The Evolution of Human Height

#paleoanthropology #human #ancienthuman
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Sources:
Social and psychological effects of height
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/...
Tyrrell J, Jones S E, Beaumont R, Astley C M, Lovell R, Yaghootkar H et al. Height, body mass index, and socioeconomic status: mendelian randomisation study in UK Biobank BMJ 2016; 352 :i582 doi:10.1136/bmj.i582
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16038...
Height of europeans
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17003...
Europeans descend from three groups
Lazaridis, I., Patterson, N., Mittnik, A. et al. Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans. Nature 513, 409-413 (2014). doi.org/10.1038/nature13673
Gravettian hunter gatherers
royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
Dutch
Gert, Stulp, et al. “Does Natural Selection Favour Taller Stature among the Tallest People on Earth?” Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 7 May 2015, royalsocietypublishing.org/do....
Dinka
Roberts, D. F.; Bainbridge, D. R. (1963). "Nilotic physique". American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Stock, Jay (Summer 2006). "Skeleton key"
Chali D (1995). "Anthropometric measurements of the Nilotic tribes in a refugee camp". Ethiopian Medical Journal.
Korean
www.theifod.com/why-are-south...
www.bbc.com/news/magazine-177...
Pygmy
Becker, Noémie S.A.; Verdu, Paul; Froment, Alain; Le Bomin, Sylvie; Pagezy, Hélène; Bahuchet, Serge; Heyer, Evelyne (2011). "Indirect evidence for the genetic determination of short stature in African Pygmies"
O'Dea, Julian (December 21, 2009). "Ultraviolet light levels in the rainforest"
O'Dea, JD (January 1994). "Possible contribution of low ultraviolet light under the rainforest canopy to the small stature of Pygmies and Negritos"
Yong, Ed (19 December 2007). "Short lives, short size - why are pygmies small?"
Bozzola, M; Travaglino, P; Marziliano, N; Meazza, C; Pagani, S; Grasso, M; Tauber, M; Diegoli, M; Pilotto, A; Disabella, E; Tarantino, P; Brega, A; Arbustini, E (November 2009). "The shortness of Pygmies is associated with severe under-expression of the growth hormone receptor"
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[@NORTH02]

How do you think human height will change in the next centuries or even millennium?

[@Zmiana_Pogody]

if there would be bigger population, and bigger urbanisation - imo generally ppl who are smaller would have more comfortable lifes and less costs of sustainig their life, clothes, etc. if there would be collapse of the civilisation and back to barbarian chaos - higher ppl will be better in fights again, and in phisical work, so maybe higher genes would prevail?

[@extremosaur]

It entirely depends on the selecting pressures. For all its advantages, taller height has several distinct disadvantages such as higher heat retention(advantage in cold, and dependent on total mass, not height alone), increased need for food(again, codependent on mass), and the fun one, taller people have more surface area, making them more vulnerable to shrapnel and random gunfire.

[@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156]

I think that carbon nano-fibers are going to change a lot of things about how we regard our physical body and its capacities. I don't think anyone right now knows where that technology is going to take us, evolutionarily.

[@kirkjones9639]

@@extremosaur Most people I met in the SF community, tended to be above average height. The intense training of Marines, SEALS, SOF, Rangers and PJs, may be why. Although the mortality rate for them is 50% before age 30. Nearly all of them are suffering chronic pain, after age 40. Those I have seen in their 60s and 70s, are tall. They are usually cranky, and best left to themselves.

[@Pinworm]

I think environment pressures will dictate how tal, on average, we will get. Especially those of us who still require natural means to survive and prosper.

[@LuisAldamiz]

I'm gonna guess that it's probable that genetic "determination" of height doesn't go like "you're going to be X height" but rather "you're gonna be A to B height, depending on your early nutrition and maybe also other stresses", i.e. that is more nuanced and flexible than a simple "genetic determination" would be. That's why some populations shift height easily with improved (or downgraded) nutrition, while others barely react to that.

[@utzius8003]

Well he did mention multiple times that height is primarily genetic, but also heavily influenced by surrounding factors.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@utzius8003 - I'm not arguing with what the video says, I'm expanding on it according to my best judgment. Please re-read.

[@utzius8003]

@@LuisAldamiz You're just summarizing what the video said.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@utzius8003 - The details are different, re-read pls.

[@emilycrewe3794]

My brother-in-law is a prime example. His parents are both Vietnamese, but he was born and raised in Canada. His parents are both under 5’3”, and the majority of his extremely large extended family back in Vietnam are also very short, but he’s 6’. Of course, anecdotal evidence isn’t the most useful, but it does clearly indicate that there are factors aside from genetics that influence height.

[@sophiekwinters]

It was definitely a shock to me when I visited Guatemala, I am 5'4, average for women in America, but I towered over almost everyone there. My sister was adopted from Guatemala as an infant, and I wonder if she may have had slight height variation if she had not grown up in America.

[@ggf_andyfox1946]

How tall is she?

[@sophiekwinters]

@@ggf_andyfox1946 She is just under 5 foot, i think around 4'10. She had a malnourished infancy as an orphan, I wonder how much it effected her as well.

