J Vitzthum
Biographic Data
| ID | 91888 |
|---|---|
| NAME | J Vitzthum |
| GIVEN NAMES | J |
| FAMILY NAME | Vitzthum |
| SIGNATURE | VITZTHUM J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Riverside |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6765-4557 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 46 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 186 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 46 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1982 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
What Do Asexual Women Want? A Propensity Score Matching Study of Preferred Relationship Options and Ideal Partner Preferences
Research on whether asexual individuals desire (romantic) relationships and, if so, how they picture their ideal relationship has been growing in the past few years. However, less is known about the preferred attributes of an ideal partner in such relationships and whether these partner(ship) preferences are different from what heterosexual individuals want. The goal of the present study was to compare the types of preferred relationships and the…
Salivary/Serum Progesterone Ratio Differs Between Menstrual Cycle Phases but Not Between Populations: Implications for Health, Reproductive, and Behavioral Research
Objectives Many investigations of human health, behaviors, and adaptations require an indicator of ovarian cycle functioning as a causal, outcome, or confounding variable in the study design and analyses. Because the dynamic fluctuations in cycle hormones can rarely be adequately characterized by a single measurement, but repeated blood sampling can be onerous, salivary free progesterone (P Free‐SAL ) concentration is widely used in both clinical…
The effect of air pollution exposure on menstrual cycle health using self-reported data from a mobile health app: A prospective, observational study
Well‐being in healthy Icelandic women varies with extreme seasonality in ambient light
Seasonal variation in photoperiod may affect psychosocial and physical well‐being in healthy persons. We tested this hypothesis in healthy pre‐menopausal women, without a history of mood disorders, living year‐round in Reykjavik, Iceland (64.1°N). Participants reported daily self‐assessments of well‐being throughout a complete ovulatory menstrual cycle in summer and/or winter (70% participated in both seasons). Scores for mood, cognitive acuity, …
C‐reactive protein (CRP) in high altitude Bolivian peri‐urban adolescents varies by adiposity, current illness, height, socioeconomic status, sex, and menarcheal status: The potential benefits and cos…
OBJECTIVES: In non-industrialized and low-income populations, adipose stores can serve as a valuable buffer against harsh conditions such as seasonal food scarcity. However, these reserves may incur costs due to adipocytes' production of pro-inflammatory cytokines; inflammation is associated with increased risk for cardiometabolic diseases later in life. Life history theory posits that, especially in populations with high juvenile mortality, high…
The Link Between Age and Partner Preferences in a Large, International Sample of Single Women
Women's capacity to reproduce varies over the life span, and developmental goals such as family formation are age-graded and shaped by social norms about the appropriate age for completing specific developmental tasks. Thus, a woman's age may be linked to her ideas about what an ideal partner should be like. With the goals of replicating and extending prior research, in this study we examined the role of age in women's partner preferences across …
Field methods and strategies for assessing female reproductive functioning
A detailed understanding of female reproductive functioning is important to many disciplines including anthropology, evolutionary theory, demography, psychology, and biomedicine. In this article, I describe strategies and methods that have been used successfully in community‐based studies of human reproduction, many in remote locales, to produce high quality biomarker data. These techniques are applicable to a wide range of research questions and…
Mind the gap: Contesting normal/abnormal constructs of human biology and behaviors
Training in anthropology and evolutionary science ideally prepares scholars to recognize and challenge culturally grounded views of human variation. But upon inspection we find that idealized, and thus perhaps biased, conceptualizations of what is “normal” continue to permeate evaluations of human biology and behaviors. Each of the 13 contributions in this special issue on biological normalcy tackles these concerns as they pertain to some univers…
Current Officers and Members of Standing Committees
Recognizing normal reproductive biology: A comparative analysis of variability in menstrual cycle biomarkers in German and Bolivian women
The idealized "normal" menstrual cycle typically comprises a coordinated ebb and flow of hormones over a 28-day span with ovulation invariably shown at the midpoint. It's a pretty picture-but rare. Systematic studies have debunked the myth that cycles occur regularly about every 28 days. However, assumptions persist regarding the extent and normalcy of variation in other cycle biomarkers. The processes of judging which phenotypic variants are "no…
A Cross-Country Comparison of Reasons for Condom Use during Menses: Associations with Age and Gender Inequality
Objectives: Despite evidence that menstrual bleeding is a risk factor for sexually transmissible infections, few studies have assessed the prevalence of, and reasons for, condom use during menses. The objectives of the present study were to examine (1) the prevalence of condom use during menses; (2) if condom use during menses varies depending on age and gender inequality of country of residence; and (3) whether age and gender inequality of count…
