Hominin brain size increase has emerged from within-species encephalization

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Pueschel, Thomas A.; Nicholson, Samuel L.; Baker, Joanna; Barton, Robert A.; Venditti, Chris
• 署名单位: University of Oxford; University of Reading; Max Planck Society; Durham University
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-12757
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2409542121
• 发表日期: 2024-12-03
• 关键词: cranial capacity; body-size; EVOLUTION; models; tempo; variability; radiation; inference; weight; room

摘要

The fact that rapid brain size increase was clearly a key aspect of human evolution has prompted many studies focusing on this phenomenon, and many suggestions as to the underlying evolutionary patterns and processes. No study to date has however separated out the contributions of change through time within vs. between hominin species while simultaneously incorporating effects of body size. Using a phylogenetic approach never applied before to paleoanthropological data, we show that relative brain size increase across similar to 7 My of hominin evolution arose from increases within individual species which account for an observed overall increase in relative brain size. Variation among species in brain size after accounting for this effect is associated with body mass differences but not time. In addition, our analysis also reveals that the within- species trend escalated in more recent lineages, implying an overall pattern of accelerating relative brain size increase through time.