Brain structure and function in Homo naledi
Zachary Cofran, Shawn Hurst, John Hawks · 2026
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Description
Zachary Cofran, Shawn Hurst, and John Hawks published a journal article in 2026 on the brain of Homo naledi, a small-brained extinct human relative. They reviewed casts made from the inside of fossil skulls, which preserve the brain's outer shape. Such casts show what ancient brains can and cannot reveal.
Rebuilding the most complete cast and comparing it with modern and fossil humans confirmed a mixed pattern. The front part of the naledi brain looked modern in form, while size and other proportions stayed ancestral, meaning like earlier species. The authors place these findings beside claims that the species buried its dead over 230,000 years ago. They also discuss limits on reading behavior from shape alone.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zachary Cofran, Shawn Hurst, John Hawks |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 54516 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |