Category Archives: Biological Anthropology
Dr. Evil!?! Or the Entire Denisova Genome from One Girl’s Finger Bone
University of Wisconsin-Madison paleoanthropologist John Hawks was UA’s second ALLELE lecturer of the season. Hawks was trained at the University of Michigan in anthropology by the famous Milford Wolpoff (he of multiregionalism infamy) & completed a postdoc in evolutionary genetics … Continue reading
Remembering Brent Colyer: Serotonin, Alcoholism, & Evolution
I am beginning the writing of this on Saturday, December 8, around 11:30PM. A week ago & a few hours earlier, I was agitating over six lead changes as I watched Bama ultimately beat Georgia in the SEC college football … Continue reading
The Campfire as a Social Nexus
Wrangham (2009) & McClenon (2006) describe the campfire in evolutionary history as something like a social nexus. Wrangham says it’s where hominids came to & learned to tolerate each other. McClenon says it’s where hominids developed their relaxation skills, by … Continue reading
The Psychophysiology of Fireside Relaxation
Following is a draft of the abstract I am working on for a poster I will propose to present at the 2013 Human Biology Association meeting in Knoxville, TN (yay, I can drive there!). Feedback is welcome. The psychophysiology of … Continue reading
A Direct Test of Alloparenting and the Grandmother Effect – Thanks for all your Help, Mom!
Why are we different from the Neanderthals? Why do we roam the planet in the billions while our likely intelligent distant cousins permeate only ancient gravesites or the halls of natural history museums? Continue reading
Penis Diversity is our Business
Actually, penis diversity is not our business. In fact, one of the student evaluations for the Anthropology of Sex course I taught this past semester said I talked too much about animal diversity & not enough about humans. I’m not sure … Continue reading
Evolutionary Tchotchkes as Objectified Cultural Capital
I was recently skimming thru human behavioral ecologist Lee Cronk’s book That Complex Whole looking for a good definition of signaling theory (which I couldn’t find there but found in a recent Bulbulia & Sosis article). In rereading Lee’s intro, I saw that one … Continue reading
Patrick Clarkin’s Humans are (blank)-ogamous Series
The image Patrick Clarkin uses in his 6th installment of the “Humans are (Blank) -ogamous” is so excellent that I have to repost it & give props to Patrick, a biological anthropologist at UMass Boston. In this series, he explores … Continue reading
Biological Anthropology Blogs
John Hawks is a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who I first saw give a talk at the American Anthropological Association conference last year. The first thing that caught my attention was that he looks like a pre-emo hipster … Continue reading
