Endocasts (i.e., replicas of the inner surface of the bony braincase) constitute a critical proxy for qualifying and quantifying variations in brain shape and organization in extinct taxa. In the absence of brain tissues ...

Pliopithecoids are an extinct group of catarrhine primates from the Miocene of Eurasia. More than 50 years ago, they were linked to hylobatids due to some morphological similarities, but most subsequent studies have supported ...

Since brain does not fossilize, brain endocast (i.e., replica of the inner surface of the braincase, Figure ​Figure1)1) constitutes the only direct evidence for reconstructing hominin brain evolution (Holloway, 1978; ...

The site of the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa, is one of the richest early hominin fossil-bearing sites in Africa. Recent excavations in the Milner Hall locality have contributed to the discovery of new hominin specimens, ...

The evolution of the frontal lobes represents a major issue in paleoneurology. In this survey, we used a surface analysis to describe the frontal morphology of three relevant East African specimens from early and middle ...

Cercopithecoids represent an essential component of the Plio-Pleistocene faunal assemblage. However, despite the abundance of the cercopithecoid fossil remains in African Plio-Pleistocene deposits, the chronological and ...

The Plio-Pleistocene karstic sedimentary deposits of Sterkfontein Cave, South Africa, yielded numerous fossil primate specimens embedded in blocks of indurated breccia, including the partial cercopithecoid cranium labelled ...

Numerous aspects of early hominin biology remain debated or simply unknown. However, recent developments in high-resolution imaging techniques have opened new avenues in the field of paleoanthropology. More specifically, ...

Our knowledge of human brain evolution primarily relies on the interpretation of palaeoneurological evidence. In this context, an endocast or replica of the inside of the bony braincase can be used to reconstruct a timeline ...