Mojokerto revisited: Evidence for an intermediate pattern of brain growth in Homo erectus
25
Citation
52
Reference
10
Related Paper
Citation Trend
Keywords:
Homo erectus
Crania
Hominidae
Human brain
Encephalization
Homo erectus
Crania
Hominidae
Human brain
Encephalization
Cite
Citations (25)
Homo erectus
Encephalization
Brain morphometry
Human brain
Brain Development
Hominidae
Cite
Citations (41)
Neanderthal
Endocast
Homo erectus
Encephalization
Crania
Postcrania
Hominidae
Lineage (genetic)
Cite
Citations (16)
Abstract Important changes in the brain have occurred during the course of human evolution. Both absolute and relative size increases can be documented for species of Homo , culminating in the appearance of modern humans. One species that is particularly well‐represented by fossil crania is Homo erectus . The mean capacity for 30 individuals is 973 cm 3 . Within this group there is substantial variation, but brain size increases slightly in specimens from later time periods. Other Middle Pleistocene crania differ from those of Homo erectus . Characters of the facial skeleton, vault, and cranial base suggest that fossils from sites such as Arago Cave in France, the Sima de los Huesos in Spain, Bodo in Ethiopia, Broken Hill in Zambia, and perhaps Dali in China belong to the taxon Homo heidelbergensis . Ten of these mid‐Quaternary hominins have brains averaging 1,206 cm 3 in volume, and many fall beyond the limits of size predicted for Homo erectus of equivalent age. When orbit height is used to construct an index of relative brain size, it is apparent that the (significant) increase in volume documented for the Middle Pleistocene individuals is not simply a consequence of larger body mass. Encephalization quotient values confirm this finding. These changes in absolute and relative brain size can be taken as further corroborative evidence for a speciation event, in which Homo erectus produced a daughter lineage. It is probable that Homo heidelbergensis originated in Africa or western Eurasia and then ranged widely across the Old World. Archaeological traces indicate that these populations differed in their technology and behavior from earlier hominins. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Homo erectus
Crania
Encephalization
Early Pleistocene
Cite
Citations (266)
Neanderthal
Endocast
Sima
Encephalization
Crania
Postcrania
Homo erectus
Hominidae
Cite
Citations (14)
Homo erectus
Crania
Endocast
Early Pleistocene
Encephalization
Cranial vault
Cite
Citations (72)
Absolute (philosophy)
Cite
Citations (32)
Encephalization
Divergence (linguistics)
Hominidae
Homo erectus
Phylogenetic comparative methods
Cite
Citations (48)
Crania
Encephalization
Human brain
Cite
Citations (175)
Encephalization
Homo erectus
Endocast
Paleoanthropology
Crania
Cite
Citations (1)