Dynamics of green Sahara periods and their role in hominin evolution. [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2013 Astronomically forced insolation changes have driven monsoon dynamics and recurrent humid episodes in North Africa, resulting in green Sahara Periods (GSPs) with savannah expansion throughout most of the desert.
Juan C Larrasoaña +2 more
doaj +4 more sources
Loss of olfactory receptor function in hominin evolution. [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2014 The mammalian sense of smell is governed by the largest gene family, which encodes the olfactory receptors (ORs). The gain and loss of OR genes is typically correlated with adaptations to various ecological niches. Modern humans have 853 OR genes but 55%
Graham M Hughes +2 more
doaj +5 more sources
Modelling the role of groundwater hydro-refugia in East African hominin evolution and dispersal [PDF]
Nature Communications, 2017 Water is a fundamental resource, but its role in hominin evolution is not well explored. Here, the authors use a combination of groundwater, climate and agent-based models to show that groundwater availability may be critical to past patterns of ...
M. O. Cuthbert +6 more
doaj +2 more sources
A spring forward for hominin evolution in East Africa. [PDF]
PLoS ONE, 2014 Groundwater is essential to modern human survival during drought periods. There is also growing geological evidence of springs associated with stone tools and hominin fossils in the East African Rift System (EARS) during a critical period for hominin ...
Mark O Cuthbert, Gail M Ashley
doaj +2 more sources
Hominin evolution was caused by introgression from Gorilla [PDF]
Natural Science, 2018 The discovery of Paranthropus deyiremeda in 3.3-3.5 million year old fossil sites in Afar, together with 30% of the gorilla genome showing lineage sorting between humans and chimpanzees, and a NUMT ("nuclear mitochondrial DNA segment") on chromosome 5 ...
Nygren, Johan
core +3 more sources
Brain enlargement and dental reduction were not linked in hominin evolution. [PDF]
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2017 The large brain and small postcanine teeth of modern humans are among our most distinctive features, and trends in their evolution are well studied within the hominin clade.
Gómez-Robles A +4 more
europepmc +3 more sources
Meaning-making behavior in a small-brained hominin, Homo naledi, from the late Pleistocene: contexts and evolutionary implications [PDF]
eLifeExplorations in the Dinaledi Subsystem of the Rising Star cave system have yielded some of the earliest evidence of a mortuary practice in hominins. Because the evidence is attributable to the small-brained Homo naledi, these analyses call into question ...
Agustín Fuentes +5 more
doaj +2 more sources
Unravelling the functional biomechanics of dental features and tooth wear [PDF]
, 2013 Most of the morphological features recognized in hominin teeth, particularly the topography of the occlusal surface, are generally interpreted as an evolutionary functional adaptation for mechanical food processing.
Benazzi, Stefano +3 more
core +28 more sources
Early Hominin Dispersal across the Qinling Mountains, China, during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition
Land, 2023 The Qinling Mountain Range (QMR), where more than 500 hominin fossils and Paleolithic sites have been preserved, was a major center of hominin evolution and settlement and an important link for the hominin migration and dispersal between the north and ...
Xiaoqi Guo +4 more
doaj +1 more source
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2021 Flip through scientific textbooks illustrating ideas about human evolution or visit any number of museums of natural history and you will notice an abundance of reconstructions attempting to depict the appearance of ancient hominins.
Ryan M. Campbell +4 more
doaj +1 more source