Infanticide and fertility among Eskimos: A computer simulation

Until recently, certain Eskimo groups were reported to practice female infanticide in the belief that the time spent suckling a girl would delay the mother's next opportunity to bear a son, males being preferred to females because of their future role as providers in a hunting economy. From sex ratios in census data, rates of female infanticide of up to 66% for some groups have been inferred, leading some ethnographers to conclude that these groups were headed for extinction. Eskimo beliefs regarding the effects of infanticide on fertility, however, are in accord with the results of research on the relation of fertility and lactation: The cessation of lactation following infanticide would significantly shortern the expected interval until the next birth. Given this fact and available field data regarding the parameters of Eskimo population growth, the present computer simulation indicates that Eskimo populations could sustain a rate of 30% female infanticide and still survive. Higher reported rates are explained as the combined result of female infanticide plus the tendency of ethnographers to overestimate to overestimate the ages of juvenile females relative to juvenile males.     

Changes among wild House mice (Mus musculus) bred for ten generations in a cold environment, and their evolutionary implications

Wild House mice, Mus musculus , bred at 23°C (controls) changed little in reproductive performance over ten generations. Similar mice bred at 3°C (Eskimo) became more fertile and heavier. Eskimo body fat also rose. Control adrenal weights declined; Eskimo adrenal weights were heavier than those of controls, but only during the first four generations. The Eskimo phenotype after ten generations was a combined result of a direct response to cold, parental effects and genetical changes in the Eskimo population. Maternal effects were probably especially important. In such conditions, the minimum unit of selection that it is useful to consider is the female and her litter.     

Interaction of genotype and parental environment in the adaptation of wild House mice Mus musculus to cold

Wild House mice, Mus musculus, were bred in two laboratory environments, one warm (controls) and one cold (Eskimo). At the seventh generation, mice of both stocks were cross-fostered at birth in both environments. In the warm environment, differences in both genotype and nest environment influenced growth: (1) Eskimo reared by Eskimo females were the heaviest of the four classes of fostered young; and (2) control foster parentage retarded growth. There was, however, no good evidence of differences in the reproductive performance of the four classes of fostered mice. In the cold environment, the effects of both genetical differences and of fostering were greater. Both the superior growth of Eskimo reared by Eskimo and the retarding effect of control foster parentage were more marked. Moreover, adult males with control foster parents had less fat than had those with Eskimo foster parents. Reproductive performance was also affected: (1) the young of the pairs with Eskimo genotype were heavier than the young of control pairs; (2) the litters of mice with Eskimo foster parents were larger than those of mice with control foster parents, and their young were heavier. Differences among the young of fostered mice represent a grandmother effect. Evidently, selection in a cold environment had led, not only to adaptive genetical changes in the ability to respond directly to cold, but also to changes in parental performance; and the latter enhanced the fitness, in the cold environment, of their offspring and grandoffspring.     

Morphologic characteristics of the Alaskan Eskimo dentition. II. Carabelli's cusp

A study of coastal and inland Alaskan Eskimos revealed that a faintly developed Carabelli's cusp was present in 42.7%. No sex difference in the occurrence of Carabelli's cusp was evident and no family showed any difference in the distribution of the frequencies when each family was compared to the rest of the population. A general tendency toward a higher prevalence of Carabelli's cusp in the coastal Eskimos may be due to more admixture with white people along the coast. Alaskan Eskimos have a significantly higher frequency of Carabelli's cusp than do Aleuts. Statistical evaluation revealed that in the Alaskan Eskimo dentition the formation of Carabelli's cusp is independent of the size of the molars and the suppression of the third molars.     

