Peter Chopelas wrote: ><SNIP> last year George Dyson wrote an article for >Scientific American about native Aleut adaptation to >specialized kayaking skills. <SNIP> The implication >was that repeated daily padding developed bone mass >in the arms.<SNIP> Matt Broze wrote ><SNIP> The implication I took from this was that over >many thousands of years of kayak hunting (and in a hard >environment to survive in) those males who were most >adapted to using the kayak for hunting were probably >the ones who survived and reproduced.<SNIP> G'day Peter, Matt and Paddlewise, Finally got hold of the Scientific American article and found it fascinating. Thanks for the reference. Had assumed that the differences were between pre and post industrial revolution bodies and wondered what environmental constraints could have driven such fast natural selection. But it turns out that the article compares Russian and Aleut humerus bones of the same age rather than ancient vs modern Aleut. An example of one bone set is given in which the Aleut is thicker than the Russian bone. There is a mention that others were investigated and references to other demonstrations of Aleut upper body strength. The paper suggested evolution might be responsible. Not much data but a compelling circumstantial argument. All the best, PeterO *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Jul 25 2002 - 14:31:47 PDT
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