CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (Video): Recent Episodes
UCTV
Multidisciplinary researchers explore the origins of humanity and the many facets of what makes us human.
Lucy's 50-year legacy as a superstar in human evolution is undeniable. Yet, with newer, older fossils and a growing understanding of her ancient world, her status as our ancestor is questioned. This talk delves into how these discoveries reshape Lucy's narrative and our understanding of human evolution, likening her to a middle-aged celebrity facing new challengers. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39827]
Since Lucy's 1974 discovery, African heritage management and paleoscientific research have evolved significantly. Partnerships with international organizations have supported these efforts, leading to flourishing research and collaborations. However, foreign researchers' access restrictions have hindered efficiency, innovation, collaboration, and diversity. Balancing access restrictions with scientific openness and responsible stewardship is crucial. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39826]
Humans are a spectacular outlier among the millions of species of life on planet earth, with incredibly unique biological success. Slowly, scientists have begun to understand the traits that interacted to make us unique, such as cumulative culture, unique scales of cooperation, cognitive abilities, language, and a unique life history and mating system. However, the sequence of evolutionary events that led to our unique species was very much a mystery until the discovery of early bipedal hominins like the australopithecine, Lucy. Here, Kim Hill explains how we have learned so much about this improbable sequence and evolutionary pathway by discovering that early hominins were fully bipedal but still had small brains and little evidence for human mating and life history patterns or cumulative cultural evolution. Lucy helped us understand why the evolution of bipedality was a critical first step that led to an amazing evolutionary sequence that resulted in our spectacular outlier species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39825]
The connection between paleoanthropology and primatology began with Darwin's theory of human origins. Lucy's discovery challenged existing ideas, coinciding with observations of wild primates. This sparked a surge of research on primate behavior, enriching our understanding of human evolution. Despite behavior not fossilizing, studying living primates has deepened insights into ancestral lifestyles. By examining their social and ecological dynamics, researchers unravel the origins of complex behaviors like cooperation and culture, shedding light on human adaptations. This interdisciplinary approach has refined methods for studying social processes and their biological effects. Fifty years since Lucy's find, these tools continue to shape our understanding of human evolution and its relevance today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39824]
Lucy's 1974 discovery reshaped our understanding of early hominins. Geological studies dated her to 3.21 million years ago. Questions arose about her life and death, leading to investigations into her burial site and skeletal preservation. Found scattered on the surface, less than 40% of her skeleton was preserved. Some parts were articulated, indicating rapid burial, possibly by a river. Missing elements suggest scavenging and erosion. Debate surrounds her cause of death, with theories including a fall or predation. Bone fractures hint at trauma, but the exact circumstances remain unclear. Geological evidence disputes death by mudslide or flood. Tooth marks on her bones lack conclusive evidence of predation. These debates underline Lucy's enduring influence on paleoanthropology, sparking ongoing research into human evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39823]
Lucy's discovery in eastern Africa reshaped human origins research, highlighting our ancestors' diverse habitats. Initially thought vegetarians like chimpanzees, Lucy's group were adaptable omnivores. Recent findings suggest they used tools and hunted, challenging notions of early human development. This raises questions about when humanity's defining traits emerged. Did Lucy's dietary flexibility pave the way for our intelligence and tool use? Ongoing research aims to unravel these mysteries, using innovative methods to understand ancient diets and behaviors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39822]
Lucy is one of the most famous fossils of all time. The discovery of this species had a major impact on the science of human origins and evolution. Why? What was that impact? The symposium speakers—each a prominent scientist in their field—will address this question and specifically discuss the discovery’s impact through time, starting with the first few years after the discovery, the lasting impact, and the state of the art in that research area today. We're celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the fossil skeleton “Lucy” with the aim of reigniting a global interest in how we “became human” and promoting the importance of connecting our human past to the global future on the planet. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39829]
The discovery of Lucy in 1974 gave insight into early hominin body form but lacked hand bones. Subsequent findings revealed Australopithecus afarensis hand morphology. New discoveries and research since then, including associated hand skeletons and archaeological evidence, have enhanced our understanding of hominin hand evolution and tool use. These advancements inform us about Lucy's tool-related abilities and dexterity, reshaping our interpretation of early human behavior. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39821]
Paleoanthropology is booming with discoveries, reshaping our understanding of human evolution. Lucy's 1974 find stands as a milestone, providing crucial insights into early hominins. Her species, Australopithecus afarensis, remains a key reference, revealing bipedalism and dietary adaptations. Recent findings suggest bipedality evolved from arboreal upright apes, not chimpanzee-like ancestors. Earlier australopiths show bipedality predates dietary changes, indicating walking aided dietary shifts. Some australopiths may have used stone tools before significant brain enlargement in Homo. Lucy's discovery led to an explosion of insights, showing she was part of a diverse group of bipedal apes in the mid-Pliocene. Lucy remains central to understanding human evolution, highlighting the importance of her discovery in shaping our knowledge. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39820]
The savanna hypothesis suggests that early human ancestors evolved in open grasslands. Raymond Dart's 1925 discovery of Australopithecus africanus at Taung supported this idea. Lucy's 1974 discovery confirmed bipedalism in Australopithecus species but raised questions about their tree-dwelling habits. Studies since then have refined our understanding of ancient habitats and climates, showing that human evolution involved interactions with various environments, not just savannas. This requires a nuanced view of biomes, climates, and habitats to understand how early humans adapted and evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39819]
In 1974, understanding early human evolution was limited. Lucy's discovery provided insights into one early hominin, while her species, Australopithecus afarensis, revealed broader patterns. The abundance and quality of A. afarensis fossils help understand diversity, relationships, and the pace of evolution among hominins. Lucy's ilk sheds light on crucial topics such as taxic diversity, phylogenetic relationships, and the tempo of evolution within the hominin clade. They are key to unlocking the secrets of hominin evolutionary history before and after A. afarensis, offering valuable context for fossils found in southern and eastern Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39818]
Owing to its morphological and temporal placement, the Lucy species, Australopithecus afarensis, plays a pivotal role in our understanding of the human evolutionary career. Though many more fossil remains were recovered subsequent to Lucy’s discovery, the impact of the latter cannot be overstated not least its role as a trove of scientific data as well as its iconic nature. Research on Lucy and its species and continued fieldwork have inspired many research projects across Africa especially the Afar region of Ethiopia. One such project is the Dikika Research Project, which has discovered the earliest and most complete skeleton of a juvenile A. afarensis, dating back to 3.32 million years ago, filling in a major gap in our knowledge of the species. Here, I will briefly discuss what we learn from this skeleton about the Lucy species and what that implies to our knowledge of the many descendants of A. afarensis including our own species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39817]
The discovery of Lucy, a fossil from the 1970s, changed paleoanthropology. Before Lucy, scientists saw human ancestors as rough guides, not distinct species. This mindset dominated the interpretation of fossils. Lucy's discovery, representing a new species called Australopithecus afarensis, showed the need to define species clearly. The clash of old and new views was seen in a 1981 debate between Richard Leakey and Donald Johanson. Leakey's refusal to offer an alternative emphasized flaws in traditional practices. This marked a shift towards a better understanding of human origins and diversity, despite some scientists holding onto old ways. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39816]
Since entering into the field of paleoanthropology in 1970, Donald Johanson has found a more focused and rigorous implementation of an expanded collaborative, multinational, transdisciplinary strategy of inquiry with the application of new theoretical and technical innovations that has resulted in a richer picture of our origins and a deeper understanding of how we became human—not only in Africa, but Eurasia as well. The discovery of Lucy 50 years ago provides an appropriate benchmark by which to contrast what we know in 2024 versus what we thought we knew prior to her discovery in 1974. Knowledge of the environment in which our ancestors lived and interacted and successfully navigated the challenges of survival is now coming into clearer focus. We are in a period of specialization, and it is imperative to embrace an integrated approach that melds biological and cultural evolution. Only in this way can we continue to provide a more far-reaching vision of our ancestry. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39815]
Permanent body modification is a unique and variable practice among humans, not observed in other mammals. Despite being costly and risky, it is regularly performed. Scientific understanding of this phenomenon is nascent, prompting a symposium aiming to assess current research status and prioritize questions for the next decade. The event brings together academics and industry practitioners, exploring historical and contemporary practices like tattooing, piercing, finger amputation, and cranial modification. The symposium aims to investigate the 'when' and 'where' of permanent body modification and understand the motivations behind it, considering personal justifications and scientific hypotheses. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39476]
In the literature on lip plates in Southern Ethiopia there has been a strong emphasis on their socio-cultural importance and little information about their biocultural significance. Shauna LaTosky proposes that cultural keystone species theory and cultural keystone place theory could provide a useful frameworks for understanding relationships between the agro-pastoralist Mursi of Southern Ethiopia and the plant species and places that are integral to maintaining their cultural bodily practices. Keystone designations are applied here to the indigenous fruit tree lomay (Ximenia americana) and special clay pits in recognition of their role in the success of permanent body modification practices such as the piercing and stretching of women’s lower lips, but also in the promotion of health, social well-being and a sustainable environment. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39470]
Across continents, material evidence of body piercing jewelry abounds in the archeological record. However, the varying procedures and processes of piercing, healing, and stretching these wounds for adornment remains unfamiliar to most archeologists. This talk discusses the early self-experimentations that led to the development of the Euro-American body piercing industry. From the late 19th throughout the 20th centuries shared personal correspondence, illustrations, and photographs document the adaptations, innovations, successes, and failures that came to coalesce a current community’s collective knowledge. Understanding the processes of these secretive explorations provides insights into many of the cross-cultural practices of the past for which no clear records remain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39474]
Archaeological research in Mexico and Central America reveals insights into cultural practices, focusing on the history of body modification. Examining long-term patterns helps unravel motivations for adoption, change, and abandonment of these practices. The talk emphasizes how body modification histories in this region illuminate shared identities across linguistic, ethnic, and political boundaries, while also highlighting distinctions within regional traditions and individual societies. It suggests that indigenous societies viewed the human body as shaped by the community, challenging the notion of a universal boundary between the natural body and the social person. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39469]
This talk offers an overview of the many forms of permanent genital modifications embedded in human cultures, where they occur, the reasons why, the archaeological investigations of origins, and future trends. Included are female clitoridectomy, excision, infibulation, and other practices that affect about five percent of females worldwide; and the male practices that affect one-third of males: circumcision, superincision, and subincision. Why have so many cultures invented and preserved these modifications as part of their valued heritage? Controversies abound: the current human rights opposition to all female practices is met with backlash, and others question the “justifications” for continuing male circumcision. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39471]
Bioarchaeological studies of Pleistocene populations, examining practices like tooth ablation, facial piercing, and cranial modification, contribute to our understanding of social identities and population dynamics. Recent analyses of Ohalo II H2 in southwestern Asia and Oldupai Hominid 1 in Tanzania reveal dental evidence of intentional body modifications. Ohalo II H2 likely represents the earliest case of intentional incisor ablation in Southwest Asia, a common practice in Iberomaurusian and Natufian cultures. Oldupai Hominid 1 exhibits dental wear suggestive of facial piercings, a previously unknown practice in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene East Africa. These early cases shed light on the cultural practices and social identities of Pleistocene populations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39468]
Today, permanent body modification (PBM) is very popular. Studies suggest that well over a billion living people have experienced one or more types of PBM. But what is the history of PBM? When did the different types originate? Were they invented recently, or do they have a long history? Did they appear simultaneously or at different times? This presentation examines evidence in non-human animals and extinct hominins, delving into early archaeological and historical records of seven main PBM types: tattooing, scarification, amputation, piercing, genital modification, dental modification, and bone shaping. Strong evidence supports human PBM for at least 15,000 years, with intriguing hints suggesting a history dating back as far as 80,000 years. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39467]
Our ability to adapt our bodies to culture has ancient origins. We suggest a timeline for how the culturalization of the human body evolved, starting around 500-300 thousand years ago. This timeline highlights key moments at 140 thousand years, 70 thousand years, and 45 thousand years, followed by a faster pace linked to the rise of production economies. The underlying idea is a gradual growth in the complexity of technologies shaping the body, along with increased time and effort invested in obtaining and transforming necessary materials. Simultaneously, the development of symbolic codes required the creation of specific cognitive functions and neural circuits, allowing for the decoding of intricate messages conveyed by these cultural practices. These practices likely became more intricate in terms of techniques, symbolic codes, and the involvement of specialized individuals over time to ensure their continuation and potential further development. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39466]
This talk presents a new account of the development of professional tattooing in Britain and America since the late 19th century. Research based exclusively in primary sources reveals that the story of what kickstarted the creation of commercial tattooing, and what sustained it, ultimately becomes intelligible as a small and interconnected network of transnational artists and – crucially – clients. These newly clarified networks problematise both the date and form of the customary notion of a “Tattoo Renaissance” in the 1970s and 80s. Moreover, this research presents a more diverse account of the transmission of design, technology and influence throughout Euro-American tattooing than had previously been understood both within the industry, and beyond. Research is drawn from Dr Lodder’s next book on the history of the modern Euro-American tattoo industry, due to be published in late 2024 with Yale University Press. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39473]
Permanent body modification is a unique and variable practice among humans, not observed in other mammals. Despite being costly and risky, it is regularly performed. Scientific understanding of this phenomenon is nascent, prompting a symposium aiming to assess current research status and prioritize questions for the next decade. The event brings together academics and industry practitioners, exploring historical and contemporary practices like tattooing, piercing, finger amputation, and cranial modification. The symposium aims to investigate the 'when' and 'where' of permanent body modification and understand the motivations behind it, considering personal justifications and scientific hypotheses. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39475]
This talk explores the 1000-year practice of "footbinding" in ethnically Han Chinese families, involving modifying young girls' feet by wrapping the toes under the sole, often resulting in broken toes. Two main hypotheses—Labor Market and Evolutionary Social Sciences—are considered for explaining the origins, maintenance, and cessation of footbinding. This talk presents evidence from autopsy results, medical examinations, anthropological records, interviews, and historical texts. It argues that evolutionary social and psychological principles related to hypergyny, mate guarding, parental competition, mate competition, and paternal uncertainty offer better explanations for the origins and maintenance of footbinding than labor market factors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39472]
Comparative Anthropogeny (CompAnth) is the study of distinctly human traits and characteristics in the context of comparisons with our closest living relatives, the “great apes.” This symposium, the third of CARTA's CompAnth series, will present a collection of distinctive human traits, ranging from molecular, cellular, and anatomical biology to behavioral, societal, and cultural features. Given the large number of human traits for which no counterparts have yet been described in nature, the limitations of the comparative method will also be addressed and alternative approaches to the singularity that is the human phenomenon will be discussed. The goal is a better understanding of human origins and a full appreciation of our species’ planet altering effects. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39281]
Human language is a strong contender for the title of most often named species-specific feature in the literature. But why is that? In this talk, Eva Wittenberg explores what we could mean by "human language", and how different conceptions of language inevitably lead to different answers about whether it is species-specific. While syntax is a central feature, it is only one of several, and the uniqueness of human language is that it arose from a combination of, perhaps, ordinary ingredients. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39277]
Comparative Anthropogeny (CompAnth) is the study of distinctly human traits and characteristics in the context of comparisons with our closest living relatives, the “great apes.” This symposium, the third of CARTA's CompAnth series, will present a collection of distinctive human traits, ranging from molecular, cellular, and anatomical biology to behavioral, societal, and cultural features. Given the large number of human traits for which no counterparts have yet been described in nature, the limitations of the comparative method will also be addressed and alternative approaches to the singularity that is the human phenomenon will be discussed. The goal is a better understanding of human origins and a full appreciation of our species’ planet altering effects. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39280]
Human ovulation lacks visible signs, unlike chimpanzees and bonobos with conspicuous genital swellings during fertility. This led to the concept of "concealed ovulation," seen as a human adaptation. Proposed reasons include encouraging paternal investment, confusing paternity to deter infanticide, enabling secret mating and female choice, and reducing female rivalry. Many non-human primates also have unsignaled ovulation. While self-reported human mating doesn't match ovulation, debates persist on subtle reproductive cycle influences. Some cultures use menstrual taboos to disclose fertility status. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39275]
Life history theory suggests that inter-birth intervals (IBIs) depend on a trade-off between maternal investment in current and future offspring, influenced by the mother's energy and somatic maintenance. Normally, IBI aligns with maternal and infant body size, larger relative infant size leading to slower breeding. In contrast, humans have relatively shorter IBIs due to cooperative breeding, support from the social group. Some other species with cooperative behaviors also exhibit shorter IBIs, possibly aided by factors like meat-eating enabling early weaning around 2.5 million years ago in the Homo lineage. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39276]
High-altitude adaptation stands out as one of the most notable examples of evolution within our species. Despite similar challenges of decreased oxygen availability, human groups on different continents have followed unique evolutionary trajectories. I will discuss how genomic, molecular, and physiological discoveries reveal key insights into human-specific evolutionary changes, examine comparative findings and limitations, and consider alternative approaches for understanding distinct facets of this extraordinary human phenomenon. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39274]
The human genome contains segments of DNA with non-human origins. This introgressed genetic material is remnants of mating events between early modern humans and their archaic contemporaries (e.g., Neanderthals and Denisovans). In this talk, Andrew Schork will review the evidence for such genetic material, its consequences on phenotypic diversity in modern humans, and discuss if this process - archaic introgression - is typical among other great ape species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39273]
The most complex organizations in the living world beside those of humans are the colonies of ants. Mark Moffett will argue that points of comparison between sharply different organisms like ants and humans are exceptionally valuable to science, and indeed that modern humans are in many ways much more like certain ants than we are to our nearest relatives, the chimpanzees. He considers such issues as the role of individuality and group identity in ant societies; the advantages to ants of flat organizations without leaders or hierarchies; and what we can learn from ants with respect to direct and indirect communication, self-organization, job specialization, labor coordination, and global domination. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39272]
Ethnology, also known as cross-cultural analysis or comparative anthropology, involves comparing features of historically documented human societies. It has historical ties to archaeology, with notable figures like Augustus Pitt Rivers and Lewis Binford being proponents. Despite this, it's not commonly seen as a vital archaeological tool. This talk argues for its importance, citing both theoretical and practical benefits. Including ethnology in archaeological education can expedite our understanding of patterns in the archaeological record. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39271]
Since humans split from their primate ancestors, their brains evolved with a larger mass relative to body weight, more cortical neurons, and distinct connectivity patterns. Human neurons mature more slowly, a trait known as neoteny, likely influencing these differences. Gene regulation, not new genes, may underlie species differences, particularly in the primate lineage. The role of these regulatory mechanisms in human neuron development remains poorly understood. This lecture explores the molecular factors affecting prolonged human neuron maturation and its implications for human development and neurodevelopmental diseases. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39270]
We know Homo sapiens started in Africa, but we're uncertain about how they spread. Limited fossils and data have hindered our understanding. I'll discuss popular theories about our origins and how recent genetic data from Khoe-San people in southern Africa sheds light on this. Our research suggests a complex history, with population structures dating back to about 120,000-135,000 years ago. Early populations had connections, or gene flow, for hundreds of thousands of years. These "weakly structured stem" models explain genetic diversity that was once thought to come from other hominin species. Unlike previous ideas of interbreeding with archaic humans, our models predict that fossils from these populations should be genetically and physically similar. This variability in theories stems from not considering different possibilities, highlighting the importance of exploring various models to gain more accurate insights into our deep history. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39269]
The human penchant for storytelling is universal, early-developing, and profoundly culture-shaping. Stories (folk tales, narratives and myths) influence the costs of social transactions and organize societies at every scale of human interaction. Story as a mode of communication is also unprecedented in the animal kingdom: although we are compelled to tell stories about other animals, they are not likewise compelled to tell stories about us (or anything else, for that matter). Even our ability to manage urgent human problems such as global health and climate change are affected by the stories and myths humans choose to tell. This symposium explores several stories about how the evolution of story-telling shaped, and continues to shape, the human epoch. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39006]
Animals and tricksters are highly prominent beings in the mythology of the San Bushmen of southern Africa, as well as of hunter-gatherers in other regions of the world. Their actions and interactions provide the plot lines for most of the stories people tell about myth time. Why are these two beings so preeminent in San mythology and storytelling? Is there a connection between the two beings? Mathias Guenther discusses these two questions and the answer reveals a deep – and deep-rooted –mystical connection also between animals and humans. The hunting-gathering people that provide the cultural context for my talk are the San Bushmen of southern Africa, amongst whom I have done ethnographic field work. I will also consider hunter-gatherers from other parts of the world, both from present or recent times and from prehistory. These considerations may shed some light on certain aspects of prehistoric cave paintings. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39004]
Political, financial and environmental crises coupled to the rise of social media have, in recent years, created a perfect storm of mis- and disinformation that leverage long standing reservoirs of belief within and across communities. These stories on social media mirror face-to-face storytelling and other storytelling environments in that they allow for the negotiation of cultural ideology (norms, beliefs, values), yet they also change the scope, speed and amplification of that storytelling. Importantly, storytelling has real world effects, and often motivates people to take action. We present a graphical model of the underlying narrative frameworks, estimated from the data itself, and show how various network based methods can form the basis for understanding the narrative coherence—and their possible outcomes—even when the discussions on social media are incomplete and noisy, as conversations in real life often are. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39003]
In the foundational texts of Western civilisation (the Bible, Iliad), plagues are symbols of divine retribution, signifying Godly displeasure with human misdeeds. But in Thucydides’ classic account of the mysterious plague that swept Athens in 430 BC, Camus’s La Peste, and Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven, literary accounts of plagues and pandemics are also morality tales and metaphors for the dissolution of the social bonds necessary for the functioning of modern societies. In this talk, I bring the history of plague writing into dialogue with the history of trust, to examine what plague texts tell us about our foundational myths and our obsession with calamities and crises. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39002]
As the response to global warming leads towards a fundamental recalibration of our relationship to fire it is timely to look back into deep time at the origins of our entanglement with combustion. This brief talk draws on my experience working on the recovery of early evidence for human use of fire at the sites of Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa and Evron Quarry, Israel. I will argue that we should not think of an origin of human use of fire but rather of an emerging relationship between humans and fire. The hallmark of this relationship is that fire draws together technology and society; material and the intangible; adaptation and the sacred. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39001]
Humans have been telling stories about animals as long as humans have been telling stories. One story humans tell about animals is the one about how, with enough care and patience humans might one day listen to the stories animals themselves have to tell. Some folks see this story as nonfiction, a truth about animals manifest in the dance of bees, the grunts of monkeys, the antics of their dogs and cats, or the signs produced by trained gorillas. In this talk, I attempt examine these conflicting views. Despite the fact that animals do not sit around fires telling stories, are their minds organized in story-like formats? Do their mental representations of the events of the past, present and future constitute general narratives? Do they construct and reflect on their own personal narratives? And finally, and perhaps more paradoxically, are our scientific answers to these questions a better reflection of the internal world of animals or the humans who study them? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39000]
The human penchant for storytelling is universal, early-developing, and profoundly culture-shaping. Stories (folk tales, narratives and myths) influence the costs of social transactions and organize societies at every scale of human interaction. Story as a mode of communication is also unprecedented in the animal kingdom: although we are compelled to tell stories about other animals, they are not likewise compelled to tell stories about us (or anything else, for that matter). Even our ability to manage urgent human problems such as global health and climate change are affected by the stories and myths humans choose to tell. This symposium explores several stories about how the evolution of story-telling shaped, and continues to shape, the human epoch. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 39005]
The hunting hypothesis proposes that the dietary shift to meat procurement was the catalyst favoring a suite of transformative human biological and behavioral adaptations. Evolutionary changes in the human diet are associated with the emergence of food sharing, the division of labor and pooled energy budgets. To balance this discussion, I revisit several misconceptions linked to the hunting hypothesis. Revising myths about the centrality of hunting to more closely reflect the archaeological and ethnographic records has important implications for updating the entrenched emphasis on male behaviors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38999]
