Publications

Scientific publications

Betti L 2021. Shaping birth: variation in the birth canal and the importance of inclusive obstetric care. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 376: 20200024.

Betti L, Beyer R., Jones ER, Eriksson A, Tassi F, Siska V, Leonardi M, Maisano Delser P, Bentley L, Nigst PR, Stock JT, Pinhasi R, and Manica A 2020. Climate shaped how Neolithic farmers and European hunter-gatherers interacted after a major slowdown from 6,100 BCE to 4,500 BCE. Nature Human Behaviour 4: 1004–1010.

Betti L, Shaw P, and Behrends V 2020. Acceptance of biological evolution in first-year Life Sciences university students. Science & Education 29: 395–409.

Betti L and Manica A 2018. Human variation in the shape of the birth canal is significant and geographically structured. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 285: 20181807.

Betti L 2017. Human variation in pelvic shape and the effects of climate and past population history. The Anatomical Record 300: 687–697.

Betti L, Lycett SJ, von Cramon-Taubadel N, and Pearson OM 2015. Are human hands and feet affected by climate? A test of Allen’s Rule. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 158: 132–140.

Betti L, von Cramon-Taubadel N, Manica A, and Lycett SJ 2014. The interaction of neutral evolutionary processes with climatically-driven adaptive changes in the 3D shape of the human os coxae. Journal of Human Evolution 73: 64–74.

Betti L 2014. Sexual dimorphism in the size and shape of the os coxae and the effects of micro-evolutionary processes. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 153: 167–177.

Betti L, von Cramon-Taubadel N, Manica A, and Lycett SJ 2013. Global geometric morphometric analyses of the human pelvis reveal substantial neutral population history effects, even across sexes. PLOS ONE 8: e55909.

Eriksson A, Betti L, Friend AD, Lycett SJ, Singarayer JS, Von Cramon-Taubadel N, Valdes PJ, Balloux F, and Manica A 2012. Late Pleistocene climate change and the global expansion of anatomically modern humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 109: 16089–16094.

Betti L, von Cramon-Taubadel N, and Lycett SJ 2012. Human pelvis and long bones reveal differential preservation of ancient population history and migration out of Africa. Human Biology 84: 139–152.

Betti L, Balloux F, Hanihara T, and Manica A 2010. The relative role of drift and selection in shaping the human skull. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 141: 76–82.

Betti L, Balloux F, Amos W, Hanihara T, and Manica A 2009. Ancient demography, not climate, explains within-population phenotypic diversity in humans. Proceeding of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 276: 809–814.

Lay summaries

Betti L, and Manica A 2019. Women’s birth canals are extremely variable in shape. The Science Breaker.

Cattaneo C, Porta D, Mazzucchi A, Steffenini D, Betti L, De Angelis D 2007. Lo scheletro al servizio dell’archeologia. In Milano Antica V secolo a.C. – V secolo d.C., guida alla mostra permanente. Edizioni Et, Milano. pp. 131–138.

Media coverage

Media reports

• Der Standard, 12 July 2020, “Kühles Klima bremste in Europa Einwanderung von Bauern aus der Levante”.
• Science, 23 October 2018, “Birth canals are different all over the world, countering a long-held evolutionary theory” (by Erica Tennenhouse).
• Agence France Presse, 24 October 2018, “Women’s birth canals in Kenya, Korea, Kansas not the same: study” / “Le canal que suit un bébé pendant l’accouchement diffère selon l’origine de la mère (étude)” (by Marlowe Hood).
• The Guardian, 24 October 2018, “Focus on western women ‘skewed our ideas of what birth should look like’” (by Nicola Davis).
• The Scientist, 24 October 2018, “Human birth canal varies more widely than previously thought” (by Anna Azvolinsky).
• The New York Times, 27 October 2018, “Why textbooks may need to update what they say about birth canals” (by Steph Yin).
• OggiScienza, 26 November 2018, “Il canale del parto tra evoluzione e assistenza al travaglio” (by Valentina Murelli).
• Science, 20 December 2018, “Our favorite science news stories of 2018” (by David Grimm).
• La Stampa, 27 December 2018, “L’evoluzione del corpo femminile e il parto: ricerca internazionale di due scienziati novaresi” (by Maria Paola Arbeia).
• Il Cittadino Oleggese, 11 January 2019, “La scienziata Lia Betti da Oleggio a Londra” (by Miranda Minella).

Radio interviews

• BBC World Service, World Update (interviewed by Julian Marshall), 24 October 2018.
• BBC World Service, Newshour (interviewed by Rasia Iqbal), 24 October 2018.
• Radio France Internationale, “New birth canal research could improve quality & safety for non-European mothers” (interviewed by Laura Angela Bagnetto), 24 October 2018.