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Interest in women's reproductive variation within the subfield of Physical Anthropology known as Human Reproductive Ecology is dominated by energetic models for fecundity that disregard genetic variation as a potential cause of differences in reproduction. Further, a strong correlation between ovarian and uterine markers of fecundity is assumed, although this assumption is not supported by the available data. A polymorphism in the progesterone receptor gene, called PROGINS, shows diminished progesterone response in vitro and is associated with a number of uterine disorders in women. To elucidate the discrepancy between ovarian and uterine markers of fecundity, carriers of the PROGINS variant were compared to non-carriers with regard to endometrial thickness and menstrual cycle characteristics. Gene-environment interactions between PROGINS and life history, lifestyle factors, progesterone levels, anthropometric measures, and physical activity were also considered. The PROGINS polymorphism was found to impact both luteal phase length and menses duration, as well as to modify endometrial sensitivity to life history factors, progesterone levels, anthropometric measures, and physical activity. These results support the notion that PROGINS diminishes progesterone response, and indicate that the polymorphism also alters endometrial sensitivity to acute and chronic energetic stress. The findings of this study indicate that Human Reproductive Ecologists must consider genetically-based variation in sensitivity to energetic stress in future adaptive models of women's reproduction. / Anthropology

The South Pacific is a region of incredible biological, cultural and linguistic diversity, reflecting its early settlement by human populations. It has been a region of interest to scholars because of this diversity, as well as its unique geography and settlement history. Current evidence suggests there was an initial settlement of Near Oceania during the Pleistocene by Papuan-speaking foragers, followed by a later Holocene settlement of Remote Oceania by Oceanic-speaking agriculturalists. Previous studies of human biological variation have been used to illuminate the migration history of and population relationships within Oceania. In this study, I analyzed Y-chromosome (NRY) diversity in 842 unrelated males to more fully characterize the phylogeography of paternal genetic lineages in this region, using a large number of regionally informative markers on an intensive sample set from Northern Island Melanesia. This approach facilitated an analysis of NRY haplogroup distributions, an evaluation of the ancestral paternal genetic contribution to the region, and a comparison of regional NRY diversity with that observed at different genetic loci (e.g., mtDNA). This project is part of a collaborative effort by faculty and graduate students from the Temple University Department of Anthropology that focused on characterizing biological variation and genetic structure in Melanesia, and better resolving the phylogeographic specificity of Northern Island Melanesia. Overall, this study generated a higher resolution view of NRY haplogroup variation than detected in previous studies through the use of newly defined and very informative SNP markers. It also showed that there is a very small ancestral East Asian paternal contribution to this area, and a rather large proportion of older Melanesian NRY lineages present there. In addition, this study observed extraordinary NRY diversity within Northern Island Melanesia, as well as genetic structure influenced more by geography than linguistic variation. This structure and diversity was essentially equivalent to that noted for mtDNA data for this region. Finally, this study helped to resolve questions about the placement of the 50f2/c deletion within the larger NRY tree. Overall, this work has refined our understanding of the migration and demographic history of Northern Island Melanesia. / Anthropology

Le rire est un comportement humain indiscutablement universel. Abondamment traité par la psychologie et les neurosciences, il demeure néanmoins le laissé-pour-compte de l’anthropologie. Si les connaissances empiriques accumulées à ce jour ont permis de bien le caractériser à des niveaux proximaux d’analyse, la question de son origine évolutionniste est, en contrepartie, souvent évacuée. Or, toute tentative sérieuse de comprendre ce comportement requiert une investigation de sa fonction adaptative et de sa phylogénèse. Le projet entrepris ici consiste en une analyse de cinq hypothèses ultimes sur le rire et l’humour, desquelles sont extraites des prédictions qui sont confrontées à des données empiriques provenant de disciplines diverses. En guise de conclusion, il est tenté de formuler un scénario évolutif qui concilie les différentes hypothèses abordées. / Laughter is a universal and ubiquitous human behavior. Widely investigated by psychology and neuroscience, it is still largely ignored by anthropology. While humor and laughter are well caracterised at proximate levels of explanation, the question of their evolutionary origins remains relatively unexplored. A number of recent hypotheses have yet attempted to shed light on the potential adaptive significance and phylogeny of these behaviors. This project consists of an analysis of five of these ultimate explanations, by confronting their predictions to empirical data from a large array of disciplines. In the end, I propose an evolutionary framework that synthesizes and reconciles these hypotheses.