[@ChemEDan]

In short, yes :)

[@ThighErda]

hispanics are also just shorter (genetically), people who live in spain are a inch shorter than in the US due to genetics. guatemalans are likely short in part due to that

[@barkasz6066]

Now I’m curious to visit at 6’1 lol

[@moepzilla7301]

I always find your vids fun to watch, as they cover a time that very different of most time periods in human history

[@joshthemediocre7824]

This is a good one. Being a male and only 5ft 1inch tall, i've always just rounded down to 5 ft it's not like that inch is going to make a difference. Although being small can cause issues it has never been the case with me, i've always been super strong, by 9th grade and 130lbs i had a benchpress in the low 300's and a deadlift in the mid 500's, i've never been bullied or anything like that, it's been all good. I think i could use a couple more inches for certain things but i find that being small in our world makes life more comfortable for me than say being 6'6" would be. I just fit into anything, besides adult clothes..lol

[@bureaffari3694]

That's awesome dude.

[@Hollylivengood]

Being short can be an advantage. My oldest son was always the shortest kid in the class, and he was on wrestling teams from 7 years old on up. He had a whole strategy taking advantage of being shorter, and his opponents fell like bowling pins.

[@bureaffari3694]

@@Hollylivengood but generally women prefer tall men so it must have had an evolutionary advantage.

[@MenOn13]

@@bureaffari3694generally women prefer fit athletic men too? Then why are most skinny fat slobs? Also gnerally women prefer rich men, then why are most men poor

[@GnarStark]

The second most influential factor on height today is quality protein consumption during childhood and adolescence so that lines up with hunter gatherers being taller and generally more robust. Then when we switched to grain based diets we got significantly shorter. Also dental health took a nose dive. It’s interesting how biological anthropologists can just casually say humans function better on a meat based diet and it doesn’t spark a huge vegetarian/vegan vs omnivore/carnivore debate lol. It seems pretty clear which one we thrive on.

[@redhidinghood9337]

Nevertheless we did make adaptations to a more carb-based diet. Eating grain food is perfectly fine and they're a part of a balanced and healthy diet. Going to the extremes on both sides can be harmful

[@lilaeckitties7524]

@@Me-yq1fl BMI isnit bullcrap for the vast majority of the population. It gives a 40lb+/- range for a healthy weight. Don't tell me you have fallen for the haes bs. Those vegan/vegetarian studies haven't been accepted by the scientific community as they are flawed from the start. They didn't account for lifestyles or obese/overweight people or separate vegan/vegetarian people.

[@charlesgatine7045]

@@Me-yq1fl we were talking about height here and you diverged on something else

[@aresjerry]

@@Me-yq1fl this guy said BMI is bullshit yet talking about diets and nutrition. Youre probably think youre intellectual or smart yet are probabky fat and dont lift. Indicating your true stupidity and tuat only you can hide from yourself. But that extra body fat shows your low IQ.

[@fredbologn2344]

@@Me-yq1fl Living til 90 wasn't practical for people who had to hunt mega fauna to survive. They just needed to be at peak performance until they could reproduce and teach their offspring to hunt.

[@stacie1595]

When I visited the Netherlands, I felt so tiny! I'm 5'7" which is above average in the US but in the Netheralnds, I had 11-year-olds looking down at me.

[@brendanmorin9935]

I’m surprised that you didn’t talk more about how one’s physical environment affects height. The elevation, flora, and climate all have big effects on the height of a group of people. You’ll notice that the tallest members of a groups of people tend to be from flatter, open areas- while shorter people tend to be from mountainous and densely forested areas. This is true of many groups of people all over the world! Edit: Just to be more clear- I’m saying that over time humans evolve and adapt to their environments, and certain environmental factors seem to be correlated to height. Whether it causes them to become taller or shorter

[@petervermeer.4904]

Yes that's true. "Mountain people" are almost everywhere a little bit shorter, and more sturdy.

[@brendanmorin9935]

@@petervermeer.4904 I think the “sturdiness” might have to do with their adaptation to the cold, as mountains are always colder then the surrounding low lands

[@katyungodly]

I'm guessing this is because long legs allows for ease of running, while small bodies makes for ease of climbing.

[@gediminassumskas]

He mentioned small african peoples in forest.

[@Sunvee1000]

Environment or nutrition do not affect significant height differences. Someone whose highest potential is 180 cm cannot be 160 cm even with bad nutrition or cannot be 200+ cm even with best nutrition. He will be always around 180 cm +/- 1 or 2 inches. Nutrition or environment can only affect upto 2-2.5 inches. Highest with medical support it could go upto 3 inches. It never could be more significant. Therefore, gene is the most important factor in determining height.

[@bossross2.08]

A lot of these old drawings are straight from a children's book on evolution from the early 90s that I read.I still have it to this day to educate my nephews. While much of its info was outdated, the pictures aged very well.

[@utzius8003]

I love images like that, they give me so much nostalgia.

[@bossross2.08]

@Prime The USborne picture prehistory early man

[@Regansaidso]

@@bossross2.08 what stood out as outdated?

[@knowjusticeknowpeace15]

Thank you so so so sooooo very much for everything you do on this channel. This is one of my all time favorite KZbin channels. Prehistoric history is one of the most interesting things ever to me.

[@ramonamcmahon3248]

Always answering the questions I've pondered over, excellent channel.

[@majorphenom1]

Thanks for sharing 🙏🏾

[@prawnmikus]

My father: 180 cm. Me: 193 cm. My son (15): 197 cm and growing. We're all broad shouldered and muscular. My son is also half Japanese (I'm 100% Northern European). There's obviously much more to it than genetics... Despite meats typically advertising no added hormones, I'd speculate that selective breeding for faster growth and larger-bodied beasts yields the same results - that we are what we eat, and in this case we're eating food that makes us grow faster, and taller. Maybe I'm completely wrong.

