November 2009 Archives

Dr. Daniel E. Lieberman, Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, will present a lecture titled "Endurance Running in Human Evolution (from head to toe)". The lecture will be held on Friday, December 4, in 112 Chambers Building at 3:30 p.m.

Dr. Lieberman's research with Dennis Bramble and other colleagues suggests that long distance endurance running played a key role in the evolution of the genus Homo. They have found and continue to study novel human features, from head to toe, that help us be great endurance runners, including spring-like arches in the foot, short toes, long tendons in the legs, a large gluteus maximus, unusually large joints in the legs and spine, a nuchal ligament connecting the head and neck, low and wide shoulders that are decoupled from the head, an elaboration of sweat glands, and loss of body fur.

Further information on Dr. Lieberman may be found at http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~skeleton/danlhome.html 

Graduate student Erick Rochette (introduced by Ken Hirth)  will be presenting "Jade in Full: Prehispanic Domestic Production of Wealth Goods in the Middle Motagua Valley, Guatemala" at the Department of Anthropology colloquium on Friday, November 13.  The colloquium will begin at 3:30 p.m. in 107 Carpenter Building.

Everyone is welcome!  Please plan to attend.

Tim D. White, Professor of Integrative Biology, Department of Integrative Biology and Human Evolution Research Center, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, at UC Berkeley, will present a lecture titled "Our African Origins" on Monday, December 7, at 3:30 p.m. in the HUB Auditorium.

Dr. White recently received world-wide publicity for his research on "Ardi". In 1994, a research team led by Dr. White; Berhane Asfaw, a paleoanthropologist and former director of the National Museum of Ethiopia; and Giday WoldeGabriel, a geologist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory announced the discovery of the first fossils of a new human ancestor, Ardipithecus ramidus("Ardi"). The researchers presented tantalizing evidence that the species was a biped living in woodland conditions more than a million years before the famous "Lucy" fossil of the species Australopithecus afarensis. The research was documented in the October 2, 2009, special issue of the journal Science,and revealed that our earliest ancestors underwent a previously unknown phase of evolution, shedding new light on the nature of the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans.

More information on Dr. White can be found at http://ib.berkeley.edu/research/interests/research_profile.php?person=245

Ruscena Wiederholt (ecology student with Steve Beckerman serving as her Ph.D. committee co-chair) and Eric Post (Department of Biology) had an article published in the October 28, 2009 issue of Biology Letters.

The article was titled "Tropical warming and the dynamics of endangered primates."

The abstract can be read at: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/10/23/rsbl.2009.0710.abstract

Graduate student  John Starbuck will be collecting 3dMD facial images in the HUB on November 7^th and 14^th from 10-2pm for his dissertation research (PSU IRB approval # 23283). Individuals who are eligible to be included in this study are limited to the following: 1) Individuals who have Down syndrome, 2) Biological siblings of individuals who have Down syndrome, and 3) Sibling pairs without a family history of Down syndrome (in this case both siblings must be present). Individuals eligible to participate in this study who cannot make it to the HUB on the aforementioned dates are encouraged to schedule an appointment with John (jms1043@psu.edu) to have their image(s) collected in 311 Carpenter Bldg.

Ruscena Wiederholt (ecology student with Steve Beckerman serving as her Ph.D. committee co-chair) and Eric Post's (Department of Biology) work on the effects of global warming on primate populations was recently highlighted by Penn State Live.

For the complete story: http://live.psu.edu/story/42465/nw4

David Webster will be presenting "Backwards Bottlenecks and Ancient Maize" at the Department of Anthropology colloquium on Friday, November 6.  The colloquium will begin at 3:30 p.m. in 107 Carpenter Building.

Everyone is welcome!  Please plan to attend.