The term 'obstetrical dilemma'was coined by Washburn in 1960 to describe the trade‐off
between selection for a larger birth canal, permitting successful passage of a big‐brained …

While the anatomy and physiology of human reproduction differ between the sexes, the
effects of hormones on skeletal growth do not. Human bone growth depends on estrogen …

Locomotion through the environment is important because movement provides access to
key resources, including food, shelter and mates. Central to many locomotion-focused …

Compared to other primates, modern humans face high rates of maternal and neonatal
morbidity and mortality during childbirth. Since the early 20th century, this “difficulty” of …

It seems puzzling why humans have evolved such a small and rigid birth canal that entails a
relatively complex process of labor compared with the birth canal of our closest relatives, the …

Over the last 25 years, a large amount of research has been dedicated to identifying men's
preferences for women's physical features, and the evolutionary benefits associated with …

This essay explores the deepest roots of economic development. It underscores the
significance of evolutionary processes in shaping fundamental individual and cultural traits …

Worldwide variation in human stature and limb proportions is widely accepted to reflect
thermal adaptation, but the contribution of population history to this variation is unknown …

Background The human foetus typically needs to rotate when passing through the tight birth
canal because of the complex shape of the pelvis. In most women, the upper part, or inlet, of …

Human infants are born neurologically immature, potentially owing to conflicting selection
pressures between bipedal locomotion and encephalization as suggested by the obstetrical …