W R Leonard
Biographic Data
| ID | 1690 |
|---|---|
| NAME | W R Leonard |
| GIVEN NAMES | W R |
| FAMILY NAME | Leonard |
| SIGNATURE | LEONARD W R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northwestern University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6233-604X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 190 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1568 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 190 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1948 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 23 |
Adult temporal mobility (2002-2010) in material wealth and physical health, self-perceived health, sociality, and use of addictive substances
Changes in relative socioeconomic rank during adulthood (intragenerational mobility) are increasingly recognized as important determinants of health and other well-being indicators. Quantitative studies in high-income countries find that mobility in rank generally correlates with these outcomes, but the direction and mechanisms remain unclear. Evidence from small-scale societies is scarcer due to limited panel data. We examine the correlation bet…
Fifty Years of Research From the Human Biology Association
At the Human Biology Association (HBA) Meetings in March of 2025, we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Association. In this Virtual Special of the American Journal of Human Biology (Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Human Biology Association: American Journal of Human Biology), we recognize this important milestone with an impressive set of papers that discuss the history of the HBA and highlight the diversity of impactful work being d…
Long panel studies of small-scale rural societies in the Global South
Many topics in the behavioral sciences and epidemiology require researchers to directly observe entities (e.g., individuals, households) over a long time to identify lasting effects. Long-term panel data collection is more common in high-income countries than in small-scale rural societies (SSRS) of low-income countries. SSRS are mobile, nature-dependent, linguistic minorities, and highly autarkic. Analyzing such data using a life-course perspect…
Celebrating 50 Years of the Human Biology Association
At the Human Biology Association (HBA) Meetings in March, we will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Association. To recognize and highlight this anniversary, the American Journal of Human Biology will feature two important sets of invited contributions this year. Invited Reviews from the AJHB's Past Editors. The previous Editors of the journal, Lynnette Sievert, Bob Malina, and Peter Ellison (with co-author Rick Bribiescas), have graciously a…
In Memoriam
On July 3rd, 2024, the world lost a true pioneer and leader in the fields of human biology and biological anthropology when Dr. Michael H. Crawford passed away at the age of 84. Dr. Crawford is widely regarded as one of the founders of the field of anthropological genetics (Figure 1). His pioneering work over a career of more than 50 years transformed our understanding of the origin and nature of human diversity (Crawford 2024). Michael influence…
The Ecology and Human Biology of Pastoralists
Human biologists have long studied the ecology, health, and adaptive patterns of pastoralist populations around the world. Over the last 20 years, research among pastoralists has increasingly focused on how ongoing climatic and socioeconomic changes are influencing these populations and threatening this lifeway. Additionally, with the development and broader use of “field friendly” methods for measuring energy expenditure, metabolism, and diverse…
Addressing Threats to Research and Global Engagement in Human Biology
Human Biology is a young science asking the oldest of questions: Who are we? From what did we evolve? How did we deal with threats to our existence? What physiological and morphological adaptations did we develop that allowed our survival and fitness through evolutionary time? In the 21st century, after over three million years of human evolutionary change, what biological characteristics allow us to deal with the existential onslaught that is no…
Contributions of Roy J. Shephard to the Study of Circumpolar Human Biology and Health
More than any other scholar in our field, Professor Roy J. Shephard's research has shaped and transformed our understanding of the biology and health of circumpolar populations. His long‐term research among the Inuit of Igloolik, Canada has provided the field of human biology with foundational insights into how human populations adapt to arctic climates, and how the transition to a market‐oriented lifestyle erodes fitness and metabolic health. Sh…
Addressing threats to research and global engagement in human biology
