Insertion sites in manual proximal phalanges of African apes and modern humans

2020 ◽  
Vol 173 (3) ◽  
pp. 556-567
Author(s):  
Ana Bucchi ◽  
Javier Luengo ◽  
Antonietta Del Bove ◽  
Carlos Lorenzo
Keyword(s):  
Modern Humans ◽  
African Apes ◽  
Insertion Sites

Seven Steps in the Evolution of the Human Imagination

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEVEN MITHEN
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Clear Picture ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Creative Imagination ◽  
African Apes ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
Forms Of Knowledge

The modern human is a product of six million years of evolution wherein it is assumed that the ancestor of man resembles that of a chimpanzee. This assumption is based on the similarities of the ape-like brain size and post-cranial characteristics of the earliest hominid species to chimpanzees. Whilst it is unclear whether chimpanzees share the same foresight and contemplation of alternatives as with humans, it is nevertheless clear that chimpanzees lack creative imagination — an aspect of modern human imagination that sets humanity apart from its hominid ancestors. Creative imagination pertains to the ability to combine different forms of knowledge and ways of thinking to form creative and novel ideas. This chapter discusses seven critical steps in the evolution of the human imagination. These steps provide a clear picture of the gradual emergence of creative imagination in humans from their primitive origins as Homo sapiens some 200,000 years ago. This chronological evolution of the imaginative mind of humans involves both biological and cultural change that began soon after the divergence of the two lineages that led to modern humans and African apes.

scholarly journals Tools to tipple: ethanol ingestion by wild chimpanzees using leaf-sponges

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 150150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberley J. Hockings ◽  
Nicola Bryson-Morrison ◽  
Susana Carvalho ◽  
Michiko Fujisawa ◽  
Tatyana Humle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcoholic Beverage ◽  
Genetic Mutation ◽  
Ethanol Ingestion ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
African Apes ◽  
Raphia Hookeri ◽  
Plastic Containers ◽  
Voluntary Ethanol Consumption

African apes and humans share a genetic mutation that enables them to effectively metabolize ethanol. However, voluntary ethanol consumption in this evolutionary radiation is documented only in modern humans. Here, we report evidence of the long-term and recurrent ingestion of ethanol from the raffia palm ( Raphia hookeri, Arecaceae) by wild chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes verus ) at Bossou in Guinea, West Africa, from 1995 to 2012. Chimpanzees at Bossou ingest this alcoholic beverage, often in large quantities, despite an average presence of ethanol of 3.1% alcohol by volume (ABV) and up to 6.9% ABV. Local people tap raffia palms and the sap collects in plastic containers, and chimpanzees use elementary technology—a leafy tool—to obtain this fermenting sap. These data show that ethanol does not act as a deterrent to feeding in this community of wild apes, supporting the idea that the last common ancestor of living African apes and modern humans was not averse to ingesting foods containing ethanol.

scholarly journals Cochlear shape distinguishes southern African early hominin taxa with unique auditory ecologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Braga ◽  
C. Samir ◽  
A. Fradi ◽  
Y. Feunteun ◽  
K. Jakata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Sound Perception ◽  
Australopithecus Africanus ◽  
African Apes ◽  
Ecological Adaptations ◽  
Enhanced Sensitivity ◽  
Modern Species ◽  
Early Hominin

AbstractInsights into potential differences among the bony labyrinths of Plio-Pleistocene hominins may inform their evolutionary histories and sensory ecologies. We use four recently-discovered bony labyrinths from the site of Kromdraai to significantly expand the sample for Paranthropus robustus. Diffeomorphometry, which provides detailed information about cochlear shape, reveals size-independent differences in cochlear shape between P. robustus and Australopithecus africanus that exceed those among modern humans and the African apes. The cochlea of P. robustus is distinctive and relatively invariant, whereas cochlear shape in A. africanus is more variable, resembles that of early Homo, and shows a degree of morphological polymorphism comparable to that evinced by modern species. The curvature of the P. robustus cochlea is uniquely derived and is consistent with enhanced sensitivity to low-frequency sounds. Combined with evidence for selection, our findings suggest that sound perception shaped distinct ecological adaptations among southern African early hominins.

scholarly journals Infant growth patterns of the mandible in modern humans: a closer exploration of the developmental interactions between the symphyseal bone, the teeth, and the suprahyoid and tongue muscle insertion sites

2012 ◽  
Vol 222 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Coquerelle ◽  
Juan Carlos Prados-Frutos ◽  
Stefano Benazzi ◽  
Fred L. Bookstein ◽  
Sascha Senck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infant Growth ◽  
Growth Patterns ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Tongue Muscle ◽  
Muscle Insertion ◽  
Insertion Sites

Clash of signs: Putting bilingualism back into language evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Samuel
Keyword(s):  
Language Evolution ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
The Real ◽  
Multiple Languages

Research and thinking into the cognitive aspects of language evolution has usually attempted to account for how the capacity for learning even one modern human language developed. Bilingualism has perhaps been thought of as something to think about only once the ‘real’ puzzle of monolingualism is solved, but this would assume in turn (and without evidence) that bilingualism evolved after monolingualism. All typically-developing children (and adults) are capable of learning multiple languages, and the majority of modern humans are at least bilingual. In this paper I ask whether by skipping bilingualism out of language evolution we have missed a trick. I propose that exposure to synonymous signs, such as food and alarm calls, are a necessary precondition for the abstracting away of sound from referent. In support of this possibility is evidence that modern day bilingual children are better at breaking this ‘word magic’ spell. More generally, language evolution should be viewed through the lens of bilingualism, as this is the end state we are attempting to explain.

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