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de Sousa AA, Beaudet A, Calvey T, Bardo A, Benoit J, Charvet CJ, Dehay C, Gómez-Robles A, Gunz P, Heuer K, van den Heuvel MP, Hurst S, Lauters P, Reed D, Salagnon M, Sherwood CC, Ströckens F, Tawane M, Todorov OS, Toro R, Wei Y. From fossils to mind. Commun Biol 2023; 6:636. [PMID: 37311857 PMCID: PMC10262152 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04803-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Fossil endocasts record features of brains from the past: size, shape, vasculature, and gyrification. These data, alongside experimental and comparative evidence, are needed to resolve questions about brain energetics, cognitive specializations, and developmental plasticity. Through the application of interdisciplinary techniques to the fossil record, paleoneurology has been leading major innovations. Neuroimaging is shedding light on fossil brain organization and behaviors. Inferences about the development and physiology of the brains of extinct species can be experimentally investigated through brain organoids and transgenic models based on ancient DNA. Phylogenetic comparative methods integrate data across species and associate genotypes to phenotypes, and brains to behaviors. Meanwhile, fossil and archeological discoveries continuously contribute new knowledge. Through cooperation, the scientific community can accelerate knowledge acquisition. Sharing digitized museum collections improves the availability of rare fossils and artifacts. Comparative neuroanatomical data are available through online databases, along with tools for their measurement and analysis. In the context of these advances, the paleoneurological record provides ample opportunity for future research. Biomedical and ecological sciences can benefit from paleoneurology's approach to understanding the mind as well as its novel research pipelines that establish connections between neuroanatomy, genes and behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Amélie Beaudet
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Évolution, Paléoécosystèmes et Paléoprimatologie (PALEVOPRIM), UMR 7262 CNRS & Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.
- University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Tanya Calvey
- Division of Clinical Anatomy and Biological Anthropology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
| | - Ameline Bardo
- UMR 7194, CNRS-MNHN, Département Homme et Environnement, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Julien Benoit
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Christine J Charvet
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - Colette Dehay
- University of Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, F-69500, Bron, France
| | | | - Philipp Gunz
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Katja Heuer
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Unité de Neuroanatomie Appliquée et Théorique, F-75015, Paris, France
| | | | - Shawn Hurst
- University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Pascaline Lauters
- Institut royal des Sciences naturelles, Direction Opérationnelle Terre et Histoire de la Vie, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Denné Reed
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Mathilde Salagnon
- CNRS, CEA, IMN, GIN, UMR 5293, Université Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- PACEA UMR 5199, CNRS, Université Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Chet C Sherwood
- Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Felix Ströckens
- C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Mirriam Tawane
- Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Orlin S Todorov
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Roberto Toro
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Unité de Neuroanatomie Appliquée et Théorique, F-75015, Paris, France
| | - Yongbin Wei
- Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China
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Baab KL, Brown P, Falk D, Richtsmeier JT, Hildebolt CF, Smith K, Jungers W. A Critical Evaluation of the Down Syndrome Diagnosis for LB1, Type Specimen of Homo floresiensis. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0155731. [PMID: 27275928 PMCID: PMC4898715 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The Liang Bua hominins from Flores, Indonesia, have been the subject of intense scrutiny and debate since their initial description and classification in 2004. These remains have been assigned to a new species, Homo floresiensis, with the partial skeleton LB1 as the type specimen. The Liang Bua hominins are notable for their short stature, small endocranial volume, and many features that appear phylogenetically primitive relative to modern humans, despite their late Pleistocene age. Recently, some workers suggested that the remains represent members of a small-bodied island population of modern Austro-Melanesian humans, with LB1 exhibiting clinical signs of Down syndrome. Many classic Down syndrome signs are soft tissue features that could not be assessed in skeletal remains. Moreover, a definitive diagnosis of Down syndrome can only be made by genetic analysis as the phenotypes associated with Down syndrome are variable. Most features that contribute to the Down syndrome phenotype are not restricted to Down syndrome but are seen in other chromosomal disorders and in the general population. Nevertheless, we re-evaluated the presence of those phenotypic features used to support this classification by comparing LB1 to samples of modern humans diagnosed with Down syndrome and euploid modern humans using comparative morphometric analyses. We present new data regarding neurocranial, brain, and symphyseal shape in Down syndrome, additional estimates of stature for LB1, and analyses of inter- and intralimb proportions. The presence of cranial sinuses is addressed using CT images of LB1. We found minimal congruence between the LB1 phenotype and clinical descriptions of Down syndrome. We present important differences between the phenotypes of LB1 and individuals with Down syndrome, and quantitative data that characterize LB1 as an outlier compared with Down syndrome and non-Down syndrome groups. Homo floresiensis remains a phenotypically unique, valid species with its roots in Plio-Pleistocene Homo taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Baab
