High IQ and vegetarianism

See also Meat eating men's armpits smell bad to women

BMJ. 2006 Dec 15; [Epub ahead of print]

IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood: 1970 British cohort study.

Gale CR, Deary IJ, Schoon I, Batty GD, Batty GD.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between IQ in childhood and vegetarianism in adulthood. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study in which IQ was assessed by tests of mental ability at age 10 years and vegetarianism by self-report at age 30 years. SETTING: Great Britain. PARTICIPANTS: 8170 men and women aged 30 years participating in the 1970 British cohort study, a national birth cohort. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported vegetarianism and type of diet followed. RESULTS: 366 (4.5%) participants said they were vegetarian, although 123 (33.6%) admitted eating fish or chicken. Vegetarians were more likely to be female, to be of higher social class (both in childhood and currently), and to have attained higher academic or vocational qualifications, although these socioeconomic advantages were not reflected in their income. Higher IQ at age 10 years was associated with an increased likelihood of being vegetarian at age 30 (odds ratio for one standard deviation increase in childhood IQ score 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.24 to 1.53). IQ remained a statistically significant predictor of being vegetarian as an adult after adjustment for social class (both in childhood and currently), academic or vocational qualifications, and sex (1.20, 1.06 to 1.36). Exclusion of those who said they were vegetarian but ate fish or chicken had little effect on the strength of this association. CONCLUSION: Higher scores for IQ in childhood are associated with an increased likelihood of being a vegetarian as an adult.

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The shape of beauty

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2006 Jun;5(2):190-4

The shape of beauty: determinants of female physical attractiveness.

Fisher ML, Voracek M.

Rarely has one research area gained as much attention as that which is observed for female physical attractiveness. The past decade has resulted in numerous, exciting developments, particularly with respect to three proposed determinants of beauty: waist to hip ratio (WHR), body mass index (BMI), and curvaceousness. The goal of our paper is to provide a highly necessary review of contemporary research on the female attractiveness, including an in-depth examination of these factors. In our review, we first discuss WHR, an index of fat deposition, which is calculated by measuring the circumference of the waist compared to the circumference of the hips. WHR is controlled by the sex hormones, and increases as women age, and hence, may influence perceptions of attractiveness. This factor has been hotly contested, as some researchers have claimed that a WHR of approximately 0.7 is universally most attractive, whereas others have found inconsistent findings, or suggest the importance of other factors, such as BMI. Body mass index (BMI), calculated by dividing the body weight (in kilograms) by height (in meters) squared, serves as a measure of body fat. Although WHR and BMI are correlated, they lead to different conclusions, and the importance of BMI as a measure of female attractiveness is debated in the literature. Similar to WHR research, BMI and its role in attractiveness is not cross-culturally consistent and is affected by the availability of resources within a given environment. It may be the case that both WHR and BMI influence female attractiveness. However, there has been little investigation of this possibility. We have explored this issue in our research, which revealed that both influence attractiveness, but in addition, we noticed that curvaceousness was also a factor. Curvaceousness is the degree of "hourglass" shape as determined, for example, by the size of the bust, relative to the circumference of the hips and waist, and the size of the buttocks. However, curvaceousness does not appear to be temporally stable as a marker of attractiveness, and it is not consistent across modes of presentation. For example, models in male-oriented magazines are more curvaceous than models in female-oriented magazines. In summary, faced with these recent findings, it is difficult to ascertain agreement among the various factors, especially when researchers investigate each determinant in isolation. We conclude that, although researchers have made many important initial steps in examining female attractiveness, there remains much to be discovered.

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Gene Wars

A reader posted this article in the comments section. It covers quite a lot of material regarding the use of population genetics for political reasons. See also Indigenous Populations don't trust Genographic Project, and Genetic vs. Mythical Origins.

mtDNA haplogroups M1 and U6 originated in Eurasia

See also a related National Geographic story regarding this article.

Science 15 December 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5806, pp. 1767 - 1770

The mtDNA Legacy of the Levantine Early Upper Palaeolithic in Africa

Anna Olivieri et al.