[@the3mevrick]

interesting

[@prawnmikus]

@@terriblefez I'll make it my quest to find such a partner, and start a breeding program. It will be glorious!!!

[@bratwurststattsucuk4517]

intresting. My Parents are 180cm(Dad) and Mom's 170cm and I'm 190cm. I am 100% Middle Eastern. I am curious too about how people came tall to be..

[@Lora-M-NY]

You sound so grown up, North. I don’t think it’s just the mic! You’re so talented. Best videos. You tell the visual story as well, which I really love.

[@dirk7816]

Great topic, thank you once again for your dedication in helping to unlock the mysteries of our evolution.

[@TheHaymeadow]

Really enjoyed this topic. The evolution of your channel is as interesting as your content 😁

[@kirkjones9639]

You can see the difference in my family. My father was 5'11", I'm 6'1", my son is 6'2" and my grandson is 6'4". About a five inch height gain, in as many generations. Since the average modern human, matures at around 25 years old. My son and I may be a bit stunted. I enlisted in the Marines at 17, and he enlisted at 18. We may have lost out on about an inch of growth, due to the physical stress.

[@bureaffari3694]

Really tho? Most guys I know are done growing around 17-18. My knee plates were sealed at 17.

[@AleskyMaxomovishPeshkov]

@@bureaffari3694so it’s possibly I can grow up to seven feet still? I’m sixteen and I am 5’9 and a half and I am pretty tall for my age (67th percentile) but I remember a long time ago in a video call with my doctor (before 2020 lol 😅) he said that based on my X rays I could potentially grow up to seven feet. I do have scoliosis albeit mild one so I don’t know…

[@GIGADEV690]

​@@AleskyMaxomovishPeshkovBuddy growing to 7 feet is no fun I am 6.2 I haven't noticed any benefits of height my head bums in doorways of things that's the only benefit.

[@MenOn13]

@@AleskyMaxomovishPeshkovu should check ur iq levels

[@NickNam3]

Beautiful as always!

[@TaylorSWF]

Great video as usual. Thanks

[@ginam830]

Another great video!!! I would really be interested in a video on bipedalism. Thank you for your consideration

[@davidson9422]

Woke up right on time, todays gonna be a great day, thank God. And thank you North, you're one of the best youtubers in my book. Love seeing your videos, this is by far one of the most pronounced series I've commited my time to online since I discovered KZbin. It's even been a very inspiring force for my own writing project. Your videos and uniquely detailed topics are important and personally very moving. Keep up the passionate work, North!

[@Pinworm]

If anything, North 02 is dedicated to providing his subscribers quality content. His sources of information are deep.

[@brutalisaxeworth3024]

Keep up the good work, dude.

[@bigyin2586]

The Netherlands essentially sat out the two world wars. In most countries, there is, and has long been, minimum height requirements for military service. This, logically, means that young men of average to above-average heights are more likely to be killed during wars, reducing the average height gene pool of the relevant nation. This might have been particularly true of France after WWI. Like France, Britain and Germany also have a long history of welfare states, as does the Netherlands. I know that this “tall-Dutchman -because-socialism” hypothesis is popular with the political left.

[@bureaffari3694]

Never thought about it, great observation and thanks for sharing.

[@Loveroflife5.0.]

Good video, thank you for your content, I liked and subscribed

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

I love your videos and this one is pretty good hope to see more Also I hope yall are having a fantastic day

[@albert12256]

Our genus has certainly gone through some very interesting changes. I wonder what environmental pressures each one went through. Thank you for the video.

[@rwolff01]

Great video!👏🏼

[@Lyburtus]

Love, Love your channel.

[@sksk-bd7yv]

This might seem an off-road request, but I would love a vid about deep sea creatures. The super-interesting ones in the hadal zone. It's hopeful, fun and fascinating to see life under a sort-of-new-rulebook (or is it the oldest?). But as expected - a top notch vid. What if netflix gave you a ton of cash, and boom an excellent human evolution doc. Could be my christmas gift?

[@dependentmany8359]

As long as there's no giant deep sea creatures (except the colossal squid), cause they're just terrifying.

[@sksk-bd7yv]

​@@dependentmany8359 Oh, I love watching them! Weirdly I think spiders are yuck, but those hairy crabs are fascinating.

[@dependentmany8359]

@@sksk-bd7yv 😂😭

[@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156]

Great material, as always. The bit about the Pigmy Peoples got me curious about whether they have any medical/physiological differences compared to a "typical" Human. I'll look into it. Cheers.

[@KarlaJTanner]

I love you North 02❤

[@Ingeb91]

The thing with height is, it's very variable generation to generation. Yes there's a good genetic component as you pointed out, with various haplogroups having solid predisposition to being towards or above 6 foot, but the larger part(as my limited understanding of the science goes) comes from protein consumption during your growth phase(before plate closure due to hormonal signaling) Milk might be a double edged sword there, as milk can increase estrogen a slight amount, and the hormonal signal for plate closure is an estrogen pulse, at least in men. Which means other proteins sources like eggs and meat might be even better for trying to optimize height in your kids. It's a fascinating topic, and I'm really grateful you went into such detail, in such a candid manner. You really do produce fantastic educational content, so keep it up, for our sake.

