The DOI matches its Crossref record; 57 of the 57 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Climate Signatures in the Morphological Differentiation of Worldwide Modern Human Populations
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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“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]
In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“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]
In the citing paper
“while facial morphology does carry a neutral genetic or population history signal, it is more strongly affected by climatic conditions than other parts of the cranium, especially in high latitude populations 81,82,83”
From The evolutionary history of the human face (2019) · cites this paper as [82]
Citations
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“Based on prior research (Cenac, 2022a, 2022b, 2023b; Hubbe et al., 2009; Kleisner et al., 2021; Matsumura et al., 2022; Messer et al., 2013), the answer might be yes.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialForenzička procjena spola na koštanim ostatcima mjerenjem nagiba čeone kosti
Bašić, Ž. (2024) · Policija i sigurnost · doi:10.59245/ps.33.2.3
Looking for unique signals of human expansion from Africa: Beyond diversityPreprint
Cenac, Z. (2024) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2024.08.13.607798
Could 19th-Century Authors Have Noticed Bergmann’s “Rule” in Humans?
Asher, R. (2024) · Journal of Controversial Ideas · doi:10.35995/jci04020018
The Ciboney and the Taino in the Context of Craniometric Variation in Native American Population
Александровна, С. Т. (2024) · Etnograficheskoe obozrenie · doi:10.31857/s0869541524040067
Morphometric Evaluation of Lips in Iraqi Subjects with its Possible Esthetic Benefits
Farhan, S. S., Al-Imam, A., Al-Sabti, A. M. H., Al-Shahrabi, Y. H. A., & Murayati, M. E. (2025) · Al-Rafidain Journal of Medical Sciences · doi:10.54133/ajms.v8i1.1676
Olsen, S. T., & White, S. (2025) · Journal of Human Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103645
WITHDRAWN: Modern humans dispersed from southern Africa?Preprint
Cenac, Z. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.07.15.664985
Sex Estimation in the Egyptian Old Kingdom Population (c. 2700–2180 BCE) using Logistic Regression
Havelková, P., Bukáček, M., Bejdová, Š., Meinerová, T., Bárta, M., & Velemínský, P. (2025) · African Archaeological Review · doi:10.1007/s10437-025-09635-7
“…climatic conditions, migration, health status) factors, as well as time (secular trend), leading to the population-specific manifestation of sexual dimorphism and also to significant differences between populations (Callewaert et al., 2010; Godde, 2015; Hubbe et al., 2009; Noback & Harvati, 2015).”
Szeniczey, T., Melis, E., Jakab, J., Bátora, J., Major, I., Molnár, M., Horváth, A., Palcsu, L., Gémes, A., Gyenesei, K., et al. (2025) · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · doi:10.1007/s12520-025-02324-1
“…Roseman 2004; Roseman and Weaver 2007; Havarti and Weaver 2006a, 2006b; Manica et al. 2007; von Cramon-Taubadel and Lycett 2008; Betti et al. 2009; Hubbe et al. 2009; von Cramon-Taubadel 2009; Cramon-Taubadel 2011a, 2011b; Strauss and Hubbe 2010; Reyes-Centeno et al. 2014, 2016; Evteev et al.…”
Ancestry estimation: Methodological evolution and forensic implications
Ahmad, M. M., & Abdelaal, G. M. M. (2026) · Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology · doi:10.1007/s12024-026-01230-9
The morphological affinities of the fossil cranium from Kabua, Kenya
Bosman, A. M., Buck, L. T., Reyes‐Centeno, H., Lahr, M. M., Stringer, C. B., Grün, R., Shao, Q., & Harvati, K. (2026) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.1111/1467-9655.70137
Menéndez, L. P., & Veigl, S. J. (2026) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1111/aman.70090
Dayan, M. O., Gürbüz, İ., Demiraslan, Y., Üstündağ, Y., & Oktay, E. (2026) · Harran Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Dergisi · doi:10.31196/huvfd.1944052
Fedorchuk, O. A. (2026) · American Journal of Biological Anthropology · doi:10.1002/ajpa.70313
Metadata
- 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
- 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
- Locations
- The Anatomical Record (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Morphological variations and asymmetry
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › 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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