#humanevolution — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #humanevolution, aggregated by home.social.
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Two ancient leg bones from Taiwan just got ID’d as Denisovan via protein analysis, and one individual may have stood nearly 6’3”. Why so big, so far south? Still an open question. #Denisovans #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/two-leg-bones-from-a-drowned-taiwanese
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Two ancient leg bones from Taiwan just got ID’d as Denisovan via protein analysis, and one individual may have stood nearly 6’3”. Why so big, so far south? Still an open question. #Denisovans #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/two-leg-bones-from-a-drowned-taiwanese
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Human centromeres mutate 20x faster than the rest of the genome, some chromosomes have 2-3 kinetochores that run in families, and a subset carry Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA over a million years old. #Paleogenomics #HumanEvolution #Genomics https://www.anthropology.net/p/human-centromeres-are-the-most-mutable
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Human centromeres mutate 20x faster than the rest of the genome, some chromosomes have 2-3 kinetochores that run in families, and a subset carry Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA over a million years old. #Paleogenomics #HumanEvolution #Genomics https://www.anthropology.net/p/human-centromeres-are-the-most-mutable
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🧬 Everyone alive today carries DNA from a mysterious "ghost" ancestor — an unknown archaic human species that no fossil record has ever captured.
Using a new method called TRACE, scientists analyzed 503 modern genomes and found that 0.5-1% of our DNA comes from an unidentified hominin lineage that split from us over 800,000 years ago.
This ghost lineage interbred with early Homo sapiens in Africa before the out-of-Africa migration. Unlike Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA, which is mostly absent from speech-related gene regions, the ghost DNA appears even in those areas.
The discovery also revealed an even older "super-archaic" lineage — one that branched off nearly 1.8 million years ago and reached us indirectly through Denisovans.
We carry the genetic legacy of ancestors we never knew existed.
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🧬 Everyone alive today carries DNA from a mysterious "ghost" ancestor — an unknown archaic human species that no fossil record has ever captured.
Using a new method called TRACE, scientists analyzed 503 modern genomes and found that 0.5-1% of our DNA comes from an unidentified hominin lineage that split from us over 800,000 years ago.
This ghost lineage interbred with early Homo sapiens in Africa before the out-of-Africa migration. Unlike Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA, which is mostly absent from speech-related gene regions, the ghost DNA appears even in those areas.
The discovery also revealed an even older "super-archaic" lineage — one that branched off nearly 1.8 million years ago and reached us indirectly through Denisovans.
We carry the genetic legacy of ancestors we never knew existed.
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An 8,300-year-old hunter-gatherer’s genome from Japan had nearly double the average starch-digesting gene copies, before rice farming ever arrived. New high-coverage ancient DNA rewrites the Jomon-Yayoi story. #paleogenomics #archaeology #humanevolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-hunter-gatherers-genome-explains
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An 8,300-year-old hunter-gatherer’s genome from Japan had nearly double the average starch-digesting gene copies, before rice farming ever arrived. New high-coverage ancient DNA rewrites the Jomon-Yayoi story. #paleogenomics #archaeology #humanevolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-hunter-gatherers-genome-explains
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Meat gets all the credit for growing the human brain. But brains run on glucose, not protein, and for most of our evolutionary history that glucose came from fruit and honey, not steak. New modeling in Science makes the case. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-brain-ran-on-fruit-long-before
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Meat gets all the credit for growing the human brain. But brains run on glucose, not protein, and for most of our evolutionary history that glucose came from fruit and honey, not steak. New modeling in Science makes the case. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-brain-ran-on-fruit-long-before
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A single Neanderthal-inherited amino acid change makes growth hormone receptors fire harder, and people carrying it today have more muscle, shorter jaw ramus height, and shorter tooth roots. Neanderthal biology, still running. 🧬🦴🔬
#Neanderthal #PaleoGenetics #HumanEvolution
https://www.anthropology.net/p/growth-hormone-faster-growth-and
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A single Neanderthal-inherited amino acid change makes growth hormone receptors fire harder, and people carrying it today have more muscle, shorter jaw ramus height, and shorter tooth roots. Neanderthal biology, still running. 🧬🦴🔬
#Neanderthal #PaleoGenetics #HumanEvolution
https://www.anthropology.net/p/growth-hormone-faster-growth-and
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New parietal fragments from Gran Dolina give Homo antecessor its first adult cranial thickness data. Total thickness looks modern-human-like, but the layer proportions tell a stranger, more mosaic story. 🦴🧠 #PaleoAnthropology #HumanEvolution #Atapuerca https://www.anthropology.net/p/what-the-inside-of-an-850000-year
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New parietal fragments from Gran Dolina give Homo antecessor its first adult cranial thickness data. Total thickness looks modern-human-like, but the layer proportions tell a stranger, more mosaic story. 🦴🧠 #PaleoAnthropology #HumanEvolution #Atapuerca https://www.anthropology.net/p/what-the-inside-of-an-850000-year
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Two Unknown Human Lineages Discovered in Modern DNA
📰 Original title: Scientists found two mysterious ‘ghost’ ancestors hiding in our DNA
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/two-unknown-human-lineages-discovered-in-modern-dna.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world
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This week's #NewBooks at the library:
- The Geological Society, London had a sale, so I snapped up a copy of Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and their Kin
- I adopted a damaged copy of Aljos Farjon's Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape, published by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- And I bought a second-hand copy of Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins, written by Lee R Berger and John Hawks, published by National Geographic Society.#Books #Bookstodon #Fossils #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Botany #Trees #Archaeology #Archeology #HumanEvolution #Anthropology #Scicomm @bookstodon
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This week's #NewBooks at the library:
- The Geological Society, London had a sale, so I snapped up a copy of Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and their Kin
- I adopted a damaged copy of Aljos Farjon's Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape, published by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- And I bought a second-hand copy of Cave of Bones: A True Story of Discovery, Adventure, and Human Origins, written by Lee R Berger and John Hawks, published by National Geographic Society.#Books #Bookstodon #Fossils #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Botany #Trees #Archaeology #Archeology #HumanEvolution #Anthropology #Scicomm @bookstodon
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Scientists just found DNA from two human relatives we’ve never found a single fossil of, hiding in modern genomes. One mixed with us in Africa 800,000 years ago; the other reached us secondhand, through Denisovans. #paleoanthropology #humanevolution #ancientDNA https://www.anthropology.net/p/two-ghosts-in-the-genome
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Scientists just found DNA from two human relatives we’ve never found a single fossil of, hiding in modern genomes. One mixed with us in Africa 800,000 years ago; the other reached us secondhand, through Denisovans. #paleoanthropology #humanevolution #ancientDNA https://www.anthropology.net/p/two-ghosts-in-the-genome
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Flat head syndrome in babies today is showing up in fossil skulls over a million years old, including a “hobbit” with a chimp-sized brain. What it reveals about ancient childcare. #Paleoanthropology #HomoErectus #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/what-flat-heads-tell-us-about-a-million
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Flat head syndrome in babies today is showing up in fossil skulls over a million years old, including a “hobbit” with a chimp-sized brain. What it reveals about ancient childcare. #Paleoanthropology #HomoErectus #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/what-flat-heads-tell-us-about-a-million
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Scientists studying ancient human relatives say they may have narrowed down when our ancestors began growing larger bodies. It is a useful piece of the human-evolution puzzle, adding clearer evidence to how our biology changed over time.
Read more: https://thedebrief.org/scientists-may-have-finally-solved-one-of-human-evolutions-biggest-mysteries-when-our-ancestors-grew-larger/ -
Scientists studying ancient human relatives say they may have narrowed down when our ancestors began growing larger bodies. It is a useful piece of the human-evolution puzzle, adding clearer evidence to how our biology changed over time.
Read more: https://thedebrief.org/scientists-may-have-finally-solved-one-of-human-evolutions-biggest-mysteries-when-our-ancestors-grew-larger/ -
Humans and great apes show similar rhythmic pattern in laughter
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Eight sets of footprints, 1.43 million years old, found on an ancient Kenyan lakeshore reveal a hominin group larger than expected, possibly rewriting what we know about Paranthropus boisei body size and social behavior. 🦶🌍🔬 #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution #Turkana https://www.anthropology.net/p/eight-sets-of-footprints-on-a-vanished
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Eight sets of footprints, 1.43 million years old, found on an ancient Kenyan lakeshore reveal a hominin group larger than expected, possibly rewriting what we know about Paranthropus boisei body size and social behavior. 🦶🌍🔬 #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution #Turkana https://www.anthropology.net/p/eight-sets-of-footprints-on-a-vanished
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Harvard genetics researchers say human DNA has been evolving fast—under selective pressure—for the past 10,000 years, identifying 479 genes showing natural selection, with stronger signals in the last 5,000 years. 🧬📈 #HumanEvolution #Genetics #Science https://www.harvardmagazine.com/research/harvard-human-evolution-genes-selective-pressure
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Harvard genetics researchers say human DNA has been evolving fast—under selective pressure—for the past 10,000 years, identifying 479 genes showing natural selection, with stronger signals in the last 5,000 years. 🧬📈 #HumanEvolution #Genetics #Science https://www.harvardmagazine.com/research/harvard-human-evolution-genes-selective-pressure
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Humans are not the end result of predictable evolutionary progress, but rather a fortuitous cosmic afterthought, a tiny little twig on the enormously arborescent bush of life, which if replanted from seed, would almost surely not grow this twig again.