Human Biology is a young science asking the oldest of questions: Who are we? From what did we evolve? How did we deal with threats to our existence? What physiological and morphological adaptations
Adult knowledge of wild plants associated with limited delayed health and nutritional benefits for children or adults in the face of external change
Cross-sectional studies suggest that local ecological knowledge (LEK) helps humans cope with their environment. Among the forms of LEK, adult knowledge of wild plants has been associated with better child and adult health. We assess if the concurrent links between i) LEK and ii) health and nutritional status last and examine if LEK yields delayed benefits when societies face large socioeconomic and environmental changes. We use a yearly panel (20…
Assessing Children's Growth and Motor Development after the Covid ‐19 Pandemic
In this special issue of the American Journal of Human Biology, Guest Editors Sara Pereira, José Maia, and Peter Katzmarzyk, along with their research collaborators, summarize the initial findings from the REACT Project (“Return-to-Action after the COVID-19 Pandemic”). The REACT Project is a longitudinal study of growth, motor development, and health behaviors carried out among school children ages 6–10 years from Matosinhos, northern Portugal. T…
Changes in adult well-being and economic inequalities
Knowing what happens over time to the lifeways of people in contemporary small-scale non-industrial societies of the rural Global South matters because it helps assess changes in the quality of life of underrepresented groups. It has been hard to answer the question because longitudinal information is rarely collected in such settings. A longitudinal dataset of nine years (2002–2010) from a horticultural-foraging society of Indigenous People in t…
Pearl Memorial Lecture . Humans at the extremes
The field of human biology has long explored how human populations have adapted to extreme environmental circumstances. Yet, it has become increasingly clear that conditions of social stress, poverty, and lifestyle change play equally important roles in shaping human biological variation and health. In this paper, I provide a brief background on the foundational human adaptability research of the International Biological Programme (IBP) from the …
Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis among young adults in northeastern Siberia and Midwest United States and its relationship with other biological adaptations to cold climates
OBJECTIVES: Recent research suggests that brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a functional role in non-shivering thermogenesis; however, few studies have examined population variation in BAT or its relationship with other mechanisms of adaptation to cold stress. This study characterized BAT thermogenesis and other adaptive responses to low temperatures among Indigenous Siberian young adults and young adults living near Chicago, IL. MATERIALS AND MET…
American Journal of Human Biology Moves to a Monthly Publication Schedule
The evolutionary significance of human brown adipose tissue
While human adaptability is regarded as a classical topic in anthropology, recent work provides new insight into metabolic adaptations to cold climates and the role of phenotypic plasticity in human evolution. A growing body of literature demonstrates that adults retain brown adipose tissue (BAT) which may play a role in non‐shivering thermogenesis. In this narrative review, we apply the timescales of adaptation framework in order to explore the …
Variability in energy expenditure is much greater in males than females
In mammals, trait variation is often reported to be greater among males than females. However, to date, mainly only morphological traits have been studied. Energy expenditure represents the metabolic costs of multiple physical, physiological, and behavioral traits. Energy expenditure could exhibit particularly high greater male variation through a cumulative effect if those traits mostly exhibit greater male variation, or a lack of greater male v…
Reassessing Global Health Education in the Age of Covid-19
To the Editor: The COVID-19 pandemic has killed over a million people, stressed health care systems, and disrupted economies and societies globally. It has also created havoc in higher medical education. 1,2 This has been particularly notable in global health, where travel restrictions have brought traditional clinical global health rotations to a halt. These drastic changes in the learning environment offer an opportunity to rethink and improve …
Novel applications of minimally invasive biomarkers in human biology research
Evidence for a sensitive period of plasticity in brown adipose tissue during early childhood among indigenous Siberians
OBJECTIVES: Evolutionary theorists have debated the adaptive significance of developmental plasticity in organisms with long lifespans such as humans. This debate in part stems from uncertainty regarding the timing of sensitive periods. Does sensitivity to environmental signals fluctuate across development or does it steadily decline? We investigated developmental plasticity in brown adipose tissue (BAT) among indigenous Siberians in order to exp…
Human Biologists confront the Covid ‐19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic stands as the defining global health crisis of our age, transforming human societies and exacerbating long-standing social and health inequalities. As a field that integrates across the biological and social sciences, human biology is uniquely positioned to offer important insights on nature and differential impact of the pandemic. In this special issue of the American Journal of Human Biology, I have invited a diverse group…
Re‐examining Biocultural Approaches in Human Biology
Water & Human Biology and New Developments for the American Journal of Human Biology
The role of human biology in addressing the Covid ‐19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is transforming the lives of human populations around the world and stimulating a global research effort aimed at understanding and addressing this disease. Over the last few weeks, I have heard from many of our colleagues who are initiating research or commenting on the COVID-19 pandemic. As human biologists, we are well positioned to address this biocultural health crisis, one that is laying bare and exacerbating long-stan…
American Journal of Human Biology
The Effect of Market Economies on the Well-Being of Indigenous Peoples and on Their Use of Renewable Natural Resources
Assessing the effects of markets on the well-being of indigenous peoples and their conservation of natural resources matters to identify public policies to improve well-being and enhance conservation and to test hypotheses about sociocultural change. We review studies about how market economies affect the subsistence, health, nutritional status, social capital, and traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous peoples and their use of renewable …
Neandertal energetics and foraging efficiency
Market Economy and the Loss of Folk Knowledge of Plant Uses
Biology and Body Size in Human Evolution
Metabolic Adaptation in Indigenous Siberian Populations
Previous research has suggested that arctic populations have elevated metabolic rates in response to their cold, marginal climate. Recent studies of indigenous Siberian groups have confirmed these earlier findings and have shed light on the mechanisms through which northern populations adapt to their environments. Indigenous Siberians show significant elevations in basal metabolic rate compared with reference values. Total energy expenditure is v…
Cultural, Practical, and Economic Value of Wild Plants
Heredity, Environment, and Cranial Form
Franz Boas's classic study, Changes in Bodily Form of Descendants of Immigrants, is a landmark in the history of anthropology. More than any single study, it undermined racial typology in physical anthropology and helped turn the tide against early-20thcentury scientific racism. In 1928, Boas responded to critics of the immigrant study by publishing the raw data set as Materials for the Study of Inheritance in Man. Here we present a reanalysis of…
Maintenance versus growth
Immune function is a central component of maintenance effort, and it provides critical protection against the potentially life threatening effects of pathogens. However, immune defenses are energetically expensive, and the resources they consume are not available to support other activities related to growth and/or reproduction. In our study we use a life history theory framework to investigate tradeoffs between maintenance effort and growth amon…
Neandertal Energetics Revisited
Nutritional determinants of high‐altitude growth in nuñoa, Peru
Data on nutritional intake and patterns of physical growth in the rural Andean community of Nuñoa, Peru (elevation 4,000 m), are described and compared to data previously collected from this location. Food consumption data and selected anthropometric measures were obtained from a sample of 33 households. Estimates of caloric intake from this study are very similar to those obtained in Nuñoa during the mid‐ and late 1960s. However, within the pres…
Economic Development and Local Ecological Knowledge
Brief Communication
Knowledge and Consumption of Wild Plants
Researchers have often equated ethnobotanical knowledge collected through interview questions with actual uses of plants, but knowledge and uses of plants might or might not move in lockstep. Using data from 132 adults living in two villages of a foraging-farming society in the Bolivian Amazon, the Tsimane ́, we compare ethnobotanical knowledge with uses of wild and semi-domesticated plants. Villages differed in proximity to the market town and i…
