One Jaw-Dropping Public Lecture on Human Evolution
South African paleoanthropologist, Dr. Lauren Schroeder, shares surprising findings on skull diversity in humankind’s closest evolutionary cousins
It seems intelligence doesn’t define the human genus Homo after all. It could be our teeth. A part of the Anthropology Public Lecture series at Trent’s Durham campus on March 27, “Skull Diversity within the Homo Lineage,” showed how incredibly old skulls are yielding new scientific discoveries—in some cases turning traditional thought on its head.
Guest lecturer, Dr. Lauren Schroeder, assistant professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto Mississauga suggests that changes in our eating apparatus might be a key characteristic of today’s humans or Homo sapiens as opposed to development of bigger brains.
“We tend to view evolution as happening for a purpose with the end goal in mind,” said Dr. Roger Lohmann, associate professor of Anthropology at Trent Durham and event organizer. “This example helps us to understand that’s not how it actually works. When it comes to brain size, different human species evolved in distinctive directions.”
“That’s one of the great things about continuing research,” states Chrissy Chabassol, a Trent Psychology graduate now studying Anthropology in the hopes of becoming a professor and researcher. “It’s always changing. You need to have that collaboration to expand your overall knowledge.”