-- Stephen Jay Gould -
Humans are not the end result of predictable evolutionary progress, but rather a fortuitous cosmic afterthought, a tiny little twig on the enormously arborescent bush of life, which if replanted from seed, would almost surely not grow this twig again.
-- Stephen Jay Gould -
A new study of 72,000 Han Taiwanese genomes caught natural selection acting in real time, including two opposite selection signals inside the cancer gene BRCA1 itself. Evolution isn’t finished with us. #HumanEvolution #Genomics #NaturalSelection https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-cancer-gene-that-is-still-fighting
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A new study of 72,000 Han Taiwanese genomes caught natural selection acting in real time, including two opposite selection signals inside the cancer gene BRCA1 itself. Evolution isn’t finished with us. #HumanEvolution #Genomics #NaturalSelection https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-cancer-gene-that-is-still-fighting
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A 385 kg Iberian bear once filled a niche cave bears never occupied. New fossil and island biodiversity research both point to the same lesson: today’s “natural” baselines are already reshaped by millennia of human pressure. #Paleoecology #Archaeogenetics #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-baseline-that-keeps-moving
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A 385 kg Iberian bear once filled a niche cave bears never occupied. New fossil and island biodiversity research both point to the same lesson: today’s “natural” baselines are already reshaped by millennia of human pressure. #Paleoecology #Archaeogenetics #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-baseline-that-keeps-moving
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A new @sciencemagazine study finds language diversity peaked 1,000–3,000 years ago at ~10x today’s levels, then collapsed with the rise of empires, not colonialism. Most of what humans once said is gone without a trace. #Linguistics #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-world-once-had-tens-of-thousands
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A new @sciencemagazine study finds language diversity peaked 1,000–3,000 years ago at ~10x today’s levels, then collapsed with the rise of empires, not colonialism. Most of what humans once said is gone without a trace. #Linguistics #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-world-once-had-tens-of-thousands
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Prenatal Estrogen and Finger Lengths May Link to Human Brain Evolution
📰 Original title: Your fingers may hold a secret of human brain evolution
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/prenatal-estrogen-and-finger-lengths-may-link-to-human-brain-evolution.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 08:02AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Your fingers may hold a secret of human brain evolution
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260717033350.htm
A study of 225 newborns suggests prenatal estrogen may have played a role in the evolution of larger human brains. Boys with finger-length patterns linked to higher estrogen exposure before birth tended to have larger head circumferences, which are strongly associated with brain size. The same connection was not seen in girls.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260717033350.htm
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainEvolution #PrenatalEstrogen #FingerLength #SexDifferences #BrainDevelopment #HeadCircumference #NewbornStudy #HumanEvolution #EstrogenExposure #NeuroscienceResearch
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DATE: July 17, 2026 at 08:02AM
SOURCE: SCIENCE DAILY MIND-BRAIN FEEDTITLE: Your fingers may hold a secret of human brain evolution
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260717033350.htm
A study of 225 newborns suggests prenatal estrogen may have played a role in the evolution of larger human brains. Boys with finger-length patterns linked to higher estrogen exposure before birth tended to have larger head circumferences, which are strongly associated with brain size. The same connection was not seen in girls.
