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Assessing endocranial variations in great apes and humans using 3D data from virtual endocasts.
Thibaut Bienvenu1, Franck Guy, Walter Coudyzer
1Institut International de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements (iPHEP), CNRS/Université de Poitiers, 86022 Poitiers, France. thibaut.bienvenu@univ-poitiers.fr
Human brain evolution reveals distinct endocranial shapes in great apes and humans. Globularity and features linked to bipedalism distinguish human brains, offering insights into fossil hominid paleoneurology.
Area of Science:
- Paleoneurology
- Comparative Neurology
- Human Evolution
Background:
- Modern humans possess large, complex brains, a product of significant evolutionary development.
- Understanding human brain evolution involves studying fossil hominid endocasts and comparative neurology of extant species.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish an extant comparative framework for hominid paleoneurological studies.
- To analyze endocranial size and shape variations among great apes and humans, including sexual dimorphism.
Main Methods:
- Virtual extraction of 72 endocasts from all extant great ape species and modern humans.
- Digitization of 37 landmarks on each endocast for 3D generalized Procrustes analysis.
Main Results:
- All sampled species were distinguishable by their endocranial shape.
- Humans exhibit endocranial globularity and features related to bipedalism, differentiating them from great apes.
- Greater sexual dimorphism in endocranial size was observed in larger-brained species (gorillas and humans).
Conclusions:
- Endocranial shape variations provide a comparative dataset for interpreting fossil hominid endocasts.
- Neurological reorganization and adaptations for bipedalism are key features of human brain evolution.
- Sexual dimorphism in endocranial shape is primarily observed in gorillas, influenced by allometry.
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