Modern humans, Neanderthals, and other recent relatives on our human family tree evolved bigger brains much more rapidly than earlier species, a new study of human brain evolution has found. Scientists from the University of Reading, the University of Oxford and Durham University found that brain size increased gradually within each ancient human species rather than through sudden leaps between species. The research, published November 26 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, overturns long-standing ideas about human brain evolution. The team assembled the largest-ever dataset of ancient human fossils spanning 7 million years and used advanced computational and statistical methods to account for gaps in the fossil record. These innovative approaches provided the most comprehensive view yet of how brain size evolved over time. Read More