Community, household, and individual correlates of sleep behaviors in Guyanese female youth
OBJECTIVES: Chronic sleep loss among youth is a worldwide health problem. Since research on its predictors is often limited to high-income countries, it is unclear if these findings are generalizable to all populations. To address this gap from an ecological perspective, we evaluated the associations between adolescents' sleep behaviors and several factors at the community, household, and individual levels in a middle-income country. METHODS: Thi…
Fifty Fertile Years: Anthropologists' Studies of Reproduction in High Altitude Natives
Early European colonists of the Andes had difficulties in reproducing, a fact that underpins the hypothesis that reproduction is impaired amongst all humans at high altitudes. Yet a 16th century missionary wrote, “... the Indians are healthiest and where they multiply the most prolifically is in these same cold air‐tempers, ... [yet most children of the Spaniards] when born in such regions do not survive.” These observations suggest that humans a…
Fifty fertile years: Anthropologists' studies of reproduction in high altitude natives
Darwin's Legacy: An Evolutionary View of Women's Reproductive and Sexual Functioning
On the Origin of species, published just over 150 years ago, has deeply influenced thinking in both scientific and wider communities. Darwin's legacy includes recognition of the fact that all organisms evolve; that variation within and between species is natural and normal; and that an evolutionary approach to understanding the sources and consequences of this variation comprises theoretical frameworks, testable hypotheses, and rigorously collect…
Seasonal modulation of reproductive effort during early pregnancy in humans
Life history theory predicts that early pregnancy presents a relatively low cost, uncontested opportunity for a woman to terminate investment in a current reproductive opportunity if a conceptus is of poor quality and/or maternal status or environmental conditions are not propitious for a successful birth. We tested this hypothesis in rural Bolivian women experiencing substantial seasonal variation in workload and food resources. Significant risk…
Evolutionary endocrinology: Integrating proximate mechanisms, ontogeny, and evolved function
Seasonal and circadian variation in salivary testosterone in rural Bolivian men
Testosterone (T) plays a key role in the increase and maintenance of muscle mass and bone density in adult men. Life history theory predicts that environmental stress may prompt a reallocation of such investments to those functions critical to survival. We tested this hypothesis in two studies of rural Bolivian adult men by comparing free T levels and circadian rhythms during late winter, which is especially severe, to those in less arduous seaso…
The ecology and evolutionary endocrinology of reproduction in the human female
Human reproductive ecology (HRE) is the study of the mechanisms that link variation in reproductive traits with variation in local habitats. Empirical and theoretical contributions from biological anthropology, physiology, and demography have established the foundation necessary for developing a comprehensive understanding, grounded in life history theory (LHT), of temporal, individual, and populational variation in women's reproductive functioni…
Biological Anthropology Section
Wallace Should Hang? •NAS Book and Brochure on Evolution •Science & Engineering Indicators (SEI ) 2008 •Fulbright Scholar Program
Evolutionary Models of Women's Reproductive Functioning
Life history theory posits that natural selection leads to the evolution of mechanisms that tend to allocate resources to the competing demands of growth, reproduction, and survival such that fitness is locally maximized. (That is, among alternative allocation patterns exhibited in a population, those having the highest inclusive fitness will become more common over generational time.) Strategic modulation of reproductive effort is potentially ad…
On Our Obligation to Respond to Psuedo-Science
A Case of Misrepresenting the Scientific Record on the Effects of Parents' Sexual Orientation Edward H Hagen, Raymond Hames ?The Complexities of the Peer Review System Alex W Barker
Biological Anthropology Section
Biological Anthropology Section
Biological Anthropology Section
Comparative study of breastfeeding structure and its relation to human reproductive ecology
Although a controversial issue in the not distant past, it is now well established that breastfeeding is the primary factor mediating post-partum subfecundity. This complex interaction between behavior and physiology is a central research focus in several fields sharing a common concern with the mechanisms that regulate human reproduction. Despite the demonstrated linkage between lactation and return of the first post-partum menses, many question…
The ecology and evolutionary endocrinology of reproduction in the human female
Human reproductive ecology (HRE) is the study of the mechanisms that link variation in reproductive traits with variation in local habitats. Empirical and theoretical contributions from biological anthropology, physiology, and demography have established the foundation necessary for developing a comprehensive understanding, grounded in life history theory (LHT), of temporal, individual, and populational variation in women's reproductive functioni…
