Having thickened cranial vault bones, per heavily built face, thick-boned jaws, and thick postcranial bones may have been necessary, or at least an advantage, for the body puro cope with these long lifespans
Some creationists see environmental factors and genetic effects, such as the founder effect, genetic drift, and inbreeding, as most likely sufficient puro explain the differences per skeletal features between modern humans and so-called cavemen. 37 It has been proposed that there was verso period of rapid human diversification beginning during the construction of Babel, resulting durante extreme morphological variability per post-Babel humans repopulating the earth. 38,39 Other creationists believe the stark difference con morphology between robust and anatomically modern humans warrants an explanation verso nel caso che, that is, not just an acknowledgment that there was considerable variation mediante features, but why.
A subject of importance preciso the creation model is explaining why the skeletons, particularly the skulls, of humans such as Homo erectus (as well as those classified as Neandertals and Homo heidelbergensis), were so rugged or robust compared esatto anatomically modern humans
As such, it has been suggested that Homo erectus, Neandertals and the like all arose cammino ‘devolution’ from anatomically modern post-Babel populations-from the genetic consequences of inbreeding, drift, and mutational effects, after splitting off from anatomically modern humans. 40 However, this would have onesto have happened independently, sopra per relatively short time, sopra many different parts of the world, which seems verso little too coincidental sicuro be realistic.
Along with a number of other creationists who have contemplated this issue, I consider the robust human forms, such as those with the features observed in the typical Homo erectus and Neandertal remains, esatto in general be non-pathological. As such, they were likely humans that were part of the original dispersion that occurred at Babel. Hence, an explanation that is worth considering is that the robust morphology observed per these humans is linked esatto longevity. According onesto creationist Carl Wieland:
Hence, one explanation why humans such as Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and Neandertals, had different morphology compared esatto modern humans, particularly mediante the skull, is that it could reflect changes durante development of these early post-Flood individuals, compared puro modern humans, possibly linked esatto longevity. 42 A factor that cannot be ignored durante verso creationist model of human origins is the biblical long lifespans of individuals per the pre-Flood world, and esatto some extent the early post-Flood earth, as derived from Old Testament records. Con the pre-Flood world lifespans of around 900 years appear onesto have been common, and even individuals born early post-Flood (within a few hundred years of the Flood having occurred) are recorded as having lived for hundreds of years. 43,44
If initially (after the Fall) humans were designed preciso live for hundreds of years, then this would most likely have verso bearing on development processes and timings. Simply put, longevity would probably be associated with changes mediante development, not just the aging process.
If longevity was linked onesto development processes associated with the above-mentioned robusticity, then robust features would be expected preciso disappear with shorter lifespans, although, as Wieland notes, “some of the genes coding for some of their distinctive suggerimenti dabble bony anatomy were apparently passed on to some of today’s populations”. 45 Hence, robust features do not correlate with the potential for longevity con recent times. Verso genetic mechanism for robusticity would possibly involve the control of hormones related sicuro bone growth and maintenance. According sicuro Susan Crockford, an evolutionary expert durante this sezione, the
Thyroxine (T4) is an important thyroid hormone, and a excretion thyroid hormone secretion pattern could have existed sopra people with robust skeletal morphology, such as Homo erectus and the Neandertals, linked esatto the genetic mechanism for long lifespans. Add environmental influences, as well as genetic effects such as genetic drift, and you can possibly account for differences per the many skeletal features observed. This would be not only between early robust post-Flood humans, like Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and the Neandertals, but also between anatomically modern humans and these early robust post-Flood humans.