Endostructural and periosteal growth of the human humerus.

The growth and development of long bones are of considerable interests in the fields of comparative anatomy and palaeoanthropology, as evolutionary changes and adaptations to specific physical activity patterns are expected to be revealed during bone ontogeny. Traditionally, the cross-sectional geometry of long bones has been examined at discrete locations usually placed at set intervals or fixed percentage distances along the midline axis of the bone shaft. More recently, the technique of morphometric mapping has enabled the continuous analysis of shape variation along the shaft. Here we extend this technique to the full sequence of late fetal and postnatal development of the humeral shaft in a modern human population sample, with the aim of establishing the shape changes during growth and their relationship with the development of the arm musculature and activity patterns. A sample of modern human humeri from individuals of age ranging from 24 weeks in utero to 18 years was imaged using microtomography at multiple resolutions and custom Matlab scripts. Standard biomechanical properties, cortical thickness, surface curvature, and pseudo-landmarks were extracted along radial vectors spaced at intervals of 1° at each 0.5% longitudinal increment measured along the shaft axis. Heat maps were also generated for cortical thickness and surface curvature. The results demonstrate that a whole bone approach to analysis of cross-sectional geometry is more desirable where possible, as there is a continuous pattern of variation along the shaft. It is also possible to discriminate very young individuals and adolescents from other groups by relative cortical thickness, and also by periosteal surface curvature.

Ancient DNA at the edge of the world: Continental immigration and the persistence of Neolithic male lineages in Bronze Age Orkney.

Orkney was a major cultural center during the Neolithic, 3800 to 2500 BC. Farming flourished, permanent stone settlements and chambered tombs were constructed, and long-range contacts were sustained. From ∼3200 BC, the number, density, and extravagance of settlements increased, and new ceremonial monuments and ceramic styles, possibly originating in Orkney, spread across Britain and Ireland. By ∼2800 BC, this phenomenon was waning, although Neolithic traditions persisted to at least 2500 BC. Unlike elsewhere in Britain, there is little material evidence to suggest a Beaker presence, suggesting that Orkney may have developed along an insular trajectory during the second millennium BC. We tested this by comparing new genomic evidence from 22 Bronze Age and 3 Iron Age burials in northwest Orkney with Neolithic burials from across the archipelago. We identified signals of inward migration on a scale unsuspected from the archaeological record: As elsewhere in Bronze Age Britain, much of the population displayed significant genome-wide ancestry deriving ultimately from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. However, uniquely in northern and central Europe, most of the male lineages were inherited from the local Neolithic. This suggests that some male descendants of Neolithic Orkney may have remained distinct well into the Bronze Age, although there are signs that this had dwindled by the Iron Age. Furthermore, although the majority of mitochondrial DNA lineages evidently arrived afresh with the Bronze Age, we also find evidence for continuity in the female line of descent from Mesolithic Britain into the Bronze Age and even to the present day.

Family's socioeconomic profile at birth and offspring mortality until midlife - The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study.

Family's socioeconomic profile collected prenatally is known to predict offspring mortality during early life, but it remains unclear whether it has the potential to predict offspring mortality until later life. In this study, 12,063 individuals belonging to the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 were followed up from mid-pregnancy for 52 years (570,000 person years). Five distinct socioeconomic profiles were identified by latent class analysis based on mother's marital status, education, and occupation; father's occupation; number of family members; location of residence, room count, and utilities; and family's wealth. The classes were highest status families (15.4% of the population), small families (22.1%), larger families (15.4%), average wealth families (23.4%), and rural families (23.3%). Their associations to offspring mortality, via linkage to national offspring death records, were analysed by Cox regression, stratified by sex and age groups (0-19, 20-38 and 40-52 years). In total, mortality was 9.2% among male and 5.0% among female offspring. Risk for midlife mortality was higher among male offspring from larger families (hazard ratio 2.19, 95% confidence interval 1.32-3.63), average wealth families (1.66, 1.02-2.73) and rural families (1.63, 1.00-2.68), relative to offspring from highest status families. It seems that family's socioeconomic profile constructed prenatally has predictive value for midlife mortality among male offspring. Premature mortality of men and women seem to be two distinct phenomena with differing underlying factors as socioeconomic profile was not associated with mortality among female offspring.

