Publications
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The endocast of StW 573 ('Little Foot') and hominin brain evolution Ghent University
Multiple cross-species transmission events of human adenoviruses (HAdV) during hominine evolution Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp
Human adenoviruses (species HAdV-A to -G) are highly prevalent in the human population, and represent an important cause of morbidity and, to a lesser extent, mortality. Recent studies have identified close relatives of these viruses in African great apes, suggesting that some HAdV may be of zoonotic origin. We analyzed >800 fecal samples from wild African great apes and humans to further investigate the evolutionary history and zoonotic ...
Hip extensor mechanics and the evolution of walking and climbing capabilities in humans, apes, and fossil hominins University of Antwerp
The evolutionary emergence of humans' remarkably economical walking gait remains a focus of research and debate, but experimentally validated approaches linking locomotor capability to postcranial anatomy are limited. In this study, we integrated 3D morphometrics of hominoid pelvic shape with experimental measurements of hip kinematics and kinetics during walking and climbing, hamstring activity, and passive range of hip extension in humans, ...
Cytomegalovirus distribution and evolution in hominines Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp
Herpesviruses are thought to have evolved in very close association with their hosts. This is notably the case for cytomegaloviruses (CMVs; genus Cytomegalovirus) infecting primates, which exhibit a strong signal of co-divergence with their hosts. Some herpesviruses are however known to have crossed species barriers. Based on a limited sampling of CMV diversity in the hominine (African great ape and human) lineage, we hypothesized that ...
Loss of air sacs improved hominin speech abilities Vrije Universiteit Brussel
n this paper, the acoustic-perceptual effects of air sacs are investigated. Using an adaptive hearing experiment, it is shown that air sacs reduce the perceptual effect of vowel-like articulations. Air sacs are a feature of the vocal tract of all great apes, except humans. Because the presence or absence of air sacs is correlated with the anatomy of the hyoid bone, a probable minimum and maximum date of the loss of air sacs can be estimated from ...
Locomotion, posture, and the foramen magnum in primates : reliability of indices and insights into hominin bipedalism Ghent University
Cranial vault thickness variation and inner structural organization in the StW 578 hominin cranium from Jacovec Cavern, South Africa Ghent University
Evolution and the palaeolithic Ghent University
Evolutionary theory, which has been designed with the sole purpose of describing and explaining phenotypic variability within and between species, is considered to be the base paradigm for the study of all living organisms. Basically, evolution as a process is nothing more than a continuous alteration through time of elements that are already there, without foresight or predetermined goal and therefore not necessarily leading to increasing ...
An inquiry into the different units and levels of language evolution. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Evolutionary linguistics is a fast rising academic field where scholars working from within a variety of disciplines are providing relevant data to study the origin of language. Mirror neurons (Fadiga et al. 2000; Fadiga, & Craighero 2003; Gallese, Eagle & Migone 2007; Rizzolatti et al. 1996), the FOXP2 gene (Lai. et al. 2001, 2003), the brain genes ASPM and MCPH 1 (Mekel-Bobrov et al. 2005; Evans et al. 2005), pointing (Tomasello. ...