Abstract
In a recent article Alexander et al.(1979) argue that intersocietal variation in human sexual dimorphism of stature can be explained by differing degrees of male- male competition for mates found in different types of societal marriage systems. In this paper we reexamine their data and suggest that their results may be more simply explained by reference to the latitude of the societies in their sample. Our investigation indicates that latitude has a significant influence on the degree of societal sexual dimorphism of stature. Peoples of the arctic region and the short peoples of the equatorial regions are less dimorphic in stature than midlatitude peoples. Thus, we conclude that the sociobiological hypothesis presented by Alexander et al.cannot alone explain the intersocietal variation in sexual dimorphism of stature and that environmental factors must be taken into account in the explanation of such variation.
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This research was supported by a Faculty Research Grant from North Texas State University.
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Wolfe, L.D., Gray, J.P. Latitude and intersocietal variation of human sexual dimorphism of stature. Hum Ecol 10, 409–416 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531194
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531194