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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 2689283" data-attributes="member: 177">Well, more the reverse - changes in the skeleton had a direct influence on our posture.  Some poor monkey had a "deformed" pelvis, and could stand more straight and for some reason he survived better <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />There's the rub - you're looking at a trend over 3 million years.  In the last 400 or so there's been a masssive change in environment.  Who is in a position to then say that the trend will continue?It isn't that the environment alters the genes directly.  Nor is it that the environment effects the structure of the bones, and thence to the genes. It is a sort of feedback loop: Genes->Bones->survival in environment->genes.I find it difficult to believe that there's any particular selective pressure on us for bigger skulls and smaller jaws.  The former especially - as it is, human skulls are a bit large to pass through the mother's birth canal.  And, much to the dismay of many - there is little to no correllation between larger brain/skull size and intelligence or success among humans.  Having a big head doesn't make you smarter, and it makes it harder for you to be born.It is possible for us to just "drift" into having larger skulls.  However it is much less plausible for that to be happening "worldwide" - drift happens less in larger, open populations.</blockquote>

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