- Department of Anatomy, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, 19555 N. 59th Avenue, Glendale, AZ, 85308, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Peter Brown
- Bioanthropology, School of Archaeology & Anthropology, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Dean Falk
- Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306–7772, United States of America
- School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM, 87505, United States of America
| | - Joan T. Richtsmeier
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States of America
| | - Charles F. Hildebolt
- Department of Radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 South Kingshighway, St. Louis, Missouri, 63110, United States of America
| | - Kirk Smith
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205, United States of America
| | - William Jungers
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794–8081, United States of America
- Association Vahatra, BP 3972, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
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Balzeau A, Charlier P. What do cranial bones of LB1 tell us about Homo floresiensis? J Hum Evol 2016; 93:12-24. [PMID: 27086053 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2014] [Revised: 11/04/2015] [Accepted: 12/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Cranial vault thickness (CVT) of Liang Bua 1, the specimen that is proposed to be the holotype of Homo floresiensis, has not yet been described in detail and compared with samples of fossil hominins, anatomically modern humans or microcephalic skulls. In addition, a complete description from a forensic and pathological point of view has not yet been carried out. It is important to evaluate scientifically if features related to CVT bring new information concerning the possible pathological status of LB1, and if it helps to recognize affinities with any hominin species and particularly if the specimen could belong to the species Homo sapiens. Medical examination of the skull based on a micro-CT examination clearly brings to light the presence of a sincipital T (a non-metrical variant of normal anatomy), a scar from an old frontal trauma without any evident functional consequence, and a severe bilateral hyperostosis frontalis interna that may have modified the anterior morphology of the endocranium of LB1. We also show that LB1 displays characteristics, related to the distribution of bone thickness and arrangements of cranial structures, that are plesiomorphic traits for hominins, at least for Homo erectus s.l. relative to Homo neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. All the microcephalic skulls analyzed here share the derived condition of anatomically modern H. sapiens. Cranial vault thickness does not help to clarify the definition of the species H. floresiensis but it also does not support an attribution of LB1 to H. sapiens. We conclude that there is no support for the attribution of LB1 to H. sapiens as there is no evidence of systemic pathology and because it does not have any of the apomorphic traits of our species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Balzeau
- Équipe de Paléontologie Humaine, UMR 7194 du CNRS, Département de Préhistoire, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium.
| | - Philippe Charlier
- Section of Medical and Forensic Anthropology, UFR of Health Sciences (UVSQ/Paris-Descartes University, AP-HP), Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France
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Wood B, K. Boyle E. Hominin taxic diversity: Fact or fantasy? AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 159:S37-78. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bernard Wood
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University; Washington DC 20052
| | - Eve K. Boyle
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University; Washington DC 20052
- Hominid Paleobiology Graduate Program, George Washington University; Washington DC 20052
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Schuna JM, Peterson CM, Thomas DM, Heo M, Hong S, Choi W, Heymsfield SB. Scaling of adult regional body mass and body composition as a whole to height: Relevance to body shape and body mass index. Am J Hum Biol 2014; 27:372-9. [PMID: 25381999 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.22653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2014] [Revised: 10/02/2014] [Accepted: 10/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Adult body mass (MB) empirically scales as height (Ht) squared (MB ∝ Ht(2) ), but does regional body mass and body composition as a whole also scale as Ht(2) ? This question is relevant to a wide range of biological topics, including interpretation of body mass index (BMI). METHODS Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to quantify regional body mass [head (MH), trunk, arms, and legs] and whole-body composition [fat, lean soft tissue (LST), and bone mineral content (BMC)] in non-Hispanic (NH) white, NH black, Mexican American, and Korean adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; n = 17,126) and Korean NHANES (n = 8,942). Regression models were developed to establish Ht scaling powers for each measured