Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Lady Jag

> Paranthropus Boisei isn’t the only Paranthropus. This is Boisei.

?


16 posted on 12/08/2013 2:26:44 PM PST by SunkenCiv (http://www.freerepublic.com/~mestamachine/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies ]


To: SunkenCiv

This i from http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/paranthropus-boisei

Like other members of the Paranthropus genus, P. boisei is characterized by a specialized skull with adaptations for heavy chewing. A strong sagittal crest on the midline of the top of the skull anchored the large chewing muscles (temporalis muscles) from the top and side of the braincase to the lower jaw, and thus moved the massive jaw up and down. The force was focused on the large back teeth (molars and premolars). Flaring cheekbones gave P. boisei a very wide and dish-shaped face, creating a larger opening for bigger jaw muscles to pass through and support massive cheek teeth four times the size of a modern human’s. This species had even larger cheek teeth than P. robustus, a flatter, bigger-brained skull than P. aethiopicus, and the thickest dental enamel of any known early human. Cranial capacity in this species suggests a slight rise in brain size (about 100 cc in 1 million years) independent of brain enlargement in the genus Homo.


19 posted on 12/08/2013 2:48:15 PM PST by Lady Jag (Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society. - Aristotle)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson