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UT Austin Anthropologists Confirm Link Between Cranial Anatomy and Two-Legged Walking

By Guest PostOctober 3, 2013Scienceafrican apes, anatomist raymond dart, anthropology researcher, austin, australopithecus africanus, bipedal, bipedal fossil species, bipedal mammals, bipedal postures, brain size, characteristic, chimpanzees, chris kirk, difference, direct link, eastern gray kangaroo, egyptian jerboa, foramen magnum, four legged postures, gabrielle russo, human ancestor, human evolution, sahelanthropus tchadensis, skull, spinal cord, university of texas

AUSTIN, Texas — Anthropology researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have confirmed a direct link between upright two-legged (bipedal) walking and the position of the foramen magnum, a hole in the base of the skull that transmits the spinal cord.

The study, published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Human Evolution, confirms a controversial finding made by anatomist Raymond Dart, who discovered the first known two-legged walking (bipedal) human ancestor, Australopithecus africanus. Since Dart’s discovery in 1925, physical anthropologists have continued to debate whether this feature of the cranial base can serve as a direct link to bipedal fossil species. (more…)

International Team Uncovers New Genes That Shape Brain Size, Intelligence

By Guest PostApril 16, 2012Scienceadenine, alzheimer's disease, arthur toga, australia, bad gene, barbara franke, bigger brain, bipolar disorder, brain size, brain study, centers, cytosine, dementia, depression, derrek hibar, disorder, DNA, Europe, gene, genetic variant, geneticist, guanine, hmga2, human gene, intelligence, iq test, jason stein, margaret wright, memory, mental illnesses, neda jahanshad, nick martin, North America, paul thompson, project enigma, rita cantor, rudy senstad, schizophrenia, thymine

*UCLA-launched partnership identifies genes that boost or lessen risk of brain atrophy, mental illness, Alzheimer’s disease*

In the world’s largest brain study to date, a team of more than 200 scientists from 100 institutions worldwide collaborated to map the human genes that boost or sabotage the brain’s resistance to a variety of mental illnesses and Alzheimer’s disease.

Published April 15 in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, the study also uncovers new genes that may explain individual differences in brain size and intelligence. (more…)

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UT Austin Anthropologists Confirm Link Between Cranial Anatomy and Two-Legged Walking

International Team Uncovers New Genes That Shape Brain Size, Intelligence