Professor Bernard Wood discusses Homo and Paranthropus evolution, the Sahelanthropus femur, the taxonomy of H. naledi and H. floresiensis, and the importance of fossil access and data sharing in human origins research:

Coupled, decoupled, and abrupt responses of vegetation to climate across timescales | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

15 days to go! Proud to keep advancing research + training #OldupaiGorge 🙏 University of Dodoma + University of Calgary Team's fired up, Some already in-country, others landing soon: Abel Shikoni Maria Soto @aloycem.bsky.social Raquel Hernando AbdallahMohamed StephenMagohe Ayoola Oladele

Starch is biodegradable, so why do we assume it survives for millennia? Our new study shows rapid microbial decay, even in dry soils. Time for archaeology to rethink what “ancient” starch really means. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Joint research at Oldupai Gorge unites palaeoanthropology with Masai-led stewardship. A new MOU formalizes co-design in science, education, tourism and heritage. A model for collaborative futures. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Excited to see the University of Dodoma leading research at Oldupai Gorge (Tanzania), collaborating globally to explore the origins of humanity #UNESCO #WorldHeritageSite Cheers to a new chapter of discovery 🎉 @udomofficial #HumanOrigins #Paleoanthropology

Paper alert, @nature.com. Our study reveals 8 million years of #GreenArabia. We document environmental variability - ranging over the entire course of human evolution. Arabia is a key bridge at the cross-roads of continents. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Big thanks to University of Dodoma and University of Calgary for backing our project and permit to uncover early human life at the cradle of humankind in Eastern Africa #OldupaiGorge Stay tuned for discoveries ahead! #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution

Aloyce Mwambwiga defended his doctoral thesis today! He is a scholar I respect for his consistency and integrity, even as we navigated the most extreme challenges There’s now a new phytolith lab in Tanzania, equipped. He will be directing it, for the science to be practiced locally Cheers!!

Direct effects of mountain uplift and topography on biodiversity | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A structured coalescent model reveals deep ancestral structure shared by all modern humans www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Our new paper 🥲 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The Tai Chimpanzee Project is making available microCT scans from their collections on human-fossil-record.org. All proceeds are used to support their mission of conservation and non-invasive research in Tai National Park (taichimpproject.org).

Another fascinating study on the broader knock-on effects of megafaunal extinctions

Unfortunately few academics realise the power they have to change the system, when they reach the points where they can begin to bear pressure. The UKRI has shifted focus from individuals to academic teams in the next Research Assessment Exercise. Here is my take docs.google.com/presentation...

Paper alert! We use polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (🔥) biomarkers at staggered scales relative to Palaeolithic archaeological sites to argue for deep antiquity (600 to 400 ka) to land management practices in 🇹🇯 Central Asia. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The third of our series of papers on this topic, in which I had a minor part: 🧪 🏺 "Auto-fluorescent #phytoliths : can we detect past fires in tropical and subtropical contexts?" 𝑉𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑒𝑜𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑦. #plantscience link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Just starting our fieldwork at Pegwell bay for Palaeo-Thaw project. Sampling the Late Pleistocene Loess sequence

Potentially significant 1st independent replication of sequenced dinosaur 🦕 collagen. 41 peptides in Edmontosaurus bone, identical sequences in Brachylophosaurus. Minimal PTMs suggest exceptional preservation #teammassspec #ZooMS. Now to explore the data... Data on PRIDE PXD048810 (but not yet)

Thank you Mr Zimmer for your write up! Cheers

Groundbreaking research on Homo erectus www.nature.com/articles/s43... #OldupaiGorge BED III: Using sedimentology, geochemistry, Ar/Ar dating, biome simulations, fire history, paleobotany, fauna, and lithics, we reveal how hominins navigated extreme environments in northern Tanzania 1 Ma

Space exploration has expanded the realm of geoscience to the outermost Solar System. A new generation of missions shines the way www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🏺 Massive new isotope database drops! NARIA (North American Repository for Archaeological Isotopes) just launched with 28k+ measurements spanning 12,000 years of human history across North America 🗺️ pandoradata.earth/organization...

ISBA @isbarchaeology.bsky.social heads to Turin! 🇮🇹 Call for abstracts for biomolecular archaeology's premier conference, @isba11.bsky.social. Spotlight on ancient biomolecules, isotopes & their stories of the past 🧬 Human-environment interactions foodways, mobility & more 🏛️ Deadline: Jan 20, 2025

Human migration from the Levant and Arabia into Yemen since Last Glacial Maximum www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Confirming previous age estimates at the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary, this fascinating study provides precise dating of Australasian tektites (glass formed by meteorite impacts) at 788,000 years ago, offering insights into the Acheulean in SE Asia www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Chauvet Cave was discovered on the 18th December 1994. 30 years ago today. To many it is the most arresting expression of cave art in the archaeological record & it is one of the oldest examples in Europe. Here are four of my highlights. archeologie.culture.gouv.fr/chauvet/en #AncientSky 🦣🏺

A transformative initiative to foster capacity building in Paleosciences! Eastern African Network for PaleoBioGeoChem (PaleoBGC): 🔬 Nairobi: Raman (May 5-6) 📊 Addis Ababa: XRF (May 12-13) 🔍 Dodoma: Thin-sectioning (May 20-21)

This is the first of four papers building the case that hominins practiced landscape fire management in Central Asia (dating to 600 ka). This paper establishes the preservation context for biomarkers at the sites. Later papers will evaluate the broader ecological and evolutionary implications.

🚨 New paper by Drs. @parnajarlpa.bsky.social, @dwbird.bsky.social, and colleagues in Nature Communciations! “Seed dispersal by Martu peoples promotes the distribution of native plants in arid Australia” 🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reconstructing the 800,000-year history of C4 herbs on the Chinese loess plateau using n-alkane carbon isotopes www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Hello @welmoedo.bsky.social @flip-ryan.bsky.social @rockdocgeoarch.bsky.social @ekaroune.bsky.social @cl379.bsky.social @open-phytoliths.bsky.social @jrphytoliths.bsky.social @caestromberg.bsky.social @felix-detombeur.bsky.social @stromberglab.bsky.social Please see above!

Footprint evidence for locomotor diversity and shared habitats among early Pleistocene hominins www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Paper alert! Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersals @naturecomms.bsky.social Thanks to Jinbo Zan and colleagues. www.nature.com/articles/s41...