MPI-EVA Leipzig

Linguistic galaxy brain!

Asking Annemarie Verkerk and Hedvig Skirgård of @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social: what makes you go "Whoa"?

From our episode 130: Back to the FTR
becauselanguage.com

This year's 🎄 theme at @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social takes us on a journey with Gerda & Kai into the frosty fairytale realm of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. We invite our staff & guests to immerse themselves in a magical white wintry world & enjoy the festive season with us! ❄️👑

An hourglass with DNA bases, set in front of a Neanderthal skull, with a map in the background showing human migration patterns, superimposed with a few cave paintings. Image Credit: Daniela Velasco/EMBL

Nobel laureate Svante Pääbo, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, will deliver the 2026 EMBL Kafatos lecture.

The lecture will explore how traces of Neanderthal DNA might shape human biology and health today.

www.embl.org/news/embl-an...

⚠️ New Postdoc or PhD position open (3 years+) ⚠️

🚩Developmental milestones across cultures 🌍

Based @leuphana.bsky.social , in collaboration with @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social

Please share/apply!

Link: tinyurl.com/58dsn43u

eine Gruppe von Menschen in einer Bibliothek

ein großer Raum mit einem großen Schild und Tischen

eine Gruppe von Menschen in einem Hörsaal

ein Laptop-Computer auf einem Tisch

From Oct 28–30, the 7th FDM-Workshop united ~100 researchers, librarians, and data stewards to exchange insights on digital research infrastructure, data management, and new tools. Co-hosted with the @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social​ 🧠 The verdict? Let’s run this event more often 😉🙌

Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.

All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏

And on Tuesday Nov. 11 5pm EST at Harvard and online: Ancient DNA illuminates the Origins and Early Migrations of the Slavs sohp.fas.harvard.edu/event/ancien... Joscha Gretzinger @zhofmanova.bsky.social @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social

Fossiler Schädel: Homo sapiens viel älter als angenommen? Bisher waren Forschende sich weitgehend einig: Der Homo sapiens hat sich einst in Afrika entwickelt und von dort aus verbreitet. Eine neue Studie über die Rekonstruktion eines fossilen Schädels aus Ch...

Immer schön, mit tollen Gesprächspartnern komplexen Inhalten auf den Grund zu gehen. Danke @manuelwill.bsky.social und Ph. Gunz @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social dafür #Evolution #Anthropologie #Archäologie 

www.br.de/nachrichten/...

Why women live longer than men Study traces the evolutionary roots of the lifespan gap between women and men

Why women live longer than men. A new study #ScienceAdvances by an intl. research team led by Johanna Stärk and Fernando Colchero @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social traces the evolutionary roots of the #lifespan gap between women and men. tinyurl.com/yrt4ju9u & www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Warum Frauen länger leben Eine neue Studie untersucht die evolutionären Ursachen der unterschiedlichen Lebenserwartung von Frauen und Männern

Warum Frauen länger leben. Eine neue Studie in #ScienceAdvances von einem intl. Team um Johanna Stärk und Fernando Colchero vom @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social untersucht die evolutionären Ursachen der unterschiedlichen #Lebenserwartung von Frauen und Männern. www.mpg.de/25472354/092...

Evolutionäre Anthropologie: Gemeinsame Berufungen beschlossen, neuer Studiengang geplant Universität Leipzig, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft und -Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie schließen Vereinbarung über gemeinsame Berufungen

Die @unileipzig.bsky.social, @maxplanck.de & @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social bauen ihre Zusammenarbeit in Forschung & Lehre aus: 5 gemeinsame Professuren & geplanter Master-Studiengang f. evolutionäre Anthropologie an der Fakultät f. #Lebenswissenschaften der Uni Leipzig. www.eva.mpg.de/de/presse/ak...

