Comparison of the Development Patterns of Homo Sapiens & Neanderthals

Part 3

The article titled “Reconstructing how Neanderthals grew, based on an El Sidrón child” explores the similarities and differences between the development patterns of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. The text relies on a scientific article that was devoted to an examination of a Neanderthal child skeleton found in modern-day Spain. It is pointed out that the brain of Neanderthals was bigger which required more energy. As a result, this changed the patterns of development: the skeleton suggests that the child developed similarly to a Homo sapiens child, except for several aspects. First, the thorax area was underdeveloped (it matches a five-year-old child whereas the Neanderthal in question was about eight). Secondly, the brain was developed only 87.5% whereas a modern child would have one’s brain fully developed by that time. It is speculated that the differences in development reflect the differences in brain size.

The article titled “Brief Communication: Size and Placement of Developing Anterior Teeth in Immature Neanderthal Mandibles From Dederiyeh Cave, Syria: Implications for Emergence of the Modern Human Chin” by Fukase, Kondo, and Ishida explores the role that anterior teeth plain in the evolution and particularly the development of the brain. Two skeletons from Syria were compared to similarly-aged modern humans and chimpanzees. It was found that the mandibles of the two skeletons are significantly bigger than those of the modern humans, yet smaller than those of the chimpanzees. The authors believe that this allows one to place the Neanderthals in between modern humans and chimpanzees in terms of evolutionary development. It is hypothesized that smaller anterior teeth resulted in changes in mandibular space which contributes to the further development of chine, mental trigon, and fossa. All this enabled the development of the brain comparable in size of the modern humans.

The scientific article in question address several issues of biological anthropology. First of all, it explores the differences between Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals in terms of body formation. It successfully shows that though there was a common ancestor, the differences in certain aspects of the body were significant. As a result, the representatives of the two branches of the evolutionary trees developed similarly to a certain extent, yet some significant differences were also present. This is important since it provides a proper understanding of the place of the Neanderthals in relation to the modern humans. Secondly, the article explores the role of brain size in the evolution. It is pointed out that the skull of Neanderthals is somewhat different from the modern humans, yet it is also different from the chimpanzees. The hypothesis of the article was formulated as follows: “the appearance of chin-associated features, particularly of the mental trigone and fossa, can be accounted for partly by developmental relationships between the sizes of the available mandibular space and anterior teeth” (Fukase, Kondo & Ishida, 2014, p. 482).

When it comes to the primary findings of the article, one might mention several. First of all, it shows that Neanderthals has anterior teeth significantly bigger than those of the modern humans, yet smaller than those of chimpanzees which places them in the middle. Furthermore, it is suggested that smaller anterior teeth resulted in the changes in the mandible which contributed to the further formation of chin features. The most important ones are mental trigon and fossa. The latter is thought to have contributed to the development of the brain so that it can be used similarly to the modern humans, particularly in terms of speech. The findings of the article show that the change in the size of the brain as well as the change in the patterns of its formation could have been triggered by the changes in the size of anterior teeth which resulted in the changes in the mandible that affected the entire skull.

The overall conclusion of the article focuses on the idea that bigger brain of Neanderthals required more energy for the development. That is why this hindered the development of some parts of the body, particularly thorax and vertebral column. Furthermore, it is suggested that the smaller size of the anterior teeth is positively correlated with the further development of the mandible and decrease in the size of the brain. This required less energy and allowed other parts of the body to be developed more effectively. The decreased size of the brain is also positively correlated with the development of certain functions of it such as speech. All these conclusions are supported by the research that was performed by the authors.

Some might suggest that the research at hand might lead to new questions that future studies in biological anthropology will be expected to answer. For example, it is important to understand the exact mechanism of how the changes in the mandible resulted in the changes of the skull that contributed to the reduction of brain size. The authors speculate that smaller anterior teeth freed up some space in the mandible which made it possible for the mental trigone and fossa to be developed more. So, it is quite possible that these new chin features could develop properly at the cost of the size of the anterior teeth. In addition to that, the future studies in biological anthropology should take a close look at the exact reason why a smaller brain allowed the modern humans to use it more effectively than their ancestors. This might be related to the amount of energy needed for its development.

Part 4

The popular media article reflected the scientific research article quite accurately. First of all, it provides the correct citation of the original article which allows the audience to compare the content of the article with the text of the researchers. Secondly, it repeats the findings of the original article faithfully by following the structure of it and the logic of the argument. This way the audience will not be lost, but will be able to follow the path of the researchers when they were exploring the topic. Since the media article is aimed at a wider audience, it provides a broader perspective on the issue, explaining some of the terms as well as the context in which the research was carried out. However, these additions do not dilute the original message and the help to contribute it faithfully.

It is worth mentioning that all information that is mentioned in the media article is correct. On the one hand, it repeats the information that was taken from a scientific article which was printed in a peer-reviewed journal. This means that by default the information that is repeated will reflect the issues under investigation correctly. On the other hand, the authors tried to maintain the objectivity of the article; that is why they did not write anything that was biased or could be objected by the rest of the academic world. As a result, though the article does not make any groundbreaking assertions that expect the audience to change their view of the topic completely, it features only that information that is verified and can be trusted. All this leads to the understanding that the content of the article is not misleading in any way and that it contributes to the formation of the proper perspective on the issue.

Nevertheless, if I were to present the findings of a scientific research to the general public, I would do it somewhat differently. To begin with, I would have established the context of the investigation and explain why the issued presented are important for the scientific world. It is rather obvious that the audience might understand the need to look into the early stages of the evolution tree; however, the reason why the peculiarities of the development of the Neanderthals should be highlighted may be vague to some people. As a result, the audience will not be able to understand the reason why this investigation has been performed in the first place, let alone the appreciation of the findings of the scientific article. It is obvious that many professionals would consider this information to be redundant. However, it will help the general public to understand the situation better.

In addition to that, I would also include more pictures in the article. It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that people might find it easier to understand the complex information if it has been presented visually. That is why the use of the pictures would help the audience clarify some problems that it might have experienced while reading the article. It is rather obvious that not every scientific term or assertion should be represented visually. However, the key ideas, as well as the logic behind the exploration, may be presented as pictures so that people would be able to follow it. One would make no mistake arguing that the professionals would be against the inclusion of pictures into the text, but one should keep in mind that the article will be read by people with the different amount of knowledge in the area. That is why they will benefit all kinds of explanation.

References

Fukase, H., Kondo, O., & Ishida, H. (2015). Size and placement of developing anterior teeth in immature Neanderthal mandibles from Dederiyeh Cave, Syria: Implications for emergence of the modern human chin. American journal of physical anthropology, 156(3), 482-488.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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