Jaw-dropping theory of human evolution: Did mankind trade chewing power for a bigger brain?: "Jaw-dropping theory of human evolution
Did mankind trade chewing power for a bigger brain?
25 March 2004
A big jaw in chimps (top) could preclude the evolution of a large brain, as in humans (bottom).
Researchers have proposed an answer to the vexing question of how the human brain grew so big. We may owe our superior intelligence to weak jaw muscles, they suggest.
A mutation 2.4 million years ago could have left us unable to produce one of the main proteins in primate jaw muscles, the team reports in this week's Nature1. Lacking the constraints of a bulky chewing apparatus, the ee to grow, the researchers say.
The timing of the mutation is consistent with rampant brain growth seen in human fossils from around 2 million years ago, says Nancy Minugh-Purvis of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who helped with the study. 'Right at the point you lose power in these muscles, brain size evolution accelerates,' she says."human skull may have been fr
Did mankind trade chewing power for a bigger brain?
25 March 2004
A big jaw in chimps (top) could preclude the evolution of a large brain, as in humans (bottom).
Researchers have proposed an answer to the vexing question of how the human brain grew so big. We may owe our superior intelligence to weak jaw muscles, they suggest.
A mutation 2.4 million years ago could have left us unable to produce one of the main proteins in primate jaw muscles, the team reports in this week's Nature1. Lacking the constraints of a bulky chewing apparatus, the ee to grow, the researchers say.
The timing of the mutation is consistent with rampant brain growth seen in human fossils from around 2 million years ago, says Nancy Minugh-Purvis of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who helped with the study. 'Right at the point you lose power in these muscles, brain size evolution accelerates,' she says."human skull may have been fr
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