[@bureaffari3694]

Still you potential is limited by genes, no normal human can grow to say 10ft no matter the amount of proteing or optimal diet they follow.

[@ramanujbaruah2200]

haplogroups and autosomal DNA is quite different

[@TheEnabledDisabled]

Have you heard of the partially dna sequencing of one of the 'Red Deer cave people' that happen in July this year?

[@JesusFriedChrist]

Red Deer, Alberta?

[@TheEnabledDisabled]

@@JesusFriedChrist no from China

[@Stephen85]

@@JesusFriedChrist I never could figure out why they named a place in Canada after an animal that doesn't exist in the new world (at least not until people brought them here).

[@ianlochead3880]

@@Stephen85 younger country

[@buttercxpdraws8101]

There’s so little info around on the red deer cave people I was starting to wonder if the find had been discredited. Do you know any good content on this?

[@rubinortiz2311]

In South Sudan the average height of the Dinka man is 6’3 with many who are over 7 foot in their home country with everything working against them. Here in the Twin cities in Minnesota we have a lot of East Africans many who where refugees and had kids here and I have met a few who where extremely tall like 6’8 +

[@dickdrapper5491]

It’s widely considered that Nilotic groups such as Dinka are tallest genetically in the world. Although in modern day they may struggle, historically they were a pastoral people who consumed a lot of meat and dairy. Compared to shit diets in Europe they probably lived very healthy lives

[@bustavonnutz]

In Stuttgart I felt like a manlet at 174cm/5'8" but in Strasbourg I felt like I towered over the crowd. I think I've grown about 1cm since then, but it still astounds me how entire regions or areas, even diverse ones, seem to have a more or less average height when you go out in public.

[@thatboyunfazed99]

For germans anything below 5'10 is pretty much manlet range.

[@bureaffari3694]

@@thatboyunfazed99 bruh average height in Germany is 5'11.

[@Tesjhkyayy]

Als ich in Lissabon war, war es sehr lustig, weil die Leute dort alle echt klein sind. Ich bin 1,66m und konnte über die Köpfe schauen haha

[@bustavonnutz]

@@Tesjhkyayy Genau das Gefühl, wenn man in Mexico City ankommt. Die Leute dort sind erstaunlich winzig aber viel wärmer als die Mehrheit der Europäer.

[@danmaertens7872]

Im American and 6’8” tall, my father was from northern Germany and he was 6’7”. His father was 6’6” and his mother was 6’. And with her it began. So I can see how the last 100yrs has improved height. I grew up on a farm and drank raw milk as a little kid, ate game, home grown vegetables a lot growing up but also a lot of American junk food.

[@redriver6541]

Yes. North02.... didn't get the notification....glad I came to look. I'm 6'4" and I'm almost exclusively descended the British Isle people. With a 3rd great grandmother who was German. I'm also 210#'s, red headed, green eyed, left handed, and athletic. Must be some Viking DNA....

[@deepquake9]

Love your videos

[@m0nke13]

Pls make videos of genetics of different human populations.

[@voggvogg]

Another excellent documentary. Educational, well-edited, great voice and gentle music.

[@oscargustavoarcosruiz8793]

I look forward to the video you will make in 50 years :)

[@YoungGandalf2325]

Agreed. I can't wait!

[@SteveC38]

Nice Job!

[@jacoburban5736]

Thanks North

[@bollweevil8112]

To me, there are SO many factors more important to survival & capabilities , than height. Generally, you’ll find that the people who care the most about height are either very tall or very short.

[@loretta_3843]

It's interesting how my parents who were kids in times of poverty during WWII in Italy and my brothers and I have an approximate 10cm height difference. That's a really big jump in one generation. I know it's putting things simplistically, but it is an interesting topic (not my family's height 😄 Height in general!)

[@eacalvert]

Yay new video

[@unfixablegop]

What I learned: Dutch women like tall men. 🙂

[@PridefulMan02]

Could you make a vid on why people have different hair texture

[@geogm.840]

Any source to suggest that Upper Paleolithic humans were that tall? I have seen averages of 173 cm, which is already significative and only matched recently by modern humans. Cromagnon 1 (at 4:31 we can see his reconstruction on the left?) was estimated to have been around that height too. Not sure about anything close to 180 cm. Regarding the skeleton gracilization, that change can be observed already on the Upper Paleolithic (Brno, Predmost, etc...), although it s a process that may not be directly linked to a height change. Stable hunter-gatherer settlements probably led to a more sedentary lifestyle. First known Mediterranean skulls appeared on the Brno region, before the last big Ice Age (around 25.000 years ago). They evolved from Cromagnoid and Aurignacoid types. This area had mammoth hunters. Some Mesolithic European hunters also were way more sedentary than Ice Age hunters, included more vegetables and aquatic animals on their diet and were of shorter stature (estimated to be around 165 cm for males in Muge, for example). The tallest average estimate that I have seen was for the Taforalt hunters (although they were from Morocco) and it was between 176-179 cm. But yes, it seems established, that the Neolithic led to even a more marked decrease in height. it is difficult to link safely a single Y-DNA haplogroup to a tendency to get taller :Y-DNA itself represents only a very small fraction of all the human DNA, moreover, when it is from thousands of years ago (and it seems to be not that common in the Netherlands?)... It is still a possiblity, but Upper Paleolithic haplogroups/haplotypes exist everywhere in Europe, and some are older than that one.

