Variation in body form among human groups is structured by a blend of natural selection driven by local climatic conditions and random genetic drift. However, attempts to test ecogeographic hypotheses have not distinguished between adaptive traits (i.e., those that evolved as a result of selection) and those that evolved as a correlated response to selection on other traits (i.e., nonadaptive traits), complicating our understanding of the relationship between climate and morphological distinctions among populations. Here, we use evolutionary quantitative methods to test if traits previously identified as supporting ecogeographic hypotheses were actually adaptive by estimating the force of selection on individual traits needed to drive among-group differentiation. Our results show that not all associations between trait means and latitude were caused by selection acting directly on each individual trait. Although radial and tibial length and biiliac and femoral head breadth show signs of responses to directional selection matching ecogeographic hypotheses, the femur was subject to little or no directional selection despite having shorter values by latitude. Additionally, in contradiction to ecogeographic hypotheses, the humerus was under directional selection for longer values by latitude. Responses to directional selection in the tibia and radius induced a nonadaptive correlated response in the humerus that overwhelmed its own trait-specific response to selection. This result emphasizes that mean differences between groups are not good indicators of which traits are adaptations in the absence of information about covariation among characteristics.natural selection | ecogeographic variation | Bergmann's rule | Allen's rule | evolutionary constraints

Considerable research has shown that modern human pelvic dimensions, especially of the birth canal, are sexually dimorphic. Studies also suggest that females with younger ages-at-death have narrower canal dimensions than those who die at older ages, possibly due to continued independent growth of the pubis. A recent examination of this pattern argued that it is unlikely that these differences relate to mortality, but the source of the difference in pelvic dimensions with age remains unresolved. We use pelvic dimensions to assess differences in magnitudes of morphological integration between adult females and males across agesat-death. We first ascertain whether the sexes have different strengths of integration, and then assess if differences in magnitudes of integration are associated with age-at-death. Pelvic dimensions of all groups were moderately integrated. Females and males have similar magnitudes of integration, and there is no change in the strength of integration with age. Examining individual regions of the pelvis indicates that the ilium, pubis, and pelvic inlet and outlet have stronger integration than the overall pelvis. This was particularly true of the pelvic outlet, which demonstrated the strongest integration. Our findings suggest that regions of the pelvis are more strongly integrated internally, and less integrated with each other, which would allow for proportional growth among regions of the pelvis with age that do not affect its overall integration. No single region of the pelvis appears to be motivating the difference in pelvic dimensions between age groups. We further consider the implications of these findings on evolutionary constraints. Anat Rec, 300:666-674, 2017. V C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Objectives: Though recent quantitative genetic analyses have indicated that directional selection appears to be acting on limb lengths and measures of body size in modern humans, these studies assume equal evolvability across modern human groups. However, differences in trait covariance structure due to ancient migration patterns and/or selection may limit the evolvability of populations further from Africa. This study therefore explores patterns of human evolvability across ecogeographic regions. Materials and Methods: Mean evolvability, respondability, conditional evolvability, and autonomy were calculated from variance-covariance matrices of limb length and body size measures representing 14 human groups spanning four ecogeographic regions. Measures of evolvability were compared across groups and regions, and the minimum sample size, inaccuracy, and bias were calculated for each. Results: When compared between regions, humans demonstrate significant differences between indices of evolvability across regions. Despite the relatively recent evolution of modern humans, several measures of evolvability show a strong negative correlation with latitude across regions, demonstrating a reduction in genetic variance that is potentially reflective of human migration and/or response to selection.Conclusions: These results demonstrate the importance of establishing patterns of evolvability prior to additional quantitative genetic analyses, and emphasize the influence of sample size on the accuracy of estimated evolvability measures. These findings also suggest that while modern human groups share similar covariance structures, there is evidence for emergent differentiation in evolvability and respondability between human groups across ecogeographic regions, further complicating our ability to apply results derived from modern human groups to ancient hominin lineages.

Objectives:The global distribution of human body proportions has long been attributed to thermoregulatory adaptation to climate. However, latitude has been the most common proxy for climate across ecogeographic studies. If thermoregulation was driving post-cranial evolution, temperature should provide a better explanation for the morphological patterns observed than latitude, which encompasses temperature and other variables, as well as major events in human migration history. We investigate relationships between latitude, temperature, and postcranial form by distinguishing the strength of these potential selective factors from population structure.Materials & Methods: Quantitative genetic multivariate mixed models were used to estimate morphological effects associated with latitude, minimum temperature, and maximum temperature using osteometric data from 31 globally distributed groups, geographically matched genetic data from 54 groups, and geographically matched temperature data. Results: Dimensions reflecting body size (bi-iliac breadth/femoral head size) show independent evolutionary responses from limb lengths. In models including population history, only dimensions reflecting body size show evidence of response to directional selection. Model results indicate that selection in response to minimum temperature has shaped evolution in body breadth and femoral head size. Models for limb length evolution accounting for population history match results of prior studies, but do not indicate responses to temperature-driven directional selection. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of considering multiple potential sources of selection within a multivariate evolutionary model, demonstrating the possible synergistic effects of selective pressures. These results complicate the classic thermoregulatory model of human postcranial evolution and show that factors other than temperature may have shaped post-cranial evolution in humans.

The general adherence of modern human body proportions to ecogeographic rules is frequently argued to be the result of thermoregulatory adaptation to climate. However, much of the history of human migrations follows the same clines that are associated with trends in body form. It is therefore important to test hypotheses about human adaptation to climate with approaches that account for population history and structure.In this project, we investigate the relationship between latitude and post‐cranial form in modern humans, with the goal of accounting for population history/structure and providing estimates of effects sizes and error. Using a multivariate quantitative genetics mixed model, we estimate morphological effects associated with latitude for long bone lengths and body size using osteometric data from 121 globally‐distributed populations and geographically matched genetic data representing 28 populations. The model includes a random effect for population structure (genetic relatedness) and a fixed effect for latitude. We found that among‐group variation was tightly correlated between limb lengths and body size measures respectively, but that these trait groups were fairly independent of each other. In addition, only bi‐iliac breadth demonstrates a clear directional effect once population history is taken into consideration, though directional trends skew positive for humeral length and negative for distal limb lengths, supporting previous research.By disentangling latitudinal effects from population structure using a mixed model approach, we add to the growing body of research exploring these strong underlying associations, and allow for a better understanding of the relationship between environmental and post‐cranial morphological diversity.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.