俾格米人（譯者註：這一名稱源於古希臘人對於非洲中部侏儒的稱法，後來人類學泛指男性平均身高不足150釐米的人種）通常指非洲赤道雨林地區少數矮個子人群，這一人種存在不同的群體，讓科學家能有機會研究這一地區典型的人類生長方式變化機制，而他們發現，有兩組群體以兩種不同的方式長成了矮個子。相關研究發表在《自然·通訊》（Nature Communications）雜誌上。
研究人員收集了約500個西非族裔巴卡族（Baka）人的數據，發現巴卡族嬰兒的體型範圍與大多數其他種族嬰兒相似，但他們頭兩年的生長速率較低，並會產生持久的影響。
這種機制似乎與稱為東非族裔埃菲族（Efé）和蘇阿族（Sua）不盡相同，這兩個種族的人……[查看全文]
Diminutive Peoples Took Different Paths to Petite
The term pygmy usually refers to a few groups of short-statured people in equatorial rain forest regions in Africa. The existence of distinct populations of such people presented scientists with the opportunity to study the mechanisms by which typical human growth patterns have become altered there. And they discovered that two groups became smallin two different ways. The study is in the journal Nature Communications.
The researchers collected data on some 500 members of a west African ethnic group called the Baka. They found that Baka infants have a similar size range to most other infants, but have a low growth rate during their first two years, which produces a lasting effect.
This mechanism seems to be different from that of the east African groups called the Efé and Sua. These peoples...[full transcript]