Cranial capacity
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Cranial capacity is a measure of the volume of the interior of the cranium (also called the braincase or brainpan) of those vertebrates who have both a cranium and a brain. The most commonly used unit of measure is the cubic centimetre or cc. The volume of the cranium is used as a rough indicator of the size of the brain, and this in turn is used as a rough indicator of the potential intelligence of the organism. However, larger cranial capacity is not always indicative of a more intelligent organism, since larger capacities are required for controlling larger more muscular bodies, or in some cases are an adaptive feature for life in a colder environment. The largest human cranium on record belongs to Robert Vollmar, age 21.
Examples of cranial capacity:
- Orangutans: 275–500 cc
- Chimpanzees: 275–500 cc
- Gorillas: 340–752 cc
- Humans: 1100–1700 cc
- Neanderthals: 1200–1700 cc
Examples of early hominids:
| Taxon | Size (cc) | # of Specimens | Age (MYA) |
| Australopithecus afarensis | 438 | 4 | 3.6–2.9 |
| Australopithecus africanus | 452 | 7 | 3.0–2.4 |
| Australopithecus boisei | 521 | 1 | 2.3–1.4 |
| Australopithecus robustus | 530 | 1 | 1.9–1.4 |
| Homo habilis | 612 | 6 | 1.9–1.6 |
| Homo rudolfensis | 752 | 1 | 2.4–1.6 |
| Homo ergaster | 871 | 3 | 1.9–1.7 |
[edit] References
- McHenry, Henry M. [2002]. "23: Introduction to the fossil record of human ancestry" Walter C. Hartwig The Primate Fossil Record (in English), 402, Cambridge University Press. 0521663156.
- Lynn, R. (2006). Race Differences in Intelligence: An Evolutionary Analysis. ISBN 1-59368-021-X.
| This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Cranial capacity. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
