The genetic legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in extant Europeans: a Y chromosome perspective.

Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis and the Denisova specimen: New insights on their evolutionary histories using whole-genome comparisons

After a brief review of the most recent findings in the study of human evolution, an extensive comparison of the complete genomes of our nearest relative, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), of extant Homo sapiens, archaic Homo neanderthalensis and the Denisova specimen were made. The focus was on non-synonymous mutations, which consequently had an impact on protein levels and these changes were ...

Early Y chromosome lineages in Africa: the origin and dispersal of Homo sapiens

Dental evidence for ontogenetic differences between modern humans and Neanderthals.

Humans have an unusual life history, with an early weaning age, long childhood, late first reproduction, short interbirth intervals, and long lifespan. In contrast, great apes wean later, reproduce earlier, and have longer intervals between births. Despite 80 y of speculation, the origins of these developmental patterns in Homo sapiens remain unknown. Because they record daily growth during for...

The evolution of modern human brain shape

Modern humans have large and globular brains that distinguish them from their extinct Homo relatives. The characteristic globularity develops during a prenatal and early postnatal period of rapid brain growth critical for neural wiring and cognitive development. However, it remains unknown when and how brain globularity evolved and how it relates to evolutionary brain size increase. On the basi...

Selected Genetic Destination: The Rise of Homo sapiens genomicus

Selected genetic destination is a species’, such as Homo sapiens, possessing control of the genetic evolution of a species (other species and their own species) with the use of genetic engineering techniques (Grandy 2010b). Since the completion of the human genome project in 2003 scientists and philosophers have speculated on the possibility of not only curing numerous diseases, but also the po...