{"title":"Encapsulating seven million years of human history","authors":"Yvanna Todorova","doi":"10.1002/evan.21943","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21943","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 3","pages":"154-156"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114294791","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
On November 10th and 11th 2021, the Animal Microbiome Research Group (AMRG; formerly separate mammalian and avian microbiome research groups) hosted its second annual research meeting. This group was founded by early career researchers (ECRs) out of a desire to connect with other early career microbiome scientists—individuals who might otherwise be the only scholar to study wildlife microbiomes within their lab group, department, or institution. Connections among researchers are established during an annual virtual multi-day meeting. During these meetings, ECRs from around the world present new findings and discuss microbiome-research related topics. Connections made are then reinforced using a Slack workspace, which allows for the maintenance of a lasting network. The group's inaugural meeting and objectives have been summarized previously. Here, we provide group updates, summarize the 2021 meeting, and offer a one-year retrospective on the creation of an ECR virtual network from the participants' viewpoint.
{"title":"Growing and maintaining a network for early career researchers through the Animal Microbiome Research Group","authors":"Shasta E. Webb, Sophie Teullet, Mason R. Stothart","doi":"10.1002/evan.21941","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21941","url":null,"abstract":"On November 10th and 11th 2021, the Animal Microbiome Research Group (AMRG; formerly separate mammalian and avian microbiome research groups) hosted its second annual research meeting. This group was founded by early career researchers (ECRs) out of a desire to connect with other early career microbiome scientists—individuals who might otherwise be the only scholar to study wildlife microbiomes within their lab group, department, or institution. Connections among researchers are established during an annual virtual multi-day meeting. During these meetings, ECRs from around the world present new findings and discuss microbiome-research related topics. Connections made are then reinforced using a Slack workspace, which allows for the maintenance of a lasting network. The group's inaugural meeting and objectives have been summarized previously. Here, we provide group updates, summarize the 2021 meeting, and offer a one-year retrospective on the creation of an ECR virtual network from the participants' viewpoint.","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 3","pages":"108-111"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39608198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Savannas, human evolution, and only in Africa","authors":"Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo","doi":"10.1002/evan.21938","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21938","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 2","pages":"103-105"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116665501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent years, multiple technological and methodological advances have increased our ability to estimate phylogenies, leading to more accurate dating of the primate tree of life. Here we provide an overview of the limitations and potentials of some of these advancements and discuss how dated phylogenies provide the crucial temporal scale required to understand primate evolution. First, we review new methods, such as the total-evidence dating approach, that promise a better integration between the fossil record and molecular data. We then explore how the ever-increasing availability of genomic-level data for more primate species can impact our ability to accurately estimate timetrees. Finally, we discuss more recent applications of mutation rates to date divergence times. We highlight example studies that have applied these approaches to estimate divergence dates within primates. Our goal is to provide a critical overview of these new developments and explore the promises and challenges of their application in evolutionary anthropology.
{"title":"Rocks and clocks revised: New promises and challenges in dating the primate tree of life","authors":"Luca Pozzi, Anna Penna","doi":"10.1002/evan.21940","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21940","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In recent years, multiple technological and methodological advances have increased our ability to estimate phylogenies, leading to more accurate dating of the primate tree of life. Here we provide an overview of the limitations and potentials of some of these advancements and discuss how dated phylogenies provide the crucial temporal scale required to understand primate evolution. First, we review new methods, such as the <i>total-evidence dating</i> approach, that promise a better integration between the fossil record and molecular data. We then explore how the ever-increasing availability of genomic-level data for more primate species can impact our ability to accurately estimate timetrees. Finally, we discuss more recent applications of mutation rates to date divergence times. We highlight example studies that have applied these approaches to estimate divergence dates within primates. Our goal is to provide a critical overview of these new developments and explore the promises and challenges of their application in evolutionary anthropology.</p>","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 3","pages":"138-153"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39577670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jana Kunze, Effrosyni Roditi, Mario Mata-González, Susan M. Mentzer
Although originally planned as an in-person event in Aarhus, Denmark, the 11th annual meeting of the European Society for the study of human evolution took place once again as a virtual event. From September 22 to 24 2021, researchers from different parts of the world shared their work in the form of digital presentations. While the society currently counts 256 paid members, a total of 282 participants registered for the annual meeting with 135 submitted abstracts. Similar to the 2020 meeting, recorded videos of the talks and digital copies of the posters were available to view online before and after the meeting. During the conference itself, short, live elevator pitches were held by the presenters to enable discussions in the online meeting space. The poster sessions took place in gather town, this time with designated spaces for each presenter as well as uploaded posters, which improved the experience significantly compared with 2020.
