Can life history trade-offs explain the evolution of short stature in human pygmies? A response to Migliano et al. (2007).
Hum Biol
; 82(1): 17-27, 2010 Feb.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20504169
Walker et al. ["Growth rates and life histories in twenty-two small-scale societies," Am. J. Hum. Biol. 18:295-311 (2006)] used life history theory to develop an innovative explanation for human diversity in stature. Short stature could have been selected for in some human populations as a result of the advantage of an earlier growth cessation and earlier reproduction in a context of high mortality. Migliano et al. ["Life history trade-offs explain the evolution of human pygmies," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104:20,216-20,219 (2007)] recently published an important article that tested this hypothesis to explain short stature in human pygmy populations. However innovative this work may be, we believe that some of the data and results presented are controversial if not questionable. As problematic points we note (1) the use of an arbitrary threshold of height (155 cm) to categorize populations into pygmies and nonpygmies; (2) the use of demographic data from Philippine pygmy groups that have experienced dramatic cultural and environmental changes in the last 20 years, and (3) the use of demographic data concerning African pygmy groups because good systematic data on these groups are not available. Finally, we report here mathematical errors and loopholes in the optimization model developed by Migliano and colleagues. In this paper we suggest alternative trade-offs that can be used to explain Migliano's results on more reliable bases.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Estatura
/
Vida
/
Población Negra
/
Pueblo Asiatico
/
Evolución Biológica
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Animals
/
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
Africa
/
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Hum Biol
Año:
2010
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Francia
Pais de publicación:
Estados Unidos