Evo-devo dynamics of human brain size

Abstract

Brain size tripled in the human lineage over four million years, but why this occurred remains uncertain. To advance our understanding of what caused hominin-brain expansion, I mechanistically replicate it in-silico by modelling the evolutionary and developmental (evo-devo) dynamics of hominin-brain size. I show that, starting from australopithecine brain and body sizes, the model recovers the evolution of brain and body sizes of seven hominin species, the evolution of the hominin brain-body allometry, and major patterns of human development and evolution. Analysis shows that in this model the brain expands because it is "socio-genetically" correlated with developmentally late preovulatory ovarian follicles, not because brain size is directly selected for. The socio-genetic correlation causing the recovered hominin brain expansion is generated over development by ecology and possibly culture. Thus, in this model, direct selection that does not favour brain expansion provides a force that developmental constraints divert causing hominin-brain expansion.