November 2009

The National Science Foundation published an online essay by and audio interview with Dr. Susan Antón as part of their "Evolution of Evolution" special report. (See the Anthropology section of the site for links to both.)
Dr. Susan Antón appeared in the PBS documentary Becoming Human, part 2: The Birth of Humanity, in which she discusses her research on Homo erectus from East Africa. You can watch the episode on the PBS web site.

October 2009

A new book by Dr. Rita Wright was published: Rita P. Wright. The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society. Copyright © 2010 Cambridge University Press The ancient Indus civilization was erased from human memory until 1924, when it was rediscovered and announced in the Illustrated London News. Our understanding of the Indus has been partially advanced by textual sources from Mesopotamia that contain references to Meluhha, a land identified by cuneiform specialists as the Indus, with which the ancient Mesopotamians traded and engaged in other forms of interaction. In this volume, Rita Wright uses Mesopotamian texts and, principally, the results of archaeological excavations and surveys to draw a rich account of the Indus civilization’s well-planned cities, its sophisticated alterations to the landscape, and the complexities of its agropastoral and craft-producing economy. additionally, she focuses on the social networks established between city and rural communities; farmers, pastoralists, and craft producers; and Indus merchants and traders and the symbolic imagery that the civilization shared with contemporary cultures in Iran, Mesopotamia, and the Persian Gulf region. Broadly comparative, her study emphasizes the interconnected nature of early societies.

September 2009

Dr. Christian Tryon was interviewed for ScienceNOW about the new dates for handaxes at Solana del Zamborino and Estrecho del Quípar, Spain.

CSHO alumna Allysha Powanda Winburn was quoted in the New York Times about her work for the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory.

August 2009

On August 5, 2009, Dr. Todd Disotell appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, in a segment about Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz's "red-ape hypothesis." Watch the clip on the Daily Show web site.

On August 1, 2009, Dr. Susan Antón had a Letter to the Editor published in the New York Times.

June 2009

In June 2009, professors Shara Bailey and Todd Disotell ran a workshop entitled “Learning and Teaching about Evolution: 150 years after the Origin of Species” as part of the NYU Faculty Resource Network’s summer workshop series. The five-day workshop included lectures, discussions, and hands-on labs utilizing state-of-the-art technology and web-based tools to teach educators about major topics in primate and human evolution and to expose them to the science behind testing evolutionary theory. Eleven participants from as close as Farmingdale, NY, and as far as San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Honolulu, Hawaii, attended the week-long workshop, which included Richard Milner’s musical rendition of the history of evolutionary thought and a trip to the American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Human Origins. A web site set up for the participants will ensure that they continue to have access to resources for teaching and learning about evolution.

A new book coedited by CSHO alumna Susan Lappan was published: Susan Lappan and Danielle J. Whittaker. The Gibbons: New Perspectives on Small Ape Socioecology and Population Biology. Copyright © 2009 Springer

March 2009

The journal Current Anthropology published a series of articles, based on the CSHO/Wenner-Gren conference "Evolutionary Anthropology at the Interface," celebrating Dr. Cliff Jolly's contributions to the field of biological anthropology.

Dr. Susan Antón gave a public lecture at the Harvard University Department of Anthropology, entitled "Darwin's 2nd Century: Variation in Early Homo."

February 2009

CSHO faculty and graduate students participated in a NYCEP conference celebrating Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, held at the American Museum of Natural History on February 27–March 1: "Darwin's Legacy: Early Human Evolution in Africa."

January 2009

The following graduate students received research grants and fellowships:

Leigh Oldershaw was the recipient of an Antonina S. Ranieri International Scholars Fund Grant for Archaeological Research in Portugal.

Tom Rein was awarded a Dean's Dissertation Fellowship and an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant.

Julie Anidjar was awarded the James Arthur Fellowship for 2009–2010.

December 2008

Dr. Susan Antón was named an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow.

