Spudboy100@aol.com wrote:
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1694000/1694591.stm
>
> Ape-like
>
> Adolescence as we know it developed about half a million years ago,
> scientists say
>
> By cutting thin sections of a tooth and looking at it under a powerful
> microscope, it was possible to count markings in the tooth enamel to
> determine how long it had taken for the tooth to grow.
>
> These markings are like tree rings, and very accurately measure the age of an
> individual. It appears that early human ancestors grew up very much like today's great
> apes - taking about 12 years to reach adulthood. Modern humans on the other hand take much longer - up to 20 years.
This is interesting. It also could infer that the present period, where
the average age of onset of puberty is dropping and the average age of
maturity is rising (along with average IQs) indicates that there may be
a stage of 'punctuated equilibrium' going on with the human animal. This
would cause those who choose to reproduce early to stunt or bias against
their intellectual and economic development (generally, not absolutely),
while those who choose against to self select and stratify themselves
away from the popular mean, breeding a more intelligent ape in the
process.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat May 11 2002 - 17:44:24 MDT