December 21 2023 – 9h30: international seminar Palevoprim n°48
Speaker
Michelle Drapeau
Professor, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Anthropology, University of Montréal
Topic
Hands, feet, ancestors and habitats. Perspectives on the emergence of Australopithecus.
The morphology of the most recent common ancestor of the Pan and Human lineages was traditionally assumed to be closer to the morphology of chimpanzees. This scenario implied an important transformation of the human lineage, including, among other adaptations,
stiffening of the feet and greater dexterity of the hands.
However, that paradigm of an extant-ape-like is often contested, which requires a re-examination the morphological evidence in a new light. We will explore that question through the morphology of the limbs and environmental reconstructions at the beginning of the genus Australopithecus.
Place
Room 410, Build. B35 (3rd floor, North wing), university of Poitiers.