Cephalometric analysis of the craniofacial region of the northern Foxe Basin Eskimo

Past investigations of the Eskimo have indicated that there are marked morphological differences in the craniofacial skeleton of this relatively isolated ethnic group compared to other ethnic and racial groups. This study, using cephalometric radiography, attempted to characterize the craniofacial phenotype of the Eskimo living in the northern Foxe Basin, Northwest Territories, Canada. Age changes were examined on a cross-sectional basis with comparisons being made with a Winnipeg Caucasian group. This investigation indicates that the Igloolik Eskimo has a phenotype, established early in life, and is distinct from the Winnipeg group. The overall size of the Eskimo craniofacial complex was significantly larger at three years of age and remained larger through the ages studied. Development of the craniofacial region, however, was fairly similar in rate and direction for both populations. The greatest differences between the Eskimo and Caucasian groups were found in the linear measurements assessing cranial width, facial width, mandibular length, facial height, protrusion of the incisors, chin point development, and nasal morphology. Differences between the two groups in the morphological relationships of the component structures include the angular relationships of the maxilla and nasal bones to the anterior cranial base, the gonial angle of the mandible, and the angle of facial convexity.     

Sexual dimorphism in relation to big-game hunting and economy in modern human populations

Postcranial skeletal data from two recent Eskimo populations are used to test David Frayer's model of sexual dimorphism reduction in Europe between the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Frayer argued that a change from big-game hunting and adoption of new technology in the Mesolithic reduced selection for large body size in males and led to a reduction in skeletal sexual dimorphism. Though aspects of Frayer's work have been criticized in the literature, the association of big-game hunting and high sexual dimorphism is untested. This study employs univariate and multivariate analysis to test that association by examining sexual dimorphism of cranial and postcranial bones of two recent Alaskan Eskimo populations, one being big-game (whale and other large marine mammal) hunting people, and the second being salmon fishing, riverine people. While big-game hunting influences skeletal robusticity, it cannot be said to lead to greater sexual dimorphism generally. The two populations had different relative sexual dimorphism levels for different parts of the body. Notably, the big-game hunting (whaling) Eskimos had the lower multivariate dimorphism in the humerus, which could be expected to be the structure under greatest exertion by such hunting in males. While the exertions of the whale hunting economic activities led to high skeletal robusticity, as predicted by Frayer's model, this was true of the females as well as the males, resulting in low sexual dimorphism in some features. Females are half the sexual dimorphism equation, and they cannot be seen as constants in any model of economic behavior. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
AMERICA: Inugsuk, a Mediaeval Eskimo Settlement in Upernivik District, West Greenland. T herkel M athiassen .
Ancient Eskimo Settlements in the Kangâmiut Area. T herkel M athiassen .     

Probable malignancy in a Sadlermiut Eskimo mandible

The mandible of a Sadlermiut Eskimo woman, age at death 28 to 30 years, displays numerous well-formed foramina concentrated bilaterally around the mental foramina. Differential diagnosis identifies this lesion with highest probability as a metastatic cancerous lesion; of less likelihood are sarcoma, hyperparathyroidism, hemangioma, and osteomyelitis. The specimen deserves attention because identification of malignancy in paleopathological material is uncommon and difficult, and because malignancies in aboriginal Eskimo populations are reputed to have been rare or absent.     

Brief communication: Population data support the adaptive nature of HACNS1 sapiens/neandertal‐chimpanzee differences in a limb expression domain

The 546‐base pair enhancer of limb expression HACNS1, which is highly constrained in all terrestrial vertebrates, has accumulated 16 human‐specific changes after the human‐chimpanzee split. There has been discussion whether this process was driven by positive selection or biased gene conversion, without considering population data. We studied 83 South Amerindian, 11 Eskimo, 35 Europeans, 37 Bantu, and non‐Bantu Sub‐Saharan speakers, and 28 Brazilian mestizo samples and found no variation in this DNA region. Similar lack of variability in this region was found in four Africans, five Europeans or Euro‐derived, two Asians, one Paleo‐Eskimo, and one Neandertal sequence, whose whole genomes are publicly available. No difference was found. This result favors the interpretation of past positive and present conservative selection, as would expected in a region which influences Homo‐specific traits as important as opposable thumbs, manual dexterity, and bipedal walking. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Postcranial evidence of cold adaptation in European Neandertals

