Human hair and eye color is unusually diverse in northern and eastern Europe. The many alleles involved (at least seven for hair color) and their independent origin over a short span of evolutionary time indicate some kind of selection. Sexual selection is particularly indicated because it is known to favor color traits and color polymorphisms. In addition, hair and eye color is most diverse in...

Most accounts of human life history propose that women have short reproductive spans relative to their adult lifespans, while men not only remain fertile but carry on reproducing until late life. Here we argue that studies have overlooked evidence for variation in male reproductive ageing across human populations. We apply a Bayesian approach to census data from Agta hunter-gatherers and Gambia...

BACKGROUND A major unanswered question in the evolution of Homo sapiens is when anatomically modern human populations began to expand: was demographic growth associated with the invention of particular technologies or behavioral innovations by hunter-gatherers in the Late Pleistocene, or with the acquisition of farming in the Neolithic? METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We investigate the timing...

There still is no general agreement on the origins of the European gene pool, even though Europe has been more thoroughly investigated than any other continent. In particular, there is continuing controversy about the relative contributions of European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers and of migrant Near Eastern Neolithic farmers, who brought agriculture to Europe. Here, we apply a statistical fra...

Before permanent European colonization 2 centuries ago, Australian Aborigines were preagriculturalist hunter-gatherers who had adapted extraordinarily well to life in a variety of habitats ranging from tropical forests, coastal and riverine environments, savannah woodlands, and grasslands to harsh, hot, and very arid deserts. Colonization had serious negative effects on Aboriginal society, well...

During 1948, scientists (an anthropologist, a nutritionist and a plant ecologist) of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land observed the daily activities of families of nomadic Aborigines in the monsoonal climate of Groote Eylandt, Bickerton Island, Port Bradshaw, Yirrkala and Oenpelli, Northern Territory. The close relationship between the hunter-gatherers and the marine ...

Throughout history, forests dwellers have adapted to permanent changes of forest ecosystems that, in essence, are dynamic. Accordingly, they have long served as models of how humans lived when their lifestyles and genetic endowment were complementary. What is now commonly described as the “paleodiet” tends to be put forward as a benchmark for present-day efforts to promote health and prevent nu...