Producción CyT
Artículo
Autoría
López Rey, J. M.
;
D Angelo del Campo, M. D.
;
Bettera Marcat, G.
;
ARRIETA, MARIO ALBERTO
;
Fabra, M.
;
Salega, S.
;
Mercolli, P.
;
Seldes, V.
;
García Martínez, D.
;
Bastir, M.
Fecha
2026
Editorial y Lugar de Edición
WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC
Revista
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN BIOLOGY,
vol. 38
WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC
Resumen
Información suministrada por el agente en
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Objectives: Altitude shapes human morphology as highland populations must cope with cold and hypoxic environments. Although Andean highlanders have been proposed to exhibit larger and deeper ribcages, this idea is mainly based on research using disarticulated skeletal elements or non- South American controls. The objective of this research is to study 3D ribcage configuration of native South American populations considering altitude and worldwide ribcage variation.Methods: Ribcages of 37 adult ...
Objectives: Altitude shapes human morphology as highland populations must cope with cold and hypoxic environments. Although Andean highlanders have been proposed to exhibit larger and deeper ribcages, this idea is mainly based on research using disarticulated skeletal elements or non- South American controls. The objective of this research is to study 3D ribcage configuration of native South American populations considering altitude and worldwide ribcage variation.Methods: Ribcages of 37 adult South Americans (17 highlanders, 20 lowlanders) were reconstructed and analyzed using 3D geometric morphometrics. Shape variation was assessed through Procrustes MANOVA and PCA, while centroid size was used to test for size differences. Comparisons were also made with a sample of 92 adult worldwide lowlanders.Results: South American highlanders and lowlanders show similar ribcage shapes, both exhibiting a deeper thorax than worldwide lowlanders. No significant differences in absolute ribcage size were detected between South American highlanders and lowlanders. However, a marked sexual dimorphism was observed in both groups, with males having wider and significantly larger ribcages than females.Conclusions: The pronounced ribcage depth in native South Americans could represent a population- specific trait maintained through long- term interactions, potentially advantageous in high- altitude settings but neutral in the lowlands. In addition, we propose that South American highlanders have a larger ribcage relative to their smaller body size compared to lowlanders.Finally, the larger and stockier male ribcage morphology in South Americans supports the notion of greater respiratory capacity and metabolic demands in males.
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Palabras Clave
LOWLANDSHIGHLANDSGEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRICSANDEANTHORAX