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Evolution & Behaviour

showing 146-150 of 160 breaks

Homo floresiensis – little species, big mystery

A new kind of human, Homo floresiensis was a surprise discovery in 2003 by an Australian-Indonesian archaeological team who were trying to find the origins of the first Australians. Their focus was Liang Bua cave, on the island of Flores, Indonesia. Instead of finding modern... click to read more

  • Debbie Argue | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Views 6346
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Sep 5, 2017
Food for thought: recipe for bigger brains

There are hundreds of species of primates spread all across the globe that vary greatly in both brain size and intelligence. At the extremes, the great apes (our closest living relatives) have brains that are slightly larger than those of newborn humans, while mouse lemurs... click to read more

  • Alexandra R DeCasien | PhD student at Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, USA
Views 4981
Reading time 4 min
published on Sep 4, 2017
How environment shapes…your nose

An important function of the human nose is to warm and humidify the air that we breathe in. This is important so as to prevent the inner respiratory tract from drying up, which can lead to infections. Because the shape of the nose and the... click to read more

  • Arslan Zaidi | PhD student at Department of Anthropology, PennState College of the Liberal Arts, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
  • Mark Shriver | Professor at Department of Anthropology, PennState College of the Liberal Arts, The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Views 6102
Reading time 3.5 min
published on Aug 29, 2017
The mutation that allowed our brain to grow

During human evolution, one of the most remarkable events was the expansion of the upper layer of the brain: the so-called neocortex. This event took place about 2 million years ago and allowed us to develop the cognitive abilities that characterize modern day humans. In... click to read more

  • Reinier Prosee | PhD student at Department of Molecular Biology, Section of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Views 6338
Reading time 4 min
published on Aug 24, 2017
Howler monkeys: living a life in colour helps finding better food

In terms of their ability to see colours, primates are unique compared to other mammals. Many primates have trichromatic colour vision and can see differences among red, orange, yellow, and green hues. What is particularly fascinating, however, is how much variation there is among primates... click to read more

  • Amanda D. Melin | Professor at Department of Anthropology and Archaeology & Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute University of Calgary, AB, Canada
Views 8353
Reading time 4 min
published on Jul 3, 2017