Amy L Rector

Excited to have welcomed more than 100 faculty and staff to our AI Teaching Summit in the College of Humanities and Sciences. We are very grateful for the collaboration with AI Ready RVA and the outstanding panel on expectations for college graduates with William Willis, Liz Baker and Caleb Snow.

Herman Pontzer pictured from the shoulders up wearing a black polo shirt and facing the camera, standing in front of blurred out trees

Herman Pontzer (Duke U) will deliver the plenary lecture at #AABA2026 on “Calories In, Calories Out: Energy, Ecology, and Evolution in Humans and other Primates.” Be sure to join us!

95th Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado (2026) - AABA Our 95th Annual Meeting will take place in Denver, Colorado, from March 18-21, 2026. Students: Don’t miss your opportunity for free registration for the 2026 […]

⏰ Just two more days to submit your: abstract! Exec Comm nominations! Award nominations! Student presentation award app! All these are due on October 15 for #AABA2026 bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

YouTube video by World of Paleoanthropology Unearthing a New Human Ancestor: Dr. Brian Villmoare on the Ledi-Geraru Discovery

Unearthing a New Human Ancestor: Dr. Brian Villmoare on the Ledi-Geraru Discovery
youtu.be/ex6kMP-wsjI

Biological Anthropologists! The AABA (US) IDEAS Program is welcoming applications for BOTH Student Scholars and Faculty Scholars.

The Faculty Scholar deadline is October 15th, and the Student Scholar deadline is October 31st. Please share this call widely!

Flyers for each, below:

Aanthropologists are facing unprecedented obstacles. Join Danilyn Rutherford, the President of Wenner-Gren, along with Foundation Anthropologists Dr. Brendane Tynes and Michael Muse, for a discussion of how Wenner-Gren is responding. wennergren.org/workshop/pro...

Interested in becoming more involved in AABA? The deadline for nominations for President-Elect, Vice President, and Secretary are due October 15! bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

AABA 2026 Denver, CO Meeting Swag | Bonfire Buy AABA 2026 Denver, CO Meeting Swag merchandise that supports American Association Of Physical Anthropologists. Featuring Heather Carolina Blue Premium Unisex Tees, professionally printed in the USA...

Do you want to support students attending #AABA2026? Get your #AABA2026 t-shirt or hoodie! Proceeds will fund our various student programs
www.bonfire.com/sales-will-s...

📣 The abstract portal for #AABA2026 in Denver is open! Please read the abstract guidelines carefully before submitting your abstract. Submissions are due by October 15, 2025. bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

Student Presentation Awards - AABA The AABA has long recognized the important contributions made to our discipline by students. Their work reflects the promise and future of our field. Conferring […]

📌 Students attending #AABA2026: we've made some changes to simplify the submission process for Student Presentation Awards. Your award application is now due October 15, 2025, the same day as abstracts are due.
📖 Read about it here: bioanth.org/about/studen...

AABA 2026 Denver, CO Meeting Swag | Bonfire Buy AABA 2026 Denver, CO Meeting Swag merchandise that supports American Association Of Physical Anthropologists. Featuring Heather Carolina Blue Premium Unisex Tees, professionally printed in the USA...

Time to get your #AABA2026 swag!! Wearing a t-shirt makes abstract submission 100x faster, so order one today! Also, you need the hat and bag for your weekend errands! And there's never been a cozier sweatshirt for putting the finishing touches on that manuscript!! @bioanth.org

The 2026 AABA IDEAS Faculty Scholars Program is now accepting applications. More information here:
bioanth.org/news/the-202... and apply by October 15 #AABA2026

Two types of ancient human ancestors coexisted more than 2 million years ago, fossils show | CNN Fossilized teeth show that two different kinds of ancient human ancestors coexisted more than 2 million years ago. One of them may be an unknown species.

Pretty entertained that this out-of-focus picture taken on my phone by our colleague and co-author Omar Abdullah on the day of discovery is such a striking image for our new study out in Nature this week.