The new application cycle for our fully funded international graduate program has just started. You can now apply via our website, sign up for a Q&A, or participate in the Applicant Support Program cognition.maxplanckschools.org/en ! 👍🏻🧠👏🏾#passionforscience, #maxplanckschools

Congratulations to Oleg Sobchuk and Arthur Kocher on being awarded @erc.europa.eu Starting Grants!! 🥳 @sobchuk.bsky.social will be exploring the macroevolution of European literature, while Kocher will be studying ancient pathogen dynamics. See: tinyurl.com/mr2m2zms & tinyurl.com/9cwdnc54

Ancient skeletons’ genes reveal origin of the Slavic people DNA connects modern Slavs to a wave of migration following the fall of the Roman Empire

A study led by @zhofmanova.bsky.social @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social used ancient DNA to investigate the spread of Slavic language and culture 1,500 years ago. “This wasn’t a migration of elites, or a few male warriors,” 1 co-author says. “This was the migration of an entire population.” @science.org

How the Slavic migration reshaped Central and Eastern Europe Genetic analyses of medieval human remains reveal large-scale migrations, regional diversity, and new insights into early medieval communities

How the #Slavic #migration reshaped Central & Eastern #Europe. Ancient #DNA provides new insights into early medieval communities. Study @nature.com by an intl. team led by Joscha Gretzinger, @zhofmanova.bsky.social & Johannes Krause. #HistoGenes More: tinyurl.com/msuys4mu & doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Slawische Wanderungen prägten die Genetik Mittel- und Osteuropas Alte DNA aus dem Mittelalter belegt umfangreiche Migrationsbewegungen, regionale Vielfalt und gibt neue Einblicke in frühmittelalterliche Gesellschaften

Slawische Wanderungen prägten die #Genetik Mittel- & Osteuropas. Alte #DNA gibt neue Einblicke in frühmittelalterliche Gesellschaften. Neue @nature.com‬ Studie von einem intl. Team um Joscha Gretzinger, @zhofmanova.bsky.social & Johannes Krause. #Archäogenetik #HistoGenes www.mpg.de/25272516/082...

Group photo of postdocs conducting research at a Max Planck Institute

The #MaxPlanckPostdocProgram offers a guaranteed contract of at least 3 years, targeted mentoring, and career workshops. The call for applications is open now! 🚀 Take advantage of this opportunity and browse the job vacancies. www.mpg.de/en/max-planc...

Exploration and dispersal are key traits involved in a rapid range expansion Researchers find that behavioural flexibility is related to exploration, and that great-tailed grackles disperse farther at their range edge

#Bird species: Exploration & dispersal are key traits driving grackles' rapid expansion into new areas. 🐦‍⬛ New studies @peercomjournal.bsky.social led by Corina Logan, @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy & Kelsey McCune. tinyurl.com/mu6k78m3 & doi.org/10.24072/pcj... & doi.org/10.24072/pcj...

Erkundung neuer Gebiete und geringere Sesshaftigkeit treiben schnelle Expansion voran Verhaltensflexibilität fördert die Bereitschaft zur Erkundung – so können Vögel am Rande ihrer Ausbreitung tiefer in neue Gebiete vordringen

#Vogelarten: Erkundungsfreude & geringere Sesshaftigkeit treiben schnelle Ausbreitung in neue Gebiete voran. 🐦‍⬛ Zwei neue Studien @peercomjournal.bsky.social von einem intl. Team um Corina Logan, @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy & Kelsey McCune. #TheGrackleProject www.mpg.de/25181118/081...

eine Frau benutzt einen Laptop

Ein grüner Hintergrund mit schwarzen und orangefarbenen Formen.

🚀Exciting News for the MPG Community!🚀

The 7th FDM-Workshop 2025 program is online!

📅 When: October 28-30, 2025
📍 Where: @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social​

🔗 More details: https://rdm.mpdl.mpg.de/mpdl-services/workshops/7-fdm-workshop-2025-forschungsdatenmanagement-in-der-max-planck-gesellschaft/

Pathogen discovered in 4,000-year-old sheep tooth In the late Neolithic and Bronze Ages, sheep were apparently involved in the spread of an early form of the plague.

