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SUMMARY:How weird was human evolution? - Laura van Holstein (University of
  Cambridge)
DTSTART:20250502T120000Z
DTEND:20250502T130000Z
UID:TALK231064@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Emilio Aldorino
DESCRIPTION:In the early 1970s\, Milford Wolpoff suggested that a trait th
 en considered unique to humans and their ancestors—‘culture’—must 
 have meant that evolutionary processes happened differently in our own lin
 eage compared to all other animals. Although culture has now been document
 ed in many different species\, Wolpoff’s underlying question remains\, g
 iven our extreme reliance on culture—and other traits that may change ho
 w evolutionary processes operate\, such as tool use. To what extent do the
  processes that drove the evolution of our own lineage operate in the same
  way as they do in other animal groups? How weird is human evolution?\n \n
 In this talk\, I examine this question with regards to between-species com
 petition. Whilst competition is known to play an important role in the evo
 lution of nearly all other animal groups\, surprisingly little explicit at
 tention has been given to this process in our own lineage. I will discuss 
 results from my work applying methods from vertebrate evolutionary biology
  to the human fossil record\, which suggested that our own genus\, Homo\, 
 is characterised by a completely unique pattern not documented in other ve
 rtebrates. I also introduce my field site in the Nimba Mountains\, at whic
 h I study competition between chimpanzees\, monkeys\, and pigs\, as a mode
 l for how competition may have operated between fossil humans and other fo
 ssil competitors.
LOCATION:Zoom or in-person at Sainsbury Laboratory\, 47 Bateman St\, Cambr
 idge CB2 1LR
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