HENRY - The human evolution news relay
Entries written in August 2007
Written August 29, 2007 in anthropology, chimpanzees, evolution, genetics, human prehistory, neuroscience, non-human, ook!, orangutans, primates
David Premack reviews the differences between animal and human cognition in “Human and animal cognition: Continuity and discontinuity” (doi). Abstract only:
Microscopic study of the human brain has revealed neural structures, enhanced wiring, and forms of connectivity among nerve cells not found in any animal, challenging the view that the human brain is simply an enlarged [...]
Out of body experiences have long been a staple of books about alien abductions and things like The X-Files, and they’ve also been reported after certain types of neurotrauma including seizures and drug abuse. Two research groups are reporting today in Science that these can be experimentally induced, by the use of virtual reality helmets. [...]
Shultz and Dunbar in today’s Current Biology Proceedings of the Royal Society:
The social brain hypothesis argues that large brains have arisen over evolutionary time as a response to the social and ecological conflicts inherent in group living. We test predictions arising from the hypothesis using comparative data from birds and four mammalian orders (Carnivora, Artiodactyla, [...]
Everyone thinks that chimpanzees and other primates are good candidates for finding complex cognitive capabilities in non-human animals. Unfortunately, they’re just not that smart, really. Sure, they can use sticks to fish termites out of holes, however, there’s another animal which can go a bit further.
The New Caledonian Crow (Corvus moneduloides) is known to manufacture [...]
Quote of the day:
Debating with creationists is like playing chess with a pigeon, no
matter how well you set up the rules the creationist will fly in knock
over all the pieces, cluck a great deal, crap all over the board, and
fly off claiming victory.
Keith Sader over on Pharyngula
Written August 15, 2007 in anthropology, cultural evolution, humor, language, linguistics, misc
My new favorite website - “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth - the great internet swear word project“. Go vote for your favorite swear word. This is totally not-safe-for-work, but very educational (what the hell is a “twatbadger”?)
Written August 14, 2007 in Evolutionary Psychology, anthropology, evolution, genetics, human prehistory, psychology, sexual selection
Weston et al in PLoS One show that sexual selection has shaped the Hominin face (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000710):
We consider sex differences in human facial morphology in the context of developmental change. We show that at puberty, the height of the upper face, between the lip and the brow, develops differently in males and females, and that these [...]
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