Autor: |
Zollikofer Christoph P.E., Ponce de León M. S. |
Rok vydání: |
2015 |
Popis: |
Compared to present day humans Neanderthals are typically characterized as having followed a fast track life history. Most data supporting this view come from comparative studies on dental maturation. The reconstruction of Neanderthal brain growth trajectories however yields opposing evidence. Growing larger than modern brains incurs higher metabolic costs a substantial proportion of which has to be covered by larger slower maturing mothers. Here we investigate how the contradicting life history implications from Neanderthal teeth and brains can be reconciled in the light of new empirical evidence on metabolic costs of brain growth and on daily energy expenditure. Data on fossil endocranial volume increase can now be converted with fair reliability into rates of metabolic energy throughput. Also data on dental maturation can tentatively be expressed in terms of metabolic energy equivalents. This metabolic approach permits to explore how evolutionary changes in brain and dentognathic development influence infant maternal and allomaternal energy flows and life history parameters of Neanderthals and present day humans. Our analyses suggest that hominin life history evolution has more degrees of freedom than suggested by the slow fast paradigm. Accordingly the conflicting evidence regarding the pace of Neanderthal life history pinpoints flaws in hominin life history theory. |
Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
Externí odkaz: |
|