Philipp Mitteröcker
Assoz. Prof. Mag. Dr., Privatdoz.
phone +43-1-4277-56705
philipp.mitteroecker@univie.ac.at
About me
I am a theoretical biologist and evolutionary biologist with strong interests in human and animal evolution, evolutionary medicine, biological anthropology, statistics, and the philosophy of science.
I have studied the development and evolution of human and primate anatomy, including the individual variation and perception of human faces, with medical applications to orthodontics. I am particularly interested in the interaction of developmental, environmental, and evolutionary processes. Another current research focus is on human childbirth: an evolutionary conundrum involving biological, environmental, and sociocultural dynamics.
I am fascinated by the analysis of complex biological data, including morphological, behavioral, and genetic data. I have contributed to modern morphometrics, the statistical analysis of biological form, as well as to multivariate biostatistics and quantitative genetics.
I am teaching morphometrics, statistics, theoretical and evolutionary biology at the University of Vienna and the University of Graz, and I am a directorial board member of the KLI Institute for Evolution & Cognition Research.
Publication list
2021
Fischer, B., Grunstra, N., Zaffarini, E., & Mitteroecker, P. (Accepted/In press). Sex differences in the pelvis did not evolve de novo in modern humans. A facilitated variation hypothesis. Nature Ecology & Evolution.
Fornai, C., Krenn, V. A., Mitteroecker, P., Webb, N. M., & Haeusler, M. (2021). Sacrum morphology supports taxonomic heterogeneity of "Australopithecus africanus" at Sterkfontein Member 4. Communications Biology, 4(1), [347]. doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01850-7
Grunstra, N., Bartsch, S., Le Maitre, A., & Mitteroecker, P. (Accepted/In press). Detecting Phylogenetic Signal and Adaptation in Papionin Cranial Shape by Decomposing Variation at Different Spatial Scales. Systematic Biology, [syaa093]. doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaa093
Mitteroecker, P., & Stansfield, E. (2021). A model of developmental canalization, applied to human cranial form. PLoS Computational Biology, 17(2), [e1008381].
Stansfield, E., Kumar, K., Mitteroecker, P., & Grunstra, N. (2021). Biomechanical trade-offs in the pelvic floor constrain the evolution of the human birth canal. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).
Stansfield, E., Mitteroecker, P., Vasilyev, S. Y., & Vasilyev, S. (2021). Respiratory adaptation to climate in Upper Palaeolithic modern humans: the case of Sungir and Mladeč. Scientific Reports, 11, [7997].
Waltenberger, L., Pany-Kucera, D., Rebay-Salisbury, K., & Mitteroecker, P. (Accepted/In press). The association of parturition scars and pelvic shape: A geometric morphometric study. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24196
Waltenberger, L., Rebay-Salisbury, K., & Mitteroecker, P. (2021). Three-dimensional surface scanning methods in osteology: A topographical and geometric morphometric comparison. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24204
2020
Le Maitre, A., Grunstra, N., Pfaff, C., & Mitteroecker, P. (2020). Evolution of the Mammalian Ear: An Evolvability Hypothesis. Evolutionary Biology, 187-192. doi.org/10.1007/s11692-020-09502-0
Mitteroecker, P., Bartsch, S., Erkinger, C., Grunstra, N., Le Maitre, A., & Bookstein, F. (2020). Morphometric Variation at Different Spatial Scales: Coordination and Compensation in the Emergence of Organismal Form. Systematic Biology, 69(5), 913–926.
Neubauer, S., Gunz, P., Scott, N. A., Hublin, J-J., & Mitteroecker, P. (2020). Evolution of brain lateralization: A shared hominid pattern of endocranial asymmetry is much more variable in humans than in great apes. Science Advances, 6(7), [9935]. doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax9935
Pavličev, M., Romero, R., & Mitteroecker, P. (2020). Evolution of the human pelvis and obstructed labor: new explanations of an old obstetrical dilemma. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 222(1), 3-16. doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2019.06.043
2019
Le Maitre, A., & Mitteroecker, P. (2019). Multivariate comparison of variance in R. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(9), 1380-1392. doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13253
Mitteroecker, P. (2019). How human bodies are evolving in modern societies. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 3(3), 324–326. doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0773-2
Windhager, S., Mitteroecker, P., Rupic, I., Lauc, T., Polasek, O., & Schäfer, K. (2019). Facial aging trajectories: A common shape pattern in male and female faces is disrupted after menopause. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 169, 678–688. doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23878
Zaffarini, E., & Mitteroecker, P. (2019). Secular changes in body height predict global rates of caesarean section. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 286(1896), [20182425]. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.2425
2018
Grunstra, N. D. S., Mitteroecker, P., & Foley, R. A. (2018). A multivariate ecogeographic analysis of macaque craniodental variation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 166(2), 386-400. doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.23439
van der Geer, A. A. E., Lyras, G. A., Mitteroecker, P., & MacPhee, R. D. E. (2018). From Jumbo to Dumbo: Cranial Shape Changes in Elephants and Hippos During Phyletic Dwarfing. Evolutionary Biology, 45(3), 303-317. doi.org/10.1007/s11692-018-9451-1
2017
Astl, E., Onodera, K., Čelar, A., Mitteröcker, P., & Bantleon, H-P. (2017). Vergleich von konventionellen und selbstligierenden Brackets in der Nivellierungsphase mittels Split-Mouth-Design. Informationen aus Orthodontie & Kieferorthopädie, 49(1), 49-55.
Coquerelle, M., Prados-Frutos, J. C., Rojo, R., Drake, A. G., Murillo-Gonzalez, J. A., & Mitteroecker, P. (2017). The Fetal Origin of the Human Chin. Evolutionary Biology, 44(3), 295-311. doi.org/10.1007/s11692-017-9408-9