Wide pelvises of ancient humans allowed bigger brains

By William Atkins
Monday, 01 December 2008 20:20

Science - Biology

U.S.-led research study finds that our large brains were allowed to evolve because over one million years ago the hips of female Homo erectus became wider to allow the fetus’ head to slide through the birth canal during childbirth.


Scott W. Simpson, of the Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, led the research study of fossils found of Homo erectus in Gona, Ethiopia.

Dr. Simpson stated, “Brain size is driving the whole system here…. The most successful individuals in these populations will have positive selection for [big] brains and large pelvises.” [New Scientist: “Big hips, big brain” (November 22-28, 2008, page 17)

The research team was comprised of Simpson, along with Jay Quade, Naomi E. Levin, Robert Butler, Guillaume Dupont-Nivet, Melanie Everett, and Sileshi Semaw.

The title of their paper, published in the journal Science, is entitled “A Female Homo erectus Pelvis from Gona, Ethiopia.”

Their paper states that they discovered a nearly complete “early Pleistsocene adult female H. erectus pelvis from the Busidima Formation of Gona, Afar, Ethiopia.”

Homo erectus (H. erectus) is an extinct species of the genus Homo, an ancestor of modern humans (Homo sapiens).

Please read page two for more on hips, brains, and humans.