Physical growth and nutritional status of Tsimane' Amerindian children of lowland Bolivia
This study examines patterns of growth and nutritional status of indigenous Tsimane' children under 9 years of age (n = 199 boys and 210 girls), based on a cross‐sectional sample from 58 villages from the Beni Deparment of lowland Bolivia. Compared with US children, Tsimane' children are quite short, with linear growth tracking at or below the US 5th centile in both sexes. The prevalence of low height‐for‐age (“stunting;” HA Z‐scores ≤−2) is 52% …
Long-Term (Secular) Change of Ethnobotanical Knowledge of Useful Plants
Anthropologists, conservation biologists, and psychologists have generally found a long-term (secular) decline of ethnobotanical knowledge among indigenous people. To estimate such knowledge loss, researchers have typically relied on a single cross-sectional data set to (a) measure knowledge among people of different ages, (b) compare measures between ages, and (c) infer a loss of knowledge if the old knew more than the young. We improve on the a…
Reflections on the face of Japan
Craniofacial variables for modern and prehistoric Japanese were subjected to multivariate analysis to test the relationships of the people of Japan with mainland Asian and Oceanic samples. The modern Japanese are tied to Koreans, Chinese, Southeast Asians, and the Yayoi rice agriculturalists who entered Japan in 300 B.C. Together they make up a Mainland‐Asia cluster of related populations. The prehistoric Jømon foragers, the original inhabitants …
Predictors of C‐reactive protein in Tsimane' 2 to 15 year‐olds in lowland Bolivia
Infectious disease is a major global determinant of child morbidity and mortality, and energetic investment in immune defenses (even in the absence of overt disease) is an important life‐history variable, with implications for human growth and development. This study uses a biomarker of immune activation (C‐reactive protein) to investigate an important aspect of child health among the Tsimane', a relatively isolated Amerindian population in lowla…
Developmental Systems and Inequality
Since the late 1990s, scholars have advocated for the adoption of political-economic approaches in biological anthropology. Despite this, the explicit application of these perspectives remains relatively rare. In this paper we argue for greater investment in this field of inquiry and advocate linking evolutionary-developmental and political-economic approaches to the study of human biology. We begin by discussing the historical development of hum…
Evaluating indices of traditional ecological knowledge
BACKGROUND: New quantitative methods to collect and analyze data have produced novel findings in ethnobiology. A common application of quantitative methods in ethnobiology is to assess the traditional ecological knowledge of individuals. Few studies have addressed reliability of indices of traditional ecological knowledge constructed with different quantitative methods. METHODS: We assessed the associations among eight indices of traditional ecol…
Income inequality and adult nutritional status
Lifestyle incongruity, stress and immune function in indigenous Siberians
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of economic and cultural change on immune function and psychosocial stress in an indigenous Siberian population. We examined Epstein‐Barr virus antibodies (EBV), an indirect biomarker of cell‐mediated immune function, in venous whole blood samples collected from 143 Yakut (Sakha) herders (45 men and 98 women) in six communities using a cross‐sectional study design. We modeled economic change…
Measuring Culture as Shared Knowledge
In this article, the authors contribute to the empirical study of culture as shared knowledge by exploring correlations of individual responses to different questionnaires of the same tasks and correlation of individual responses to different tasks. They collected data on ethnobotanical knowledge from 149 adult Tsimane' Amerindians in Bolivia. The authors used a cultural consensus model to calculate individual scores of cultural knowledge for eac…
Boas's Changes in Bodily Form
In two recent articles, we and another set of researchers independently reanalyzed data from Franz Boas's classic study of immigrants and their descendants. Whereas we confirm Boas's overarching conclusion regarding the plasticity of cranial form, Corey Sparks and Richard Jantz argue that Boas was incorrect. Here we attempt to reconcile these apparently incompatible conclusions. We first address methodological differences between our reanalyses a…
Growth differences between children of highland and coastal Ecuador
