From the recently discovered bones of so-called “hobbits,” hominids who stood one meter tall and lived 18,000 years ago, to the towering supermodels and basketball players of our modern world, human height has been immensely varied (Culotta 983). Scientists have postulated many explanations for this heterogeneity in stature, but none of these explanations has given a complete picture of this complex trait. Instead, evolutionary, physiological, genetic, and environmental explanations have all been necessary to understanding why individuals and groups differ in size. Today, the shortest people on Earth are the Efe Pygmies of the Congo basin in central Africa (Diamond). By studying the myriad reasons why the Efe are so small, we can begin to see the challenge that scientists face in trying to predict height purely on the basis of genetics.
Unlike most other pubescent humans, Efe teenagers do not have an adolescent growth spurt. In fact, their growth comes to a halt at around age thirteen, right when most other young people have recently begun to mature rapidly (Swaminathan 1). The endocrine system plays a vital role in the accelerated growth most human teenagers experience, secreting insulin-like growth factors I and II along with other hormones that stimulate growth and adjusting growth to environmental factors (Bogin 330). Blood tests of Efe teenagers show that they have less than a third of the insulin-like growth factor I that an average non-Efe teenager would have (Diamond). Scientists have determined “the insulin-like growth factor I defect in the Pygmy...to be genetically based and not related to environmental factors” (“African Pygmies” 177). It would be very tempting to assume that these studies prove that s...
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... “A Question of Size.” Discover. n.p. 1 May 1992. Web. 5 March 2010.
Pierce, Benjamin A. Genetics: A Conceptual Approach. 2nd ed. New York: W. H. Freeman, 2006. Print.
Shay, Ted. “The Level of Living in Japan, 1885-1938: New Evidence.” Stature, Living Standards, and Economic Development: Essays in Anthropomorphic History. Ed. John Komlos. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. 173-96. Print.
Swaminathan, Nikhil. “Not So Tall Tale: Why Pygmies Evolved to Be Shorter.” Scientific American. Nature America Inc., 12 Dec. 2007. Web. 5 March 2010.
Walker, Robert S., and Marcus J. Hamilton. “Life‐History Consequences of Density Dependence and the Evolution of Human Body Size.” Current Anthropology Feb. 2008: 115-22. Print.
A study performed by Martin Hausler and Peter Schmid of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, appeared in the October 1995 issue of Journal of Human Evolution, igniting controversy over the 1974 Australopithecus discoveries in Hadar, Ethiopia. The most famous of the Hadar specimens is the 3-million-year-old skeleton, “Lucy,” who was recovered by paleoanthropologist, Donald Johanson. In his article, Shreeve presents the methods and findings of Hausler and Schmid’s study as well as some counter arguments from other scientists in the field.
"Human Evolution: Hobbit Small, But Not Stunted." Nature 482.7384 (2012): 135. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
The evolution of man is constantly in question. While we are reasonably sure that modern humans and primates are both related to the same common ancestor, there is constant debate over what initially caused the two species to split into early hominids and apes. According to some, our longest and most popular theory on the division of man and ape is profoundly wrong. However, those same individuals usually offer an equally controversial theory as a substitute, one that is almost impossible to scientifically test or prove. Both the Savanna Theory and the Aquatic Ape Theory offer solutions to how and why humans evolved into bipedal toolmakers. But with enough questioning, each loses its accountability to rhetorical science.
For the lowland adult male gorilla measure up about 66.9 in. tall and weigh an average of 374 pounds, while adult female gorillas measure up about 59.1 in. height and her weigh is no more than 160 pounds. On the other hand, adult male mountain gorillas may weigh up to 484 pounds, and adult females weigh about 215 pounds. The adult male bonobos measure up to 4 feet tall and weigh an average of 85 pounds, while adult female bonobos measure up over 3 feet tall and weigh an average of 68 pounds. The adult male chimpanzees measure up to approximately 4 feet high, and weigh between 90 and 120 pounds, while the female chimpanzees weigh between 60 and 110 pounds. The adult male orangutan measure up to typically 4 ft. 6 in. tall and weigh around 165 pound, while the adult female orangutan measure up to 3 ft. 9 in. and weigh around 82 pounds. Male orangutans are approximately twice the size of the females. It is believed that the bigger size of males is because of the strong competition among males for females. The 12 species of gibbons are classified as lesser apes. They are relatively smaller, slender, and more agile than other apes. They exhibit many characteristics of primates, including flat faces, enlarged brain sizes, grasping hands and feet, arms longer than legs, no tails, and broad chests. Male gibbons are just under 3 ft. in length and weigh about 15 pounds. Furthermore, the evolution of Homo erectus showed more human examination
Feder and Park present a list of traits that are used by paleoanthropologists to distinguish the appearance of skeletal features and characterize these changes over time. Th...
