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Cited by 217Morphological variations and asymmetryForensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology StudiesForensic and Genetic Research

Climate signatures in the morphological differentiation of worldwide modern human populations

Hubbe, Mark, Hanihara, Tsunehiko, Harvati, Katerina·2009·The Anatomical Record
DOI 10.1002/ar.20976
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Abstract

The ability of cranial morphology to reflect population/phylogenetic history, and the degree to which it might be influenced by environmental factors and selection pressures have been widely discussed. Recent consensus views cranial morphology as largely indicative of population history in humans, with some anatomical cranial regions/measurements being more informative on population history, while others being under selection pressure. We test earlier findings using the largest and most diverse cranial dataset available as yet: 7,423 male specimens from 135 geographic human population samples represented by 33 standard craniometric linear measurements. We calculated Mahalanobis D(2) for three datasets: complete cranial dataset; facial measurement dataset; and neurocranial measurement dataset; these morphological distance matrices were then compared to matrices of geographic distances as well as of several climatic variables. Additionally, we calculated Fst values for our cranial measurements and compared the results to the expected Fst values for neutral genetic loci. Our findings support the hypothesis that cranial, and especially neurocranial morphology, is phylogenetically informative, and that aspects of the face and cranium are subject to selection related to climatic factors. The Fst analysis suggest that selection to climate is largely restricted to groups living in extremely cold environments, including Northeast Asia, North America, and Northern Europe, though each of these regions appears to have arrived at their morphology through distinct adaptive pathways.

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Crossref · 10.1002/ar.20976

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  • Several studies have found that most aspects of the skull seem to be evolving neutrally, while the shape of the nasal aperture appears to be more differentiated across human populations than expected under genetic drift.

    “Several studies have used this approach and found that while most aspects of the skull seem to be evolving neutrally, the shape of the nasal aperture appears to be more differentiated across human populations than expected under genetic drift [9,12,13].”

    From Investigating the case of human nose shape and climate adaptation (2017) · cites this paper as [13]

  • Previous Qst-based studies of craniofacial divergence assumed h2 = 0.55 and c = 1, resulting in c/h2 greater than 1.

    “In these studies, h2 was assumed to be 0.55 and c was implicitly assumed to be 1, resulting in c/h2 to be greater than 1.”

    From Investigating the case of human nose shape and climate adaptation (2017) · cites this paper as [13]

  • Our findings provide support for the idea that differences in aspects of nose shape may have evolved across populations as a result of climate-related selection pressures.

    “While our findings provide support for the idea that differences in aspects of nose shape may have evolved across populations as a result of climate-related selection pressures, something that has been demonstrated previously using craniometric data [2,12,13,41,42]”

    From Investigating the case of human nose shape and climate adaptation (2017) · cites this paper as [13]

  • The modern human cranium overall appears to be mainly shaped by neutral evolutionary processes, while the modern human face reflects both phylogenetic and environmental factors.

    “While the modern human cranium, overall, appears to be mainly shaped by neutral evolutionary processes [80][81][82] , the modern human face reflects both phylogenetic and environmental factors [81][82][83][84]”

    From The evolutionary history of the human face (2019) · cites this paper as [82]

  • Both external nasal morphology and the nasal cavity are related to temperature and humidity.

    “both the external nasal morphology and nasal cavity are related to temperature and humidity 80,82,85”

    From The evolutionary history of the human face (2019) · cites this paper as [82]

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Authors
Hubbe, M., Hanihara, T., & Harvati, K.
Affiliations
  • Kitasato University (JP)
  • Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (DE)
Corresponding author
Harvati, Katerina
ORCID
Harvati, Katerina
Venue
The Anatomical Record
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2009-08-28
Volume
292
Issue
11
Pages
1720-1733
ISSN
  • 1932-8486 (ISSN-L)
  • 1932-8494
DOI
10.1002/ar.20976
OpenAlex
W2105659362
Cited by
217
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 8
FWCI
11.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • The Anatomical Record (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Geometry and Topology › Morphological variations and asymmetry
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
Keywords
skull morphology, facial morphology, climate change adaptation, natural selection, human population history, phylogenetic signal, craniometric measurements, Mahalanobis distance, FST, geographic distance, cold environment, adaptive evolution, human populations
MeSH terms
Acclimatization, Adaptation, Physiological, Anthropology, Physical, Anthropometry, Asia, Cephalometry, Climate, Cold Climate, Europe, Biological Evolution, Facial Bones, Fossils, Genetics, Population, Geography, Humans, Male, North America, Phenotype, Phylogeny, Population, Population Dynamics, Selection, Genetic, Skull, Genetic Variation

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