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Page AE, Ringen EJ, Koster J, Borgerhoff Mulder M, Kramer K, Shenk MK, Stieglitz J, Starkweather K, Ziker JP, Boyette AH, Colleran H, Moya C, Du J, Mattison SM, Greaves R, Sum CY, Liu R, Lew-Levy S, Kiabiya Ntamboudila F, Prall S, Towner MC, Blumenfield T, Migliano AB, Major-Smith D, Dyble M, Salali GD, Chaudhary N, Derkx IE, Ross CT, Scelza BA, Gurven MD, Winterhalder BP, Cortez C, Pacheco-Cobos L, Schacht R, Macfarlan SJ, Leonetti D, French JC, Alam N, Zohora FT, Kaplan HS, Hooper PL, Sear R. Women's subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2318181121. [PMID: 38346210 PMCID: PMC10907265 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2318181121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
While it is commonly assumed that farmers have higher, and foragers lower, fertility compared to populations practicing other forms of subsistence, robust supportive evidence is lacking. We tested whether subsistence activities-incorporating market integration-are associated with fertility in 10,250 women from 27 small-scale societies and found considerable variation in fertility. This variation did not align with group-level subsistence typologies. Societies labeled as "farmers" did not have higher fertility than others, while "foragers" did not have lower fertility. However, at the individual level, we found strong evidence that fertility was positively associated with farming and moderate evidence of a negative relationship between foraging and fertility. Markers of market integration were strongly negatively correlated with fertility. Despite strong cross-cultural evidence, these relationships were not consistent in all populations, highlighting the importance of the socioecological context, which likely influences the diverse mechanisms driving the relationship between fertility and subsistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail E. Page
- Division of Psychology, Brunel University of London, LondonUB8 3PN, United Kingdom
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, LondonWC1E 7HT, United Kingdom
| | - Erik J. Ringen
- University of Zürich, Zürich8050, Switzerland
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zürich, Zürich8050, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zürich, Zürich8050, Switzerland
| | - Jeremy Koster
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Monique Borgerhoff Mulder
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA95616
| | - Karen Kramer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT84112
| | - Mary K. Shenk
- Department of Anthropology, Penn State College of the Liberal Arts, State College, PA16801
| | - Jonathan Stieglitz
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Universite Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse31080, France
| | | | - John P. Ziker
- Department of Anthropology, Boise State University, Boise, ID83725
| | - Adam H. Boyette
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Heidi Colleran
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Cristina Moya
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA95616
| | - Juan Du
- State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-Ecosystem, College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou730000, China
| | - Siobhán M. Mattison
- Department of Anthropology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87106
| | - Russell Greaves
- Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87106
| | - Chun-Yi Sum
- Anthropology Department, Boston University, Boston, MA02215
| | - Ruizhe Liu
- Department of Anthropology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87106
| | - Sheina Lew-Levy
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, DurhamDH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Francy Kiabiya Ntamboudila
- Faculté des Lettres, Arts, et Sciences Humaines, Département d’anthropologie, Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Sean Prall
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO65201
| | - Mary C. Towner
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK74078
| | - Tami Blumenfield
- Department of Anthropology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87106
| | | | - Daniel Major-Smith
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, BristolBS8 2PS, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Dyble
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3DZ, United Kingdom
| | - Gul Deniz Salali
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, LondonWC1H 0BW, United Kingdom
| | - Nikhil Chaudhary
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3DZ, United Kingdom
| | - Inez E. Derkx
- Department of Anthropology, Universität Zürich, Zürich8050, Switzerland
| | - Cody T. Ross
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig04103, Germany
| | - Brooke A. Scelza
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA90095
| | - Michael D. Gurven
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA93106
| | | | | | - Luis Pacheco-Cobos
- Facultad de Biología–Xalapa, Universidad Veracruzana, Zalapa-Enriquez91090, México
| | - Ryan Schacht
- Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC27858
| | | | - Donna Leonetti
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Settle, WA98105
| | - Jennifer C. French
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, LiverpoolL69 7WZ, United Kingdom
| | - Nurul Alam
- Health Systems and Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka1213, Bangladesh
| | - Fatema tuz Zohora
- Health Systems and Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka1213, Bangladesh
| | - Hillard S. Kaplan
- Department of Anthropology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87106
| | - Paul L. Hooper
- Department of Anthropology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM87106
| | - Rebecca Sear
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, LondonWC1E 7HT, United Kingdom
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Swinford N, Gallagher B, Sheehama J, Lin M, Prall S, Scelza B, Henn BM. Examination of runs of homozygosity in relation to height in an endogamous Namibian population. Am J Biol Anthropol 2023; 180:207-215. [PMID: 36790690 PMCID: PMC9937629 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Height is a complex, highly heritable polygenic trait subject to both genetic composition and environmental influences. Recent studies suggest that a large proportion of height heritability is determined by the cumulative effect of many low allele frequency variants across the genome. Previous research has also identified an inverse relationship between height and runs of homozygosity (ROH); however, this has yet to be examined within African populations. We aim to identify this association within the Himba, an endogamous Namibian population who are recently bottlenecked, resulting in elevated haplotype sharing and increased homozygosity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Here, we calculate the fraction of the genome composed of long runs of homozygosity (FROH) in a sample of 245 adults and use mixed effects models to assess its effect on height. RESULTS We find that Himba adults exhibit increased homozygosity. However, in contrast to previous studies in other populations, we do not find a significant effect of FROH on height within the Himba. We further estimated heritability of height, noting both an enrichment of distant relatives and greater developmental homogeneity across households; we find that h g 2 = 0.59 (SE ± 0.146), comparable to estimates reported in Europeans. DISCUSSION Our results may be due to other environmental variables we were not able to include, measurement error, or low statistical power, but may also imply that phenotypic expression resulting from increased homozygosity may vary from population to population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Swinford
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, USA
| | - Brenna Gallagher
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, USA
| | | | - Meng Lin
- University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, USA
| | | | | | - Brenna M. Henn
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, USA,UC Davis Genome Center, University of California, Davis, USA
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Prall S, Scelza B. The dietary impacts of drought in a traditional pastoralist economy. Am J Hum Biol 2023; 35:e23803. [PMID: 36125188 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Arid pastoralism is often understood as an adaptive strategy to marginal environments. As pastoralists become increasingly market integrated, novel dietary preferences and access to low quality market foods can erode traditional diets. These market-based dietary shifts are particularly problematic during sustained drought, where reductions in traditional foods make pastoralists increasingly reliant on a cash economy. Among the Himba of the Kunene region in Namibia, colonial policies prohibiting access to livestock markets inhibit access to a cash-based economy, leaving them vulnerable to food insecurity when nontraditional foods are needed to supplement traditional lifeways during drought. To understand the impacts of long-term drought on diet and food insecurity, we collected longitudinal survey data on diet breadth and food insecurity across 4 years during a multi-year drought. METHODS Participants completed a five-item food insecurity survey and recalled diet breadth survey over the course of 4 years (N = 191-234). Additionally, women completed a short survey of recent stressors, including health and resource stressors (N = 127). We used a set of multilevel models to estimate changes in food insecurity items and diet breadth changes over the course of the study period. RESULTS Multilevel models predicted score outcomes, as well as individual item responses, by year of data collection. Results indicate a 43% increase in average food insecurity and a 15% decline in average diet breadth over the study period. Dietary recall indicates that drought caused a reduction in sour milk intake, and an increase in nontraditional foods, but no change in meat or maize consumption. CONCLUSIONS Sustained drought in the Kunene region is having long-term impacts on food insecurity, which could result in dietary shifts that outlast the current period of drought. We consider the implications of this change, especially as it relates to increasing market integration and reliance on a cash-based over a subsistence-based economy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean Prall
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
| | - Brooke Scelza
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Prall S, Scelza B. The effect of mating market dynamics on partner preference and relationship quality among Himba pastoralists. Sci Adv 2022; 8:eabm5629. [PMID: 35507659 PMCID: PMC9067927 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm5629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Relative mate value has long been believed to be a critical component of mate choice in humans. However, most empirical work focuses on preferences rather than actual pair formation, and data connecting partner preferences, partnership formation, and relationship quality remain rare. Here, we estimate mate value using >12,000 ratings by opposite-sex, in-group members to understand both hypothetical partnership preferences and actualized relationship dynamics. When evaluating hypothetical partnerships, people generally prefer individuals whose mate value is higher than their own, indicating an aspirational matching strategy. However, mate value comparisons of individuals in marital and nonmarital relationships show a positive correlation, suggesting that individuals tend to pair up with similarly desirable individuals. Furthermore, despite aspirational preferences, couples who are more closely matched reported greater relationship quality, measured through frequency of interactions, reported sexual histories, and partnership length.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean Prall
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Brooke Scelza