{"title":"Eleventh annual meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution","authors":"Jana Kunze, Effrosyni Roditi, Mario Mata-González, Susan M. Mentzer","doi":"10.1002/evan.21939","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21939","url":null,"abstract":"Although originally planned as an in-person event in Aarhus, Denmark, the 11th annual meeting of the European Society for the study of human evolution took place once again as a virtual event. From September 22 to 24 2021, researchers from different parts of the world shared their work in the form of digital presentations. While the society currently counts 256 paid members, a total of 282 participants registered for the annual meeting with 135 submitted abstracts. Similar to the 2020 meeting, recorded videos of the talks and digital copies of the posters were available to view online before and after the meeting. During the conference itself, short, live elevator pitches were held by the presenters to enable discussions in the online meeting space. The poster sessions took place in gather town, this time with designated spaces for each presenter as well as uploaded posters, which improved the experience significantly compared with 2020.","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 2","pages":"72-74"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39860566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As the last American region settled by humans, yet the first to experience European colonization, the Caribbean islands have a complex history characterized by continuous migration, admixture, and demographic change. In the last 20 years, genetics research has transformed our understanding of Caribbean population history and revisited major debates in Caribbean anthropology, such as those surrounding the first peopling of the Antilles and the relationship between ancient Indigenous communities and present-day islanders. Genetics studies have also contributed novel perspectives for understanding pivotal events in Caribbean post-contact history such as European colonization, the Atlantic Slave Trade, and the Asian Indenture system. Here, I discuss the last 20 years of Caribbean genetics research and emphasize the importance of integrating genetics with interdisciplinary historic, archaeological, and anthropological approaches. Such interdisciplinary research is essential for investigating the dynamic history of the Caribbean and characterizing its impact on the biocultural diversity of present-day Caribbean peoples.
{"title":"Anthropological genetic insights on Caribbean population history","authors":"Maria A. Nieves-Colón","doi":"10.1002/evan.21935","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21935","url":null,"abstract":"<p>As the last American region settled by humans, yet the first to experience European colonization, the Caribbean islands have a complex history characterized by continuous migration, admixture, and demographic change. In the last 20 years, genetics research has transformed our understanding of Caribbean population history and revisited major debates in Caribbean anthropology, such as those surrounding the first peopling of the Antilles and the relationship between ancient Indigenous communities and present-day islanders. Genetics studies have also contributed novel perspectives for understanding pivotal events in Caribbean post-contact history such as European colonization, the Atlantic Slave Trade, and the Asian Indenture system. Here, I discuss the last 20 years of Caribbean genetics research and emphasize the importance of integrating genetics with interdisciplinary historic, archaeological, and anthropological approaches. Such interdisciplinary research is essential for investigating the dynamic history of the Caribbean and characterizing its impact on the biocultural diversity of present-day Caribbean peoples.</p>","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 3","pages":"118-137"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39846833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lumila P. Menéndez, Kathleen S. Paul, Constanza de la Fuente, Tatiana Almeida, Miguel Delgado, Gonzalo Figueiro, Kelsey Jorgensen, Susan Kuzminsky, María Clara López-Sosa, Johanna Nichols, Mirjana Roksandic, George Richard Scott, Dennis O'Rourke, Mark Hubbe
The timing and mode(s) of the initial human occupation of the Americas are among the most discussed topics in archaeology and biological anthropology, with hundreds of articles published in the last decades dedicated to the topic (for some comprehensive reviews, see References 1–3). Researchers have contributed to the debates through a vast range of disciplines, methodological and theoretical approaches, ranging from traditional archeological and bioarchaeological methods, to climate simulations and ancient DNA analyses. And yet, despite recent advances in the study of the biological variation and prehistoric expansions of populations into and within the Americas, there is still little consensus about key questions including the time and modes of human dispersion across the continents. This brings up a crucial question: why are we unable to find a consensus about the processes behind the initial settlements of the Americas? There are certainly multiple factors contributing to our inability to build reliable interpretations on this topic. Some of them are common to all endeavors to reconstruct and study past human societies across the planet, and some are unique to the history of research in the Americas. As a result, it is not uncommon to find significant reevaluations of current models and hypotheses, either through new findings and new methodological innovations (see, e.g., the most recent findings of early footprints in New Mexico), by the reanalysis of radiocarbon data accumulated over decades of research, or due to new theoretical framings of available data (see Reference 6 as a good example). While these constant reevaluations of the origins of early inhabitants of the Americas are related to all aspects of this process (e.g., chronology, cultural diversity, adaptation, and biological diversity), here we focus on recent discussions about the origins of Native American biological diversity, which by itself has been the focus of a vast and prolific literature. The study of biological diversity among early Native Americans has progressed at a remarkably fast pace in recent decades, and researchers new to this topic will probably find the process of reviewing the body of specialized literature daunting. Recent studies have drawn upon a wealth of different modern sources of information, including molecular (Y-chromosome, mitochondrial-DNA, autosomal markers), morphological (cranial, dental, and postcranial), and cultural (linguistic, lithic technology, and physical activity) data. The rapid incorporation of cutting-edge methods in the last decades has brought to the research of the early peopling and diversity of the Americas the sequencing of whole ancient genomes, registering high-quality morphological data with 3D surface and CT-scanners, performing digital reconstructions of fragmented anatomical structures, as well as accessing and sharing a large amount of data thanks to Big Data and Open Science initiatives. However, while these methodolo
{"title":"Towards an interdisciplinary perspective for the study of human expansions and biocultural diversity in the Americas","authors":"Lumila P. Menéndez, Kathleen S. Paul, Constanza de la Fuente, Tatiana Almeida, Miguel Delgado, Gonzalo Figueiro, Kelsey Jorgensen, Susan Kuzminsky, María Clara López-Sosa, Johanna Nichols, Mirjana Roksandic, George Richard Scott, Dennis O'Rourke, Mark Hubbe","doi":"10.1002/evan.21937","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21937","url":null,"abstract":"The timing and mode(s) of the initial human occupation of the Americas are among the most discussed topics in archaeology and biological anthropology, with hundreds of articles published in the last decades dedicated to the topic (for some comprehensive reviews, see References 1–3). Researchers have contributed to the debates through a vast range of disciplines, methodological and theoretical approaches, ranging from traditional archeological and bioarchaeological methods, to climate simulations and ancient DNA analyses. And yet, despite recent advances in the study of the biological variation and prehistoric expansions of populations into and within the Americas, there is still little consensus about key questions including the time and modes of human dispersion across the continents. This brings up a crucial question: why are we unable to find a consensus about the processes behind the initial settlements of the Americas? There are certainly multiple factors contributing to our inability to build reliable interpretations on this topic. Some of them are common to all endeavors to reconstruct and study past human societies across the planet, and some are unique to the history of research in the Americas. As a result, it is not uncommon to find significant reevaluations of current models and hypotheses, either through new findings and new methodological innovations (see, e.g., the most recent findings of early footprints in New Mexico), by the reanalysis of radiocarbon data accumulated over decades of research, or due to new theoretical framings of available data (see Reference 6 as a good example). While these constant reevaluations of the origins of early inhabitants of the Americas are related to all aspects of this process (e.g., chronology, cultural diversity, adaptation, and biological diversity), here we focus on recent discussions about the origins of Native American biological diversity, which by itself has been the focus of a vast and prolific literature. The study of biological diversity among early Native