Doctoral Dissertation Research: Influence of environment and population structure on human skeletal variation

人类的身体大小和比例各不相同，而这种差异的潜在驱动因素尚不完全清楚。体型的差异可以适应某些环境，例如通过散热或保持热量来帮助身体调节体温，但也可能与遗传漂变和种群历史等因素有关。本博士论文研究将研究人类骨骼变异，以了解各种环境因素在广泛地理范围内对人体形态的影响。该项目将有助于阐明环境因素如何对男性和女性以及骨骼的不同部位产生复杂的、不同的影响。从项目的骨架数据将被编译成一个免费访问的在线数据库。增加目前在生物和法医研究中代表性不足的世界群体和区域的数据将增加对人类变异和全球多样性的了解。该项目还将促进国际研究合作以及本科生和研究生水平的学生培训。亚洲气候多样，人口密度高，人类居住历史悠久。本研究采用多学科方法，对亚洲人口的研究将有意义地量化由环境变量引起的比例差异，这是以前的生态地理学方法无法做到的。将收集标准的骨骼测量和标志，以便在地理区域之间进行比较，并进一步检查性别和人群之间面部、颅顶和产道的大小和形状的差异。这些分析将通过将骨骼测量数据与适当匹配的遗传数据和当地气象站信息进行统计分析，来解释漂移和迁移等非适应力对体形的潜在影响。检验因环境因素而适应的证据的线性混合效应模型将包含来自每个种群的雄性和雌性个体的头部和身体数据。性别之间骨盆大小和形状的差异以及骨盆形态的种群差异将使用Procrustes拟合和主成分分析以及大小和形状二态性指数进行评估。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Humans vary in body size and proportions, and the underlying drivers of this variation are not fully understood. Differences in body form can be adaptive for certain environments, such as assisting in thermoregulation of the body through the dissipation or retention of heat, but can also be related to factors such as genetic drift and population history. This doctoral dissertation research will examine human skeletal variation to understand the impact of various environmental factors on human body form across a wide geographical range. The project will help to elucidate how environmental factors may have complex, differential effects in males versus females and across different parts of the skeleton. Skeletal data from the project will be compiled into a freely accessible online database. The addition of data for groups and regions of the world that are currently underrepresented in biological and forensic studies will increase understanding of human variation and global diversity. The project will also foster international research collaborations and student training at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Asia has diverse climates, high population densities, and a long history of human habitation. Using a multidisciplinary methodological approach, this study of Asian populations will meaningfully quantify proportional differences resulting from environmental variables in a way not possible with previous ecogeographic methods. Standard skeletal measurements and landmarks will be collected to allow for comparisons across geographic regions as well as further examination of variation in the size and shape of the face, cranial vault, and birth canal between the sexes and populations. The analyses will account for the potential influence of nonadaptive forces such as drift and migration on body form by pairing skeletal measurements with appropriately matched genetic data and local weather station information for statistical analysis. Linear mixed effects models testing for evidence of adaptation due to environmental factors will contain both head and body data of male and female individuals from each population. Differences in the size and shape of the pelvis between the sexes along with population differences in pelvic morphology will be evaluated using Procrustes fit and principal components analyses as well as size and shape dimorphism indices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.