Lucio Vinicius

• PhD (Zology, University of Cambridge)
• Lecturer at University College London

Mobility lies at the adaptive core of the hunter-gatherer foraging niche, and has shaped the cultural and genetic evolution of our species. Yet, the specific drivers and consequences of mobility are still debated. Here we analyse the lifetime mobility patterns of 776 Mbendjele BaYaka hunter-gatherers from five regions in the northern Republic of Co...

Gunnink et al. have stated that our study fails to provide evidence of a deep history of cultural and linguistic evolution among Central African hunter-gatherers (CAHGs). Whilst in our original study we discussed in detail the evolutionary processes possibly accounting for the distribution of musical instruments and related terms among CAHG, perhap...

While ecological specialization, social differentiation and division of labour are found in many species, extensive and irreversible interdependence among culturally specialized producers is a characteristic feature of humans. By extending the concept of cultural ratcheting (or the evolution of cultural products of such complexity that they become...

Nepal, largely covered by the Himalayan mountains, hosts indigenous populations with distinct linguistic, cultural, and genetic characteristics. Among these populations, the Raute, Nepal’s last nomadic hunter-gatherers, offer a unique insight into the genetic and demographic history of Himalayan foragers. Despite strong cultural connections to othe...

Although cumulative culture is a hallmark of hominin evolution, its origins can be traced back to our common ancestor with chimpanzees. Here, we investigated the evolutionary origins of chimpanzee cumulative culture and why it remained incipient. To trace cultural transmission among the four chimpanzee subspecies, we compared population networks ba...

Hunter–gatherer populations underwent a mass extinction in the Neolithic, and in present times face challenges such as explicit sedentarisation policies. An exception is in Nepal, where the nomadic Raute people receive monthly governmental individual payments. One consequence of the money transfers has been a significant increase in alcohol consump...

Reconstructing the origin and evolution of culturally transmitted norms and institutions in the hominin lineage since our split from a common ancestry with African apes is a daunting task. By investigating the social structures of extant simple hunter-gatherers, as well as the evidence of extensive social networks and long-distance trade in early m...

Human evolutionary history in Central Africa reflects a deep history of population connectivity. However, Central African hunter-gatherers (CAHGs) currently speak languages acquired from their neighbouring farmers. Hence it remains unclear which aspects of CAHG cultural diversity results from long-term evolution preceding agriculture and which refl...

Among vertebrates, allomothering (non-maternal care) is classified as cooperative breeding (help from sexually mature non-breeders, usually close relatives) or communal breeding (shared care between multiple breeders who are not necessarily related). Humans have been described with both labels, most frequently as cooperative breeders. However, few...

Human evolutionary history in Central Africa reflects a deep history of population connectivity. However, Central African hunter-gatherers (CAHGs) currently speak languages acquired from their neighbouring farmers. Hence it remains unclear which aspects of CAHG cultural diversity results from long-term evolution preceding agriculture, and which ref...

While cumulative culture is a hallmark of hominin evolution, its origins can be traced back to our common ancestor with chimpanzees. Here we investigate the evolutionary origins of chimpanzee cumulative culture, and why it remained incipient. To trace cultural transmission among the four chimpanzee subspecies, we built between-populations networks...

Ecological and genetic factors have influenced the composition of the human microbiome during our evolutionary history. We analysed the oral microbiota of the Agta, a hunter-gatherer population where some members have adopted an agricultural diet. We show that age is the strongest factor modulating the microbiome, likely through immunosenescence si...

Here we investigate the effects of extensive sociality and mobility on the oral microbiome of 138 Agta hunter-gatherers from the Philippines. Our comparisons of microbiome composition showed that the Agta are more similar to Central African Bayaka hunter-gatherers than to neighbouring farmers. We also defined the Agta social microbiome as a set of...

Central African hunter-gatherers (CAHGs) are widely seen as isolated populations displaced into the forest by the expansion of Bantu-speaking farmers. By contrast, recent studies revealed various genetic signs of long-term adaptation of CAHGs to forest environments and independence from Bantu demography. It remains unclear whether cultural diversit...

Significance We combined ethnographic, archaeological, genetic, and paleoclimatic data to model the dynamics of Central African hunter-gatherer populations over the past 120,000 years. We show, against common assumptions, that their distribution and density are explained by changing environments rather than by a displacement following recent farmin...

