Cross-Species Heart Study Provides a New Understanding of Human Evolution

A study comparing human and great ape hearts reveals significant evolutionary adaptations in humans, including smoother, less trabeculated heart muscles that improve cardiac function to support higher metabolic demands and effective thermoregulation.

An international team of researchers from Swansea University and UBC Okanagan has gained new understanding of human evolution by studying the hearts of humans and other great apes. Despite sharing a common ancestor, humans have developed larger brains and the capacity to walk or run on two legs, adaptations that likely evolved for long-distance travel and hunting.

Now, through a new comparative study of the form and function of the heart, published in Communications Biology, researchers believe they have discovered another piece of the evolutionary puzzle. The team compared the human heart with those of our closest evolutionary relatives, including chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, and bonobos cared for at wildlife sanctuaries in Africa and zoos throughout Europe.