Endocranial capacity in an early hominid cranium from Sterkfontein, South Africa

被引:73
作者
Conroy, GC
Weber, GW
Seidler, H
Tobias, PV
Kane, A
Brunsden, B
机构
[1] Washington Univ, Sch Med, Dept Anat & Neurobiol, St Louis, MO 63110 USA
[2] Washington Univ, Sch Med, Dept Anthropol, St Louis, MO 63110 USA
[3] Univ Vienna, Inst Human Biol, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
[4] Univ Witwatersrand, Sch Med, Dept Anat Sci, Johannesburg, South Africa
[5] Washington Univ, Sch Med, Div Plast Surg, St Louis, MO 63110 USA
[6] Washington Univ, Sch Med, Edward Mallinckrodt Inst Radiol, St Louis, MO 63110 USA
关键词
D O I
10.1126/science.280.5370.1730
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
Two- and three-dimensional computer imaging shows that endocranial capacity in an similar to 2.8- to 2.6-million-year-old early hominid cranium (Stw 505) from Sterkfontein, South Africa, tentatively assigned to Australopithecus africanus, is similar to 515 cubic centimeters. Although this is the largest endocranial capacity recorded for this species, it is still markedly less than anecdotal reports of endocranial capacity exceeding 600 cubic centimeters. No australopithecine has an endocranial capacity approaching, let alone exceeding, 600 cubic centimeters. Some currently accepted estimates of early hominid endocranial capacity may be inflated, suggesting that the tempo and mode of early hominid brain evolution may need reevaluation.
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页码:1730 / 1731
页数:2
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