Scientists uncover new fossils—and a new species of ancient human ancestor A team of international scientists has discovered new fossils at a field site in Africa that indicate Australopithecus, and the oldest specimens of Homo, coexisted at the same place in Africa at the s...

This is super cool. New paper: "New discoveries of Australopithecus and Homo from Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia," phys.org/news/2025-08... 🧪🏺

New discoveries of #Australopithecus and #Homo from #Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

After a decade of research the scientists describe the age, geological context, and dental morphology of new hominin fossils found in the Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia.
They report the presence of Homo at 2.78 and 2.59 million years ago and Australopithecus at 2.63 million years ago.

@nature.com

Fossil teeth reveal a previously unknown human ancestor from eastern Africa Scientists say the teeth belonged to a type of Australopithecus, a relative of Lucy’s species, that coexisted with our genus, Homo

Wrote this out today: Fossil teeth reveal a previously unknown human ancestor from eastern Africa | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

New discoveries of Australopithecus and Homo from Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia - Nature Hominin fossils from the Ledi-Geraru Research Project area, Ethiopia, suggest that early Homo and Australopithecus species co-existed in the region more than 2.5 million years ago.

Lets go??? New Australopith contemporaneous with Homo at Ledi-Geraru that IS NOT Au. afarensis or Au. garhi?? (Probably)

Vid soon!

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

The Wall Street Journal tweets: "Evidence suggests early humans used primitive sunscreen and wore tailored clothing—possibly contributing to their survival as Neanderthals went extinct." There is then a link to a story.

that's right

Two more weeks to submit your invited symposium proposal! #AABA2026

I've been happy with a GardePro 6 to capture baby foxes in the yard

Yes!! I am so glad you caught that!!

Listen. I spent some TIME on these meeting images and graphics and I am quite proud of how they turned out. So submit a symposium proposal for #AABA2026 today!

The deadline for submitting Invited Symposium proposals is August 15, 2025. - AABA Be sure to read the instructions below. Have all materials ready to enter prior to starting the submission process as you cannot save a draft […]

Have an idea for an #AABA2026 symposium? The submission portal is OPEN! Check out the guidelines and submit your proposal by August 15 bioanth.org/95th-annual-...

Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus Paranthropus robustus is a morphologically well-documented Early Pleistocene hominin species from southern Africa with no genetic evidence reported so far. In this work, we describe the mass spectrome...

Hello,

Our paper on enamel proteins from Paranthropus robustus has finally been peer reviewed, please have a read here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Paranthropus robustus has been puzzling scientists since its discovery in 1938 in South Africa, where a high number of fossils have been found.

Pliocene climatic change and the origins of Homo at Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia Long-term cooling and aridification are associated with the spread of grassland habitats and the appearance of new hominin adaptations starting in the late Miocene. However, limited fossil data dur...

📜HUMAN ORIGINS & SURVIVAL

Human Biology, Climate Change & Sustainability

Smail et al. report mammal paleoecology at Ledi-Geraru, suggesting gradual climatic change a possible important factor in early hominin evolution @alrector.bsky.social
#OpenAccess

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I think these are definitely worth points!!

Window in Baltimore with the words "that anthro magic"

Had an amazing weekend with the #AABA2025 #AdvanceTeam in #Baltimore! We're going to have a fun meeting with great science! Register today and look out for some late breaking announcements! Ready for that #AnthroMagic in March!#AnthropologyAF www.xcdsystem.com/aaba/program... @bioanth.org

Cobb Professional Development Grants - AABA The American Association of Biological Anthropologists recognizes that the professional development of talented scientists in the early stages of their careers is critical to the […]

Are you an early career researcher? Do you have a research idea that requires funding? Consider applying for a Cobb Professional Development Grant! Completed applications must be received by January 6, 2025. Eligibility and application info here: bioanth.org/about/cobb-p...

It’s #GivingTuesday! Consider making a tax-deductible donation to AABA @bioanth.org to support these initiatives! More info here: bioanth.org/donate