This study examines patterns of growth in height and weight among children ( The similarity in growth rates between the highland and coastal samples suggests that high altitude hypoxia plays a relatively small role in shaping growth during the first five years after birth. Rather, it appears that most of the disparity in height between the two samples can be attributed to differences established by 6 months of age. The pattern of growth retardati…
Evolution of P 3 morphology in Australopithecus afarensis
The Australopithecus afarensis dental sample exhibits a wide range of variation, which is most notable in the morphology of the lower third premolar (P 3 ). P 3 morphology in the A. afarensis sample ranges from the primitive sectorial extreme in AL 128‐23 to the derived, bicuspid (molarized) extreme in AL 333w‐1. In this paper, the degree and patterning of variation of the 20 known A. afarensis P 3 s are examined and the evolutionary implications…
Government Statistics for Business Use
Developing the Third World
Developmental and nutritional determinants of pregnancy outcome among teenagers
To investigate the determinants of low birth weight in infants born to adolescent mothers, we studied the obstetric population attended at the Maternity Hospital of Lima, Peru. From this population, 1256 gravidas, ranging in age from 12 to 25 years, volunteered to participate in this study. Anthropometric and biochemical measurements were used to evaluate the nutritional status and physiological maturity of the mother and newborn. For analytical …
Three limitations of the body mass index
Evolution of P 3 morphology in Australopithecus afarensis
The Australopithecus afarensis dental sample exhibits a wide range of variation, which is most notable in the morphology of the lower third premolar (P 3 ). P 3 morphology in the A. afarensis sample ranges from the primitive sectorial extreme in AL 128‐23 to the derived, bicuspid (molarized) extreme in AL 333w‐1. In this paper, the degree and patterning of variation of the 20 known A. afarensis P 3 s are examined and the evolutionary implications…
The impact of seasonally on caloric requirements of human populations
Changing dietary patterns in the Peruvian Andes
This study examines the effect of seasonality and socioeconomic differentiation on food consumption and dietary change in the southern highlands of Peru. Nutritional data were collected by means of food weighing on a sample of 33 households (n=179) from the town of Nuñoa. Comparisons with previously‐reported data for this community indicate that the composition of the diet has changed markedly since the 1960s while the energy content has not. Sea…
On the adaptive significance of energetic efficiency
Nutritional determinants of high‐altitude growth in nuñoa, Peru
Data on nutritional intake and patterns of physical growth in the rural Andean community of Nuñoa, Peru (elevation 4,000 m), are described and compared to data previously collected from this location. Food consumption data and selected anthropometric measures were obtained from a sample of 33 households. Estimates of caloric intake from this study are very similar to those obtained in Nuñoa during the mid‐ and late 1960s. However, within the pres…
Reflections on the face of Japan
Craniofacial variables for modern and prehistoric Japanese were subjected to multivariate analysis to test the relationships of the people of Japan with mainland Asian and Oceanic samples. The modern Japanese are tied to Koreans, Chinese, Southeast Asians, and the Yayoi rice agriculturalists who entered Japan in 300 B.C. Together they make up a Mainland‐Asia cluster of related populations. The prehistoric Jømon foragers, the original inhabitants …
Contributions of nutrition versus hypoxia to growth in rural Andean populations
Previous research on diet and nutrition among peasant agriculturalists in the Andes has produced inconsistent results. As a consequence it has been difficult to determine the extent to which nutritional factors contribute to the slowed, prolonged growth and resultant small adult body size that is characteristic of these highland populations. The study examines patterns of diet and growth in the rural highland community of Nuñoa, Peru (elevation 4…
Australopithecus afarensis and the single species hypothesis
Practical Computing
Anthropometric measures such as height, weight, limb circumferences, and skinfolds are very simple yet powerful tools for evaluating physical growth and nutritional status. When applied to children under the age of 5 years, these measures provide a sensitive indicator of health and well-being among anthropological populations. In particular, such basic indices as height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height can be used to identify househo…
Age and sex differences in the impact of seasonal energy stress among Andean agriculturalists
Household-level strategies for protecting children from seasonal food scarcity
Nutritional requirements and human evolution
