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This can be visualized with current data on hominin evolution, starting with Australopithecus, a group of hominins from which humans are likely descended. [51] After all of the data, all observations concluded that the main development that occurred during evolution was the increase of brain size. [52]
From about 5 million years ago, the hominin brain began to develop rapidly in both size and differentiation of function. There has been a gradual increase in brain volume as humans progressed along the timeline of evolution (see Homininae ), starting from about 600 cm 3 in Homo habilis up to 1500 cm 3 in Homo neanderthalensis .
[142] [143] [144] [53] Fossilized skulls shows the brain size in early humans fell within the range of modern humans 300,000 years ago, but only got its present-day brain shape between 100,000 and 35,000 years ago. [145] The size and shape of the skull changed over time. The leftmost, and largest, is a replica of a modern human skull.
The size of the brain is a frequent topic of study within the fields of anatomy, biological anthropology, animal science and evolution.Measuring brain size and cranial capacity is relevant both to humans and other animals, and can be done by weight or volume via MRI scans, by skull volume, or by neuroimaging intelligence testing.
The expensive tissue hypothesis (ETH) relates brain and gut size in evolution (specifically in human evolution).It suggests that in order for an organism to evolve a large brain without a significant increase in basal metabolic rate (as seen in humans), the organism must use less energy on other expensive tissues; the paper introducing the ETH suggests that in humans, this was achieved by ...
The brains of most species of Australopithecus were roughly 35% of the size of a modern human brain [40] with an endocranial volume average of 466 cc (28.4 cu in). [13]
The concept of encephalization has been a key evolutionary trend throughout human evolution, and consequently an important area of study. Over the course of hominin evolution, brain size has seen an overall increase from 400 cm 3 to 1400 cm 3. [52] Furthermore, the genus Homo is specifically defined by a significant increase in brain size. [53]
A. ramidus had a small brain, measuring between 300 and 350 cm 3. This is about the same size as the modern bonobo and female chimpanzee brain; it is somewhat smaller than the brain of australopithecines like Lucy (400 to 550 cm 3) and slightly over a fifth the size of the modern Homo sapiens brain.