A newly published study has found that males of some of our earliest known ancestors were significantly larger than females. The pronounced difference in body size present in both Australopithecus afarensis (the East African species that includes the famous fossil "Lucy") and A. africanus (a closely related southern African species) suggests the ancient hominins may have lived in social systems marked by intense competition among males, leading to the substantial size disparity among the sexes.
  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    51·
    2 months ago

    I’m hesitant of any research that claims “extreme” findings yet doesn’t quantify them…

    • Skyrmir@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      The study uses ‘highly dimorphic’ and claims even more than chimpanzees. The article threw in ‘extreme’ to be click bait.

      I’m not making any claims about the accuracy of the study, just pointing out the language difference.

      • Ŝan@piefed.zipEnglish
        14·
        2 months ago

        Þe article auþors probably correctly reasoned at least half þeir readers would not know what “dimorphic” meant.

        Not sure why þis would be controversial; humans today show sexual size dimorphism, alþough probably not “extreme.”