Written by John Lounsbury
It has been many months since we have had a topic related to ancient human history, natural history, or archaelogy, subjects that have enjoyed popularity among our readers. This week we have a discussion of a field of science that literally did not exist ten years ago: the analysis of DNA from ancient hominids. These species were long thought to predate the emergence of modern man (homo sapiens). The study of DNA from fossil remains has turned that theory on its head.
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This lecture by Dr. John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin was presented at the University of New Hampshire on April 27, 2016 as part of the Saul O Sidore Lecture Series, Personal Genomic Medicine. What has been recently determined is that we still have the equivalent of 200 million Neanderthals alive on the planet today. Dr. Hawks says:
“The Neanderthals are more successful in the 21st century than they ever were at their supposed peak 100 to 200 millennia ago.”
From Wikipedia:
John Hawks is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He also maintains a paleoanthropology blog. Contrary to the common view that cultural evolution has made human biological evolution insignificant, Hawks believes that biological evolution has sped up in recent history.
Hawks graduated from Kansas State University in 1994 with degrees in French, English, and Anthropology. He received both his M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Michigan where he studied under Milford Wolpoff. His doctoral thesis was titled, “The Evolution of Human Population Size: A Synthesis of Paleontological, Archaeological, and Genetic Data.” After working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah, he moved to the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he is currently a member of the Anthropology department,[1] teaching courses including Human Evolution, Biological Anthropology, and Hominid Paleoecology. In 2014, Hawks launched an online course on Coursera under the University of Wisconsin – Madison banner, on “Human Evolution: Past and Future”.[2]
Note: The Wikipedia page is out of date. Prof. King is now Vilas-Borghesi Distinguished Achievement Professor, Associate Chair of Anthropology, and Undergraduate Advisor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
From John Hawks Weblog:
I study human evolution and genetics. I’ve done research examining almost every part of our evolutionary story, from the very origin of the human lineage more than six million years ago up to the last 100 years as people have continued to evolve. My work on recent evolutionary changes has strong connections to global health, especially adaptations to agricultural and sedentary lifestyles and new diseases.
For the past decade, I have been engaged with paleontological fieldwork in South Africa. I’ve been honored to work with the great team of researchers at the Rising Star cave system, where we discovered Homo naledi in 2013. Together with my friend and colleague Lee Berger, I wrote a book about these South African discoveries: Almost Human, published by National Geographic Books. Our work there and at other sites continues to yield exciting new discoveries.
In my lab, we specialize on visualization. My students and I work on new ways of visualizing morphology and 3D relationships of fossil hominins, and on new ways of depicting the patterns that connect the genomes of people around the world. We work with whole genome sequences from thousands of living and ancient people, and are especially interested in the ways that environments selected for genetic changes in ancient people. Part of this work is building a deeper understanding of the genetics of Neandertals and Denisovans
Source: YouTube
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