The Paranthropus head is characterized by features traditionally thought to be related to heavy chewing. McCollum [Science 284 (1999) : 301-305] proposed that palatal thickening is a response to developmental integration between the mandibular ramus, oral and nasal functional matrices, and the vomer, which inserts onto the premaxilla in Paranthropus and causes the palate to thicken instead of rotate during vertical expansion. I tested whether palate thickness increases as a byproduct of differential increases in the sizes of the oral and nasal functional matrices compared to growth in the mandibular ramus. To do so, I collected 3D volume and landmark data from computed tomography (CT) scans of extant (Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla, Pongo pygmaeus) and extinct taxa (Australopithecus and Paranthropus), and tested counterpart relationships for bones in the cranium using scaling analyses. Results suggest that developmental constraints related to growth counterpart relationships in the skulll are unlikely to affect palate thickness in the genus Paranthropus. / by Brittany A. Burdelsky. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The socioecological model offers a framework for attempting to explain variation in sociality based on differences in ecological and social factors such as resource distribution, predation pressure, and infanticide risk. Orangutans are unusual among higher primates in their low degree of sociality and are considered to be semi-solitary. Their limited social behavior is thought to be a result of weak predation pressure on these large-bodied apes, coupled with the low and unpredictable fruit productivity that is characteristic of their habitat. Orangutans do come together occasionally, and there appears to be variability in the gregariousness of different populations. Orangutans present a unique opportunity to examine both social and solitary conditions within a single population to test predictions regarding the costs and benefits of sociality. This study assesses the ecological and social context in which social parties occur in Gunung Palung National Park on the island of Borneo. The potential costs of these associations are evaluated using behavioral and physiological markers of stress and parasite infection patterns. Fruit availability is predicted to influence the frequency of social associations, with sociality increasing when fruit availability is high. While the socioecological model predicts that female orangutans display reduced sociality, this should affect females in different reproductive (and hence, energetic) states differently. The results of this study confirmed that fruit availability influences the occurrence of social events and revealed adolescent females to be the most social age-sex class. Adolescent females displayed the most affiliative behaviors and engaged in notable sexual rituals with flanged males. They sought and maintained social associations with others, particularly their mothers. Despite evident signs of anxiety, adolescent females did not display elevation in the stress hormone cortisol under social conditions, while adult females and flanged males did. Intestinal parasites were widespread in this population, and the prediction for elevated parasite prevalence in more social classes was unsupported. This study revealed a greater degree of gregariousness than orangutans are typically credited with, and highlights the adolescent period as behaviorally distinct and socially rich for female orangutans who face unique challenges as members of a semi-solitary species with high levels of sexual coercion. / 2020-02-28T00:00:00Z

The timing of skeletal growth spurts in modern humans is unique among mammals. In modern humans, peak growth occurs after puberty during the adolescent period, whereas large-bodied non-human primates exhibit an earlier juvenile growth spurt. Based on limited data, previous researchers have suggested that Neanderthals experienced a late, modern human-like adolescent growth spurt. In this study, I examined the timing of stature and facial growth spurts in Neanderthals to test the hypothesis that Neanderthals grew like modern humans. In order to assess the timing of Neanderthal growth spurts, I plotted a non-human primate regression estimate of age at puberty onto Neanderthal stature and mandibular velocity growth curves. The mandibular growth curve exhibits a discernible growth spurt after puberty, reminiscent of the modern human adolescent growth spurt. Future research on additional regions of the skeleton is necessary to further refine this estimate for the timing of Neanderthal growth spurts. / by Amy C. Lupo. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

No description available.

