Human Cranial Anatomy and the Differential Preservation of Population History and Climate Signatures Export

@article{citeulike:2618178, abstract = {Cranial morphology is widely used to reconstruct evolutionary rela- tionships, but its reliability in reflecting phylogeny and population history has been questioned. Some cranial regions, particularly the face and neu- rocranium, are believed to be influenced by the environment and prone to convergence. Others, such as the temporal bone, are thought to reflect more accurately phylogenetic relationships. Direct testing of these hypotheses was not possible until the advent of large genetic data sets. The few relevant studies in human populations have had intriguing but possibly conflicting results, probably partly due to methodological differ- ences and to the small numbers of populations used. Here we use three- dimensional (3D) geometric morphometrics methods to test explicitly the ability of cranial shape, size, and relative position/orientation of cranial regions to track population history and climate. Morphological distances among 13 recent human populations were calculated from four 3D land- mark data sets, respectively reflecting facial, neurocranial, and temporal bone shape; shape and relative position; overall cranial shape; and cent- roid sizes. These distances were compared to neutral genetic and climatic distances among the same, or closely matched, populations. Results indi- cate that neurocranial and temporal bone shape track neutral genetic dis- tances, while facial shape reflects climate; centroid size shows a weak association with climatic variables; and relative position/orientation of cranial regions does not appear correlated with any of these factors. Because different cranial regions preserve population history and climate signatures differentially, caution is suggested when using cranial anat- omy for phylogenetic reconstruction.}, author = {Harvati, Katerina and Weaver, Timothy D.}, citeulike-article-id = {2618178}, journal = {THE ANATOMICAL RECORD PART A}, keywords = {adaptation, climate, craniofacial, genetics, history, human, morphology, neutral, population, variation}, month = {October}, pages = {1225--1233}, posted-at = {2008-04-01 02:10:42}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Wiley InterScience}, title = {Human Cranial Anatomy and the Differential Preservation of Population History and Climate Signatures}, volume = {288A}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2618178 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2618178 N2 - Cranial morphology is widely used to reconstruct evolutionary rela- tionships, but its reliability in reflecting phylogeny and population history has been questioned. Some cranial regions, particularly the face and neu- rocranium, are believed to be influenced by the environment and prone to convergence. Others, such as the temporal bone, are thought to reflect more accurately phylogenetic relationships. Direct testing of these hypotheses was not possible until the advent of large genetic data sets. The few relevant studies in human populations have had intriguing but possibly conflicting results, probably partly due to methodological differ- ences and to the small numbers of populations used. Here we use three- dimensional (3D) geometric morphometrics methods to test explicitly the ability of cranial shape, size, and relative position/orientation of cranial regions to track population history and climate. Morphological distances among 13 recent human populations were calculated from four 3D land- mark data sets, respectively reflecting facial, neurocranial, and temporal bone shape; shape and relative position; overall cranial shape; and cent- roid sizes. These distances were compared to neutral genetic and climatic distances among the same, or closely matched, populations. Results indi- cate that neurocranial and temporal bone shape track neutral genetic dis- tances, while facial shape reflects climate; centroid size shows a weak association with climatic variables; and relative position/orientation of cranial regions does not appear correlated with any of these factors. Because different cranial regions preserve population history and climate signatures differentially, caution is suggested when using cranial anat- omy for phylogenetic reconstruction. JF - THE ANATOMICAL RECORD PART A EP - 1233 TI - Human Cranial Anatomy and the Differential Preservation of Population History and Climate Signatures PB - Wiley InterScience VL - 288A SP - 1225 KW - adaptation KW - climate KW - craniofacial KW - genetics KW - history KW - human KW - morphology KW - neutral KW - population KW - variation AU - Harvati, Katerina AU - Weaver, Timothy PY - 2006/10// ER -