November 2008

Dr. Shara Bailey appeared on NOVA (PBS) "Alien from Earth " NOVA presents exclusive coverage of new excavations that experts undertook in the summer of 2007 at the site of Liang Bua on the island of Flores, Indonesia. These are the first investigations of the cave site since the sensational discovery of tiny and mysterious human fossil bones at the site in 2004. NOVA will investigate the furious scientific debate that continues to rage on what these "hobbit" bones represent. Are they fossils of a previously unknown primitive branch of the human family? Or are they remains of a dwarf race of modern humans suffering from a strange pathological condition? Dr. Tim Bromage (Hard Tissue Research Unit, NYU College of Dentistry/NYCEP) also appeared on the program.

Dr. Todd Disotell appeared on Naked Science (National Geographic Channel) "What Killed the Aztecs?" The mighty Aztec civilisation of Mexico was nearly wiped out in the 1500s when almost 8 out of every 10 people across Central Mexico died in a series of devastating epidemics. Most people believe that these were epidemics of diseases new to the New World brought across the Atlantic by the Spanish Conquistadores. But new research, led by epidemiologists Rodolfo Acuna Soto and John Marr, suggests an entirely different explanation for the epidemics and if their theory is correct the fate of the Aztecs could repeat itself, in the 21st Century.

August 2008

Science quoted Dr. Randall White in an article about the dating of cave paintings in Chauvet Cave in southern France.

July 2008

Dr. Todd Disotell appeared on Monsterquest (History Channel)

Episode: "El Chupacabra" (The Goatsucker)

In 1995, a beast dubbed "El Chupacabra," Spanish for "The Goatsucker," was first sighted and accused of killing and draining the blood of hundreds of farm animals in Puerto Rico. Eyewitnesses describe it as a two-legged reptile-like beast with sharp claws and fangs. But another rash of sightings and killings, in Texas last year produced eyewitness descriptions of a creature that looked very different. This episode will go on the hunt for the Texas chupacabra. For first time on television, DNA tests will be performed on samples from both the Puerto Rico and Texas sightings in an effort to scientifically prove just what these mystery beasts could be.

Five graduate students, Kirstin Sterner, Tom Rein, Joe Califf, Steve Worthington, Mike Montague, and Andres Link were awarded research grants.

• Tom Rein
  Leakey Foundation General Research Grant
  “Locomotor function and phylogeny: implications for interpreting
  extinct hominoid morphology”
• Mike Montague
  Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant
  "A genetic study of the color vision polymorphism in wild squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciurreus)
• Steve Worthington
  Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, National Science Foundation
  "Systematics of Middle to Late Miocene Hominoidea"
• Joe Califf
  Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, National Science Foundation
  "Factors Influencing Steroid Hormone Variation in Male Baboons"
• Andres Link
  Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, National Science Foundation
  "Ecological and social effect on the fission fusion society of white bellied spider monkeys"
  Primate Conservation Inc. & Conservation International
  " Behavior and Ecology of the brown spider monkeys in Colombia"
• Kirstin Sterner
  American Association of University Women (AAUW) American Fellowship
  "Primate Innate Immune Defense and Adaptation to SIV/HIV Infection"
  

June 2008

Rita Wright was featured in three articles in Science as part of a special entitled Unmasking the Indus. Article 1 Article 2 Article 3

Terry Harrison was featured by ScienceNews regarding his excavation of ancient apes in China, including the earliest-known ancestral gibbons.

