Fertility and Physique in a Malnourished Population

Document Type

Article

Authors

William H. Mueller, University of Texas, Houston, Texas

Abstract

In theory, quantitative characters are subject to three kinds of natural selection: directional, stabilizing and disruptive. In the first, fitness has a linear association with a character, and in the remaining two, a curvilinear association. In a moderately malnourished population from Andean Colombia, fertility—the number of surviving offspring—has a linear (positive) association with measurements of soft tissue. The wealthier are both fatter and have larger families in this population, suggesting that this trend is the result of socioeconomic factors. However, bony measurements tend to have a curvilinear relationship to fertility such that large and small boned individuals have fewer surviving offspring, the same pattern of stabilizing selection observed in samples from well-nourished industrial societies.

Recommended Citation

Mueller, William H. (1979) "Fertility and Physique in a Malnourished Population," Human Biology: Vol. 51: Iss. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol51/iss2/6