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Cooperative care as a candidate mechanism linking prolonged childhood and brain expansion in human evolution

2026-04-23

Abstract excerpt

<p>Two traits distinguish modern humans from all other primates: an exceptionally large brain and an exceptionally prolonged childhood. What mechanism produced this combination, and why are the two traits dissociated in other hominins? Standard models predict that brain size and developmental duration should co-vary tightly, yet the fossil record reveals that they do not: small-brained hominins at Dikika, Dmanisi,...

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Literature Corpus work
c97e257c-e009-5bfc-b68d-03ed18637c41
DOI
10.31234/osf.io/mr4sp_v1
Open publication

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Cooperative care as a candidate mechanism linking prolonged childhood and brain expansion in human evolutionDOI 10.31234/osf.io/mr4sp_v1
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