component with adjustments for age and adiposity. RESULTS Exploratory analyses revealed a consistent scaling pattern across men and women of the four population groups: regional mass powers, head (∼0.8-1) < arms and trunk (∼1.8-2.3) < legs (∼2.3-2.6); and body composition, LST (∼2.0-2.3) < BMC (∼2.1-2.4). Small sex and population differences in scaling powers were also observed. As body mass scaled uniformly across the eight sex and population groups as Ht(∼2) , tall and short subjects differed in body shape (e.g., MH/MB ∝ Ht(-∼1) ) and composition. CONCLUSIONS Adult human body shape and relative composition are a function of body size as represented by stature, a finding that reveals a previously unrecognized phenotypic heterogeneity as defined by BMI. These observations provide new pathways for exploring mechanisms governing the interrelations between adult stature, body morphology, biomechanics, and metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Schuna
- Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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Neubauer S. Endocasts: possibilities and limitations for the interpretation of human brain evolution. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2014; 84:117-34. [PMID: 25247826 DOI: 10.1159/000365276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Brains are not preserved in the fossil record but endocranial casts are. These are casts of the internal bony braincase, revealing approximate brain size and shape, and they are also informative about brain surface morphology. Endocasts are the only direct evidence of human brain evolution, but they provide only limited data ('paleoneurology'). This review discusses some new fossil endocasts and recent methodological advances that have allowed novel analyses of old endocasts, leading to intriguing findings and hypotheses. The interpretation of paleoneurological data always relies on comparative information from living species whose brains and behavior can be directly investigated. It is therefore important that future studies attempt to better integrate different approaches. Only then will we be able to gain a better understanding about hominin brain evolution. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Neubauer
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Henneberg M, Eckhardt RB, Chavanaves S, Hsü KJ. Evolved developmental homeostasis disturbed in LB1 from Flores, Indonesia, denotes Down syndrome and not diagnostic traits of the invalid species Homo floresiensis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:11967-72. [PMID: 25092311 PMCID: PMC4143021 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1407382111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human skeletons from Liang Bua Cave, Flores, Indonesia, are coeval with only Homo sapiens populations worldwide and no other previously known hominins. We report here for the first time to our knowledge the occipitofrontal circumference of specimen LB1. This datum makes it possible to link the 430-mL endocranial volume of LB1 reported by us previously, later confirmed independently by other investigators, not only with other human skeletal samples past and present but also with a large body of clinical data routinely collected on patients with developmental disorders. Our analyses show that the brain size of LB1 is in the range predicted for an individual with Down syndrome (DS) in a normal small-bodied population from the geographic region that includes Flores. Among additional diagnostic signs of DS and other skeletal dysplasiae are abnormally short femora combined with disproportionate flat feet. Liang Bua Cave femora, known only for LB1, match interlimb proportions for DS. Predictions based on corrected LB1 femur lengths show a stature normal for other H. sapiens populations in the region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maciej Henneberg
- School of Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
| | - Robert B Eckhardt
- Laboratory for the Study of Morphology, Mechanics and Molecules, Department of Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; and
| | - Sakdapong Chavanaves
- Laboratory for the Study of Morphology, Mechanics and Molecules, Department of Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; and
| | - Kenneth J Hsü
- Kenneth J. Hsü Center for Integrated Hydrological Circuits Development, National Institutes of Earth Sciences, Beijing 100871, China
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A Brief Overview of the Last 10 Years of Major Late Pleistocene Discoveries in the Old World: Homo floresiensis, Neanderthal, and Denisovan. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.1155/2014/581689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
In the last ten years, new fossil, archaeological, and genetic data have significantly altered our understanding of the peopling of the Old World in the Late Pleistocene. Scholars have long been challenged to define humanity’s place in evolution and to trace our phylogeny. Differences in the skeletal morphology of hominin fossils have often led to the naming of distinct new species, but recent genetic findings have challenged the traditional perspective by demonstrating that modern human DNA contains genes inherited from Neanderthals and Denisovans, thus questioning their status as separate species. The recent discovery of Homo floresiensis from Flores Island has also raised interesting queries about how much genetic and morphological diversity was present during the Late Pleistocene. This paper discusses the nature and implications of the evidence with respect to Homo floresiensis, Neanderthals, and Denisovans and briefly reviews major Late Pleistocene discoveries from the last ten years of research in the Old World and their significance to the study of human evolution.
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9
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Is LB1 diseased or modern? A review of the proposed pathologies. Gene 2013; 528:12-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2013] [Revised: 06/05/2013] [Accepted: 06/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Baab KL, McNulty KP, Harvati K. Homo floresiensis contextualized: a geometric morphometric comparative analysis of fossil and pathological human samples. PLoS One 2013; 8:e69119. [PMID: 23874886 PMCID: PMC3707875 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2013] [Accepted: 06/11/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The origin of hominins found on the remote Indonesian island of Flores remains highly contentious. These specimens may represent a new hominin species, Homo floresiensis, descended from a local population of Homo erectus or from an earlier (pre-H. erectus) migration of a small-bodied and small-brained hominin out of Africa. Alternatively, some workers suggest that some or all of the specimens recovered from Liang Bua are pathological members of a small-bodied modern human population. Pathological conditions proposed to explain their documented anatomical features include microcephaly, myxoedematous endemic hypothyroidism (“cretinism”) and Laron syndrome (primary growth hormone insensitivity). This study evaluates evolutionary and pathological hypotheses through comparative analysis of cranial morphology. Geometric morphometric analyses of landmark data show that the sole Flores cranium (LB1) is clearly distinct from healthy modern humans and from those exhibiting hypothyroidism and Laron syndrome. Modern human microcephalic specimens converge, to some extent, on crania of extinct species of Homo. However in the features that distinguish these two groups, LB1 consistently groups with fossil hominins and is most similar to H. erectus. Our study provides further support for recognizing the Flores hominins as a distinct species, H. floresiensis, whose affinities lie with archaic Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Baab
- Department of Anthropology and Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Kieran P. McNulty
- Evolutionary Anthropology Laboratory and Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America
| | - Katerina Harvati
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Kubo D, Kono RT, Kaifu Y. Brain size of Homo floresiensis and its evolutionary implications. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20130338. [PMID: 23595271 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The extremely small endocranial volume (ECV) of LB1, the type specimen of Homo floresiensis, poses a challenge in our understanding of human brain evolution. Some researchers hypothesize dramatic dwarfing of relative brain size from Homo erectus presumably without significant decrease in intellectual function, whereas others expect a lesser degree of brain diminution from a more primitive, small-brained form of hominin currently undocumented in eastern Asia. However, inconsistency in the published ECVs for LB1 (380-430 cc), unclear human intraspecific brain-body size scaling and other uncertainties have hampered elaborative modelling of its brain size reduction. In this study, we accurately determine the ECV of LB1 using high-resolution micro-CT scan. The ECV of LB1 thus measured, 426 cc, is larger than the commonly cited figure in previous studies (400 cc). Coupled with brain-body size correlation in Homo sapiens calculated based on a sample from 20 worldwide modern human populations, we construct new models of the brain size reduction in the evolution of H. floresiensis. The results show a more significant contribution of scaling effect than previously claimed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daisuke Kubo
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
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Vannucci RC, Barron TF, Holloway RL. Frontal Brain Expansion During Development Using MRI and Endocasts: Relation to Microcephaly andHomo floresiensis. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2013; 296:630-7. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.22663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2011] [Accepted: 06/11/2012] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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More on the Liang Bua finds and modern human cretins. HOMO-JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE HUMAN BIOLOGY 2012; 63:407-12. [PMID: 23107933 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2012.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2012] [Accepted: 09/26/2012] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Brown (2012: LB1 and LB6 Homo floresiensis are not modern human (Homo sapiens) cretins, Journal of Human Evolution) makes errors of fact, omission and interpretation. Brown's comments refer, among others, to (1) delayed growth and development indicated by unfused epiphyses, (2) postcranial limb proportions: limbs to trunk, between limbs, and within limbs, (3) postcranial bone torsions and angles, (4) postcranial robusticity, real and apparent, (5) skull features, and (6) cretinism on Flores. In each of these areas, much information about cretins is incorrect and much information (Oxnard et al., 2010) comparing the Liang Bua remains with cretins is ignored.
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Nieman BJ, Blank MC, Roman BB, Henkelman RM, Millen KJ. If the skull fits: magnetic resonance imaging and microcomputed tomography for combined analysis of brain and skull phenotypes in the mouse. Physiol Genomics 2012; 44:992-1002. [PMID: 22947655 DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00093.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The mammalian brain and skull develop concurrently in a coordinated manner, consistently producing a brain and skull that fit tightly together. It is common that abnormalities in one are associated with related abnormalities in the other. However, this is not always the case. A complete characterization of the relationship between brain and skull phenotypes is necessary to understand the mechanisms that cause them to be coordinated or divergent and to provide perspective on the potential diagnostic or prognostic significance of brain and skull phenotypes. We demonstrate the combined use of magnetic resonance imaging and microcomputed tomography for analysis of brain and skull phenotypes in the mouse. Co-registration of brain and skull images allows comparison of the relationship between phenotypes in the brain and those in the skull. We observe a close fit between the brain and skull of two genetic mouse models that both show abnormal brain and skull phenotypes. Application of these three-dimensional image analyses in a broader range of mouse mutants will provide a map of the relationships between brain and skull phenotypes generally and allow characterization of patterns of similarities and differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian J Nieman
- Mouse Imaging Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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Brown P. LB1 and LB6 Homo floresiensis are not modern human (Homo sapiens) cretins. J Hum Evol 2012; 62:201-24. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2011] [Revised: 10/09/2011] [Accepted: 10/12/2011] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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Yao L, Brown JP, Stampanoni M, Marone F, Isler K, Martin RD. Evolutionary Change in the Brain Size of Bats. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2012; 80:15-25. [DOI: 10.1159/000338324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2011] [Accepted: 03/22/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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17
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'Hobbit' just a deformed human? Nature 2011. [DOI: 10.1038/news.2011.466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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