Inbreeding Common in Early Humans, Deformed Skull Suggests

livescience ^ | 18 March 2013 | Tanya Lewis

[JoeProBono]

Inbreeding may have been a common practice among early human ancestors, fossils show. The evidence comes from fragments of an approximately 100,000-year-old human skull unearthed at a site called Xujiayao, located in the Nihewan Basin of northern China.

The skull's owner appears to have had a now-rare congenital deformity that probably arose through inbreeding . The fossil, now dubbed Xujiayao 11, is just one of many examples of ancient human remains that display rare or unknown congenital abnormalities, according to the researchers. "These populations were probably relatively isolated, very small and, as a consequence, fairly inbred," study leader Erik Trinkhaus, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis, told LiveScience.

The human skull fossil has a hole at its top, a disorder known as an "enlarged parietal foramen," which matches a modern human condition of the same name caused by a rare genetic mutation. The genetic abnormalities obstruct bone formation by preventing small holes in the prenatal braincase from closing, a process that normally occurs within the first five months of the fetus' development. Today, these mutations are rare, occurring in only about one of every 25,000 human births....

[JoeProBono]

[Colonel_Flagg]

Inbreeding may have been a common practice among early human ancestors, fossils show.

It does explain liberalism.

[Jonty30]

Cousin Ed and my other cousin Ed.

[FlingWingFlyer]

It’s still common in the DemocRAT Party.

[Viennacon]

Ed Schultz?

[Fai Mao]

Geez, those guys look like space aliens to me.

[GeronL]

I really hate how they make these pronouncements about what was “common” or whatever based on one skull, or one tooth or the like.

[JoeProBono]

[Slyfox]

Just a few results of Democratic Inbreeding:

[haroldeveryman]

I didn’t know that Harry Reid has a twin brother.

[pops88]

Is it just me, or does this need a Captain Obvious alert? Who were they supposed to breed with if not with each other?

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[JohnBrowdie]

at least they're still having sex within the human race.

[JoeProBono]

[tallyhoe]

It does explain liberalism and Democrats!

[Little Pig]

Except that the = guy in your pic, though originally homeless, found a talent within himself and worked to make it provide for him, unlike both of the + idiots in that same pic.

[goron]

[count-your-change]

Cousin Buford! We didn’t know you was twins!

[autumnraine]

That’s how I feel about people making fun of cousins marrying in the south back in the 20’s and 30’s. When you have a small population, and no vehicle to visit another town 20 or 30 miles away... yeah, I’d say cousins were going to marry.