Incentives can reduce bias in online employer reviews.

Online reviews are widely used to propagate the reputations of employers. However, existing research suggests that online reviews often suffer from selection bias-people with extreme opinions are more motivated to select into sharing them than people with moderate opinions, resulting in more extreme ratings. We find that providing incentives for reviewing can reduce this selection bias, because incentives can mitigate the motivational deficit of people who hold moderate opinions. Using data from Glassdoor, a leading employer review website, we find that incentivized ratings are less extreme than voluntary (self-selected) ratings. The likely bias in the distribution of voluntary reviews can affect workers' choice of employers. We complement our investigation with a randomized experiment that provides a cleaner test of selection bias. We again find that voluntary reviews of employers lead to more extreme reviews compared to non-voluntary reviews. Moreover, providing relatively high monetary rewards or a pro-social cue as incentives for reviewing also lowers the relative prevalence of extreme reviews. Although voluntary employer reviews often suffer from selection bias, incentives can reduce it and help workers make more informed employment choices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Demographic uniformitarianism: the theoretical basis of prehistoric demographic research and its cross-disciplinary challenges.

A principle of demographic uniformitarianism underpins all research into prehistoric demography (palaeodemography). This principle-which argues for continuity in the evolved mechanisms underlying modern human demographic processes and their response to environmental stimuli between past and present-provides the cross-disciplinary basis for palaeodemographic reconstruction and analysis. Prompted by the recent growth and interest in the field of prehistoric demography, this paper reviews the principle of demographic uniformitarianism, evaluates how it relates to two key debates in palaeodemographic research and seeks to delimit its range of applicability to past human and hominin populations. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography'.

Modelling interventions to control COVID-19 outbreaks in a refugee camp.

BACKGROUND: In the absence of effective treatments or vaccines, non-pharmaceutical interventions are the mainstay of control in the COVID-19 pandemic. Refugee populations in displacement camps live under adverse conditions that are likely to favour the spread of disease. To date, only a few cases of COVID-19 have appeared in refugee camps, and whether feasible non-pharmaceutical interventions can prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in such settings remains untested. METHODS: We constructed the first spatially explicit agent-based model of a COVID-19 outbreak in a refugee camp, and applied it to evaluate feasible non-pharmaceutical interventions. We parameterised the model using published data on the transmission rates and progression dynamics of COVID-19, and demographic and spatial data from Europe's largest refugee camp, the Moria displacement camp on Lesbos, Greece. We simulated COVID-19 epidemics with and without four feasible interventions. RESULTS: Spatial subdivision of the camp ('sectoring') was able to 'flatten the curve', reducing peak infection by up to 70% and delaying peak infection by up to several months. The use of face masks coupled with the efficient isolation of infected individuals reduced the overall incidence of infection, and sometimes averted epidemics altogether. These interventions must be implemented quickly in order to be maximally effective. Lockdowns had only small effects on COVID-19 dynamics. CONCLUSIONS: Agent-based models are powerful tools for forecasting the spread of disease in spatially structured and heterogeneous populations. Our findings suggest that feasible interventions can slow the spread of COVID-19 in a refugee camp setting, and provide an evidence base for camp managers planning intervention strategies. Our model can be modified to study other closed populations at risk from COVID-19 or future epidemics.

Soil Fungal Communities Investigated by Metabarcoding Within Simulated Forensic Burial Contexts.