Ancestral humans evolved a complex social structure still observed in extant hunter-gatherers. Here we investigate the effects of extensive sociality and mobility on the oral microbiome of 138 Agta hunter-gatherers from the Philippines. Comparisons of microbiome composition showed that the Agta are more similar to Central African Bayaka hunter-gath...

Ecological and genetic factors have influenced the composition of the human microbiome during our evolutionary history. We analyzed the oral microbiota of the Agta, a hunter-gatherer population where part of its members is adopting an agricultural diet. We show that age is the strongest factor modulating the microbiome, likely through immunosenesce...

Various studies have investigated cognitive mechanisms underlying culture in humans and other great apes. However, the adaptive reasons for the evolution of uniquely sophisticated cumulative culture in our species remain unclear. We propose that the cultural capabilities of humans are the evolutionary result of a stepwise transition from the ape-li...

The evolutionary history of African hunter-gatherers holds key insights into modern human diversity. Here we combine ethnographic and genetic data on Central African hunter-gatherers (CAHG) to show that their current distribution and density is explained by ecology rather than by a displacement to marginal habitats due to recent farming expansions,...

The origins of linguistic diversity remain controversial. Studies disagree on whether group features such as population size or social structure accelerate or decelerate linguistic differentiation. While some analyses of between-group factors highlight the role of geographical isolation and reduced linguistic exchange in differentiation, others sug...

Cultures around the world are converging as populations become more connected. On the one hand this increased connectedness can promote the recombination of existing cultural practices to generate new ones, but on the other it may lead to the replacement of traditional practices and global WEIRDing. Here we examine the process and causes of changes...

Although multilevel sociality is a universal feature of human social organization, its functional relevance remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effect of multilevel sociality on cumulative cultural evolution by using wireless sensing technology to map inter-and intraband social networks among Agta hunter-gatherers. By simulating the accumula...

High-fidelity transmission of information through imitation and teaching has been proposed as necessary for cumulative cultural evolution. Yet, it is unclear when and for which knowledge domains children employ different social learning processes. This paper explores the development of social learning processes and play in BaYaka hunter-gatherer ch...

Cooperation among kin is common across the natural world and can be explained in terms of inclusive fitness theory, which holds that individuals can derive indirect fitness benefits from aiding genetically related individuals. However, human kinship includes not only genetic kin but also kin by marriage: our affines (in-laws) and spouses. Can coope...

Despite much theorizing, the evolutionary reasons why humans cooperate extensively with unrelated individuals are still largely unknown. While reciprocity explains many instances of non-kin cooperation, much remains to be understood. A recent suite of models based upon ‘cooperative assortativity’ suggest that non-kin cooperation can evolve if indiv...

The ‘technological hypothesis’ proposes that gestural language evolved in early hominins to enable the cultural transmission of stone tool-making skills, with speech appearing later in response to the complex lithic industries of more recent hominins. However, no flintknapping study has assessed the efficiency of speech alone (unassisted by gesture...

Excel file with full set of participant and flake data. (CSV)

Pairwise Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Tested variables: viable flakes, proportion of viable flakes, total flake cutting edge, total flake quality. We also compared scores (on a scale from 1 to 5) measuring agreement of subjects to three statements about their satisfaction with received instruction (Questions 1, 2 and 3). Communication treatments: no in...

Storytelling is a human universal. From gathering around the camp-fire telling tales of ancestors to watching the latest television box-set, humans are inveterate producers and consumers of stories. Despite its ubiquity, little attention has been given to understanding the function and evolution of storytelling. Here we explore the impact of storyt...

Storytelling is a human universal. From gathering around the camp-fire telling tales of ancestors to watching the latest television box-set, humans are inveterate producers and consumers of stories. Despite its ubiquity, little attention has been given to understanding the function and evolution of storytelling. Here we explore the impact of storyt...

Homosexuality is an evolutionary puzzle. Many theories attempt to explain how a trait undermining individual reproduction can be maintained, but experimental testing of their predictions remains scarce. The kin selection hypothesis (KSH) is an important theoretical framework to account for the evolution of human homosexuality, postulating that its...