A bioenergetics model is developed to examine changes in metabolic requirements over the course of human evolution. Data on (1) body size and resting metabolism, (2) brain size and metabolism, (3) activity budgets, and (4) foraging patterns for humans and other anthropoids are used to evaluate ecological correlates of variation in diet and energy expenditure. Analyses of variation in these extant species provide a framework for estimating (1) res…
Coca Chewing and Diet
Ecological correlates of dietary consumption and nutritional status in highland and coastal Ecuador
This paper investigates the patterns of variation in food availability and nutritional status among small‐scale farmers from highland and coastal regions of Ecuador. Dietary adequacy is greater among households of the highland sample and appears to be associated with higher consumption of foods from subsistence production. Energy consumption is marginal in the coastal sample where farmers are involved in the production of coffee as a cash crop. H…
Predicted maximal oxygen consumption of indigenous Siberians
This study presents physical fitness data on two indigenous Siberian populations, the Evenki and Keto. The Canadian Aerobic Test of Fitness (CATF) was utilized to provide estimates of maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O 2 max) for a sample of 44 subjects (30 males, 14 females) as baseline data for further studies on changing fitness levels and the health problems associated with acculturation. Estimates of V̇O 2 max average 46.2 ml kg −1 min −1 for m…
Growth and nutritional status of the Evenki reindeer herders of Siberia
This study examines physical growth and nutritional status in a sample of 478 (247 males; 231 females) Evenki herders of Central Siberia. The Evenki display slow growth in stature and body weight, particularly during late childhood and adolescence. Adult males fall below the U.S. 5th percentiles for both stature and body weight. Adult females are below the 5th percentile for stature and approximate the 15th percentile for weight. Despite their di…
Correlates of low serum lipid levels among the Evenki herders of Siberia
This study examines serum lipid levels (total, HDL and LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides) among the Evenki reindeer herders of Central Siberia. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels among the Evenki are low, even relative to other indigenous arctic and herding populations. Total and LDL cholesterol levels are higher in women, while HDL and triglyceride levels are comparable between the sexes. Additionally, residence location (i.e., herding brigade…
Evolutionary perspectives on human nutrition
Human dietary patterns and metabolic requirements are compared to those of nonhuman primate species in order to gain insights into the evolution of our nutritional needs. In general, primate diet quality (i.e., caloric and nutrient density) is inversely related to body size and total resting metabolic requirements (RMR). Humans, however, consume a diet of much higher quality than is expected for our size and metabolic needs. This energy‐rich diet…
Resting metabolic rate and daily energy expenditure among two indigenous Siberian populations
Resting metabolic rate (RMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) were measured on a sample of 47 adults (35 males, 12 females) from two indigenous Siberian populations, the Evenki and Keto. The Douglas bag method of indirect calorimetry was used to measure the energy cost of lying, sitting, standing, and three exercise levels of the Canadian aerobic test of fitness (step test). The flex‐heart rate method of heart rate monitoring (flex‐HR; S…
Diet and nutritional status among cassava producing agriculturalists of coastal Ecuador
This paper investigates the correlates of dietary consumption and nutritional status among a sample of 43 cassava producing households of coastal Ecuador. Household energy consumption in the sample is marginally adequate and is substantially higher than that observed among coffee producing farmers from the same region (2459 vs. 1851 kcal/day). Cassava producing farmers also derive a much larger share of their diet from home produced foods (34% vs…
China productivity project
The amount of work that people do is a focal point of human life, an outcome with extraordinarily complex roots. The physical task itself, the natural setting, biological work capacity, and behavioral patterns presumably condition productivity. This paper presents a model by which work output of Chinese cycle haulers was investigated, and outlines investigative techniques including work physiology, health assessment, cold response, and ethnograph…
Biology (106 works) · Demography (89 works) · Medicine (88 works) · Geography (72 works) · Sociology (72 works) · Ecology (60 works) · Economics (44 works) · Child Nutrition and Water Access (42 works) · Population (41 works) · Psychology (39 works)