Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons^™

The Functional Morphology Of Ingestion In The Platyrrhine Sclerocarpic Harvesters (Platyrrhini, Primates), Zachary Stoffel Klukkert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The identification of anatomical correlates of diet and feeding behavior in nonhuman primates is an important area of research in biological anthropology. The morphology of the jaws and teeth reflects the phylogeny and adaptations that distinguish taxa and their different ecological niches. Studying the form-function relationships of jaws and teeth in modern species provides a framework for interpreting the diets of extinct species and for inferring the ecological pressures that may have contributed to the evolutionary diversification of primate craniodental morphology. Previous work on modeling primate jaw mechanics has focused largely on the functional context of a closed jaw. Little …

Evolution Of Endurance Running Genes Across Primates, Natalia T. Grube

Theses and Dissertations

The endurance running hypothesis has emerged as a key idea to explain several unique anatomical, physiological, and genetic features of modern humans—among these features is the evolution of ACTN3 (Bramble & Lieberman 2004, Nature), a gene linked to human athletic performance. An additional gene linked to human endurance performance is ACE. Because endurance running is a uniquely human trait, I predicted that ACE and ACTN3 genes would be evolving adaptively in the human lineage when examined in a wider primatological framework. To test this I compiled ACE and ACTN3 genes from 14 primate species and phylogenetically tested if these genes …

Prehistoric Plant Resources In The Cedar Valley: How Prehistoric People Utilized Flora In Subsistence Practices, Lyn Tackett

Research in the Capitol

Over the last 10,000 years, the Cedar Valley in northeastern Iowa has seen an influx of plants and people; both of which have impacted the native flora of the region. Prairie grasses, wetlands, and other natural features of the Iowa landscape have been altered to accommodate the use of the land by humans. Some of the clues to what attracted various cultures to this region are hidden within the native flora. Therefore, a comparative study of the Cedar Valley area was done to determine what plants were available to Prehistoric native people when they came to the Cedar Valley. After …

"La Llorona": Evolución, Ideología Y Uso En El Mundo Hispano, Raquel Sáenz-Llano

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis studies the evolution, ideology and use of the myth of La Llorona through time in the Hispanic World. Considering this myth as one of the most known traditional narratives of the American continent, I begin by providing visual, ethnohistorical and ethnographical insights of weeping in Mesoamerica and South America and the specific mention of a weeping woman in some Spanish chronicles to say how western values were stablished in “the new continent” through this legend. I suggest that during the postcolonialism the legend did not tell anymore about a mother that cries and search a place for their …

Chilled To The Bone: An Analysis On The Effects Of Cold Temperatures And Weather Conditions Altering The Decomposition Process In Pig ( Sus Scrofa ) Remains, Katharine C. Woollen

Theses and Dissertations

Temperature is one of the most crucial variables affecting the decomposition process, significantly increasing or decreasing the rate at which decomposition occurs. Few studies have been conducted to show how the effects of cold temperatures and weather conditions influence the postmortem interval (PMI). The PMI is defined as the amount of time that has passed since death. The purpose of this study was to evaluate estimations for the PMI when remains are exposed to cold temperatures and weather conditions. Secondly, this study seeks to explain whether variables (i.e., coverings, burial depth, soil pH) can affect the decomposition process during colder …

A Retrospective Analysis And Method Validation Of Postmortem Interval Estimation In Louisiana, Sophia Reck

LSU Master's Theses

Forensic anthropologists are often called upon to assess the postmortem interval (PMI; i.e. time since death) of remains in varying states of decomposition and skeletonization. These assessments rely on familiarity with general taphonomic sequences and processes, in addition to experience with how these processes present in local environments and conditions. Assessment using such qualitative methods is a subjective process. Therefore, some researchers have developed formulae whose purpose is to estimate PMI in an objective format. In these instances, the resultant PMI estimation formulae were developed using local data and therefore have the potential for local applicability. Additionally, for some regions, …

Estimating Sex Using The Human Mandibular Canine, Brittney Blevins

LSU Master's Theses

Sexual dimorphism can be quantified in human mandibular canines; therefore, these teeth can be used to estimate sex of skeletonized individuals. This study complements and expands previous research by comparing mesiodistal diameter (MD), buccolingual diameter (BL), and crown area of human mandibular canines. Measurements were taken from a sample of skeletal individuals from the Terry Collection (n=677), the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology Skeletal Collection (n=86), and a random sample of dental casts from the James K. Economides Orthodontic Case File (JKE, n=624), for a total study sample of 741 males and 677 females. Both left and right canines were measured, …

Using Entheseal Length To Infer Locomotor Type, Antonio R. Otero

LSU Master's Theses

An enthesis is a marking (tuberosity or impression) on bone where a muscle or tendon attaches and it can be influenced by age, sex, physical activity, and muscle size. This study ascertains whether entheses, long bones, and their respective ratios can be used as an indicator for mode of locomotion in four primate species: Ateles geoffroyi (Geoffroy’s spider monkey), Colobus guereza (mantled guereza), Hylobates lar (lar gibbon), and Macaca mulatta (rhesus monkey). Seven entheses on four long bones were chosen based on importance of the muscle in relation to specific locomotor types, use in other studies, and …

Prevalence Of Anaemia And Associated Factors Among Oraon Females Of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India, Tanaya Kundu Chowdhury, Subrata K. Roy

Journal Articles

Low haemoglobin level or anaemia is a health problem worldwide especially in developing countries like India. Anaemia is generally higher among indigenous groups compared to general population globally and females are specifically more prone to anaemia. However, studies are inadequate on indigenous groups of India. The aims of the study are to determine the prevalence of anaemia among the female Oraons of North 24 Parganas and to study the association between anaemia and concomitants like socio-demographic and food habit variables. Data have been collected on demographic, socio-economic and food habit variables using well-tested questionnaire from 309 Oraon females living in …

The Impact Of Bipedal Mechanical Loading History On Longitudinal Long Bone Growth, A. D. Foster

Osteopathic Medicine, Jerry M. Wallace School of

No abstract provided.

Climatic Variables Are Strong Predictors Of Allonursing And Communal Nesting In Primates, Alexandra Louppova

Theses and Dissertations

Allomaternal care (AMC) is widespread throughout the primate order, previous studies have focused on benefits and costs to individuals. However, our understanding of environmental impacts on AMC behaviors in primates is still limited. Our study examines how ecology and environmental factors can predict certain AMC behaviors more than others.

The Morphology And Evolution Of The Primate Brachial Plexus, Brian M. Shearer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Primate evolutionary history is inexorably linked to the evolution of a broad array of locomotor adaptations that have facilitated the clade’s invasion of new niches. Researchers studying the evolution of primates and of their individual locomotor adaptations have traditionally relied on bony morphology – a practical choice given the virtual non-existence of any other type of tissue in the fossil record. However, this focus downplays the potential importance of the many other structures involved in locomotion, such as muscle, cartilage, and neural tissue, which may each be influenced by separate selective forces because of their different roles in facilitating movement. …

Size Estimation Of Pre‐Columbian Caribbean Fish, Sandrine Grouard, Sophia Perdikaris, Nídia Cristina Espíndola Rodrigues, Irvy R. Quitmyer

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

In this contribution, we present a methodological approach to the identification of pre‐Columbian Caribbean fisheries and examine the interrelationships of exploitation according to size for eight fish families, in a diachronic perspective for the Lesser Antilles. Based on the principles of size and growth allometries, biometric repositories have been reconstructed for modern families that represent different ecological environments: Holocentridae, Serranidae, Carangidae, Lutjanidae, Haemulidae, Scaridae, Acanthuridae, and Scombridae. The measured fish bone elements were selected based on their robustness and potential for recovery at archaeological sites. This resulted in a sample size totaling 563 modern osteological specimens, which provided reconstructed standard, …

Bayesian Analysis In Adult Skeletal Age-At-Death Estimation, With Additional Consideration Of Pathological Variables, Jessica L. Campbell

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A common task bioarchaeologists face is to estimate age-at-death in populations that have no corresponding documentation. This poses many challenges, the first of which is that age-at-death is highly variable within and among populations and can be further confounded by genetic and environmental influences, as well as other components of the biological profile. Estimating age-at-death in a historic sample can be even more challenging due to missing age indicators or taphonomic changes that obscure the features. Bayesian Analysis offers the potential to mitigate these challenges and to estimate age-at-death with lower degrees of uncertainty and higher probabilities of increased accuracy …

Macromorphological And Microscopic Effects Of Temperature In A Controlled Environment On The Process Of Decomposition In Bone, A. Marie Cato

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This research explores the idea that the processes and rate of bone decomposition are affected by differential temperatures after death. Previous research supports changes in the molecular structure of bone due to different weather conditions, in addition to gross macroscopic changes, but there remain issues in understanding how these possible changes affect decomposition overall. In this research, I will explore how the freeze-thaw cycle affects decomposition, and what the relationship between weathering on bone and the natural decomposition process is. My hypothesis is that the freeze-thaw cycle will induce further decay, steady higher temperatures will speed up decomposition, and freezing …

Hearing Threshold And Its Concomitants Among Santal Stone Mine Workers Of Birbhum District, West Bengal, India, Biswanath Malakar, Akash Mallick, Subrata Kumar Roy, Arpita Santra

