In December, The Leakey Foundation was proud to host Dr. Robert D. Martin, Curator of Biological Anthropology at The Field Museum and Dr. Ian Tattersall, Curator at The American Museum of Natural History, in a rousting debate over the origins of the mysterious Homo floresiensis. In case you missed it, here is footage of the debate.

The debate, held at California Academy of Sciences, was captured by Fora.tv.

Dr. Richard Wrangham, Professor at Harvard University and co-director of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project

Ever since Darwin and The Descent of Man, the existence of humans has been attributed to our intelligence and adaptability. Renowned primatologist Richard Wrangham presents a startling alternative: our evolutionary success is the result of cooking. In a groundbreaking theory of our origins, Dr. Wrangham will show that the shift from raw to cooked foods was the key factor in human evolution.

When our ancestors adapted to using fire, humanity began.

Once our hominid ancestors began cooking their food, the human digestive tract shrank and the brain grew. Time once spent chewing tough raw food could be used instead to hunt and to tend camp. Cooking became the basis for pair bonding and marriage, created the household, and even led to a sexual division of labor.

Tracing the contemporary implications of our ancestors’ diets, Dr. Wrangham sheds new light on how we came to be the social, intelligent, and sexual species we are today. A pathbreaking new theory of human evolution, Dr. Wrangham will fascinate anyone interested in our ancient origins or in our modern eating habits.

Dr. Richard Wrangham is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. He is co-director of the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, the long-term study of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda. His research culminates in the study of human evolution in which he draws conclusions based on the behavioral ecology of apes. As a graduate student, Dr. Wrangham studied under Robert Hinde and Jane Goodall. He also helped the late Dian Fossey establish her eponymous Gorilla Fund to protect and research the Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012 @ 6:30pm

Houston Museum of Natural Science

General Admission: $18

HMNS, Leakey Foundation & Harvard Club Members: $12

Please call the Museum Box Office at (713) 639-4629 or reserve your ticket online.

If you are on Facebook, let us know you are coming on the Facebook event page for this lecture.

Generous support provided by Wells Fargo Bank.

• Funded $762,000 in grants to scientists; an increase of $26,000 over last year’s amount
• Funded six scholars from developing countries through the Baldwin Fellowship Program
• Offered five public lectures across the nation with the Speaker Series on Human Origins
• Provided over 1,000 youth, face-to face learning opportunities in the classroom with leading scientists through the Leakey Learning Expeditions Program
• Received an 80% Efficiency Rating for our 2010 audit, meaning 80% of our annual budget is granted to researchers and used for educational outreach
• Provided emergency funding to a Grantee who was at risk of discontinuing a decades worth of research in Indonesia, due to lack of other institutional funding
• Reached over 113,000 followers on Twitter, and we are #10 on Twitter’s list of top 20 science accounts to follow (above the journal Scientific American (#19)

We were able to accomplish this during a challenging economic climate, because of the ongoing support of our donors. Funding for human origins research is becoming all too scarce, and biological evolution is discounted by 61% of the American population. The Leakey Foundation seeks to preserve grant-funding levels, while continuing educational outreach for adults and youth. Our work has never been more important.

There is no easier way to support science while garnering a tax-deductible donation. With your 2011 end of year contribution, a generous donor has pledged to give one dollar for every two dollars that you give, thus making sure your contribution will go further!

Please click here to donate to The Leakey Foundation. You may give a one-time holiday gift, or give on a monthly basis with an ‘automatic payment’ donation.

Thank you for your generous support!

In November, Board President Don Dana, along with Leakey Grantees Nick Toth and Kathy Schick ventured into the dense jungle of the Amazon Rainforest in search of the Huaorani tribe. Their quest… to learn about the Huaorani’s method of hunting with blowguns and poison darts, dipped in curare. Though The Leakey Foundation did not have a hand in funding this amazing trip, we thought you’d enjoy reading Don’s dispatches from deep in the Amazon. Read them here:

November 10: Departure from Quito

Drove south from Quito through Avenida de Los Volcanos. Many of the volcanos continue to be very active. Crossed the Andes at Banos, the Gateway to the Amazon, heading for Shiripuno River. The last two legs of our travel were by small planes and dugout canoes.

November 11: Contact with Huaorani

Made contact with the Huaorani. Homes are thatched huts with earthen floors used my multiple families. The Huaorani were discovered in the mid 1950s by discovering the bodies of the first five missionaries who tried to make contact with them. Contrary to popular misinformation, the Huaorani are not cannibals, nor to they shrink heads. The head shrinking is done by the Shwar, the tribe immediately south of here.

