The skull had an EPF (Enlarged parietal foramen) commonly referred to as ‘hole in the skull.’ Currently, research shows that 1 in every 25,000 babies is born with thismutation which inhibits fragments found in the skull from closing. Previous research has shown that the Pleistocene humans exhibited genetic abnormalities in high rates, including the Xujiayao 11 as the skull is called. Researchers say that these abnormalities are rarely found in modern man, but they were quite common in the early Homo erectus as well as people who lived towards the end of the Stone Age.
The Xujiayao 11 exhibited minor cognitive defects which arose from the EPF mutation. Researchers concluded that the abnormalities in the skulls of the early human showed high likelihood of inbreeding among man’s ancestors. The findings were published in the PLOS One journal.