Decomposition of animal bodies in the burial environment plays a key role in the biochemistry of the soil, altering the balance of the local microbial populations present before the introduction of the carcass. Despite the growing number of studies on decomposition and soil bacterial populations, less is known on its effects on fungal communities. Shifts in the fungal populations at different post-mortem intervals (PMIs) could provide insights for PMI estimation and clarify the role that specific fungal taxa have at specific decomposition stages. In this study, we buried pig carcasses over a period of 1- to 6-months, and we sampled the soil in contact with each carcass at different PMIs. We performed metabarcoding analysis of the mycobiome targeting both the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1 and 2, to elucidate which one was more suitable for this purpose. Our results showed a decrease in the fungal taxonomic richness associated with increasing PMIs, and the alteration of the soil fungal signature even after 6 months post-burial, showing the inability of soil communities to restore their original composition within this timeframe. The results highlighted taxonomic trends associated with specific PMIs, such as the increase of the Mortierellomycota after 4- and 6-months and of Ascomycota particularly after 2 months, and the decrease of Basidiomycota from the first to the last time point. We have found a limited number of taxa specifically associated with the carrion and not present in the control soil, showing that the major contributors to the recorded changes are originated from the soil and were not introduced by the carrion. As this is the first study conducted on burial graves, it sets the baseline for additional studies to investigate the role of fungal communities on prolonged decomposition periods and to identify fungal biomarkers to improve the accuracy of PMI prediction for forensic applications.

Collagen Sequence Analysis Reveals Evolutionary History of Extinct West Indies Nesophontes (Island-Shrews).

Ancient biomolecule analyses are proving increasingly useful in the study of evolutionary patterns, including extinct organisms. Proteomic sequencing techniques complement genomic approaches, having the potential to examine lineages further back in time than achievable using ancient DNA, given the less stringent preservation requirements. In this study, we demonstrate the ability to use collagen sequence analyses via proteomics to assist species delimitation as a foundation for informing evolutionary patterns. We uncover biogeographic information of an enigmatic and recently extinct lineage of Nesophontes across their range on the Caribbean islands. First, evolutionary relationships reconstructed from collagen sequences reaffirm the affinity of Nesophontes and Solenodon as sister taxa within Solenodonota. This relationship helps lay the foundation for testing geographical isolation hypotheses across islands within the Greater Antilles, including movement from Cuba toward Hispaniola. Second, our results are consistent with Cuba having just two species of Nesophontes (N. micrus and N. major) that exhibit intrapopulation morphological variation. Finally, analysis of the recently described species from the Cayman Islands (N. hemicingulus) indicates that it is a closer relative to N. major rather than N. micrus as previously speculated. This proteomic sequencing improves our understanding of the origin, evolution, and distribution of this extinct mammal lineage, particularly with respect to the approximate timing of speciation. Such knowledge is vital for this biodiversity hotspot, where the magnitude of recent extinctions may obscure true estimates of species richness in the past.

Degenerative variance on age-related traits from pelvic bone articulations and its implication for age estimation.

Age at death estimation methods, when applied to skeletal remains of adults, have provided inaccurate results. These aging methods often depend on observations of the degenerative changes occurring at specific articulations, however, the effects of the aging process on the human skeleton are only partially known. Therefore a need exists to increase our understanding about the age related metamorphosis process to improve aging methods. The aim of this study is to determine which age-related traits observable on the pelvic bone articulations are correlated and to quantify their shared degenerative variance. Thus it is intended to quantify the degenerative relationship among features within each pelvic joint. Fifteen age related traits were analyzed for the pubic symphysis, eight traits for the auricular surface of the ilium, and six traits for the acetabulum. Age-related traits from the pelvic joints were recorded on adult skeletons from two reference collections the William Bass Donated Skeletal Collection and the Coimbra Collection. A Principal Components Analysis, partial correlation controlling for age, and a Kendall's W coefficient of concordance were calculated to determine the level of dependence among traits. A similar pattern of correlation amongst traits was obtained for both collections. Some of the traits shared a high to moderate correlation. However, some features, such as dense bone at the auricular surface, possessed a high independence from other traits. Results suggest that age estimation methods should take into consideration how age-related traits correlate and their level of dependence, which may possibly assist in the establishment of more effective scoring systems in new and revised age at death estimation methods.

