For the period 1875-1975 an isonymic analysis was made based on 41,696 marriages celebrated in three valleys (Tormes, Alberche and Tietar) from Gredos (Spain). Total inbreeding (Ft) was lower in the Tietar valley (0.0103- 0.0136), followed by the Tormes (0.0125-0.0255) and the Alberche (0.0153-0.0200). In the latter, random inbreeding (Fr) surpassed non random (Fn). Correlation coefficients wer...

BACKGROUND Endogamy increases the risk of manifestation of deleterious recessive genes. Mitochondrial DNA allows the separation of American Zebu (Bos indicus and Bos taurus) and evaluate the effect of mitochondrial DNA on productive traits of cattle. However, the effect of endogamy and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) on the immune system remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the asso...

We theorize integration and estrangement maintenance as two relational mechanisms that counterbalance economic endogamy, i.e. economic actors’ tendency to transact and cooperate within rather than across socially meaningful groups. We test empirical implications of these mechanisms using longitudinal data on merchant cooperation networks in the 18 century English city of Bristol, where a severe...

The introductory chapter to this volume presented a number of theories and hypotheses on the determinants of endogamy; the following chapters described endogamy in different historical settings and tested some of those hypotheses. The tests looked especially at the effects of individual characteristics of spouses, and sometimes of their parents. Results relating to changes in macro characterist...

Family types continue to expand in the U.S., yet normative patterns of endogamy and the privileging of nuclear families persist. To understand how professional women of color navigate endogamy and family ideals, I draw on 40 in-depth interviews of professional Black women and Latinas to ask how they construct partner preferences. I find that professional Latinas and Black women prefer same-race...

Alu elements are a family of interspersed repeats in the genome propagating by retroposition into new chromosomal locations. Alu insertion in Ace gene is known to be polymorphic (presence/absence of Alu element) in worldwide populations and as such serves as marker for population structure analyses. In this study we examined the distribution of genotypes and allele frequencies of this polymorph...

We propose a theory of the origins of India’s caste system by explicitly recognizing the productivity of women in complementing their husbands’ occupation-specific skill. The theory explains the core features of the caste system: its hereditary and hierarchical nature, and its insistence on endogamy (marriage only within castes). Endogamy is embraced by a group to minimize an externality that a...