A group of scientists from the Institute for advanced study in Toulouse, Harvard University, the University of Exeter and the University of California came up with a theory to explain the low growth of pygmies living in the jungle. In his article, published in the Proceedings of the Royal society B, scientists have suggested that shorter steps make the lower people, have an evolutionary advantage for life in the jungle.
Scientists have been trying to explain the low growth of pygmies. Most of the pygmies got low growth, while staying in a tropical region, e.g. in Malaysia or the Amazon jungle. But why life in the jungle nature prefers low growth? Some have suggested that small body dissipates heat better, or cope better with high levels of humidity. But the truth is that nobody knows the true reasons. In the new work, the researchers decided to find the answer. First they came to the hypothesis and then conducted several experiments to test their ideas.
Why pygmies are so low.
The hypothesis was that the lower people are easier to walk in the dense jungle — tall people with longer steps hardly move in dense forests. To test this idea, scientists have built models that simulate the behavior of people of different height, wading through the jungle. Then they compared the finding with real people — watching and recording how the tall people and pygmies making my way Backstage of peninsular Malaysia and Timana in Bolivia.
Researchers report that as their model and their observations of the people who travel in the jungle, are consistent with the hypothesis: the lower the pygmies are much better made their way through the jungle and the reason for that was a shorter step length. Short steps allowed the pygmies to move through the dense undergrowth a lot faster.
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