What’s a Hominid? What’s a Hominin? Is there a difference?

So! Today we are going to answer a very common question, and hopefully prevent any confusion going forward and to maybe educate. There are many people out there, including myself the other day, that gets them confused and, not by. intent, is giving out false information.

And we don’t want that! So lets get this straight once and for all.

What is a Hominid? What is a Hominin? Are they the same, different? How are you supposed to know?

It is sad, because this is a very important topic, that it is not talked about and explained more by formal schooling or just by looking things up.

So, lets make this simple! What is a Hominin:

A Hominin, is AMH (Anatomically Modern Humans), all and all of our extinct ancestors. So bipedal walking apes. All members of the Homo Genus, Australopithecus Genus, and Paranthropus Genus, belong to the Hominin family.

So then, what is a Hominid? Well that gets a little more confusing, most likely due to the fact that the usage of the word has changed in the last 100 years. Originally it was interchangeable with Hominin. There was no difference, they meant the same thing.

But more recently taxonomists have been categorizing it as such:

A Hominid is any Human, Human Ancestor, Cousin, and all of the Great Apes, and their ancestors etc. So when using the terms, Hominid is much more broad and includes many more species, where as Hominin is specifically for the Human Braided Stream.

I hope that was simple, and made sense! I hope this clears a few things up, and be sure to share around!

Its Always Time to Learn!

“Dragon Man” with Prof. Chris Stringer!!!

What do we have here?

A hominid skull no doubt! But….what species?

Large brow ridge….vaulted skull….Neanderthal? No….not quite. Erectus? No couldn’t be.

So what is this?

This is the #Harbin #Skull, found in the Dragon River region of Northeastern China before WW1. To keep it safe, the discoverer hid it in a well, on his death bed told his family where to find it.

And there it was, 84 years later!

So…why don’t we know what it is? Well…:there are a few reasons, and we could be looking at a whole new addition to the human lineage.

But I guess you will have to check out my chat with Chris Stringer, an expert, and collaborator with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Basically, an insider. And one of the few who can actually reveal some of these answers. Not much, as much of it is still under review. But some.

But check out what we have to talk about Monday the 15th.

We will post it on our website, YouTube, Twitter, and of course here on our Facebook Page!

#Homolongi #denisovan #neanderthal #paleoanthropology #chrisstringer

Excited?

Share this around!

Top Lectures on Paleoanthropology!!!

Well! Since its been about a week since we came out with our Top Documentaries list, and so its time for a new one before we move on to our newer content!

This one was hard to make, there are just so, so many good lectures online, (Again these are all on YouTube for free and easy access-if it says not available in your country, copy and paste the name of the video into the YT search bar and it should come up that you can watch). There are just so many options from great individuals and institutions. From our friends of CARTA to our other close friends, those at The Leakey Foundation. But there are just so many more, so implore you to watch related videos and get even deeper into the subject!

But here is my list, of lectures that are interesting, and that will not bore you. (Hopefully) and is a great place to start learning the basics, from the experts, getting more involved with their work, and learning the talk of the trade.

Again, these are in no particular order, they are not listed from best to worst. They are just listed because I like them in general.

Please, Enjoy!

1.Human Evolution and Why It Matters: A Conversation with Leakey and Johanson

2.CARTA: The Origin of Us – Fossils of Modern Humans Interbreeding within and outside of Africa

3.CARTA: Bipedalism and Human Origins-Comparative Anatomy from Australopithecus to Gorillas

4. Origins of Genus Homo–Australopiths and Early Homo; Variation of Early Homo; Speciation of Homo

5.Prof Agustín Fuentes – What makes us human?

6. Our incredible origins: The astonishing tale of Homo naledi

7.WPT University Place: Discovering Homo Naledi

8.The New Revolution In HUMAN ORIGINS, Dr. Richard Leakey, Leakey Foundation

9.Explorer Lecture: Dr. Donald Johanson, “Cleveland, Lucy, and the Human Story”

10. Origins of Genus Homo: What Who When Where?; Early Body Form; Life History Patterns.

So there you go! Remember to Never Stop Learning! Explore all the other lectures and videos as well, there are so many good ones! We may make another list in a few weeks!

Happy Birthday Louis Leakey! August 7th!

Today, August 7th, is Louis S.B Leakeys Birthday! On this day we celebrate and commemorate the fantastical man that we know to be Louis Leakey.

The patriarch of the Fossil Hunting Dynasty, and inspiration for the foundation and continued research and exploration of The Leakey Foundation.

The man who started the great studies of the Great Apes, our closest relatives, including Jane Goodall, who’s studies continue, Diane Fossey, who unfortunately met an untimely and violent end, as well as Biruté Galdika.

Born on August 7, 1903 in Kabete, Kenya to a British family, Louis grew up learning how to play, survive and learn the ways of the African savannas.

He was educated at the University of Cambridge and began his archaeological research in East Africa in 1924; he was later aided by his second wife, the archaeologist Mary Douglas Leakey (née Nicol), and their sons.

He held various appointments at major British and American universities and was curator of the Coryndon Memorial Museum in Nairobi from 1945 to 1961.

The work of The Leakey Foundation is of great importance to modern man, as well as our future and our place in nature. The Leakey Foundation funds, and provides grants to early-career researchers, post-docs, and other paleoanthropologists! With your help, I am hoping we can raise a few hundred dollars to donate to this organization.

If you care about where we, as a species comes from, and where we are going, donate today, even $1 can be of great help. And if you can’t donate? Just share this post. Thank you, everyone. On behalf of Anthropologists everywhere!And a very happy birthday to Louis Leakey!

You can donate directly to The Leakey Foundation here:

If possible, it would be great if you can mentioned where you were referred from!

Thanks so much for the continued support and dedication! We are hoping to do so much going forward, and we are so excited to take you along with us!

Never Stop Learning!!!

Top Modern Paleoanthropology Documentaries on YouTube

With the great success of my other recent post, the Top Modern Paleoanthropology Books, I thought it would be cool, to extend this further. This week, we will be doing Top Documentaries, next week we will do Top Lectures, that one will be really hard to make!

So here we have Top Documentaries to watch! The links that will be provided work for the United States, and may not work in your country, but if you search for the name of the documentary that I will provide below, you should be able to find it, and enjoy it.

None of these documentaries are perfect, or explain everything. Some are even very specific. But all of them hold value and merit in their own right.

So when you have some spare time, if you are looking into learning the basics of Paleoanthropology, check out these documentaries below!

Once again, these are in no particular order, but I think they should all be watched, and enjoyed, then from there you can go off to related videos and channels and find so much more!

Education can be accessible if you know where to looK!

  1. The Dawn of Human History | Mankind: The Story of All of Us (S1, E1) | Full Episode | History
  2. NOVA Science Documentary – Dawn of Humanity
  3. Evolution Of Modern Humans Documentary 2017 FULL HD NEW
  4. BBC Origins of Us 1 of 3 – Bones HDTV – Dr Alice Roberts
  5. A Neanderthal Perspective on Human Origins – 2014
  6. Becoming Human First Steps HD
  7. BBC Planet of the Apemen Battle for Earth 1of2 Homo Erectus PDTV XviD AC3 MVGroup org
  8. The Oldest Human Ancestor Uncovered | First Human | Timeline
  9. Evolution Narrated by Liam Neeson(full documentary)HD
  10. Lucy IN SEARCH OF HUMAN ORIGINS PART ONE

So there you go! Please go enjoy and learn! If you know of, or have other favorite documentaries that are open access, let us know by commenting below or emailing me at worldofpaleoanthropology@gmail.com!

Top Ten Modern Paleoanthropology Reading List!!!

Suggested Reading List for Paleoanthropology Enthusiasts!
These are in no particular order but are all great, modern books on the subject that, at the time of their publication (which I am only listing recent books) were the most updated at the time.

Check out our audiobook list!


Of course, the thing about our field is that it is ever-changing and what we know and learn changes every day!


So please, if you’re interested, check out these books by these awesome authors, researchers, and professors!


Many of them we have had on our show, and you can find our interviews on our Youtube Channel! (Just search, World for Paleoanthropology on YT).

  1. Almost Human by Lee Berger and John Hawks
  2. 7 Skeletons by Lydia Pyne
  3. Sediments of Time by Meave Leakey
  4. First Steps by Jeremy DeSilva
  5. Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional by Agustin Fuentes
  6. A Most Interesting Problem edited by Jeremy DeSilva
  7. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
  8. The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared Diamond
  9. Kindred by Rebecca Wragg-Sykes
  10. Lone Survivor: How We Came to Be the Only Humans on Earth by Chris Stringer

There are of course plenty more, and just because some books are a little older, does not mean they are not filled with great and valuable information! Some of my favorite books are about Lucy, and Olduvai, the Leakeys, etc. It may not be the most updated info, but it’s important for a strong foundation, so be sure to check those out too!
For now, this should be a good, up to date and modern list of books that will get you started, educate you (hopefully), and help you on your path to learning about Human’s Deep History.


What are your suggested reads? Comment below (include a link to be super helpful!)
Enjoy!

Seth Chagi

Interview #20: Dr. Marina Elliott

Join myself and Dr. Marina Elliott today as we sit down and discuss some awesome topics. From her stunning travels, work and involvement in the 2013 Rising Star Expedition.

A proud female STEM educator and promoter, Dr. Elliot has written a detail book on the localities all over the Cradle of Human Kind in South Africa,(you can purchase it here.) and is featured, along with many other extraordinary women, in a new book published by National Geographic for Kids called Girls Can! You can grab a copy here.

We had a great chat, and cant wait for you to see it, enjoy it, and hopefully learn a great deal about Dr. Elliott and her work, and discover the amazing tale of Homo naledi!

Enjoy

Roberto Sáez, Interview: #19 A Compassionate Human?

We had the great pleasure of interviewing Dr. Sáez the other day and we had a blast!

We learned alot from talking to him and we hope you can glean some of that yourself by watching!

From Neanderthals to the Complete Human Package, we discuss his book, his work, and his views on Anthropology.

Check out our latest interview here, and please like and comment if you enjoy =)

If you would like to be on the show, contact us at worldofpaleoanthropology@gmail.com

Chris Stringer, is that you? Interview: 18

Hello fellow enthusiasts, students, professors, and more!


Join us today for an amazing talk on Neanderthals and so much more, listen to an if not the world’s leading experts on Neanderthals for the past 40 years!
Learn all about Neanderthals and more in this great interview!


To watch the rest of our interviews, check out our YouTube channel and our website at http://www.worldofpaleoanthropology.org.


If you would like to appear on our show, email Seth at worldofpaleoanthropology@gmail.com!