The biomechanical importance of the scaphoid-centrale fusion during simulated knuckle-walking and its implications for human locomotor evolution.

Inferring the locomotor behaviour of the last common ancestor (LCA) of humans and African apes is still a divisive issue. An African great-ape-like ancestor using knuckle-walking is still the most parsimonious hypothesis for the LCA, despite diverse conflicting lines of evidence. Crucial to this hypothesis is the role of the centrale in the hominoid wrist, since the fusion of this bone with the scaphoid is among the clearest morphological synapomorphies of African apes and hominins. However, the exact functional significance of this fusion remains unclear. We address this question by carrying out finite element simulations of the hominoid wrist during knuckle-walking by virtually generating fused and unfused morphologies in a sample of hominoids. Finite element analysis was applied to test the hypothesis that a fused scaphoid-centrale better withstands the loads derived from knuckle-walking. The results show that fused morphologies display lower stress values, hence supporting a biomechanical explanation for the fusion as a functional adaptation for knuckle-walking. This functional interpretation for the fusion contrasts with the current inferred positional behaviour of the earliest hominins, thus suggesting that this morphology was probably retained from an LCA that exhibited knuckle-walking as part of its locomotor repertoire and that was probably later exapted for other functions.

Postnatal maturation of the sternum in a Portuguese skeletal sample: a variable ossification process.

The timing of skeletal maturation is one of the common indicators used to estimate age at death of juvenile skeletal remains. Skeletal maturation of the sternum has received less attention than other anatomical locations, and there is a general lack of detailed information about the fusion timing in the dry sternum that can be used for the estimation of age. The objective of this study is to document the age variation in the fusion of the body sternebrae, and both clavicular and intercostal notches. A three stage scale scheme was used (unfused elements, partial, and complete fusion) to quantify fusion of primary and secondary ossification centres in a sample of 68 individuals of both sexes from the identified skeletal collection housed at the National Museum of Natural History and Science in Lisbon, Portugal. Analysis was performed only for the pooled sex sample due to small sample size. Wide age intervals were obtained for fusion stages at all of the sternal centres. Primary ossification centres start to fuse between 1 and 27 years of age, with sternebrae 3 and 4 completing their fusion first. Secondary ossification centres fuse between 5 to 25 years of age. Results reflect considerable variability among individuals in the maturation of the sternum.

Metabarcoding to investigate changes in soil microbial communities within forensic burial contexts.

The estimation of the time elapsed since death (post-mortem interval, or PMI) is one of the key themes that forensic scientists have to address frequently. However, the estimation of PMI still suffers from poor accuracy and biases especially when decomposition stages are prolonged, so further improvements in methods for PMI estimation are desirable. Soil microbial communities associated with decomposing bodies have been shown to be good candidates for the estimation of the PMI of exposed bodies. Nevertheless, further research is required to better understand the bacterial succession associated with decomposition of buried carcasses in order to test its reliability and applicability for the estimation of PMI and to better understand the dynamics involved with decomposition within this particular scenario. Therefore we explored the succession of soil microbial communities associated with four decomposing pig carcasses (from one to six months PMI) using a metabarcoding approach. The sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA variable region 4 (V4) revealed trends linking particular microbial taxa with specific PMIs, and notably an increase in Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes at specific PMIs as well as a decrease in Acidobacteria. Our results, in accordance with previous studies conducted on exposed bodies of different mammalian species (including humans), also showed a general reduction of the taxonomic richness from two months PMI onwards, as well as an incomplete re-establishment of the starting soil microbial conditions after six months PMI. We also found specific mammal-derived taxa, such as Bacteroides spp., being still present in the soil after six months PMI. As such, this study serves as a baseline for additional research to allow the characterisation of biomarkers associated with specific PMIs. Due to the similarity between the results presented here and those reported in other types of decomposition studies we believe that the metabarcoding approach has considerable potential in the estimation of the PMI, particularly to clarify cases involving heavily skeletonised bodies or for the investigation of clandestine graves in which the carcass has been moved from its original place of deposition.