Sequencing of 81 entire human mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) belonging to haplogroups M1 and U6 reveals that these predominantly North African clades arose in southwestern Asia and moved together to Africa about 40,000 to 45,000 years ago. Their arrival temporally overlaps with the event(s) that led to the peopling of Europe by modern humans and was most likely the result of the same change in climate conditions that allowed humans to enter the Levant, opening the way to the colonization of both Europe and North Africa. Thus, the early Upper Palaeolithic population(s) carrying M1 and U6 did not return to Africa along the southern coastal route of the "out of Africa" exit, but from the Mediterranean area; and the North African Dabban and European Aurignacian industries derived from a common Levantine source.

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Sub-populations within haplogroups R1b3 and E3a

Article not on the journal website as of this writing.

Hum Mutat. 2006 Dec 8;28(1):97 [Epub ahead of print]

Sub-populations within the major European and African derived haplogroups R1b3 and E3a are differentiated by previously phylogenetically undefined Y-SNPs.

Sims LM, Garvey D, Ballantyne J.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms on the Y chromosome (Y-SNPs) have been widely used in the study of human migration patterns and evolution. Potential forensic applications of Y-SNPs include their use in predicting the ethnogeographic origin of the donor of a crime scene sample, or exclusion of suspects of sexual assaults (the evidence of which often comprises male/female mixtures and may involve multiple perpetrators), paternity testing, and identification of non- and half-siblings. In this study, we used a population of 118 African- and 125 European-Americans to evaluate 12 previously phylogenetically undefined Y-SNPs for their ability to further differentiate individuals who belong to the major African (E3a)- and European (R1b3, I)-derived haplogroups. Ten of these markers define seven new sub-clades (equivalent to E3a7a, E3a8, E3a8a, E3a8a1, R1b3h, R1b3i, and R1b3i1 using the Y Chromosome Consortium nomenclature) within haplogroups E and R. Interestingly, during the course of this study we evaluated M222, a sub-R1b3 marker rarely used, and found that this sub-haplogroup in effect defines the Y-STR Irish Modal Haplotype (IMH). The new bi-allelic markers described here are expected to find application in human evolutionary studies and forensic genetics.

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Sexual preferences in China

Am J Hum Biol. 2006 Dec 7;19(1):88-95 [Epub ahead of print]

Studies of human physique and sexual attractiveness: Sexual preferences of men and women in China.

Dixson BJ, Dixson AF, Li B, Anderson MJ.

Men and women at Northwest University (n = 631), Xi'an, China, were asked to rate the attractiveness of male or female figures manipulated to vary somatotype, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), secondary sexual traits, and other features. In study 1, women rated the average masculine somatotype as most attractive, followed by the mesomorphic (muscular), ectomorphic (slim), and endomorphic (heavily built) somatotypes, in descending order of preference. In study 2, the amount and distribution of masculine trunk (chest and abdominal) hair were altered progressively in a series of front-posed figures. Women rated figures with no or little trunk hair as most attractive. Study 3 assessed the attractiveness of front-posed male figures which varied only in length of their nonerect penis. Numerical ratings for this trait were low, but moderate lengthening of the penis (22% or 33% above average) resulted in a significant increase in scores for attractiveness. In study 4, Chinese men rated the attractiveness of back-posed female images varying in waist-to-hip ratio (WHR from 0.5-1.0). The 0.6 WHR figure was most preferred, followed by 0.7, while figures with higher ratios (0.9 or 1.0) were significantly less attractive. Study 5 rated the attractiveness of female skin color: men expressed a marked preference for images which were lighter in color, as compared to images of average or darker skin colors. These results, the first of their kind reported for a Chinese population, support the view that sexual selection has influenced the evolution of human physique and sexual attractiveness in men and women.

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Physical strength in men correlates with attractiveness

Am J Hum Biol. 2006 Dec 7;19(1):82-87 [Epub ahead of print]

Male facial appearance signals physical strength to women.

