February 16, 2004 5:49 AM

What if the world really was like junior high school?

Scientists: Hard heads a key to survival. Clubbing heads may have been part of mating rituals.

Maybe The Three Stooges were more than just comedy? Perhaps they were the cutting edge of evolution....

(CNN) -- Get it through your once-thick skull. Scientists say the bulky craniums of the human ancestor, homo erectus, may have helped the species survive some aggressive mating rituals.

After studying fossils in a region called Dragon Bone Hill in China, anthropologist Russell Ciochon of the University of Iowa concluded males of the species were clubbing one another over the head, probably to win females.

Those with thicker skulls who survived these bloody confrontations would pass that trait to offspring, Ciochon said.

"The evidence shows there may have been ritualized violence taking place," he said.

Hmm...ritualized violence? It sounds like a junior high school boy's locker room...or Howard Dean's campaign plane.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 16, 2004 5:49 AM.

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