The low brachial and crural indices of the European Neandertals have long been considered indicative of cold adaptation. Recent work has documented lower limb/trunk ratios and deeper chests (anterior-posterior diameter) in European Neandertals than among their successors. The present study uses variables reflective of limb length, body mass and trunk height, and compares European Neandertals to 15 globally diverse recent human samples (1 “Eskimo,” 3 North African, 4 sub-Saharan African and 7 European). Bivariate plots, as well as principal components analysis plots of log shape-transformed data, indicate that European Neandertals had an overall body shape that falls at the extreme end of modern higher latitude groups' range of variation. Cluster analysis (minimum spanning tree on a principal coordinates plot) indicates that the Neandertals are closest in body shape to modern “Eskimos,” but even in this dendrogram, they are joined to the “Eskimo” via a long branch. In fact, it appears that European Neandertals were “hyperpolar” in body shape, likely due to two factors: 1) the extremely cold temperatures of glacial Europe and 2) less effective cultural buffering against cold stress. Am J Phys Anthropol 104:245–258, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Native Healing in Alaska—Report From Serpentine Hot Springs

Traditional Alaskan Native healing practices, specifically sweat bathing and hot springs bathing, have medical connotations in that they involve sociocultural factors important to practicing medicine among Alaskan Native people. At Serpentine Hot Springs in northwest Alaska, relief for arthritis, back pain, hip pain, headaches, skin rashes and other disorders was sought. The “treatment setting” was an informal bathhouse and bunkhouse and Eskimo tribal doctors and patients were assigned tasks related to healing. Continuity with traditional cultural patterns was achieved in several ways: meals tended to be traditional Eskimo fare, the predominant language spoken was Inupiaq and styles of interaction were Inupiat in character. All patients showed improvement. The experience reported herein is instructive for those seeking innovative approaches treating Native American groups.     

The Eskimo isolate of Scoresbysund—an example of the founder effect in anthropology

The east coast of Greenland is inhabited in only two places: in Angmagssalik live the direct descendants of the 413 Eskimo discovered in 1884; 1000 km further north, a small isolated settlement, Scoresbysund, was founded in 1925 by 70 Eskimo from Angmagssalik.Several biological features were studied both on the parent population and its descendants and the founders themselves and their progeny. Moreover, detailed and periodically maintained genealogical records from the time of their discovery provide exceptional complete information on these two groups and make them particularly favourable for the study of certain anthropological and genetic problems.Regarding various hereditary anthropological characteristics (blood groups, finger patterns, anthropometric measurements), the isolate shows certain particularities compared to the parent population. There is a much greater ressemblance between the settlement's founders and their present descendants than between these two groups and the parent population and its descendants. A set of converging elements indicate that this isolate represents a good example of the founder effect for various anthropological characteristics.     

mtDNA variation among Greenland Eskimos: the edge of the Beringian expansion

The Eskimo-Aleut language phylum is distributed from coastal Siberia across Alaska and Canada to Greenland and is well distinguished from the neighboring Na Dene languages. Genetically, however, the distinction between Na Dene and Eskimo-Aleut speakers is less clear. In order to improve the genetic characterization of Eskimos in general and Greenlanders in particular, we have sequenced hypervariable segment I (HVS-I) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and typed relevant RFLP sites in the mtDNA of 82 Eskimos from Greenland. A comparison of our data with published sequences demonstrates major mtDNA types shared between Na Dene and Eskimo, indicating a common Beringian history within the Holocene. We further confirm the presence of an Eskimo-specific mtDNA subgroup characterized by nucleotide position 16265G within mtDNA group A2. This subgroup is found in all Eskimo groups analyzed so far and is estimated to have originated <3,000 years ago. A founder analysis of all Eskimo and Chukchi A2 types indicates that the Siberian and Greenland ancestral mtDNA pools separated around the time when the Neo-Eskimo culture emerged. The Greenland mtDNA types are a subset of the Alaskan mtDNA variation: they lack the groups D2 and D3 found in Siberia and Alaska and are exclusively A2 but at the same time lack the A2 root type. The data are in agreement with the view that the present Greenland Eskimos essentially descend from Alaskan Neo-Eskimos. European mtDNA types are absent in our Eskimo sample.     

