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Evolution of hair in great apes and humans
Vejmělková, Anna ; Hora, Martin (advisor) ; Jarešová, Pavla Alexia (referee)
Humans are distinguished from other primates by their functionally naked body surface, caused by reduced body hair density and the type of hair called vellus, with which humans are predominantly covered. This type of hair represents fine and poorly pigmented hair, which, unlike terminal hair, is hardly visible. However, a reduced hair density can also be observed in other hominids, including the genus Homo and the genera Pan, Gorilla, and Pongo. In this work, we first compare the hair density of selected body parts for different species of primates. Next, we describe the structure and functions of hair and discuss hypotheses that explain the possible circumstances leading to a gradual decrease in hair density. We mainly focus on crucial hypotheses related to bipedal locomotion, inhabiting tropical savanna areas, parasites, or the influence of sexual selection. However, we also present some other hypotheses related to the wearing of clothes or the inhabiting of the aquatic environment by our ancestors. This work aims to compare these hypotheses, present arguments for and against them, and summarize their possible effects on the current state. Keywords: human, great apes, evolution, hair
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Body mass estimation by skeletal features in juvenile individuals
Volejníková, Anežka ; Sládek, Vladimír (advisor) ; Jarešová, Pavla Alexia (referee)
Body mass is one of the basic human characteristics used in various anthropological disciplines and can be used in behavioral and environmental studies of present and past populations. This thesis provides a brief summary of methods by which the body mass can be retrospectively reconstructed from skeletal dimensions in juvenile individuals. It also summarizes the important factors which may affect the weight reconstruction, as the child skeleton is more sensitive to environmental influences than the adult skeleton. The effects of nutrition, genetics, physical activity and ecogeography are discussed. Key words: body mass estimation, body mass, ontogeny, growth, postcranial skeleton
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Estimation of surface area and volume of the body using multisegment model for the study of thermoregulation
Jarešová, Pavla Alexia ; Hora, Martin (advisor) ; Bejdová, Šárka (referee)
Human body surface area and volume are important factors in human thermoregulation. The aim of this diploma thesis is to create a multisegmented model of the human body that serves for estimation of surface area, volume and mass of the human body and surface area and volume of segments of the human body. Multisegmented model constituted by us divides body to 13 segments from which the trunk segment is modeled three different ways (cylinder with ellipse base, cuboid and cylinder) and therefore creates three variants of our model. Dimensions were chosen for the model to function properly on living people and also on skeletal material. A multisegmented model and other models for estimation of surface area, volume and mass of the human body are tested by using 3D scans of the whole body of 20 individuals. Anthropometry in the virtual environment was used. From our variants of the multisegmented model, the model cuboid appears to be the most accurate one in the estimation of surface area and volume of the human body, when in the estimation of surface area mean percentage absolute difference was under 5 % and in the estimation of body volume was under 10 %. The model cuboid has the second smallest mean percentage absolute difference in the estimation of surface area of the body and the smallest mean...
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What happened to our relatives? Current views on Neanderthal disappearance
Jarešová, Pavla Alexia ; Hora, Martin (advisor) ; Brůžek, Jaroslav (referee)
The aim of this bachelor thesis is to introduce a summary of multiple hypothesis of the disappearance of Neanderthals. First of all, we focus on the environment inhabited by Neanderthals and their dispersal. Then we present a subsistence strategy and morphology of Neanderthals with an emphasis on the differences between Neanderthals and the anatomically modern humans. The main part of this thesis is focused on the extinction of Neanderthals. Climate, competition and dissimilarity of Neanderthals and modern humans are not the only causes of Neanderthal extinction. Each of summarised hypothesis could lead to the extinction of Neanderthals or at least destabilise their population to the point where extinction was the only outcome. However, there could be a combination of many factors in Neanderthal extinction including different causes of extinction in different places. Additionally, there is a dedication to the interbreeding of Neanderthals with anatomically modern humans and its impact on the disappearance of Neanderthals. We focus on the proportion of Neanderthal genes in the modern human gene pool and the impact of adaptive introgression. Key words: extinction, interbreeding, anatomically modern human
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