This 2-year follow-up study examined the impact of different sports on changes in handgrip strength (HGS) during development and found that kendo athletes who use bamboo swords showed greater improvements in HGS than soccer players, who do not rely on gripping for their sport.

Check out this Student Webinar! Courtney Callidora Manthey and Madison Honig chat with Dr. Josh Snodgrass about navigating fieldwork as graduate students. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJo8...

New Student Webinar! Dr. Eric Shattuck, an Assistant Professor at Florida State University, sits down with Courtney Callidora Manthey and Madison Honig to talk about submitting abstracts to the Human Biology Association. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRKT...

A pioneer in Evolutionary Anthropology, Jane B. Lancaster (1935–2025) integrated primatology with human evolution. She did groundbreaking work on sex roles, parental investment, and life history strategies. She also founded the journal Human Nature. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

[new paper alert!!]. Taking another look at the traditional Out of Africa I model… 😎😎 @courtneymanthey.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🎥 Dr. Bill Leonard, editor of the American Journal of Human Biology, joins hosts Madison Honig and Courtney Callidora Manthey to discuss publishing in academia, from navigating peer review to building a strong research career. 👉 Watch now on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pzf...

Chris and Courtney sit down with Dr. Sofía Pacheco-Fores, a bioarchaeologist whose research explores migration and violence in ancient Mexico using biogeochemical approaches. 🔗 soundcloud.com/sausageofscience/sos-254-a-biogeochemical-approach-to-migration-and-violence-with-sofia-pacheco-flores

Chris and Courtney sit down with Dr. Sofía Pacheco-Fores, a bioarchaeologist whose research explores migration and violence in ancient Mexico using biogeochemical approaches. 🔗 soundcloud.com/sausageofscience/sos-254-a-biogeochemical-approach-to-migration-and-violence-with-sofia-pacheco-flores

In Memoriam We honor the legacy of Dr. Gretel H. Pelto — a pioneering matriarch of applied nutritional and medical anthropology. Her work continues to inspire generations of scholars dedicated to understanding the intersections of food, health, and culture.

Our study analyzed over 47,000 births in Jujuy, Argentina, to explore how geographical altitude shapes newborn body composition. We found that babies born at high altitude had less fat mass and body fat percentage, but more fat-free mass, compared with those born at lower altitude.

New Sausage of Science! This week, Chris and Cara talk with Dr. Josh Brahinsky, a researcher at UC Berkeley’s Social Interaction Lab and teaching faculty at UC Santa Cruz, whose work bridges anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience. soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

In our newly published systematic review in the American Journal of Human Biology, we explore the association between the 2D:4D digit ratio—a proposed marker of prenatal androgen exposure—and cardiometabolic risk factors such as obesity, blood pressure, lipid profiles, and metabolic syndrome.

How do gendered social inequalities shape how bodies develop? This article uses the case of Aussie Rules football to show how gender disparities accumulate across the athlete lifecourse, resulting in entirely different developmental pathways for women and men and shaping ACL injury risk.

📢The Student Webinar Series is back! Join Courtney Callidora Manthey and Madison Honig as they kick off the season with Dr. Christopher Bae (University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa) for a conversation on publishing as a grad student. Don’t miss this great start to the series! www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmE...

This paper by Luis Alberto Flores and colleagues examined differences in somatic maturation status among Mexican children and adolescents across geographic regions of the country, considering SES and their association with body mass index (BMI)-based overweight and obesity.

This article revisits “Field and Laboratory Methods in Human Milk Research” published in 2013 in AJHB. In it, we celebrate +10 years of milk research in the journal, as part of the 50th anniversary of the Human Biology Association.

🎙️ New Episode Alert! This week we sit down with Jake Aronoff, a human biologist exploring the intersections of immune function, aging, and inequality. soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

Parallel Editorials in the AJHB & AHB on addressing current threats to research & global engagement in human biology. doi.org/10.1002/ajhb... doi.org/10.1080/0301...

According to the current study, newborns who had antenatally detected hydronephrosis, which is often temporary, showed a significant association with their digit ratio (the length of the index finger relative to the ring finger), an indirect marker of prenatal androgen exposure.

New Sausage of Science episode! Dr. Luisa María Rivera is a critical biocultural anthropologist whose work examines how social inequality, trauma, and structural violence shape reproductive and maternal–infant health. Listen Here: soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

The paper “Son preference and 3rd birth interval comparative analysis of polygynous vs monogamous families in Pakistan” investigates the influence of son preference on fertility behavior, with a specific focus on birth intervals and the sex composition of existing children,

This study was conducted to determine whether potential allometries in hand digit lengths affect the observed sexual dimorphism in digit ratios.

Extreme climatic events pose threats to livelihoods and health. This new study demonstrates how chronic stress measured via fingernail cortisol and high levels of water insecurity were associated with greater levels of inflammation during a historic 2022 drought in northern Kenya.

