Charles Darwin attributed human evolutionary success to three traits. Our social habits and
anatomy were important, he said, but the critical feature was our intelligence, because it led …

The life history of Homo sapiens is characterized by a lengthy period of juvenile
dependence that requires extensive allocare, short interbirth intervals with concomitantly …

The characterization of Neandertals' diets has mostly relied on nitrogen isotope analyses of
bone and tooth collagen. However, few nitrogen isotope data have been recovered from …

Social mammals have three basic stages of postnatal development: infant, juvenile, and
adult. Some species also have a brief female post‐reproductive stage. The human life cycle …

Processing food extensively by thermal and nonthermal techniques is a unique and
universal human practice. Food processing increases palatability and edibility and has been …

Besides Homo erectus (sensu lato), the eastern African fossil record of early Homo has been
interpreted as representing either a single variable species, Homo habilis 1, or two species …

Discovery of the first complete Early Pleistocene hominin pelvis, Gona BSN49/P27,
attributed to Homo erectus, raises a number of issues regarding early hominin body size and …

A high level of encephalization is critical to the human adaptive niche and emerged among
hominins over the course of the past 2 Myr. Evolving larger brains required important …

Models for the origin of the genus Homo propose that increased quality of diet led to
changes in ranging ecology and selection for greater locomotor economy, speed, and …

Ontogenetic studies help us understand the processes of evolutionary change. Previous
studies on Neandertals have focused mainly on dental development and inferred an …