Bone sizes trace the decline of man (and woman)
Gibbons, A.
Science 276(5314): 896-897
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 9163034 Document Number: 473986
In the May 8 Nature, Christopher Ruff, a biological anthropologist at Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues report that humans' brain and body size has decreased by around 10 percent on average over the last 50,000 years. The researchers studied the bones of 163 early members of Homo who lived between 2 million and 10,000 years ago. Although anthropologists have long believed that Neanderthals were brawnier than today's humans, the new study indicates that the same was true of modern humans' direct ancestors. The authors speculate that the diminution in brain and body size may be due to the fact that changes in technology and lifestyle have made muscular bodies unnecessary.