All posts; Tags Include "Human Evolution"
- May 15, 2015
- 04:02 PM
- 206 views
The Dependency Ratio in Human Evolution
by Andrew White in AndyWhiteAnthropology
As far as I know, humans are unique among animals in having an extended period between weaning and being able to subsist on their own. We call this “childhood.” The long period of post-weaning dependence provides our large brains with a lot of time to mature. It also requires a lot of parental investment (in terms of time, energy, calories, etc.) and means that we would have to wait a long time between offspring if each one had to independent before the mother could have an [...] ... Read more »
Kramer, K., & Otárola-Castillo, E. (2015) When mothers need others: The impact of hominin life history evolution on cooperative breeding. Journal of Human Evolution. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.01.009
- March 15, 2012
- 03:30 PM
- 851 views
New Chinese hominin species? – Part 1
by sahelanthropus in EvoAnth
When an evolutionary gaze was first cast upon humanity it was believed that we had evolved in Asia due to our many similarities with orang-utans. As such most early attempts to uncover our early ancestors focused on that region. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the focused shifted to Africa and we made real headway [...]... Read more »
Curnoe, D., Xueping, J., Herries, A., Kanning, B., Taçon, P., Zhende, B., Fink, D., Yunsheng, Z., Hellstrom, J., Yun, L.... (2012) Human Remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition of Southwest China Suggest a Complex Evolutionary History for East Asians. PLoS ONE, 7(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031918
- January 4, 2012
- 01:32 PM
- 1,205 views
How our brains didn’t get big
by sahelanthropus in EvoAnth
The social brain hypothesis suggests that our brains, specifically our neocortex, grew larger because it allowed us to remember more relationships and thus live in larger groups which gave us an evolutionary advantage. The evidence for this is rather strong, allowing us to put one piece of the puzzle firmly in place. But alas, one [...]... Read more »
Navarrete, A., van Schaik, C., & Isler, K. (2011) Energetics and the evolution of human brain size. Nature, 480(7375), 91-93. DOI: 10.1038/nature10629
- January 2, 2012
- 12:00 PM
- 1,106 views
Neanderthals had differently shaped brains
by sahelanthropus in EvoAnth
A report on recent research suggesting that neanderthals and humans have differently shaped brains, which may explain why we survived but they did not.... Read more »
Bastir M, Rosas A, Gunz P, Peña-Melian A, Manzi G, Harvati K, Kruszynski R, Stringer C, & Hublin JJ. (2011) Evolution of the base of the brain in highly encephalized human species. Nature communications, 588. PMID: 22158443
- December 27, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 981 views
Last neanderthals found near the artic
by sahelanthropus in EvoAnth
A post reporting on news that neaderthal tools have been found near the artic circle that suggest they survived there until more recently than previously believed... Read more »
Slimak L, Svendsen JI, Mangerud J, Plisson H, Heggen HP, Brugère A, & Pavlov PY. (2011) Late Mousterian persistence near the Arctic Circle. Science (New York, N.Y.), 332(6031), 841-5. PMID: 21566192
- December 25, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 949 views
Why our brains are big
by sahelanthropus in EvoAnth
A review of the social brain hypothesis, which purports to explain why our brains are so big... Read more »
Robin Dunbar. (1998) The social brain hypothesis. Evolutionary Anthropology. info:/
- December 23, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 1,033 views
People sexually imprint on parents?