May 2008

Shara Bailey appeared on the History Channel's Clash of the Cavemen :

"In the ice-ravaged wilds of Europe, circa 25,000 BC, a range war like no other raged between two species of primitive man. In a unique moment in the world's history, these two species, Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon (Homo sapiens), competed for resources and for a permanent spot at the top of the animal kingdom. Journey with THE HISTORY CHANNEL® to the unimaginably hazardous environment in which these proto-men struggled. Arctic ice spread as far south as London. Massive predators armed with saber teeth — and worse — roamed the land. And the two species from the Homo genus battled for dominance. Neanderthal were natural hunters with brute strength and excellent adaptation to the cold. Cro-Magnon were more fragile, but far more intelligent and able to communicate. Which characteristics would dominate and how bloody would the rivalry become? CLASH OF THE CAVEMAN utilizes exciting new research in anthropology, archaeology and genetics to dramatically reconstruct prehistoric life. Watch as our distant ancestors overcome or succumb to the harsh challenges of their unforgiving world. See evolution in action as the fittest survive to dominate the planet."

April 2008

Shara Bailey was quoted in ScienceNOW about Maciej Henneberg's suggestion that the Flores hominid has a filling in one of its molars.

March 2008

New info on the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) was published by Nature News

February 2008

A new textbook cowritten by Craig Stanford, John Allen, and Susan Antón was published: Stanford C, Allen JS, and Antón SC. Biological Anthropology, 2nd edition. Copyright © 2009 Pearson–Prentice Hall (published February 2008) Over the past twenty years, this field has rapidly evolved from the study of physical anthropology into biological anthropology, incorporating the evolutionary biology of humankind based on information from the fossil record and the human skeleton, genetics of individuals and of populations, our primate relatives, human adaptation, and human behavior. The second edition of Biological Anthropology combines the most up-to-date, comprehensive coverage of the foundations of the field with modern innovations and discoveries.

Rita Wright was interviewed by Scienceline:

"Explore feminist archaeology. In this edition of the Sound of Science, Rita Wright talks about women in archaeology now and archaeology’s bias, until recently, toward studying men in ancient societies. She describes what it is like to work as a woman in areas like Pakistan and how her job influences her home decor."

January 2008

Two graduate students, Kirstin Sterner and Andres Link, were awarded NYU Deans Dissertation Fellowships.

• Kirstin Sterner
  Evolution of Primate Innate Immune Defense and Adaptation to Viral Infection
• Andres Link
  Socio-Ecological Determinants of Fission-Fusion Sociality in White-Bellied Spider Monkeys (Ateles belzebuth) in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador
  
  

Shara Bailey discussed teeth and evolution on a show called "In Conversation" on ABC Radio National Thursday Jan 24 at 7:25 pm (Australian, Eastern Standard Time). To listen, go to www.abc.net.au and click your way to the "In Conversation" program via Radio National.


Terry Harrison was interviewed by Nature regarding the protection and preservation of the famous Laetoli footprints in Tanzania.

December 2007

Rita Wright was interviewed in NYU Research.

Todd Disotell appears on the History Channel's Monsterquest: "Lions in the Backyard."

November 2007

Todd Disotell appeared on two episodes of the History Channel's Monsterquest: "Sasquatch Attack" and "Mutant Canines." This month, he also appeared on the National Geographic Channel's Is it Real? "Russian Bigfoot."

October 2007

On October 6th, the Wenner Gren Foundation and CSHO co-sponsored an international conference and gala in honor of Cliff Jolly, entitled "Evolutionary Anthropology at the Interface: A Celebration of Cliff Jolly's Contributions to the Field."

A new book edited by Shara Bailey and Jean-Jacques Hublin was published: Bailey SE and Hublin J-J. Dental Perspectives on Human Evolution: State of the Art Research in Dental Paleoanthropology. Copyright © 2007 Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands The objective of the volume is to bring together, in one collection, the most innovative dental anthropological research as it pertains to the study of hominid evolution. In the past few decades both the numbers of hominid dental fossils and the sophistication of the techniques used to analyze them have increased substantially. Contributions focus on dental morphometrics, growth and development, diet and dental evolution. The contributed chapters include crown morphology, microstructure, microwear, stable isotope data, recent genetic research and new methodologies, including 3-D imaging, confocal microscopy and computer modeling.

September 2007

Susan Anton was interviewed by NPR and ABC Radio in Australia on her Nature article.

