Early brain growth in Homo erectus and implications for cognitive ability

@article{Coqueugniot2004EarlyBG,
  title={Early brain growth in Homo erectus and implications for cognitive ability},
  author={H. Coqueugniot and J. Hublin and F. Veillon and F. Hou{\"e}t and T. Jacob},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2004},
  volume={431},
  pages={299-302}
}
Humans differ from other primates in their significantly lengthened growth period. The persistence of a fetal pattern of brain growth after birth is another important feature of human development. Here we present the results of an analysis of the 1.8-million-year-old Mojokerto child (Perning 1, Java), the only well preserved skull of a Homo erectus infant, by computed tomography. Comparison with a large series of extant humans and chimpanzees indicates that this individual was about 1 yr (0–1.5… Expand
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It is suggested that the infant calvaria from Mojokerto, Indonesia, falls almost directly between the average growth in humans and chimpanzees, and well within the range of both, and therefore cannot be dichotomized as either ape-like or human-like. Expand
A neonatal perspective on Homo erectus brain growth.
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Results point to secondary altriciality in H. erectus, implying that key human adaptations for increasing the energy budget of females may have been established by at least 1 Ma, and absolute brain growth rates in the lower half of the human range. Expand
Endocranial volume and brain growth in immature Neandertals
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The analysis of the enamel apposition rate established that an enlarged period of growth was absent in representatives of Australopithecus and early Homo, and specifically Homo erectus, and these species more closely align with extant apes than with recent humans. Expand
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Virtual reconstructions of a Neanderthal neonate from Mezmaiskaya Cave (Russia) and of two Neanderthal infant skeletons from Dederiyeh Cave (Syria) now provide new comparative insights: Neanderthal brain size at birth was similar to that in recent Homo sapiens and most likely subject to similar obstetric constraints. Expand
Human encephalization and developmental timing.
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  • Biology, Medicine
  • Journal of human evolution
  • 2005
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This study shows that published primate and human growth data do not corroborate the "brain allometry extension" model, and the unique encephalization of H. sapiens is alternatively described as the result of evolutionary changes in three aspects of developmental timing. Expand
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Several ways of combining comparative neuroanatomy, molecular biology and insights gained from fossil endocasts in future research are proposed, potentially promoting fast modification of neuronal morphologies in response to new computational demands. Expand
Brain Size Growth and Life History in Human Evolution
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Comparative analyses of endocranial volume size growth illustrate that distinctions between humans and other primates are consequences of differences in rates of brain size growth, with little evidence for differences in growth duration. Expand
Brain ontogeny and life history in Homo erectus.
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  • Biology, Medicine
  • Journal of human evolution
  • 2006
TLDR
It is proposed that, like some primates, H. erectus gave birth to offspring with proportionately large brains, and this result suggests restricted postnatal brain growth in H. erectionus, and possibly the absence of secondary altriciality. Expand
The Evolution of Human Brain Development
TLDR
It is argued here that an understanding of the tempo and mode of brain development can help to interpret the evolution of the authors' brain and the associated cognitive and behavioral changes. Expand
Chimpanzee neonatal brain size: Implications for brain growth in Homo erectus.
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It is stated that chimpanzee brain growth in utero has been overestimated and prenatal human brain growth has been underestimated, and three recent papers presenting different values for the percentage of total brain growth that occurs in uterno in chimpanzees. Expand
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