scholarly journals Phenotypic differences between highlanders and lowlanders in Papua New Guinea

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0253921
Author(s):  
Mathilde André ◽  
Nicolas Brucato ◽  
Sébastien Plutniak ◽  
Jason Kariwiga ◽  
John Muke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Haemoglobin Concentration ◽  
Circulatory System ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
P Value ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Phenotypic Differences ◽  
Papua New Guinean

Objectives Altitude is one of the most demanding environmental pressures for human populations. Highlanders from Asia, America and Africa have been shown to exhibit different biological adaptations, but Oceanian populations remain understudied [Woolcock et al., 1972; Cotes et al., 1974; Senn et al., 2010]. We tested the hypothesis that highlanders phenotypically differ from lowlanders in Papua New Guinea, as a result of inhabiting the highest mountains in Oceania for at least 20,000 years. Materials and methods We collected data for 13 different phenotypes related to altitude for 162 Papua New Guineans living at high altitude (Mont Wilhelm, 2,300–2,700 m above sea level (a.s.l.) and low altitude (Daru, <100m a.s.l.). Multilinear regressions were performed to detect differences between highlanders and lowlanders for phenotypic measurements related to body proportions, pulmonary function, and the circulatory system. Results Six phenotypes were significantly different between Papua New Guinean highlanders and lowlanders. Highlanders show shorter height (p-value = 0.001), smaller waist circumference (p-value = 0.002), larger Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) (p-value = 0.008), larger maximal (p-value = 3.20e -4) and minimal chest depth (p-value = 2.37e -5) and higher haemoglobin concentration (p-value = 3.36e -4). Discussion Our study reports specific phenotypes in Papua New Guinean highlanders potentially related to altitude adaptation. Similar to other human groups adapted to high altitude, the evolutionary history of Papua New Guineans appears to have also followed an adaptive biological strategy for altitude.

scholarly journals The States of Law in Papua New Guinea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Demian
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Papua New Guinean

AbstractThis article employs a consideration of Peter Fitzpatrick’s early work in Papua New Guinea to reflect on legal and social developments in the country since his residence there during the independence period. In particular, Fitzpatrick’s concerns about the emergence of a Papua New Guinean bourgeois legality that would shape the postcolony are shown to have been prescient in some respects, and also to have had other outcomes unanticipated by the Marxist legal and anthropological imagination of the 1970s. Finally, I use examples from the heterogeneous lawscape of Papua New Guinean cities to illustrate how the ‘true people’s law’ envisioned by Fitzpatrick is in the process of emerging in spaces outside of formal legislative or court processes.

scholarly journals Human impacts and Anthropocene environmental change at Lake Kutubu, a Ramsar wetland in Papua New Guinea

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (40) ◽  
pp. e2022216118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsie E. Long ◽  
Larissa Schneider ◽  
Simon E. Connor ◽  
Niamh Shulmeister ◽  
Janet Finn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resource ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Wetland Management ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Ramsar Wetland

The impacts of human-induced environmental change that characterize the Anthropocene are not felt equally across the globe. In the tropics, the potential for the sudden collapse of ecosystems in response to multiple interacting pressures has been of increasing concern in ecological and conservation research. The tropical ecosystems of Papua New Guinea are areas of diverse rainforest flora and fauna, inhabited by human populations that are equally diverse, both culturally and linguistically. These people and the ecosystems they rely on are being put under increasing pressure from mineral resource extraction, population growth, land clearing, invasive species, and novel pollutants. This study details the last ∼90 y of impacts on ecosystem dynamics in one of the most biologically diverse, yet poorly understood, tropical wetland ecosystems of the region. The lake is listed as a Ramsar wetland of international importance, yet, since initial European contact in the 1930s and the opening of mineral resource extraction facilities in the 1990s, there has been a dramatic increase in deforestation and an influx of people to the area. Using multiproxy paleoenvironmental records from lake sediments, we show how these anthropogenic impacts have transformed Lake Kutubu. The recent collapse of algal communities represents an ecological tipping point that is likely to have ongoing repercussions for this important wetland’s ecosystems. We argue that the incorporation of an adequate historical perspective into models for wetland management and conservation is critical in understanding how to mitigate the impacts of ecological catastrophes such as biodiversity loss.

scholarly journals An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyans of Papua New Guinea

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4411 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
WILLIAM T. WHITE ◽  
ALFRED KO’OU
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Biological Collections ◽  
The World ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Biodiversity Study ◽  
Voucher Material ◽  
Annotated Checklist ◽  
Papua New Guinean