Fink B, Neave N, Seydel H.

Previous studies showed that male faces with extreme features that are likely to be associated with testosterone (T) are perceived as dominant and masculine. Women were reported to prefer masculinized male faces, as they may consider T markers to be an "honest" indication of good health. However, it is also likely that female preferences for certain male faces arise from the fact that dominant- and masculine-looking males are signaling characteristics which may be beneficial in intrasexual conflict, and thereby also indicate potential achievers of high status, an important factor in female mate selection. Although numerous studies were built on this assumption, nothing is known about the relationship between perceived facial dominance and physical strength in men. We measured hand-grip strength, as a measure of overall physical strength, in a sample of 32 male students, and recorded age, body weight, and height. Seventy-nine women rated facial images of these men for dominance, masculinity, and attractiveness. After controlling for age and body weight, hand-grip strength was found to correlate significantly positively with all three measures. The present data thus support the supposition that a male's physical strength is also signaled via facial characteristics of dominance and masculinity, which are considered attractive by women

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Indigenous populations don't trust Genographic Project

DNA Gatherers Hit a Snag: The Tribes Don’t Trust Them (NY Times)

By AMY HARMON

SOUTH NAKNEK, Alaska — The National Geographic Society’s multimillion-dollar research project to collect DNA from indigenous groups around the world in the hopes of reconstructing humanity’s ancient migrations has come to a standstill on its home turf in North America.

From the article:

Geographic origin stories told by DNA can clash with long-held beliefs, threatening a world view some indigenous leaders see as vital to preserving their culture.

Related to the above read also Genetic vs. Mythical Origins. More from the article:

They argue that genetic ancestry information could also jeopardize land rights and other benefits that are based on the notion that their people have lived in a place since the beginning of time.

Does anyone's land rights really depend on living in a place since the beginning of time? If that was the criterion for possessing land rights, then 99.9% of the Earth's surface wouldn't belong to its current possessors. More:

In its first 18 months, the project’s scientists have had considerable success, persuading more than 18,000 people in off-the-grid places like the east African island of Pemba and the Tibesti Mountains of Chad to donate their DNA. When the North American team arrived in southwestern Alaska, they found volunteers offering cheek swabs and family histories for all sorts of reasons.

More:

Glenn Fredericks, president of the Georgetown tribe, was eager for proof of an ancient unity between his people and American Indians elsewhere that might create greater political power. “They practice the same stuff, the lower-48 natives, as we do,” Mr. Fredericks said. “Did we exchange people? It would be good to know.”

and:

The first large effort to collect indigenous DNA since federal financing was withdrawn from a similar proposal amid indigenous opposition in the mid-1990s, the Genographic Project has drawn quiet applause from many geneticists for resurrecting scientific ambitions that have grown more pressing. As indigenous groups intermarry and disperse at an ever-accelerating pace, many scientists believe the chance to capture human history is fast disappearing.

“Everyone else had given up,” said Mark Stoneking, a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. “If they get even a fraction of what they are trying for, it will be very useful.”

I was wondering why the Genographic project has been slow to publish their research. If they had to contend with stuff like this, it all makes sense:

In May, project officials held a stormy meeting in New York with the indigenous rights group Cultural Survival while protestors carried signs reading “National Geographic Sucks Indigenous Blood.” Shortly after, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recommended suspending the project.

It is sad that stupid politics is keeping scientists from learning about humanity's past.

But among the 10 geneticists the society has given the task of collecting 10,000 samples each by the spring of 2010, Theodore G. Schurr, the project’s North American director, is in last place. Fewer than 100 vials of DNA occupy a small plastic box in his laboratory’s large freezer at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is an assistant professor of anthropology.

The reasons offered by Native American tribes are:

But almost every federally recognized tribe in North America has declined or ignored Dr. Schurr’s invitation to take part. “What the scientists are trying to prove is that we’re the same as the Pilgrims except we came over several thousand years before,” said Maurice Foxx, chairman of the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs and a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag. “Why should we give them that openly?”