[@dennisjones9044]

The average height of Americans may be decreasing due to immigration from other countries, most our population came from northern Europe, now we see immigration from every populated continent.

[@kovona]

Doesn't obesity also affect height?

[@dennisjones9044]

@@kovona We aren't talking about me ;)

[@joemontes4658]

Immigration has nothing to do with hight. You just being racist

[@joemontes4658]

@@kovona yes and we can’t blame obesity on immigrants either

[@ellice100]

Poor nutrition and empty calorie foods also taking our height down

[@rexlupusetxe8367]

I love the art you showed at the beginning of the video. I never gave much thought to the first European populations genetics. I'm amazed at how much of our prehistory we ignore.

[@anoordman1028]

Great video !!! I am 6'6 240 lb, third generation American, my ancestry is frisain an ethnic minority in the Netherlands, archeology has shown that Dairy farming on the terp Mounds has been going on for the last 2,000 years milking barns similar to how we construct them to this day... I am extremely lactose tolerant at 58 years old can't live without consuming some type of milk product daily mainly by the glass.. 🐄=🏋️

[@NORTH02]

I’m 6’1 185, I got a leaner Scandinavian like build that is common in the Midwest from Norwegian and German heritage. My grandpa and earlier generations were cow farmers so I may have them to thank. I also cannot go 12 hours without milk. I have at least 4 glasses a day.

[@kirkjones9639]

@@NORTH02 There might be something to that. My family has been ranchers, on the Colombia Plateau, since 1827. Along with about a gazillion beeves, they all kept five milk cows. I have no idea how much meat and milk, I consumed growing up but, we're all tall. Except my little brother, who is a midget, at only 5'11".

[@Jameh1]

Let's go! Just got in from grocery shopping and then I'm treated to this?!

[@dersitzpinkler2027]

Great topic and well presented!

[@BriannaEnright]

Whenever I look at the thumbnail I see a giant sloth dancing with the humans….now, I know that’s not what it is, but I chuckle a little each time

[@kdub1242]

Interesting trade offs between hunter-gatherer and agricultural lifestyles. Although nutrition was for a long time poorer in the latter, I think it did provide the surpluses and leisure (not a bunch, but a hey a little) to allow the beginnings of culture to develop.

[@sensam6155]

My brother and I (born in the 90's and raised in the USA) are both 5'9 even though my parents (born in the 60's and raised in Mexio) are 5'0 and 5'4 respectively. Nutrition during childhood and adolescence really goes a long way!

[@chrishohl6141]

Height seems to correlate decently to different Y and Mt DNA halpgroups as you allude to. The story is pretty complex, more complex than you go into here, and really interesting. For example, your reference to pygmies and the dinka tribe is also an observation of the difference between Y-DNA haplogroup B (pygmies), and Y-DNA halpogroup A (the dinka tribe), which would have been one of the oldest "splits" in anatomically modern humans heights happening somewhere around 130k BCE. It's likely that humans with haplogroup A were likely relatively tall and existed in a relatively homogenous group for about 135k years, until they split with BT who was much shorter. CT branches off from B somewhere around 100k-88k years ago, and then starts getting taller (and interbreeds with Neanderthals at this point), and then goes to split on to the rest of the Y-DNA haplogroups, all of which than go on to evolve various average height levels depending on the specific group. Effectively, modern humans start relatively tall, break off into tall vs shorts, some of the shorts bounce and have sex with some randoms, then go on to spread around the world and then some of them get tall again while others stay short.

[@omitbadgers5664]

Thanks again for using the metric system (as as european its sometimes very annoying to convert)

[@keshavs2846]

Pls do a video on prehistoric india

[@nickmtzsaenz9312]

I wouldn't be able to tell you anything about this video. I keep falling asleep in the first 30 seconds due to the calm and soothing voice 🤣

[@janebennett9930]

This is the best channel for prehistory in my opinion. I’ve learnt so much about our evolution as humans. Thank you so much - I am obsessed with the origins of the homo genus. So well done and please carry on, find more interesting and new avenues to wander down and bring back to us the discoveries in your own unique way - a beautiful and easy way to assimilate. Thank you! 😘❤️

[@CMZneu]

Very interesting video, i think the problem with figuring out why different groups evolved height is complicated because a lot of these imo are caused by sexual selection, a lot of time this is turns out being very un intuitive and illogical, this preference might be cultural but can also be genetic, a genetic preference for tall males. Whether is cultural or genetic i think it is also possible for a society to have a preference for one sex being taller and the other shorter so maybe it evens itself out. For example maybe in the states height is valued in males but they want shorter women or more precisely they dislike tall women. The netherlands could be the same but they don't like or don't dislike tall women so only the females are choosing tall mates so it ends up going in that direction. Pygmies on the other hand are tough but it looks like it's more of an environmental cause a mix between poor nutrition and an evolved efficient use of it, hence the small stature. Anyways my point is sexual selection is a pain to discern because tastes are very subjective and psychological, a lot of times has no evolutionary advantage besides being a clear way to rate a sexual partner. There are a ton of animals that have big or small body parts many times to their detriment because of this, think babirusa, narwhal, Proboscis monkey, etc or simply common animals like peacocks and deer.

[@EricRoberts2112]

I think the biggest sexual selector is survivability.

