The contribution of South Asia to the peopling of Australasia. This project focuses on the human fossil record from three regions critical to understanding the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. Australia is crucial in view of its diverse array of "gracile" and "robust" human remains of Late Pleistocene/early Holocene age. Equally important are South and Southeast Asia as they lined the tropical route between Africa, our species' Late Pleistocene homeland according to the Out of Africa theory ....The contribution of South Asia to the peopling of Australasia. This project focuses on the human fossil record from three regions critical to understanding the origins of our species, Homo sapiens. Australia is crucial in view of its diverse array of "gracile" and "robust" human remains of Late Pleistocene/early Holocene age. Equally important are South and Southeast Asia as they lined the tropical route between Africa, our species' Late Pleistocene homeland according to the Out of Africa theory, and Australia. Osteological and archaeological evidence of the selection pressures that operated on earlier hunter-gatherers will be employed to explain the observed patterns of morphological evolution throughout the study region.Read moreRead less
The Flores hobbit - Homo floresiensis or microcephalic eastern Indonesian? The hobbit is so controversial as it implies that a tiny hominin with a miniature brain coexisted for 30,000 years with modern humans in our region. This would have immense, fundamental implications for understanding the human colonisation of our region and the role of brain size in human evolution. Our research will determine whether the alternative explanation of microcephalic pathology is viable. If so the hobbit would ....The Flores hobbit - Homo floresiensis or microcephalic eastern Indonesian? The hobbit is so controversial as it implies that a tiny hominin with a miniature brain coexisted for 30,000 years with modern humans in our region. This would have immense, fundamental implications for understanding the human colonisation of our region and the role of brain size in human evolution. Our research will determine whether the alternative explanation of microcephalic pathology is viable. If so the hobbit would still be of unique signficance as the only known microcephalic hunter-gatherer who had survived to adulthood. The role of Australian scientists in spearheading the hobbit discovery places a high priority on resolving the debate objectively.Read moreRead less
Implications of morphological and molecular measures of diversity in papionine primates for interpretation of hominid phylogeny. Landmark morphometrics, superquadric modeling based on 3-D surface point mapping and conventional osteometric measurements, will be used to gauge morphological differences among macaques and baboons that are known to exchange genes across taxonomic boundaries. Morphological findings will be compared with genetic data (mitochondrial and some nuclear gene measures) on th ....Implications of morphological and molecular measures of diversity in papionine primates for interpretation of hominid phylogeny. Landmark morphometrics, superquadric modeling based on 3-D surface point mapping and conventional osteometric measurements, will be used to gauge morphological differences among macaques and baboons that are known to exchange genes across taxonomic boundaries. Morphological findings will be compared with genetic data (mitochondrial and some nuclear gene measures) on the same populations, to test for congruity between genetic and morphological divergence. The same techniques for measuring morphological divergence will be used on early hominid specimens (Miocene through Plio/Pleistocene). Comparisons between extents of morphological dispersion among hominids and monkeys will be used to test taxonomic and phylogenetic hypotheses about human evolution.Read moreRead less
Who were the ancestors of Homo floresiensis? The discovery of a tiny, new hominid species living in Indonesia until just 12,000 years ago, at the same time as modern humans in the region, has sparked world-wide public interest and debate. Finding the ancestors of this species will further promote Australian research as high profile, high calibre and cutting edge. Collaboration with researchers and institutions in Indonesia, USA, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Georgia will stre ....Who were the ancestors of Homo floresiensis? The discovery of a tiny, new hominid species living in Indonesia until just 12,000 years ago, at the same time as modern humans in the region, has sparked world-wide public interest and debate. Finding the ancestors of this species will further promote Australian research as high profile, high calibre and cutting edge. Collaboration with researchers and institutions in Indonesia, USA, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Georgia will strengthen our links with these nations.Read moreRead less