Neanderthal Brains Grew Larger With Greater Carbohydrate Consumption
Roughly a million years ago, Neanderthal brains doubled in size in about 200,000 years, which is a paltry number in evolutionary terms. For long, brain evolution has been credited to the increasingly sophisticated uses of stone tools. Bigger brains gave Neanderthals new advantages in game hunting, and foraging. These factors have long been known as the main reasons for bigger Neanderthal brains but the latest study on this subject has highlighted another factor in this change in brain size: carbohydrate consumption.
A new study published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which studied the oral microbiomes and bacteria from the teeth of Neanderthals and modern humans (prior to the Agricultural Revolution 10,000 years ago), sheds new light on why Neanderthal brains grew in size. The researchers found that starchy and carbohydrate-rich foods, consumed so often that it altered the
Four weeks ago the German broadcaster DW published a new documentary about Neanderthals. So far it has over 1.9 million views on
YouTube. It reviews what has been discovered about how these early humans lived for over nearly 300,000 years, from previous glaciation, through the interglaciation period before the present one, and into the last glaciation period before now. Before the final peak of the last glaciation period, about 30,000 years ago, Neanderthals disappeared, it is believed because of the advent of homo sapiens overrunning their territories.
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