Ah c'mon, if I posted about Asian-Euro hybrids w/o mentioning something about sex appeal, think of how quickly I'd be upbraided by everyone. The authors could've made the same point by plotting another phenotype across the top... I'll take the high road this time and simply mention dancing skills. White Brazilian girls w/ moves (no nudity, but may be NSFW):

Girl dancing Axé
Joana Prado
Carla Perez from É o Tchan

ass lacks class.

ass lacks class.

Please, the Mediterraneans and Middle Easterners apparently enjoy the booty more than the boobs or legs, and they invented Western Civilization, all the way up through the Renaissance. What have those pancake-butt-loving Scandinavians ever contributed to high culture?

so are those round brazilian asses due to african admixture? or don't your swarthy chix with bunny tails have them?

and danish chix have round rumps. itz the finnz who are flat.

That big and that round? Probably African admixture. Med & Middle Eastern guys are more booty-focused than breast-focused, but there has to exist variation for selection to act upon. Med / Middle Eastern girls have better backsides than Swedes, but Portuguese males likely had to wait until a substantial freq of African alleles were introduced into the genepool for them to maximally express their preference for big round ones.

"Bunny tails," eh? That's the most hilarious term I've heard all year! It almost doesn't sound derogatory. xD

And again getting back to your point about alleles being shuffled up in a place like Brazil, I've already mentioned that whatever hairiness problem may exist elsewhere, it's probably not as big of a big deal in Brazil. By neutral estimates, roughly 1/3 each of Amerindian, Euro, and African females contributed to present-day Brazilians. Only one of those groups is hairy (Portuguese), so when you mix all those marbles together, you'll get a never before seen bag containing near-steatopygia alleles plus hairless alleles plus wide-hipped alleles. The corrollary, of course, is that other bags will contain alleles for flat butts, hirsutism, and boy hips...

itz the finnz who are flat....

Ooooo! GF's not gonna like that comment. :p

and danish chix have round rumps. itz the finnz who are flat.

Ha! I've just started having fun with the very new OECD health survey data and there's already use for it! Latest surveyed female obesity rates:

Finland 13.5 %
Sweden 9.9 %
Denmark 9.1 %
Norway 8.2 %

Lots of major rumps around here! (Not that any of us can outmass the awesome Americans and their 33.2 %)

You're really going against the stereotype of the taller & lankier Scandinavians. I'm not sure if someone has studied butt size, as patriarchal racial science has obviously focused on measuring males as the most important form of national competition, but the best anectodal stuff I have is that I once heard it from a plastic surgeon...

It's definitely time for scientists to begin cataloguing booty sizes. Far more significant than cranial sizes, sez I.

To pile on the anecdotes and questions ...

Is it really true Brazilian girls don't tend to have vigorous body hair? I've seen a fair number of R-rated Brazilian films, and this kind of thing (NSFW) isn't uncommon. BTW, when are you young wusses going to grow up and learn to love a vigorous bush?

Also, there's a funny story told by the filmmaker John Boorman. He made a movie called "The Emerald Forest" in Brazil with an English crew. Agony: electricity problems, weather, etc. But the Englishguys met a lot of Brazilian girls ... And many English marriages busted up as the Englishguys were overwhelmed by the sweetness and sensuality of Brazilian girls. I remember Boorman saying something about how the English guys had never experienced such sexual happiness and generosity in their lives.

FWIW, I take an exercise class taught by a Brazilian girl. Looks like a heartier (in a good way) Penelope Cruz, dances in this slinky/snakey fashion, and couldn't be sweeter. Likes to touch people and be touched too. Seems happiest when she's moving and smiling and flirting. There's a kind of sweet openness about bodies and the fun and poetry of sexuality that's hard to find in the US of A.

So are you saying that the multi-regional hypothesis might be correct after all? But with a much larger African population?

(Sorry to interrupt the fun...)

