Paleoanthropologists

African Fossils May Show the Future of Climate Change

22 May 2012

Richard Leakey, a professor of anthropology at Stony Brook University, says the fossils of human ancestors found in Africa can tell a lot about the effects of climate change.

The success of Homo sapiens may be due to spatial abilities

9 May 2012

While the disappearance of Neanderthals remains a mystery, paleoanthropologists have an increasing understanding of what allowed their younger cousins, Homo sapiens, to conquer the planet. According to Ariane Burke, Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Université de Montréal, the rapid dispersal of anatomically modern humans was not so much due to superior intelligence or improved ...

Could a Renewed Push for Access to Fossil Data Finally Topple Paleoanthropology’s Culture of Secrecy?

8 May 2012

In a hotel ballroom in Portland, Or., this past April, the tables were laid not with silverware and china, but replicas of some of the most important human fossils in the world. Seasoned paleoanthropologists and graduate students alike milled among them, pausing to examine a cutmarked Neandertal skull from Croatia, the bizarre foot bones of [...]