28 posts · 36,560 views
A blog discussing current news in anthropology. We cover new research that spans the four field approach to anthropology.
Anthropology.net
24 posts
Sort by: Latest Post, Most Popular
View by: Condensed, Full
- February 11, 2011
- 11:11 AM
- 688 views
The Arched Metatarsal of Australopithecus afarensis
by Kambiz Kamrani in Anthropology.net
Carol Ward1, William Kimbel, and Donald Johanson have published a paper in Science on the arch seen in a newly discovered fourth metatarsal of Australopithecus afarensis (AL 333-160). A lot of the popular press are publishing misleading headlines that this … Continue reading →... Read more »
Ward, C., Kimbel, W., & Johanson, D. (2011) Complete Fourth Metatarsal and Arches in the Foot of Australopithecus afarensis. Science, 331(6018), 750-753. DOI: 10.1126/science.1201463
- January 27, 2011
- 10:56 PM
- 569 views
125 Year Old Hand Axes From Jebel Faya, UAE
by Kambiz Kamrani in Anthropology.net
Hans-Peter Uerpmann of the University of Tubingen has lead a team excavating the Jebel Faya site in the United Arab Emirates, right near the Straits of Hormuz. They’ve found 125,000 year old stone tools that look like early modern human tools … Continue reading →... Read more »
Armitage, S., Jasim, S., Marks, A., Parker, A., Usik, V., & Uerpmann, H. (2011) The Southern Route "Out of Africa": Evidence for an Early Expansion of Modern Humans into Arabia. Science, 331(6016), 453-456. DOI: 10.1126/science.1199113
- January 26, 2011
- 11:38 PM
- 759 views
Review of the Orangutan Genome on Primatology.net
by Kambiz Kamrani in Anthropology.net
If you don’t follow or subscribe to our sister blog Primatology.net, I want to make you aware of an anthropological post I just put up on the newly published orangutan genome. Click here to read about some of the findings, but … Continue reading →... Read more »
Locke, D., Hillier, L., Warren, W., Worley, K., Nazareth, L., Muzny, D., Yang, S., Wang, Z., Chinwalla, A., Minx, P.... (2011) Comparative and demographic analysis of orang-utan genomes. Nature, 469(7331), 529-533. DOI: 10.1038/nature09687
Hobolth, A., Dutheil, J., Hawks, J., Schierup, M., & Mailund, T. (2011) Incomplete lineage sorting patterns among human, chimpanzee and orangutan suggest recent orangutan speciation and widespread selection. Genome Research. DOI: 10.1101/gr.114751.110
- January 21, 2011
- 06:25 PM
- 1,030 views
When & Were Grapes Domesticated
by Kambiz Kamrani in Anthropology.net
I got some archaeobotany for you to start your weekend off right with — a new open access study in PNAS announces a genome wide association of 8,000 years of grape domestication, spanning the Eastern Caucasus to Western Europe. Lead … Continue reading →... Read more »
Myles, S., Boyko, A., Owens, C., Brown, P., Grassi, F., Aradhya, M., Prins, B., Reynolds, A., Chia, J., Ware, D.... (2011) Genetic structure and domestication history of the grape. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1009363108
- November 19, 2010
- 11:51 PM
- 592 views
Trampling Over The Dikika Cut Marks
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
Well, I feel somewhat vindicated. Remember the post where I criticized hominin cut marks from over 3 million years ago? Others have also had an eye of suspicion and have published their concerns in PNAS this week. I was wrong in considering the croc marking differential to the cut marks. But I was not wrong [...]... Read more »
Domínguez-Rodrigo M, Pickering TR, & Bunn HT. (2010) Configurational approach to identifying the earliest hominin butchers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. PMID: 21078985
- September 18, 2010
- 10:52 AM
- 730 views
The Genetics & Linguistics Of Central Asia
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
Both Razib and Dienekes have reviewed a paper on the population genetics of Central Asian peoples. To make sense of Central Asian ancestry has been challenging, to say the least. In particular, the problem is compounded by nomadic peoples without much written history nor uncovered archaeological record. What we do have are the linguistic, physical features, [...]... Read more »
Martínez-Cruz B, Vitalis R, Ségurel L, Austerlitz F, Georges M, Théry S, Quintana-Murci L, Hegay T, Aldashev A, Nasyrova F.... (2010) In the heartland of Eurasia: the multilocus genetic landscape of Central Asian populations. European journal of human genetics : EJHG. PMID: 20823912
- August 13, 2010
- 06:38 PM
- 620 views
A Curious Look At The 3.39 Million Year Old “Stone Tool Markings” From Dikika, Ethiopia
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
I don’t know who this is worse for, the editors & reviewers over at Nature or the authors of the article who can’t tell the difference between crocodile teeth markings and stone tool modification, nor raise the possibility. The paper, “Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia,” very [...]... Read more »
McPherron, S., Alemseged, Z., Marean, C., Wynn, J., Reed, D., Geraads, D., Bobe, R., & Béarat, H. (2010) Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia. Nature, 466(7308), 857-860. DOI: 10.1038/nature09248
- June 16, 2010
- 08:49 AM
- 819 views
Were The Americas Settled Twice?
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
A team of paleoanthropologists report in PLoS One analyzed the skulls of several dozen 11,000 year old Paleoamericans and compared them to the skulls of more than 300 1,000 year old Amerindians. They concluded that based on the morphology, there were two distinct waves of colonizers from Asia. While we know from a couple genetic [...]... Read more »
Hubbe, M., Neves, W., & Harvati, K. (2010) Testing Evolutionary and Dispersion Scenarios for the Settlement of the New World. PLoS ONE, 5(6). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011105
- May 16, 2010
- 06:08 PM
- 884 views
Genetics of High Altitude Life
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
Almost every biological anthropology text-book I’ve ever looked at has described the adaptations of human populations to the environments they occupy. Examples they give are the short stalky Inuit adapted to conserving heat in cold environments, the long lanky East African nomads adapted to far distant travels, and the barrel chested Peruvian and Tibetans living [...]... Read more »
Simonson TS, Yang Y, Huff CD, Yun H, Qin G, Witherspoon DJ, Bai Z, Lorenzo FR, Xing J, Jorde LB.... (2010) Genetic Evidence for High-Altitude Adaptation in Tibet. Science (New York, N.Y.). PMID: 20466884
- May 2, 2010
- 09:07 PM
- 1,348 views
The Genetics of DCC, Netrin & Mirror Movements Discovered
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
From Nobel Intent comes news of a discovery in the Mendelian genetics of Mirror Movements, a condition that causes people to involuntarily move both sides of their body when they intended to only move one. Aside from being medically relevant, interesting on a population genetics level, and involved an Iranian family, it also caught my [...]... Read more »
Srour M, Rivière JB, Pham JM, Dubé MP, Girard S, Morin S, Dion PA, Asselin G, Rochefort D, Hince P.... (2010) Mutations in DCC cause congenital mirror movements. Science (New York, N.Y.), 328(5978), 592. PMID: 20431009
- April 8, 2010
- 11:09 PM
- 910 views
Australopithecus sediba (UW88-50) of Malapa, South Africa
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
Lee Berger’s son, Matthew, found the ~1.9 million year old hominin remains of female adult and a juvenile male in cave deposits at Malapa, South Africa. The remains have been analyzed and been published in Science today, and so far this finding is the big fossil hominid of 2010. The skull of the juvenile is the [...]... Read more »
Berger, L., de Ruiter, D., Churchill, S., Schmid, P., Carlson, K., Dirks, P., & Kibii, J. (2010) Australopithecus sediba: A New Species of Homo-Like Australopith from South Africa. Science, 328(5975), 195-204. DOI: 10.1126/science.1184944
Dirks, P., Kibii, J., Kuhn, B., Steininger, C., Churchill, S., Kramers, J., Pickering, R., Farber, D., Meriaux, A., Herries, A.... (2010) Geological Setting and Age of Australopithecus sediba from Southern Africa. Science, 328(5975), 205-208. DOI: 10.1126/science.1184950
- November 4, 2009
- 07:23 AM
- 1,586 views
Long Toes & Short Ankles Help Sprinters Accelerate Faster
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
The Journal of Experimental Biology has published an interesting paper about some unique features in sprinters: longer toes and shorter ankle joints. The only one flaw is that their sample size is limited, they only compared 12 collegiate sprinters with 12 non-athletes of the same height. Regardless, from a physical anthropological point of view, this [...]... Read more »
Knight, K. (2009) SHORT HEELS GIVE ELITE SPRINTERS THE EDGE. Journal of Experimental Biology, 212(22). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.039735
Lee, S., & Piazza, S. (2009) Built for speed: musculoskeletal structure and sprinting ability. Journal of Experimental Biology, 212(22), 3700-3707. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.031096
- October 1, 2009
- 08:00 PM
- 1,215 views
Science Publishes 11 Papers On Ardipithecus ramidus
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
There’s more than 11 citations here, but the others are associated news and media covered by Science. They’ve even dedicated a special issue to it. Very impressive thorough volume of information. Now you have a some understanding why it took so long to publish… Anyways get to reading.
