Different environmental variables predict body and brain size evolution in Homo

Manuel Will; Mario Krapp; Jay T. Stock; Andrea Manica

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-24290-7

Nature Communications (Jul 2021)

Different environmental variables predict body and brain size evolution in Homo

Manuel Will,
Mario Krapp,
Jay T. Stock,
Andrea Manica

Affiliations

Manuel Will: Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen
Mario Krapp: Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
Jay T. Stock: Department of Anthropology, Western University
Andrea Manica: Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24290-7
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Increasing body and brain size constitutes a key pattern in human evolution, but the mechanisms driving these changes remain debated. Using a large fossil dataset combined with global paleoclimatic reconstructions, the authors show that different environmental variables influenced the evolution of brain and body size in Homo.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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