Some 350 to 400,000 years ago when our ancestors gained control of fire, the day was extended to provide many hours for social interaction, undisturbed by economic activities. How were those hours spent in societies that only had firelight after nightfall? In most preindustrial societies, music, dance, healing and storytelling fill the darkness. Myths and legends create common understandings on such matters as the origins of humans, social groups, rituals or features of the landscape. Hilarious trickster traditions explore the successes and failures of those who have the pluck to break with social norms. Stories about the adventures of real people add other dimensions, a topic Polly Wiessner addresses here. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38998]
Why are humans a compulsively storytelling species? Why especially do we invent stories, why do we tell one another stories that both teller and audience know to be untrue? Why do many of us come to believe some invented stories? What difference has our compulsion to tell stories made to us as individuals, societies, and a species? How do we understand stories so seemingly effortlessly? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38995]
For more than a century, folklorists have indexed a vast number of the world’s folkloric narratives according to varying structures (i.e. tale types) and to discrete elements (i.e. motifs) that commonly appear across cultures. This talk will introduce and analyze several examples of motifs indexed in folklorist Stith Thompson’s system. Ultimately, I ask whether stories about origins (human origins or otherwise) might constitute a genuine cultural universal? And if so, what might the folkloric representations of human origins say about a contemporary science of anthropogeny? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38996]
The origin of humans is a difficult scientific problem in evolution that is grounded in biology and molded by culture. Recent advances in neuroscience and artificial intelligence have led to synergies and surprising new hypotheses. Mysteries such as the origin of language and human sociality are being illuminated by these advances. This CARTA symposium will be explored by researchers at the frontiers of A.I., machine learning, language and sociality. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38688]
Pragmatics poses a headache to developers of artificial systems. But how did language evolve to efficiently relay so much pragmatic trickery? Eva Wittenberg presents a new paper that builds on the idea that grammar evolved gradually, and with it, pragmatics. We argue that the simpler a grammar is, the stronger the reliance on pragmatic inferences for many aspects of meaning, including even basic questions such as who did what to whom. As grammars gradually evolve towards more complex systems, these coarse pragmatic inferences give way to pragmatic processes that are different in character: Syntax, semantics, and the lexicon evolve to contain reliable and systematic triggers for highly structured pragmatic phenomena. Our account thus links a gradualist scenario of the evolution of syntax that triggers distinct qualitative processes in pragmatic reasoning. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38685]
Parallel Architecture is a theory of the mental representations involved in the language faculty. These representations are organized in three orthogonal dimensions or levels: phonology, syntax, and semantics, correlated with each other through interface links. Words are encoded in all three levels and serve as part of the interface between sound and meaning. In the representation of an entire sentence, the words are spread out across the combinatoriality of the three levels. An important requirement for a theory of language is that it must offer an account of how we can talk about what we see. It is proposed that conceptual structure in language interfaces with a level of physical space – which in turn interfaces with visual, haptic, and proprioceptive perception, and with the planning of action. Thus, the basic principles of the Parallel Architecture for language can be extended to major aspects of mental function. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38684]
Vocal learning is one of the most critical components of spoken language. It has only evolved several independent times among mammals and birds. Although all vocal learning species are distantly related and have closer relatives that are non-vocal learners, humans and the vocal learning birds have evolved convergent forebrain pathways that control song and speech imitation and production. Erich Jarvis presents an overview of the various biological hypothesis of what makes vocal learning and spoken language special, how it evolved, and what differs about the molecular and neural mechanisms compared to other behavioral traits. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38686]
Common sense is shared knowledge about people and the physical world, enabled by the biological brain. It comprises intuitive psychology, intuitive physics, and intuitive sociality. Unlike deep neural networks, common sense requires only limited experience. Human intelligence has evolved to deal with uncertainty, independent of whether big or small data are available. Complex AI algorithms, in contrast, work best in stable, well-defined situations such as chess and Go, where large amounts of data are available. This stable-world principle helps to understand what statistical algorithms are capable of and distinguish it from commercial hype or techno-religious faith. Gerd Gigerenzer introduces the program of psychological AI, which uses psychological heuristics to make algorithms smart. What we need is a fusion of the adaptive heuristics that embody common sense with the power of machine learning. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38683]
The emergence of language is routinely regarded as a major (or even the main) evolutionary transition in our species’ history. Much less attention and awe has been dispensed to the fact that humans evolved the capacity to successfully create, learn, and use a myriad of different languages which, while similar in some aspects, are radically different in many others. In this presentation, I will argue that these differences have observable consequences for non-linguistic aspects of cognition and behavior. Finally, I will discuss how these effects play out in the design, testing, and deployment of AI, as the linguistic peculiarities of behemoth languages like English are extrapolated to the world’s languages. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38681]
Highly organized social groups require well-structured and dynamic communication systems. Naked mole-rats form some of the most rigidly structured social groups in the Animal Kingdom, exhibiting eusociality, a type of highly cooperative social living characterized by a reproductive division of labor with a single breeding female, the queen. Using machine learning techniques we demonstrated that one vocalization type, the soft chirp, encodes information about individual identity and colony membership. Colony specific vocal dialects can be learned early in life--pups that were cross-fostered acquire the dialect of their adoptive colonies. We also demonstrate that vocal dialects are influenced in part by the presence of the queen. Alison Barker summarizes these findings and highlight our current work investigating how social and vocal complexity evolved in parallel in closely related species throughout the Bathyergidae family of African mole-rats. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38680]
The origin of humans is a difficult scientific problem in evolution that is grounded in biology and molded by culture. Recent advances in neuroscience and artificial intelligence have led to synergies and surprising new hypotheses. Mysteries such as the origin of language and human sociality are being illuminated by these advances. This CARTA symposium will be explored by researchers at the frontiers of A.I., machine learning, language and sociality. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38687]
Large language models (LLMs) have now achieved many of the longstanding goals of the quest for generalist AI. While LLMs are still very imperfect (though rapidly improving) in areas like factual grounding, planning, reasoning, safety, memory, and consistency, they do understand concepts, are capable of insight and originality, can problem-solve, and exhibit many faculties we have historically defended vigorously as exceptionally human, such as humor, creativity, and theory of mind. At this point, human responses to the emergence of AI seem to be telling us more about our own psychology, hopes and fears, than about AI itself. However, taking these new AI capacities seriously, and noticing that they all emerge purely from sequence modeling, should cause us to reassess what our own cerebral cortex is doing, and whether we are learning what intelligence, machine or biological, actually is. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38679]
Evolution always presented life forms with new challenges -- due to changes in weather, terrain, competition between different organisms, and other reasons. To increase the chance of survival, instead of solely optimizing current performance, it is in an agent's interest to maximize its ability to adapt to changes. Possibly this old evolutionary trait manifests itself in modern humans in their ability to adapt to new tasks and challenges quickly. Even if we consider a lifetime of a human, the ability to adapt is critical. An open question is what enables humans to adapt, a trait that modern AI systems lack. Frivolous play prepares infants for future life by laying down the foundation of a high-level experimentation framework to quickly understand how things work in new environments for constructing goal-directed plans. Pulkit Agrawal discusses how the idea of experimentation can be leveraged to construct robots that improve with experience and solve novel problems presented to them. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38678]
Feedback interconnections are widespread in the brain; yet clear explanations for most of them are currently lacking. Carmen Amo Alonso and John Doyle explore current experimental evidence on the relationship between the auditory and motor parts of the brain during speech perception and production. These models provide a plausible explanation for how the structure of language, as described in the Parallel Architecture, is implemented in the brain. Together, they provide a plausible account for how the Parallel Architecture of language originates as a result of functional constrains in the sensorimotor system. They compare the brain’s implementation of the language capacity with other cognitive capacities, such as vision or motor planning and control, which also have massive internal feedbacks that our new theory explains for the first time. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38682]
Anthropogeny, has provided many new discoveries over the past decade, ranging from new fossil finds to ancient DNA data, including from extinct hominins. New methods and multi-disciplinary collaborations are providing exciting new insights into the complicated evolutionary journey that gave rise to our species. However, we remain far from understanding some of the most striking human-specific characteristics: the reasons for our bipedality, the factors selecting for our dexterity at creating and using tools, and the true age of fire use in our distant ancestors. This CARTA symposium features advisory committee members who highlight where they hope future efforts should be focused and what type of novel collaborations are most promising for improving our understanding of the human phenomenon. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38305]
Anthropogeny, has provided many new discoveries over the past decade, ranging from new fossil finds to ancient DNA data, including from extinct hominins. This CARTA symposium highlights where the future efforts should be focused and what type of novel collaborations are most promising for improving our understanding of the human phenomenon. Evan Eichler talks about the discovery and resolution of genetic variation is critical to understanding disease and evolution. The data suggests that large-scale genome structural variation continues to play a crucial role in the evolution of the human species.Daniel Geschwind discusses human cognition and how human brain evolution are particularly susceptible to disruption of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38630]
Anthropogeny, has provided many new discoveries over the past decade, ranging from new fossil finds to ancient DNA data, including from extinct hominins. This CARTA symposium highlights where the future efforts should be focused and what type of novel collaborations are most promising for improving our understanding of the human phenomenon. Pascal Gagneux offers a zoological view of the human cultural animal. Robert Kluender talks about the evolution of language structure and the future of linguistics. Anne Stone discusses ancient DNA research and the surprising insights into human evolutionary history. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38633]
Anthropogeny, has provided many new discoveries over the past decade, ranging from new fossil finds to ancient DNA data, including from extinct hominins. This CARTA symposium highlights where the future efforts should be focused and what type of novel collaborations are most promising for improving our understanding of the human phenomenon. Yohannes Haile-Selassie discusses the importance of fossil based human origin research. Carol Marchetto talks about the use of stem cells to study human origins. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38632]
Anthropogeny, has provided many new discoveries over the past decade, ranging from new fossil finds to ancient DNA data, including from extinct hominins. This CARTA symposium highlights where the future efforts should be focused and what type of novel collaborations are most promising for improving our understanding of the human phenomenon. Terry Sejnowski discusses how large-scale neural network models have inspired major advances in artificial intelligence. Sarah Tishkoff talks on how Africa is thought to be the ancestral homeland of all modern human populations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38631]
Current knowledge of our deep past is primarily derived from ancient fossils of our ancestors that paleoanthropologists search for and discover in some of the most remote areas of the world. In the last two decades, significant fossil discoveries have been made and these discoveries have re-written some parts of our deep past. However, the fossil record is still far from complete, primarily due to the absence of fossils from some critical geological times and the lack of robust samples for the species already identified. The best way to fill temporal gaps in the fossil record and meaningfully increase the sample size is by conducting surveys and exploration to locate new areas of paleoanthropological significance. If we want to fully understand our evolutionary history, especially how we became who we are today and where we are going, continued paleoanthropological fieldwork is of paramount importance. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38499]
Anthropogeny, has provided many new discoveries over the past decade, ranging from new fossil finds to ancient DNA data, including from extinct hominins. New methods and multi-disciplinary collaborations are providing exciting new insights into the complicated evolutionary journey that gave rise to our species. However, we remain far from understanding some of the most striking human-specific characteristics: the reasons for our bipedality, the factors selecting for our dexterity at creating and using tools, and the true age of fire use in our distant ancestors. This CARTA symposium features advisory committee members who highlight where they hope future efforts should be focused and what type of novel collaborations are most promising for improving our understanding of the human phenomenon. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38296]
For the past 30 years, the frontiers of language science have been in the areas of neurolinguistics and genetics, both of which arose in conjunction with new technologies emerging in the 1990s. It is probably safe to say that these trends will continue apace as technology in these areas continues to advance, allowing for increasingly sophisticated and fine-grained analysis. From its inception, the study of language has been inextricably linked with cultural anthropology and the arts. It was only in the 20th century that linguistics was able to break free of its sister disciplines and establish itself as an autonomous field all its own. In this talk, I first look backwards in time, in a review of the provenance and history of linguistics as a field. The idea is to take stock of where we have come from in order to get a sense for where we might be headed. Much of what we do today in linguistics has its roots in what the Sanskrit grammarians did several millennia ago. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38300]
Human cognition and behavior are highly heritable and so is liability to disorders that affect them. This includes neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We have started to integrate genetic risk data with the emerging maps of gene regulation to study human specific aspects of gene expression and gene regulation. These analyses indicate that human specific aspects of gene regulation, such as genes regulated by human specific enhancers, are indeed enriched in mutations or common genetic variants that increase risk for ASD and allied neurodevelopmental disorders. This provides evidence that genetic elements underlying human brain evolution are particularly susceptible to disruption in disease. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38299]
Africa is thought to be the ancestral homeland of all modern human populations within the past 300,000 years. It is also a region of tremendous cultural, linguistic, climatic, and genetic diversity. Despite the important role that African populations have played in human history, they remain one of the most underrepresented groups in human genomics studies. A comprehensive knowledge of patterns of variation in African genomes is critical for a deeper understanding of human genomic diversity, the identification of functionally important genetic variation, the genetic basis of adaptation to diverse environments and diets, and the origins of modern humans. We have characterized genomic variation in thousands of ethnically and geographically diverse Africans in order to reconstruct human population history and local adaptation to variable environments and have identified candidate loci that play a role in alcohol metabolism and skin color. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38304]
Our species is between 300,000 and 200,000 years old. For most of this one-quarter of a million years, up until just 12,000 years ago, it appears that our ancestors lived in small populations, in small-scale societies of which we can only guess the real nature. We remain in the dark about the age of some of the most diagnostic features of our species: our striding bipedalism, complex tool manufacture and use, fire use, language and societies defining their own identities, collaborating with and competing against neighboring societies. Data from studies of non-human animal behavior remind us of the underappreciated capacities of many other species. However, it has so far not provided evidence for any other species that shares the long list of distinctly human characteristics; chief among those, our species’ capacity to not only simultaneous modify and threaten planetary ecosystems but also document and study such ecosystems across the globe. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38298]
The discovery and resolution of genetic variation is critical to understanding disease and evolution. Our most recent work sequences diverse human and nonhuman primate genomes using both ultra-long and high-fidelity long-read sequencing technologies. Advances in this area have made possible the first telomere-to-telomere assemblies of the human genome and much more complete chimp, gorilla and orangutan genomes providing new biological insights into regions typically excluded from human genetic and comparative studies. We have discovered mega basepairs of duplicated sequence and/or rapidly evolving sequence present in humans that are absent from other non-human primates. These changes have predisposed our species to recurrent rearrangements associated with disease but also have led to the emergence of new genes important in the expansion of the human frontal cortex of the brain. Our data suggest that large-scale genome structural variation has played and continues to play a crucial role in the evolution of the human species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38297]
Neuroscience has made great strides in the last decade following the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, a science and engineering grand challenge that has greatly accelerated research on large-scale recordings from neurons and reconstructions of neural circuits. Large-scale neural network models have in turn inspired major advances in artificial intelligence. These network models have been trained on large-scale data sets to recognize objects in images, caption photographs, and translate text between languages. The most recent advance has been the emergence of pre-trained foundational language models that are self-supervised and can be adapted with fine tuning to a wide range of natural language tasks, each of which previously would have required a separate network model. This is one step closer to the extraordinary versatility of human language. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38302]
The human brain has a larger mass with respect to body weight, increased cortical neurons with respect to size, an expanded proliferative zone, and unique connectivity patterns. Human-specific neurodevelopment is not only marked by physical differences, but also by temporal changes. Human neurons, during both prenatal neurodevelopment and adult neurogenesis, exhibit an exceptionally delayed time course, a characteristic termed neoteny. Signatures of human-specific neoteny have been observed and reproduced across different systems including induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) and brain organoids models. We compared neurogenesis across stem cells from five primate species - rhesus, gorilla, bonobo, chimpanzee, human - and assessed the differences in transcriptional dynamics. We identified a pioneer transcription factor, GATA3, that exhibited elevated neuronal expression only in humans. This finding provides evidence for the divergence of gene regulation as a contributor to human neoteny. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Education] [Show ID: 38301]
As humans have evolved, so has our ability to drastically alter the planet we call home. In this collection of talks from the CARTA symposium, "Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes" you will learn about specific examples on how humans have changed Earth and what can be done to prevent its cataclysmic demise. David Holway addresses the challenges of emerging invasive species in our ecosystem. Oliver Ryder discusses the accelerated rate of loss of species due to human activities. Patricia Hunt talks about how human made chemicals and pollutants are impacting global fertility rates. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38207]
As humans have evolved, so has our ability to drastically alter the planet we call home. In this collection of talks from the CARTA symposium, "Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes" you will learn about specific examples on how humans have changed Earth and what can be done to prevent its cataclysmic demise. Rob Knight will talk about how all microbiomes that have been studies are impacted by human activity. Alice Goramn discusses how accumulating space debris surrounding our planet that may prevent us from leaving the Earth in the future. Asher Rosinger addresses the global water challenges that humans may face as climate change begins to affect water supplies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38206]
As humans have evolved, so has our ability to drastically alter the planet we call home. In this collection of talks from the CARTA symposium, "Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes" you will learn about specific examples on how humans have changed Earth and what can be done to prevent its cataclysmic demise. Walter Willett will discuss how climate change is having devastating effects that will undermine our ability to feed the world’s growing population. Jessica Thompson talks about humans transformed the environment and the damage it has done to our ecosystem. Finally, David Tilman addresses the global alteration of Earth's nitrogen cycle, and what it means for u as a species moving forward. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38205]
This CARTA public symposia will address specific examples of how humans have drastically altered the planet. Acknowledged experts will discuss clearly defined global-scale negative impacts on planet earth, our life support system (other than climate change, population growth and infectious diseases, which are well-known). Each talk will succinctly describe a specific impact, the role that our species has played, and conclude with ongoing or potential approaches to mitigation. In the process, we are coming full circle to Anthropogeny, asking how a single species could have evolved the ability to so drastically alter the entire planet. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38009]
Through the Earth Microbiome Program and complementary efforts, we have sampled a broad range of microbiomes from across the planet. All microbiomes that have been studied are impacted by human activity — the effects of industrialization on the human microbiome are best characterized, but capture of animals in zoos, domestication, modification of soils through agricultural practices, and modification of freshwater and marine microbiomes have all been well characterized. Indeed, the pervasive role of environmental microbiomes in biogeochemical cycles necessary to sustain life led to a position paper entitled "Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change”, the title of which speaks for itself. However, there is hope. Efforts such as the Microbiota Vault will be especially important in this respect, but also new monitoring and modeling approaches will be understand where to look globally for the best specimens and microbes to preserve. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37909]
In 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik 1, the first human object to leave Earth. In the 65 years since then the region of Earth orbit has become filled with satellites and space junk. The proliferation of debris has led to the prediction of Kessler Syndrome, a state where a never-ending cascade of collisions between orbital objects renders parts of space unusable for human purposes. However, there are many different ways to look at the space junk surrounding Earth. For example, it is also an archaeological record of humanity’s first steps into outer space, a cultural landscape created by the combined effects of natural and cultural processes, and a technological signature of the same kind that SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) researchers are looking for around exoplanets in other solar systems. It’s unclear when or whether the tipping point into Kessler Syndrome might be reached, but if humanity is confined to Earth in the future, what will this mean? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37913]
We are experiencing an accelerated rate of loss of species due to human activities. This anthropogenic phenomenon extends beyond extinction. It encompasses an expanded loss of biodiversity as the genetic diversity of species diminish, reducing gene pools to “gene puddles.” We know details of species extinctions events from the fossil record, historical record, and from ancient DNA studies, and that historical processes shape extinction risk. Habitat loss and changing eco-environmental conditions, competition, and other factors produce genomic impacts, also influencing extinction risk. The legacy of past events impacts resiliency of species in the current environment in interpretable ways. Demographic trajectories reveal vulnerability to extinction. Remarkable advances in genomics technologies portend a deeper understanding of the evolution of life and the vulnerability of extant species to changes now taking place through human agency. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37906]
Humans now annually add more biologically available nitrogen to the Earth’s land surfaces than do all natural processes. For 3 billion years, available nitrogen had been the major limiting currency for life on Earth. The recent human disruption of the global nitrogen cycle is causing major environmental harm, including water and air pollution, marine dead zones, 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and species extinctions. Three major ways to solve this nitrogen problem are: (1) much more efficient global use of nitrogen fertilizers; (2) shifts to lower-meat and healthier diets; and (3) halting the conversion of food crops into biofuels, such as US corn ethanol used for transport. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37910]
We are losing species much more rapidly now than in the last two million years! At that pace, we may lose a large proportion of vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes, in the next two to three decades. Modern extinctions caused by human activities is higher that the normal or natural extinction rate. This is important because it would let us understand if we are causing a mass extinction. In the history of life on Earth, there have been five mass extinctions – episodes where large numbers of species became extinct in a short period of time. All mass extinctions have been caused by natural catastrophes, such as the impact of a meteorite. We are the only species that has the capability to save all endangered animals. Paradoxically, saving them is the only way to save humanity. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37904]
Beginning with Homo erectus at least a million years ago, hominins have used fire to engineer the world around them. The earliest uses of fire surely included cooking, changing the energy yields of foods. Such innovations altered the course of our evolution, facilitating the evolution of species that could adapt quickly using tools and social ingenuity. After 200,000 years ago, hominins also used fire to change the material properties of stone, pigments, sap, and wood. Although these changes represent a fundamental shift in the role of humans as dominant shapers of their environments, ecosystems adjusted as early humans remained embedded within them. Although we built our ability to bend environments to our needs on millions of years of evolution and innovation, humans are not now simply shifting to another sustainable balance. Rather, we continue to push environmental thresholds across one tipping point after the next. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37907]
This CARTA public symposia will address specific examples of how humans have drastically altered the planet. Acknowledged experts will discuss clearly defined global-scale negative impacts on planet earth, our life support system (other than climate change, population growth and infectious diseases, which are well-known). Each talk will succinctly describe a specific impact, the role that our species has played, and conclude with ongoing or potential approaches to mitigation. In the process, we are coming full circle to Anthropogeny, asking how a single species could have evolved the ability to so drastically alter the entire planet. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 38008]
Humans have adapted to meet their water needs across disparate environments over time using behavioral adaptations. Yet, as temperatures rise and freshwater sources become depleted, it is critical to understand 1) how populations modify their environments to meet their water needs, and 2) the consequences of these anthropogenic - or human caused changes - on the environment and further on human health. This talk will provide an overview of different global water challenges and focus on a couple of case studies to highlight how development projects in remote areas that provide easier access to water, which may be high in salt or other contaminants, can unintentionally worsen health outcomes and hasten water depletion. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37908]
Human-made chemicals with the unexpected ability to interfere with our body’s endocrine system have become prominent contaminants in daily life. Because the hormones produced by our endocrine system create complex signaling networks that control our growth, maturation, fertility, immunity, behavior, and sleep, these endocrine disrupting chemicals, or EDCs, can exert powerful biological effects. Declines in human fertility evidenced by falling sperm counts and increases in the incidence of infertility raise concern that daily exposure to EDC contaminants already is impacting human fertility. By design, all species are responsive to their environment. In humans, this responsiveness means that changes in our environment can affect the production of eggs and sperm, the growth and development of the fetus, and adult susceptibility to disease. Thus, in a 21st century world characterized by environmental crises, EDCs represent a planetary health problem with the potential to affect future generations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37912]
The world is facing a health crisis due to increasing rates of obesity and diabetes, and the consequences of this pandemic will accumulate over the coming decades. Simultaneously, climate change is accelerating and is already having devastating effects that will undermine our ability to feed the world’s growing population. In turn, our food systems contribute importantly to greenhouse gas emissions, water and land use, and multiple forms of pollution. Thus, a solution to feeding what will be about 10 billion people by 2050 diets that are both healthy and environmentally sustainable presents an opportunity to mitigate many global challenges.