So intriguing! Researchers have isolated the genetic material of a prehistoric #plague pathogen from a 4,000-year-old sheep tooth, marking the first detection outside human remains & reshaping our view of early disease spread. www.mpg.de/25157082/080... @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social #yersiniapestis

Bronze Age Yersinia pestis genome from sheep sheds light on hosts and evolution of a prehistoric plague lineage A Yersinia pestis genome from a Bronze Age domesticated sheep provides insight into the host range, evolution, and possible transmission scenarios of an ancient lineage of the plague-causing bacteria,...

Ancient Yersinia pestis genome discovered in 4,000-year-old sheep tooth sheds new light on a mysterious infectious disease that plagued prehistoric Eurasia. New research by @keyfm.bsky.social and @i-light-maka.bsky.social now published in @cellpress.bsky.social: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

It's not all about size Female gorillas challenge the male power narrative

It's not all about size. New research on female #gorillas challenges the male power narrative. Study by @nikos.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy & Martha Robbins now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social. #primates @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @utu.fi More: tinyurl.com/y778faw2 & www.cell.com/current-biol...

Es kommt nicht nur auf die Größe an Neue Erkenntnisse zu weiblichen Gorillas stellen männliche Machtstrukturen infrage

Es kommt nicht nur auf die Größe an. Neue Erkenntnisse zu weiblichen #Gorillas stellen männliche #Machtstrukturen infrage. Studie in @currentbiology.bsky.social von @nikos.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy ‬& Martha Robbins. #Primaten @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @utu.fi www.mpg.de/25122188/073...

Population history of the Southern Caucasus Archaeogenetic study reveals this region’s population history in unprecedented detail, generating a DNA transect spanning nearly 5,000 years

#Population history of the Southern #Caucasus: Archaeogenetic study generates #DNA transect spanning nearly 5,000 years. In @cellpress.bsky.social by Eirini Skourtanioti, Xiaowen Jia, @hringbauer.bsky.social & an intl. team. #PopulationGenetics More: tinyurl.com/8r39ywfu & doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Bevölkerungsgeschichte der Südkaukasus Region Archäogenetische Studie enthüllt die Populationsgeschichte dieser Region in beispielloser Detailtiefe und liefert einen DNA-Querschnitt von fast 5.000 Jahren

Bevölkerungsgeschichte der #Südkaukasus Region: Archäogenetische Studie liefert #DNA Querschnitt von fast 5.000 Jahren. Jetzt neu in @cellpress.bsky.social von einem intl. Team um Eirini Skourtanioti, Xiaowen Jia & @hringbauer.bsky.social @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social. www.mpg.de/25118072/073...

Material matters: raw material influences stone tool performance in capuchin monkeys Identifying the conditions that facilitate and shape tool use is a central focus in the field of human evolution and animal behaviour. Particular inte…

New paper! Material matters: raw material influences stone tool performance in capuchin monkeys 🐒 🔨🌰 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @neoprego.org 🧪

#Archäogenetiker Johannes Krause @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social wurde als neues Mitglied in die Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften #Leopoldina aufgenommen. Herzlichen Glückwunsch! 🥳 @leopoldina.org @maxplanck.de tinyurl.com/75yk6x8x

Great coverage by @primatology.net, too! If your eyes need a break they have an audio deepdive that discusses our findings really nicely 🐵🌳

Peru's Hidden Genetic Legacy links to Ancient Moche Populations - NCCR Evolving Language The northern coast of Peru is a region known for its rich archaeological heritage, but its people’s history is still underexplored. An international team of geneticists and linguists investigated the ...

New paper on the genetic legacy of living inhabitants of the Northern Coast of Peru. With Ricardo Fujita and José Sandoval of USMP Lima,master student Lea Huber,@epifaniaarango.bsky.social,@kkshimizu1.bsky.social Genetic lineages characteristic of the region link to aDNA from local archaeo sites...