Americans has progressed at a remarkably fast pace in recent decades, and researchers new to this topic will probably find the process of reviewing the body of specialized literature daunting. Recent studies have drawn upon a wealth of different modern sources of information, including molecular (Y-chromosome, mitochondrial-DNA, autosomal markers), morphological (cranial, dental, and postcranial), and cultural (linguistic, lithic technology, and physical activity) data. The rapid incorporation of cutting-edge methods in the last decades has brought to the research of the early peopling and diversity of the Americas the sequencing of whole ancient genomes, registering high-quality morphological data with 3D surface and CT-scanners, performing digital reconstructions of fragmented anatomical structures, as well as accessing and sharing a large amount of data thanks to Big Data and Open Science initiatives. However, while these methodolo","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 2","pages":"62-68"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39707902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The 43rd Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists (ASP) kicked off with a welcome from local host Janette Wallis, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, and ASP President Lynne Isbell. Over 150 participants attended the 4-day event, which featured roughly 120 scientific presentations. As is common at these meetings, behavior management and conservation featured prominently in many of the sessions. Specifically, there were four plenary sessions, four symposia, three roundtables, 10 oral podium sessions, two workshops, a speed mentoring event, and a comprehensive poster session with 36 presentations. In the first plenary session, Melanie Graham (U Minnesota) provided a succinct summary of the impact of animal-centric behavioral management on primate welfare and comparative model efficacy and reminded us of the ongoing value of primate models for diabetes research because, “insulin is not a cure, it's what we give our patients to keep them from dying.” Her work demonstrates that researchers can improve the welfare of laboratory animals through cooperative handling and positive reinforcement during medical care and procedures. Her results show that repeatedly sedated animals, compared to cooperatively handled animals, show indicators of increased physiological stress—and Graham argues that such techniques also add uncontrolled variance to comparative research. Positive reinforcement training can give patients (and primate subjects) the skills to cope with and respond to medical interventions. Using training, welfare, and behavioral management techniques, researchers can generate data that are more informative and more efficiently gathered and promote healthier outcomes for our research animals and human patients. In the second plenary session, Susan Alberts (Duke University), recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Primatologist Award, addressed the role of social effects and relationships on health and mortality at the Amboseli Baboon Research Project. She described how both early life environments (e.g., social, parental, and ecological influences) and adult social experiences (e.g., social status and affiliative social relationships) are linked to survival in wild baboons and humans alike. Amazingly, even just one adverse early experience doubles a female baboon's risk of death at every adult age. Alberts also presented intergenerational data, which showed that a mother losing a maternal caregiver at an early age predicts a shorter lifespan for her future offspring. This intergenerational effect of early maternal loss on offspring survival has wider implications for psychology and microevolutionary life history. In the third plenary session, Thomas Gillespie (Emory U) spoke on “A One Health Approach to Understanding and Mitigating Pathogenic Threats to Wild Primates.” He gave a passionate and thorough overview of how contact between humans, domesticated animals, and wild primates impacts bacterial similarity, disease transmission, and antibiotic res
{"title":"Summary of the 2021 American Society of Primatologists conference","authors":"Amanda Suzzi, Chloe Karaskiewicz","doi":"10.1002/evan.21936","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21936","url":null,"abstract":"The 43rd Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists (ASP) kicked off with a welcome from local host Janette Wallis, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, and ASP President Lynne Isbell. Over 150 participants attended the 4-day event, which featured roughly 120 scientific presentations. As is common at these meetings, behavior management and conservation featured prominently in many of the sessions. Specifically, there were four plenary sessions, four symposia, three roundtables, 10 oral podium sessions, two