Todd Disotell appeared on the National Geographic Channel's Naked Science: "Stone Age Apocalypse."

August 2007

Susan Anton published a recent article in Nature entitled "Implications of new early Homo fossils from Ileret, east of Lake Turkana, Kenya."

April 2007

Dr. Tony DiFiore was awarded a Leakey Foundation Grant for his project "Kinship, Behavior, and Social Structure in Western Amazonian Ateline Primates".

March 2007

The New York Times featured Dr. Randall White and his prolific archaeological career working in the Vezere Valley of France.

December 2006

The proceedings of The ‘Neanderthals Revisited: New Approaches and Perspectives’ conference, held at New York University (January 27-29, 2005) was published, edited by Katerina Harvati and Terry Harrison.

Harvati, K. & Harrison T. (Eds). 2006 Neanderthals Revisited: New Approaches and Perspectives. Dordrecht: Springer.

Recent years have witnessed important scientific breakthroughs in the study of Neanderthals and their place in human evolution, which have transformed our appreciation of this group's paleobiology and evolution. This volume presents cutting-edge research by leading scientists re-examinig the major debates in Neanderthal research with the use of innovative state-of-the-art methods and exciting new theoretical approaches. Topics addressed include the re-evaluation of Neanderthal anatomy, inferred adaptations and habitual activities, developmental patterns, phylogenetic relationships, and the Neanderthal extinction; new methods include computer tomography, 3D geometric morphometrics, ancient DNA and bioenergetics. The diverse contributions offer fresh insights and advances in Neanderthal and modern human origins research.

Dr. Randall White published a new book on the Abri du Poisson affair.

White, R. W. 2006. L'affaire de l'abri du Poisson: Patrie et préhistoire. Périgueux: Editions Fanlac.

In the valley known as Gorge d’Enfer in the Vézère Valley of SW France, there is a rock shelter with a 25,000 year-old sculpted salmon on its ceiling. This bas-relief is surrounded by chisel and drill marks left in 1912 when an attempt was made to extract it for sale to a German museum. The Swiss archaeologist Otto Hauser, very active at the time in the region, is most frequently blamed for this aborted attempt at antiquities trafficking.

Using public and private archives in France, Germany and the US, the author recounts this complicated affair step by step, dispensing with the myth that the sculpture was saved by a simple, forceful intervention by the French prehistorian Denis Peyrony. The administrative and legal procedures actually took more than three years.

The story that has been told to generations of prehistorians is largely false and hides a complex reality. The removal of the sculpture was entirely conceived by French locals. When the director of the Berlin museum came to the region in 1912 to negotiate the purchase of the salmon, it was at the unsollicited invitation of the site’s owner. Hauser had nothing to do with planning, organizing, extracting or selling this important work of Paleolithic art. The role of Denis Peyrony turns out to be much less heroic than is often imagined.

November 2006

Professor Terry Harrison was elected as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Professor Shara Bailey appeared on the National Geographic Channel's Is It Real? "Russian Bigfoot."

October 2006

The Wenner Gren Foundation and CSHO announced a workshop and symposium, organized in honor of Cliff Jolly, entitled "Evolutionary Anthropology at the Interface" to be held October 5 and 6, 2007.

May 2006

A newly discovered catarrhine primate from the early Miocene site of Napak IX in Uganda was named Lomorupithecus harrisoni, after Terry Harrison.

• Rossie JB and MacLatchy L. 2006 A new pliopithecoid genus from the early Miocene of Uganda. Journal of Human Evolution 50: 568-586.

February 2006

Todd Disotell appeared on the National Geographic Channel's Is It Real? "Ape Man."

November 2005

Professor Cliff Jolly was elected as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Denise Su began a position as a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley Department of Integrative Biology in Tim White's laboratory.

Ryan Raaum began a position as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Department of Anthropology in Connie Mulligan's laboratory.