Journal Articles

Background: Hearing impairment is one of the major health problems under the paradigm of occupational health. Mine workers are vulnerable to hearing impairment due to the nature of work, inadequate knowledge of sound hazards and limited access to protective devices. However, the cause of such health problems in India have rarely been explored. Present study aimed to find out hearing threshold of the study population, the level of noise in the mine areas and the relationship of different concomitants on hearing thresholds of the workers. Methods: Cross-sectional data on audiometric measurements, age and work duration in stone mining work were …

Effect Of Group Size On The Activity Budget Of Two Captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Kaeley Sullins

All Master's Theses

Captive facilities housing chimpanzees are required to provide adequate care and provisions such as dietary, social, and environmental enrichment to promote the psychological well-being of the apes in their care. Chimpanzees are social creatures and changes in groups as well as relocation to a facility with new social partners, can impact each individual chimpanzee’s welfare. By tracking each chimpanzee’s activity budgets, managers can assess welfare and make improvements or adjustments if necessary. I looked at the activity budgets of two captive chimpanzees after the death of a group member and the two chimpanzees’ subsequent relocation to a novel, more socially …

The Activity Budgets Of Captive Javan Gibbons (Hylobates Moloch) And Their Response To Visitor Presence Or Absence, Kalli Kohnen

All Master's Theses

Anthropogenic stress can negatively impact the health of captive animals. Visitors may be a source of stress to captive animals in zoos and sanctuaries. Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch) are endangered, and healthy captive populations are important to the species’ conservation. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of visitor presence on the activity budgets of captive Javan gibbons. Using continuous sampling, I recorded the activity budgets of 10 Javan gibbons housed at the Gibbon Conservation Center (GCC) in Santa Clarita, California. I collected data in the mornings, middays, and afternoons on visitor days and non-visitor …

The Effect Of Sound On Captive Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Grace Coffman

All Master's Theses

Sound exposure can have detrimental physiological and psychological effects on humans, but effects on nonhuman primates are not as well understood. Captive chimpanzees are exposed to markedly different acoustic environments than their wild counterparts. This study assessed the organic soundscape of a chimpanzee sanctuary, the Fauna Foundation, in Carignan, Québec, Canada. Noninvasive, observational data collection assessed for frequency of behavior and correlations between chimpanzee behavioral categories, arousal level, and decibel level. Agonistic behavior occurred more frequently in the highest decibel level category. There was a positive correlation between decibel level and arousal level. These findings suggest the need for increased …

Evaluations Of Health In Sympatric Free-Ranging Saguinus Imperator And Leontocebus Weddelli Using Neopterin, Urinalysis, And Blood Chemistry Analyses, Alexandra J. Sacco

All Master's Theses

This thesis is composed of one journal-ready article and one chapter that includes a preliminary interpretation of data for later publication. In summary, this thesis proposes the use of three different methods of evaluating the health status of New World Monkeys: urinary neopterin measurement, blood chemistry analyses, and urinalysis. Chapter II addresses the question of whether or not the neopterin molecule, a biomarker for cell-mediated immune system activation, is conserved across primate taxa. To do so, we collected urine samples across three New World Monkey (NWM) families including captive Leontopithecus rosalia and Pithecia pithecia, and wild populations of Leontocebus …

Gorilla-Visitor Interface At A Zoo Exhibit: Positioning Effects Of Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla) And Zoo Visitors, Alan Bergman

All Master's Theses

Zoos have missions to provide high-quality care for their animals and an enjoyable and educational experience for visitors. Looking at the animal-visitor interface can allow zoos to evaluate their success in these efforts and to build upon what they have already accomplished. The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between visitors and gorillas in a zoo environment. The effect of gorilla proximity to visitor viewing areas on visitor attentiveness was examined in indoor and outdoor gorilla exhibits. Visitor experience surveys were collected from visitors exiting the outdoor exhibit. Stepwise multiple regressions revealed group and individual gorilla proximity effects …

A Cognitive Task As Enrichment For Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) In Sanctuary, Federico Rubio

All Master's Theses

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) hold an especially powerful attraction for researchers interested in cognition and how it developed to the degree observed in humans specifically and primates more generally. Chimpanzees are behaviorally complex primates with compelling data supporting their possession of intricate internal lives. The objective of this study was to simultaneously learn more of the cognitive process of inductive reasoning while also assessing the efficacy of a computerized box as a novel form of enrichment to aid in improving the environment of captive chimpanzees. Three social groups at the retired medical research chimpanzee sanctuary Project Chimps were given …

3d Printing Of The Proximal Right Femur: It’S Implications In The Field Of Forensic Anthropology And Bioarchaeology, Myriah Adonia Jo Allen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

