Human brains may have become exceptionally large for no particular evolutionary advantage, scientists now suggest
Recent research challenges the idea that natural selection favored larger human brains. Scientists analyzed fossil skulls and found neutral evolution best explains brain size changes. This suggests processes other than natural selection drove brain growth over time. Large brains are biologically expensive and may not have always provided a survival advantage. Human evolution is complex and not always a linear march toward bigger brains.
Recent research challenges the idea that natural selection favored larger human brains. Scientists analyzed fossil skulls and found neutral evolution best explains brain size changes. This suggests processes other than natural selection drove brain growth over time. Large brains are biologically expensive and may not have always provided a survival advantage. Human evolution is complex and not always a linear march toward bigger brains.
