Natural selection and non-metric traits in skeletal populations |
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Authors: | J Piontek |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Fredry 10, 61-701 Poznán, Poland |
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Abstract: | The hypothesis of this article is that the frequency of non-metric traits varies at different reproductive periods because
of differential mortality associated with non-metric traits. 450 male and 203 female crania were examined. Mortality in the
reproduction period is connected with the elimination of individuals with certain variants of non-metric traits. It seems
that key genes which perform the stimulating function in the appearance of traits in a given category of formation are under
selective pressure. It is assumed that natural selection acts both on the morphology of organisms and on developmental process
through environmental conditions. Selection not only optimises the fitness of morphological features but also the processes
leading to the formation of features during ontogeny. Both these mechanisms influence the interpopulational variability of
non-metric traits. |
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Keywords: | Non-metric traits natural selection differential mortality |
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