Brain size of Homo floresiensis and its evolutionary implications

Proc Biol Sci. 2013 Apr 17;280(1760):20130338. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0338. Print 2013 Jun 7.

Abstract

The extremely small endocranial volume (ECV) of LB1, the type specimen of Homo floresiensis, poses a challenge in our understanding of human brain evolution. Some researchers hypothesize dramatic dwarfing of relative brain size from Homo erectus presumably without significant decrease in intellectual function, whereas others expect a lesser degree of brain diminution from a more primitive, small-brained form of hominin currently undocumented in eastern Asia. However, inconsistency in the published ECVs for LB1 (380-430 cc), unclear human intraspecific brain-body size scaling and other uncertainties have hampered elaborative modelling of its brain size reduction. In this study, we accurately determine the ECV of LB1 using high-resolution micro-CT scan. The ECV of LB1 thus measured, 426 cc, is larger than the commonly cited figure in previous studies (400 cc). Coupled with brain-body size correlation in Homo sapiens calculated based on a sample from 20 worldwide modern human populations, we construct new models of the brain size reduction in the evolution of H. floresiensis. The results show a more significant contribution of scaling effect than previously claimed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Evolution*
  • Brain / anatomy & histology*
  • Fossils*
  • Hominidae / anatomy & histology*
  • Humans
  • Indonesia
  • Models, Biological*
  • Organ Size
  • Skull / anatomy & histology*
  • Species Specificity
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods