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
2025
Mitteroecker, P., Collyer, M. L., & Adams, D. C. (2025). Exploring Phylogenetic Signal in Multivariate Phenotypes by Maximizing Blomberg's K. Systematic Biology, 74(2), 215-229. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syae035
2024
Grunstra, N., Hollinetz, F., Bravo Morante, G., Zachos, F., Pfaff, C., Winkler, V., Mitteroecker, P., & Le Maitre, A. (2024). Convergent evolution in Afrotheria and non-afrotherians demonstrates high evolvability of the mammalian inner ear. Nature Communications, 15(1), Article 7869. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3125661/v1, https://doi.org/10.1038/S41467-024-52180-1, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52180-1
Mitteroecker, P., & Fischer, B. (2024). Evolution of the human birth canal. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 230(3), S841-S855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2022.09.010
Mitteroecker, P., & Merola, G. P. (2024). The cliff edge model of the evolution of schizophrenia: Mathematical, epidemiological, and genetic evidence. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews , 160, 105636. Article 105636. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105636
2023
Grunstra, N. D. S., Betti, L., Fischer, B., Haeusler, M., Pavlicev, M., Stansfield, E., Trevathan, W., Webb, N. M., Wells, J. C. K., Rosenberg, K. R., & Mitteroecker, P. (2023). There is an obstetrical dilemma: Misconceptions about the evolution of human childbirth and pelvic form. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 181(4), 535-544. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24802
Nemec, M., Schwarz, L., Bertl, M. H., Bertl, K., Gahleitner, A., Mitteroecker, P., & Jonke, E. (2023). Maxillary lateral incisor agenesis is associated with maxillary form: a geometric morphometric analysis. Clinical oral investigations, 27(3), 1063-1070. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-022-04690-9
Stansfield, E., Mitteroecker, P., Umek, W., & Fischer, B. (2023). The variation in shape and thickness of the pelvic floor musculature in males and females: a geometric-morphometric analysis. International Urogynecology Journal, 34(2), 453-461. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-022-05311-5
Weber, G., Lukeneder, A., Harzhauser, M., Mitteroecker, P., Hollaus, L.-M., Kainz, S., Haack, F., Antl-Weiser, W., & Kern, A. (2023). A possible connection between Gravettian populations north and south of the Alps: the Venus from Willendorf. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, (180), 192. Article 180.
2022
Mitteroecker, P., & Schäfer, K. (2022). Thirty years of geometric morphometrics: Achievements, challenges, and the ongoing quest for biological meaningfulness. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 178(S74), 181-210. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24531
Waltenberger, L., Rebay-Salisbury, K., & Mitteroecker, P. (2022). Age dependent changes in pelvic shape during adulthood. Anthropologischer Anzeiger, 79(2), 143-156. https://doi.org/10.1127/anthranz/2021/1463
Waltenberger, L., Rebay-Salisbury, K., & Mitteroecker, P. (2022). Are parturition scars truly signs of birth? The estimation of parity in a well-documented modern sample. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 32(3), 619-629. Article 3090. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3090
Weber, G. W., Lukeneder, A., Harzhauser, M., Mitteroecker, P., Wurm, L., Hollaus, L.-M., Kainz, S., Haack, F., Antl-Weiser, W., & Kern, A. (2022). The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 2926. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06799-z
2021
Fischer, B., Grunstra, N. D. S., Zaffarini, E., & Mitteroecker, P. (2021). Sex differences in the pelvis did not evolve de novo in modern humans. A facilitated variation hypothesis. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(5), 625–630 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01425-z
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), Article 347. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01850-7
Grunstra, N., Bartsch, S., Le Maitre, A., & Mitteroecker, P. (2021). Detecting Phylogenetic Signal and Adaptation in Papionin Cranial Shape by Decomposing Variation at Different Spatial Scales. Systematic Biology, 70(4), 694–706 . https://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), Article e1008381. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008381
Mitteroecker, P., Grunstra, N. D. S., Stansfield, E., Waltenberger, L., & Fischer, B. (2021). Did population differences in human pelvic form evolve by drift or selection? Bulletins et Memoires de la Societe d'Anthropologie de Paris, 33(1), 11-26. https://doi.org/10.4000/BMSAP.7460
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), 118(16), Article e2022159118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022159118
Stansfield, E., Mitteroecker, P., Vasilyev, S. Y., Butaric, L. N., & Vasilyev, S. (2021). Respiratory adaptation to climate in modern humans and Upper Palaeolithic individuals from Sungir and Mladeč. Scientific Reports, 11(1), Article 7997. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86830-x
Stansfield, E., Fischer, B., Grunstra, N., Villa Pouca, M., & Mitteroecker, P. (2021). The evolution of pelvic canal shape and rotational birth in humans. BMC Biology, 19(1), Article 224. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-021-01150-w