Scientists chew over vital mutation to the jawbones [View All]

[dArKeR]

AP , DENVER, COLORADO
Thursday, Mar 25, 2004,Page 7

Igniting a scientific furor, scientists say they may have found the genetic mutation that first separated the earliest humans from their apelike ancestors.

The provocative discovery suggests that this genetic twist -- toward smaller, weaker jaws -- unleashed a cascade of profound biological changes. The smaller jaws would allow for dramatic brain growth necessary for tool-making, language and other hallmarks of human evolution on the plains of East Africa.

The mutation is reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature, not by anthropologists, but by a team of biologists and plastic surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The report provoked strong reactions throughout the hotly contested field of human origins with one scientist declaring it "counter to the fundamentals of evolution" and another saying it was "super."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/03/25/2003107697