Forensic proteomics for the evaluation of the post-mortem decay in bones.

Current methods for evaluation the of post-mortem interval (PMI) of skeletal remains suffer from poor accuracy due to the great number of variables that affect the diagenetic process and to the lack of specific guidelines to address this issue. During decomposition, proteins can undergo cumulative decay over the time, resulting in a decrease in the range and abundance of proteins present (i.e., the proteome) in different tissues as well as in an increase of post-translational modifications occurring in these proteins. In this study, we investigate the applicability of bone proteomic analyses to simulated forensic contexts, looking for specific biomarkers that may help the estimation of PMI, as well as evaluate a previously discovered marker for the estimation of biological age. We noticed a reduction of particular plasma and muscle proteins with increasing PMIs, as well as an increased deamidation of biglycan, a protein with a role in modulating bone growth and mineralization. We also corroborated our previous results regarding the use of fetuin-A as a potential biomarker for the estimation of age-at-death, demonstrating the applicability and the great potential that proteomics may have towards forensic sciences. SIGNIFICANCE: The estimation of the post-mortem interval has a key role in forensic investigations, however nowadays it still suffers from poor reliability, especially when body tissues are heavily decomposed. Here we propose for the first time the application of bone proteomics to the estimation of the time elapsed since death and found several new potential biomarkers to address this, demonstrating the applicability of proteomic analyses to forensic sciences.

Exploring Biological and Geological Age-related Changes through Variations in Intra- and Intertooth Proteomes of Ancient Dentine.

Proteomic analyses are becoming more widely used in archeology not only due to the greater preservation of proteins in ancient specimens than DNA but also because they can offer different information, particularly relating to compositional preservation and potentially a means to estimate biological and geological age. However, it remains unclear to what extent different burial environments impact these aspects of proteome decay. Teeth have to date been much less studied than bone but are ideal to explore how proteins decay with time due to the negligible turnover that occurs in dentine relative to bone. We investigated the proteome variability and deamidation levels of different sections of molar teeth from archeological bovine mandibles as well as their mandibular bone. We obtained a greater yield of proteins from the crown of the teeth but did not find differences between the different molars analyzed within each mandible. We also obtained the best variety of protein from a well-preserved mandible that was not the youngest one in terms of chronological age, showing the influence of the preservation conditions on the final proteomic outcome. Intriguingly, we also noticed an increase in abundance levels of fetuin-A in biologically younger mandibles as reported previously, but the opposite trend in tooth dentine. Interestingly, we observed higher glutamine deamidation levels in teeth from the geologically oldest mandible despite it being the biologically youngest specimen, showing that the archeological age strongly impacts on the level of deamidations observed, much more so than biological aging. This indicates that the glutamine deamidation ratio of selected peptides may act as a good predictor of the relative geochronological age of archeological specimens.

A volumetric technique for fossil body mass estimation applied to Australopithecus afarensis.

Fossil body mass estimation is a well established practice within the field of physical anthropology. Previous studies have relied upon traditional allometric approaches, in which the relationship between one/several skeletal dimensions and body mass in a range of modern taxa is used in a predictive capacity. The lack of relatively complete skeletons has thus far limited the potential application of alternative mass estimation techniques, such as volumetric reconstruction, to fossil hominins. Yet across vertebrate paleontology more broadly, novel volumetric approaches are resulting in predicted values for fossil body mass very different to those estimated by traditional allometry. Here we present a new digital reconstruction of Australopithecus afarensis (A.L. 288-1; 'Lucy') and a convex hull-based volumetric estimate of body mass. The technique relies upon identifying a predictable relationship between the 'shrink-wrapped' volume of the skeleton and known body mass in a range of modern taxa, and subsequent application to an articulated model of the fossil taxa of interest. Our calibration dataset comprises whole body computed tomography (CT) scans of 15 species of modern primate. The resulting predictive model is characterized by a high correlation coefficient (r2 = 0.988) and a percentage standard error of 20%, and performs well when applied to modern individuals of known body mass. Application of the convex hull technique to A. afarensis results in a relatively low body mass estimate of 20.4 kg (95% prediction interval 13.5-30.9 kg). A sensitivity analysis on the articulation of the chest region highlights the sensitivity of our approach to the reconstruction of the trunk, and the incomplete nature of the preserved ribcage may explain the low values for predicted body mass here. We suggest that the heaviest of previous estimates would require the thorax to be expanded to an unlikely extent, yet this can only be properly tested when more complete fossils are available.