workshops, a speed mentoring event, and a comprehensive poster session with 36 presentations. In the first plenary session, Melanie Graham (U Minnesota) provided a succinct summary of the impact of animal-centric behavioral management on primate welfare and comparative model efficacy and reminded us of the ongoing value of primate models for diabetes research because, “insulin is not a cure, it's what we give our patients to keep them from dying.” Her work demonstrates that researchers can improve the welfare of laboratory animals through cooperative handling and positive reinforcement during medical care and procedures. Her results show that repeatedly sedated animals, compared to cooperatively handled animals, show indicators of increased physiological stress—and Graham argues that such techniques also add uncontrolled variance to comparative research. Positive reinforcement training can give patients (and primate subjects) the skills to cope with and respond to medical interventions. Using training, welfare, and behavioral management techniques, researchers can generate data that are more informative and more efficiently gathered and promote healthier outcomes for our research animals and human patients. In the second plenary session, Susan Alberts (Duke University), recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Primatologist Award, addressed the role of social effects and relationships on health and mortality at the Amboseli Baboon Research Project. She described how both early life environments (e.g., social, parental, and ecological influences) and adult social experiences (e.g., social status and affiliative social relationships) are linked to survival in wild baboons and humans alike. Amazingly, even just one adverse early experience doubles a female baboon's risk of death at every adult age. Alberts also presented intergenerational data, which showed that a mother losing a maternal caregiver at an early age predicts a shorter lifespan for her future offspring. This intergenerational effect of early maternal loss on offspring survival has wider implications for psychology and microevolutionary life history. In the third plenary session, Thomas Gillespie (Emory U) spoke on “A One Health Approach to Understanding and Mitigating Pathogenic Threats to Wild Primates.” He gave a passionate and thorough overview of how contact between humans, domesticated animals, and wild primates impacts bacterial similarity, disease transmission, and antibiotic res","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 2","pages":"69-71"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39675998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
During the first five days of November 2021, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology convened its 81st annual meeting ... not in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but on nearly 2000 personal and work computers spread around the globe. The Covid pandemic continues to impede many academic pursuits, and the virtual setting of this year's conference was simultaneously a refreshing opportunity to witness the scope and scale of cutting-edge vertebrate paleontology research that has persisted in spite of it, and another reminder of the limitations that still inhibit our traditional gatherings. The conference presentations covered numerous aspects of vertebrate evolution, with many that specifically addressed primate evolution or provided valuable context to interpretation of the primate fossil record. Presentations on primate fossils were not limited to early primates, but made valuable contributions to hominoid and hominin evolution as well. A highlight of the meeting was the opening public lecture by Yohannes Haile-Selassie (Arizona State University) that described his fieldwork and major mid-Pliocene hominin finds from the western Afar Rift. His talk, framed around the early evolution of Australopithecus, can still be viewed on the Society website (https:// vertpaleo.org/svp-public-lecture/). Over 15 years of fieldwork at Woranso-Mille has produced 110 vertebrate localities and >200 hominin fossils, including previously unrepresented skeletal elements of Australopithecus afarensis and the currently unassigned, bipedally adapted Burtele foot. Of particular interest and importance are the remains of Australopithecus deyiremeda, which alongside Kenyathropus platyops and revelatory new cranial fossils of Australopithecus anamensis demonstrating its contemporaneity with A. afarensis, show that the mid-Pliocene was a time of high hominin alpha diversity. These finds significantly contribute to understanding hominin evolution, both by showing that the older model of an anagenetic “trunk” leading to branching of the hominin tree in the late Pliocene is false, and by proving that there are still major hominin fossil finds waiting to be uncovered—even in heavily prospected areas such as the Afar Rift.