[@bong_water]

incel like- the women chose the tall males thereeforeeeee the height was increased

[@sailinghooponopono2457]

In the eighties, Norwegian military published a study regarding the average height increase in conscripts over the last 100 years. There was a steady linear graph of increase. The interesting part was, if you followed the same growth linear graph in reverse back in time, the vikings would have been 60cm (23.6 inches) tall😂

[@5797]

Sure, but that's only if it keeps going linear. I was just in Ireland, and guides pointed out several times how beds, door frames, etc. were taller for nobles in the 1100s than in the 1600s, bc people had actually gotten shorter due to to bigger populations and poorer nutrition. So average Irish height today is taller than in Victorian era, but the same as "Pagan" era, almost like they got back to the 'normal" height. Surprising.

[@dutchhoopers1501]

As a Dutchy I believe that the diet made us kinda tall and woman don't date men that are shorter then their selfs over here so we keep getting taller. Kids are getting huge over here

[@jonhillman871]

this video got me thinking if right now we are selecting for personality traits rather than physical traits.

[@elizabethgaldamez1729]

Interesting idea

[@siyacer]

Interesting stuff

[@hugo8851]

I love the graph showing how the height decreased with agriculture and increase again to what it was in the Palaeolithic once meat was again in our diet in high quantities, if a vegan sees this he would loose his mind.

[@Hollylivengood]

I was just watching another video you did on predators preying on humans, and I wonder if the height thing has to do with a defense against predation. I know it helps somewhat. I have a friend who used to lead outdoor education classes here in Tennessee, and he swears black bears are not as problematic as people make them out to be, because he's met up with them repeatedly, and they are never a problem. To be clear, the average size of a black bear is about 6 1/2 feet, and my friend is seven ft tall, solid bone and muscle and looks like a blond bear. Everyone backs away from him, and I'm told black bears even bob their head in apology and back away from him. I notice that many of the countries with very tall people also have animals like this to deal with. Even sharks leave you alone while swimming, if you are longer than they are, and if you dolphin kick when you see them.

[@aegonii8471]

Humans are fragile af for hominids and especially compared to other animals. Your 7 foot friend would get absolutely mauled by a starving black bear if he was barehanded. Our strength comes from our intelligence and our intelligent adaptations that allow us to seem bigger than we really are. In terms of actual practicality and combat use height advantages would be negligible, humans always fight with some type of weapon whether that be a spear in the past or a gun nowadays. I don’t think being tall would help you throw/wield a spear better than any other sized person. Most likely not in hunting and if we’re talking solely about predation like in your example the slight strength difference from being a lil taller wouldn’t be enough compared to a compact and powerful predator like a bear. When you’re being hunted by a predator though the goal isn’t to fight them the goal is to intimidate and scare them away like your friend did and that’s the true benefit of being tall. Just like a bear standing on its hind legs you look bigger and more intimidating and gives the impression that you’re more dangerous than u really are.

[@Hollylivengood]

@@aegonii8471 That's actually what I meant. Probably everybody knew that. All animals can take us out. We're prey. We stay alive because we're smarter. It's the psychology of the height I'm saying, not the actual fact.

[@tribequest9]

How old are you?

[@Hollylivengood]

@@tribequest9 Ha ha. Just saying, however genetics forms in the mix, nothing happens at all unless the lady wants the man. The average woman who lives daily with the threat of predators, who sees a seven foot tall guy stand up and shoo a dangerous bear away, and decide that's the guy for her. If she mates with THAT guy, her kids will live. If she mates with the shorter guy, her kids might die. Sure enough, the ladies all mate with the tall guys. Easy math.

[@redhidinghood9337]

@@aegonii8471 Humans aren't fragile. We are one of the best endurance runners in the animal kingdom and we have one of the best visions of all mammals, not to mention how hyper-social we are as a species. Physical strength may not be our strong side but intelligence definitely isn't our only evolutionary advantage.

[@PK-er6gh]

Being a 6'3 200 pound male I can tell you being tall has profound advantages in the way people see and treat you. Especially women. Anyone who says different is most likely short and just trying to sooth their ego. (I'm so sorry if your short) 😀

[@NORTH02]

One thing that I feel like every dude understands is like physical hierarchy in your friend group especially as kids or teenagers. Everyone has the one friends who can beat everyone up or knows where they are on the pecking order. I suspect this has an affect on how you interact socially with not only your friends but other people aswell.

[@Zathriscm]

This isn’t nice

[@goinggray]

thanks for recommending "have good genetics". i would've forgotten otherwise. 😂

[@nickkuiper32]

I an 189 cm tall Dutchman myself, I can confirm that sleep is very important.

[@wendellhull4183]

Recently much more accurate biometric analysis puts Cro Magnon and Neanderthal at over six feet tall. European hominids were BOTH taller AND more robust, thicker and larger by about 50 percent, than African hominids.

[@goldandsilverminingintheci8942]

I hope people will evolve to be able to hear your videos. They are very LOW VOLUME.

[@mountainmanmike1014]

Have you ever worked the land? Clearing tilling planting and harvesting. A lot more energy goes into farming then than ambush hunting. Nutrition and disease were the primary factors.

[@jmanfromthehills]

Especially for the nutrition you get out of it. Subsistence grain farming is hardly a living, it really makes you wonder how in the hell these people made it that long.

