluminosity and body mass and subcutaneous fatty tissue there is the possibility of carrying out transformations of 20­50%.

El objetivo de esta investigación consistió en utilizar un sistema de 37 variables de las características morfológicas de una muestra de 108 deportistas de élite masculinos (25 karatekas, 27 judokas, 19 taekwondistas, 18 boxeadores y luchadores 19), de 17 a 23 años, para determinar alguna diferencia que sea estadísticamente significativa entre los grupos de atletas en términos de medios de variables, de modo que durante el proceso de formación, la selección de los atletas podría llevarse a cabo de una manera adecuada y objetiva, y que los procesos de transformación de la formación podrían ser manejados de manera más eficaz. Después de procesar los datos mediante el método estadístico de análisis multivariado y univariado de la varianza (MANOVA/ANOVA), se obtuvieron resultados que indican que entre los karatekas, judokas, taekwondistas, boxeadores y luchadores en todo el sistema de (multivariable) variables morfológicas no existe una diferencia estadísticamente significativa entre las medias (p=0,000). Los resultados de la investigación han demostrado que se observan diferentes estructuras morfológicas de los atletas que participan en diferentes deportes. Dado que en la dimensionalidad longitudinal y transversal del esqueleto y sus valores son más pronunciados para los boxeadores, luchadores y karatekas. Durante la selección es importante estar atentos, ya que estas son las características morfológicas que genéticamente son limitantes y solamente se pueden cambiar hasta el 2% durante el proceso de formación, mientras que para la voluminosidad y la masa corporal y el tejido graso subcutáneo es posible efectuar transformaciones del 20­50%.

Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ages of amino acid extracts from Californian palaeoindian skeletons.

A decade ago, aspartic acid racemization ages were determined for some skeletal remains found in California, near La Jolla, Del Mar and Sunnyvale, suggesting that people were present in North America during the Upper Pleistocene. These ages were obtained from the aspartic acid racemization rate, which was calibrated using a radiocarbon date of 17,150 +/- 1,470 yr BP determined for a skeleton found in Laguna Beach, California. These studies generated an intense controversy not only about the antiquity of human beings in the New World but also about the validity of racemization-based ages, and prompted efforts to date the finds by other means. Here we have used accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to determine the radiocarbon ages of the amino acid extracts used in the original racemization studies. Our studies indicate that some of the controversial Californian skeletons, which had been assigned to the Upper Pleistocene, are in fact Holocene.