Hominid brain evolution: two conceptions of science

Anthropol Anz. 1991 Dec;49(4):289-302.

Abstract

This paper re-examines the repeatedly-offered hypothesis (Fialkowski 1978, 1986, 1987, 1988) that hominid brain expansion was largely a side effect of evolutionary response to increased heat stress under conditions of primitive hunting, and resulted in a preadaptation to enhanced cognitive abilities. Fialkowski's hypothesis, previously shown to be based on data that are seriously inaccurate, continues to be presented in a manner that precludes testing. Consequently, however interesting these ideas may be, they are beyond the conventional domain of anthropology as a legitimate subdiscipline of modern science.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Biological*
  • Animals
  • Biological Evolution*
  • Brain / anatomy & histology*
  • Brain / growth & development
  • Hominidae / anatomy & histology*
  • Hominidae / growth & development
  • Humans