Another Step Towards Proving Evolution
Breaking news shows that researchers may have discovered the mutation that caused early humans to evolve from apes. Biologists and plastic surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children?s Hospital of Philadelphia were the first to report the discovery of this mutation. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, these scientists believe that this mutation formed a gene that led to smaller, weaker jaws and bigger brains. A mutation is a change in an organism?s genetic material. Because of the smaller jaws, the structure of the skull changed, leading to the ability of growth in the brain that was capable of doing more. Dr. Hensall Stedman of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine stated that the brain has tripled in size since the mutation. They estimated that the mutation occurred about 2.4 million years ago in the grasslands of East Africa, and based their calculations on the belief that genetic mutations occur at a constant rate. It was around this time when humans featured rounder skulls, flatter faces, smaller teeth, and weaker jaws. People at this time also began making their food with tools. Researchers have looked at fossil records to determine this time of change.
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