Looking up at the ceiling of Liang Bua from eight meters below ground, wondering about the stability of stalagtites, seven years ago today.

I spoke with Chris Harvey at the Telegraph about Ghosts of the British Museum, which will be published on Thursday
telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/…

Hope to see you there!!!

And no article revisions have appeared in the ten months since initial publication. researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-africa…

It was such a pleasure to be a small part of making this special show and I will forever be one of its biggest fans.

I am tired today, & no heart to write, & indeed not a word to say. I work a little every day with groans & sighs & am as dull as a pig. - It is hopeless & useless.
-Charles Darwin wrote to a friend #OnThisDay in 1865

Fifty years ago, paleoanthropologists unearthed the 3.2-million-year-old skeleton known as Lucy and transformed our views of humanity’s origins.

Today, Lucy faces competition for the role of our direct ancestor but remains the best candidate. Learn more: scim.ag/6tI

I was recently watching an old lecture by Philip Tobias, and I hadn't realized that the name 'Homo habilis' had come from Raymond Dart. Tobias had consulted Dart in the naming of the species.

#OnThisDay in 1964 a new species from Olduvai Gorge was announced in @nature: Homo habilis. The handy man has been controversial ever since. 📸John Reader

This Saturday!

Psyched to be visiting Inst of HumanOrigins this week.

I love being a historian of Homo floresiensis. (And I so greatly appreciate those who send me such gems for my book!)

When my editor asks how the book is coming, can I start responding with Darwin quotes? Here he writes to a friend, 'I progress slowly with my hazy discussion.'
;)

Seven years ago today I landed on the island of Flores for the first time. I had no earthly idea how much it would shape my life.

📢 THIS WEEKEND:

Inst of HumanOrigins presents, 'Lucy's Impact on Human Origins Science,' co-sponsored by UCSD-CARTA. #Lucy50

🗓️Sat., April 6, 2024
⏰9:00-5:00 PM PDT/MST/UTC-7
💻Livestream: tinyurl.com/2024Lucy50-Liv…
📲Details/📽️post-event recordings: tinyurl.com/2024Lucy50

📍Arizona

Omg I love twitter so much.

Research that bypasses scientific norms in favour of media blitz should raise questions, says our Dr Robyn Pickering & @UJPalaeo’s Dr D.W. Kgotleng.

In this SAJournalofScience opinion, they call for reflection on the future of human evolution in #SouthAfrica .

bit.ly/3PCO1Ii

My coauthor: I bet you could bang out a draft of this in one weekend.

Me: Spends 3 hours trying to find the weather report from Johannesburg on January 6, 1925. With no luck.

He clearly does not know my process.

(If anyone knows how to find out, I would be forever grateful)

With our latest paper we document the morphology of a Northern China individual with clear Neanderthal affinities. Lived some 200-160 k years before, it possibly represents one of the few Denisovan specimens available in the fossil record! Check it out! shorturl.at/bfxI9