[@benroberts1446]

Excellent video. I've pondered questions about human height before too but I've felt very alone in this enterprise. My college had a few International students and one of those groups were from Bosnia. I couldn't help but notice that those students were, on average, taller than anyone else. They also generally came from a lower socioeconomic background relative to other students at my school (they came from an institution that paid for 100 percent of their tuition). I didn't know what they ate growing up in the 90s and early 2000s but, despite the war/Yugoslavia breakup, they still managed to reach towering heights. I've tried to understand how you could get such height variation in Africa. If the pygmies were native to islands then you could explain it as being island dwarfism. Clearly, this is not the case. The Dinka and Masai are also from a different part of Africa and they ended being the tallest people in the world. What then is driving the massive height differences if it isn't just shorter term dietary differences? You did explore it a little but there is the question of mate selection. I ended up finding a study looking at the preferences of Hadza women - the studies results height really wasn't a major feature of interest. On the other hand, a woman on Tinder explicitly asked me my height when I didn't include it on my profile (just some photos suggesting that I wasn't short). Some women are very interested in height and I've heard some men also suggest a preference (sometimes its short, sometimes its taller). What say made the Dinka so tall and the pygmies so short I guess will remain a mystery for now.

[@feixtheflex7]

The reason to the United States is becoming shorter is the growth of the Latino population, which tends to be a little shorter

[@pigvomit_50..]

No

[@forksandspoons7272]

Insular drawfism is very real. The deer on the mainland where I live are about as tall as I am, (five feet, ten inches) factoring the antler height of a dominant male. Less for females. On an island within the extreme range a human can swim, a large male maybe reaches my waist, lower rib cage at maximum. Given the local history, this doesn't take very long in evolutionary terms. Size is always a common variable within a species and the right sized critter is more successful at mating and established a more specialized population of offspring. In this case a smaller body means a small energy requirement and that is a direct result of less nutritious food found on the island. On the mainland they have all sorts of lawns and gardens to browse. More nutrition to support a bigger body

[@Allyourbase1990]

I may not completely agree with how evolution happened . But these videos are really good , and I love learning about it . Good job man !

[@realdaggerman105]

How do you think evolution happened?

[@kuwaitisnotadeployment1373]

Hey I just heard something from a different source but I don't trust them like I do you. Is it true there's evidence Denisovans were still around 15,000 years ago?

[@user-qy3jq9kr1d]

I’m 18 and 171cm tall. This is effectively dwarfism for a male in my family, as there are only two women on either side of my family that aren’t taller than me (i.e my grandmother is 175cm tall and she was born in 1946). I don’t know what went wrong, but literally all of my male relatives are heads and shoulder taller than me.

[@peonsson]

sorry

[@kirkjones9639]

Have you asked your Mom, how many times she dropped you, on your head. ;-) Thats what I always tell my little brother, as everyone, including my sisters, are taller then him.

[@princesseville6889]

Do you look like your dad or... like... a mailman? Maybe? Sorry lol. Sometimes genes just fuck you over. My daughter has curled hair, only one of her granddads has curls. Literally noone else in the entire family tree. You might have had poor eating habits, you might gave a hormonal disbalance, maybe your pregnancy was weak or you were a fuzzy baby - the first years count a lot.

[@user-qy3jq9kr1d]

@@princesseville6889 I’ve been doing MMA since I was 5 years old with genetically high muscle mass (even prior to adolescent years). I ate very healthy from a young age. In all likelihood, I should have been at least 190cm tall, and 195cm if I was following the upward trend in height that’s supposed to be occurring.

[@riks081]

@@user-qy3jq9kr1d Yeah, but you're not 195cm so clearly something went wrong.

[@feltonpebotty4810]

love your channel but the sound was very chirpy on this one.

[@TrueKivan]

I should thank my mom as she clearly took great care of me as a child, as I'm 197cm towering over most people. Her nutrition plans were on point!

[@aresmars2003]

I remember in 9th grade PhyEd class, boys lined up by height, and I ended up in the top 20%, but another year later and I was barely average probably. I'm 5'9" tall ,and same as my dad's dad, while my dad was shorter. I thought being 6 feet tall would be nice, but glad I stopped at 5'9", tall enough and I think there's more health issues from being taller. PLUS if I was much taller, my feet would hang over the end of my bed! I dated women mostly 5'2"-5'4", but one was 5'7", but strangely her arms were longer so she could reach higher than me!

[@AleskyMaxomovishPeshkov]

Well if you want tall sons than marry a 5’6 or 5’7 woman that always works. I’m sixteen and I’m 5’9 and a half and I’m pretty tall for my age: 67th percentile

[@sonikku956]

I'm considered very tall for my ethnicity (Black Jamaican) and nationality (American) at a height of 6'3/191 cm. My younger brother at the age of 14 is already 5'10 or 177cm, while our parents are average height and below average height. I'm not exactly sure where I got my height from.

[@DominiqueWei]

Prolly from ur great great grandparents, me myself almost 6'2 barefoot (187cm) my lil bro 14 176cm, as Asians we're well above average, meanwhile my dad only 5'8 n my mom 5'3, all males from my dad family side except my dad is over 5'9. It's prolly from grandparents genes.

[@diogenesofsinope6502]

Hey can you include freedom units next time ?

