12th of December 2007)
Pygmies make the smallest human race, but they are not dwarfs. Amongst those of pure blood, men have an average height of just 1.45 m (4 ft 10 in) and women of 1.33 m (4 ft, 1in), still they do not represent a dwarf variant of the Black Africans. Their body proportions are the same with those of other humans, that's why their heads look large compared to the rest of the body. But otherwise, they are perfectly proportioned, whereas dwarfs are deformed.
This is an ancient race and only the Khoi-San people (bushmen), now restricted to South Africa, are the oldest among existent Homo sapiens races. They are closer to the so-called Asian Blacks, who inhabit much of India, New Guinea, Melanesia and Australia (Aborigines) and have many genes in various populations from South Asia and Polynesia.
Article goes on to talk talk about the regions the pymies hit up (where our famous steatopygians are now found), and that pygmism is such a quick evolving process (plasticity of bones) and common on isolated islands (for mamoths and others too) where there are no predators, small gene pool, and not great nutrition, and that women had short lives (16. Some current related populations have menopause at 28-30) so had sex early and needed the conserved energy.
Does that mean this early branch of humans (one of few? the original?) had steatopygia on a short frame with skinny legs, it was just this big boody sticking out (and possibly up?)
The same author writes about steatopygia:
"In steatopygia, the buttocks consist of masses of fat incorporated between criss-crossed sheets of connective tissue, joined to one another in a regular manner, while in other greatly enlarged buttocks, there is a mere accumulation of fat between two of the gluteus muscles (maximus and medius).
Steatopygia is believed to be an adaptive physiological feature for female humans living in hot environments, as it maximizes their bodies' surface-area/volume ratio but keeps enough fat to produce hormones needed for menstruation.
With fat deposited heavily in only certain areas in the middle on the trunk of the body, the limbs are left slim enough to expel heat more efficiently.
But more likely, being able to store large fat amounts is important in very seasonal environments like those in African savanna, where during the dry season, a food shortage installs, and live largely off of their stored fat.
Bushmen and pygmies are still hunters-gatherers, unlike other African populations that practice agriculture, so they do not experience severe food shortage during the dry season.
Women possessing these fat deposits can keep on reproducing through the unproductive seasons, thereby increasing their fitness.
Others say that the steatopygia developed as a response to sexual selection. "
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