The EAT-Lancet commission addressed this challenge by defining healthy diets quantitatively, determining whether these can be produced within planetary boundaries for greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental factors, and identifying strategies to achieve these goals. Any solution must assume that we rapidly shift from fossil fuels to green energy. The commission found that global adoption of a flexitarian dietary pattern that could include up to about two servings per day of animal sourced foods, together with improvements in agricultural practices and reductions in food waste, would have major benefits for human health and allow us to stay within planetary boundaries. Achieving this will require the engagement of governments at all levels, civil society, and individuals. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37911]
This CARTA public symposia focuses on the long and short-term impact of humans on the planet that we inhabit, and the consequences for the future of our species. This also gives us the opportunity to celebrate the memory of the late Paul Crutzen, who coined the term “Anthropocene.” It is relevant to ask how a single species evolved the capacity to completely alter the surface of an entire planet and dominate its governing environmental and ecological processes. This symposium brings together experts regarding human impact on the planet and also addresses the current and future implications for our species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37937]
Speakers Leslie Aiello, Michael Purugganan and Vanessa Ezenwa discuss humanity's past, present and future of the Anthropocene. Aiello speaks on how the human capacity to change the planet is not something new, but is rooted in our deep evolutionary past. One of the hallmarks of humans is our large brain size, which began to expand about 2 million years ago. Purugganan discusses how domesticated species are an interesting group of organisms that have co-evolved with Homo sapiens, and have been important in human survival and fitness. Ezenwa explores the idea that interactions between climate change and infectious diseases can increase disease prevalence in human and animal populations, but disease, in turn, may exacerbate climate change. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37936]
This CARTA public symposia focuses on the long and short-term impact of humans on the planet that we inhabit, and the consequences for the future of our species. This also gives us the opportunity to celebrate the memory of the late Paul Crutzen, who coined the term “Anthropocene.” It is relevant to ask how a single species evolved the capacity to completely alter the surface of an entire planet and dominate its governing environmental and ecological processes. This symposium brings together experts regarding human impact on the planet and also address the current and future implications for our species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37875]
Speakers Mark Moffett, Charles Kennel and Martin Rees discuss humanity's past, present and future of the Anthropocene. Moffett examines the effects of the most aggressive ants on the environment, arguing that certain invasive species resemble humans in their capacity for global conquest and environmental destructiveness. Kennel speaks about the connections between past and present human exploitation of the environment, the coming crisis of the Anthropocene and what we humans can do to alleviate the crisis. Rees explores potential utopian and dystopian futures for humans on Earth. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37934]
Speakers V. Ramanathan, Nancy Knowlton and Jonah Western discuss humanity's past, present and future of the Anthropocene. Veerabhadran Ramanathan has had the privilege and pleasure of collaborating with Paul Crutzen for more than 40 years. Crutzen is one of the most creative, innovative and original geo-scientists of his generation. Nancy Knowlton speaks on how the ocean is enormous, indeed so large that for centuries we assumed there was nothing we could do to substantially harm it. Unfortunately, we now know that this is not true. David (Jonah) Western emphasizes how conservation is common to all societies which learned to live within ecosystem limits. If we use our unique capacity for cooperation and planning, there is hope for combating global warming and sustaining the diversity of life globally. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37935]
Brenna Henn (Stony Brook Univ) explores patterns of genetic diversity across Africa and models for modern human origins in this talk. She discusses whether genetic data is concordant with archaeological data and suggests directions for future research. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30979]
The ocean is enormous, indeed so large that for centuries we assumed that there was nothing we could do to substantially harm it. Unfortunately, we now know that this is not true. We are having success on some fronts, such as saving species from extinction, protecting ocean waters, fishing more sustainably, and restoring damaged ecosystems by replanting critical species and reducing pollution. Even actions on land, such as removing dams from rivers and rats from islands, can make an important difference to marine life. Of course, we still need to do much more, and do it faster. In the future, we can turn to new tools drawn from the natural and social sciences. Big data and genetic interventions have a role to play, as do ocean-based renewable energy sources and new financing schemes. Perhaps most important is the growing recognition that success depends on empowering local communities in efforts to create a healthier ocean. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37775]
The human capacity to change the planet is not something new, but is rooted in our deep evolutionary past. One of the hallmarks of humans is our large brain size, which began to expand about 2 million years ago. This expansion did not come without consequences, and two are particularly important. The first is the additional energy requirements needed to fuel this larger brain size together with the concomitant life history factors such as shorter inter birth intervals, more dependent offspring and longer periods of growth and development, and longer lifespans. The second is the solution to these energy requirements that involve cooperative breeding and the development of the high risk/high return hunting and gathering foraging strategies. From this foundation we trace the increasing capacity of humans to extract more energy from the environment through the development of a reliance on fire, the agricultural revolution leading to the industrial revolution and modern times. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37770]
Domesticated species of crops are an interesting group of organisms that have co-evolved with Homo sapiens, and have been important in human survival and fitness. We trace the origin and spread of these domesticated crop species over the last 12,000 years, discussing both their impacts on human society as well as to the climate and human evolution. We will also present the challenges in modern agriculture and food security. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37771]
Sheldon Solomon explores how humans manage the terror of death, and the larger implications of this quest for immortality via death denial. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32056]
Veerabhadran Ramanathan has had the privilege and pleasure of collaborating with Paul Crutzen for more than 40 years. During the year 2000, when he announced to the world about his Anthropocene concept, Crutzen and Ramanathan were in the midst of a major field study on Atmospheric Clouds over the Indian Ocean. Crutzen is one of the most creative, innovative and original geo-scientists of his generation. Ramanathan describes the Anthropocene using the lens of a climate scientist. He concludes with speculation about how and when we will transition from the current adolescent age of the Anthropocene subject to multiple assaults on the environment to a mature, sustainable and safe Anthropocene. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37769]
Conservation is common to all societies which learned to live within ecosystem limits. In breaking the evolutionary and biological straight-jackets constricting other species, we became the ultimate multi-niche free-ranging species. Our rise to global conquest and ecological emancipation from nature through domestication and manufacturing expanded conservation for survival to saving whales, elephants, the Acropolis and Mona Lisa. The universal rules for overcoming a tragedy of the commons locally offers hope for combating global warming and sustaining the diversity of life globally—if we use our unique capacity for cooperation and planning. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37776]
Climate change is one of the hallmarks of the Anthropocene. Rising global temperatures are having profound effects on ecosystems and the organisms that inhabit them, including disease-causing organisms such as viruses, bacteria, and parasitic worms. However, much less is known about the potential for infectious agents to contribute to changes in climate. Many infectious agents have the potential to affect greenhouse gas emissions via effects on their hosts. In her talk, Vanessa Ezenwa explores the idea that interactions between climate change and infectious diseases are not solely unidirectional, specifically, that climate change can increase disease prevalence in human and animal populations, but disease, in turn, may exacerbate climate change. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37774]
This century is the first in Earth's history when the catastrophic threats to the entire planet can be induced by one species, humans. We have an ever-heavier collective footprint on the planet. We’re empowered by ever more powerful technologies that can be hugely beneficial, but which if misapplied could trigger calamitous setbacks to civilization. Such events could be global: we’re so interconnected that no continent would be unscathed. It’s an ethical indictment of humanity that the gap between the actual state of the world, and the way it could be, is widening rather than narrowing. COVID-19 has been a wake-up call. It has shown that our increasingly interconnected civilization is vulnerable - but also that well-directed science can be our salvation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37777]
Connections between past and present human exploitation of the environment, the coming crisis of the Anthropocene and what we humans can do to alleviate the crisis. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37773]
This talk considers the effects of the most aggressive ants on the environment, arguing that certain invasive species resemble humans in their capacity for global conquest and environmental destructiveness. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37772]
UC San Diego professor Carol Marchetto discusses how a comparative gene expression analysis of human and non-human primates revealed differences in the regulation of a class of transposable elements LINE1 retrotransposons between species. University of Southern California professor Joseph Hacia discusses studies profiling phytanic acid levels in red blood cells obtained from humans and captive non-human primates all on low phytanic acid diets. Emory University professor James Rilling discusses the difference of arcuate fasciculus between human and non-human primate brains and how the specialization of speech has helped humans evolve. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37527]
This symposium addresses several important distinctly human characteristics that range from molecules, to metabolism, anatomy, disease, and behavior. Goals include transdisciplinary interactions, improved self-understanding, promotion of ethically sound studies to explain known differences, and the generation of new, potentially unexplored, insights on uniquely-human specializations. Given the interest in understanding our evolution, this symposium will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Such understanding may help explain the origin of our species and how it came to now directly shape the planet, giving rise to the Anthropocene (a proposed geological epoch distinguished by human influence on climate and the environment). Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37534]
Identifying cellular and molecular differences between human and non-human primates is essential to the basic understanding of the evolution and diversity of our own species. While preserved tissues are the main source of comparative studies between humans, chimpanzees and bonboos, the samples do not accurately represent the traits of live cell behavior and cannot be genetically manipulated. UC San Diego professor Carol Marchetto discusses how a comparative gene expression analysis of human and non-human primates revealed differences in the regulation of a class of transposable elements (Long Interspersed Nuclear Element 1 or LINE1 retrotransposons) between species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37377]
Unlike our closest primate relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos, humans form strong intergroup ties which can mitigate coalitionary aggression and make peace possible. However, such bonds can also be used to build larger alliances that take such conflicts to a new level of magnitude, supported by cultural and linguistic proficiencies. Arizona State University and University of Utah professor Polly Wiessner addresses intergroup ties between humans, chimpanzees and bonobos, explores some of the possible evolutionary developments that contributed to the human disposition to form mutually supportive external bonds, and then discusses the impact of social ties on coalitionary action. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37383]
Emory University professor Dietrich Stout discusses an evolutionarily motivated definition of technology that highlights three key features: material production, social collaboration, and cultural reproduction; UC San Diego professor Pascal Gagneux discusses how recent comparative genome studies have revealed that this polymorphic system is ancient and shared between humans and non-human primates, this despite the fact that none of the great ape species carries all four ABO blood types; and University of Utah professor James O’Connell discusses food sharing, evaluates one hypothesis that focuses on males acquiring big game meat and marrow to provide for mates and offspring. The other hypothesis surrounds how certain kinds of savanna plant food set up the forager interdependence which propelled all aspects of life history change. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37528]
Arizona State University and University of Utah professor Polly Wiessner addresses intergroup ties between humans, chimpanzees and bonobos and explores some of the possible evolutionary developments that contributed to the human disposition to form mutually supportive external bonds, and then discusses the impact of social ties on coalitionary action; UC San Diego professor Rafael Nuñez discusses the comparative analysis of “quantity” and “number”, and the implications it has for debates about the origins of other human special capacities such as geometry, music, and art; and UC San Diego School of Medicine professor Nissi Varki discusses the incidence of carcinomas, including the rarity of occurrence of common human carcinomas in captive chimpanzees. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37529]
Technology is clearly central to human life and evolution but remains hard to define and study. Emory University professor Dietrich Stout discusses an evolutionarily motivated definition of technology that highlights three key features: material production, social collaboration, and cultural reproduction. This perspective has important implications for the way we conceptualize and study the origins and evolution of human technologies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37385]
This symposium addresses several important distinctly human characteristics that range from molecules, to metabolism, anatomy, disease, and behavior. Goals include transdisciplinary interactions, improved self-understanding, promotion of ethically sound studies to explain known differences, and the generation of new, potentially unexplored, insights on uniquely-human specializations. Given the interest in understanding our evolution, this symposium will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Such understanding may help explain the origin of our species and how it came to now directly shape the planet, giving rise to the Anthropocene (a proposed geological epoch distinguished by human influence on climate and the environment). Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37447]
Humans and many other species have biologically endowed abilities for discriminating “quantities” to some degree (e.g., subitizing), but only humans, via the distinct capacity of “symbolic reference” exhibit “number” — i.e., exact symbolic quantification. Language, with its symbolic properties although present in all human cultures, is a necessary condition for “number” but it is not a sufficient condition for it. UC San Diego professor Rafael Nuñez discusses the comparative analysis of “quantity” and “number”, and the implications it has for debates about the origins of other human special capacities such as geometry, music, and art. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37386]
Sialic acid-recognizing immunoglobulin-type lectins (Siglecs) are a family of cell surface proteins prominently expressed on immune cells in mammals. Siglec-11 is an example of an inhibitory Siglec. It was the first protein in the brain found to be “human-specific”: non-human primates express Siglec-11 in other tissues but not in the central nervous system. UC San Diego School of Medicine professor Ajit Varki discusses the importance of Siglec-11 and the paired receptor Siglec-16, and how they play significant roles in regulating inflammation, and have several uniquely human features including expression in brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37380]
Language is a human cognitive specialization, and as such, is expected to be supported by human neurological specializations. The arcuate fasciculus is a white matter fiber tract that connects Wernicke’s and Broca’s language areas in the human brain, and also connects the homologues of Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas in non-human primate brains. Emory University professor James Rilling discusses the difference of arcuate fasciculus between human and non-human primate brains and how the specialization of speech has helped humans evolve. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37381]
During embryogenesis, the three germ layers (endoderm, ectoderm, mesoderm) differentiate into epithelial and non-epithelial cells, which eventually form differentiated tissues and organs. Abundant data now indicates that we humans are very closely related to other hominids including chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans, the so-called "great apes". UC San Diego School of Medicine professor Nissi Varki discusses the incidence of carcinomas, including the rarity of occurrence of common human carcinomas in captive chimpanzees. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37382]
Diet has played a major role in the evolution of human and non-human primate digestive systems. Phytanic acid is a potentially toxic branched chain fatty acid that can be acquired in humans by ingesting plant and/or animal products. Although it was established that humans cannot derive phytanic acid from chlorophyll and instead normally obtain it only from meat, dairy, and fish products, less was known about the capacity of non-human primates with proportionally larger hindguts to obtain phytanic acid from plant materials. University of Southern California professor Joseph Hacia discusses studies profiling phytanic acid levels in red blood cells obtained from humans and captive non-human primates all on low phytanic acid diets. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37379]
ABO Blood groups represent the first described human molecular polymorphism. The ABO gene encodes variants of a protein (a glycosyltransferase) that produces the short sugar chains on glycoproteins and glycolipids that define the A, B, or O antigens. These antigens are found on red blood cells, plasma glycoproteins, and other cell types in various tissues. Individual humans can have one of four blood types based on the two alleles inherited from both parents at the ABO locus: blood type A, B, AB, or O. UC San Diego professor Pascal Gagneux discusses how recent comparative genome studies have revealed that this polymorphic system is ancient and shared between humans and non-human primates, this despite the fact that none of the great ape species carries all four ABO blood types. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37378]
Humans are unusual in that we depend on shared foods, especially among families and friends and between potential mates. Food sharing occurs between healthy individuals and those that are infirm or elderly. We also differ from other great apes in our early ages at weaning, late ages at maturity, short birth intervals and survivorship decades past menopause. The emergence of these patterns was crucial to early human development. In light of observations among modern East African hunter-gatherers, University of Utah professor James O’Connell evaluates two alternatives. He discusses one hypothesis that focuses on males acquiring big game meat and marrow to provide for mates and offspring. The other hypothesis surrounds how certain kinds of savanna plant food set up the forager interdependence which propelled all aspects of life history change. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 37384]
Discussion session about The Evolution of Human Physical Activity. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37188]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Herman Pontzer explores the evolution of metabolism, Grazyna Jasienska discusses different effects of activity on women's reproductive health and Ellen Breen explores an evolutionary pathway for high endurance activity. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37187]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Daniel Lieberman explores how running evolved and David Raichlen explains the effects of physical activity on the brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37185]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Tatum Simonson explains adaptations to altitude and diving, Jandy Hanna explores climbing in human evolution and David Carrier proposes anatomical adaptations for aggression. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37186]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Daniel Lieberman and Yana Kamberov explore how running and sweating evolved and what it means for Homo sapiens. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37184]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? David Carrier proposes anatomical adaptations for aggression.
A growing body of evidence suggests that the evolutionary roots of much of the aggression, intolerance, and violence that plagues modern societies ultimately lies in the selection that shaped our mating system. Acknowledging and understanding the legacy of male interpersonal and group aggression can help guide policy directed at reducing violence in the future. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36947]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Jandy Hanna explores climbing in human evolution.
Most primates live and move in the trees, but humans have evolved to move bipedally on the ground. Primates’ arboreal life-style has long been thought to have allowed the evolution of human beings’ unusual form of movement. We know much about how horizontal movement on branches differs in primates relative to most other mammals. But only recently have we begun to learn about how climbing is accomplished by non-human primates, and how such movement may have permitted early human ancestors to move upright. Key findings regarding the biomechanics of climbing, and what these data may mean for understanding human movement and exercise, are discussed. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36948]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Grazyna Jasienska discusses different effects of activity on women's reproductive health. The effects of physical activity on female physiology and health are much more complex than for men. Just like in men, activity is beneficial for many aspects of health, but physically active women also face important physiological trade-offs. Physical activity influences levels of hormones that are crucial for female health – estrogens and progesterone. But how much and in what way these hormones are affected depends not only on the type and intensity of physical activity, but also on other factors, such as the quality of environment that women experienced during their own fetal development and childhood. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36952]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Daniel Lieberman explores how running evolved and its role in human evolution.
All animals need to be physically active, but the human lineage clearly underwent selection to be considerably more physically active than our relatively inactive ape ancestors and cousins including chimpanzees and gorillas. Bipedal walking brought many benefits but also rendered hominins slow and awkward, hence vulnerable to predation. With the origins of hunting and gathering in the genus Homo, there was additional selection for endurance running which helped hominins become scavengers and hunters. Today we face a growing epidemic of physical inactivity that increases people’s vulnerability to a wide range of diseases. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36950]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Daniel Lieberman explores how running evolved and its role in human evolution.
All animals need to be physically active, but the human lineage clearly underwent selection to be considerably more physically active than our relatively inactive ape ancestors and cousins including chimpanzees and gorillas. Bipedal walking brought many benefits but also rendered hominins slow and awkward, hence vulnerable to predation. With the origins of hunting and gathering in the genus Homo, there was additional selection for endurance running which helped hominins become scavengers and hunters. Today we face a growing epidemic of physical inactivity that increases people’s vulnerability to a wide range of diseases. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36950]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Herman Pontzer explores the evolution of human metabolism and its role in our evolution and health. From an evolutionary perspective, life is a game of turning energy into offspring. The strategies that species use to acquire energy, in the form of food, and allocate energy to the essential tasks of growth, maintenance, movement, and reproduction, are incredibly diverse and reflect the ecological pressures and opportunities encountered. There is a deep evolutionary history of the human metabolic strategy and our divergence from other apes. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36951]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Herman Pontzer explores the evolution of human metabolism and its role in our evolution and health. From an evolutionary perspective, life is a game of turning energy into offspring. The strategies that species use to acquire energy, in the form of food, and allocate energy to the essential tasks of growth, maintenance, movement, and reproduction, are incredibly diverse and reflect the ecological pressures and opportunities encountered. There is a deep evolutionary history of the human metabolic strategy and our divergence from other apes. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36951]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. Although hunter-gatherers sometimes climb and fight, they also walk and run long distances as well as dig, throw, carry and more. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What genetic, physiological and anatomical adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics such as the brains, diet, life-history strategies, gene-culture co-evolution and social cooperation? To address these and other related questions, this symposium will integrate research on genetics, biomechanics, physiology, neurobiology and behavior. Because more and more humans today are primarily sedentary, we will also explore implications of the evolution of human physical activity for contemporary health and disease. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37183]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? David Raichlen explains the effects of physical activity on the brain and its role in evolution.
Recent work suggests exercise can have important beneficial effects on the aging brain, however the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. An evolutionary-neuroscience approach may help us better understand these mechanisms and can provide a foundation for developing novel interventions to improve brain aging. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36944]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Ellen Breen explores an evolutionary pathway for high endurance activity. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36945]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Yana Kamberov explores how sweating evolved and what it means for Homo sapiens. Humans use sweating as the primary mechanism to dump body heat. Humans’ ability to effectively harness sweating as a thermoregulatory mechanism is a product of the evolution of a massively increased sweat gland density and a drastic reduction in the size of body hair. Advances have been made in identifying the genetic basis for how these unique and essential adaptations of human physiology evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36949]
Explores cellular anthropology to understand how variation in human regulatory elements can mediate morphological evolution and individual variation of the craniofacial form. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32973]
Explores cellular anthropology to understand how variation in human regulatory elements can mediate morphological evolution and individual variation of the craniofacial form. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32973]
Human physical activities differ significantly from other species. How, when and why did these capabilities evolve? What adaptations underlie them? And how did the evolution of human physical activity affect other key human characteristics that have advanced our species? Tatum Simonson explains adaptations to altitude and diving.
Humans have persisted for hundreds of generations under challenging environmental extremes. Adaptations to such environments have been essential for survival, enabling populations to trek successfully among high mountain tops or to dive deeply into vast seas. Unique genetic signatures, resulting from thousands of years of strong selective pressures in these environments, have been discovered within the DNA of present-day populations. These findings provide important clues into evolutionary processes in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36946]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37002]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37001]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 37000]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36678]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36672]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 37003]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36615]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36676]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36675]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36669]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36674]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 36670]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36677]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36671]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 36673]
Rita Astuti looks at different cultures and how death is imbued with complex meaning and transformed from an ending to a beginning, and from a cause for despair, to a celebration. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32055]
Rita Astuti looks at different cultures and how death is imbued with complex meaning and transformed from an ending to a beginning, and from a cause for despair, to a celebration. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32055]
Q&A session from the Comparative Anthropogeny symposium - Exploring The Human-Ape Paradox. Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36201]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36197]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36195]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36199]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36553]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36200]
CARTA Associate Director Pascal Gagneux introduces the Comparative Anthropogeny symposium Exploring the Human-Ape Paradox and its relation to the Matrix of Comparative Anthropogeny. Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36410]
CARTA Co-Director Ajit Varki introduces the Comparative Anthropogeny symposium - Exploring The Human-Ape Paradox. Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36408]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36188]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36194]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 36196]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36193]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 36186]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36191]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36190]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36187]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 36192]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36189]
Each species of our primate cousins is unique as it represents the outcome of independent evolution. Yet, humans appear to be a remarkable outlier as we have numerous characteristics so far un-described in any other primate. Why should this be? This symposium will address several important distinctly human "biologically enculturated" characteristics, both in relation to each other and in contrast to our evolutionary cousins, and will also help to organize how and in what sequence distinctly human physical, mental, social, and cultural features evolved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36198]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence via a multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the human host populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35850]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence via a multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the human host populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36036]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence via a multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the human host populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35851]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence via a multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the human host populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35849]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence viaa multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the humanhost populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35845]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence viaa multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the humanhost populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35844]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence via a multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the human host populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 36037]
Over the past two decades novel coronaviruses have spilled from the bat to the human population on three occasions. The first two breakouts in south China in 2003 and in Saudi Arabia in 2012 launched the SARS and MERS outbreaks, respectively. Both outbreaks were contained by aggressive case finding, contact tracing and quarantine activities. A third crossover of a novel coronavirus into the human population occurred in the fall of 2019. This event which is believed to have occurred around a wet market in Wuhan, China was unfortunately not efficiently contained and spread rapidly across China. Since its crossover events six months ago, the virus has infected over 4 million people and resulted in 300,000 deaths. This presentation by Dr. Chip Schooley, UC San Diego Professor of Medicine, focuses on the biology, pathogenesis and epidemiology of the SARS-2 coronavirus and containment efforts to date.
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35846]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence viaa multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the humanhost populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35848]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence viaa multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the humanhost populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35843]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence viaa multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the humanhost populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 35847]
Infectious diseases have profound influences on the evolution of their host populations. In the case of humans, the host species has also shaped pathogen dynamics and virulence viaa multitude of factors from changes in social organization, group size, and exploitation of varied habitats and their animals and plant resources to agriculture, technology, rapid long-distance travel, medicine and global economic integration - which all continue to shape epidemics and the humanhost populations. This symposium will explore how infectious agents and humans have shaped each other over the eons. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 36048]
Question and answer session from a symposium exploring the last half-decade new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Todays Humans.
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35710]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet?
Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35721]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet? Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35722]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet?
Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35718]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet?
Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Todays Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35719]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet? Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35720]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet?
Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Todays Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35714]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet?
Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35715]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet?
Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35715]
Introductory remarks to a symposium exploring the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35709]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet?
Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35716]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet? Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today’s Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35717]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet? Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today’s Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35713]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet? Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today's Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35712]
Where did we humans come from? When did we become the dominant species on the planet? Experts take you on an exploration of the last half-decade of new evidence from ancient DNA, fossils, archaeology and population studies that has updated our knowledge about The Origins of Today’s Humans.
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35711]
In 2017 alone, an estimated 674,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in the United States and over 1,000 of these children died from maltreatment. Mothers were the perpetrators in 69% of these cases. How does dysfunction in the maternal brain arise? Danielle Stolzenberg (UC Davis) describes new research that has shed some light on how the brain regulates maternal and neglectful responses to infants with a particular emphasis on how the brain might change as mothers transition between these two behavioral states. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35289]
Opening remarks to a symposium that addresses the influences of environment and culture on the emergence of the human mind based on available evidence, ranging from experiments by ancient monarchs to the follow-up of Romanian orphans, while addressing comparative and neurobiological issues. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35279]
Experience is the engine that drives much of postnatal brain development. When children are deprived of key (i.e., experience-expected) experiences, particularly during critical periods of development, brain and behavioral development can be derailed. There is perhaps no more egregious form of deprivation than being raised in large, state-run institutions. Charles Nelson (Harvard Medical School) discusses the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a long-term study that includes infants abandoned to institutions. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35285]
Adequate vitamins and minerals are essential for normal cognitive development. Marcus Pembrey (University College London) uses iodine as an example. Severe iodine deficiency is a known cause of learning difficulties, but even suboptimal maternal iodine in early pregnancy can reduce the childs verbal IQ. Early humans thrived on the coast with a rich iodine diet. Bonobos dive for iodine-rich aquatic plants. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35290]
Ann Masten (University of Minnesota) discusses the meaning of resilience from a developmental perspective, highlighting the significance of findings from studies of extreme adversity in childhood for our understanding of processes that nurture or disrupt human capacity for adapting to challenges over the life course. Caregivers play a critical role both in protecting early wellbeing and nurturing the future resilience of children and their societies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35292]
In modern humans, an exquisite cognitive ability has evolved that enables mental time travel, the ability to mentally travel back in time and re-experience a personal event from the past that is no longer physically present. Faraneh Vargha-Khadem (University College London) explores how certain neonatal or early childhood pathological events, most commonly hypoxic/ischaemic episodes, target the immature hippocampus, leading to the later emergence of the syndrome of Developmental Amnesia, often without evidence of any neurological or other cognitive impairment. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35288]
The brain is the central organ of stress and adaptation to stress because it perceives and determines what is threatening, as well as the behavioral and physiological responses to the stressor. The healthy brain is resilient and responds to experiences over the lifecourse that produce epigenetic changes. The lifecourse is a “one way stress” in which there is no true reversal but redirection that occurs in response to positive or negative experiences that may be unique to each stage of life. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35291]
Our ability to learn languages fully and fluently changes over age. Young children are remarkable in learning languages so well – often much better than adults. Elissa Newport (Georgetown University) discusses how we have evolved to have such outstanding language learning abilities during childhood which do not continue throughout life. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35286]
The question of what is learned, which is innate, and how the two relate is at the heart of 2,000 years and more of the 4,000 reports of feral children. Douglas Candland offers his knowledge of two such living persons known to him. The first is John Ssabyuna of Uganda and the second, known as CauCau, of southern Argentina. He compares these to the publications regarding studies of Victor, the "Wild boy of Avignon," and the so-called "Wolf-Girls of India," raised at the Singhs’ orphanage in the early 20th century. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35284]
Closing remarks and questions at a symposium that addresses the influences of environment and culture on the emergence of the human mind based on available evidence, ranging from experiments by ancient monarchs to the follow-up of Romanian orphans, while addressing comparative and neurobiological issues. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35280]
This CARTA symposium addresses the influences of environment and culture on the emergence of the human mind. Charles Nelson (Boston Childrens Hospital/Harvard Medical School) The Effects of Early Psychosocial Deprivation on Brain-Behavioral Development: Findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project; Faraneh Vargha-Khadem (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) Developmental Amnesia; Ann Masten (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities) Resilience Processes in Development. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35282]
Language co-evolved with the human brain throughout the evolution of Homo sapiens. Paula Tallal (Salk Institute) focuses on longitudinal studies that show that the efficiency with which foundational capacities for acquiring language operate, particularly critical auditory processes, determines individual differences in the proficiency of spoken language learning. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35287]
This CARTA symposium addresses the influences of environment and culture on the emergence of the human mind. Danielle Stolzenberg (UC Davis) Where is My Mother? Uncovering Mechanisms of Neglect in the Maternal Brain; Marcus Pembrey (University of Bristol) Deprivation of Nutrition as a Factor in Human Cognitive Evolution; Bruce McEwen (Rockefeller University) The Resilient Brain: Epigenetics, Stress, and the Lifecourse. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35283]
This CARTA symposium addresses the influences of environment and culture on the emergence of the human mind. Douglas Candland (Bucknell University) Feral Children: Two Living Examples and a Little Neurology; Elissa Newport (Georgetown University) Maturational Constraints on Learning; Paula Tallal (Salk Institute) Individual Differences in Language Development and Disorders. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35281]
Ajit Varki presents fascinating historical background on efforts to understand the acquisition of language via some very questionable means - and provides commentary on the ethics of such excessive practices. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 35317]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. this presentation is with Abdoulaye Camara, Institut fondamental d'Afrique noire (IFAN), Université de Dakar (Sénégal) on "The View from West Africa." Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34982]
Isabelle Peretz examines what congenital amusia - the condition where one is amusical, lacking such abilities as pitch or rhythm recognition - can tell us about the neurobiological origins of musical ability in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32445]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Closing remarks from Ajit Varki, CARTA Co-Director, UC San Diego, Lyn Wadley, University of the Witwatersrand, and Berhane Asfaw, Rift Valley Research Service. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34991]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Likius Andossa, University of NDjamena, explores paleontological research in Chad. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34987]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Job Kibii, National Museums of Kenya, explores Australopithecus in East and South Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34983]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Sarah Wurz, University of the Witwatersrand, discusses the Klasies River site which was a favored home base for southern Cape humans between 120,000 and 2300 years ago. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34989]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Lyn Wadley, University of the Witwatersrand, explores when and how hominins in Africa developed fire technology. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34988]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Yonas Beyene, Association for Research and Conservation of Culture; French Center for Ethiopian Studies, discusses the archaeology of Konso-Gardula. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34984]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Himla Soodyall, National Health Laboratory Service (Johannesburg); University of the Witwatersrand, explores the links between the historical and genetic narrative of populations in southern Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34986]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Berhane Asfaw, National Museum of Ethiopia, presents "Assessing Claims for the “Earliest” Homo sapiens." Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34985]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. In this episode: Lyn Wadley, University of the Witwatersrand, The Origin and Development of Fire Technology in Africa; Sarah Wurz, University of the Witwatersrand, Klasies River as a 120,000-Year-Old Archive of Human Behavior in South Africa; Judith Sealy, University of Cape Town, Behavior and Settlement Patterns in Coastal Stone Age Communities – Evidence from Stable Isotopes. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34981]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Judith Sealy, University of Cape Town, explores the importance of coastal areas to human evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34990]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Margaret Schoeninger, CARTA Co-Director, UC San Diego, and Berhane Asfaw, Rift Valley Research Service, open the conference. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34978]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. This episode: Job Kibii, National Museums of Kenya, on Australopithecus in East and South Africa; Likius Andossa, University of NDjamena, on The Chad Basin; Yonas Beyene, Association for Research and Conservation of Culture, on The Archaeology of Konso-Gardula. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34980]
This CARTA symposium focuses on the contributions of scientists and scholars of anthropogeny who live and work in Africa. Himla Soodyall discusses links between the historical and genetic narrative of populations in southern Africa. Berhane Asfaw assesses the claims for the "earliest" homo sapians. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34979]
The search for human-specific genome changes underlying the unique neocortex expansion found only in the human brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32971]
The search for human-specific genome changes underlying the unique neocortex expansion found only in the human brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32971]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Variation exists within and among chimpanzee populations in the social importance of hunting and meat eating. David Watts, Yale University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33573]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34692]
Pascal Gagneux summarizes the CARTA 10th Anniversary symposium. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34714]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34709]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34708]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34705]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34711]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34707]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34704]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34703]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34706]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34702]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34712]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34713]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34699]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34710]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34701]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34700]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34698]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Language co-evolved with the human brain throughout the evolution of Homo sapiens. Writing, on the other hand, is a relatively new technology that was invented by humans to translate spoken language into a visual form for transmitting verbal communication broadly to many people over large distances and time. As such, writing and reading can be considered the first 'social media' technology. Paula Tallal, Rutgers University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34194]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34697]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34696]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34695]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? This program: Kristen Hawkes, Alyssa Crittenden, Patricia Churchland. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34694]
CARTA celebrates its 10th anniversary with a whirlwind tour of anthropogeny, the study of the origin of humans, by addressing these questions across multiple disciplines: What do we know for certain? What do we think we know? What do we need to know? How do we proceed? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34693]
Darold Treffert shares the fascinating story of Leslie Lemke, a musical savant, to provide a look at the characteristics of savantism. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32447]
Joseph LeDoux explores the physiological distinctions between human response to fear and anxiety and how that can inform our understanding of behaviors and concepts associated with death and mortality Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32052]
Joseph LeDoux explores the physiological distinctions between human response to fear and anxiety and how that can inform our understanding of behaviors and concepts associated with death and mortality Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32052]
Tracing evolution through past genomic events. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32974]
Tracing evolution through past genomic events. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32974]
Jamie Ward examines the relationship between autism and synaesthesia, and the characteristics shared by these two cognitive anomalies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32444]
Bruce Miller describes insights that can be gained about the human brain from patients who develop artistic abilities as neurodegenerative diseases emerge and progress. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32443]
Paul Harris explores what and how children think about death, dying and mortality. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32051]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34198]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Our species’ degree of reliance on cultural learning means that a population’s ability to generate and maintain complex cultural repertoires, tools and technologies, such as those commonly found among hunter-gatherers, depends on its sociality, and specifically on its social norms and institutions. Thus, our apparent intelligence derives more from our collective brains than our individual intelligence. Joe Henrich, Harvard University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34197]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Mathematics is a remarkably recent invention in the history of Homo sapiens. What made it possible? The path from quantity perception—shared by many species— to number, to mathematics is a story of human “biological enculturation.” Rafael Núñez, UC San Diego. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34195]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Candice Odgers, UC Irvine, shares new data describing how digital technology use relates to adolescents’ same-day emotions, behaviors, and health. Key findings regarding the effects of digital technologies on children and youth are highlighted, challenging many of the common fears regarding the influence of the digital age on developing minds. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34196]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. How human cultural norms and preferences have affected, and continue to affect, patterns of genomic variation in different populations. Marcus Feldman, Stanford University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34189]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34188]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. The combination of genetic and activity dependent mechanisms that create a given cortical phenotype allows the mammalian neocortex to rapidly and flexibly adjust to different body and environmental contexts, and in humans permits culture to impact brain construction. Leah Krubitzer, UC Davis. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34192]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. The stone tool record begins to exhibit increasingly complex variability during a period correlated with Homo sapiens origin and dispersal. This complex variability most likely reflects an evolving relationship between technology and spoken language –an uniquely derived human behavior, that intensified as humans became Earth’s only obligatory tool-using primate. John Shea, Stony Brook University, New York. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34193]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Dorothy Fragaszy, University of Georgia, compares tool use in nonhuman primates and humans which leads to ideas about the attributes of humans that have led us to differ so dramatically from other primates in technical prowess and technical traditions. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34190]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34187]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. The simple fact of tool-making no longer provides a sharp dividing line between “Man the Tool-Maker” and the rest of the animal world. Dietrich Stout, Emory University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34191]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34186]
This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34185]
Exploring cellular features of human brain development that are not represented in animal models and may reflect human or primate-specific evolutionary adaptations and how they also provide a roadmap for interpreting laboratory models of human brain development and evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32972]
Exploring cellular features of human brain development that are not represented in animal models and may reflect human or primate-specific evolutionary adaptations and how they also provide a roadmap for interpreting laboratory models of human brain development and evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32972]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33575]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Chimpanzees living at the Fongoli, Senegal site are the only nonhuman apes thus far that routinely hunt vertebrate prey with tools. Jill Pruetz, Texas State University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33574]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33820]
A fascinating look at how the Kennis brothers combine science and imagination to reconstruct ancient hominins. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33814]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Pauline Wiessner, Arizona State University, compares day and night conversations and activities of the Kalahari Bushmen to better understand what transpires at during firelit hours and how the atmosphere of the night around hearths draws people into the domain of the imagination Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33813]
Alysson Muotri of UC San Diego's Stem Cell Program discusses his work creating cortical organoids from modern humans as well as organoids with genetic characteristics similar to Neanderthal to compare differences in neural development. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33815]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33806]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Early H. sapiens took imaginative expressions to new heights. By 100,000 years ago, perforated and ochre-covered marine shells were found in early modern human burials and living sites and thereafter more material culture items convey imagination. Lyn Wadley, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33809]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. The ability to cognitively transcend the physical is one of the very hallmarks of human intelligence. Lera Boroditsky, UC San Diego. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33812]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33811]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Ideas about children’s causal reasoning suggests that the same abilities that allow children to learn so much about the world, reason so powerfully about it, and act to change it, also allow them to imagine alternative worlds that may never exist at all. Caren Walker, UC San Diego. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33808]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Meaning, imagination, and hope, are as central to the human evolutionary story as are bones, genes, and ecologies. Agustín Fuentes, University of Notre Dame. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33807]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33805]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33804]
This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33803]
Introduction to the CARTA Imagination and Human Origins symposium. The symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33802]
Randolph Nesse (Arizona State Univ) contends in this talk that the framework of evolutionary medicine offers a taxonomy of explanations for genetic variations that harm health. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31608]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33568]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33566]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33577]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Evidence for meat eating in the form of butchery marks on animal bones made by hominins dates back to at least 2.6 million years ago. Perhaps they didn’t hunt them, but instead scavenged the leftovers from carnivore kills. Briana Pobiner, Goerge Washington University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33576]
Question and answer session from the CARTA symposium: The Role of Hunting in Anthropogeny Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33578]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. The idea that women have evolved to be plant gatherers and men hunters has dominated evolutionary thinking and the popular imagination for decades. Australia is one of the places that challenges our understanding of who hunts and why. Across Australia prehistorically, women were active hunters, with a primary focus on the hand-capture of small to medium sized animals. Rebecca Bliege Bird, Pennsylvania State University. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33571]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Ian Gilby, Arizona State University, argues that the considerable variation in predation frequency within and between chimpanzee social groups is driven by the energetic costs and physical risks that hunting entails. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33572]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. While the specific role that meat might have played in human evolution remains hotly contested – it certainly changed the playing field for our earliest ancestors. Alyssa Crittenden, UNLV, addresses the nutritional significance of meat and discuss how, during the course of human evolution, red meat has been transformed from a blessing to a potential curse. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33570]
Welcome and opening remarks for the CARTA symposium: The Role of Hunting in Anthropogeny. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33569]
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation and is thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This symposium explores the evidence pertaining to the origins of hominin hunting. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 33567]
Christina Warinner (Univ of Oklahoma) explains how emerging ancient dental calculus research is changing the way we investigate the human past and how this is leading to a deeper understanding of human biology and evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30976]
Exploring the use of primate stem cell systems to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying species differences in cerebral cortex development. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32970]
Exploring the use of primate stem cell systems to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying species differences in cerebral cortex development. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32970]
Ruslan Medzhitov (Yale School of Medicine) explains in this talk that the intricate connection between homeostasis and inflammation is rooted in underlying principles of control circuits. He then describes these principles and their implications for human diseases. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 31606]
This presentation provides a cellular and molecular analysis of comparative neural development in closely related hominids, which opens new avenues for understanding the differences in the neural underpinnings of cognition and neurological disease susceptibility between species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32969]
New insights into the significance of the emergence of a human-specific gene on brain evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32975]
Huxley and Darwin were among the first to appreciate the close evolutionary relationship of humans and other African great apes but also to ponder what genetic changes might make us human. Initial comparisons of human and chimpanzee genes, showed little difference (>99% identical) despite the numerous adaptations that must have occurred on the human lineage. Recent studies of more complex regions of our genome have revealed hotspots of dramatic evolutionary change. Within these regions are hundreds of new duplicate genes, several of which appear to be important in human-specific neuroanatomical adaptations. Paradoxically, this genetic complexity has led to mutations causing childhood diseases suggesting that human-specific genes and increased disease burden are tightly linked. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32976]
Huxley and Darwin were among the first to appreciate the close evolutionary relationship of humans and other African great apes but also to ponder what genetic changes might make us human. Initial comparisons of human and chimpanzee genes, showed little difference (>99% identical) despite the numerous adaptations that must have occurred on the human lineage. Recent studies of more complex regions of our genome have revealed hotspots of dramatic evolutionary change. Within these regions are hundreds of new duplicate genes, several of which appear to be important in human-specific neuroanatomical adaptations. Paradoxically, this genetic complexity has led to mutations causing childhood diseases suggesting that human-specific genes and increased disease burden are tightly linked. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32976]
Simon Fisher gives a fascinating account of how an irregularity in one single base of DNA leads to a rare and severe inherited language deficit, and how this finding helps reveal aspects of the evolutionary history of the human capacity for language. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32441]
A fascinating account of people who in most every sense are very ordinary, but who have extraordinary memory. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32442]
UC San Francisco's Arnold Kriegstein addresses whether the Zika virus could someday be used to kill cancerous brain cells. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 32986]
John Marzluff explores the reactions of American Crows to death among their flock, and the different motivations which may exist for the behaviors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32050]
In this talk, Sriram Sankararaman (UCLA) describes methods that enable us to map the locations of archaic ancestry in present-day humans. He then shows how the applications of these methods helps to understand the impact of Neandertal and Denisovan ancestry in present-day humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30975]
Dora Biro explores reactions to death among our closest evolutionary relatives, the Chimpanzee, as well shares insights about reactions among other mammals, and how these observations may provide a lens with which to understand the evolution of death related psychology and behavior among humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32049]
The way cells differentiate to eventually form the human brain and all the unique connections that make us human is ultimately the result of processes forged in evolution. Three experts share their investigations into characteristics of the human genome and its changes throughout evolution that make us human. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32928]
Concluding remarks and question and answer session for the symposium: Cellular and Molecular Explorations of Anthropogeny. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32978]
Welcome and introductory remarks to the symposium: Cellular and Molecular Explorations of Anthropogeny Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32977]
The human brain is one of, if not the most important factor that distinguishes our species from all others. Three experts explore the use of stem cells in understanding the primate brain, genes that guided the evolution of the human brain, and the features that enabled the expansion of human neural characteristics. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32927]
The Salk Institute's Rusty Gage and University of Washington's Evan Eichler explore the mechanisms and evolutionary pathways that have differentiated human neural development and allowed for the emergence of genes found only in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32926]
Exploring the life of musical savant Derek Paravicini, severely developmentally disabled from complications at birth, and how understanding his condition provides evidence for the existence of musical intelligence and the roots of creativity in the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32446]
Katie Hinde (Arizona State Univ) reveals in this talk that milk varies across species, populations, individuals, and across time. She contends, therefore, that decoding mother's milk is necessary to enhance precision medicine for the most fragile infants and children in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 31603]
Karen Berman of the National Institutes of Health explores how studying Williams Syndrome is revealing biological mechanisms that confer human variability. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32440]
Imagine hearing colors and seeing sounds. Jamie Ward explores the world of synaesthesia where people possess extraordinary perceptions. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32810]
The human mind is one of the features that makes our species unusual, and any narrative of our origins must include explanations for how our mental facilities were generated by genetic and cultural evolutionary processes. Comparative studies with the minds of other species and direct studies of how the typical human brain creates the mind are valuable approaches. However, many useful clues can also be gleaned from studying extraordinary variations of the human mind. This Symposium brings together experts who have pursued in-depth explorations of some of these variations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32438]
The human mind is one of the features that makes our species unusual, and any narrative of our origins must include explanations for how our mental facilities were generated by genetic and cultural evolutionary processes. Comparative studies with the minds of other species and direct studies of how the typical human brain creates the mind are valuable approaches. However, many useful clues can also be gleaned from studying extraordinary variations of the human mind. This Symposium brings together experts who have pursued in-depth explorations of some of these variations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32437]
Questions and answer session for the Extraordinary Variations of the Human Mind symposium. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32448]
The human mind is one of the features that makes our species unusual, and any narrative of our origins must include explanations for how our mental facilities were generated by genetic and cultural evolutionary processes. Comparative studies with the minds of other species and direct studies of how the typical human brain creates the mind are valuable approaches. However, many useful clues can also be gleaned from studying extraordinary variations of the human mind. This Symposium brings together experts who have pursued in-depth explorations of some of these variations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32436]
UCLA's Daniel Geschwind explores how cognitive abilities - both extraordinary and those considered disabilities are related as part of the continuum of human behavior enabled by the evolutionary history of the human brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32439]
Introduction to the Extraordinary Variations of the Human Mind symposium. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32449]
In this talk, Ajit Varki (UC San Diego) offers some surprising examples of common human diseases that appear to be either absent in our closest living evolutionary cousins (the so-called "great apes"), or manifest in a rather modified form. Given the close genetic similarity of all of these species, he contends that it is worth investigating these differences, with the goal of better understanding the pathological processes involved. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31604]
Colin Renfrew provides insight into the emergence of notions of immortality by looking at the archaeology of burials from long before the advent of agriculture through the creation of state societies and deities. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32054]
Colin Renfrew provides insight into the emergence of notions of immortality by looking at the archaeology of burials from long before the advent of agriculture through the creation of state societies and deities. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32054]
Nicholas Humphrey gives a sobering look at the uniquely human trait of suicide, its alarming prevalence, and what this means to human biological fitness. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32057]
In this talk, Cynthia Beall (Case Western Reserve Univ) describes different patterns of adaptive biological characteristics among high-altitude native populations and the accumulating evidence explaining why and how those different responses came about. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31607]
Ajit Varki explores the human capacity for denial of reality and how that has shaped our evolution; Sheldon Solomon different philosophies surrounding mortality; and Nicholas Humphrey provides a comprehensive look at the motivations for, prevalence of and reactions to the uniquely human act for suicide. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32048]
Joseph LeDoux explores the physiological distinctions between human response to fear and anxiety and how that can inform our understanding of behaviors and concepts associated with death and mortality; Colin Renfrew explores representations of death and immortality across time and cultures as a lens with which we can understand different cultural responses to mortality and Rita Astuti examines rituals surrounding death as ways to unite communities and affirm kinship and identity within societies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32047]
While evidence of atherosclerosis in both ancient and contemporary preindustrial humans exists, Michael Gurven (UC Santa Barbara) explains in this talk that there is less evidence that such pathology is clinically relevant. While there may not be a single smoking gun that explains a human heart-friendly lifestyle, he argues that the importance of a well-regulated immune system may be central. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31605]
Oxford University's Dora Biro, University of Washington's John Marzluff and Harvard's Paul Harris explore reactions of other animals to death among their own kind, and what and how concepts of death develop in children. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32046]
Matthias Meyer (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) discusses the technical difficulties one faces when working with poorly preserved ancient material and the insights this work provides into human evolution in the Middle Pleistocene (e.g., the 400,000 year-old hominin remains from a cave site in Northern Spain). Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30977]
Harvard’s Daniel Lieberman argues that genus Homo differs from other early hominins through an integrated suite of behaviors, collectively termed hunting and gathering, that emerged sometime between 3 and 2 mya. The emergent properties associated with hunting and gathering made possible increased access to energy. More energy, in turn, led to further selection for increased brain size, larger body size, and slower life histories, characteristics which are all associated with the genus Homo. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30640]
Ajit Varki gives an in-depth look at how and why the unique human characteristics or abilities of denying reality, self-deception, holding false beliefs, optimism bias and irrational risk-taking behavior; traits that should be evolutionarily maladaptive, developed, and are part of what makes us human. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32053]
Fred Gage opens the CARTA symposium Awareness of Death and Personal Mortality: Implications for Anthropogeny. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32058]
Q&A, and Closing Remarks for Awareness of Death and Personal Mortality: Implications for Anthropogeny Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32060]
Nicholas Humphrey provides opening remarks and context for the CARTA symposium: Awareness of Death and Personal Mortality: Implications for Anthropogeny Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32059]
In this presentation, Leslie Aiello explains that although the fossil record offers clues that cooperative childcare may have been present early in the evolution of genus Homo, the full human life history pattern including both extended childhood growth and development and longevity were much more recent evolutionary developments. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30644]
Charles Nunn (Duke Univ) identifies selective pressures that may play a role in favoring shorter sleep in humans, and considers the consequences of these evolutionary changes for understanding human sleep disorders, health across the lifespan, and health disparities. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 31609]
"My mother's kin are not my father's kin." David Haig (Harvard Univ) explains in this talk that this asymmetry results in conflicting selective forces acting on genes of maternal and paternal origin revealed in the phenomenon of genomic imprinting. He provides several examples of disorders of imprinted gene expression. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31602]
This symposium brings together experts who offer examples of applications of evolutionary biology and comparative medicine to the understanding, prevention, and treatment of various illnesses. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31598]
Joshua Akey (Univ of Washington) and his team have developed methods to identify Neandertal sequences that persist in the DNA of modern individuals and applied it to whole-genome sequences from over 1,500 geographically diverse individuals. Their data provide new insights into hominin evolutionary history and genomic regions that may harbor substrates of uniquely modern human phenotypes. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30980]
This symposium brings together experts who offer examples of applications of evolutionary biology and comparative medicine to the understanding, prevention, and treatment of various illnesses. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31597]
This symposium brings together experts who offer examples of applications of evolutionary biology and comparative medicine to the understanding, prevention, and treatment of various illnesses. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31596]
Barbara Natterson-Horowitz (UCLA) explains in this talk why increasing awareness of the occurrence of "diseases of civilization" in humans and in wild animal species offers a path towards a more empathic and more accurate understanding of the nature of health and disease. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 31601]
New fossil evidence of hominin diversity suggests that there was not a single transition to human-like body form in early Homo. In this talk, Carol Ward explains how this may be changing our ideas about the origins of our genus. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30643]
In this inaugural presentation to incoming UC San Diego Medical School students, Dr. Ajit Varki, Executive Co-Director of CARTA, provides an evolutionary perspective on understanding human health and disease. Why? Because The biological aspects of medicine are rooted in understanding the evolution of our species, and those of other organisms that interact with us in health and disease. Thus, to paraphrase Dobzhansky, “nothing in the biological aspects of medicine makes sense except in the light of evolution.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31730]
Canadian Rap-Artist, award-winning playwright, and former tree-planter Baba Brinkman brings his singular form of "peer-reviewed" Rap to the CARTA symposium Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health with a very special performance of unique Raps on disease, evolution and even the symposium itself. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31611]
In the last seven years, two hominin species possessing a mixture of primitive and Homo-like morphology – Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi – have been discovered in South Africa. Duke University’s Steven Churchill believes that these remarkable finds call for new models in not only understanding the origins of genus Homo, but also the emergence of Homo erectus. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30642]
Harvard’s Philip Rightmire describes the rich array of early hominin fossils discovered at the Dmanisi site in the Georgian Caucasus. He maintains that these fossils can most reasonably be attributed to Homo erectus, but several of the skeletons display primitive anatomy. That means that the boundaries between H. erectus and other early Homo taxa are less distinct, making it difficult to identify diagnostic traits. He concludes that the emergence of the Homo clade was characterized more by an overlap of groups evolving 2.0 to 1.0 mya, rather than obvious diversity between species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30639]
Opening remarks to the CARTA syposium, Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31600]
Closing Remarks and Audience Questions for the CARTA syposium, Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31610]
Welcome and introduction to the CARTA syposium, Implications of Anthropogeny for Medicine and Public Health. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 31599]
The search for the “origin of Homo” suggests we know what we are looking for, so unless we are clear about that, then how will we know when we have found it? In this talk, Bernard Wood (George Washington Univ) explains what he looks for within the fossil record when searching for the origins of our own genus, Homo. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30637]
The age of origin of the Homo lineage is thought to have fallen between 2.5 and 3.0 mya. However, William Kimbel (Arizona State Univ) argues in this talk that recent fossil and stone tool discoveries call for a new evaluation of factors involved in the origin and the early evolution of Homo. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30638]
The human species underwent a watershed change in the biochemical composition of its cell surfaces, via a genetic event estimated to have occurred ~2-3 mya, which is also the apparent period of the emergence of the genus Homo. In this talk, UC San Diego’s Pascal Gagneux explains how this radical makeover of cell surfaces in early Homo would have brought about a mismatch between females lacking a certain cell surface sialic acid and males still expressing it, essentially providing a mechanism for reproductive isolation and speciation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30641]
Jeff Severinghaus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego addresses Abrupt Climate Transitions and Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29691]
Jessica Sommerville (Univ of Washington) reviews evidence to suggest that, within the first year of life, infants develop an understanding of transient mental states (such as goals and desires), enduring personal dispositions (such as preferences), and socio-moral norms (such as fairness norms), that is driven by their own actions on the world, as well as their interactions with other people. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26082]
Johannes Krause (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) and his research team analyzed more than 200 ancient human genomes spanning the last 10,000 years of Western Eurasian pre-history. They found direct evidence for two major genetic turnover events at the beginning and at the end of the Neolithic time period in Europe, which they attribute to two major migrations. This explains why all modern European populations are a genetic mixture of steppe pastoralist, early farmers and indigenous European hunter-gatherers in varying proportion. This genetic mixture together with local biological adaptation has led to major changes in human phenotypes such as eye color, skin color, and the ability to digest milk sugar over the past 10,000 years. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30982]
Tony Capra (Vanderbilt Univ) and his team analyzed the contribution of common Neandertal variants to over 1000 electronic health record (EHR)-derived phenotypes in ~28,000 adults of European ancestry. Their results establish that archaic admixture influences disease risk in modern humans, provide hypotheses about the effects of hundreds of Neandertal haplotypes, and demonstrate the utility of HER data in evolutionary analyses. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30981]
In this talk, María Avila-Arcos (National Autonomous University of Mexico) presents a review of the current state of knowledge of the genetic history of the Americas as revealed by ancient and modern DNA studies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30983]
Conclusion, Audience Questions and Closing Remarks for the CARTA symposium: Ancient DNA and Human Evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30984]
Pascal Gagneaux welcomes guests to the CARTA symposium: Ancient DNA and Human Evolution Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30973]
UC Santa Cruz’s Ed Green delivers the opening remarks for the CARTA symposium: Ancient DNA and Human Evolution Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30974]
In this talk Kay Prüfer (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology) explains that the analysis of high coverage genome sequences from two archaic human individuals (a Neandertal and a Denisovan) has revealed that they are more closely related to one another than they are to modern humans. The analysis also shows that gene flow was not uncommon among human groups in the Pleistocene. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30978]
This symposium brings together researchers at the forefront of ancient DNA research and population genetics to discuss current developments and share insights about human migration and adaptation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30972]
This symposium brings together researchers at the forefront of ancient DNA research and population genetics to discuss current developments and share insights about human migration and adaptation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30971]
This symposium brings together researchers at the forefront of ancient DNA research and population genetics to discuss current developments and share insights about human migration and adaptation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30971]
This symposium brings together researchers at the forefront of ancient DNA research and population genetics to discuss current developments and share insights about human migration and adaptation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30970]
Rachel Mayberry of UC San Diego and her team have discovered that linguistic stimulation during early life is necessary for the human language capacity to develop fully. The longer the child matures without language, the more atypical linguistic functioning and brain language processing become in adulthood. Thus, the universal human ability to learn language and the ability of the traditional regions of the brain to process language crucially depend upon the timing of linguistic experience in early human development. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29404]
Charles Kennel of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego provides introductory background for this symposium which presents varied perspectives from earth scientists, ecologists, and paleoanthropologists on how climate may have shaped human evolution, as well as the prospects for the future of world climate, ecosystems, and our species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 29687]
Robert Franciscus (Univ of Iowa) explains that anatomically modern humans are recognized in the fossil record primarily by retraction and diminution of the facial skeleton compared to pre-modern “archaic” humans. He then describes a promising model for the advent of facial diminution, which suggests that anatomically modern humans represent a ‘self-domesticated’ species where selection for increased social tolerance led to growth and developmental alterations producing craniofacial “feminization,” which itself results in a phenotypic signal of reduced aggressiveness. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28897]
Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego addresses efforts towards mitigation of climate change. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29696]
In this talk, Wenda Trevathan of New Mexico State University focuses on energetic and biomechanical factors that converge at the time of birth to set the stage for an enormously expanded role of child-rearing in human evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28029]
William Ruddiman of the University of Virginia on how humans took control of climate. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29692]
The evolution of mostly naked skin in the human lineage heralded major changes in the biological and social functions of skin. Nina Jablonski of Pennsylvania State University provides many examples of both in this wonderful presentation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30211]
This symposium explores evidence bearing on the emergence of our genus, focusing on possible antecedents to Homo, changes in diet and body form as Australopithecus evolved toward Homo, ancient species within the genus, and evolutionary processes likely operating 2.5 - 1.5 million years ago. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30634]
Philip Rightmire and Ajit Varki wrap up the symposium with a questions and answer session and closing remarks. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30646]
Margaret Schoeninger welcomes you to the symposium on Origins of Genus Homo. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30635]
In this talk, Herman Pontzer investigates humans’ evolving metabolic strategy and its origins in the fossil record. He discusses the ecological pressures that shaped our genus and the evolutionary origins of obesity and metabolic disease. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30645]
Steven Churchill opens the symposium on Origins of Genus Homo. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30636]
This symposium explores evidence bearing on the emergence of our genus, focusing on possible antecedents to Homo, changes in diet and body form as Australopithecus evolved toward Homo, ancient species within the genus, and evolutionary processes likely operating 2.5 - 1.5 million years ago. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30633]
This symposium explores evidence bearing on the emergence of our genus, focusing on possible antecedents to Homo, changes in diet and body form as Australopithecus evolved toward Homo, ancient species within the genus, and evolutionary processes likely operating 2.5 - 1.5 million years ago. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30632]
In this presentation UC San Diego’s Rob Knight describes some of the functions of the human skin microbiome, how it and its complex chemical repertoire differ from that of other animals that have been studied, including chimpanzees, dogs, amphibians and reptiles, and what we are starting to learn about how microbiomes evolve into specialized evolutionary niches. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 30216]
Steven Leigh (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) explores the nature of the primate microbiome with the goal of understanding the impacts of microbiomes on human evolution. His results point to important contributions of microbial ecosystems to the evolution of human diet. He also sees implications for human brain evolution through energy and micronutrients that are produced by microbial taxa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24836]
This symposium brings together scientists representing evolutionary biology, genetics, dermatology, anthropology, and physiology to share their knowledge and questions about human skin in an explicitly evolutionary framework. UC San Diego’s Rob Knight begins with a discussion about Ecology and Evolution of the Skin Microbiome, followed by Mark Stoneking on Of Lice and Men: The Molecular Evolution of Human Lice, and Chris Kuzawa on Subcutaneous Fat in Humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 30207]
This symposium brings together scientists representing evolutionary biology, genetics, dermatology, anthropology, and physiology to share their knowledge and questions about human skin in an explicitly evolutionary framework. Mark Shriver begins with a discussion about The Genetics of Skin Pigmentation, followed by Nina Jablonski on Naked, Colorful Skin and Its Role in Human Social Interactions, and James Cleaver on The Skin and Ultraviolet Radiation: Effects on DNA and Carcinogenesis Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30205]
In this presentation, James Cleaver of UC San Francisco shares some surprising results from studies of mutagenesis from UV light in two hereditary syndromes -- xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) and Cockayne syndrome (CS) -- which have mutations in the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30212]
Elizabeth Hadly of Stanford University delivers a sobering accounting of evidence that forecasts a climatic tipping point and what it may mean to our future. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29694]
This symposium brings together scientists representing evolutionary biology, genetics, dermatology, anthropology, and physiology to share their knowledge and questions about human skin in an explicitly evolutionary framework. UC San Diego’s Richard Gallo begins with a discussion about Skin, a Window into the Evolution of the Human Super-Organism, followed by Michael Sawka on Human Skin: Sweating, Thermoregulation, and Water Balance, and Sarah Millar on Evolution of Hair Follicles, Mammary Glands, and Sweat Glands in Humans and Other Mammals. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30206]
This talk by Michael Sawka of Georgia Tech examines the role of skin in human thermoregulation as a potentially important evolutionary factor for modern man. Two strong selective factors for survival in early hominins were the ability to forage during peak daily heat when their predators were not a threat, and the capability for persistence hunting (track and pursue prey to cause hyperthermia-induced exhaustion of prey). Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30214]
Mark Stoneking of the Max Planck Institute explains in this talk how studying the molecular evolution of the three types of human lice (head louse, body louse, pubic louse) can reflect important developments of human evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30217]
This presentation by UC San Diego’s Richard Gallo provides an overview of the multiple cell types, both human and microbial, that comprise the human skin super-organism. Understanding their relationship changes how we think about evolution, gene transfer, and the impact of current hygiene and antibiotic therapies. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30213]
Opening remarks to symposium on human skin in an evolutionary framework. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30209]
In this talk, Chris Kuzawa (Northwestern Uni) argues that human body fat co-evolved not just with the energetically-demanding and vulnerable brain, but also with the cultural strategies that humans use to buffer offspring intake. The human infant’s need for ample baby fat traces to the fact that the main causes of nutritional stress at this age are infections, which force a reliance on onboard energy by reducing appetite and impairing digestion. However, by early childhood, we are less reliant upon this resource as a result of another uniquely human buffering system: food sharing and our cooperative strategy of caring for and feeding our young. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30218]
Sarah Millar of the University of Pennsylvania summarizes our current state of knowledge of the molecular events that control hair follicle, mammary gland and sweat gland development. She also highlights major questions still remaining. Using the mammary gland as an example, she discusses how evolutionary pressures may have driven specific changes in molecular pathways to permit organ diversification, and further refinements in glandular number and location that permitted efficient feeding of newborn mammals including humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30215]
Closing remarks to symposium on human skin in an evolutionary framework. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30219]
Mark Shriver of Pennsylvania State University explains in this talk how evolutionary approaches to understanding which genes affect pigmentation can provide important insights into both normal development and pathophysiology. Likewise, genetic and genomic investigations can help illuminate where and when the genes that affect contemporary skin color levels changed and, ultimately, which evolutionary forces shaped the wide range of skin colors we see today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30210]
Welcome remarks to symposium on human skin in an evolutionary framework. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 30208]
All humans have the capacity for aggression and reconciliation. However, it is cultural institutions that harness aggression by shaping cognition, corresponding emotions and defining appropriate responses. In this talk, Polly Wiessner (Univ of Utah) compares the cultural institutions related to aggression and violence and their outcomes in two different societies: Ju/’hoan hunter-gatherers of the Kalahari and Enga horticulturists of Papua New Guinea. She tries to show “what culture has to do with it” and demonstrate real consequences. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28353]