In this study in a rural Maya community from Yucatan, we showed that rapid integration into market economy favour larger secular increases in children's BMI and smaller increases in height. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

🎙️ New Sausage of Science Episode! Meet Leela McKinnon, PhD Candidate in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Toronto. Her research explores sleep health in Indigenous Wixárika communities in Jalisco, Mexico—focusing on how rural-to-urban migration impacts sleep and circadian rhythms.

15 year AJHB retrospective on intergenerational effects of racism on CVD: Kuzawa & Sweet propose a new “push-pull” model decoupling health effects of racism from birth weight. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Height of men of the German Armed Forces born between 1865 and 1975 was correlated with indicators of economic prosperity (GDP), nutrition, infant mortality, income inequality and household wealth share. Before 1916, average height increased by 0.45 mm/year, between 1916 and 1933 by 2.15 mm/year

HBA is recruiting a Junior Service Fellow (Assistant Producer) for “The Sausage of Science.” 🗣️ Bilingual EN/ES required 🕒 ~6 hrs/mo | 🎧 Edit + schedule + show notes + social 💸 $750 HBA travel grant Training provided. Apply: email interest + CV + adviser letter to [email protected]

This study explores how bone microanatomy can reflect early developmental changes in perinatal remains from past populations. By analyzing humeral cross-sections from nine selected individuals, including three recovered from maternal-fetal burials, researchers identified microstructural

Season 9 starts NOW! New Sausage of Science episode! Chris Lynn and Courtney Manthey sit down with Dr. Haley Ragsdale to discuss intergenerational signals of matrilineal experience. soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

New perspective on the maternal capital hypothesis reviews evidence on how societal stresses inflict penalties on maternal phenotype that are transmitted to the offspring, and shows how interventions can benefit both mothers and infants.

The AJHB’s Virtual Special Issue, “Human Biology of Pastoralists Populations", is now complete. Special thanks to Guest Editor Ben Campbell, and to Michael Little for his foundational contributions to this research domain! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...

The Old Friends Hypothesis proposes that we experience immune dysregulation (e.g., chronic inflammation, allergies, autoimmune diseases) because we no longer experience the same immune-priming infections that our ancestors did.

15 years of gender/sex - @SarivanAnders on testosterone to racialization to "knobby knees": how seeing bioparameters as "gender/sex" makes for more accurate, empirical, and just science. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Avoiding “Too Tall” and “Too Short: The Effect of the Community on the Regulation of Body Height" by Hermanussen, Aßmann, & Scheffler, examines the role of social signaling in the regulation of human growth using data from ~14 million German recruits & conscripts born 1865–1975

Our brief history of the high-altitude town of Nuñoa, Peru described the anthropological field research conducted at this place over a period of more than 60 years. Early studies were initiated by Paul T. Baker and students from Penn State University in 1962.

Nuevo episodio de The Sausage of Science La Dra. Isaura Cruz comparte su investigación biocultural sobre la salud cardiovascular y metabólica entre comunidades P'urépecha en Michoacán y Carolina del Norte. Una mirada profunda al medio ambiente, la salud y la identidad. soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

New Sausage of Science episode! Chris and Cristina talk with Anamika Nanda, a PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences and a Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Fellow at the University of Southern California. soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

50 years of stable isotope analysis have revolutionized how we reconstruct human diets - but what about what’s happening inside the body? A new commentary traces the growing interest in using isotope ratios to track not just what goes into the body, but what happens within it.

The Human Biology Association website will be temporarily unavailable for a planned update from July 18–20. Thank you for your patience!

During a severe drought, breastfeeding Ariaal mothers in northern Kenya protect their nutrition and their milk nutrient content in many ways—socially, behaviorally, and biologically. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Check out this Sausage of Science episode! Chris Lynn and Courtney Manthey chat with Emily Barron, a PhD student and biological anthropologist at Northwestern University and a Student Representative for the Human Biology Association! soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

New Sausage of Science episode! Chris and Cristina sit down with anthropologist and clinical speech-language pathologist Seth Dornisch, whose work bridges evolutionary theory, biocultural analysis, and clinical practice. soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...

Recent study on the factors influencing complementary feeding in the urban Amazon highlights the importance of constraints on mothers’ time and agency and the marketing of ultra-processed foods and proposes a biocultural model to guide future research on this topic.

A Statement on the Attacks on Science, Diverse Voices of Excellence, International Scholars

The AJHB’s first Virtual Special Issue, “Biosocial Perspectives on Life in Urban Environments", is now complete. Special thanks to Guest Editors Kyle Wiley & Carlye Chaney! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1...

📣 Calling all HBA members! We’re planning the 2026 meeting in Denver and want to hear from you to help make it rewarding, safe, and inclusive for everyone.

This study leveraged data from a long-term field project in Amazonian Ecuador to examine whether and how circulating Epstein–Barr virus antibodies (EBV-Ab)—a common biomarker of chronic stress in high-income settings—

In medieval Spain, the transition to adulthood was defined by physical development rather than age. A study of skeletal remains from the Marialba de la Ribera cemetery shows that puberty began between ages 10–12, with the first menstruation occurring around age 16.

New Sausage of Science episode! Chris and Cristina interview Dr. Pablo Nepomnaschy, a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. soundcloud.com/sausageofsci...