2011 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Geographic structure of cranial variation and its evolutionary background of modern human populations
| Project/Area Number |
21405014
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 海外学術 |
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| Research Field |
Physical anthropology
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| Research Institution | Kitasato University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2009 – 2011
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| Keywords | 現生人類 / 解剖学的現代人 / 頭蓋形態 / 歯冠形態 / アフリカ単一起源説 / 地理的変異 / 形態データベース |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In the last decade, a near consensus has emerged in supporting single African origin of modern humans in east Africa. However, the pattern of dispersal and global diversity, as well as colonization history of modern human populations are far from obvious and focus of heated debate. In this study, equilibrium models of isolation by distance were applied to metric and nonmetric dental datasets for 10 major geographic samples from around the world. Linear and nonlinear regression analysis showed that phenotypic similarity between populations decreases as the geographic distance increases, indicating that geographic distance is one of the significant and primary determinants of not only genetic but also phenotypic variation between human population groups. The difference of morphological diversity within and between regional populations confirms, moreover, the primary role of sub-Saharan Africa in the evolution of our species. The variation of East/Southeast Asians is relatively large, suggesting a complex population history such as possible earlier divergence and multiple migrations from outside sources. On the other hand, the pattern of dental variation and affinities among major geographic populations indicating extreme isolation and subsequent retaining of upper Palaeolithic features in Australians and to a lesser extent Melanesians. The present findings suggest that the global pattern of dental variation is more or less similar to that expected under a neutral model of genetic drift balanced by gene flow.
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| Free Research Field |
生物学
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