An annotated checklist of the chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays, and chimaeras) of Papua New Guinean waters is herein presented. The checklist is the result of a large biodiversity study on the chondrichthyan fauna of Papua New Guinea between 2013 and 2017. The chondrichthyan fauna of Papua New Guinea has historically been very poorly known due to a lack of baseline information and limited deepwater exploration. A total of 131 species, comprising 36 families and 68 genera, were recorded. The most speciose families are the Carcharhinidae with 29 species and the Dasyatidae with 23 species. Verified voucher material from various biological collections around the world are provided, with a total of 687 lots recorded comprising 574 whole specimens, 128 sets of jaws and 21 sawfish rostra. This represents the first detailed, verified checklist of chondrichthyans from Papua New Guinean waters. 

Pictorial Depth Perception of Papua New Guinean Students

1991 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 11-14
Author(s):  
Leo Marai
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Depth Perception ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Major Result ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
Pictorial Depth ◽  
Pictorial Perception ◽  
Papua New Guinean

Twenty male and five female undergraduates were assessed in a study designed to test for three dimensional pictorial perception in a Papua New Guinea sample. A version of Hudson's (1960) and Deregowski's (1968) test stimuli was used; the stimuli were slightly modified to make them culturally appropriate. The major result of the study was a finding of consistent sex differences in pictorial depth perception. Males tended to perceive three dimensionally while females tended to perceive two dimensionally.

Researching Australian, New Zealand and Papua New Guinean Law

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole L. Hinchcliff ◽  
Megan Fitzgibbons ◽  
Claudia Davies
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Case Law ◽  
International Federation ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
The Law ◽  
Papua New Guinean

AbstractIn this paper Carole Hinchcliff, Megan Fitzgibbons and Claudia Davies review free resources that can be used when researching the law in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. Background descriptions of the countries' legal systems are provided, along with brief descriptions of websites which provide access to the legislation and case law of the relevant jurisdictions. The article is based on a presentation developed by Carole, and subsequently delivered by Megan and Claudia, at the International Federation of Library Association (IFLA) meeting in August, 2013.

scholarly journals Storying Toward Pasin and Luksave: Permeable Relationships Between Papua New Guineans as Researchers and Participants

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692095718
Author(s):  
Vincent Backhaus ◽  
Nalisa Neuendorf ◽  
Lokes Brooksbank
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Social Life ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Dual Function ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Austronesian Language ◽  
Story Work ◽  
Research Assumptions ◽  
Papua New Guinean

In Oceania, Papua New Guinea (PNG) appears large in the consciousness of exploring social life through the notion of sociality. Scholarship within the Melanesian region employs sociality to interrogate forms of social life and the different ways research methods account for the understanding of interactions between individuals and communities. Yet for the three PNG authors this assumed coherency between epistemes and method highlighted specific conceptual challenges for us as researchers and participants. We identified with two conceptual notions: “pasin” and “luksave” as distinct Austronesian language ideas derived from Tok Pisin—a creolisation of English utilized as a lingua franca throughout the country. We explored the development of pasin and luksave and the ways the conceptual claims served a dual function of developing a methodological and epistemic pathway toward an ethical assurance of meaningful relationality. We extend on current understanding in two ways. Firstly employing the methodology of story as critique of research assumptions and secondly, extend on the process of story work to suggest storying as a novel but relatable research methodology. Storying such research experiences as both method and epistemic accountability, guided our responsibility toward the relationships we hold to people, community and knowledge. Pasin and luksave embed an emancipatory and de-colonial intent through the guise of oral stories. These intentions in our scholarship fostered a form of coherent expressions of research claim and method assumption and also raised questions for us regarding what decolonizing Papua New Guinea ought to consider. Our paper also highlights a reformulation of the different ways research considers Oceania in particular Melanesia and the Papua New Guinean research context.

