The Endocast of MH1,
            <i>Australopithecus sediba</i>

Carlson, Kristian J.; Stout, Dietrich; Jashashvili, Tea; Ruiter, Darryl J. de; Tafforeau, Paul; Carlson, Keely B.; Berger, Lee R.

doi:10.1126/science.1203922

Cited by 168 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…[3,45,77,78]). In brains of apes, for example, an impression called the 'lunate sulcus' marks the anterior limit of the occipital lobe and corresponds roughly to the anterior lateral boundary of the primary visual cortex [79,80].…”

Section: Before Homomentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain ontogeny and life history in Pleistocene hominins

Hublin

Neubauer

Gunz

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

137

101

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A high level of encephalization is critical to the human adaptive niche and emerged among hominins over the course of the past 2 Myr. Evolving larger brains required important adaptive adjustments, in particular regarding energy allocation and life history. These adaptations included a relatively small brain at birth and a protracted growth of highly dependent offspring within a complex social environment. In turn, the extended period of growth and delayed maturation of the brain structures of humans contribute to their cognitive complexity. The current palaeoanthropological evidence shows that, regarding life history and brain ontogeny, the Pleistocene hominin taxa display different patterns and that one cannot simply contrast an 'ape-model' to a 'human-model'. Large-brained hominins such as Upper Pleistocene Neandertals have evolved along their own evolutionary pathway and can be distinguished from modern humans in terms of growth pattern and brain development. The life-history pattern and brain ontogeny of extant humans emerged only recently in the course of human evolution.

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Section: Before Homomentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain ontogeny and life history in Pleistocene hominins

Hublin

Neubauer

Gunz

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

137

101

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“…The assumption that the neocortex is the place to look for evidence about cognitive evolution drives much comparative research and even the selection of regions of interest in the study of fossil hominin endocasts [41].…”

Section: Is the Neocortex The 'Intelligent' Bit Of The Brain?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum

Barton

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

176

198

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Much attention has focused on the dramatic expansion of the forebrain, particularly the neocortex, as the neural substrate of cognitive evolution. However, though relatively small, the cerebellum contains about four times more neurons than the neocortex. I show that commonly used comparative measures such as neocortex ratio underestimate the contribution of the cerebellum to brain evolution. Once differences in the scaling of connectivity in neocortex and cerebellum are accounted for, a marked and general pattern of correlated evolution of the two structures is apparent. One deviation from this general pattern is a relative expansion of the cerebellum in apes and other extractive foragers. The confluence of these comparative patterns, studies of ape foraging skills and social learning, and recent evidence on the cognitive neuroscience of the cerebellum, suggest an important role for the cerebellum in the evolution of the capacity for planning, execution and understanding of complex behavioural sequences—including tool use and language. There is no clear separation between sensory–motor and cognitive specializations underpinning such skills, undermining the notion of executive control as a distinct process. Instead, I argue that cognitive evolution is most effectively understood as the elaboration of specialized systems for embodied adaptive control.

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“…Also, given the average size of the birth canal in Australopithecus (20), the estimated size of the neonate brain, and the growth trajectory in australopiths, based on dental and osteological data (23), there is no evidence that Australopithecus experienced selective pressures necessitating delayed brain or skull development greater than those observed in modern humans. Rather, the recently described A. sediba pelvis (22), despite an EV of 420 mL (6), suggests that the physical constraints of even the late Australopithecus birth canal probably had less effect on parturition and the timing of suture closure than in modern humans. It is also worth noting that an additional contributing factor to an obstetric constraint on fetal brain size has been suggested by Dunsworth and colleagues (24), who posited that a metabolic limit exists that restricts the ability of a female to keep a fetal brain growing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New high-resolution computed tomography data of the Taung partial cranium and endocast and their bearing on metopism and hominin brain evolution

Holloway

Broadfield

Carlson

2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Falk and colleagues [Falk D, Zollikofer CP, Morimoto N, Ponce de León MS (2012) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(22):8467-8470] hypothesized that selective pressures favored late persistence of a metopic suture and open anterior fontanelle early in hominin evolution, and they put an emphasis on the Taung Child (Australopithecus africanus) as evidence for the antiquity of these adaptive features. They suggested three mutually nonexclusive pressures: an "obstetric dilemma," high early postnatal brain growth rates, and neural reorganization in the frontal cortex. To test this hypothesis, we obtained the first high-resolution computed tomography (CT) data from the Taung hominin. These high-resolution image data and an examination of the hominin fossil record do not support the metopic and fontanelle features proposed by Falk and colleagues. Although a possible remnant of the metopic suture is observed in the nasion-glabella region of the Taung partial cranium (but not along the frontal crest), this character state is incongruent with the zipper model of metopic closure described by Falk and colleagues. Nor do chimpanzee and bonobo endocast data support the assertion that delayed metopic closure in Taung is necessary because of widening (reorganization) of the prefrontal or frontal cortex. These results call into question the adaptive value of delaying metopic closure, and particularly its antiquity in hominin evolution. Further data from hominoids and hominins are required to support the proposed adaptive arguments, particularly an obstetric dilemma placing constraints on neural and cranial development in Australopithecus.prefrontal reorganization | cranial capacity | human evolution

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The Endocast of MH1, Australopithecus sediba

Abstract: The brain endocast of Australopithecus sediba shows that despite retaining a small brain size, some reorganization of the frontal lobe had commenced, hinting at the later neural development seen in Homo .

Cited by 168 publications

References 42 publications

Brain ontogeny and life history in Pleistocene hominins

Brain ontogeny and life history in Pleistocene hominins

Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum

New high-resolution computed tomography data of the Taung partial cranium and endocast and their bearing on metopism and hominin brain evolution

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