News Focus
Gibbons, A. (2009). A New Kind of [...]... Read more »
Gibbons, A. (2009) A New Kind of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled. Science, 326(5949), 36-40. DOI: 10.1126/science.326_36
Gibbons, A. (2009) Habitat for Humanity. Science, 326(5949), 40-40. DOI: 10.1126/science.326_40
Gibbons, A. (2009) The View From Afar. Science, 326(5949), 41-43. DOI: 10.1126/science.326_41
Hanson, B. (2009) Light on the Origin of Man. Science, 326(5949), 60-61. DOI: 10.1126/science.326_60a
N/A. (2009) Video: The Analysis of Ardipithecus ramidus--One of the Earliest Known Hominids. Science, 326(5949), 60-60. DOI: 10.1126/science.326_60b
White, T., Asfaw, B., Beyene, Y., Haile-Selassie, Y., Lovejoy, C., Suwa, G., & WoldeGabriel, G. (2009) Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids. Science, 326(5949), 64-64. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175802
WoldeGabriel, G., Ambrose, S., Barboni, D., Bonnefille, R., Bremond, L., Currie, B., DeGusta, D., Hart, W., Murray, A., Renne, P.... (2009) The Geological, Isotopic, Botanical, Invertebrate, and Lower Vertebrate Surroundings of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science, 326(5949), 65-65. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175817
Louchart, A., Wesselman, H., Blumenschine, R., Hlusko, L., Njau, J., Black, M., Asnake, M., & White, T. (2009) Taphonomic, Avian, and Small-Vertebrate Indicators of Ardipithecus ramidus Habitat. Science, 326(5949), 66-66. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175823
White, T., Ambrose, S., Suwa, G., Su, D., DeGusta, D., Bernor, R., Boisserie, J., Brunet, M., Delson, E., Frost, S.... (2009) Macrovertebrate Paleontology and the Pliocene Habitat of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science, 326(5949), 67-67. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175822
Suwa, G., Asfaw, B., Kono, R., Kubo, D., Lovejoy, C., & White, T. (2009) The Ardipithecus ramidus Skull and Its Implications for Hominid Origins. Science, 326(5949), 68-68. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175825
Suwa, G., Kono, R., Simpson, S., Asfaw, B., Lovejoy, C., & White, T. (2009) Paleobiological Implications of the Ardipithecus ramidus Dentition. Science, 326(5949), 69-69. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175824
Lovejoy, C., Simpson, S., White, T., Asfaw, B., & Suwa, G. (2009) Careful Climbing in the Miocene: The Forelimbs of Ardipithecus ramidus and Humans Are Primitive. Science, 326(5949), 70-70. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175827
Lovejoy, C., Suwa, G., Spurlock, L., Asfaw, B., & White, T. (2009) The Pelvis and Femur of Ardipithecus ramidus: The Emergence of Upright Walking. Science, 326(5949), 71-71. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175831
Lovejoy, C., Latimer, B., Suwa, G., Asfaw, B., & White, T. (2009) Combining Prehension and Propulsion: The Foot of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science, 326(5949), 72-72. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175832
Lovejoy, C., Suwa, G., Simpson, S., Matternes, J., & White, T. (2009) The Great Divides: Ardipithecus ramidus Reveals the Postcrania of Our Last Common Ancestors with African Apes. Science, 326(5949), 73-73. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175833
Lovejoy, C. (2009) Reexamining Human Origins in Light of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science, 326(5949), 74-74. DOI: 10.1126/science.1175834
- September 10, 2009
- 02:27 PM
- 1,612 views
Ancient Leishmaniasis From Coyo Oriente Cemetery In Chile
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
I recently completed a medical parasitology course as part of my medical education. One of the diseases we discussed was leishmaniasis. Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease that is transferred to humans from reservoir hosts via the sand fly vector. The sand fly injects the promastigote form of the parasite, and the parasite invades white blood [...]... Read more »
Costa, M., Matheson, C., Iachetta, L., Llagostera, A., & Appenzeller, O. (2009) Ancient Leishmaniasis in a Highland Desert of Northern Chile. PLoS ONE, 4(9). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006983
- June 4, 2009
- 02:35 PM
- 1,623 views
An Improved Method On Calibrating The Human Mitochondrial Molecular Clock
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
The American Journal of Human Genetics has published an article titled, “Correcting for Purifying Selection: An Improved Human Mitochondrial Molecular Clock,” in which a more accurate method of dating ancient human migration, even when no corroborating archaeological evidence exists, is announced.
How does was this done?