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Broesch T, Crittenden AN, Beheim BA, Blackwell AD, Bunce JA, Colleran H, Hagel K, Kline M, McElreath R, Nelson RG, Pisor AC, Prall S, Pretelli I, Purzycki B, Quinn EA, Ross C, Scelza B, Starkweather K, Stieglitz J, Mulder MB. Navigating cross-cultural research: methodological and ethical considerations. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201245. [PMID: 32962541 PMCID: PMC7542829 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The intensifying pace of research based on cross-cultural studies in the social sciences necessitates a discussion of the unique challenges of multi-sited research. Given an increasing demand for social scientists to expand their data collection beyond WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) populations, there is an urgent need for transdisciplinary conversations on the logistical, scientific and ethical considerations inherent to this type of scholarship. As a group of social scientists engaged in cross-cultural research in psychology and anthropology, we hope to guide prospective cross-cultural researchers through some of the complex scientific and ethical challenges involved in such work: (a) study site selection, (b) community involvement and (c) culturally appropriate research methods. We aim to shed light on some of the difficult ethical quandaries of this type of research. Our recommendation emphasizes a community-centred approach, in which the desires of the community regarding research approach and methodology, community involvement, results communication and distribution, and data sharing are held in the highest regard by the researchers. We argue that such considerations are central to scientific rigour and the foundation of the study of human behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanya Broesch
- Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, BC, Canada
| | | | - Bret A. Beheim
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Aaron D. Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - John A. Bunce
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Heidi Colleran
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- BirthRites Independent Max Planck Research Group, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kristin Hagel
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michelle Kline
- Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University, London, UK
| | - Richard McElreath
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Anne C. Pisor
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA
| | - Sean Prall
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, MO, USA
| | - Ilaria Pretelli
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Benjamin Purzycki
- Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Cody Ross
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Brooke Scelza
- Department of Anthropology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kathrine Starkweather
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
| | | | - Monique Borgerhoff Mulder
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
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Siekmann I, Dierck K, Prall S, Trochimiuk M, Martens V, Khosh M, Abt K, Beck F, Jeremias I, Sickmann A, Nollau P, Horstmann MA. PAK2 (p21-activated kinase 2) – A Key Node in FLT3 Dependent Signaling in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Klin Padiatr 2015. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1550263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Martinez N, Prall S, Blair H, Heidenreich O. Relevance of RUNX1/ETO for Leukaemic Propagation in vivo. Klin Padiatr 2013. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1343628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Prall S, Slack J, Siekmann I, Martinez N, Heidenreich O. Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in t(8;21) rearranged acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Klin Padiatr 2012. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1310483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Muehlenbein MP, Ancrenaz M, Sakong R, Ambu L, Prall S, Fuller G, Raghanti MA. Ape conservation physiology: fecal glucocorticoid responses in wild Pongo pygmaeus morio following human visitation. PLoS One 2012; 7:e33357. [PMID: 22438916 PMCID: PMC3305311 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2011] [Accepted: 02/08/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Nature-based tourism can generate important revenue to support conservation of biodiversity. However, constant exposure to tourists and subsequent chronic activation of stress responses can produce pathological effects, including impaired cognition, growth, reproduction, and immunity in the same animals we are interested in protecting. Utilizing fecal samples (N = 53) from 2 wild habituated orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) (in addition to 26 fecal samples from 4 wild unhabituated orangutans) in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, we predicted that i) fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations would be elevated on the day after tourist visitation (indicative of normal stress response to exposure to tourists on the previous day) compared to samples taken before or during tourist visitation in wild, habituated orangutans, and ii) that samples collected from habituated animals would have lower fecal glucocorticoid metabolites than unhabituated animals not used for tourism. Among the habituated animals used for tourism, fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were significantly elevated in samples collected the day after tourist visitation (indicative of elevated cortisol production on the previous day during tourist visitation). Fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were also lower in the habituated animals compared to their age-matched unhabituated counterparts. We conclude that the habituated animals used for this singular ecotourism project are not chronically stressed, unlike other species/populations with documented permanent alterations in stress responses. Animal temperament, species, the presence of coping/escape mechanisms, social confounders, and variation in amount of tourism may explain differences among previous experiments. Acute alterations in glucocorticoid measures in wildlife exposed to tourism must be interpreted conservatively. While permanently altered stress responses can be detrimental, preliminary results in these wild habituated orangutans suggest that low levels of predictable disturbance can likely result in low physiological impact on these animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael P Muehlenbein
- Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America.
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Prall S, Fisher J, Pontan F, Heidenreich O. Cysteine Proteases in acute myeloid leukaemia. Klin Padiatr 2011. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1277071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Sternsdorf T, Ocampo-Bayuga C, Haschke A, Dierk K, Prall S, Horstmann M, Evans RM. Positive evidence for a role of the PML pathway in leukemogenesis of acute promyelocytic leukemia. Klin Padiatr 2010. [DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1254462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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