Dr Suzy White

The many forms of the Middle Pleistocene hominin browridge

1:00pm - 2:00pm / Thursday 10th June 2021
Type: Webinar / Category: Department / Series: Evolutionary Archaeology Seminar Series
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The Middle Pleistocene hominin fossil record, while sparse, documents a high degree of variability. Two hypotheses which have been put forward to explain this are: that these hominins can be separated into two 'chronospecies', representing early members of the Neanderthal and modern human lineages; or that they are a separate species (Homo heidelbergensis). Given current genetic and fossil evidence, it is likely that both of these suggestions are true, and that the Middle Pleistocene hominins belong to multiple different species. As such, we now have to attempt to distinguish variation within species from variation between them. This is an already difficult task, compounded by the relatively short evolutionary time frame, high climatic variability, and the possibility of hybridisation between different lineages affecting morphology. In this talk, Dr Suzy White will present the results of my analysis into variation in the browridge of the Middle Pleistocene hominins and the possible factors affecting it, with a discussion on the taxonomy of this group and the implications for our understanding of the evolution of later Homo.

In affiliation with University College London.

Zoom information: contact Lucy Timbrell lucy.timbrell@liverpool.ac.uk