In this talk, Carol Ember (Yale Univ) describes the results from decades-long research that tested a variety of theories about warfare and other forms of violence in a sample of 186 societies. Many of the theories of warfare assumed to be plausible fell short, such as the idea that war becomes more likely with agriculture and political complexity. On the other hand, resource scarcity, particularly unpredictable scarcity such as drought, is a particularly strong predictor of more warfare. Warfare is, however, not an isolated form of violence; indeed warfare is correlated with many other types of violence. Ember concludes with a discussion about the relevance of these research findings to the world today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28352]
Jean-Jacques Hublin of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology on the climatic framework of Neandertal evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29689]
Renowned historian of science Naomi Oreskes of Harvard University addresses the question of human impacts on climate and whether we will survive the future, and posits that humanity will need to make substantial change in what we do and how we think. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29695]
Why does humor exist at all? It consumes a lot of time and energy, and some humans are arguably addicted to humor. Daniel Dennett (Tufts Univ) explores what, in biological terms, sustains this costly habit. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 24981]
This symposium presents varied perspectives from earth scientists, ecologists, and paleoanthropologists on how climate may have shaped human evolution, as well as the prospects for the future of world climate, ecosystems, and our species. Elizabeth Hadly begins with a discussion about A Tipping Point: Using the Past to Forecast Our Future, followed by Naomi Oreskes on Human Impacts: Will We Survive the Future?, and Veerabhadran Ramanathan on Climate Change Mitigation: In Pursuit of the Common Good. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 29685]
This symposium presents varied perspectives from earth scientists, ecologists, and paleoanthropologists on how climate may have shaped human evolution, as well as the prospects for the future of world climate, ecosystems, and our species with Jeff Severinghaus on Abrupt Climate Transitions and Humans, followed by William Ruddiman on How Humans Took Control of Climate, and Charles Kennel on The Impacts of Arctic Sea Ice Retreat on Contemporary Climate. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 29684]
Rick Potts of the Smithsonian Institution addresses how climate instability affected the evolution of human adaptability. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29690]
Co-Director of The Center for Advanced Research and Training in Anthropogen, Ajit Varki, welcomes guests and partcipants to this symposium which presents varied perspectives from earth scientists, ecologists, and paleoanthropologists on how climate may have shaped human evolution, as well as the prospects for the future of world climate, ecosystems, and our species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 29686]
Charles Kennel of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego addresses the impacts of Arctic sea ice retreat on contemporary climate. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29693]
Peter deMenocal of Columbia University on cycles of African climate change and its effect on human evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 29688]
Questions and answers and closing remarks for the symposium Human-Climate Interactions and Evolution: Past and Future. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 29697]
This symposium presents varied perspectives from earth scientists, ecologists, and paleoanthropologists on how climate may have shaped human evolution, as well as the prospects for the future of world climate, ecosystems, and our species with Peter deMenocal on African Climate Change and Human Evolution, followed by Jean-Jacques Hublin on The Climatic Framework of Neandertal Evolution, and Rick Potts on Climate Instability and the Evolution of Human Adaptability. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 29683]
In human languages, spoken and signed, words or signs are products of combinatorial systems that combine meaningless smaller units in different ways to yield different words or signs with different meanings. In spoken languages, those smaller units are the sounds of speech (phonemes). In sign languages, they are handshapes, movements, and the places on the body where signs are made. In this talk David Perlmutter of UC San Diego suggests that the evolutionary path for signs of iconic origin could provide an appropriate working model of the parallel evolution of non-iconic signs in sign languages and of the spoken words of spoken languages. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29401]
Merlin Donald (Queen’s Univ) opines that if one crucial adaptation had to be singled out as the signature move that started the human journey, he would nominate “mimesis,” or body artistry, which is the platform on which all complex skilled performance, including language, has evolved. A capacity for refining skill started to evolve very early in the emergence of hominids, as testified by the existence of very ancient stone tools that predate the appearance of our species. Such tools cannot be made without a capacity to rehearse systematically and an ability to imagine an idealized performance. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24984]
CARTA: Behaviorally Modern Humans: The Origin of Us – Michael Hammer: Interbreeding with Archaic Humans in Africa Today there is an abundance of DNA sequence data from the entire genome of contemporary human populations, as well as from ancient DNA recovered from extinct forms of humans. Michael Hammer (Univ of Arizona) discusses how analyses of these data, with increasingly sophisticated computational tools, are yielding new insights into human evolutionary history. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25394]
V.S. Ramachandran (UC San Diego) argues that human mental uniqueness emerged from the fortuitous co-emergence of certain novel anatomical structures and functions and equally fortuitous synergistic interactions between them. These include structures involved in inter-sensory abstraction (IPL and its uniquely human subdivisions; supra-marginal gyrus and angular gyrus; certain frontal structures, Wernicke’s area, etc.) and sensorimotor abstraction (mirror neurons). He contends that these were then adapted for higher-level abstractions such as metaphor. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24986]
A key feature of human social interactions is the ability to make inferences about other individuals’ mental states (e.g. others’ knowledge, beliefs and desires). Juliane Kaminski (Univ of Portsmouth, UK) reviews studies which investigate whether the cognitive capacities underlying these skills are uniquely human or shared, at least to some degree, with other species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26077]
This CARTA symposium addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today, focusing on three sources of evidence. One source, which is discussed in these three talks, concerns neuroscientific investigations of functional specialization for language in the human brain and its dependence on the linguistic input the language learner gets during cognitive development. Evelina Fedorenko (Massachusetts General Hospital) begins with an examination of Specialization for Language in the Human Brain, followed by Rachel Mayberry (UC San Diego) on How the Environment Shapes Language in the Brain, and Edward Chang (UC San Francisco) on Neuroscience of Speech Perception and Speech Production. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29395]
Edward Chang of UC San Francisco is interested in determining the basic mechanisms that underlie our ability to perceive and produce speech. While much of this processing has been localized to the peri-sylvian cortex, including Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, the fundamental organizational principles of the neural circuits within these areas are completely unknown. To address this, his laboratory applies a variety of experimental approaches to examine both local circuitry and global network dynamics spanning multiple cortical and sub-cortical regions with unparalleled spatial and temporal resolution in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29405]
This CARTA symposium addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today, focusing on three sources of evidence. In this program, the speakers field questions from the audience and the seminar is concluded. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29406]
Roger Levy, Co-Chair of this CARTA symposium on the evolution of Language, introduces the speakers and topics for this symposium which addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 29407]
Using data from brain imaging investigations and studies of patients with brain damage, Massachusetts General Hospital’s Evelina Fedorenko argues that a set of brain regions in the adult human brain – in the frontal and temporal lobes of the left hemisphere -- are specialized for high-level language processing. She further argues that this fronto-temporal network develops as we acquire language knowledge. In the adult brain, this system stores our linguistic knowledge representations and uses these representations to interpret and generate new utterances. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29403]
Pascal Gagneux, associate director of CARTA, introduces this symposium which addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29396]
This CARTA symposium addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today, focusing on three sources of evidence. One source, which is discussed in these three talks, concerns what contrasts between new and mature languages reveal about how language evolves. Mark Aronoff (Stony Brook Univ) begins with an examination of the Co-emergence of Meaning and Structure in a New Language, followed by David Perlmutter (UC San Diego) on Combinatoriality within the Word: Sign Language Evidence, and Ray Jackendoff (Tufts Univ) on What Can You Say without Syntax? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29394]
Mark Aronoff focuses on the emergence of words and lexical categories in new sign languages in this talk. Using naming experiments with groups of non-signing gesturers and signers of new languages, his research team has shown how all groups consistently distinguish between names and actions. They have also shown that emerging lexical distinctions are both cognitive and communicative in nature. They constitute common categories found in languages because they reflect the shared ways that humans interact with the world, involving self, other and mediating tools. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29400]
Matt Cartmill (Boston University) explains the connection between human body fat and bipedality. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23671]
This CARTA symposium addresses the question of how human language came to have the kind of structure it has today, focusing on three sources of evidence. One source, which is discussed in these three talks, has to do with the ways languages get new structure not present in the language of the previous generation(s) of speakers or signers. Simon Kirby (Univ of Edinburgh) begins with an examination of Language Evolution in the Lab: The Emergence of Design Features, followed by Carmel O’Shannessy (Univ of Michigan) on Contact Languages and Light Warlpiri, and Ann Senghas (Barnard College) on Rethinking Recapitulation: Sources of Structure in Nicaraguan Sign Language. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29393]
In this talk Ray Jackendoff explores forms of language with very limited organization. Such languages largely lack the familiar manifestations of syntactic structure, but they still manage to map between sound and meaning. Examples include early stages of child language, stages in acquisition of second languages by adults, pidgins, “home sign” (the sign systems invented by deaf children with no sign language input), and “village signs” spoken in isolated communities with hereditary deafness. He suggests that linear grammar is a plausible steppingstone in the evolution of the language faculty – an intermediate stage between primate call systems and modern human language. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29402]
In this talk Ann Senghas traces the development of basic sentence structure and vocabulary in Nicaraguan Sign Language, in order to uncover the effect of language acquisition processes on language emergence and convergence across age cohorts. Evolutionary principles must apply not only to the development of humans as language learners, but also to the development of languages as systems that change and adapt over generations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29399]
By realizing that cultural as well as biological evolution has a central role to play in the origins of language, Simon Kirby and his team have unlocked a method that allows them to observe the evolutionary emergence of language structure in miniature cultures that they have created in the lab. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29397]
Contact languages represent some of the ways that new languages can be created, as they systematically combine elements from more than one existing language, resulting in novel linguistic systems. When multiple sources provide input to a rapidly emerging new system, elements are likely to be reanalyzed, and new structural categories may be created that differ from those in the source languages. In this talk Carmel O’Shannessy gives examples of restructuring in contact languages, including Light Warlpiri. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 29398]
Conjugal families are often assumed to be building blocks of human societies and the primary site of childrearing in traditional communities. Alternatively, Kristen Hawkes (Univ of Utah) contends that the Grandmother Hypothesis draws attention to other relationships likely fundamental in the evolution of our lineage. Persistent ties that crosscut conjugal families are implied by our cooperative childcare, distinctive prosociality, and extraordinary operational sex ratios. These high operational sex ratios also affect the way men negotiate with other men, which in turn affects the economics of childrearing. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28036]
James Noonan, Assistant Professor of Genetics at Yale School of Medicine, focuses on identifying changes in gene regulation during early embryonic development that contributed to the evolution of uniquely human biological traits. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21988]
Apart from references to the oldest fossil hominins attributed to Homo sapiens, the East African record is often ignored in current scenarios of modern human origins in favor of the much more detailed, well-preserved and better-explored region at the southern end of the continent. Alison S. Brooks (George Washington Univ/Smithsonian Institution) opines that over 20 years of research in the eastern and south-central African zones of woodlands and savannas surrounding the central African rainforest have produced new evidence concerning the transition from pre-sapiens behavior to behaviors more characteristic of the Late Pleistocene humans who expanded from Africa and replaced the pre-existing populations of Eurasia. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25391]
In this presentation, Matthew Tocheri (Smithsonian Institution) shows how the morphology of four foot bones – the medial cuneiform, talus, calcaneus, and cuboid – is clearly distinguishable among living gorilla taxa in ways that are relevant to interpreting bipedal evolution in hominins. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23665]
When many people want to discover the core of human nature, they turn to those people who allegedly are or represent humanity’s original condition, hunter-gatherers. Do hunter-gatherers have a special ability to reveal human nature? Robert Kelly (Univ of Wyoming) examines this question by focusing on the issue of violence. Do hunter-gatherers say that we are inherently predisposed to violence, or to peaceful cooperation? Trying to answer this question raises a more general one: Is there such a thing as human nature? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28355]
Kazuo Okanoya (Univ of Tokyo) describes his research with Bengalese finches, a domesticated strain of wild white-rumped munias that were imported from China to Japan 250 years ago. He shows that evolution of song complexity involves not only factors related to sexual selection and species identification, but also to socio-emotional factors due to domestication. He then speculates that language evolution in humans might also be based on sexual selection and self-domestication. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28901]
UC San Diego’s Robert Kluender provides an excellent introductory overview of this symposium which addresses the study of animal domestication, our relationships with domesticated species, and what that might tell us about our own evolution as a species in the more distant past. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28894]
CARTA: Behaviorally Modern Humans: The Origin of Us – Richard “Ed” Green: Interbreeding with Archaic Humans outside Africa. Neanderthals and Denisovans are the closest extinct ancestors of modern humans. High-quality genome sequence data is now available from both and has revealed multiple instances of admixture between these archaic hominins and the ancestors of currently living humans. Ed Green (UC Santa Cruz) discusses how he is using these data to refine the demographic models describing recent human evolution and to detect selective sweeps that post-dated our split from Neanderthals and Deniosvans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 25395]
Research on infancy and childhood among !Kung (Bushmen) hunter-gatherers of northwestern Botswana, the first hunting-gathering group where childhood was quantitatively studied, yielded a distinctive characterization of their patterns of child care and behavioral development, and surveys of prior ethnographic literature suggested that core features of these patterns were seen in other hunter-gatherers. In this lecture, Melvin Konner (Emory Univ) contextualizes these findings in the light of recent advances in our understanding of the evolution of human life histories and against the background of basic primate adaptations for infant and juvenile care. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28035]
Donald Pfaff (Rockefeller Univ) addresses two questions in this talk: First, how is it possible to increase testosterone-fueled aggressive behaviors? Second, what does testosterone do, exactly, in the nerve cell? Understanding all of the ways that testosterone fuels aggression may suggest antidotes: pharmacological, psychological and/or cultural. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28349]
Human beings are animal-machines with added souls. This was famously Descartes’ view, and it’s the view of a good many people today. Nicholas Humphrey (Darwin College) is one of them. He contends that humans have evolved a kind of consciousness that, when egged on by culture, leads them to have an extraordinary view of their own metaphysical importance. In fact, Humphrey believes that it is arguably the main driver of human evolution in the last hundred thousand years. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24983]
The neural crest is a transitory embryonic tissue that, early in development, gives rise to a very diverse set of tissues and organs including pigment cells (melanocytes), bones, muscles and connective tissues in the head, and the adrenal gland. Tecumseh Fitch (Univ of Vienna) hypothesizes that the selection for tameness during early stages of domestication led to delayed maturation and reduced output of the adrenal component of the “fight or flight” response, via reduced neural crest input. This led, as an unselected byproduct, to other neural crest-derived tissues also being reduced, resulting in short snouts, smaller teeth, floppy ears, and changes in pigmentation (e.g. white spots). Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28900]
In this talk Terrence Deacon (UC Berkeley) describes how the signature pattern of specific brain structure changes can provide evidence to distinguish between the processes associated with domestication. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28898]
In this talk Terrence Deacon (UC Berkeley) describes how the signature pattern of specific brain structure changes can provide evidence to distinguish between the processes associated with domestication. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28898]
Anna Kukekova (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) discusses the genetics-centered view of domestication that was supported by the experimental selection of farm-bred foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at the Russian Institute of Cytology and Genetics back in the 1950s. The selection of foxes, some for tame and some for aggressive behavior, yielded two strains with markedly different, genetically determined, behavioral phenotypes. These fox strains have provided a rich resource for investigating the genetics of complex social behaviors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28896]
Robert Wayne (UCLA) presents a historical perspective on dog evolution in this talk. The timing and context of dog domestication is controversial. Wayne’s findings place domestication at a time when humans were migratory hunter-gatherers and suggest that a unique domestication scenario applies to the dog, the only large carnivore ever domesticated. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28895]
Philipp Khaitovich (PICB, Shanghai) and his team have identified the human-specific delay in timing of neocortical synaptogenesis as one of the molecular mechanisms that potentially underlies the evolution of the human phenotype. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28899]
In this talk Richard Wrangham (Harvard Univ) puts forth the theory that Homo sapiens are, in fact, a self-domesticated species. He defines “self-domestication” as the evolution of a reduced propensity for reactive aggression (compared to an immediate ancestor), without the active involvement of another species. He then shows that communal sanctions practiced by hunter-gatherers, which depend on proactive aggression, provide a leading candidate mechanism selecting against high levels of reactive aggression. He therefore proposes that human self-domestication is an ironic consequence of a particularly well-developed facility for proactive aggression, and concludes that humans did indeed self-domesticate, providing a critical underpinning for inter-individual tolerance and cooperation. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28902]
Closing remarks and Q&A for the symposium “Domestication and Human Evolution.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28903]
Recently, a convergence of views has led to the notion that the study of animal domestication may tell us something not only about our relationship with domesticated species since perhaps at least the Pleistocene, but also about our own evolution as a species in the more distant past. This symposium brings together scientists from a variety of research backgrounds to examine these views and to elucidate further the possible role of domestication in human evolution. Kazuo Okanoya (Univ of Tokyo) begins with a discussion about Domestication and Vocal Behavior in Finches, followed by Richard Wrangham (Harvard Univ), who tries to answer the question Did Homo sapiens Self-Domesticate?, and Terrence Deacon (UC Berkeley), who closes with The Domesticated Brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28893]
Recently, a convergence of views has led to the notion that the study of animal domestication may tell us something not only about our relationship with domesticated species since perhaps at least the Pleistocene, but also about our own evolution as a species in the more distant past. This symposium brings together scientists from a variety of research backgrounds to examine these views and to elucidate further the possible role of domestication in human evolution. Terrence Deacon (UC Berkeley) begins with a discussion about The Domesticated Brain, followed by Philipp Khaitovich (PICB, Shanghai) on Neotenous Gene Expression in the Developing Human Brain, and Tecumseh Fitch (Univ of Vienna) on The Domestication Syndrome and Neural Crest Cells: A Unifying Hypothesis. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28892]
Recently, a convergence of views has led to the notion that the study of animal domestication may tell us something not only about our relationship with domesticated species since perhaps at least the Pleistocene, but also about our own evolution as a species in the more distant past. This symposium brings together scientists from a variety of research backgrounds to examine these views and to elucidate further the possible role of domestication in human evolution. Robert Wayne (UCLA) begins with a discussion about The Transformation of Wolf to Dog: History, Traits, and Genetics, followed by Anna Kukekova (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) on Fox Domestication and Genetics of Complex Behaviors, and Robert Franciscus (Univ of Iowa) on Craniofacial Feminization in Canine and Human Evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28891]
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy(UC Davis) discusses how reliance on allomaternal assistance to rear young rendered mothers increasingly sensitive to signals of how much social support she and her offspring could expect. Additionally, multiple offspring, with overlapping periods of dependency, meant that mothers might be forced to choose between offspring when investing. Paternal and alloparental responses to infants would also be facultatively expressed, depending on probable relatedness, alternatives available, past experience and degree of exposure to infantile appeals. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28217]
Patricia Lambert (Utah State Univ) examines the bioarchaeological evidence for violence and warfare in ancient California. Violent injuries in human skeletal remains provide one of the most compelling lines of evidence for violent conflict in prehistory. These data help to broaden our perspective on the causes of human violence and enhance our understanding of its evolutionary underpinnings. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28350]
In both lions and chimpanzees, males cooperate in inter-group conflict with group-mates who are often relatives and with whom they maintain close, life-long social bonds. Anne Pusey (Duke Univ) discusses some of the mounting evidence that successful intergroup aggression and killing results in better resources for group members in both species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28348]
In this talk, Christopher Boehm (USC) discusses how today’s hunter-gatherers are used to portray likely patterns of male aggression among culturally-modern foragers in the Late Pleistocene epoch. Patterns of aggressive behavior are considered at three levels: within groups, between groups of the same ethnicity, and between groups that consider one another strangers.
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28347]
Human male violence is paradoxical. On the one hand, within social groups there is a strong tendency for avoidance of direct conflicts such that confrontations between angry individuals or groups normally end without serious harm. On the other hand, our species has a consistent history of intense deliberate violence, ranging from planned homicides and low-level and long-lasting warfare among nomadic hunter-gatherers to massive intermittent conflicts among states. Richard Wrangham (Harvard Univ) shows that the combination of aggression styles is better understood as being due to two neurobiologically distinct patterns that have been subject to contrasting selective regimes. He concludes that the combination of these two styles of aggression makes humans well adapted for both war and avoidance of war. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28354]
Summary, question and answer session and closing statement for the symposium Male Aggression and Violence in Human Evolution that takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in aggression, both between and within species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28357]
Welcome and opening remarks for the symposium Male Aggression and Violence in Human Evolution that takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in aggression, both between and within species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28346]
In order to understand how warfare and violence have shaped the natural history of our species, and perhaps favored adaptations that respond to this important life threat, we need to document what types of violence were common in our ancestors and what were the levels of violent death in the past. Observation of modern hunter-gatherers, who live under conditions similar to our ancestors, provides an important source of information. Kim Hill (Arizona State Univ) studied the death rates of two hunter-gatherer tribes, the Aché of Paraguay and the Hiwi of Venezuela, and discusses his findings in this talk. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28351]
In the last few decades, new sources of evidence have continued to indicate that male violence has played an important role in shaping behavior in the human lineage. The frequency and nature of such violence varies widely among populations and over time raises questions about the factors responsible for the variation. This symposium takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in aggression, both between and within species. Carol Ember (Yale Univ) begins with a discussion about Resource Unpredictability, Socialization, and War, followed by Polly Wiessner on Violence: What’s Culture Got to Do with It?, and Robert Kelly (Univ of Wyoming) who asks Do Hunter-Gatherers Tell Us About Human Nature? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28345]
In the last few decades, new sources of evidence have continued to indicate that male violence has played an important role in shaping behavior in the human lineage. The frequency and nature of such violence varies widely among populations and over time raises questions about the factors responsible for the variation. This symposium takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in aggression, both between and within species. Christopher Boehm (USC) begins with a discussion about Warfare and Feuding in Pleistocene Societies, followed by Patricia Lambert (Utah State Univ) on Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Male Violence in Prehistory, and Kim Hill (Arizona State Univ) on Male Violence among the Aché and Hiwi Hunter-Gatherers. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28344]
In the last few decades, new sources of evidence have continued to indicate that male violence has played an important role in shaping behavior in the human lineage. The frequency and nature of such violence varies widely among populations and over time raises questions about the factors responsible for the variation. This symposium takes a fresh look at the causes and consequences of variation in aggression, both between and within species. Donald Pfaff (Rockefeller Univ) begins with a discussion about Neuroendocrine Mechanisms Underlying Male Aggression, followed by Anne Pusey (Duke Univ) on Intergroup Violence: Chimpanzees and Lions, and Richard Wrangham (Harvard Univ) on Parallel Evolution of Humanity and Savagery. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28343]
In this talk, Hillard Kaplan (Univ of New Mexico) presents a theoretical model linking ecology to male paternal investment. The basic argument is that there are three fundamental potential inputs into offspring fitness: genes, care, and energy. When this model is applied to humans, it is proposed that there is a modal human economy of food production and redistribution that evolved as part of the hunting and gathering lifeway. As human economies changed over the last ten thousand years, diversity in mating and parental investment has grown substantially. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28034]
Sue Carter of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill examines the hypothesis that Homo sapiens, with their high level of dependence on social behavior and cognition, could not have evolved without the neuropeptide, oxytocin. Oxytocin pathways – which include oxytocin, the related peptide vasopressin, and their receptors – are at the center of physiological and genetic systems that permitted the evolution of the human nervous system and allowed the expression of contemporary human sociality. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28032]
Kim Bard of the University of Portsmouth, UK presents data on comparative development of infant states, that is, states of arousal, state regulation, emotion states, and engagement states in chimpanzee and human infants. Comparative developmental studies are valuable for understanding hominid evolution, and essential for delineating those characteristics that are uniquely human. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28030]
Closing remarks and Question and Answer session Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28038]
Opening remarks, introduction Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 28037]
Giving and sharing are central to understanding humanity and human evolution. In this talk, Barry Hewlett (Washington State Univ, Vancouver) examines reproductive (i.e., allomaternal care) and information (i.e., knowledge and skills) sharing among Aka hunter-gatherers of the Congo Basin. Particular attention is given to understanding the contexts of allomaternal nursing and teaching during infancy. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28033]
Katie Hinde of Harvard University presents emerging research that addresses the magnitude, sources, and consequences of inter-individual variation of bioactive constituents in mother’s milk. A better understanding of variation in milk composition, especially for milk constituents linked to infant cognition, neurodevelopment, behavior, and metabolism, enhances an evolutionary biological perspective of parent-offspring dynamics. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28031]
From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Barry Hewlett (Washington State Univ, Vancouver) begins with a discussion on Sharing Childcare and Knowledge in Infancy, followed by Kristen Hawkes (Univ of Utah) on Grandmothers and the Extended Family, and Hillard Kaplan (Univ of New Mexico) on Human Fathers. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28018]
From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Katie Hinde (Harvard Univ) begins with a discussion about Breast Milk and Breastfeeding, followed by Sue Carter (Univ of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) on Oxytocin Pathways and Human Evolution, and Melvin Konner (Emory Univ) on Hunter-Gatherer Childhood and Human Evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28017]
From the moment of birth, human infants require an inordinate amount of care and, unlike our nearest living relatives, remain dependent on a variety of caretakers during an unusually long maturation period followed by extraordinary adult longevity. How did such a distinctive pattern of development evolve and what other human features are linked to it? Wenda Trevathan (New Mexico State Univ) begins with a discussion about Birth and the Newborn Infant, followed by Kim Bard (Univ of Portsmouth) on the Infant State in Apes and Humans, and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (UC Davis) on Born Human: How the Utterly Dependent Survive.