Michael -- re: studying body shape. http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2006/04...ckin- curves.php
The article was late going online, so we apparently never followed up on it, but I just read it, and here's some relevant stuff from the Discussion:

One of the most striking features of the expression of HoxA5, Gpc4, and Tbx15 in human adipose is not only their differential expression between depots, but also their strong correlation with BMI. This correlation is particularly true for Tbx15 in visceral fat and Gpc4 in s.c. [subcutaneous -- agnostic] fat, such that both genes show dramatic changes in expression as BMI goes from the normal range (BMI = 20–25) to either overweight (BMI = 25–30) or obese (BMI > 30). No other parameter related to obesity or fat mass, including serum leptin, adiponectin, or insulin, shows such a distinct change at this transition point. Indeed, if the physiological separation between lean and overweight/obese had not been previously defined by epidemiological criteria, one could define the overweight population by the expression level of these genes, suggesting that expression of these genes could be related to the pathogenesis of obesity.

Distribution of adipose tissue (WHR) also has a strong heritable component (12) and has been shown to better correlate with risk of diabetes and atherosclerosis than BMI (48). Increased WHR, i.e., visceral/central or "apple-shaped" obesity, is associated with higher risks for metabolic and cardiovascular complications (2–5). We find that HoxA5, Gpc4, and Tbx15 expression also vary with fat distribution and that expression of the latter two is an excellent marker for visceral fat accumulation. Thus, high levels of Tbx15and Gpc4 expression in s.c. adipose tissue and low levels of expression in visceral adipose tissue appear to be linked with high WHR and by extension should be correlated with higher risks for metabolic and cardiovascular complications.

And here's another one on WHR-related genes: http://diabetes.diabetesjournals...tract/54/8/ 2492

As for hairiness in Brazilians, at first the frequency of hairiness wouldn't change, but you'd find novel combinations of hair/booty/hip traits. Before intermixing, hairiness would be associated with wide hips and intermediate booty size (Portuguese). But after you shuffle everything up, you'll get some individuals who have African-typical versions of booty genes, African or Amerindian-typical versions of hairiness genes, and Portuguese-typical versions of hip-size genes -- and all other combinations. No change in how frequent each separate trait is, just new combinations.

For this situation to persist, there'd have to be no fitness consequences to the new combinations, but c'mon, wide hips, a big round booty, and sparse body hair -- what's not to love? Before intermixing, there was a trade-off between hourglass shape / intermediate booty / hairiness vs boyish WHR / big booty / sparse hair. But after intermixing breaks apart these associations, guys can have their cake and eat it too. As any red-blooded Mediterranean guy would prefer the above combination, we expect that over time the frequencies of big bootiness, sparse body hair, and wide hips to increase.

I'm dialing up Aero Brasil as we speak!

Actually, small question? Does the big bootiness of some women have to do entirely with fat deposits? Speaking as someone who's taken some drawing and painting classes (and who has loved me a few girls too), it has seemed to me that some girls have a lot of fat on their asses but they're flat anyway, while some girls have great big round sculptural butts without having a lot of fat on 'em, or without too too much anyway. I mean, it's really striking when you're drawing first a white girl and then a black girl how very differently they're built and hung together in loads of ways. It seems musculo-skeletal as much as fat-deposit-centric. Anything to this?

I mean, it's really striking when you're drawing first a white girl and then a black girl how very differently they're built and hung together in loads of ways. It seems musculo-skeletal as much as fat-deposit-centric. Anything to this?

Among males, it's undeniable that blacks have relatively more muscle mass and less body fat than whites of the same weight (as the NFL and NBA make obvious). The difference seems to exist among females too, if to a lesser extent.

Agnostic--
what's not to love?

The key there is whether greater birth rates and survival to reproduction age rates are associated with higher socio-economic status, or lower ones. The lower half of the socioeconomic scale in the US has notably more kids that the upper half these days for example.

In the US and Western Europe for the last fifty years for sure, and probably for the last 100 to a lesser extent, the dysgenic reverse is true. Since people first started worrying about this in the late nineteenth and early 20th century during the peak of the Eugenics (lite usually) movement among intellectual progressives such as Galton, Margret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood) and Pearson (a leading early statistician and psychometrician), the trends were starting earlier than many realize.

I’d guess though in Brazil the movement towards welfare of various kinds for the poor and full freedom for child bearing age women in at least the upper half of the social order came much later and remains less strong. So i.e. the preferences of those males better able to attract what they want actually would get differentially reflected in the gene pool.

