Philipp Gunz, Amanda K Tilot, Katharina Wittfeld, Alexander Teumer, Chin Yang Shapland, Theo G M van Erp, Michael Dannemann, Benjamin Vernot, Simon Neubauer, Tulio Guadalupe, Guillén Fernández, Han G Brunner, Wolfgang Enard, James Fallon, Norbert Hosten, Uwe Völker, Antonio Profico, Fabio Di Vincenzo, Giorgio Manzi, Janet Kelso, Beate St Pourcain, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Barbara Franke, Svante Pääbo, Fabio Macciardi, Hans J Grabe, Simon E Fisher
One of the features that distinguishes modern humans from our extinct relatives and ancestors is a globular shape of the braincase [1-4]. As the endocranium closely mirrors the outer shape of the brain, these differences might reflect altered neural architecture [4, 5]. However, in the absence of fossil brain tissue, the underlying neuroanatomical changes as well as their genetic bases remain elusive. To better understand the biological foundations of modern human endocranial shape, we turn to our closest extinct relatives: the Neandertals...
January 7, 2019: Current Biology: CB