Intra- and Interskeletal Proteome Variations in Fresh and Buried Bones.

Proteomic methods are acquiring greater importance in archaeology and palaeontology due to the longevity of proteins in skeletal remains. There are also developing interests in forensic applications, offering the potential to shed light on post-mortem intervals and age at death estimation. However, our understanding of intra- and interskeletal proteome variations is currently severely limited. Here, we evaluated the proteomes obtained from five distinct subsamples of different skeletal elements from buried pig carcasses to ascertain the extent of variation within and between individuals. We found that reproducibility of data depends on the skeletal element used for sampling and that intrabone differences exceed those observed between the same skeletal element sampled from different individuals. Interestingly, the abundance of several serum proteins appeared to correlate with biological age with relative concentrations of alpha-1 antitrypsin and chromogranin-A increasing and those of fetuin-A decreasing. We also observed a surprising level of divergence in data from different LC-MS/MS runs on aliquots of similar samples analyzed months apart, adding constraints to the comparison of results of such methods across different studies.

High-throughput collagen fingerprinting of intact microfaunal remains; a low-cost method for distinguishing between murine rodent bones.

RATIONALE: Microfaunal skeletal remains can be sensitive indicators of the contemporary ecosystem in which they are sampled and are often recovered in owl pellets in large numbers. Species identification of these remains can be obtained using a range of morphological criteria established for particular skeletal elements, but typically dominated by a reliance on cranial characters. However, this can induce biases under different environmental and taphonomic conditions. The aim of this research was to develop a high-throughput method of objectively identifying rodent remains from archaeological deposits using collagen fingerprinting, most notably the identification of rats from other myomorph rodents as a means to identify disturbances in the archaeofauna through the presence of invasive taxa not contemporary with the archaeological deposits. METHODS: Collagen was extracted from complete microfaunal skeletal remains in such a manner as to leave the bones morphologically intact (i.e., weaker concentration of acid than previously used over shorter length of time). Acid-soluble collagen was then ultrafiltered into ammonium bicarbonate and digested with trypsin prior to dilution in the MALDI matrix and acquisition of peptide mass fingerprints using a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometer. RESULTS: Collagen fingerprinting was able to distinguish between Rattus, Mus, Apodemus and Micromys at the genus level; at the species level, R. rattus and R. norvegicus could be separated whereas A. flavicollis and A. sylvaticus could not. A total of 12,317 archaeological microvertebrate samples were screened for myomorph signatures but none were found to be invasive rats (Rattus) or mice (Mus). Of the contemporary murine fauna, no harvest mice (Micromys) were identified and only 24 field mouse (Apodemus) discovered. CONCLUSIONS: As a result, no evidence of recent bioturbation could be inferred from the faunal remains of these archaeological deposits. More importantly this work presents a method for high-throughput screening of specific taxa and is the first application of collagen fingerprinting to microfaunal remains of archaeological specimens.

Collagen Fingerprinting: A New Screening Technique for Radiocarbon Dating Ancient Bone.

Collagen is the dominant organic component of bone and is intimately locked within the hydroxyapatite structure of this ubiquitous biomaterial that dominates archaeological and palaeontological assemblages. Radiocarbon analysis of extracted collagen is one of the most common approaches to dating bone from late Pleistocene or Holocene deposits, but dating is relatively expensive compared to other biochemical techniques. Numerous analytical methods have previously been investigated for the purpose of screening out samples that are unlikely to yield reliable dates including histological analysis, UV-stimulated fluorescence and, most commonly, the measurement of percentage nitrogen (%N) and ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C:N). Here we propose the use of collagen fingerprinting (also known as Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, or ZooMS, when applied to species identification) as an alternative screening method for radiocarbon dating, due to its ability to provide information on collagen presence and quality, alongside species identification. The method was tested on a series of sub-fossil bone specimens from cave systems on Cayman Brac (Cayman Islands), chosen due to the observable range in diagenetic alteration, and in particular, the extent of mineralisation. Six (14)C dates, of 18 initial attempts, were obtained from remains of extinct hutia, Capromys sp. (Rodentia; Capromyidae), recovered from five distinct caves on Cayman Brac, and ranging from 393 ± 25 to 1588 ± 26 radiocarbon years before present (yr BP). All of the bone samples that yielded radiocarbon dates generated excellent collagen fingerprints, and conversely those that gave poor fingerprints also failed dating. Additionally, two successfully fingerprinted bone samples were screened out from a set of 81. Both subsequently generated (14)C dates, demonstrating successful utilisation of ZooMS as an alternative screening mechanism to identify bone samples that are suitable for 1(4)C analysis.

Genome sequencing of the extinct Eurasian wild aurochs, Bos primigenius, illuminates the phylogeography and evolution of cattle.

BACKGROUND: Domestication of the now-extinct wild aurochs, Bos primigenius, gave rise to the two major domestic extant cattle taxa, B. taurus and B. indicus. While previous genetic studies have shed some light on the evolutionary relationships between European aurochs and modern cattle, important questions remain unanswered, including the phylogenetic status of aurochs, whether gene flow from aurochs into early domestic populations occurred, and which genomic regions were subject to selection processes during and after domestication. Here, we address these questions using whole-genome sequencing data generated from an approximately 6,750-year-old British aurochs bone and genome sequence data from 81 additional cattle plus genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data from a diverse panel of 1,225 modern animals. RESULTS: Phylogenomic analyses place the aurochs as a distinct outgroup to the domestic B. taurus lineage, supporting the predominant Near Eastern origin of European cattle. Conversely, traditional British and Irish breeds share more genetic variants with this aurochs specimen than other European populations, supporting localized gene flow from aurochs into the ancestors of modern British and Irish cattle, perhaps through purposeful restocking by early herders in Britain. Finally, the functions of genes showing evidence for positive selection in B. taurus are enriched for neurobiology, growth, metabolism and immunobiology, suggesting that these biological processes have been important in the domestication of cattle. CONCLUSIONS: This work provides important new information regarding the origins and functional evolution of modern cattle, revealing that the interface between early European domestic populations and wild aurochs was significantly more complex than previously thought.

The sexual dimorphism of the sacro-iliac joint: an investigation using geometric morphometric techniques.

The ability to correctly estimate the sex of skeletal remains is vital in forensic sciences. This article investigates the sexual dimorphism of the human sacro-iliac joint, using geometric morphometric techniques that assess morphological characters better than the traditional approaches for recording outline shapes, which are subject to quantification and inter-observer problems. Eight two-dimensional landmarks were recorded from digital images of 29 female and 35 male auricular surfaces of the ilium and sacrum. The specimens were analyzed using geometric morphometric methods (Generalized Procrustes analysis, relative warp analysis, Goodall's F) and multivariate statistics (ANOVA, MANCOVA, principal component analysis, discriminant function analysis [DFA]). Both the size and shape of the analyzed structures were found to be sexually dimorphic. The DFA illustrated that when the form of both the iliac and sacral articular surface is taken as a predictor variable, 94.5% of the individuals are assigned to the correct sex. The successful sex determination obtained by the DFA makes the further study of the sacro-iliac joint's sexual dimorphism promising.