title: Ontogeny of modern human longitudinal body and transverse shoulder proportions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Whereas variation of modern human adult body size and shape has been widely studied in the context of ecogeographical clines, little is known about the differential growth patterns of transverse and longitudinal dimensions among human populations. Our study explored the ontogenetic variation of those body proportions in modern humans.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared results from four different approaches to study cross-sectional skeletal samples of Africans (n = 43), Amerindians (n = 69) and Europeans (n = 40) from 0 to 14 years of age. Clavicle, humerus, and femur intermetaphyseal lengths, and femoral distal metaphyseal breadth, were measured. Average ontogenetic trajectories were computed in order to compare the growth patterns of the three groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our findings demonstrated that the three geographical groups shared similar absolute and relative patterns of change with age for the four dimensions considered. Although interpopulation differences existed in transverse to longitudinal as well as in interlimb proportions, those differences did not seem to remain constant throughout ontogeny, similar to what has been shown for intralimb proportions. Growth rates of transverse shoulder proportions differed between populations from different regions after 10 years, whereas those for longitudinal proportions were very similar.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The ontogeny of transverse shoulder proportions is more complex than what is observed for bi-iliac breadth, suggesting that transverse shoulder to limb proportions are not solely influenced by ecogeographical conditions. Our analysis demonstrates that methodologies that incorporate critical dimensions of body form could shed new light on human adaptation in both paleontological and neontological contexts.
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, 2050, South Africa.|UMR 7268 ADES, Aix-Marseille Université/EFS/CNRS, Marseille, 13344, France.
authors.forename: Mélanie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Frelat
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Surgery, University Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Madrid, 28933, Spain.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coquerelle
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, 63130.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trinkaus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D000886:Anthropometry; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002968:Clavicle / Q000254:growth & development; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000254:growth & development*; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D006811:Humerus / Q000254:growth & development; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007629:Kentucky; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal; D012782:Shoulder / Q000254:growth & development*; D013019:South Africa
keywords: allometry; body proportions; clavicle length; ecogeographical rules; transverse growth