{"title":"Fossil primate research at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology","authors":"Paul E. Morse","doi":"10.1002/evan.21934","DOIUrl":"10.1002/evan.21934","url":null,"abstract":"During the first five days of November 2021, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology convened its 81st annual meeting ... not in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but on nearly 2000 personal and work computers spread around the globe. The Covid pandemic continues to impede many academic pursuits, and the virtual setting of this year's conference was simultaneously a refreshing opportunity to witness the scope and scale of cutting-edge vertebrate paleontology research that has persisted in spite of it, and another reminder of the limitations that still inhibit our traditional gatherings. The conference presentations covered numerous aspects of vertebrate evolution, with many that specifically addressed primate evolution or provided valuable context to interpretation of the primate fossil record. Presentations on primate fossils were not limited to early primates, but made valuable contributions to hominoid and hominin evolution as well. A highlight of the meeting was the opening public lecture by Yohannes Haile-Selassie (Arizona State University) that described his fieldwork and major mid-Pliocene hominin finds from the western Afar Rift. His talk, framed around the early evolution of Australopithecus, can still be viewed on the Society website (https:// vertpaleo.org/svp-public-lecture/). Over 15 years of fieldwork at Woranso-Mille has produced 110 vertebrate localities and >200 hominin fossils, including previously unrepresented skeletal elements of Australopithecus afarensis and the currently unassigned, bipedally adapted Burtele foot. Of particular interest and importance are the remains of Australopithecus deyiremeda, which alongside Kenyathropus platyops and revelatory new cranial fossils of Australopithecus anamensis demonstrating its contemporaneity with A. afarensis, show that the mid-Pliocene was a time of high hominin alpha diversity. These finds significantly contribute to understanding hominin evolution, both by showing that the older model of an anagenetic “trunk” leading to branching of the hominin tree in the late Pliocene is false, and by proving that there are still major hominin fossil finds waiting to be uncovered—even in heavily prospected areas such as the Afar Rift.","PeriodicalId":47849,"journal":{"name":"Evolutionary Anthropology","volume":"31 1","pages":"9-11"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2022-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/evan.21934","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"39792957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
John Rowan, Peter Edome Akwee, Craig Feibel, Sonia Harmand, Gregory Henkes, Elisabeth Hildebrand, Jason Lewis, Patricia Princehouse, Nicholas Taylor, Isaiah Nengo
Kenya is world-renowned for its extraordinary fossil and archeological collections that have disproportionately contributed to our understanding of human origins and evolution. Although Kenya boasts a small cadre of trained scientists at its universities and museums, relatively few Kenyan citizens have benefitted from advanced scientific training commensurate with the country's world-renowned scientific heritage. This inequity stems, in part, from a lack of relevant graduate programs in paleoanthropology (broadly defined, including the geological, fossil, and archeological records relevant to understanding human origins) at many eastern African institutions. Decades of research projects led by Western scientists favoring exploitative ‘data-mining’ approaches to field and laboratory studies over those that aimed to engage with and train local Kenyan researchers is another contributing factor. The consequences of exclusionary research practices are further amplified by the fact that most major conferences and almost all graduate programs in paleoanthropology are presently hosted in North America or Europe, where the expense of international travel, visa procurement, cultural barriers, and other issues present additional impediments to Kenyan participation. The legacy of minimal investment in paleoanthropological research and training at Kenyan institutions is evinced by the small number of the country's citizens that have obtained doctoral degrees in paleoanthropology. This will be harmful to paleoanthropology as a whole in the long run, as Kenya's museum network is expected to greatly expand following the devolution of museums to the countylevel as mandated by the 2010 Kenyan Constitution. Thus, there is a pressing need to train local scientists and heritage managers who will be tasked with the conservation and curation of thousands of irreplaceable fossils and artifacts that, while legally owned by Kenya, are internationally significant pieces of human history and prehistory. Generating a pool of heritage stewards who are scientifically and culturally knowledgeable will help to prevent inefficient or short-sighted curatorial practices and to advocate for governmental and popular support of the country's museum network. This will be key for safeguarding Kenya's fossil and archeological records and ensuring that these treasures are preserved for all future generations. With these factors in mind, in early 2018 a Master's of Science (M.Sc.) program in Human Evolutionary Biology (MHEB) was
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