The woman in the photo is Dawa, one of the first Huaorani to meet, but not subsequently kill missionaries. She is the only family member to have survived first contact. The rest died from polio and other diseases caught from the missionaries.

November 13: Hunting Methods

The Huaorani hunt with spears and blowguns, but are best known for their blowguns, which shoot darts tipped with curare poison. The hunters can easily hit small birds and monkeys from 30 yards or more. The black colored poison on the tip of the darts paralyzes the muscles of the hunted animal.

The Huaorani eat all that they kill, and everyone in the village shares the meat. Although women and men do different work, women have equal status with men. One of the main jobs of women is to make chicha for the men when they return from the hunt. The drink is made by women thoroughly chewing the yucca plant, spitting out the mixture, then letting the liquid ferment.

We’re approaching the end of the year and the conclusion of our Fall 2011 Granting Session. Our Scientific Executive Committee (SEC) and outside peers have reviewed all applications, and have make their recommendations for funding distribution. This fall, we received 74 applications for grants in Behavioral and Paleoanthropology categories, of which the reviewers have recommended 20 grants for funding, totaling $254,287. The chart above shows the breakdown of recommended funding by subcategory of all the applications. Here are some quick facts about this fall’s session:

• There were 35 applications in Paleoanthropology, and 39 in Behavioral
• 8 applications were recommended in Behavioral for a total of $125,553.00
• 12 applications were recommended in Paleoanthropology for a total of $128,734.00
• 3 additional applications were funded by trustees of the Foundation for a total of $32,000.

Undoubtably, the best way to explore Kenya’s rich human prehistorical landscapes is to travel with The Leakey Foundation and our distinguished Grantees. The 2012 Human History of Kenya tour and extension have been designed not only to address paleoanthropological research and discoveries, but also to explore the native cultures and wildlife who call Kenya their homeland today.

The 2012 Human History of Kenya tour and extension provides guests a VIP experience gaining privileged access to field sites and museums to learn about important human origins research, with opportunities to meet the scientists making those headline grabbing discoveries. This trip is truly unique and is designed especially for Leakey Fellows.  To learn more visit our travel page.

A Homo floresiensis skull (left) compared to a Homo sapien skull on the right. Photo courtesy of Peter Brown

In the history of exploring human origins, there has never been a more baffling discovery than the extraordinary Homo floresiensis, now known as world-famous as the “Hobbit”. Found on an obscure Indonesian island in 2004, this tiny, small-brained, big-footed hominin is unlike any other discovery.

But who was this 14,000 year old being, and who were its ancestors? These questions fuel a huge debate among paleoanthropologists. Is the fairly complete LB1 skeleton simply a modern human wracked with genetic disease. Maybe it belongs to a “dwarfed” island species descended from the renowned Homo erectus of nearby Java? Or was this individual a remote descendant of the very first hominin ancestors to exit Africa?

Depending on the answer, this little person may make a crucial contribution to our knowledge of the early evolution of modern humans. In this light-hearted debate, two eminent biological anthropologists, Dr. Robert Martin of Chicago’s Field Museum, and Dr. Ian Tattersall of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, will present contrasting viewpoints on this amazing find, and attempt to lift a corner of the veil that still obscures one of paleoanthropology’s most intriguing mysteries.

Who Was the Hobbit?

A Debate with Dr. Robert D. Martin, Curator of Biological Anthropology at The Field Museum and Dr. Ian Tattersall, Curator at The American Museum of Natural History

Featuring Guest Moderator:
Roy Eisenhardt,
Former President of the California Academy of Sciences

Tuesday, December 6, 2011 @ 7pm
California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA

Let us know you are coming on our Facebook page!

Generous support provided by Wells Fargo Bank.

Dr. Robert D. Martin, Curator of Biological Anthropology at The Field Museum	Dr. Ian Tattersall, Curator at The American Museum of Natural History

Did You Know? Students and Educators can become a member of the Leakey Foundation for just $60! Get advanced notice of events, and discounts on tickets and merchandise.

Whether you are a young scientist aspiring to be a future grantee, or an educator encouraging students to take a closer look at our evolutionary past, you play a vital role in the continuation of our mission. Our members enable us to provide speaker series, learning expeditions, research grants, and fellowships that help students in a developing countries obtain advanced degrees.

For over 40 years, Foundation members have enjoyed a front row seat to the unfolding story of our human origins. The membership is now a diverse group of science patrons of all ages and many different nationalities. 80% of our annual budget is granted to scientists and used for our educational programs to fuel our understanding of how we developed as humans. Last year, we were able to give away $762,000 in grants, but we can’t do it without your support.

Support the study of human origins. Become a Leakey Foundation Member today!