Background Until recently, the evolution of the genus Homo has been interpreted in the
context of the onset of African aridity and the expansion of open grasslands. Homo erectus …

Non-invasive mapping of brain structure and function with magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) has opened up unprecedented opportunities for studying the neural substrates …

The high energetic costs of human brain development have been hypothesized to explain
distinctive human traits, including exceptionally slow and protracted preadult growth …

Humans are a striking anomaly in the natural world. While we are similar to other mammals
in many ways, our behavior sets us apart. Our unparalleled ability to adapt has allowed us to …

The groundbreaking theory of how fire and food drove the evolution of modern humans Ever
since Darwin and The Descent of Man, the evolution and world-wide dispersal of humans …

Sexual and asexual reproduction are found throughout the plant and animal kingdoms.
Asexual reproduction has its advantages, chief among which is that it does not require the …

The human brain stands out among mammals by being unusually large. The expensive-
tissue hypothesis explains its evolution by proposing a trade-off between the size of the …

Life history theory seeks to explain the evolution of the major features of life cycles by
analyzing the ecological factors that shape age-specific schedules of growth, reproduction …

Music is possessed by all human cultures, and archaeological evidence for musical
activities pre-dates even the earliest known cave art. Music has been the subject of keen …

Great apes, our closest living relatives, live longer and mature later than most other
mammals and modern humans are even later‐maturing and potentially longer‐lived …