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 28016]
Mirror neurons were first discovered in the brain of macaque monkeys – neurons active both when the monkey executed certain actions and when he observed others performing similar actions. Perhaps such neurons in humans could provide the key to linking our own experience to that of others. Michael Arbib (Univ of Southern California) explores this idea, but stresses that mirror neurons function only as part of much larger brain systems. In other words, human social interaction is not just a matter of registering the current actions or expressions of the other. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26080]
In this talk, Elizabeth Spelke (Harvard Univ) asks whether studies of human infants provide insights into the origins and nature of uniquely human social cognitive capacities. Do the complex social judgments made by human adults develop from, and build on, simpler systems that are functional in infants? And do non-human animals share any of these systems, and therefore serve as models for studies of their development and functioning at multiple levels of analysis? Recent research on human infants suggests tentative answers to these questions. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26083]
For many years, Tetsuro Matsuzawa (Kyoto Univ) has studied chimpanzees both in the laboratory and in the wild. In this talk he presents several examples of “mind reading” in chimpanzees based on his research in the lab and observations in the field. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26076]
CARTA Co-Director Ajit Varki welcomes the public and researchers to the CARTA symposium on Mind Reading: Human Origins and Theory of Mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26073]
The ability to recognize oneself in a mirror, once considered a uniquely human attribute, is shared by great apes, dolphins, elephants and magpies. Diana Reiss (Hunter College, CUNY) discusses comparative studies of mirror self-recognition in dolphins and elephants, which show striking similarities to humans and great apes in regard to their behavior when exposed to a mirror. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26079]
CARTA: Mind Reading: Human Origins and Theory of Mind: Wrap-Up: Terry Sejnowski Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26084]
CARTA Symposium Co-Chair Donald Pfaff introduces the topic of Theory of Mind and how it differs from other studies of social behaviors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26074]
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (Univ College London) discusses how the social brain, that is, the network of brain regions involved in understanding others, develops during adolescence. Adolescence is a time characterized by change – hormonally, physically, psychologically and socially. Yet until fairly recently, this period of life was neglected by neuroscience. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26078]
CARTA: Mind Reading: Human Origins and Theory of Mind: Question and Answer Session Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26085]
Over the past two decades, research investigating the neural basis of social abilities suggests that the human brain has dedicated systems for understanding other minds. Jason Mitchell (Harvard Univ) reviews this brain imaging work and discusses the implications for the unique aspects of human social cognition. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26081]
Ralph Adolphs (Caltech) provides an overview on how best to define Theory of Mind, how to relate it to other similar terms, and how to study it. He closes by speculating on what aspects of mindreading might be unique to humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 26075]
This CARTA series explores the evolution of “Theory of Mind” (ToM), the ability to impute mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions to oneself and others, and how ToM makes us uniquely human. Elizabeth Spelke (Harvard Univ) begins with a discussion about What Makes Humans Different?, followed by Jason Mitchell (Harvard Univ) on Brain Imaging Studies, and Michael Arbib (Univ of Southern California) on Mirror Neurons and More. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 25936]
This CARTA series explores the evolution of “Theory of Mind” (ToM), the ability to impute mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions to oneself and others, and how ToM makes us uniquely human. Tetsuro Matsuzawa (Kyoto Univ) begins with a discussion about “Mind Reading” in Chimpanzees, followed by Juliane Kaminski (Univ of Portsmouth, UK) on Comparing Apes and Dogs, and Diana Reiss (Hunter College, CUNY) on Reflections of Dolphin and Elephant Minds. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 25935]
This CARTA series explores the evolution of “Theory of Mind” (ToM), the ability to impute mental states such as beliefs, desires, and intentions to oneself and others, and how ToM makes us uniquely human. Ralph Adolphs (Caltech) begins with a discussion about the definition of ToM, followed by Jessica Sommerville (Univ of Washington) on the Emergence of Theory of Mind in Human Babies, and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (University College London) on The Social Brain in Adolescence. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 25934]
Ajit Varki (CARTA Co-Director, UC San Diego), Pascal Gagneux (CARTA Associate Director, UC San Diego), and Margaret Schoeninger (CARTA Co-Director, UC San Diego) describe CARTA’s Museum of Comparative Anthropogeny and offer some closing remarks for the CARTA Symposium on “Human and Non-Human Cultures.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17829]
In this presentation from CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Symposium, Andrew Whiten (University of St. Andrews Scotland) discusses “The Cultural Worlds of Child and Chimpanzee.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17827]
In this presentation from CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Symposium, Hal Whitehead (Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia) discusses “Cultures of the Open Ocean: The Sperm Whale.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17826]
In this presentation from CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Symposium, Peter Tyack (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) discusses “Vocal Learning in Dolphins and Parrots.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17825]
CARTA: Human and Non-Human Cultures – Timothy Wright Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17824]
In this presentation from CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Symposium, Rupert Stasch (UC San Diego) discusses “Cultural Reflexivity in Human Cultures.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17822]
In this presentation from CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Symposium, Jonathan Friedman (UC San Diego) discusses “The Cultural as Emergent Order: What Francois Jacob Tells Claude Levi-Strauss.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17828]
In this presentation from CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Symposium, Susan Perry (UCLA) discusses “Social Learning and Traditions in Wild Capuchin Monkeys.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17823]
In this presentation from CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Symposium, Donald Brown (UC Santa Barbara) discusses “Human Cultural Universals: How and Where They Differ.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17821]
Margaret Schoeninger (CARTA Co-Director, UC San Diego) and James Moore (Symposium Chair, UC San Diego) provide some introductory remarks to the CARTA symposium on “Human and Non-Human Cultures” held on October 2, 2009. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 17820]
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25399]
Ofer Bar-Yosef (Harvard Univ) briefly summarizes the archaeological evidence for the dispersals of modern humans into Eurasia avoiding the assumptions that these events, whether short or continuous, were triggered by climatic conditions or followed the dispersals of other mammals. He contends that tracing past human groups as they move through time and space in Eurasia relies on the recognition of how they made their stone tools. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25396]
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25401]
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25400]
Evidence points strongly to Africa as the major center for the genetic, physical and behavioral origins of both ancient and modern humans. In this talk, Chris Stringer (Natural History Museum, London) reviews recent genetic and paleontological research that suggests more complex scenarios for our origins than had been considered previously. This includes the likelihood of interbreeding between archaic and modern humans, both within and outside of Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25393]
CARTA: Behaviorally Modern Humans: The Origin of Us – Iain Davidson: Stone Tools and Cognition: Lessons from Australia In this talk, Iain Davidson (Univ of New England, Australia) addresses four topics: What is cognition? Can we learn anything from brains? What was the cognitive ability of the Last Common Ancestor? And, how can we learn from stone tools? He emphasizes specific aspects of stone tool making and use, which show how it required particular cognitive abilities and provided a selective context for their evolutionary emergence. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25398]
Lyn Wadley (Univ of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) contends that the manufacture of compound adhesives and compound paints by 100,000 years ago in South Africa is clear evidence for modern thought processes that involve, for example, multi-tasking. Some early hunting technologies support this conclusion. Cultural traditions, reminiscent of hunter-gatherer ones practiced in historic times, are also evident in South Africa’s Middle Stone Age, by not less than 100,000 years ago. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25392]
Rick Potts (Smithsonian Institution) suggests that the complexity of climate dynamics, and associated resource uncertainty, likely influenced the evolution of adaptive versatility in our species, expressed by the expansion of mobile technologies, symbolism, social networks, and behavioral diversity. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25390]
CARTA: Behaviorally Modern Humans: The Origin of Us – Christopher Ehret: Relationships of Ancient African Languages Almost all of the more than 1,000 African languages spoken today belong to just four families – Afroasiatic, Niger-Kordofanian, Nilo-Saharan, and Khoesan. As these language families spread out across the continent in the early Holocene, they gradually drove out hundreds of other languages that used to be spoken in Africa. Christopher Ehret (UCLA) reflects on the relationships of these languages to the existing African families and to the language families of the rest of the world, and asks what this information can tell us about human origins and early human history. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25397]
Ofer Bar-Yosef (Harvard Univ) briefly summarizes the archaeological evidence for the dispersals of modern humans into Eurasia avoiding the assumptions that these events, whether short or continuous, were triggered by climatic conditions or followed the dispersals of other mammals. He contends that tracing past human groups as they move through time and space in Eurasia relies on the recognition of how they made their stone tools. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 25396]
One of the enduring questions of human origins is when, where and how we "Behaviorally Modern Humans" emerged and why and how we eventually replaced all the other human-like species. This series takes a fresh look at the situation today with a critical examination of the available evidence from multiple sources. Ofer Bar-Yosef (Harvard Univ) leads off with a talk about Evidence for the Spread of Modern Humans, followed by Christopher Ehret (UCLA) on Relationships of Ancient African Languages, and Iain Davidson (Univ of New England, Australia) on Stone Tools and Cognition: Lessons from Australia. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 25389]
One of the enduring questions of human origins is when, where and how we "Behaviorally Modern Humans" emerged and why and how we eventually replaced all the other human-like species. This series takes a fresh look at the situation today with a critical examination of the available evidence from multiple sources. Chris Stringer (Natural History Museum, London) leads off with a talk about the Fossil Record of Anatomically Modern Humans, followed by Michael Hammer (Univ of Arizona) on Interbreeding with Archaic Humans in Africa, and Richard “Ed” Green (UC Santa Cruz) on Interbreeding with Archaic Humans outside Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 25388]
One of the enduring questions of human origins is when, where and how we "Behaviorally Modern Humans" emerged and why and how we eventually replaced all the other human-like species. This series takes a fresh look at the situation today with a critical examination of the available evidence from multiple sources. Rick Potts (Smithsonian Institution) leads off with a talk about African Climate of the Last 400,000 Years, followed by Alison S. Brooks (George Washington Univ/Smithsonian Institution) on East African Archaeological Evidence, and Lyn Wadley (Univ of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg) on South African Archaeological Evidence. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24970]
Morality is a social behavior seen in mammals, and some birds, which depends on an interlocking brain organization shaped by four factors. Patricia Churchland (UC San Diego) discusses how the importance of these factors can vary between species, as a function of natural selection operating on subcortical structures, and of the degree of flexibility of the cortical organization. For example, increased capacity for impulse control is a feature of frontal brain expansion. Social benefits are accompanied by social demands; we have to get along, but not put up with too much. Hence impulse control – being aggressive or compassionate or indulgent at the right time – is hugely advantageous. In different contexts and cultures, expression of sociality may vary, as local factors limit solutions to the social problems of getting along and prospering despite competition between individuals. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24985]
Why is human thought so flexible? Although many features of human brains can be attributed to selection for novel cognitive functions (e.g., for symbolic language), relaxation of selection on other attributes has additionally contributed to de-differentiation of certain brain functions. Here a parallel process is described by Terry Deacon (UC Berkeley) involving domestication and birdsong. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24978]
In this talk, Daniel Povinelli (Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette) suggests that “desperately seeking explanation” is a uniquely human mental function. In science, this “explanatory drive” can be properly regarded as a mania, which, as it proceeds largely uncontrolled, will continue to yield products that both improve, and threaten, our very existence. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24979]
Steve Mithen (Univ of Reading) discusses what the archaeological and fossil records tell us about the similarities and differences between the minds of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24980]
Colin Renfrew (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research) discusses the “Sapient Paradox.” The genetic basis of humankind was established 200,000 years ago, and yet the tectonic phase of human development is only 10,000 years old. So what took so long? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24982]
Cognitive abilities often regarded as unique to humans include humor, morality, symbolism, creativity, and preoccupation with the minds of others. In these compelling talks, emphasis is placed on the functional uniqueness of these attributes, as opposed to the anatomical uniqueness, and whether these attributes are indeed quantitatively or qualitatively unique to humans. Merlin Donald (Queen’s Univ) begins with Skilled Performance and Artistry, followed by Terry Deacon (UC Berkeley) on Symbolic Communication: Why Is Human Thought So Flexible?”, and V.S. Ramachandran (UC San Diego) on Inter-Modular Interactions, Metaphor, and the “Great Leap.” Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24975]
Cognitive abilities often regarded as unique to humans include humor, morality, symbolism, creativity, and preoccupation with the minds of others. In these compelling talks, emphasis is placed on the functional uniqueness of these attributes, as opposed to the anatomical uniqueness, and whether these attributes are indeed quantitatively or qualitatively unique to humans. Nicholas Humphrey (Darwin College, Cambridge) begins with Entering the “Soul Niche,” followed by Steven Mithen (Univ of Reading) on An Evolved and Creative Mind, and Daniel Dennett (Tufts Univ) on Humor. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24974]
Cognitive abilities often regarded as unique to humans include humor, morality, symbolism, creativity, and preoccupation with the minds of others. In these compelling talks, emphasis is placed on the functional uniqueness of these attributes, as opposed to the anatomical uniqueness, and whether these attributes are indeed quantitatively or qualitatively unique to humans. Colin Renfrew (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research) begins with the Archaeological Evidence for Mind, followed by Daniel Povinelli (Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette) on Desperately Seeking Explanation, and Patricia Churchland (UC San Diego) on Moral Sense. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23910]
For many species, including humans, matings occur among a restricted pool of partners. In humans, restrictions on the choice of partners are culturally determined and frequently are the result of homophily, namely, contacts among individuals that are similar on some dimension. Marcus Feldman, Stanford University, discusses how the dimension may itself be culturally transmitted, and its transmission may affect the transmission of other characters, which may be genetically determined, but have nothing to do with the dimension on which the mating choice is based. Socioeconomic choice of consanguineous marriage is an example; it has important consequences for genetic variation in many populations around the world. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24113]
Kristen Hawkes, University of Utah, discusses the grandmother hypothesis, which links the evolution of human longevity to ecological changes that left ancestral youngsters unable to get enough food on their own. Help from grandmothers allowed mothers to bear their next baby sooner while setting novel social problems for both mothers and offspring. These connections link grandmothering not only to the evolution of our long lifespans, but also to other features of human life history, physiology, and behavior. Even if only some are correct, they make human postmenopausal longevity much less of a puzzle after all. But how do we do it? Estrogen is crucial to the maintenance of many physiological systems aside from fertility. Yet ovarian estrogen secretion depends on menstrual cycling which ends at similar ages in all great apes including humans. Like most mammals, other primates display geriatric symptoms while still cycling and rarely survive their fertile years while women remain strong and healthy beyond menopause. The contrast points to non-ovarian sources of estrogen in somatic maintenance. A likely nominee is an adrenal androgen that circulates at a higher level in humans than any other hormone and is estimated to be the precursor for most of the estrogen in women’s peripheral tissues even before menopause. Chimpanzee levels of this steroid are much lower, consistent with the hypothesis that shifts in adrenal function are an important mechanism for slowed aging in our lineage. Comparisons with other apes also reveal intriguing puzzles about somatic maintenance in our closest living relatives. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24114]
Language is a hallmark of modern humans: only humans have language. Yet, while no human society lacks a language, individual languages exhibit wide variety. In this, language differs greatly from bipedalism, the other hallmark of humans. Mark Aronoff, Stony Brook University, and Carol Padden, UC San Diego, explore the question of whether there is a relation between the variety among languages and genetic variation, concentrating on the emergence of sign languages in societies with a high incidence of deafness due to genetic traits. They show that the emergence of sign languages in such societies is also tied to a number of preexisting cultural factors. This type of interaction, where genetics and culture, both separately and together, provide the foundation for a particular type of language, has not previously received attention. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24115]
Globalization is, in part, an economic force to bring about a closer integration of national economies. Food globalization brings about nutritional transitions. The most common transition today is the shift from a diet based on locally-grown, minimally refined vegetable foods supplemented with small amounts of animal food to the ‘modern diet’ of globally sourced highly processed foods, rich in saturated fat, animal products, and sugar, but poor in some nutrients and low in fiber. Barry Bogin (Loughborough Univ) discusses how the Maya people of Mexico and Central America are a poignant case of globalized diets. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24841]
In this presentation, Leslie Aiello (Wenner Gren Foundation) provides some background for the discussion and defines the overall goal of the symposium, The Evolution of Human Nutrition, which is to highlight the evolution of human nutrition from our earliest ancestors to the modern day and to draw attention to the diversity in the human diet and its consequences. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24835]
Peter Ungar (Univ of Arkansas) looks at the fossil record to determine what it can teach us about the diets of our early hominin forebears. Evidence from tooth chemistry and microscopic wear suggests that some species had increasingly specialized diets, but others, including those of early Homo, ate a broader variety of foods. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24838]
Clark Spencer Larsen (Ohio State Univ) explores what anthropologists have learned about the alterations of the lives, lifestyles, and wellbeing from the study of bones and teeth of our recent ancestors during the one of the most dynamic periods of human evolution. Just as the process of domestication was complex and involved regional economic, social, and environmental circumstances, the impact of the foraging-to-farming transition on human biology and evolution was varied. In general, however, the outcome of this fundamental behavioral shift in how humans acquire food was decline in health owing to population crowding, reduced nutritional quality, and related factors. Collectively, this outcome was central to creating the circumstances that transformed the human biological landscape into what it is today. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24840]
Alison S. Brooks (George Washington Univ) and Margaret J. Schoeninger (UC San Diego) provide an overview of Neanderthal diets based on the physical evidence, archaeological data, and bone composition data. They conclude that Neanderthal subsistence strategies varied with their local environments and included various combinations of plant and animal foods throughout their range. Like modern humans, Neanderthals selected foods that are relatively high in protein from both plant and animal sources. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24842]
At least three major transitions can be seen from the archaeological record of meat-eating. Mary Stiner (Univ of Arizona) explains how each of these transitions came with new labor and social arrangements that extended well beyond the mechanics of hunting. The transitions also relate to major changes in environmental carrying capacity and human population densities. These changes are predicated on new ways of capturing energy and insulating the group (especially children) from variation in the supplies of high quality food. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24843]
Unlike all other free-living animals, human populations need to eat much of their food cooked. We now know that cooking causes starch and meat to provide much extra energy; that cooked food saves so much eating time that it makes dedicated hunting possible; and that honey-eating by African hunter-gatherers offers a remarkable clue that the control of fire is an ancient habit. From an evolutionary perspective, Richard Wrangham (Harvard Univ) contends that the special feature of the human diet is not so much its ingredients, as how we prepare them. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24839]
Alyssa Crittenden (Univ of Nevada, Las Vegas) reports on the diet composition and foraging profiles of the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania. The significance of meat, tubers, and honey is addresses and the role that these food items play in evolutionary models is explored. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24837]
Tracing the evolution of the human diet from our earliest ancestors can lead to a better understanding of human adaptation in the past. It may also offer clues to the origin of many health problems we currently face, such as obesity and chronic disease. This fascinating series of talks focuses on the changing diets of our ancestors and what role these dietary transitions played in the evolution of humans. Here Clark Spencer Larsen (Ohio State Univ) discusses The Impact of Agriculture on Human Evolution, followed by Barry Bogin (Loughborough Univ) on The Impact of Globalization on Children’s Nutrition and Alyssa Crittenden (Univ of Nevada, Las Vegas) on Current Hunter-Gatherer Diets. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24830]
Tracing the evolution of the human diet from our earliest ancestors can lead to a better understanding of human adaptation in the past. It may also offer clues to the origin of many health problems we currently face, such as obesity and chronic disease. This fascinating series of talks focuses on the changing diets of our ancestors and what role these dietary transitions played in the evolution of humans. Leslie C. Aiello (Wenner-Gren Foundation) begins with An Overview of Diet and Evolution, followed by Richard Wrangham (Harvard Univ) on Fire, Starch, Meat, and Honey Steven Leigh (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) on Diets and Microbes in Primates. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24807]
In the classic nature-nurture dichotomy, nature has a stronger or weaker influence on nurture, but certainly nurture was supposed to have no impact on nature. Human culture is often taken to be a form of nurture. However, culture itself has evolutionary properties. In particular, culture generates novel environments that in turn select for novel genes. A few dramatic cases of this effect are well known and many more are suspected. Peter Richerson, UC Davis, explains why the nature-nurture dichotomy is an impediment to clear thinking and should be abandoned. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24108]
Indo-European languages are native to populations from Ireland to Afghanistan and India and, in historical times, to the Tarim Basin in China. This spread occurred within a few thousand years carried by people who were mostly horse pastoralists and who carried a mutant regulator of the lactase gene so that they could as adults digest milk sugar. Henry Harpending, University of Utah, discusses how individuals with such lactase persistence are able to extract 40% more calories from milk, while others usually ferment away the milk sugar lactose by making cheese or yogurt. While superior technology of invaders can be adapted by indigenous people, such a biological advantage cannot be copied. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24112]
As our australopithecine ancestors moved out of receding rain forests and into drier habitats, they abandoned a primarily fruit-based diet and began consuming more meat and tubers. This increase in consumption of protein, fat, and starch coincided in time with important evolutionary changes in cognition and brain size. Gregory Wray, Duke University, discusses how genetic and genomic methods are providing insights into the relationship between these two parallel sets of adaptations. Several genes have now been identified that may have mediated a link between changes in diet and changes in behavior during human origins. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24110]
The history of human evolution and dispersal was associated with remarkable environmental challenges to those processes that maintain stable physiological conditions. Indeed, environmental change over time and over space has been a major feature of human evolution. Though many adaptations undoubtedly occurred at the cultural and behavioral levels, the striking variation of human phenotypes suggests that adaptations also involved genetic changes. Cultural changes, e.g. different modes of subsistence or diets, in turn created new selective pressures. Anna Di Rienzo, University of Chicago, has developed approaches to test for the impact that selective pressures associated with specific environmental factors have had on the human genome. Using these approaches, she and her colleagues identify adaptations to selective pressures related to climate as well as diet and subsistence. Some of these beneficial alleles were selected in multiple continents while others represent continent-specific adaptations. Interestingly, many alleles strongly correlated with climate variables also influence risk to diseases of the immune response. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24109]
What constitutes the essential behavior of our species is contentious. Evolutionary scenarios leading to both the capacity for and practice of these essential behaviors are even more debated. Genetics, cognitive and evolutionary psychology, morphology, reconstructions of climate variation, and the archaeology of human behavior all provide pathways to explore these questions. This presentation by Alison Brooks, George Washington University, will review the evidence for the accumulation of distinctive human behaviors in a comparative framework. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24107]
Leslie Aiello (Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research) reviews the historical development of ideas in relation to the evolution of bipediality. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23670]
