Reproduction in the Baka pygmies and drop in their fertility with the arrival of alcohol

Rozzi, Fernando Ramírez

doi:10.1073/pnas.1719637115

Cited by 17 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…However, we found significant increases in wear values from age 16 onward. In the Baka at Le Bosquet, first pregnancy occurs at 16 years and adult size is reached at around 20 years of age for both sexes when body muscle and fat increase (Ramirez‐Rozzi, ; Ramirez‐Rozzi et al, ). As Baka move into adolescence, they are considered socioculturally adults and their social role changes to include execution of the main part of subsistence‐related activities (Gallois et al, ; Vallois & Marquer, ), which require the increase of food intake for physical development (Hagino & Yamahuci, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Baka Pygmies are seminomadic hunter‐gatherers living in equatorial African rainforest areas (Ramirez‐Rozzi, ; Vallois & Marquer, ). Among western Pygmies, Baka groups show limited effective dispersal ranges probably reinforcing their genetic isolation (Verdu et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the present‐day Baka continue to be highly dependent on wild resources from forest camps (Hagino & Yamahuci, ; Sato et al, ). Meat and honey exchange for farmers cropped foods are mostly limited to manioc, and commercially packaged foods are rarely consumed due to their high cost and the geographic isolation of Baka populations (Hayashi, ; Ramirez‐Rozzi, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individual chronological ages were obtained from birth records held by nursing assistants in the health center at Monago‐le‐Bosquet (see Ramirez‐Rozzi [, ] and Ramirez‐Rozzi et al [] for further details). Baka individuals with unrecorded birth date were not included.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we conduct the first quantitative analysis of tooth wear based on DE ratios in living known‐age Baka Pygmy hunter‐gatherers from southern Cameroon (Central Africa). We chose to analyze Baka Pygmies because their dental eruption timing (Ramirez‐Rozzi, ) and growth patterns (Ramirez‐Rozzi, ; Ramirez‐Rozzi, Koudou, Froment, Le Bouc, & Botton, ) have been accurately stabilized. Furthermore, forest‐based foraging activities, based on bushmeat and wild yam tubers ( Dioscorea spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age‐related tooth wear in African rainforest hunter‐gatherers

Romero

Rozzi

Cuesta-Torralvo

et al. 2019

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Central African small-scale foragers subsist primarily on hunting game activities and wild plant-food gathering. Starch-rich tubers are underground storage organs (USOs) and staple food resources in savanna and tropical rainforests. However, little is known about the effect of USO consumption on tooth wear development in living hunter-gatherers. We report age-and sex-dependent tooth wear rates in forest-dwelling Baka Pygmies with well-documented wild-yam-tuber-based diet to explore the long-term impact of USO mechanical hardness and abrasiveness on the wearing down of the teeth. Materials and Methods: Percentages of dentine exposure (PDEs) of permanent left mandibular first molars (M 1 ) were recorded using in vivo high-resolution replicas of Baka individuals (aged 8-33 years), inhabiting Le Bosquet district in Cameroon (Western Africa). Regression and covariance analyses were used to test the effect of individual aging by sex on PDE rates. Results:We found a strong increase of PDE by age among Baka individuals. No evidence of sexual dimorphism in wear patterns suggests similar sex-related dietary and masticatory demands during growth. Overall, greatest dentine exposure values ≈4% denote unexpected slow wear down rates for foraging diets relying on USO consumption. Discussion:The low molar wear rates with age found in Baka Pygmies contrast with extensive wear rates in savanna-dwelling foragers, reflecting differences in thermal processing techniques affecting fracture toughness and grittiness of mechanically challenging foods. Our findings reveal that culture-specific dietary proclivities influence tooth wear among foraging behaviors with important implications in hominin dietary versatility and abrasive stress on chewing surfaces. K E Y W O R D S dentine exposure, rainforest foragers, teeth, wild yam tubers

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Age‐related tooth wear in African rainforest hunter‐gatherers

Romero

Rozzi

Cuesta-Torralvo

et al. 2019

American J Phys Anthropol

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Multidecadal Ethnoarchaeological Comparisons of Livelihoods and Wild Meat Availability and Consumption in a Central African Rainforest Foraging and Farming Community

Schmitt,

Lupo,

Edwards

et al. 2024

Hum Ecol

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We repurpose multidecadal ethnoarchaeological investigations of human hunting, prey availability, and socioeconomics in a rural Central African Republic village in the service of human ecology. Focusing on forest foragers in the village of Grima, initial 1999–2005 (Old Grima) data collection included documentation of hunting technology and offtakes, identification of wild meat bone assemblages, inventories of household material goods, and measurements of horticultural fields. Similar datasets were collected in 2021–2022 (New Grima) and longitudinal comparisons of prey remains and material wealth detected many significant differences. Old Grima house middens contained larger numbers of bones representing an array of wild meat taxa and inventories recorded diverse and abundant collections of material goods. The New Grima comparative data showed a reduction in the consumption of wild meat, increases in guns and especially metal cable snares, and marked declines in local wild meat (notably duiker) populations and forager material wealth paired with increases in debt. In 2022 the New Grima inhabitants were actively pursuing escargot for food and income and house middens were dominated by tortoise remains. All the data point to resource depression from overhunting and a community in jeopardy. The comparisons are also important because they include the transition from traditional nets and spears to more efficient metal cable snares and guns and provide information on the effects of hunting technology. The complexities of evaluating ecological perturbations and sustainability require multidisciplinary datasets and we propose ethnoarchaeology as a valuable tool to help identify subtleties in human food webs and biodiversity loss.

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The Future Is in the Younger Generations: Baka Children in Southeast Cameroon Have Extensive Knowledge on Medicinal Plants

Gallois,

van Andel,

Ambassa

et al. 2023

Econ Bot

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In the context of global change, understanding the knowledge and values given to plants is crucial for choosing relevant approaches towards a more sustainable future. Children are central holders of ethnobotanical knowledge, yet they are still under-considered in ethnobotany. Our study explored the medicinal knowledge of children of the Baka, forager-horticulturalists from Cameroon. We assessed the diversity of medicinal plants they know, the different ailments treated, and whether they could name complete herbal recipes. Using a mixed-methods approach, we combined ex situ interviews (freelisting and knowledge surveys) with in situ methods (walk-in-the-woods trips with voucher collection) with 106 children from 5 to 16 years old. They listed 128 local names of medicinal plants, which we linked to 126 different plant species. While the ex situ and in situ methods had some overlap in the diversity of medicinal plants reported, they also revealed substantial knowledge unique to each method. Our insights provide further evidence of children’s considerable ethnobotanical knowledge and the extent to which different field methods can retrieve such knowledge. We discuss the methodological tools to be developed with and for children to put childhood at the center stage of ethnobotanical approaches for the future.

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Reproduction in the Baka pygmies and drop in their fertility with the arrival of alcohol

Cited by 17 publications

References 44 publications

Age‐related tooth wear in African rainforest hunter‐gatherers

Age‐related tooth wear in African rainforest hunter‐gatherers

Multidecadal Ethnoarchaeological Comparisons of Livelihoods and Wild Meat Availability and Consumption in a Central African Rainforest Foraging and Farming Community

The Future Is in the Younger Generations: Baka Children in Southeast Cameroon Have Extensive Knowledge on Medicinal Plants

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