Long bone growth in western Eskimo and Aleut skeletons

The pattern of long bone growth in Eskimo and Aleut juvenile skeletons reflects that in living Eskimos and Aleuts. There is a pre-adolescent growth spurt which is particularly intense in females. After age 14 male long bones supercede those of females in length. The characteristic Eskimo and Aleut adult body proportion is established early in childhood. Eskimos and Aleuts have shorter bones than whites at all ages. The difference in length of the forearm and lower leg in comparison with whites appears to increase especially at adolescence.     

A third type of serum cholinesterase deficiency in Eskimos.

A new type of serum cholinesterase deficiency with less than 10% of the normal activity was found in an Alaskan Eskimo. The new type of deficiency appeared to be allelic with two types previously described in this population.     

The St. Lawrence Island Eskimos: genetic variation and genetic distance

The Eskimos of St. Lawrence Island have been typed for genetic variation at 44 discrete genetic loci. Three private polymorphisms, at the 2,3-diphosphoglycerate mutase, peptidase B, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase loci, have been observed, which may be useful in future studies of genetic relationships between Eskimos and other circumpolar populations. Genetic distance analysis reveals a close relationship between the St. Lawrence Island Eskimos and other Eskimo populations and that the Eskimo populations form a distinct cluster from Amerindian populations. The St. Lawrence Island Eskimos appear to be more similar to Asiatic Eskimos than to other groups. Caucasian admixture in this population is estimated to be between 2 and 7%.     

Pneumonia in Indian and Eskimo Infants and Children: Part I. A Clinical Study

Ninety-seven Indian and Eskimo infants and children who suffered 112 episodes of pneumonia were the subjects of a prospective study carried out at the Charles Camsell Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, from August 1963 until August 1964. Investigation included viral studies and an evaluation 10 days after admission. The patients were divided into four diagnostic categories and a comparison was made between cases of bacterial and viral origin. The frequency of right-sided disease, particularly of the upper lobe and/or dependent segment involvement, is described. An evaluation of physical signs is attempted. The problem of recurrent pneumonia and the differential diagnosis of tuberculosis in Indian and Eskimo children with pneumonia is discussed.     

THE LITTLE CURLEW NUMENIUS MINUTUS IN SIBERIA

The Little Curlew, closest relative of the Eskimo Curlew, is a rare bird and has a restricted range in eastern Siberia. Within this range, nesting colonies are scattered and separated by hundreds of kilometres. From three to 30 pairs nest 200–300 m apart and within a radius of 1 km. Some colonies are associated with Golden Eagle nests. Both sexes incubate and eggs hatch in 22–23 days. Nests are found on dry well-drained slopes of low hills and in glades of sparse woodland of larch and dwarf birch. The display flight is similar to that of the Pintail Snipe but unusual for the genus Numenius. It takes place high in the air; the male flies in circles, utters a fluting trill and plunges downwards producing a drumming sound. The Little Curlew has a breeding-ground repertoire of at least six different sounds. In contrast to the Eskimo Curlew, which is a purely tundra species, the Little Curlew inhabits sparse larchwoods on the slopes of low hills. At the present, the Little Curlew is not in danger of extinction.     

2,3-diphosphoglycerate mutase: Its demonstration by electrophoresis and the detection of a genetic variant

A method is described for detecting the electrophoretic pattern of the enzyme 2,3-diphosphoglycerate mutase (2,3-DPGM) after starch gel electrophoresis. In addition, a genetic variant found in a Canadian Eskimo family is described. The pattern of this (presumably) heterozygous phenotype is consistent with a dimeric structure of the enzyme.This work was supported by PHS grant AM 09745.     

Cytogenetic study of the Eskimo in Igloolik N.W.T. (Canada)

In January 1971 the chromosomes of 63 Eskimo individuals were harvested in Igloolik, Fox Basin, Canada. The study was attempted to elucidate any gross chromosomal abnormalities, the rate of chromosomal breakage and any chromosome polymorphisms peculiar to this isolated population.