Publication Date
Spring 5-15-2023
Abstract
Although males and females exhibit an extraordinary range of diversity in sexual dimorphism across populations, prior work on the evolution of sexual dimorphism in human physiology and health has focused on ostensibly universal differences that owe to sex chromosomes and steroid hormones. This dissertation argues that sexual dimorphism in humans is not adequately captured by species-wide sex differences in mean trait values, but instead varies greatly as a result of: (i) our ability to adapt physiologically to a broad range of social and physical environments, and (ii) molecular diversity acquired by different populations over the course of their unique evolutionary histories. The first study addresses environmental pathways to variation in sexual dimorphism by leveraging a natural experiment provided by the Mosuo of China to test the effects of matrilineal norms on gender disparities in health. The second study considers the role of molecular mechanisms in mortality from melanoma, a disease with a significant female survival advantage. The final study broadens the scope of analysis to investigate the hypothesis that sexually dimorphic gene regulation and expression varies across human populations globally. The work presented in this dissertation demonstrates that molecular sexual dimorphism and gender disparities in health warrant deeper consideration with attention to the diversities of biology, behavior, sociality, and culture observed across extant human populations as a result of their unique evolutionary histories and contemporary socioecologies.
Keywords
sex/gender, sexual dimorphism, gender norms, health, gene expression, melanoma
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Evolutionary Anthropology
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Department Name
Anthropology
First Committee Member (Chair)
Jeffrey C. Long
Second Committee Member
Ian J. Wallace
Third Committee Member
Marianne Berwick
Fourth Committee Member
Paul L. Hooper
Recommended Citation
Reynolds, Adam Z.. "Human Diversity in Molecular Sexual Dimorphism and Gender Disparities in Health." (2023). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/anth_etds/211