Nursing behaviour and its relation to duration of post-partum amenorrhoea in an Andean community
Nuñoa is a high altitude rural Peruvian community characterized by socioeconomic stratification and differential access to the market economy. Nursing practices and the effects of nursing are also stratified; this translates into a risk of menses at 12 months post-partum nearly seven times greater in wealthier than in poorer women. Most nursing occurs in the morning, among those who practise on-demand breast-feeding. Nursing episodes are clustere…
Evolutionary Models of Women's Reproductive Functioning
Life history theory posits that natural selection leads to the evolution of mechanisms that tend to allocate resources to the competing demands of growth, reproduction, and survival such that fitness is locally maximized. (That is, among alternative allocation patterns exhibited in a population, those having the highest inclusive fitness will become more common over generational time.) Strategic modulation of reproductive effort is potentially ad…
Dental metric assessment of the Omo fossils: Implications for the phylogenetic position of Australopithecus africanus
The discovery of Australopithecus afarensis has led to new interpretations of hominid phylogeny, some of which reject A. africanus as an ancestor of Homo. Analysis of buccolingual tooth crown dimensions in australopithecines and Homo species by Johanson and White (Science 202 :321–330, 1979) revealed that the South African gracile australopithecines are intermediate in size between Laetoli/Hadar hominids and South African robust hominids. Homo , …
Effect of coca‐leaf chewing on salivary progesterone assays
Although there is evidence for reduced fertility in Andean and Himalayan populations at higher altitudes, factors other than hypoxia may be primarily responsible. A valuable approach in the investigation of these fertility determinants is the use of salivary steroid assays. However, coca‐leaf chewing—a ubiquitous practice among high altitude Andean populations—has negative consequences for the accurate measurement of ovarian steroids. This report…
Hormonal Contraception and Physiology: A Research-based Theory of Discontinuation Due to Side Effects
Side effects influence the acceptability and continuation of hormonal contraceptives. Counseling the client about the management of side effects is a principal approach advocated for increasing continuation. Evidence of a biological basis for variation in women's tolerance of hormonal contraceptives argues, however, that greater attention should be given to altering the product rather than principally attempting to alter a woman's ability to deal…
A Number No Greater than the Sum of Its Parts: The Use and Abuse of Heritability
Though widely used in quantitative genetics, in the study of human variation perhaps no statistic is more easily misinterpreted than heritability. While the contribution of genetic heritage to complex biological and behavioral phenotypes cannot be lightly dismissed, nonetheless we remain profoundly ignorant of how that legacy plays out in any environmental context. To be sure, it is not reducible to a single number. Nor does the preference among …
Demography and Human Origins
Odontometric variation within and between taxonomic levels of cercopithecidae: Implications for interpetations of fossil samples
Darwin's Legacy: An Evolutionary View of Women's Reproductive and Sexual Functioning
On the Origin of species, published just over 150 years ago, has deeply influenced thinking in both scientific and wider communities. Darwin's legacy includes recognition of the fact that all organisms evolve; that variation within and between species is natural and normal; and that an evolutionary approach to understanding the sources and consequences of this variation comprises theoretical frameworks, testable hypotheses, and rigorously collect…
Household economic strategies and nutritional anthropometry of women in American Samoa and highland Bolivia
The Link Between Age and Partner Preferences in a Large, International Sample of Single Women
Women's capacity to reproduce varies over the life span, and developmental goals such as family formation are age-graded and shaped by social norms about the appropriate age for completing specific developmental tasks. Thus, a woman's age may be linked to her ideas about what an ideal partner should be like. With the goals of replicating and extending prior research, in this study we examined the role of age in women's partner preferences across …
Frank Livingstone honored at AAPA meeting
Demography and Human Origins
Dental metric assessment of the Omo fossils: Implications for the phylogenetic position of Australopithecus africanus
The discovery of Australopithecus afarensis has led to new interpretations of hominid phylogeny, some of which reject A. africanus as an ancestor of Homo. Analysis of buccolingual tooth crown dimensions in australopithecines and Homo species by Johanson and White (Science 202 :321–330, 1979) revealed that the South African gracile australopithecines are intermediate in size between Laetoli/Hadar hominids and South African robust hominids. Homo , …
Body size variation in baboons: A reconsideration of ecological determinism
Nursing behaviour and its relation to duration of post-partum amenorrhoea in an Andean community
Nuñoa is a high altitude rural Peruvian community characterized by socioeconomic stratification and differential access to the market economy. Nursing practices and the effects of nursing are also stratified; this translates into a risk of menses at 12 months post-partum nearly seven times greater in wealthier than in poorer women. Most nursing occurs in the morning, among those who practise on-demand breast-feeding. Nursing episodes are clustere…