Revision of the Papua New Guinean fig wasp genus Robertsia Boucek (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae: Sycoecinae)

Zootaxa ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 929 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
SIMON VAN NOORT ◽  
JEAN-YVES RASPLUS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Fig Wasp ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Single Host ◽  
Host Relationships ◽  
Fig Tree ◽  
Papua New Guinean

Two new species of Robertsia, R. weibleni and R. vaamondei are described from Papua New Guinea. Four species of Robertsia are now known from a single host fig tree species, Ficus xylosycia. Illustrations and keys are provided for both sexes of all four species. An online key is available at: http://www.figweb.org/Fig_wasps/Pteromalidae/Sycoecinae/Key/Robertsia.htm. Host relationships and biology are discussed.

scholarly journals Opportunities for development journalism in Papua New Guinea

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vipul Khosla ◽  
Lyndal Rowlands
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The Social ◽  
National Capital ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
Foreign Corporations ◽  
Papua New Guinean ◽  
Training Opportunities

The Social Journalism Awards (SJA) is a journalism exchange programme providing Papua New Guinean journalists with opportunities to report on development issues. This article draws on information collected from SJA participants, and analysis of the media content they produced, to gather insights into development journalism in Papua New Guinea. The study found that Papua New Guinean journalists are interested in reporting on development issues but they lack appropriate opportunities to do so. The main issues facing Papua New Guinean journalists include few opportunities to report on issues outside the national capital; few professional development or training opportunities; few opportunities to report on development issues, particularly those affecting the rural poor; conflicts of interest for media owners including the government and foreign corporations with mining interests; and low pay within the industry. The study showed that when given appropriate opportunities, PNG journalists can contribute to development and democracy in meaningful ways. The article concludes that it is important for media indices to go beyond procedural freedoms and to measure substantive freedoms, or opportunities, available to journalists.

A revision of the water beetle genus Gymnochthebius Orchymont (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae) for Australia and Papua New Guinea

Zootaxa ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 1024 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHILIP D. PERKINS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
South Australia ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Water Beetle ◽  
Microhabitat Preferences ◽  
Papua New Guinean

The Australian and Papua New Guinean species of the water beetle genus Gymnochthebius Orchymont, 1943, are revised, based on the study of 4,904 specimens. The genus is redescribed, and redescriptions are provided for G. australis (Blackburn), G. brisbanensis (Blackburn), G. clarki (Deane), G. levis (Deane), G. lividus (Deane), G. notalis (Deane), and G. tenebricosus (Deane). Lectotypes are designated for Ochthebius australis Blackburn, 1888, and Ochthebius tenebricosus Deane, 1931. Ochthebius fischeri Deane, 1931, and Ochthebius leai Deane, 1931, are synonymized with Ochthebius australis Blackburn, 1888; Ochthebius flavocinctus Deane 1933, is synonymized with Ochthebius lividus Deane, 1933; and Ochthebius angustipennis Deane, 1931, is synonymized with Ochthebius clarki Deane, 1931. Twenty-nine new species are described, and a key to the 36 species known from Australia and Papua New Guinea is given. High resolution digital images of all primary types are presented (online version in color), the male genitalia are illustrated, and Australian geographic distributions are mapped. Only one species, G. clarki, inhabits both Australia and Papua New Guinea; two species, G. bacchusi n. sp. and G. papua n. sp. are endemic to Papua New Guinea; 33 species are endemic to Australia. Members of Gymnochthebius are found at the gravelly/sandy/silty margins of flowing and standing water. A preliminary grouping of species according to microhabitat substrate is presented. Correspondences between ventral morphology and microhabitat preferences suggest that a few species are evolving toward humicolous habits. New species of Gymnochthebius are: G. angulonotus (Queensland, Tinaroo Creek Road via Mareeba), G. bacchusi (Papua New Guinea, Morobe District, c. 7 miles Lae Bulolo Road), G. benesculptus (South Australia, Warburton River, 1 km N White Bull Yard Kalamurina Stn.), G. coruscus (South Australia, Warburton River, 1 km N White Bull Yard Kalamurina Stn.), G. fontinalis (South Australia, Elizabeth (Mound) Springs, 7 km NW Coward Springs R.S.), G. fumosus (New South Wales, Sydney), G. hesperius (Western Australia, Lyndon River Bridge), G. inlineatus (Western Australia, Millstream, creek near Deep Reach), G. lustrosulcus (Queensland, Cloncurry), G. minipunctus (Northern Territory, Palm Valley), G. nanosetus (Northern Territory, Roderick Creek, Gregory National Park), G. nicki (Victoria, Possum Hollow falls, West branch Tarwin River, 5.6 km SSW Allambee), G. nigriceps (South Australia, Mound Spring near Coward Springs), G. papua (Papua New Guinea, Morobe District, ca. 10 km S Garaina Saureri), G. perpunctus (South Australia, Somme Creek, between Angaston and Sedan), G. pluvipennis (South Australia, Warburton

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