Palaeotrails

Celebrating our wonderful PI @martamlahr.bsky.social for such an incredible achievement 🎉🍾🥂

Justus Erus Edung was only 25 years old when he discovered Kenyanthropus platyops in a team led by Prof. Meave Leakey in 1999.

This 3.5 million year old “flat-faced” skull quickly grabbed international headlines and changed the course of human evolution.

#fossils #turkana #humanevolution

Had such a fun time learning about species identification, phylogeny and palaeoecology with @deadbovids.bsky.social 🤩🤩

Episode 2: Faunal identification with @deadbovids.bsky.social

Other than identification, tooth wear pattern can give us exciting insights into faunal diet and palaeoecology.

The joy of sorting LSA lithics from Turkana under the guidance of @robfoley.bsky.social

Follow us on Instagram for more www.instagram.com/palaeotrails...

Eighteen million years of diverse enamel proteomes from the East African Rift - Nature The isolation of dental proteins from fossils deposited 1.5 million to 18 million years ago in the Turkana Basin in Kenya, a tropical region, demonstrate the promise of dental enamel for palaeoproteom...

Breaking the barriers! Important new paper by Daniel Green and others discovering 18 million years of proteins of East African mammals!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We spend long periods of time in Kenya collecting data in the collections, understanding the landscape and looking for fossils. Picture credits: Sarah Paris

The rest of the year is spent analysing data, honing skills and preparing for upcoming field work. During this time, we develop new methodologies, attend conferences, write papers and discuss our findings Picture credits: Sarah Paris, Eleanor Williams

What does the Ng'ipalajem team do?

Ng’ipalajem, meaning Ancestors in Turkana, is an ERC-funded project.

Led by @martamlahr.bsky.social, the project investigates how the emergence of Homo sapiens is deeply intertwined with Africa’s long-term environmental and ecological history.

#humanevolution

📢 We’re HIRING!

Are you experienced in 3D imaging and geometric
morphometric analysis? Do you have strong organisational and communication skills?

We want to hear from you! Apply below www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/51730/

Join our passionate research team exploring Pleistocene African prehistory! 🦴

Who made the Oldowan? Reviewing African hominin fossils and archaeological sites from 3.5 million years ago The question of which African hominin taxon/taxa was responsible for producing Oldowan stone tools has persisted for nearly a century. Homo habilis, P…

🚨 Who made the Oldowan? - New paper from Eleanor Williams

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Late Quaternary fluvio-aeolian interactions and possible aridification in west-central India: Implications for prehistoric human adaptations in the Central Tapi Valley The Central Tapi Valley in India presents a unique opportunity to study Late Quaternary environmental changes, with a particular focus on fluvio-aeoli…

🚨New Paper from Palaeotrails @avantikab.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🎉 Fantastic new book by Jonathan R. Goodman Invisible Rivals: How we evolved to compete in a cooperative world’ forward by Palaeotrails @robfoley.bsky.social

🚨 More below!!

At Khok Phanom Di, red ochre pigment was applied to most burials. Infants who died around the time of birth were excluded. And yet, they were still buried in the same sacred ground.

What does this tell us about how ancient communities perceived personhood, grief, and belonging?

What Ancient Burials Can Teach Us About Grief: New Study Links Prehistoric Thai Cemetery to Today’s Perinatal Loss Conversations

🚨 New research by Palaeotrails' @sarah-paris.bsky.social
beautifully connects Neolithic infant burials in Thailand with today’s evolving conversations around perinatal loss.

"This isn't just about pigment—it's about belonging."

From ancient ochre to Ronaldo's 7th-minute tribute—grief unites. 🕊️

More here!!

Please join us next week, 8th May 2025, at 13:00 BST, for our final talk of the academic year which will be given by Dr John Rowan, University of Cambridge. More details below 👇

If you would like to attend, please register here: liverpool-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

We hope to see you there!