[@kirkjones9639]

No country that uses the metric system, has ever put a man on the Moon. NASA changed over to metric in 1992, and is still futzing around in LEO.😉

[@bratwurststattsucuk4517]

@@kirkjones9639 the Moon Landing was fake

[@kirkjones9639]

@@bratwurststattsucuk4517 Thank you for playing! While you didn't make moron of the week, you may win next week. So don't give up! Your room temperature IQ, really helps, your final score, each week.

[@bratwurststattsucuk4517]

@@kirkjones9639 r/wooosh

[@juliawilliams7809]

Great video! I only wish the ft’in” was is the corner so I could follow along easier 😅

[@kerkoubmohamedlemine4079]

True, that would be better for everyone. Personally I’ve always used the metric system and held the idea that it is superior in every way. But still I think it’s better to display both since you guys never chose to have that system imposed. And that’s the only system that speaks to you.

[@jeromebarry1741]

Building codes in my state specify the height of kitchen cabinets. When I had my house built in 1995, I specified that the cabinets be built 3 inches higher because my wife and I were 3 inches taller than the average American when the building codes were made. I'm glad I did.

[@gammon1183]

Fascinating 😎 I'm 6'7" and my eldest son is 6"8", my daughter is 5'11 and still growing and my youngest boy Is predicted to be 6"4. The kids are yet to fill out and I've weighed a muscular 280 pound since my mid twenties. I put it down to genetics and good food ,. Bo to h my parents were over 6 feet and powerfully built and born in the late 1920s 🇬🇧😎

[@spinlevien9078]

I’m from a Dutch town and the average height is easily above 6’. I’m short for where I’m from but elsewhere I’m usually one of the taller people present

[@mtathos_]

MY SWEET BOY Thank you so much!!!

[@kiuk_kiks]

The American height average is decreasing because of the Latino/ Hispanic population increase. The average European descended/ white American isn’t getting any shorter.

[@joemontes4658]

Hahah this is kinda racist. Canadians and Europeans are the ones whose flocking into america the most

[@kiuk_kiks]

@@joemontes4658 It’s not racist. Look up the average heights of central and South America and compare them to Europe. Kindly explain why the white population would be any shorter than their native European counterparts.

[@joemontes4658]

@@kiuk_kiks you gotta understand too we live in different regions now. Look at people in I believe Nigeria or somewhere around there people have stronger lungs than us because of their region. Americans have bad health issues also. When you’re fat it messes up your height as well. This why the whites should’ve stayed in Europe if they’re worried about the size

[@kiuk_kiks]

@@joemontes4658 I’m telling you that Americans of European ancestry are just as tall as their European counterparts. It’s the growing Hispanic (central and South American) people who are reducing the average height of Americans.

[@mysund]

So many shelters depicted as made from bone... They probably mostly used wood, but that left fewer traces.

[@kovona]

Mammoth were mostly found on the plains or steppes, so hunters in those areas would have less access to wood vs mammoth bones/hide.

[@edinson1613]

I'm from Bosnia, when you lose weight or go on a diet people ask you "zasto si propao", "why are you failing" as in why are you deteriorating? I think in our culture people just think if you're bigger you're generally more capable. Probably why theres been selection of bigger, taller individuals. Life in general tends towards gigantism like before the cretaceous ended. There were 250million years of uninterrupted evolution and absolutely monstrous dinosaurs roaming around towards the end. Monstrous sea dinosaurs, megalodon sharks etc. probably because bigger individuals are more likely to survive, not be prayed upon etc. Height is very interesting man, thanks for doing this episode. I wonder how big animals would get if there were not random comet strikes, or super volcanos causing mass extinctions. Lets hope they find alien life the size of buildings under the ice of Europa.

[@peterszeug308]

I was literally 184cm tall by age 14 but did not grow since then. Used to be the largest boy in my class all through primary school, by 10th grade my height was about average. I live close to the Dutch border in Germany.

[@NORTH02]

I have a few friends like that. They were giants to us as kids and now they are small. Weird how it works.

[@peterszeug308]

@@DG-iw3yw nah. started that no later than two years after growth had constunted.

[@skeptic781]

I was 178cm at 14 but haven't grown since then either. You're not the only one if it makes you feel better about it. I'm from Sweden.

[@rullvard8245]

@@skeptic781 Are we twins? I'm from Sweden too and I was also around 177-178 at age 14-15 and haven't really grown that much since.

[@alinaanto]

I would like you to make a video about the evolution of the human nose - its shape that is unique and clearly very different from the apes we know.

[@ryanmathis8286]

As much as it amazes me about the evolution of humans. It also amazes me the evolution of the national and global economy.

[@TribalMatriarch]

I love your content! However this is one that I should have realised that I would not be able to relate to. I spent a lot of it looking at conversion tables and missing bits of the content while looking up heights. Maybe a few subtitles with feet/inches would help the people who don’t automatically relate to metric measures? Thanks.

[@MagnusHarvest]

No freedumb units :(

[@CaptainLeif161]

What are the sample sizes like for the data going into these Stone Age height averages?

[@lizcademy4809]

According to research historian Peter Turchin, there's a correlation between height and societal stability. The more stable the time/place, the taller people are, and vice versa. The differences are not large but are significant, and the correlation is strong. Keep in mind this is not causation. If you make two charts, the lines on each rise and fall at the same time - but we don't know why. This is definitely true right now in America ... in the mid-late 20th century, when times were more stable than they are now, people were taller than now. For more, read Ages of Discord, by Peter Turchin.