URL: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260717033350.htm
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Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #BrainEvolution #PrenatalEstrogen #FingerLength #SexDifferences #BrainDevelopment #HeadCircumference #NewbornStudy #HumanEvolution #EstrogenExposure #NeuroscienceResearch
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New research suggests we still pick friends using criteria built for hunter-gatherer life: strength, perceived hunting skill, cooperativeness. Even when it has nothing to do with our actual goals. #HumanEvolution #EvolutionaryPsychology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/why-your-brain-still-wants-a-hunting
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New research suggests we still pick friends using criteria built for hunter-gatherer life: strength, perceived hunting skill, cooperativeness. Even when it has nothing to do with our actual goals. #HumanEvolution #EvolutionaryPsychology #Anthropology https://www.anthropology.net/p/why-your-brain-still-wants-a-hunting
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New Study Suggests Early Humans Scavenged Komodo Dragon Prey
📰 Original title: Hobbit-like Humans May Have Scavenged Komodo Dragons' Leftovers to Survive
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/new-study-suggests-early-humans-scavenged-komodo-dragon-prey.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world
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New Study Suggests Early Humans Scavenged Komodo Dragon Prey
📰 Original title: Hobbit-like Humans May Have Scavenged Komodo Dragons' Leftovers to Survive
🤖 IA: It's clickbait ⚠️
👥 Users: It's clickbait ⚠️View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/new-study-suggests-early-humans-scavenged-komodo-dragon-prey.html?utm_source=mastodon_world&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_world
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A 90,000-year-old jaw bears a healed wound that may be the oldest known case of sharp-force trauma in the human fossil record. New microCT analysis of Qafzeh 25 also reveals hidden dental disease and confirms deliberate burial. #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution #Archaeology https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-healed-wound-on-an-ancient-jaw
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A 90,000-year-old jaw bears a healed wound that may be the oldest known case of sharp-force trauma in the human fossil record. New microCT analysis of Qafzeh 25 also reveals hidden dental disease and confirms deliberate burial. #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution #Archaeology https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-healed-wound-on-an-ancient-jaw
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📢 New #openaccess paper out!
Exploring the evolutionary drivers of encephalization and facial reduction in the genus Homo. 🧠💀
Check it out here: https://rdcu.be/fsgmjCongrats to Mark and Katerina for this work! ✨️
#humanevolution -
📢 New #openaccess paper out!
Exploring the evolutionary drivers of encephalization and facial reduction in the genus Homo. 🧠💀
Check it out here: https://rdcu.be/fsgmjCongrats to Mark and Katerina for this work! ✨️
#humanevolution -
A Turkish cave shows Neanderthals and Homo sapiens using the same tools, same food strategies, and even collecting the same useless seashells, across a 20,000 year handoff. Continuity, not replacement. #Neanderthals #Paleolithic #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-shell-with-no-meat-inside-it
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A Turkish cave shows Neanderthals and Homo sapiens using the same tools, same food strategies, and even collecting the same useless seashells, across a 20,000 year handoff. Continuity, not replacement. #Neanderthals #Paleolithic #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-shell-with-no-meat-inside-it
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New analysis of 87 hominin skulls finds no strong evidence that natural selection favored bigger brains over 2 million years. Instead: random drift and released constraints. #PaleoAnthropology #HumanEvolution #Neuroscience @katharv.bsky.social https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-brain-that-wasnt-selected-for
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New analysis of 87 hominin skulls finds no strong evidence that natural selection favored bigger brains over 2 million years. Instead: random drift and released constraints. #PaleoAnthropology #HumanEvolution #Neuroscience @katharv.bsky.social https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-brain-that-wasnt-selected-for
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It would be a poor thing to be an atom in a universe without physicists, and physicists are made of atoms. A physicist is an atom's way of knowing about atoms.
-- George Wald (Life and Mind in the Universe)⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #GeorgeWald #Existence #HumanEvolution #TheUniverse
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It would be a poor thing to be an atom in a universe without physicists, and physicists are made of atoms. A physicist is an atom's way of knowing about atoms.
-- George Wald (Life and Mind in the Universe)⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #GeorgeWald #Existence #HumanEvolution #TheUniverse
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A new study of 3,100+ Stegodon bones at Liang Bua finds Komodo dragons, not “hobbits,” had first crack at the meat. No fire, no hunting weapons, just risky scavenging. #Paleoanthropology #HomoFloresiensis #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/what-a-goat-fed-to-a-komodo-dragon
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A new study of 3,100+ Stegodon bones at Liang Bua finds Komodo dragons, not “hobbits,” had first crack at the meat. No fire, no hunting weapons, just risky scavenging. #Paleoanthropology #HomoFloresiensis #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/what-a-goat-fed-to-a-komodo-dragon
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RE: https://sciences.social/@primatology/116852063656758592
Consensus said brain and body mass evolved in strict lockstep, but new data revives the "brain lag" hypothesis.
When body size grew, brains lagged—then didn't just catch up. They overshot entirely, pushing lineages like ours into new cognitive territory.
#HumanEvolution #Anthropology #Primatology -
New research on 71 fossil jaws finds that gum disease hit early Homo harder than australopithecines, and the team proposes it helped drive smaller teeth, reduced prognathism, and eventually more room for the brain to grow. #HumanEvolution #Paleoanthropology #Periodontics https://www.anthropology.net/p/gum-disease-may-have-helped-shrink