The Brachial and Crural Indices of Modern North American Populations
Date
2015-04
Authors
Garcia, Reina V.
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Abstract
Intralimb proportions have been shown to negatively correlate with climate in Old World populations, resulting in significant difference in the intralimb proportions of Europeans and Native Africans (Ruff and Walker 1993; Ruff 1994; Holliday 1997a, 1997b, 1999). However, the intralimb proportions of recently relocated and/or admixed populations have not been thoroughly researched. Therefore, this research will assess the intralimb proportions of recent admixed populations of North America, specifically American Whites and Blacks. The goals of this study are to determine if there are significant differences between American Whites and Blacks, as there are between Europeans and Native Africans, and to determine if the intralimb proportions of American Whites and Blacks are still similar to those of their respective ancestral heritage. A modern sample of male individuals, American Whites and Blacks, from the Forensic Anthropology Data Bank and the Texas State Donated Skeletal Collection are used. As well as recent Europeans and West Africans for proxy-ancestry groups. Limb lengths and the intralimb indices (brachial and crural indices) are used for the statistical analyses, which include an analysis of variance, Games-Howell test, correlation analysis, regression analysis with a coefficient of determination, and discriminant function analysis. The results indicate that the limb lengths and intralimb indices for American Whites and Blacks are significantly different from each other. However, American Whites and Blacks are not completely similar to their proxy-ancestry groups. They appear to be shifting towards an intermediate position between Europeans and native Africans. These findings indicate that American Whites and Blacks are significantly different from each other, like Europeans and Native Africans. However, there appears to be factors affecting the intralimb proportions of American Whites and Blacks causing them to shift away from the intralimb proportions of their ancestral heritage. Further research needs to be conducted to determine what factors can be causing this shift.
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Keywords
Limb proportions, Ancestry, Climate, Brachial index, Crural index, North America
Citation
Garcia, R. V. (2015). <i>The brachial and crural indices of modern North American populations</i> (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.