Training of subjects and execution of flintknapping sessions followed a written protocol strictly followed by a skilled tutor. The general protocol is presented as well as its treatment-specific variants.

Human cognitive uniqueness is often defined in terms of cognitive abilities such as introspection, imitation and cooperativeness. However, little is known about how those traits vary in populations or correlate across individuals. Here we test whether those three cognitive domains are correlated manifestations of an underlying factor, analogous to...

Social networks in modern societies are highly structured, usually involving frequent contact with a small number of unrelated ‘friends’ 1 . However, contact network structures in traditional small-scale societies, especially hunter-gatherers, are poorly characterized. We developed a portable wireless sensing technology (motes) to study within-camp...

Humans possess the unique ability for cumulative culture [1, 2]. It has been argued that hunter-gatherer's complex social structure [3-9] has facilitated the evolution of cumulative culture by allowing information exchange among large pools of individuals [10-13]. However, empirical evidence for the interaction between social structure and cultural...

Many defining human characteristics including theory of mind, culture and language relate to our sociality, and facilitate the formation and maintenance of cooperative relationships. Therefore, deciphering the context in which our sociality evolved is invaluable in understanding what makes us unique as a species. Much work has emphasised group-leve...

Like many other mammalian and primate societies [1–4], humans are said to live in multilevel social groups, with individuals situated in a series of hierarchically structured sub-groups [5, 6]. Although this multilevel social organization has been described among contemporary hunter-gatherers [5], questions remain as to the benefits that individual...

Humans regularly cooperate with non-kin, which has been theorized to require reciprocity between repeatedly interacting and trusting individuals. However, the role of repeated interactions has not previously been demonstrated in explaining real-world patterns of hunter–gatherer cooperation. Here we explore cooperation among the Agta, a population o...

File 1: Supplementary Material Section 1: Study Population Section 2: Game Rationale and Data Collection Section 3: Camp Stability Measure Section 4: Statistical Analyses Section 5: Camp Stability and Foraging Return Rates Tables S1–S7 Figures S1 & S2

Poster presentation at AAPA 2016 symposium ’Biocultural Perspectives of Family Health’

The Neolithic demographic transition remains a paradox, because it is associated with both higher rates of population growth and increased morbidity and mortality rates. Here we reconcile the conflicting evidence by proposing that the spread of agriculture involved a life history quality–quantity trade-off whereby mothers traded offspring survival...

Are interactions with unrelated and even unknown individuals a by-product of modern life in megacities? Here we argue instead that social ties among non-kin are a crucial human adaptation. By deploying a new portable wireless sensing technology (motes), we mapped social networks in Agta and BaYaka hunter-gatherers in unprecedented detail. We show t...

Post-reproductive lifespans (PRLSs) of men vary across traditional societies. We argue that if sexual selection operates on male age-dependent resource availability (or 'reproductive market values') the result is variation in male late-life reproduction across subsistence systems. This perspective highlights the uniqueness of PRLS in both women and...

Presentation about the relationship between sedentism and helminthic burden in modern day foragers.

The social organization of mobile hunter-gatherers has several derived features, including low within-camp relatedness and fluid meta-groups. Although these features have been proposed to have provided the selective context for the evolution of human hypercooperation and cumulative culture, how such a distinctive social system may have emerged rema...

'Simple' hunter-gatherer populations adopt the social norm of 'demand sharing', an example of human hyper-cooperation whereby food brought into camps is claimed and divided by group members. Explaining how demand sharing evolved without punishment to free riders, who rarely hunt but receive resources from active hunters, has been a long-standing pr...

Most accounts of human life history propose that women have short reproductive spans relative to their adult lifespans, while men not only remain fertile but carry on reproducing until late life. Here we argue that studies have overlooked evidence for variation in male reproductive ageing across human populations. We apply a Bayesian approach to ce...

The comparative analysis of animal growth still awaits full integration into life-history studies, partially due to the difficulty of defining a comparable measure of growth rate across species. Using growth data from 50 primate species, we introduce a modified "general growth model" and a dimensionless growth rate coefficient β that controls for s...