The authors started with a sample of 2,000 fully sequenced mtDNA [...]... Read more »
Pedro Soares, Luca Ermini1, Noel Thomson, Maru Mormina, Teresa Rito, Arne Röhl, Antonio Salas, Stephen Oppenheimer, Vincent Macaulay, & Martin B. Richards. (2009) Correcting for Purifying Selection: An Improved Human Mitochondrial Molecular Clock. American Journal of Human Genetics. DOI: http://www.cell.com/AJHG/abstract/S0002-9297(09)00163-3
- March 14, 2008
- 04:14 PM
- 1,327 views
Mutatons in VLDLR gene in the Quadrupeds from Turkey
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
Remember in 2005-06 when there was a whole lot of buzz about the quadrupedal siblings in Turkey? There first was this paper, “Cerebellar hypoplasia and quadrupedal locomotion in humans as a recessive trait mapping to chromosome 17p,” and then there was this paper, “A new syndrome with quadrupedal gait, primitive speech, and severe mental retardation ... Read more »
T Ozcelik, N Akarsu, E Uz, S Caglayan, S Gulsuner, O Onat, M Tan, & U Tan. (2008) Mutations in the very low-density lipoprotein receptor VLDLR cause cerebellar hypoplasia and quadrupedal locomotion in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0710010105
UNER TAN. (2006) A NEW SYNDROME WITH QUADRUPEDAL GAIT, PRIMITIVE SPEECH, AND SEVERE MENTAL RETARDATION AS A LIVE MODEL FOR HUMAN EVOLUTION. International Journal of Neuroscience, 116(3), 361-369. DOI: 10.1080/00207450500455330
S Turkmen. (2005) Cerebellar hypoplasia and quadrupedal locomotion in humans as a recessive trait mapping to chromosome 17p. Journal of Medical Genetics, 43(5), 461-464. DOI: 10.1136/jmg.2005.040030
- March 13, 2008
- 05:12 PM
- 1,862 views
Nearly all of today’s Native Americans can trace their ancestry to six women
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
According to this open access PLoS One paper, 95% of Native Americans share their heritage to six women. I don’t have much time to review this paper because I have to take a final exam in 30 minutes, but here’s the title and link to the paper, “The Phylogeny of the Four Pan-American MtDNA Haplogroups: ... Read more »
Alessandro Achilli, Ugo Perego, Claudio Bravi, Michael Coble, Qing-Peng Kong, Scott Woodward, Antonio Salas, Antonio Torroni, Hans-Jürgen Bandelt, & Vincent Macaulay. (2008) The Phylogeny of the Four Pan-American MtDNA Haplogroups: Implications for Evolutionary and Disease Studies. PLoS ONE, 3(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001764
- March 10, 2008
- 07:11 PM
- 1,796 views
3,000 year old small body humans in Palau, Micronesia
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
PLoS One completely surprised me today by releasing this paper, “Small-Bodied Humans from Palau, Micronesia.” The research comes from South African and American researchers, and the paper was edited by John Hawks, who apparently can really keep a secret it seems. I had no idea about this study and find it a really remarkable find ... Read more »
Lee Berger, Steven E Churchill, Bonita De Klerk, Rhonda L Quinn, & John Hawks. (2008) Small-Bodied Humans from Palau, Micronesia. PLoS ONE, 3(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0001780
- March 5, 2008
- 03:23 PM
- 1,497 views
Were Homo floresiensis just a population of myxoedematous endemic cretin Homo sapiens?
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
New research from the Proceedings of the Royal Society B raises the possibility that Homo floresiensis was nothing more than population of Homo sapiens that were endemic cretins. The paper, “Are the small human-like fossils found on Flores human endemic cretins?” comes from academics in Australia who
“show that the fossils display many signs of congenital ... Read more »
Peter Obendorf, Charles E Oxnard, & Ben J Kefford. (2008) Are the small human-like fossils found on Flores human endemic cretins?. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, -1(-1), -1--1. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1488
- March 5, 2008
- 03:11 AM
- 1,807 views
Axel Visel’s talk on “The regulatory genome in human-specific evolution”
by Anthropology.net in Anthropology.net
Today I attended Axel Visel’s talk about his work in identifying enhancers specific to humans at the Primate Biology Group. It was a really awesome talk, and that’s because because I’m really interested in differential gene regulation and expression…. especially when it focuses on human evolution. The differences in gene expression and regulation has been ... Read more »
Axel Visel, Shyam Prabhakar, Jennifer Akiyama, Malak Shoukry, Keith Lewis, Amy Holt, Ingrid Plajzer-Frick, Veena Afzal, Edward Rubin, & Len Pennacchio. (2008) Ultraconservation identifies a small subset of extremely constrained developmental enhancers. Nature Genetics, 40(2), 158-160. DOI: 10.1038/ng.2007.55
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
