DEMOGRAPHY IN BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY - HUMAN-POPULATION STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION

The fact of human evolution is evident in the biological variation cau sed by the pattern of lines of descent. Theories of human evolution ar e the explanations of the fertility and mortality differentials that d etermine patterns of variation at the subspecific level. Migrations al so influence the patterns. Because human beings plan migrations and ma rriages, theories relying solely on selective advantage and gene diffu sion do not fully account for the observed patterns. These patterns ca n be interpreted through time and space as dense thickets of descent l ines, often clustered into local fascicles held together by inbreeding . The patterns of descent lines are thus punctuated by births, sometim es ended by extinction of lines, but marked also by rich interconnecti ons of the fascicles by filaments that represent marital migration. Th e patterns are neither solely of racial isolates nor of simple diffusi on, but are the result of the complex sociocultural events that influe nce genetic demography, a field of study that some of Ed Hunt's work f oreshadowed. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.