Update to Konigsberg and Ousley's “Multivariate Quantitative Genetics of Anthropometric Traits from the Boas Data” (1995)

Abstract

Our 1995 paper was entirely based on anthropometric data from American Indians that had been collected under Franz Boas's direction for 1893 World Colum- bian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. The original data sheets had been rediscov- ered by Richard Jantz and had been carefully entered into a computer database, which served as basis for a number of projects. Our 1995 publication was but one such project. Given 102- year lapse between Columbian Exposition and our 1995 paper, we might not expect that passage of 15 more years would have brought much change to interpretations of our basic results. We would be correct in this particular expectation but wildly incorrect in supposition that particular question we were examining has lain dormant. In 1995 paper we asked, What is relationship between phenotypic and additive genetic variance- covariance matrices? Our results supported an argument that matrices were proportional, such that P -1 G was a diagonal matrix with a single common trait heritability on diagonal. This finding has implications for biological distance analysis, because proportionality then also extends to Mahalanobis distances. Specifically, genetic Mahalanobis distance matrix is then equal to pheno- typic distance matrix divided by common trait heritability. The proportional- ity also applies to F ST such that phenotypically measured F ST divided by heritability is equal to true F ST . And finally, when P and G are proportional, multivariate phenotypic and genetic allometry coefficients are equal. Our examination of proportionality between P and G matrices was largely based on Cheverud's (1988) paper in which he suggested that the genetic- variance/covariance matrix may be roughly estimated by 0.35P (Cheverud 1988: 965). Cheverud based this argument on an analysis of phenotypic and genetic correlations among traits within 41 animal data sets. It is interesting to note that in same year that our publication appeared, Roff (1995) published an article demonstrating close correspondence between genetic and phenotypic correlations in sand cricket. The following year Roff (1996) published a broader study that showed comparability of genetic and phenotypic correlations across 51 plant and 1