Odontometric variation within and between taxonomic levels of cercopithecidae: Implications for interpetations of fossil samples
Infant nutrition and the consequences of differential market access in Nuñoa, Peru
Observational and interview data provide the basis for an analysis of infant feeding behavior in a rural Andean community. Generally, infants were first nursed within 48 hours of birth; co‐sleeping—and probably night‐nursing—continued far longer than day nursing; exclusive bottle‐use or exclusive nursing were very rare. Weaning was an extended process of continually modified feeding routines, rather than an abrupt event. There were significant di…
Effect of coca‐leaf chewing on salivary progesterone assays
Although there is evidence for reduced fertility in Andean and Himalayan populations at higher altitudes, factors other than hypoxia may be primarily responsible. A valuable approach in the investigation of these fertility determinants is the use of salivary steroid assays. However, coca‐leaf chewing—a ubiquitous practice among high altitude Andean populations—has negative consequences for the accurate measurement of ovarian steroids. This report…
Suckling patterns: Lack of concordance between maternal recall and observational data
During the last decade, an increased awareness of the importance of breastfeeding patterns in determining maternal fecundity and infant health has led to a dramatic rise in surveys that query mothers on suckling duration and frequency. However, with few exceptions, observational studies have not been undertaken, and the accuracy of the recalled information is not known. This analysis ascertained the concordance of maternal recall and observationa…
Comparative study of breastfeeding structure and its relation to human reproductive ecology
Although a controversial issue in the not distant past, it is now well established that breastfeeding is the primary factor mediating post-partum subfecundity. This complex interaction between behavior and physiology is a central research focus in several fields sharing a common concern with the mechanisms that regulate human reproduction. Despite the demonstrated linkage between lactation and return of the first post-partum menses, many question…
Ecology of breastfeeding: Approaches toward improvement of women's and children's health
It is well established that breastfeeding has significant benefits for infant health and plays an important role in regulating maternal fecundity. However, many questions remain regarding the mechanisms underlying these relationships and the sources of the observed variation among individuals and populations. For example, women of seemingly comparable breastfeeding magnitude and nutritional status display substantial heterogeneity in the duration…
Ecology of breastfeeding: Approaches toward improvement of women's and children's health
It is well established that breastfeeding has significant benefits for infant health and plays an important role in regulating maternal fecundity. However, many questions remain regarding the mechanisms underlying these relationships and the sources of the observed variation among individuals and populations. For example, women of seemingly comparable breastfeeding magnitude and nutritional status display substantial heterogeneity in the duration…
Variability in human fertility
Edited by Lyliane Rosetta and C.G.N. Mascie-Taylor. 1996. New York: Cambridge University Press. 225 pp. ISBN 0-521-49569-5. $54.95 (cloth).
Household economic strategies and nutritional anthropometry of women in American Samoa and highland Bolivia
Epidemiological transitions, reproductive health, and the Flexible Response Model
A Number No Greater than the Sum of Its Parts: The Use and Abuse of Heritability
Though widely used in quantitative genetics, in the study of human variation perhaps no statistic is more easily misinterpreted than heritability. While the contribution of genetic heritage to complex biological and behavioral phenotypes cannot be lightly dismissed, nonetheless we remain profoundly ignorant of how that legacy plays out in any environmental context. To be sure, it is not reducible to a single number. Nor does the preference among …
Frank Livingstone honored at AAPA meeting
Hormonal Contraception and Physiology: A Research-based Theory of Discontinuation Due to Side Effects
Side effects influence the acceptability and continuation of hormonal contraceptives. Counseling the client about the management of side effects is a principal approach advocated for increasing continuation. Evidence of a biological basis for variation in women's tolerance of hormonal contraceptives argues, however, that greater attention should be given to altering the product rather than principally attempting to alter a woman's ability to deal…
Biological Anthropology Section
Biological Anthropology Section
Biological Anthropology Section
Frank B. Livingstone (1928–2005)
Biological Anthropology Section
Biological Anthropology Section
Biological Anthropology Section
On Our Obligation to Respond to Psuedo-Science
A Case of Misrepresenting the Scientific Record on the Effects of Parents' Sexual Orientation Edward H Hagen, Raymond Hames ?The Complexities of the Peer Review System Alex W Barker
Sociology (23 works) · Demography (22 works) · Biology (20 works) · Medicine (18 works) · Population (14 works) · Anthropology (12 works) · Computer Science (12 works) · Psychology (12 works) · Library science (10 works) · Citation (9 works)