No description available.

abstract: Federal legislation prioritizes the repatriation of culturally unidentifiable human remains to federally-recognized Indian tribes that are linked geographically to the region from which the remains were removed. Such linkages are typically based on a Eurocentric notion of the exclusive use and occupancy of an area of land - a space-based approach to land use. Contemporary collaborations between anthropologists and indigenous communities suggest, however, that indigenous patterns of land use are better characterized as place-based and are therefore more complex and fluid than is reflected in current legislation. Despite these insights, space-based approaches remain common within archaeology. One example is the inference of territorial behavior from the presence of monuments within the archaeological record. Drawing on osteological and mortuary data derived from a sample of Adena mounds located in northern Kentucky, this dissertation adopts a place-based approach in order to evaluate the archaeological association between monumentality and territoriality. The relative amounts of skeletal and phenotypic variability present at various spatial scales are quantified and compared and the degree to which mortuary and phenotypic data exhibit spatial structure consistent with the expectations of an isolation-by-distance model is assessed. Results indicate that, while burial samples derived from some mounds exhibit amounts of phenotypic variability that are consistent with the expectations of a territorial model, data from other mounds suggest that multiple groups participated in their construction. Further, the general absence of spatial structure within the phenotypic data suggests that the individuals interred in these mounds are perhaps better characterized as representing an integrated regional population rather than localized groups. Untested archaeological inferences of territoriality may therefore mischaracterize regional population dynamics. In addition, these results suggest that the prioritization criteria for the repatriation of culturally unidentifiable human remains may merit revision. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2019

No description available.

This thesis is a report on the analysis of family data gathered to test the simple recessive hypothesis for the inability to taste phenyl-thio-urea (P.T.C.). The simple recessive hypothesis states that the inability of a minority of persons to taste high concentrations of P.T.C. is due to the action of an autosomal recessive gene in the homozygous condition.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the structural variation of the proximal femur in human skeletal samples. The goal was to investigate and further describe the morphology of the proximal femur through quantitative observation. Subsets of measurements were used to calculate platymeric indices, which demonstrate the presence or absence of platymeria in a population. Metric analyses of the femur were also used to study size and shape differences in populations for indications of sexual dimorphism or asymmetry. Finally, selected platymeric index measurements were observed for intraobserver error, to test the validity of the measures and how well the researcher performed them. Data examining the morphology of the proximal femur were collected from a prehistoric Albanian site, a late 18th century Albanian site, and from a documented modern, industrial skeletal collection. In this study, platymeria was identified in the proximal femur in the two pre-industrial Albanian samples for both sexes and side. The results varied when compared to the industrial collection, which was eurymeric in both sexes and side. The proximal femoral differences in side and sex of the preindustrial and industrial remains shed light on biomechanical investigations. Overall, results conclude that the use of platymeric indices allowed the researcher to successfully distinguish variations in the proximal femur among three populations. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Anthropology / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 73-77).

<p>Despite early neglect, recent studies of sexual selection have shown a renewed interest in female reproductive strategies. Clearly the traditional portrayal of female animals as passive participants in mating is incorrect, but much is still unknown about female reproductive strategies, including the extent of female mate choice. The primary goal of this dissertation was to explore the role of female mate choice in mantled howling monkeys (<italic>Alouatta palliata</italic>), a species in which males have previously been assumed to control mating. </p><p>From March 2006 through February 2007, I used continuous focal-animal sampling to record the behavior of adult female mantled howlers at Hacienda La Pacifica, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The focal animals in the study were nine adult females in a social group that has been regularly monitored since 1984. There were also three capture sessions performed by K. Glander to collect blood samples for genetic paternity analysis. A total of 29 individuals in the study group and eight adult males from surrounding groups were captured.</p><p>The genetic paternity analyses were largely inconclusive. Of the eight microsatellite markers used previously in this species, only four were polymorphic in this sample. Additionally, nearly half (7 of 16) of the purported mothers were excluded at one locus. Assuming the mother was unknown allowed determination of genetic paternity in only one case. In terms of behavior, females were largely responsible for soliciting copulations, but female mate choice did not appear to be a major factor. Females almost never rejected copulations (3.3% of copulation attempts) and mated with multiple males in 77.8% of female cycles. </p><p>The lack of conclusive genetic paternity data leaves open the possibility of post-copulatory female choice. However, explanations exist for the apparent lack of female mate choice in this species. Because males must attain alpha status to remain in a group, differences in inherent quality may be low among group males. The potential for small differences among males in a social group, combined with the fact that females disperse from their natal group, suggests that female mate choice may occur primarily in choosing a group during dispersal.</p> / Dissertation