Someone should explain to them that scientists don't need to prove that. It has already been firmly established, indeed long before human genetics came into the picture. The point of research like that carried out by the Genographic Project is to determine how and when migrations into the Americas (and elsewhere) happened, not if they did.

Should scientists "respect" superstition for fear of offending indigenous tribes' feelings?

Some American Indians trace their suspicions to the experience of the Havasupai Tribe, whose members gave DNA for a diabetes study that University of Arizona researchers later used to link the tribe’s ancestors to Asia. To tribe members raised to believe the Grand Canyon is humanity’s birthplace, the suggestion that their own DNA says otherwise was deeply disturbing.

Division of Labor among Neanderthals and Modern Humans

CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY Volume 47, Number 6, December 2006

What's a Mother to Do?
The Division of Labor among Neandertals and Modern Humans in Eurasia

by Steven L. Kuhn and Mary C. Stiner

Recent hunter-gatherers display much uniformity in the division of labor along the lines of gender and age. The complementary economic roles for men and women typical of ethnographically documented hunter-gatherers did not appear in Eurasia until the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. The rich archaeological record of Middle Paleolithic cultures in Eurasia suggests that earlier hominins pursued more narrowly focused economies, with women's activities more closely aligned with those of men with respect to schedule and ranging patterns than in recent forager systems. More broadly based economies emerged first in the early Upper Paleolithic in the eastern Mediterranean region and later in the rest of Eurasia. The behavioral changes associated with the Upper Paleolithic record signal a wider range of economic and technological roles in forager societies, and these changes may have provided the expanding populations of Homo sapiens with a demographic advantage over other hominins in Eurasia.

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Cranial morphology and population history

Cranial morphology has been used to determine patterns of population history, but it is not "neutral" but is correlated with climate. For example, equatorial populations in Africa and Oceania have rather wide noses and narrow skulls compared to more northerly populations; this is not due to any close family relationship, but rather because of adaptation in similar environments.

This new paper tries to determine how different parts of cranial morphology reflect climate vs. population history.

The Anatomical Record Part A: Discoveries in Molecular, Cellular, and Evolutionary Biology, Volume 288A, Issue 12 , Pages 1225 - 1233

Human cranial anatomy and the differential preservation of population history and climate signatures

Katerina Harvati, Timothy D. Weaver

Abstract

Cranial morphology is widely used to reconstruct evolutionary relationships, but its reliability in reflecting phylogeny and population history has been questioned. Some cranial regions, particularly the face and neurocranium, are believed to be influenced by the environment and prone to convergence. Others, such as the temporal bone, are thought to reflect more accurately phylogenetic relationships. Direct testing of these hypotheses was not possible until the advent of large genetic data sets. The few relevant studies in human populations have had intriguing but possibly conflicting results, probably partly due to methodological differences and to the small numbers of populations used. Here we use three-dimensional (3D) geometric morphometrics methods to test explicitly the ability of cranial shape, size, and relative position/orientation of cranial regions to track population history and climate. Morphological distances among 13 recent human populations were calculated from four 3D landmark data sets, respectively reflecting facial, neurocranial, and temporal bone shape; shape and relative position; overall cranial shape; and centroid sizes. These distances were compared to neutral genetic and climatic distances among the same, or closely matched, populations. Results indicate that neurocranial and temporal bone shape track neutral genetic distances, while facial shape reflects climate; centroid size shows a weak association with climatic variables; and relative position/orientation of cranial regions does not appear correlated with any of these factors. Because different cranial regions preserve population history and climate signatures differentially, caution is suggested when using cranial anatomy for phylogenetic reconstruction.

