The Origin of Our Species

April 1, 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Mānoa Campus, Art Auditorium 132

The Honors Program at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, along with the Chancellor’s Office, the Department of Anthropology, and the Archaeological Institute of America, will be hosting a formal public lecture as part of the “Distinguished Lecturer Series” on April 1, 2013 from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM in Art Auditorium 132 at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa campus featuring the world renowned biological anthropologist Chris Stringer.

Chris Stringer has worked at The Natural History Museum London since 1973, and is now Research Leader in Human Origins and a Fellow of the Royal Society. His early research was on the relationship of Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe, but through his work on the Recent African Origin model for modern human origins, he now collaborates with archaeologists, dating specialists and geneticists in attempting to reconstruct the evolution of modern humans globally. He has excavated at sites in Britain and abroad, and is currently leading the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project in its third phase (AHOB3), funded by the Leverhulme Trust. He has published over 250 scientific papers, and his recent books include "Homo britannicus" (2006), "The Complete World of Human Evolution" (2011, with Peter Andrews), and "Lone survivors: how we came to be the only humans on Earth" (2012).

Human Evolution can be divided into two main phases. A pre-human phase in Africa prior to 2 million years ago, where walking upright had evolved but many other characteristics were still essentially ape-like. And a human phase, with an increase in both brain size and behavioral complexity, and an expansion from Africa. Evidence points strongly to Africa as the major center for the genetic, physical and behavioral origins of both ancient and modern humans, but new discoveries are prompting a rethink of some aspects of our evolutionary origins, including the likelihood of interbreeding between archaic humans (for example the Neanderthals) and modern humans.


Event Sponsor
Anthropology, Mānoa Campus

More Information
808-349-9426, sailors@hawaii.edu, Chris Stringer (PDF)

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