The Evolutionary Biology Lecture of the Week for September 18, 2006 is now
available at:

http://aics-research.com/lotw/

The talks center primarily around evolutionary biology, in all of its aspects:
cosmology, astronomy, planetology, geology, astrobiology, ecology, ethology,
biogeography, phylogenetics and evolutionary biology itself, and are presented
at a professional level, that of one scientist talking to another. All of the
talks were recorded live at conferences.

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September 18, 2006

Part II: What Makes Us Human?

The Origin of Adaptability and Human Beings

Rick Potts

Smithsonian Instituition

35 min.

"R-selected" species are often called "weed species" because they depend so
heavily on disturbed habitat. Although Rick Potts never uses the term in this
talk on the evolution of humans, that is the organism he is describing. Humans
are now the sole surviving hominid species on the planet, but that wasn't true
until quite recently. From his work in his Turkana Basin and Olorgesailie sites
in East Africa, as well as his more recent work in southern China, Potts
outlines a compelling argument that Homo evolved to prosper best during periods
of climatic instability.

The genus Homo evolved during a period of dramatically increasing climatic
instability. Potts argues that the recent increases in climatic
oscillations lie at the core of the evolution of Homo.

While the increases in climatic variation appear in the fossil record to have
suppressed populations of the more inertial hominins, Paranthropus and
Australopithecus, the increased environmental stress apparently acted as an
"intelligence pump" in Homo, forcing the lineage to become more inventive in
its responses to a broader range of inclement environments.