INVESTIGADORES
NOVELLINO paula silvana
artículos
Título:
Effect of bite force and diet composition on craniofacial diversification of southern South American human populations
Autor/es:
MENÉNDEZ LUMILA; BERNAL VALERIA; NOVELLINO PAULA; PÉREZ IVAN
Revista:
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Editorial:
WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC
Referencias:
Lugar: New York; Año: 2014 vol. 155 p. 114 - 127
ISSN:
0002-9483
Resumen:
Ecological factors can be important to
shape the patterns of morphological variation among
human populations. Particularly, diet plays a fundamental
role in craniofacial variation due to both the effect of
the nutritional status?mostly dependent on the type and
amount of nutrients consumed?on skeletal growth and
the localized effects of masticatory forces. We examine
these two dimensions of diet and evaluate their influence
on morphological diversification of human populations
from southern South America during the late Holocene.
Cranial morphology was measured as 3D coordinates
defining the face, base and vault. Size, form, and shape
variables were obtained for 474 adult individuals coming
from 12 samples. Diet composition was inferred from carious
lesions and d13C data, whereas bite forces were estimated
using traits of main jaw muscles. The spatial
structure of the morphological and ecological variables
was measured using correlograms. The influence of diet
composition and bite force on morphometric variation
was estimated by a spatial regression model. Cranial variation
and diet composition display a geographical structure,
while no geographical pattern was observed in bite
forces. Cranial variation in size and form is significantly
associated with diet composition, suggesting a strong
effect of systemic factors on cranial growth. Conversely,
bite forces do not contribute significantly to the pattern
of morphological variation among the samples analyzed.
Overall, these results show that an association between
diet composition and hardness cannot be assumed, and
highlight the complex relationship between morphological
diversification and diet in human populations.