Conroy G C, Weber G W, Seidler H, Tobias P V, Kane A, Brunsden B
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology and Department of Anthropology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Science. 1998 Jun 12;280(5370):1730-1. doi: 10.1126/science.280.5370.1730.
Two- and three-dimensional computer imaging shows that endocranial capacity in an approximately 2.8- to 2.6-million-year-old early hominid cranium (Stw 505) from Sterkfontein, South Africa, tentatively assigned to Australopithecus africanus, is approximately 515 cubic centimeters. Although this is the largest endocranial capacity recorded for this species, it is still markedly less than anecdotal reports of endocranial capacity exceeding 600 cubic centimeters. No australopithecine has an endocranial capacity approaching, let alone exceeding, 600 cubic centimeters. Some currently accepted estimates of early hominid endocranial capacity may be inflated, suggesting that the tempo and mode of early hominid brain evolution may need reevaluation.
二维和三维计算机成像显示，来自南非斯泰克方丹的一个距今约280万至260万年的早期原始人类颅骨（Stw 505），暂归为南方古猿非洲种，其颅内容量约为515立方厘米。尽管这是该物种有记录以来最大的颅内容量，但仍明显低于那些颅内容量超过600立方厘米的传闻报道。没有南方古猿的颅内容量接近甚至超过600立方厘米。目前一些被认可的早期原始人类颅内容量估计值可能偏高，这表明早期原始人类大脑进化的速度和模式可能需要重新评估。