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Armand Leroi on Neo-Eugenics

Armand Leroi has a new article on neo-eugenics. Gene Expression summarizes its content. From the article:

Will neo-eugenics spread? Probably. At least it is hard to see what will stop it if, as I claim, it becomes possible to detect all known disease-causing mutations before birth or implantation, if the cost of IVF and PGD declines, and if eugenic screens have clear economic benefits. Some readers might find it peculiar that in this discussion of neo-eugenics, I have not considered the ethical or legal implications with which this subject is generally considered to be fraught. Although I do not doubt their importance, I simply have no particular knowledge of them. Peter Medawar put it best 40 years ago: "If the termination of a pregnancy is now in question, scientific evidence might tell us that the chances of a defective birth are 100 percent, 50 percent, 25 percent, or perhaps unascertainable. The evidence is highly relevant to the decision, but the decision itself is not a scientific one, and I see no reason why scientists as such should be specially well-qualified to make it" (Medawar, 1966).

What Leroi is saying is that it will be economical to test all known disease causing mutation on the cheap. Right now it is possible to test such mutations individually, but the cost and ease of testing for all of them is too steep.

Of course, this raises important issues for parents. Chances are that random recombination will result in embryos having at least some of the genetic susceptibilities of their parents. So, while parents will be able to choose which babies they don't want, they won't be able (at least easily) to custom-order "perfect" babies, i.e., those that score negatively for all disease-causing mutations.

EMBO reports 7, 12, 1184–1187 (2006)
doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400860

The future of neo-eugenics. Now that many people approve the elimination of certain genetically defective fetuses, is society closer to screening all fetuses for all known mutations?

Armand Marie Leroi

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Extreme Patterns of Variance in Small Populations

Ann Hum Genet. 2006 Nov 28; [Epub ahead of print]

Extreme Patterns of Variance in Small Populations: Placing Limits on Human Y-Chromosome Diversity through Time in the Vanuatu Archipelago.

Cox M.

Small populations are dominated by unique patterns of variance, largely characterized by rapid drift of allele frequencies. Although the variance components of genetic datasets have long been recognized, most population genetic studies still treat all sampling locations equally despite differences in sampling and effective population sizes. Because excluding the effects of variance can lead to significant biases in historical reconstruction, variance components should be incorporated explicitly into population genetic analyses. The possible magnitude of variance effects in small populations is illustrated here via a case study of Y-chromosome haplogroup diversity in the Vanuatu Archipelago. Deme-based modelling is used to simulate allele frequencies through time, and conservative confidence bounds are placed on the accumulation of stochastic variance effects, including diachronic genetic drift and contemporary sampling error. When the information content of the dataset has been ascertained, demographic models with parameters falling outside the confidence bounds of the variance components can then be accepted with some statistical confidence. Here I emphasize how aspects of the demographic history of a population can be disentangled from stochastic variance effects, and I illustrate the extreme roles of genetic drift and sampling error for many small human population datasets.

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Cannibalistic Neanderthals

The BBC reports:

Starvation and cannibalism were part of everyday life for a population of Neanderthals living in northern Spain 43,000 years ago, a study suggests.

Bones and teeth from the underground cave system of El Sidron in Asturias bear the hallmarks of a tough struggle for survival, researchers say.

Analysis of teeth showed signs of starvation or malnutrition in childhood and human bones have cut marks on them.

Details appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Origin of Y chromosome haplogroup N in Asia

The haplogroup N/Tat-C "controversy" is finally over.

UPDATE: Also of interest:

Interestingly, 14 N2-individuals from Turkey, data from Cinnioglu et al6 (updated in this study), belong to the Asian subcluster N2-A, suggesting that the clade N2 might have geographically expanded from Siberia westward by at least two different flows: one northwest through the Volga-Ural region, giving rise to N2-E, probably mainly via the Finno-Ugric group, and the other, N2-A, southwest together with Turkic languages.