🎉 Members of the Palaeotrails team were recently awarded bursaries to attend this years #HumanEvo25 🧬💀

The team were delighted to participate in the dynamic interdisciplinary programme ranging from genetic 👻 🏜️ 🦠 🧫 to evolutionary 🤰👣⚔️🌍

Thank you @eventswcs.bsky.social

👏👏👏👏

A huge congratulations to all the #HumanEvo25 prize winners 👏

🎉 including Palaeotrails’s @avantikab.bsky.social who won a a prize for her poster Tracing Ancient Footsteps using sulphur isotopes 🏆

Mark Stoneking ⚒️🗣️💻🧬🌏

Combining linguistic, archaeological, computer simulations & genetic data to resolve long held questions about the timing and direction of migration and settlement of the Pacific.

Exciting results overturn 💻 simulations that suggested voyaging wasn’t possible! ⛵️

#HumanEvo25

@dangliu.bsky.social

New genomic research reveals that genetic drift—not selection—likely shaped high risk of metabolic disorder in Polynesians, following ancient admixture and isolation. Unique variants underscore the value of studying diverse populations.

#HumanEvo25

Ruthie Golomb looks at Cell-Autonomous Adaptation (CAAs) in Tibetan, Andean & Papuan populations at high altitudes 🏔️

High altitudes are one of the most extreme environments humans live in. Methods combine complementary methods at the cellular and organismal level to identify novel CAAs.
#HumanEvo25

Ashley Hammond

"'Pregnancy waddle' has anatomical correlates"
Humans evolved early weaning, long childhood and post-reproductive care to boost brain growth.
Anatomical and dietary shifts in Homo Erectus (~1.7Ma) show earliest adaptations for big babies, early weaning, social learning.

#HumanEvo25

@evanirvingpease.bsky.social exploring the evolutionary origins of diseases.

MS genetic risk rose among Steppe pastoralists & was brought into Europe by migration ~5kya. These MS-associated immunogenetic variants underwent positive selection, likely driven by pathogenic challenges.

#HumanEvo25

Round 2 of the poster pitch talks! 🚨

Including Palaeotrails' @sarah-paris.bsky.social Otto Geissier and Tom Van Parys

From reconstructing populations to Ronaldo, come and see the wide range of fascinating research on display!

#HumanEvo25

Marta Pla-Diaz
Combating the problems of using reference genomes to reconstruct aDNA from highly damaged samples 🧫
MRB strategy enabled reliable genome reconstruction. Identifying new recombination events, positive selection targets & refined dating estimates for T. pallidum evolution. #HumanEvo25

Kirk Lohmueller

DominL uses patterns of archaic ancestry to infer degree of dominance. Provides statistical support for the presence of recessive deleterious mutations in the human genome. Up to 15% of the human genome may carry recessive deleterious mutations! 🧬

#HumanEvo25

@judithbeier.bsky.social
Judith presents a new method using GLMs to estimate cranial trauma prevalence in N. and H.s. Results overturn long held misconceptions that N. had sig. higher rates of trauma when compared to H.s 💀 Ev. suggests a relationship with age, revealing social diff.
#HumanEvo25

How do scientists cope with unexpected technological problems... a fabulous impromptu discussion comparing our understanding of ancient plagues with COVID 🐀🦠 A celebration of the multidisciplinary nature of the #HumanEvo25 programme!

Johannes Krause

“Germs are far deadlier than Germans”
aDNA reveals Yersinia pestis evolved virulent strains over 1,000 years earlier than thought, with the Black Death likely originating in Central Eurasia. Redefines plague history and offers insights to guide future outbreak response.

#HumanEvo25

@hannesrathmann.bsky.social
Exploring human migrations & demographic change resulting from environ. change.
Applying new Pheno-ABC modelling method to skeletal phenotypes 🦷 Results show significant population migration patterns beginning ~47kya, changing ~28kya and again after ~14kya.
#HumanEvo25