Australopithecus afarensis existed between 3.9 and 3.0 million years ago. The distinctive characteristics of A. afarensis were: a low forehead, a bony ridge over the eyes, a flat nose, no chin, more humanlike teeth, pelvis and leg bones resembled those of modern man. Females were smaller than males. Their sexual dimorphism was males:females; 1.5. A. afarensis was not as sexually dimorphic as gorillas, but more sexually dimorphic than humans or chimpanzees. A lot of scientists think that Australopithecus afarensis was partially adapted to climbing the trees, because the fingers and toe bones of the species were curved and longer than the ones of the modern human.
Paleoanthropology: Pliocene and Pleistocene Human Evolution. Paleobiology, 7:3:298-305. Frayer, David W. and Milford Walpoff 1985 Sexual Dimorphism. Annual Review of Anthropology, 14:429-473 Key, Catherine A. 2000 The Evolution of Human Life History.
“The year was 1906. This was a pygmy, brought to America as a novelty to be put on display in the monkey house [...] They chased him about the grounds all day, howling, jeering, and yelling. Some of them poked him in the ribs, others tripped him up, all laughed at him” (The “Pygmies”). William McGee, an American showman and anthropologist, opened the world’s first Human Zoo. He wanted to feature people who he depicted as exotic or unusual. Among all of the people that McGee brought to this Human Zoo, the six Pygmies from Africa stood out to the white customers. The customers treated the Pygmies like caged animals. Ota Benga, one of the Pygmies, was only a boy, though the article didn’t bother to mention his age. The Pygmies primitive lifestyle and their small size has caused them to be victims of violence from various groups of people (Hale).
Several American anthropologists during this time, valued empirical data rather than applying the idiographic or the “Boasian” approach to their research. The following essay examines the evolutionary approaches of anthropologists and neo-evolutionists Leslie White and Julian Steward. Although, Leslie White and Julian Steward debated against each other over their respected evolutionary approaches, both approaches do share several similarities amongst each other, even though both anthropologists disregarded any relationship between the two. In order to examine the evolutionary approaches of Leslie White and Julian Steward, we must therefore discuss what the theory of neo-evolutionism is.
... changes of puberty, which may be interpreted as ?getting fat.? Encourage an active lifestyle. This needn?t involve organized athletics necessarily, but rather any movement ? walking, dancing, biking ? that is pleasurable enough to do everyday.
One of the most important and pivotal physical and biological adaptations that separate humans from other mammals is habitual bipedalism. According to Darwin, as restated by Daniel Lieberman, “It was bipedalism rather than big brains, language, or tool use that first set th...
Teaford, Mark F. "Diet and the Evolution of the Earliest Human Ancestors." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 5 Oct. 2000. Web. 19 Nov. 2015. .
The African pygmies are made up of four main groups called the Binga, Twa, the tribes of Rwanda, and the tribes of Ituri (Columbia). All of which are individually composed of several subgroups, and there are over 200 different languages spoken among these tribes (Milios). The diverse culture displayed among these groups serves as just one obvious reason for expected confrontation. Although, today they fight not against each other, but against one common enemy; the Bantu (Thomas). The Bantu people make up the majority of the population of Central Africa, and they have a normal body structure, much unlike the pygmies (Milios). Pygmy men generally do not grow taller than four feet and nine inches, while the women will average four feet...
There are many different types of dwarfism that researchers have confirmed today, but there still are many genes for dwarfism that remain unidentified.The most common of these known causes is achondroplasia, a bone growth disorder.The Little People Online website states that most dwarfs who suffer from achondroplasia are born to “average-size” parents, and that their birth rate is somewhere between onein26,000-40,000www.lpaonline.org).The main characteristics of this form of dwarfism are normal trunk size with short appendages, irregularly large heads wi...
Homo erectus is also known for its larger body compared to earlier ancestors. "Past estimates of Homo erectus stature frequently were in the 5-5 1/2 feet (152-168 cm) range for adult males and arou...