The fastest humans sprint slowly and for very limited durations compared to most quadrupedal mammals, but even average humans have superlative long distance running capabilities in terms of speed and distance compared to other mammals, especially in the heat. Dan Lieberman (Harvard University) posits that these abilities raise the question of how to evaluate when and how adaptations for running evolved in hominins, and what effect such selection had on the evolution of the human body. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23669]
Christopher Ruff (Johns Hopkins University) interprets the analyses of forelimb and hindlimb bone strength in a number of early hominin taxa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23668]
Efforts to reconstruct gait and other aspects of behavior in extinct hominins continue to be hampered by disagreements over how to interpret anatomical evidence from the fossil record. Brian Richmond (George Washington University) offers unique evidence about early Pleistocene hominin gait and foot shape based on his recent discovery of hominin footprints in the Koobi Fora Formation, Kenya (1.52 Ma). Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23666]
Jeremy DeSilva (Boston University) shares his insights into the foot and ankle diversity of australopiths and refutes the hypothesis that there is only one kinematic way to be a striding biped. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23664]
Steven Churchill (Duke University) talks about the evolution of the human pelvis and the major architectural changes which reflect an improvement in the ability of this structure to engage in bipedal locomotion. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23663]
In most individuals, the ability to digest lactose, the sugar present in milk, declines rapidly after weaning because of decreasing levels of the enzyme lactase in the small intestine. However, there are individuals who maintain the ability to digest milk into adulthood due to a genetic adaptation in populations that have a history of pastoralism. Sarah Tishkoff, University of Pennsylvania, presents her latest studies of the genetic basis of lactose tolerance in African pastoralist populations. Her team has identified several mutations that arose independently in East African pastoralist populations. This demonstrates a striking footprint of natural selection in the genomes of individuals with these mutations. It shows that the age of the mutations associated with lactose tolerance in Europeans and Africans is correlated with the archeological evidence for origins of cattle domestication. Thus, the genetic adaption for lactose tolerance is an excellent example of gene-culture co-evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24111]
Carol Ward (University of Missouri) reviews the growing, although still imperfect, evidence for torso form in apes and early hominins, and relates that to hypotheses about the origins and early evolution of hominin bipedality. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23667]
Tracing the evolution of the human diet from our earliest ancestors can lead to a better understanding of human adaptation in the past. It may also offer clues to the origin of many health problems we currently face, such as obesity and chronic disease. This fascinating series of talks focuses on the changing diets of our ancestors and what role these dietary transitions played in the evolution of humans. Here Mary C. Stiner (Univ of Arizona) discusses Archaic Human Diets followed by Alyssa Crittenden (Univ of Nevada, Las Vegas) on Current Hunter-Gatherer Diets and Steven Leigh (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) on Diets and Microbes in Primates. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 24806]
Tracing the evolution of the human diet from our earliest ancestors can lead to a better understanding of human adaptation in the past. It may also offer clues to the origin of many health problems we currently face, such as obesity and chronic disease. This fascinating series of talks focuses on the changing diets of our ancestors and what role these dietary transitions played in the evolution of humans. Here Steven Leigh (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) discusses Diets and Microbes in Primates, followed by Peter Ungar (Univ of Arkansas) on Australopith Diets, and Alison S. Brooks (George Washington Univ) and Margaret J. Schoeninger (UC San Diego) on Neanderthal Diets. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 23436]
Bernard Crespi (Simon Fraser University) describes a simple model, based in evolutionary biology, neurodevelopment, and genetics, for understanding how the primary features of autism are related to the major neuroanatomical and cognitive traits that are highly-developed or unique to the human lineage. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24824]
Daniel Geschwind (UCLA) and his colleagues have been working to identify autism risk genes and understand how these might lead to autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Many genes with distinct functions have been identified as ASD susceptibility genes. In this lecture, he indicates how systems biology approaches demonstrate that pathways necessary for normal brain development and function are altered in ASD. Identification of these pathways is the first step toward developing treatments of ASD. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24823]
In this talk, Mirella Dapretto (UCLA) begins by describing the relevance of mirror neurons for social functioning. She then discusses the empirical evidence suggesting that the so-called ‘mirror neuron system’ may be hyporesponsive in autism. Dapretto concludes by highlighting critical questions for future research in these areas. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24822]
This lecture demonstrates how early screening at the 1st birthday can positively impact the search for biomarkers and lead to new discoveries regarding the study and treatment of autism. Karen Pierce (UC San Diego) emphasizes patterns of eye gaze as a potent early marker of autism and considers how fMRI can be used to examine neural functional organization in response to language in ASD toddlers. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24821]
Autism affects males much more often than females. The explanation for this must either lie in diagnostic practice, hormones, genetics, or (most likely) a mix of all three factors. In this talk, Simon Baron-Cohen (Univ of Cambridge) summarizes 5 lines of investigation from his lab that suggest baby's sex steroid hormones are a key part of the puzzle of autism. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24825]
V.S. Ramachandran (UC San Diego) explains how his interest in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) stems from an earlier, and broader, interest in mirror neurons and their dysfunction (and restitution of function) in neurology. He begins with a brief survey of the mirror neuron system (MNS) and then makes specific predictions of what to expect from their dysfunction in neurological populations with stroke or phantom limbs, as well as neurotypical populations who overlap with ASD. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24826]
Although the neurobiology of autism has been studied for more than two decades, the majority of studies have examined brain anatomy 10 or more years after the onset of clinical symptoms. The early neural defects that cause autism remain unknown, but their signature is likely to be most evident during the first years of life when clinical symptoms are emerging. In this lecture, Eric Courchesne (UC San Diego) highlights several new findings about the neural and genomic abnormalities in autism at young ages. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24819]
Andrew Meltzoff (Univ of Washington) describes new research on the origins of ‘social cognition’ -- the mechanisms by which infants come to understand other people and interpret their actions and intentions before language -- and its implications for understanding children with autism spectrum disorders. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24820]
In this presentation, Jonathan Sebat (UC San Diego) points out that the biggest known risk factors for autism are genes. However, the mutations that have been firmly implicated in autism are unlike the genetic variants that explain common late-onset diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Most of the genes or genomic regions that are known to contribute to autism are “mutation hotspots”. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24818]
This fascinating and important series from CARTA explores the newest understandings of the roots of autism disorders from the foremost researchers in the world. In this episode, UCLA’s Daniel Geschwind, Simon Fraser University’s Bernard Crespi and Cambridge University’s Simon Baron-Cohen discuss The Evolutionary Biology of Autism Risk, Systems Biology of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and The Fetal Androgen Theory Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24456]
This fascinating and important series from CARTA explores the newest understandings of the roots of autism disorders from the foremost researchers in the world. In this episode, Karen Pierce and V.S. Ramachandran of UC San Diego are joined by UCLA’s Mirella Dapretto as they discuss The Early Identification of Autism, Mirroring in the Neurotypical and Autistic Brain, and Mirror Neuron Dysfunction in Neurology. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 24455]
This fascinating and important series from CARTA explores the newest understandings of the roots of autism disorders from the foremost researchers in the world. In this episode, Jonathan Sebat and Eric Courchesne of UC San Diego are joined by Andrew Meltzoff of the University of Washington as they discuss Genetic Etiology, Surprising Findings in Autism: Insights into Anthropogeny and The 'Like-Me' Theory for Connecting Self and Others. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23435]
How cultural traditions have shaped, and continue to shape, our genomes with presentations on Genetic Impact of Culturally-Based Mating Systems (Marcus Feldman), The Grandmother Hypothesis and Rates of Aging (Kristen Hawkes), and Do Genetic Differences Affect Language Evolution? (Mark Aronoff and Carol Padden) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23905]
How cultural traditions have shaped, and continue to shape, our genomes with presentations on Genomic Basis for Dietary Shifts during Human Origins (Gregory Wray), Adaptations to Human Adult Milk Intake (Sarah Tishkoff), and A Nutritional Basis for the Spread of Indo-European Languages (Henry Harpending) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23904]
How cultural traditions have shaped, and continue to shape, our genomes with presentations on Origins of Modern Human Behavior (Alison Brooks), Culture-led Gene-culture Coevolution (Peter Richerson), and Human Adaptations to Diverse Environments (Anna Di Rienzo) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21015]
Why are we the only two-legged creature to develop an exclusively upright gait? And what did it mean to the development of the human species? CARTA brings you foremost experts to explore the many facets of these questions in this fascinating series with presentations from Dan Lieberman, Leslie Aiello and Matt Cartmill that explore the effect of running, walking and the upright gait on hominid evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23442]
Why are we the only two-legged creature to develop an exclusively upright gait? And what did it mean to the development of the human species? CARTA brings you foremost experts to explore the many facets of these questions in this fascinating series with presentations from Brian Richmond, Carol Ward and Chris Ruff that compare different evidence and aspects of hominid body form and what those tell us about upright locomotion in hominids. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23441]
Why are we the only two-legged creature to develop an exclusively upright gait? And what did it mean to the development of the human species? CARTA brings you foremost experts to explore the many facets of these questions in this fascinating series - starting with presentations from Steven Churchill, Jeremy DeSilva and Matt Tocheri that compare different aspects of hominid anatomy and their relation to bipedalism. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20872]
UC Santa Cruz’s Ed Green on the science of revealing the history of divergence of the human species from Neanderthal. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20870]
Leading brain researchers Chet Sherwood, Fred Gage and John Allman discuss unique specialization of the human brain on the cellular and micro-structural scale. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23063]
John Allman, Professor of Neurobiology at the California Institute of Technology, discusses the nerve cells called VENS (von Economo neurons) and their relationship to positive social emotions like bonding and trust, and negative emotions like disgust Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23230]
Fred H. Gage of the Salk Institute and the University of California, San Diego, describes how induced pluripotent stem cells are used to create functional, developing neurons of humans and chimps, which helps to identify and confirm gene expression differences between the species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23229]
Chet Sherwood, Associate Professor of Anthropology at The George Washington University, explains that while a bigger brain is clearly an important factor in our greater cognitive abilities, some of our cognitive function is likely and specifically related to particular psychological specializations, such as language and enhanced “mentalizing” abilities Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23228]
James K. Rilling, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Emory University, discusses non-invasive brain imaging techniques to compare brain structure and function in monkeys, apes and humans, with the goal of identifying human brain specializations and informing our knowledge of human brain evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23225]
Todd Preuss, Emory University, explores specialization of human physiology and the distinctiveness of human aging. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23222]
Mike Gazzaniga, UC Santa Barbara, explores the modular and specialized human brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23223]
Katerina Semendeferi, UC San Diego, explores the specializatons of the human social brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23224]
Wolfgang Enard, a junior group leader at the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, investigates the genetic and molecular basis of human speech. He uses a mouse model to explore language evolution in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23226]
William Hopkins, Professor of Psychology at Agnes Scott College and research scientist at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, uses in vivo imaging technologies to assess hemispheric specialization. He talks about handedness in non-human primates as it relates to the evolution of coordination and manual gestures. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23227]
Leading brain researchers James Rilling, Wolfgang Enard and William Hopkins discuss unique specialization of the human brain, from molecular to structural, and their relation to language. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 23062]
Leading brain researchers Todd Preuss, MIke Gazzaniga and Katerina Semendeferi explore unique specialization in the human brain that may be keys to the brain’s plasticity, our social nature, and the coordination of the functions in both sides of our brains. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20871]
Human-Specific Signaling Networks (Genevieve Konopka); Uniquely Human Gene Regulation (James Noonan); Human-Specific Changes in Siglec Genes (Ajit Varki) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21958]
Uniquely Human Gene Regulation (James Noonan); A Comparative Study of Immune Response in Primates (Yoav Gilad); Human-Specific Changes in Siglec Genes (Ajit Varki) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21957]
Evolution of Human Duplications: Genomic Instability and New Genes (Evan Eichler); Human Accelerated Regions in the Genome (Katherine S. Pollard) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21956]
Comparisons of Human and Ape Stem Cells (Alysson Muotri); The Neandertal and Denisovan Genomes (Ed Green) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21955]
Elaine Mardis explores the Orangutan genome, and Ed Green explains how and what we know about our relation to Neandertal. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21954]
Renowned paleoanthropologist Tim White of UC Berkeley who is widely credited for his role in the Ardi discovery gives a fascinating overview of the search for the origins of Hominids in Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 17357]
Eminent paleoanthropologist Ronald Clarke describes the find and implications of “Little Foot,” the oldest Australopithecine find in Southern Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20686]
Social Selection and the Notorious Free-Rider (Christopher Boehm); Social Evolution in Animals and Humans (Steve Frank); Ecology of Cooperation and Altruism (Christophe Boesch) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21110]
Mechanisms Underlying Behaviors That Obey the Golden Rule (Donald Pfaff); How Humans Became Such Other Regarding Apes (Sarah B. Hrdy); Tribal Social Instincts and Human Cooperation (Peter Richerson) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21109]
The Evolution of Human Altruism (Randolph Nesse); Brain-Based Values (Patricia Churchland); Partner Choice, Markets and the Evolution of Cooperation (Peter Hammerstein) Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20476]
Alysson Muotri, Assistant Professor at UC San Diego, focuses on human brain development and evolution, exploring mobile elements as generators of neuronal diversity. He is also interested in modeling neurological diseases using human induced pluripotent stem cells. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21983]
Ajit Varki, Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Medicine, Co-Director of CARTA, and Co-Director of the Glycobiology Research and Training Center at the University of California, San Diego, focuses on a family of cell surface sugars called the sialic acids, and their roles in biology, evolution and disease. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21987]
Elaine Mardis, Associate Professor of Genetics at Washington University and Senior Research Scientist at Bio-Rad Laboratories, explores the orangutan genome. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21980]
Richard “Ed” Green, Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at UC Santa Cruz, explains how and what we know about our relation to Neandertal Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21981]
Evan Eichler is an Associate Professor of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. The long-term goal of his research is to understand the evolution, pathology and mechanisms of recent gene duplication and DNA transposition within the human genome. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21982]
Katherine Pollard, Associate Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes and Associate Professor of Biostatistics at UC San Francisco, specializes in evolutionary genomics, in particular identifying genome sequences that differ significantly between or within species and their relationship to biomedical traits. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21984]
Genevieve Konopka is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The focus of her research is elucidating how developmental signaling pathways are disrupted in neuropsychiatric illnesses, and identifying human-specific pathways that are vulnerable to neuropsychiatric disease. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21986]
Yoav Gilad is Associate Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Chicago. He studies genetic and regulatory differences between humans and our close evolutionary relatives, with the long-term goal of identifying the genetic basis for human-specific traits, including genetic variation that underlies higher susceptibility to certain diseases and disorders in humans than in other primates. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21985]
Paleoanthropologist Berhane Asfaw provides insight into what the crania of early Hominids can tell us, and Ronald Clarke chronicles the discovery and impact of discovering “Little Foot,” the oldest Australopithecine find in Southern Africa. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20685]
Renowned paleoanthropologist Gen Suwa reveals what dental remains can tell us about early Hominids, and discusses the evolutionary significance of Ardipithecus Ramidus. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20684]
Paleoanthropologists Michel Brunet, Yohannes Haile-Selassie and Sileshi Semaw present their insights into the origins of the earliest Hominids. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20683]
Renowned paleoanthropologist Tim White of UC Berkeley, who is widely credited for his role in the discovery of Ardi, gives a fascinating overview of the search for the origins of Hominids in Africa, and Andrew Hill provides insight into the environments in which our earliest ancestors lived. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 20682]
Christophe Boesch is Director of Primatology at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. His research takes an inclusive approach, addressing the biology of chimpanzees from many viewpoints and applying this knowledge to our understanding of the evolution of cognitive and cultural abilities in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21282]
Sarah Hrdy is currently professor emerita at the University of California, Davis. She is a renowned anthropologist and primate sociobiologist who seeks to understand, step by Darwinian step, how apes could have evolved to imagine and care about what the lives of others might be like. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21286]
Peter Richerson, Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California, Davis, focuses on the processes of cultural evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 21289]
Patricia Smith Churchland is Professor of Philosophy at UC San Diego. The central focus of her research has been the exploration and development of the hypothesis that the mind is the brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21283]
Steve Frank is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine. One of his current research projects is centered on microbial life history and sociality. The theory of virulence is an example of the broader problems of sociality and life history. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21284]
Peter Hammerstein is a theoretical biologist at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. Given his background in game theory and economics, he is interested in conflict and cooperation at the level of individuals and of genes. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21285]
Donald Pfaff, head of the Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior at The Rockefeller University, upends our entire understanding of ethics and social contracts with an intriguing proposition: the Golden Rule is hardwired into the human brain. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 21288]
Christopher Boehm is Professor of Biological Sciences & Anthropology and Director of the Goodall Research Center at the University of Southern California. He is a cultural anthropologist with a subspecialty in primatology, who researches conflict resolution, altruism, moral origins, and feuding and warfare.
Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 21281]
Dr. Michael Bamshad, Division Chief and Professor, Division of Genetic Medicine, Pediatrics at the University of Washington, explores how evolutionary processes and demographic history have shaped patterns of genetic variation among humans, and how such variation influences differences in physical features and disease susceptibility among humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18707]
George Ojemann, Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Washington, explores the neurobiology of human cognition, especially language, memory and learning. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18706]
Evan Eichler, University of Washington Professor of Genome Sciences explores large-scale variation in human genomic DNA that contributes to primate gene evolution. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18705]
Peter Parham, Professor in the Departments of Structural Biology and Microbiology & Immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, explores proteins of the human immune system that vary greatly between individuals and populations which modulate the immune response to infection and cancer, and also influence the success of reproduction and therapeutic transplantation of cells, tissues and organs. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18704]
Carlos Bustamante, Professor of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine, is a population geneticist whose research focuses on analyzing patterns of variation within and between species to address fundamental questions in biology, anthropology, and medicine. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18702]
Anne Stone, Associate Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at the Arizona State University, explores population history to understand how humans in South America have adapted to their environment. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18703]
Pascal Gagneux, an evolutionary biologist at UC San Diego who studies great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas), explores the biodiversity in great apes. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18700]
Sarah Tishkoff, University of Pennsylvania geneticist, collects DNA samples from a cross-section of Africa’s many ethnic groups to shed light on local adaptations. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18701]
The evolution and origins of human biodiversity pose an interesting conundrum for the 2010 US Census, as told in this poignant anecdote from Ajit Varki, co-director of the UC San Diego / Salk Institute CARTA program. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18518]
The evolution and origins of human biodiversity pose an interesting conundrum for the 2010 US Census, as told in this poignant anecdote from Ajit Varki, co-director of the UC San Diego / Salk Institute CARTA program. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 18512]
Renowned researcher Helen Fisher shares some profound findings about the neural foundations and evolutionary development of emotion and love in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16433]
In this edition of CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Cultures Series, renowned researchers Donald Brown of UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego’s Jonathan Friedman and Rupert Stasch discuss universal qualities that distinguish human cultures from non-human cultures, how order naturally emerges in the world of humans and non-humans to become their respective cultures, and how reflexivity and the use of culture is important to creating culture and its norms. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 17350]
In this edition of CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Series, three renowned researchers, Hal Whitehead, Andrew Whiten and UCLA’s Susan Perry discuss the fascinating world of traditions, learning, social structures and culture in primates and whales. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 17799]
In this edition of CARTA’s Human and Non-Human Culture Series, two renowned researchers, Woods Holes’ Peter Tyack and former UCSD post-graduate Timothy Wright discuss fascinating discoveries about the languages of Parrots and Dolphins. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 17800]
In this edition of CARTA’s Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics Series, renowned researcher Patricia Kuhl shares insights into the development of faculties that enable the human sense of aesthetics, and Daniel Povinelli presents a critical examination of claims of art created by animals. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16605]
Did our early ancestors produce art? Or do modern humans only think they did? In this episode of the CARTA series Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics, join renowned scientists Jean-Jacques Hublin and Randall White in an exploration of the notions of creativity and aesthetics as seen in Neanderthal and Paleolithic cultures. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16604]
In this edition of CARTA’s Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics Series, three world-renowned researchers – Antonio Damasio, Helen Fisher and Isabelle Peretz share their insights into the neural basis of art, creativity, emotions and music and the powerful roles they play in the evolution of the human species. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16603]
In this edition of CARTA’s Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics Series, two world-renowned scientists, neurologist Vilayanur Ramachandran and neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux share their insights into the neurobiology that mediates our perception of universal qualities essential to the human experiences of aesthetics and creativity. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16194]
Renowned researcher Antonio Damasio shares insight into the neural bases of creativity and emotion. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16432]
Renowned researcher Isabelle Peretz shares fascinating insights into the power of music on human emotion. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 16437]
Renowned researcher Patricia Kuhl shares insights into the development of aesthetics in humans. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16436]
Renowned neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux shares insight into the neurobiology that mediates the human capacities of aesthetics and creativity. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 16430]
Renowned anthropologist Randall White explores the notion of art production by early human ancestors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16435]
Renowned researcher Daniel Povinelli explores the notion of creativity and art in animals. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16438]
Welcoming remarks for CARTA’s Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics symposium held in March 2009. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 16429]
Renowned anthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin explores the notion of art production by early human ancestors. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 16434]
Renowned neurologist Vilyanur Ramachandran explores the neural bases of the human sense of aesthetics, beauty and art. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 16439]
Closing remarks for CARTA’s Evolutionary Origins of Art and Aesthetics symposium held in March 2009. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Show ID: 16440]