Eyre, J, Williams, SA, Grabowski, M, Winters, S and Pontzer, H (2024) The effect of bi-iliac breadth on core body temperature. Journal of Human Evolution, 195. p. 103580. ISSN 0047-2484

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Abstract

Thermoregulation is argued to be an important factor influencing body breadth in hominins based on the relationship of surface area to body mass first proposed by Bergmann. Selection for a narrow thorax, and thus a narrow pelvis, increases body surface area relative to body mass, which could be beneficial in hot climates if it leads to a decrease in core body temperature. However, the relationship between pelvic breadth and thermoregulation in humans has not been established. Although previous work has shown that bi-iliac breadth is significantly positively associated with latitude in humans, we lack an understanding of whether this association is due to climate-related selection, neutral evolutionary processes, or other selective pressures. A missing piece of the puzzle is whether body breadth at the iliac blades is an important factor in thermoregulation. Here, we examine this in a mixed-sex sample of 28 adult runners who ran for one hour at 3.14 m s−1 in a variety of climatic conditions while their core body temperatures were measured using internal temperature sensors. The association of maximum core temperature with anthropometric and demographic variables such as age, sex, mass, body fat percentage, and bi-iliac breadth was analyzed using a linear mixed-effect model. Due to the small sample size, the model was also bootstrapped. We found that an increase in absolute bi-iliac breadth was significantly associated with an increase in maximum core temperature. Overall, this preliminary analysis suggests a link between variation in bi-iliac breadth and maximum core body temperature during running, but further investigation is needed.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Ilium; Humans; Body Temperature; Body Temperature Regulation; Running; Adult; Middle Aged; Female; Male; Young Adult; Allen's rule; Bergmann's rule; Body breadth; Pelvic breadth; Pelvis; Thermoregulation; Humans; Male; Female; Adult; Body Temperature Regulation; Body Temperature; Ilium; Young Adult; Running; Middle Aged; 0603 Evolutionary Biology; 1601 Anthropology; 2101 Archaeology; Anthropology
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology Q Science > QH Natural history > QH301 Biology
Divisions:	Biological and Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2024 12:52
Last Modified:	03 Oct 2024 13:00
DOI or ID number:	10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103580
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/24392

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