title: Indirect evidence for the genetic determination of short stature in African Pygmies.
abstract: Central African Pygmy populations are known to be the shortest human populations worldwide. Many evolutionary hypotheses have been proposed to explain this short stature: adaptation to food limitations, climate, forest density, or high mortality rates. However, such hypotheses are difficult to test given the lack of long-term surveys and demographic data. Whether the short stature observed nowadays in African Pygmy populations as compared to their Non-Pygmy neighbors is determined by genetic factors remains widely unknown. Here, we study a uniquely large new anthropometrical dataset comprising more than 1,000 individuals from 10 Central African Pygmy and neighboring Non-Pygmy populations, categorized as such based on cultural criteria rather than height. We show that climate, or forest density may not play a major role in the difference in adult stature between existing Pygmies and Non-Pygmies, without ruling out the hypothesis that such factors played an important evolutionary role in the past. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship between stature and neutral genetic variation in a subset of 213 individuals and found that the Pygmy individuals' stature was significantly positively correlated with levels of genetic similarity with the Non-Pygmy gene-pool for both men and women. Overall, we show that a Pygmy individual exhibiting a high level of genetic admixture with the neighboring Non-Pygmies is likely to be taller. These results show for the first time that the major morphological difference in stature found between Central African Pygmy and Non-Pygmy populations is likely determined by genetic factors.
authors.affiliation: CNRS-MNHN-Université Paris, UMR Eco-anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, France. nbecker@mnhn.fr
authors.forename: Noémie S A
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verdu
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Froment
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Le Bomin
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pagezy
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bahuchet
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000350:Africa, Central / Q000453:epidemiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics*; D001827:Body Height / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D019295:Computational Biology; D005260:Female; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male