Beginning in the ninth century, Chaco Canyon saw the construction of distinctive, large-scale masonry architecture that has come to characterize the Chaco culture system. However, the great houses of Chaco Canyon were abandoned long before European contact, leaving behind no record of why these large structures were originally built or what function they served. Pueblo Bonito, which was among the earliest and most centrally located of the Chaco great houses, entombed dozens of individuals in two small clusters of intramural burial chambers. Many of the remains were disarticulated, while others were buried with a remarkable array of grave goods, engendering a range of theories regarding who these persons were and why they were buried within the walls of this important structure. To address these questions, the present study uses methods derived from bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology by first reassociating the commingled human skeletal remains, then performing taphonomic and pathological analysis of these individuals. Reassociation of these remains prior to analysis permits more accurate assessment of sex and age of these individuals, as well as of their health status of these individuals in life and their treatment at death. Results of this study do not support previous interpretations that these burials represent sociopolitical elites, nor that they were the victims of human sacrifice, fallen warriors, or victims of cannibalism. This research does not indicate that the disarticulated bodies result from natural taphonomic processes, looting or vandalism, and points to a different perspective on Chaco mortuary behavior. This research offers a fresh perspective on who these persons may have been and what their disposition within the walls of Pueblo Bonito might signify / acase@tulane.edu

The jaw adductor muscles in strepsirrhines were dissected and their fiber architecture was quantified. Bite force and leverage were estimated using values for physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA) of the jaw adductors and lateral photographs of skulls. Jaw adductor mass, PCSA, fiber length, and bite force scale isometrically to body size. An experiment carried out at the Duke Lemur Center demonstrated that ingested food size also scales isometrically to body size. Folivorous strepsirrhines are characterized by short jaw adductor fibers, uniformly small ingested food size, large masseter and medial pterygoid muscles (in PCSA and mass), and large estimated bite force for their jaw length. Large-bodied folivores have especially large jaw adductors. Small-bodied folivores have especially short jaws, but do not have especially large jaw adductors. Folivores probably can generate large bite forces; they possess short jaws (short bite load arms) and/or large jaw adductor cross-sectional areas. Frugivorous strepsirrhines are characterized by long jaws, large (but variable) ingested food size, large temporalis muscles, and small estimated bite force for their jaw length. Frugivores have long jaw adductor fibers that likely maintain tension during the ingestion of large objects (e.g., fruits). The temporalis is large in frugivores, not because it has superior leverage during incision, but because its fibers likely do not stretch as much at wide gapes as those of the other adductors. Correlations between osteological landmarks and jaw adductor dimensions in strepsirrhines were used to infer jaw adductor dimensions in <em>Adapis parisiensis</em> and <em>Leptadapis magnus</em> (Adapinae) from the Eocene of Europe. Inferred PCSA and lateral photographs were used to estimate bite force and leverage in these adapines. An analysis of shearing quotients was also performed. Inferred jaw adductor mass, PCSA, bite force, and shearing quotients are great in adapines relative to extant strepsirrhines. All anatomical signals suggest a diet rich in tough leaves and other structural plant parts, perhaps with some small fruits. <em>Adapis</em> was likely more folivorous than <em>Leptadapis</em>. / Dissertation

<p>Humans are more carnivorous than other hominoids. It has been hypothesized that, during the evolution of this increased carnivory, hominins transitioned through a scavenging niche made viable by certain carnivoran taxa (especially sabertooths) that may have lacked the morphology necessary to fully utilize all parts of carcasses (e.g., marrow), therefore leaving an open niche in the form of high-quality scavengable remains available for hominins. In this dissertation, I examine the postcanine dentition of modern carnivorans, using quantifications of occlusal radii of curvature and intercuspid notches, and study the correlation of this morphology with carcass-processing behavior. I use these correlations to deduce the carcass-processing capabilities of the Plio-Pleistocene carnivores of South Africa (a guild for which we have a good appreciation of taxonomic diversity, and that existed at an important time during the evolution of our lineage - possibly the time that we transitioned into that guild), and compare these results with those of previous studies that relied on more conventional morphological measures.</p><p>Both radius of curvature and intercuspid notch data do a good job of separating taxa by dietary category, revealing subtle patterns including possible differences in the carcass-processing abilities of fossil and modern members of some extant species. Other strong trends confirm that the "hunting-hyena," Chasmaporthetes, was probably a hypercarnivore, and not a durophage like its modern confamilial taxa. Somewhat surprisingly, results do not support the hypothesis that sabertooth felids were more hypercarnivorous than modern felids. Furthermore, though the sympatric hypercarnivorous taxa were more numerous, so to were the durophageous taxa, with one taxon, Pachycrocuta, probably exceeding the durophageous capabilities of modern durophages.</p><p>As such, this dissertation shows no evidence that members of the paleo-carnivore guild were capable of producing higher quality scavengable carcasses than are modern carnivorans, and thus, based on these analyses of fossil carnivorans, it does not appear that high-quality scavengable remains were more available in the Plio-Pleistocene than there are today. Therefore, though there is clear evidence from other sources that hominins did scavenge at least occasionally, this dissertation does not support the hypothesis that there was an open niche consisting of high-quality scavengable remains.</p> / Dissertation