Two recent bottleneck studies
Note: I wrote this post in 2005. We know much more today about the population history of modern humans. This includes the bottleneck that led to the founding...
Recent Posts
The Flores find: more thoughts on Liang Bua
Note: I wrote this post in 2005. More recent posts have up to date information about Homo floresiensis and the Liang Bua stone artifacts.
Terrence Deacon’s ‘The Symbolic Species’
I was recently asked for my thoughts about this book, and I wrote down some. I think the book is a very important one, and other reviews have raised many rel...
Sahelanthropus: a brief introduction
Note: I wrote this post in 2005. Later posts detail my own research on Sahelanthropus. My research with collaborators ultimately took a critical perspective ...
Modern human origins: X marks the spot?
Reference: Garrigan, Daniel, et al. 2005. Evidence for archaic Asian ancestry on the human X chromosome. Molecular Biology and Evolution 22(2):189-192.
Brain evolution: what do the genes say?
Reference: Dorus, S. et al.. 2004. Accelerated evolution of nervous system genes in the origin of Homo sapiens. Cell 119:1027-1040.
Link: More on Intelligent Design
An excellent discussion of the legal issues involved in current attempts to put intelligent design in public school curricula is an article by Michael C. Dor...
Frequently asked questions about the site
Why do you use that huuuuge font? I'm trying to find your e-mail address, but it doesn't seem to be anywhere. Are you trying to mess with my mind? I have a ...
What restrained the chimpanzees?
Working on a paper about early hominid lineage diversity, Milford [Wolpoff] has pointed out a sticking point in consideration of niche breadth in early homin...
Is Liang Bua pathological? Update
Note: I wrote this post in 2004, just after the publications describing the LB1 skeleton and its context came out in Nature. My first post on the discovery c...
Liang Bua: an australopithecine from Flores?
Note: I wrote this post the day that the papers describing Homo floresiensis and its context in Liang Bua cave came out in Nature in 2004. From the perspecti...
Australopithecus anamensis: overview
Note: I wrote this post in 2004. Much additional evidence about Au. anamensis has come to light since that time. Later posts present more up-to-date informat...
Australopithecus afarensis overview
This post is from 2004, and more updated information on Au. afarensis can be found in later material.