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
Showing entries 21 - 40 out of 104
2021
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), [224]. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-021-01150-w
Waltenberger, L., Pany-Kucera, D., Rebay-Salisbury, K., & Mitteroecker, P. (2021). The association of parturition scars and pelvic shape: A geometric morphometric study. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 174(3), 519-531. https://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, 174(4), 846-858. https://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, 47, 187-192. https://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. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syaa007
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), [eaax9935]. https://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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2019.06.043
2019
Grunstra, N. D. S., Zachos, F. E., Herdina, A. N., Fischer, B., Pavlicev, M., & Mitteroecker, P. (2019). Humans as inverted bats: A comparative approach to the obstetric conundrum. American Journal of Human Biology, 31(2), [e23227]. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23227
Le Maitre, A., & Mitteroecker, P. (2019). Multivariate comparison of variance in R. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(9), 1380-1392. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13253
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(4), 678–688. https://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]. https://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. https://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. https://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. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-017-9408-9
Fischer, B., & Mitteroecker, P. (2017). Allometry and Sexual Dimorphism in the Human Pelvis. Anatomical Record, 300(4), 698-705. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.23549
Freudenthaler, J., Čelar, A., Ritt, C., & Mitteröcker, P. (2017). Geometric morphometrics of different malocclusions in lateral skull radiographs. Journal of orofacial orthopedics, 78, 11-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00056-016-0057-x
Mayer, C., Windhager, S., Schäfer, K., & Mitteroecker, P. (2017). BMI and WHR are reflected in female facial shape and texture: a geometric morphometric image analysis. PLoS ONE, 12(1), [e0169336]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169336
Mitteroecker, P., Windhager, S., & Pavlicev, M. (2017). Cliff-edge model predicts intergenerational predisposition to dystocia and Caesarean delivery. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 114(44), 11669-11672. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1712203114
2016
Bertl, M. H., Bertl, K., Wagner, M., Gahleitner, A., Stavropoulos, A., Ulm, C., & Mitteroecker, P. (2016). Second premolar agenesis is associated with mandibular form: a geometric morphometric analysis of mandibular cross-sections. International Journal of Oral Science, 8(4), 254-260. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijos.2016.41