European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication 6 December 2006; doi: 10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201748

A counter-clockwise northern route of the Y-chromosome haplogroup N from Southeast Asia towards Europe

Siiri Rootsi1,10, Lev A Zhivotovsky2,10, Marian Baldovic caron1,3, Manfred Kayser4, Ildus A Kutuev1,5, Rita Khusainova1,5, Marina A Bermisheva1,5, Marina Gubina1,6, Sardana A Fedorova1,7, Anne-Mai Ilumäe1, Elza K Khusnutdinova5, Mikhail I Voevoda6, Ludmila P Osipova6, Mark Stoneking8, Alice A Lin9, Vladimir Ferak3, Jüri Parik1, Toomas Kivisild1, Peter A Underhill9 and Richard Villems1

Abstract

A large part of Y chromosome lineages in East European and East Asian human populations belong to haplogroup (hg) NO, which is composed of two sister clades N-M231 and O-M175. The O-clade is relatively old (around 30 thousand years (ky)) and encompasses the vast majority of east and Southeast Asian male lineages, as well as significant proportion of those in Oceanian males. On the other hand, our detailed analysis of hg N suggests that its high frequency in east Europe is due to its more recent expansion westward on a counter-clock northern route from inner Asia/southern Siberia, approximately 12–14 ky ago. The widespread presence of hg N in Siberia, together with its absence in Native Americans, implies its spread happened after the founder event for the Americas. The most frequent subclade N3, arose probably in the region of present day China, and subsequently experienced serial bottlenecks in Siberia and secondary expansions in eastern Europe. Another branch, N2, forms two distinctive subclusters of STR haplotypes, Asian (N2-A) and European (N2-E), the latter now mostly distributed in Finno-Ugric and related populations. These phylogeographic patterns provide evidence consistent with male-mediated counter-clockwise late Pleistocene–Holocene migratory trajectories toward Northwestern Europe from an ancestral East Asian source of Paleolithic heritage.

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Pioneering study shows richest 2 percent own half world wealth

From the EurekAlert public release:

The richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth according to a path-breaking study released today by the Helsinki-based World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER).

The most comprehensive study of personal wealth ever undertaken also reports that the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. In contrast, the bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1% of global wealth.

The research finds that assets of $2,200 per adult placed a household in the top half of the world wealth distribution in the year 2000. To be among the richest 10% of adults in the world required $61,000 in assets, and more than $500,000 was needed to belong to the richest 1%, a group which — with 37 million members worldwide — is far from an exclusive club.

And from the BBC:

The richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of all household wealth, according to a new study by a United Nations research institute.

The report, from the World Institute of Development Economics Research at the UN University, says that the poorer half of the world's population own barely 1% of global wealth.

There have of course been many studies of worldwide inequality.

But what is new about this report, the authors say, is its coverage.

It deals with all countries in the world - either actual data or estimates based on statistical analysis - and it deals with wealth, where most previous research has looked at income.

What they mean by wealth in this study is what people own, less what they owe - their debts. The assets include land, buildings, animals and financial assets.

Sexual preferences for human physique in Cameroon

Arch Sex Behav. 2006 Nov 30; [Epub ahead of print]

Human Physique and Sexual Attractiveness: Sexual Preferences of Men and Women in Bakossiland, Cameroon.

Dixson BJ, Dixson AF, Morgan B, Anderson MJ.

Men and women living in a rural community in Bakossiland, Cameroon were asked to rate the attractiveness of images of male or female figures manipulated to vary in somatotype, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), secondary sexual traits, and other features. In Study 1, women rated mesomorphic (muscular) and average male somatotypes as most attractive, followed by ectomorphic (slim) and endomorphic (heavily built) figures. In Study 2, amount and distribution of masculine trunk (chest and abdominal) hair was altered progressively in a series of front-posed male figures. A significant preference for one of these images was found, but the most hirsute figure was not judged as most attractive. Study 3 assessed attractiveness of front-posed male figures which varied only in length of the non-erect penis. Extremes of penile size (smallest and largest of five images) were rated as significantly less attractive than three intermediate sizes. In Study 4, Bakossi men rated the attractiveness of back-posed female images varying in WHR (from 0.5-1.0). The 0.8 WHR figure was rated markedly more attractive than others. Study 5 rated the attractiveness of female skin color. Men expressed no consistent preference for either lighter or darker female figures. These results are the first of their kind reported for a Central African community and provide a useful cross-cultural perspective to published accounts on sexual selection, human morphology and attractiveness in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere.

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