Palaeontology
Did large eyes lead to Neanderthals' demise ?
By
T.K. RandallMarch 14, 2013 ·
54 comments
Image Credit: Ryan Somma
A new study of Neanderthal skulls has suggested that their large eyes may have been their downfall.
The reason Neanderthals disappeared is a topic that has been debated for years with new theories and explanations springing up on a regular basis. Scientists now believe that one of the main contributing factors to their extinction could have been the fact that they had larger eyes than modern humans, a trait that meant more of their brain power was devoted to seeing at the expense of higher processing.
"Since Neanderthals evolved at higher latitudes, more of the Neanderthal brain would have been dedicated to vision and body control, leaving less brain to deal with other functions like social networking," said Eiluned Pearce of Oxford University.
A study of Neanderthal skulls suggests that they became extinct because they had larger eyes than our species. As a result, more of their brains were devoted to seeing in the long, dark nights in Europe, at the expense of high-level processing.
Source:
BBC News |
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