The Influence of Life History and Sexual Dimorphism on Entheseal Changes in Modern Humans and African Great Apes

Background A novel physis in hominins modulates broadening and shortening of the ilium. We report analysis of a vascular canal system whose origin may be associated with this physis and which appears to be also unique to hominins. Its presence is potentially identifiable in the fossil record by its association with a highly enlarged foramen that is consistently present in modern humans and hominin fossils. Methods We measured the diameter of this foramen in humans, fossil hominins, and African great apes and corrected for body size. Results The mean relative human foramen diameter is significantly greater than those of either Pan or Gorilla. Moreover, eight of the nine values of the Cohen’s d for these differences in ratios are highly significant and support the ordering of magnitudes: Pan < Gorilla < Homo. The relative foramen diameter of A.L. 288-1 is above the 75th percentile of all other hominoids and at the high end of humans. The foramen is also present in ARA-VP-6/500. Conclusions We posit that the presence and significant enlargement of this foramen in fossils can reasonably serve as an indicator that its anterior inferior iliac spine emerged via the unique hominin physis. The foramen can therefore serve as an indicator of hominin iliac ontogenetic specialization for bipedality in fossil taxa.

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Sacrum morphology supports taxonomic heterogeneity of “Australopithecus africanus” at Sterkfontein Member 4

Communications Biology ◽

10.1038/s42003-021-01850-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Cinzia Fornai ◽

Viktoria A. Krenn ◽

Philipp Mitteroecker ◽

Nicole M. Webb ◽

Martin Haeusler

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Geometric Morphometrics ◽

Single Species ◽

Great Apes ◽

Modern Humans ◽

Male Adult ◽

Australopithecus Africanus ◽

Human Sample ◽

Quantitative Assessments

AbstractThe presence of multiple Australopithecus species at Sterkfontein Member 4, South Africa (2.07–2.61 Ma), is highly contentious, and quantitative assessments of craniodental and postcranial variability remain inconclusive. Using geometric morphometrics, we compared the sacrum of the small-bodied, presumed female subadult Australopithecus africanus skeleton Sts 14 to the large, alleged male adult StW 431 against a geographically diverse sample of modern humans, and two species of Pan, Gorilla, and Pongo. The probabilities of sampling morphologies as distinct as Sts 14 and StW 431 from a single species ranged from 1.3 to 2.5% for the human sample, and from 0.0 to 4.5% for the great apes, depending on the species and the analysis. Sexual dimorphism and developmental or geologic age could not adequately explain the differences between StW 431 and Sts 14, suggesting that they are unlikely to be conspecific. This supports earlier claims of taxonomic heterogeneity at Sterkfontein Member 4.

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Sexual dimorphism explains residual variance around the survival‐reproduction tradeoff in lizards: Implications for sexual conflict over life‐history evolution*

Evolution ◽

10.1111/evo.13799 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 73 (11) ◽

pp. 2324-2332 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Aaron M. Reedy ◽

William J. Evans ◽

Robert M. Cox

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Sexual Conflict ◽

Life History Evolution ◽

Residual Variance ◽

History Evolution

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Assessing Host-Virus Codivergence for Close Relatives of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Infecting African Great Apes

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.00247-16 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 90 (19) ◽

pp. 8531-8541 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Nadège F. Madinda ◽

Bernhard Ehlers ◽

Joel O. Wertheim ◽

Chantal Akoua-Koffi ◽

Richard A. Bergl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Host Specificity ◽