Pregnancy length: Secular trends and patterns of variation in Sweden, 1982-2005 Anthropological and medical studies rarely investigate the existence of secular trends in the duration of human pregnancy, which is widely assumed to show less variation than traits such as body size, menarche or lifespan. Here we analyze pregnancy duration in the Swedi...

Previous research has indicated the importance of the frontal lobe and its 'executive' connections to other brain structures as crucial in explaining primate neocortical adaptations. However, a representative sample of volumetric measurements of frontal connective tissue (white matter) has not been available. In this study, we present new volumetri...

Migliano has formulated and tested in her three publications (Migliano 2005; Walker et al. 2006; Migliano et al. 2007) a hypothesis explaining pygmy size as the result of a “fast” life history strategy (Charnov 1993) in which early start of reproduction and growth termination are adaptive responses to high external mortality rates. We thank Becker...

Natural selection is more than the survival of the fittest: it is a force engendering higher biological complexity. Presenting a new explanation for the tendency of life to become more complex through evolution, this book offers an introduction to the key debates in evolutionary theory, including the role of genes and sex in evolution, the adaptive...

Primates grow and develop slowly for mammalian standards. Charnov showed that primates grow at only about 40% of the rates observed in other mammals of similar size. However, previous estimates of growth rates in primates were derived from regressions of adult body weight on age at first reproduction in different species, and therefore represent on...

We investigated the role of two competing ecological pressures (climate and life history) in hunter-gatherer anthropometrics. Data on weight and stature were compiled for 47 male and 37 female populations. Additional measurements (relative sitting height, BMI, and surface-to-mass ratio) were also compiled or calculated. Body size and shape correlat...

Explanations for the evolution of human pygmies continue to be a matter of controversy, recently fuelled by the disagreements surrounding the interpretation of the fossil hominin Homo floresiensis. Traditional hypotheses assume that the small body size of human pygmies is an adaptation to special challenges, such as thermoregulation, locomotion in...

A key feature of stone artefact morphology is the arrangement and patterning of negative flake scars left on flakes and cores. Scar patterning is often treated as a rough guide to identifying methods of core preparation and reduction and usually forms a key component of lithic typologies and other systems of analysis. However, scar patterns are oft...

Human evolution is frequently analyzed in the light of changes in developmental timing. Encephalization in particular has been frequently linked to the slow pace of development in Homo sapiens. The "brain allometry extension" theory postulates that the progressive extension of a conserved primate brain allometry into postnatal life was the basis fo...

Recent studies have indicated that the insulin-signaling pathway controls body and organ size in Drosophila, and most metazoans, by signaling nutritional conditions to the growing organs. The temporal requirements for insulin signaling during development are, however, unknown. Using a temperature-sensitive insulin receptor (Inr) mutation in Drosoph...

Wing, Genital Arch, and Maxillary Palp Area of InrE19/InrGC25 and InrE19/TM3 Males Reared at 17 °C and 24 °C (37 KB DOC).

Total Area, Cell Area, and Cell Number of the Wings of InrE19/InrGC25 and InrE19/TM3 Flies Reared at 17 °C and 24 °C (45 KB DOC).

Fitted Values for Wing Aarea of InrE19/TM3 Control Flies Wing area of InrE19/InrGC25 flies in Figure 2 is expressed as percentage of wing area of InrE19/TM3 flies kept under the same temperature regime, using the fitted values shown on the plot. Temperature affects wing area differently before and after critical size. Consequently, fitted values we...

We describe the growth pattern of a sample of Japanese descendants born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Cross-sectional data from 1297 subjects were obtained in eight middle- and upper middle-class schools. Weight and height of children of Japanese ancestry were compared both to populations of similar socio-economic status, namely the well-off European desce...

Heterochrony has been an influential perspective on the evolution of morphologies, a circumstance mostly due to a strategic shift of the theory to the analysis of growth and measurable traits. A difficulty in testing hypotheses of heterochrony in the morphometric realm, and therefore in establishing its evolutionary relevance, has been the absence...

O trabalho procurou avaliar e discutir alguns aspectos do crescimento humano e sua relação com a microevolução. Do ponto de vista empírico, foram realizadas análises populacionais a fim de averiguar tanto o potencial plástico do processo decrescimento como a contribuição de fatores genéticos para as diferenças interpopulacionais em padrões de cresc...