Evolution Talk

Between 1992 and 1994, working in the Awash region of Ethiopia, the same region that Ardipithecus kadabba would be found a few years later, paleoanthropologist Tim White unearthed well over 100 specimens of something new.

What was it?

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

Music:

• Caravan by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Bit Rio by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Gamma Ray by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Climbing the Mountain by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

• Toboggan (Smooth Run) by Podington Bear, License (CC BY 3.0): Artist website: soundofpicture.com

In the last couple of episodes we've met two early travellers along the Hominin River. Today, we will meet yet another one. This one lived approximately 5.5 million years ago. It is know as Ardipithecus kadabba, and this is its story.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

We continue with our exploration into hominin history by introducing one who once walked the earth six million years ago - the Orrorin tugenensis. It was bipedal, a mix of ape-like and human-like traits, and may be a direct ancestor... of us!

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

We begin our exploration into hominin history with an introduction to what is arguably the oldest hominin fossil yet found. Does Sahelanthropus tchadensis represent our earliest hominin ancestor or is it something else?

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

When talking about our ancient anscestors the question often comes up over how we refer to them. Are they hominins or hominids? It's a good question and it depends on how it is being used and what "hominid" branch is being discussed.

Over the next few episodes we'll be looking at some of those ancestors, so it's a good idea to address this terminology and what will be used going forward to avoid confusion. It might also answer some questions!

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

When did our ancestors descend from the trees and walk on two legs instead of four? How exactly did bipedalism develop? We have some ideas but that's all they are - ideas. We may never know, but we can certainly have some fun hypothesizing!

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

Our study of the Homo Naledi continues to surprise us. In December 2022, Professor Lee Berger announced yet another insight into the mystery surrounding the presence of the Naledi in the Rising Star Cave System.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

In 1979 Stephen Jay Gould and genetecist Richard C. Lewontin presented the paper "The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme". What do spandrels have to do with evolution and biology? Sometimes, things are there simply because they are.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

In Part 4 of a 4 Part Series on "The Eclipse of Darwinism", we take a look at William Paley's watch analogy and how it evolved into another explanation for the abundance and intricacies of life around us.

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com

In Part 3 of a 4 Part Series on "The Eclipse of Darwinism", we take a look at "Mutationism". Can a new species evolve in a single step or is it a series of gradual, accumulated changes as Darwinian evolution suggests?

Evolution Talk is also a book! You can find links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and others on the front page of EvolutionTalk.com, or call your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy.

For show notes and more, please visit https://EvolutionTalk.com