Thick Skull a Survival Trait

Waffle Iron writes "This article at cnn.com reports: 'Scientists say the bulky craniums of the human ancestor, homo erectus, may have helped the species survive some aggressive mating rituals. After studying fossils in a region called Dragon Bone Hill in China, anthropologist Russell Ciochon of the University of Iowa concluded males of the species were clubbing one another over the head, probably to win females.' However, the geekier cavemen may have won out at the end. The article goes on to say: '...evolution eventually favored a lighter skull to accommodate a heavier and larger brain'."

Comments

Me.. No smart?

[E1ven]

Me.. have big skull... Thicker than most friends... This.. Mean me no smart?
Years learning UNIX wasted. Me sad....
Is.. Causal relationship between big skull and dumb man found?

Me tell my college friends who crush beer cans on they head that they are evolving themselves.

I guess I go post a grits now...

Damn

[BoomerSooner]

I thought that was a picture of my dead grandfather for a minute. I guess all italians look like monkey's as they get older!

Article in The Observer

[FePe]

Compare the article with this article, "Big heads really are smarter".

It seems like the smartest people in the world has a large head and wears glasses.

Coworkers

[schnits0r]

So that means my coworkers have a higher survival rate?

Someone had to say it, It might as well have been me.

Re:TNG

[PD]

the human ancestor, homo erectus

Ron Jeremy came to mind, actually.

Simpsons pot game

[Bowling Moses]

My roommate and I have thrown several parties for friends of ours who finally got their PhD's. There's more concentrated drunken nerdliness at these things than probably is legal, and at several of them the pot game (from the Simpsons) happens. Two grad students or newly-minted PhD's grab pots from our kitchen and bash heads. So far only one real injury: a cracked but not broken nose (the pots escape undamaged). So if the thicker skull of H. erectus was due to ritualized violence does that mean that the street preacher who came to campus last month was right when he called us a bunch of degenerates?

Re:Simpsons pot game

[TomorrowPlusX]

So if the thicker skull of H. erectus was due to ritualized violence does that mean that the street preacher who came to campus last month was right when he called us a bunch of degenerates?

Yes, but that would require him to accept... gasp... evolution.

The dirtiest word of all!

*Tnok* *Squee!*

[NanoGator]

"Scientists say the bulky craniums of the human ancestor, homo erectus, may have helped the species survive some aggressive mating ritual"

So we Slashdotters all have thin skulls because... oh man, I've been burned by Darwin!

Re:*Tnok* *Squee!*

[metlin]

I know this is intended to be funny, but it makes me wonder.

Are we at a state where social skills are more important than intellectual skills? Often, the more intelligent ones are the ones with really poor social skills.

Just think about it - the Slashdot crowd is largely the cream (or atleast a significant part) of the intellectual populace.

And if this is the case, the *intelligent* ones are actually being beaten by the less capable ones. The more intellectual ones are the ones who are single.

And these are the ones who are capable of changing the world, who are capable of doing radical things, who can think outside the box. However, these very people are socially so inept.

Does this not fly in the face of Darwinism? Just wondering, as someone who had a bad breakup the day before Valentine's day :)

Re:*Tnok* *Squee!*

[NanoGator]

"Are we at a state where social skills are more important than intellectual skills? Often, the more intelligent ones are the ones with really poor social skills."

This may be true at the age of 20, but how about 40? I had a terrible time in high school, but now I'm in my mid-20's, and I'm not having anywhere near the problems with women that I used to. I think when women reach a certain phase in their lives, it's less about looks and more about "Can I stand this guy?"

"And if this is the case, the *intelligent* ones are actually being beaten by the less capable ones. The more intellectual ones are the ones who are single."

Not to rehash what I said before, but I really think this situation only really occurs in the younger age brackets. I have a tough time imagining that when most of the people that frequent here reach 40, they're not married or at least have a very significant relationship.

"Does this not fly in the face of Darwinism? Just wondering, as someone who had a bad breakup the day before Valentine's day :)"

Not if smart people use condoms. ;) Seriously, though, one would probably find that 'geeks' are fewer in number than jocks. If women don't find geekier types as attractive, then yeah there'll be fewer babies born to these folks. Does this fly in the face of what I just said? No, I don't think so. Farther down the line, people get more responsible. A 30 year old is less likely to become pregnant 'accidentally' than a 20 year old. But at the young age, you get caught up in hormones, find an attractive mate and...

On a side note, diversity is more important than brains. Would it be so bad if genetics made us a little less smart and a little more physical? Having brains is probably nice, but it sure makes opening pickle jobs needlessly difficult.

Re:*Tnok* *Squee!*

[fbform]

And these are the ones who are capable of changing the world, who are capable of doing radical things, who can think outside the box. However, these very people are socially so inept

I contemplated your post for a day before deciding to respond. I've had this idea for a while now that individual humans are not the functional unit anymore. It's become society vs society. As long as the individual is contributing to society in some way, he/she is accepted. Geeks and Nerds contribute directly through innovation. Less capable people contribute indirectly through their offspring, on the chance that some of them may in turn become Geeks or Nerds.

Think of a colony of ants. There is only one "queen" whose sole task is to lay eggs. Nobody else is capable of reproduction, but the workers keep the colony alive. Thus individuals die out without reproducing but the colony survives. Of course ants are an extreme example with only one reproducer per colony. Make that a few reproducers per society and pit societies against each other. You've now got humans in the present day.

Maybe that's why it hardly raises eyebrows these days when someone decides not to have kids. In my grandparents' time, it was considered unthinkable (evil, deviant, freakish...). Think of it in a slightly different light, and you now get the reason why homosexuality is considered perfectly normal. The fitness function has become "what do you contribute to society", not "what do you do to ensure the survival of your genes".

Ob Simpsons

[xleeko]

We know the true name of this condition ...

Dr Hibbert: You have an absolutely unique genetic condition known as "Homer
Simpson syndrome".
Homer: [moaning] Oh, why me?

Dr Hibbert: Why, I could wallop you all day with this surgical two-by-four
without ever knocking you down.

--From "The Homer They Fall"

Skull features

[pajamacore]

The article fails to go into depth concerning any of Homo erectus' actual skull features which might have lessened trauma in a conflict.

H. erectus skullcaps are pachyostic, meaning to possess an increase in size, density, or mineral content. There is a thickening along the midline of the skull that resembles a boat's keel. Thusly, it is referred to as "sagittal keeling". Also, there is a projecting brow ridge with which most people are familiar and bony thickenings on the sides and rear of the cranium.

If a heavy blow were to hit a modern human on the top of his or her head, the bone would cave in. Hematoma, coma, and death are likely results of this. The thicker bone of erectoids is less likely to fracture on impact.

Anyone who's been in a fight though, will tell you that you're probably going to deliver blows at eye-level. The thick ring of bone starting above the eye sockets and continuing around the skull help protect against trauma to the head. For one, your eye sockets are protected because of the brow ridge. Secondly, you have thick bones above your temples and ears to protect the sinuses that conduct blood into the internal jugular vein. The ridge on the rear of the skull protects sinuses carrying blood to the cerebullum and occipital lobe of the brain.

The roofs of H. erectus eye sockets are flat and horizontal and any blow to them would be transmitted to the back of the skull, thusly protecting the bones around the eye. The H. erectus face was also tucked under brow ridges, which made it harder to fracture cheek bones and to separate the facial skeleton from the braincase.

The jaw also thickens just behind the chin, the most common place for breaks in modern peoples. Erectoids differed from modern humans in the placement of arteries in and around the temple area. The main blood supply of the meningeal artery was moved away from this vulnerable area because the bone there was particularly thin and this movement lessened the effects of the breakage of arteries in that area.

There are other differences, but those are the major ones covered in the work of Ciochon and Boaz.

aggressive mating rituals

[Big Sean O]

Y'all seem to think that it's only the males who benefit from having thick skulls.

It benefits women too, vis--vis the headboard. There's nothing like a coital concussion to kill the romance.

Fight Club != mating ritual

[lawpoop]

So a buch of cave guys played skull bashing games. What does this have to do with mating? My guess is that while 'the guys' were off in the woods, spanking each other, chanting "thank you sir, may I have another?!", the smart, sensitive caveguys had started a band with instruments they built, wrote love songs and poetry, cried and wept, and seduced women .

"Hm. Son like poetry. Not want go hunting with guys. Uses bow make music. Son remind me of that nerd Grog. Hey! Hm. Idea gone."