The reverse is probably true in the US and EU today and for a few generations back now – and as far as the eye can see going forward.

So are you saying that the multi-regional hypothesis might be correct after all? But with a much larger African population?

see this. it's been argued. from what i've seen there was something 'different' that occurred around 50 K BP which resulted in demographic expansion.

from what i've seen there was something 'different' that occurred around 50 K BP which resulted in demographic expansion

Okay - let's say that that 'different' thing was something like language. What if it led to a population explosion in Africa, which spilled out to the rest of the world? Wouldn't that fit the data?

Imagine two sisters, one fair and dark. In Brazil, with its color continuum, the fairer one is likely to marry up the social ladder, the darker one down it. Repeat for 15 generations and you'll only have a moderate correlation between looks and overall ancestry.

In the US, with its color line, that will happen much less.

BTW, when are you young wusses going to grow up and learn to love a vigorous bush?

I've given up hoping :((((
A few years back there were a few magazine stories along the line of "Is the Bush Back?" but unfortunately, the predictions were wrong and fashion didn't change.

Hello!
I'm Brazilian, so I guess I can tell you one thing or two about evaluating Brazilian beauty.

First:

If you are looking for "real life" models, stop looking for artists' pictures. Artists are chosen among the whitest Brazilians, and they don't quite represent the average Brazilian people.
Same for Mexico: have you ever glanced at Mexican soap operas? If you take them as a base, you would conclude that 50% of Mexicans are blondes! :-)
And why not, same for Americans. I´ve been on the United States once, and I'll tell you: American girls are very different from Hollywood artists.

But there, the problem is different:
Hollywood fakes "weight".
Rede Globo (Brazilian main TV station) fakes "race"... if you know what I mean.

So, back to Brazil, the best way to check how "sexy" Brazilian girls are, is to check on prostitution sites.
Check out this "reality show" (freak show?):

Brazilian Loiras (blondes) - http://www.contatos.com.br/listacomp.php? tipo=loira&idade=1820&status=2&mod=0

Brazilian Morenas (brunetes) - http://www.contatos.com.br/listacomp.php? tipo=morena&idade=1820&status=2&mod=0

Brazilian Mulatas - http://www.contatos.com.br/listacomp.php? tipo=mulata&idade=all&status=2&mod=0

Brazilian Orientais (Asians) (I know you'll laugh, but...) - http://www.contatos.com.br/lista...idade=all& mod=0

Now, let me tell you: this site (contatos) is "popular" as we say here (popular = "low class", for the lower classes). These whores charge something like R$50 to R$100 - approx. US$ 20 to US$ 40).

The more expensive prostitutes can be found in sites like this one:
http://www.mclass.com.br/scripts...mclass.dll/ main
These ones charge between R$ 200 to R$ 400 - approx. US$ 80 to US$ 160.
Of course, for some playboy "bunny tails" in this site, the sky is the limit... but "Brazilian sky" is something like US$ 400, the average price of the American "whore next door" (some piece of junk, ashtray smelling skunk in Vegas).

What if it led to a population explosion in Africa, which spilled out to the rest of the world? Wouldn't that fit the data?

bingo.

A quiz
Recent studies have revealed that phenotypic or "perceived" race in Brazil correlates poorly with underlying genetic markers of racial descent.

However, visible race in Brazil correlates strongly with educational achievement (even after controlling for socioeconomic level) and individual economic success (even after controlling for education level).

Questions:
1.) What does this suggest about the correlation between "genetic" race and intellectual/economic achievement?
2.) What does this suggest about the correlation between perceived or "social" race and intellectual/economic achievement?
3.) Does this give any insight into the impact of slavery on socioeconomic status over a century after its abolition?

Bonus Question:
4.) Do these findings give any insight into racial disparities in educational and economic achievement in the United States?

1) assortative mating on two traits

2) racism

3) we're missing something in all our models

assortative mating on two traits

Which two traits?

(a) (1)intellectual achievement AND (2) economic achievement

(b) (1) phenotypic "race" AND (2) intellectual/economic achievement

(c) other