Viral Evolution ◽

Great Apes ◽

Merkel Cell Polyomavirus ◽

Merkel Cell ◽

Human Pathogens ◽

Content Type ◽

Animal Hosts ◽

African Great Apes

ABSTRACTIt has long been hypothesized that polyomaviruses (PyV; familyPolyomaviridae) codiverged with their animal hosts. In contrast, recent analyses suggested that codivergence may only marginally influence the evolution of PyV. We reassess this question by focusing on a single lineage of PyV infecting hominine hosts, the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) lineage. By characterizing the genetic diversity of these viruses in seven African great ape taxa, we show that they exhibit very strong host specificity. Reconciliation analyses identify more codivergence than noncodivergence events. In addition, we find that a number of host and PyV divergence events are synchronous. Collectively, our results support codivergence as the dominant process at play during the evolution of the MCPyV lineage. More generally, our results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting an ancient and stable association of PyV and their animal hosts.IMPORTANCEThe processes involved in viral evolution and the interaction of viruses with their hosts are of great scientific interest and public health relevance. It has long been thought that the genetic diversity of double-stranded DNA viruses was generated over long periods of time, similar to typical host evolutionary timescales. This was also hypothesized for polyomaviruses (familyPolyomaviridae), a group comprising several human pathogens, but this remains a point of controversy. Here, we investigate this question by focusing on a single lineage of polyomaviruses that infect both humans and their closest relatives, the African great apes. We show that these viruses exhibit considerable host specificity and that their evolution largely mirrors that of their hosts, suggesting that codivergence with their hosts played a major role in their diversification. Our results provide statistical evidence in favor of an association of polyomaviruses and their hosts over millions of years.

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Life History Consequences of Sexual Dimorphism in a Chernetid Pseudoscorpion

Ecology ◽

10.2307/1939233 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 68 (5) ◽

pp. 1495-1501 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

David W. Zeh

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Sexual Dimorphism

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Wild African great apes as natural hosts of malaria parasites: current knowledge and research perspectives

Primate Biology ◽

10.5194/pb-4-47-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 47-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hélène Marie De Nys ◽

Therese Löhrich ◽

Doris Wu ◽

Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer ◽

Fabian Hubertus Leendertz

Keyword(s):

Current Knowledge ◽

Great Apes ◽

Future Research ◽

Human Populations ◽

Great Ape ◽

Malaria Parasites ◽

Research Perspectives ◽

Parasite Ecology ◽

Natural Hosts ◽

African Great Apes

Abstract. Humans and African great apes (AGAs) are naturally infected with several species of closely related malaria parasites. The need to understand the origins of human malaria as well as the risk of zoonotic transmissions and emergence of new malaria strains in human populations has markedly encouraged research on great ape Plasmodium parasites. Progress in the use of non-invasive methods has rendered investigations into wild ape populations possible. Present knowledge is mainly focused on parasite diversity and phylogeny, with still large gaps to fill on malaria parasite ecology. Understanding what malaria infection means in terms of great ape health is also an important, but challenging avenue of research and has been subject to relatively few research efforts so far. This paper reviews current knowledge on African great ape malaria and identifies gaps and future research perspectives.

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Life on the edge: the ecology and life history of the tropidurine iguanid lizard Uranoscodon superciliosum

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z90-204 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 68 (7) ◽

pp. 1366-1373 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Jeffrey M. Howland ◽

Laurie J. Vitt ◽

Pamela T. Lopez

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Social Interaction ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

Small Diameter ◽

Habitat Specialization ◽

Large Size ◽

Tropical Wet Forest ◽

History Of ◽

Forest Streams ◽

Small Forest

An Amazonian population of the iguanid lizard Uranoscodon superciliosum was studied in lowland tropical wet forest in central Pará, Brazil. These nonheliothermic lizards are restricted to densely vegetated habitats near (often over) water, particularly riverbanks and small forest streams, where they utilize small-diameter perches and feed on a wide variety of invertebrates, apparently at the water's edge. They mature at moderate to large size at an age of about 1.5 years. Production of moderate-sized clutches of eggs is seasonal, and reproduction and fat storage both cycle in association with rainfall and flooding. Although they occur in fairly high densities, social interaction is uncommon and sexual dimorphism is not pronounced. The ecology and life history of this lizard seem to be strongly influenced by the unusual habitat specialization.

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