3D scanning and Printing have become useful in many scientific fields over the last few years, and Physical Anthropology/ Archaeology is not an exception. With skeletal collections decreasing all over the globe and the question of preservation on the rise, it has become necessary to look towards different methods in which one can obtain important information. 3D scanning has become useful over the last few decades and therefore it is important to establish where this new technology can be of use. This paper will bring 3D scanning and printing into question and determine whether this technology should be used in …

Investigating The Late Woodland Climate Of Old Tampa Bay, Florida, Jaime Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tampa Bay and the broader Central Gulf Coast region of Florida bear evidence of site reduction and population decline during the onset of the Late Woodland period (AD 500-1000). Concomitantly, Weeden Island culture flourished to the north, while climatic instability loomed to the south. It is unclear if the site abandonments in the area between the two are related to social or cultural change, an unstable climate, or a combination thereof. Interdisciplinary research has provided evidence for climate change and sea level regression during the sixth and seventh centuries in Southwest Florida, but these variables have yet to be investigated …

Utilizing Geographic Information Systems To Record And Analyze Osteoarthritis Data In Joints Of The Arm: A Methodology For Dry Bones, Adam Biernaski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common pathologies encountered in dry bone contexts. However, even with the wealth of publications on documenting the presence of OA from skeletons, these studies prove to be largely incomparable due to different scoring methodologies and procedures in calculating prevalence. The standardization of a new OA data collection procedure would mitigate variability in evaluating, scoring, and calculating the prevalence of OA, thus allowing accurate comparison between studies. However, this level of data collection has often been described as unwieldy and lacking concordance. This research outlines a new methodology that utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) …

Effects Of Habitat Disturbance On The Teeth Of Propithecus Diadema In The Forests Of Tsinjoarivo, Madagascar: Implications For Species Viability And Conservation, Katie Susann Heffernan

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The accelerated transformation of Madagascar’s ecosystems is a direct result of habitat destruction which has devastating consequences for the viability of the island’s animals. This dissertation focuses on the critically endangered diademed sifaka, Propithecus diadema, living in the rainforests of Tsinjoarivo, Madagascar. Tsinjoarivo has been heavily impacted by slash and burn agriculture and transformed into isolated forest fragments. Previous research by Irwin and colleagues has demonstrated that the diet and group dynamics of Propithecus diadema differ between continuous and degraded forests, but whether fragmented landscapes provide tougher foods and lead to behavioral changes through increased tooth wear has not been …

Assessing Craniofacial Variation And Sexual Dimorphism In A Skeletal Sample From Medieval Prussia, Carrisa Sue Pritchard

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The objective of this study is to assess the degree of craniofacial variation and sexual dimorphism exhibited by a skeletal sample of 32 adult (14 probable female, 16 probable male, 2 indeterminate) crania from Bezławki, a medieval (14th-15th century) Prussian cemetery site located in modern northeastern Poland. Christian Crusaders were actively colonizing the region during this time period; therefore, the cemetery is likely to include both indigenous Prussians and settlers. It is currently unknown whether the skeletal sample at Bezławki represents a morphologically homogenous or heterogeneous group.

To address this question, three-dimensional cranial landmark data were collected using a Microscribe. …

Dna Integrity In Forensic Samples, Samantha L. Ramey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

When packaged genetic evidence samples are stored in close proximity, there is a higher chance for cross-contamination, which can lead to potential false results. The goal of this study was to test DNA storage methods and environments to determine the best way to avoid potential cross-contamination. Established protocols for storing different types of genetic evidence samples were evaluated: biological swabs and DNA cards. A known concentration of pig DNA was introduced to the evidence samples. Three different evidence drying times of the DNA-free swabs and cards were implemented before packaging: immediate packaging, an hour drying, and 24 hours drying. The …

Mobilizing Heads And Hearts For Wildlife Conservation, Valérie A. M. Schoof, Simon L'Allier

Animal Sentience

Highlighting the shared evolutionary relationships between humans and animals — and recognizing that all species, including humans, are unique in their own way — may facilitate caring for and conserving animals by tapping into a human emotion: empathy.

Dna Analysis On Ceramic Cooking Vessels, Britney J. Radford

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Ceramic vessels are a durable material found in abundance throughout the archaeological record. Organic residue analysis has been used to study ceramic vessels utilizing lipid analysis and protein analysis. Lipids and proteins analysis provide limited information at the genus level, leaving out valuable information that species-specific results can tell us such as unique genetic and environmental information. Lipids and proteins analysis provide limited information at the genus and taxonomic levels leading to issues of misclassification of species. If only certain animals or plants of a genus are being used, then unique genetic and environmental information found only at the species …