Eco-geographic and sexual variation of the ribcage in Homo sapiens.
Evol Anthropol
; : e22040, 2024 Jul 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38951738
ABSTRACT
Up to now, Allen and Bergmann's rules have been studied in modern humans by analyzing differences in limb length, height, or body mass. However, there are no publications studying the effects of latitude in the 3D configuration of the ribcage. To assess this issue, we digitally reconstructed the ribcages of a balanced sample of 109 adult individuals of global distribution. Shape and size of the ribcage was quantified using geometric morphometrics. Our results show that the ribcage belonging to tropical individuals is smaller and slenderer compared to others living in higher latitudes, which is in line with Allen and Bergmann's rules and suggests an allometric relationship between size and shape. Although sexual dimorphism was observed in the whole sample, significant differences were only found in tropical populations. Our proposal is that, apart from potential sexual selection, avoiding heat loss might be the limiting factor for sexual dimorphism in cold-adapted populations.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Evol Anthropol
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Spain
Publication country:
EEUU
/
ESTADOS UNIDOS
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ESTADOS UNIDOS DA AMERICA
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EUA
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UNITED STATES
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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US
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USA