Science is always evolving. New discoveries shape our current understanding of human evolutionary milestones such as bipedalism, the use of tools, dietary adaptation, changing body shapes and sizes, and life historys.
Join us to reflect on the roots of humanity as we explore key early hominin adaptations and their evolution through time. Speakers include: Zeray Alemseged, Adrienne Zihlman, Tanya Smith and Teresa Steele.
Tanya M. Smith
Assistant Professor, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, and Associated Scientist, Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany)
Tanya conducted field work in Costa Rica, Madagascar, Nicaragua, and Wyoming, in addition to extensive laboratory and museum work in Europe and Africa. Her current research is focused on the study of ape and human dental development, which provides important insight into evolutionary developmental biology. Teeth -- an often under-appreciated aspect of our anatomy -- preserve permanent records of an organism's daily, near-weekly, and yearly biological rhythms.
Her work has been featured in National Geographic, Science, Smithsonian, Slate, and Discovery magazines, as well as on PBS, History Channel, Voice of America and BBC broadcast media. At Harvard University she offers courses on human evolutionary anatomy, Neanderthals and evolutionary theory, and a hands-on research seminar on primate dental histology.
Evolution of modern human beings from extinct nonhuman and humanlike forms. Genetic evidence points to an evolutionary divergence between the lineages of humans and the great apes on the African continent 85 million years ago (mya). The earliest fossils considered to be remains of hominins (members of the human lineage) date to at least 4 mya in Africa; they include the genus Australopithecus and other forms. The next major evolutionary stage, Homo habilis, inhabited sub-Saharan Africa about 21.5 mya. Homo habilis appears to have been supplanted by a taller and more humanlike species, Homo erectus, which lived from c. 1,700,000 to 200,000 years ago, gradually migrating into Asia and parts of Europe. Between c. 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, Homo heidelbergensis, sometimes called archaic Homo sapiens, lived in Africa, Europe, and perhaps parts of Asia. Having features resembling those of both H. erectus and modern humans, H. heidelbergensis may have been an ancestor of modern humans and also of the Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis), who inhabited Europe and western Asia from c. 200,000 to 28,000 years ago. Fully modern humans (H. sapiens) seem to have emerged in Africa only c. 150,000 years ago, perhaps having descended directly from H. erectus or from an intermediate species such as H. heidelbergensis.
I would have loved to have watched this lecture for a second time, as the subject is fascinating. However, the speaker's use of the word "Right?" as punctuation at the end of EVERY sentence is incredibly distracting and thoroughly irritating. Surely, someone of this educational level is capable of expressing herself better?
I love how Tanya uses her sense of humour to make the topic of evolutionary anthropology fun for those, like myself, who may not have a thorough enough biology background for what she is sharing in. Valuable and interesting talk on teeth and of their markers of time. Thank you for sharing this talk.