by sahelanthropus in EvoAnth
An analysis of a recent article suggesting people sexually imprint on their parents, seeking out spouses similar to them. ... Read more »
Seki, M., Ihara, Y., & Aoki, K. (2012) Homogamy and imprinting-like effect on mate choice preference for body height in the current Japanese population. Annals of Human Biology, 39(1), 28-35. DOI: 10.3109/03014460.2011.635695
- September 9, 2011
- 01:09 AM
- 1,544 views
Coming to terms with the female orgasm
by Greg Laden in Greg Laden's Blog
I think I know why science does not understand the female orgasm. It is because science excels when it breaks free of context, history, human complexities and anthropology, but when a topic requires one to grasp context, history, human complexities and anthropology, then science, especially the hard sciences, can fall short. Also, the nature of the female orgasm is a comparative question, but human sexuality is highly (but not entirely) derived; It is difficult to make a sensible graph or tabl........ Read more »
Zietsch, B., & Santtila, P. (2011) Genetic analysis of orgasmic function in twins and siblings does not support the by-product theory of female orgasm. Animal Behaviour. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.08.002
- February 21, 2011
- 12:29 PM
- 1,425 views
Sweeping Out Selective Sweeps
by Rob Mitchum in ScienceLife
The ultimate genetic detective story is solving the mystery of human evolution. Since it became possible to look at genetic sequences in humans and their primate relatives, geneticists have hunted for the footprints of how humans evolved. But finding the most significant places in the genome that changed since humans and chimpanzees split off from [...]... Read more »
Hernandez RD, Kelley JL, Elyashiv E, Melton SC, Auton A, McVean G, 1000 Genomes Project, Sella G, & Przeworski M. (2011) Classic Selective Sweeps Were Rare in Recent Human Evolution. Science (New York, N.Y.), 331(6019), 920-924. PMID: 21330547
- August 11, 2010
- 04:56 PM
- 1,529 views
The Earliest Known Use of Flaked Stone Tools by Hominids?
by Greg Laden in Greg Laden's Blog
It is possible that a much earlier than previously known date for the use of flaked stone tools has been established in Ethiopia, dating to prior to 3.39 million years ago.
Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...... Read more »
McPherron, S., Alemseged, Z., Marean, C., Wynn, J., Reed, D., Geraads, D., Bobe, R., & Béarat, H. (2010) Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia. Nature, 466(7308), 857-860. DOI: 10.1038/nature09248
- September 7, 2009
- 03:53 AM
- 1,895 views
harder, better, faster, stronger?
by Greg Fish in weird things
Contrary to popular sentiment and science fiction clichés, human evolution hasn’t stopped. If anything, we’re actually evolving faster than ever according to research published in 2007. Moving into new environments and an explosion in our populations drastically increased the rate at which our genomes are changing and being selected. Compared to our prehistoric ancestors, we [...]... Read more »
Hawks, J. et al,. (2007) Recent acceleration of human adaptive evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(52), 20753-20758. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0707650104
- March 12, 2009
- 11:41 PM
- 2,314 views
Palaeowomaen: Barbara Isaac, Women in The Field, and The Throwing Hypothesis
by Greg Laden in Greg Laden's Blog
The question of diversity in science, and more specifically, success for women, is often discussed in relation to bench or lab oriented fields. If you read the blogs that cover this sort of topic, they are very often written by bench scientists, for bench scientists, and about bench scientists. Which makes sense because most scientists probably are bench scientists.
Here I want to talk about a successful female social scientist with a strong connection to fieldwork, as well as theoretical and........ Read more »
Isaac, Barbara. (1987) Throwing and Human Evolution. The African Archaeological Review, 3-17.
- December 13, 2008
- 04:54 PM
- 2,404 views
Neanderthals at the end of their days
by Greg Laden in Greg Laden's Blog
What was Neanderthal-Modern Human interaction really like? Fifty four teeth (some of which are fragments) and nine other bones dating to about 40-43,000 years ago represent the "most recent, and largest, sample of southern Iberian late Neanderthals currently known."
These and some closely related remains may indicate that these Middle Paleolithic holdouts were kissing cousins of nearby anatomically modern humans. Or maybe not.
We know that Neanderthals occupied all of Europe for over 125........ Read more »
Michael J. Walker, Josep Gibert, Mariano V. Lopez, A. Vincent Lombardi, Alejandro Perez-Perez, Josefina Zapata ́ ́ ́, Jon Ortega, Thomas Higham, Alistair Pike, Jean-Luc Schwenninger.... (2008) Late Neandertals in Southeastern Iberia: Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo, Murcia, Spain . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: http://www.pnas.org.floyd.lib.umn.edu/content/early/2008/12/12/0811213106.abstract
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
Research Blogging is powered by SMG Technology.
To learn more, visit seedmediagroup.com.