LOWER-LIMB LENGTH OF EUROPEAN EARLY-MODERN HUMANS IN RELATION TO MOBILITY AND CLIMATE

There are two competing hypotheses to explain the relatively long lowe r limbs of the earliest modern Europeans. The first follows from Allen 's (1877) rule and posits that the long legs are indicative of gene fl ow from warmer regions at the time of the archaic/modern Home sapiens transition. The second maintains that the long lower limbs are an adap tive response to selection for locomotor efficiency. This paper tests predictions derived from these two competing hypotheses using anthropo metric, residential mobility and climatic data for a sample of 19 rece nt hunter-gatherer groups. For this sample, there is no relationship b etween relative lower limb length (as reflected in relative sitting he ight) and residential mobility. Consequently, the mobility hypothesis can be rejected. However, a significant relationship between climate a nd relative lower limb length could not be rejected. With regard to La ter Pleistocene human evolution, these results are interpreted as evid ence for significant gene how from tropical regions associated with th e first appearance of modern humans in Europe.