Read about the latest human origins discoveries, Leakey Foundation-supported research, and news from the field.
Announcing the 2024 Baldwin Fellows
Grants | The Leakey Foundation
The Leakey Foundation is proud to announce the 2024 Baldwin Fellowship recipients. The 11 new and returning Baldwin Fellows represent eight countries, nine academic institutions, and a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
Field Notes: My Time with Titis
From the Field | Guest Post
What is it like to study titi monkeys in the Amazon Rainforest? Leakey Foundation grantee David Wood says the worst part is the sweat bees.
First evidence of ancient human occupation found in giant lava tube cave in Saudi Arabia
Journal Article
Researchers report first evidence of ancient human occupation of giant lava tube caves in the Arabian Peninsula.
ASU Institute of Human Origins celebrates Lucy with a 50th-anniversary symposium
Education | Lecture
Lucy is one of the most famous fossils of all time. The discovery of this species had a major impact on the science of human origins and evolution. Why? What was that impact?
Arizona State University’s Institute of Human Origins is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Lucy’s discovery with a symposium on Saturday, April 6, 2024.
Jane Goodall’s 90-Dog Salute
Director's Diary | The Leakey Foundation
When Jane Goodall was asked how she wanted to spend her 90th birthday, the trailblazing primatologist said, “With dogs.”
Raymond Dart’s 1973 Lecture, “The Discovery of Australopithecus and Its Implications”
From the Archive | Guest Post | Video
Raymond Arthur Dart (1893-1988) announced, described, and named the first discovery of an Australopithecine in the February 7, 1925 issue of Nature. The now iconic specimen consisted of a partial fossilized face, jaw, and cast of the interior of the braincase of a young child from Taung, which Dart assigned to a new genus and species called Australopithecus africanus.
Humans and plants go way back
Education
The Leakey Foundation and American Association for Biological Anthropologists’ Education Committee are collaborating on outreach at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on March 20, 2024, from 9:30 am–3 pm as part of the museum’s Spring into Nature program, which celebrates plant stories.
Grantee Spotlight: Amy E. Clark
Grantee Spotlight
Amy Clark is an archaeologist whose field research is focused on the Middle Stone Age in Morocco. She received a Leakey Foundation grant in 2020, for archaeological excavations at Jorf el Hamam in southwest Morocco.
New methods of conservation needed to prevent the extinction of great apes
Journal Article
Great apes, human’s closest living relatives, are knocking on the door of extinction. Traditional methods of conservation have helped, but these methods are no longer enough, say multiple-time Leakey Foundation grantees John Mitani and Andrew Marshall, researchers at the University of Michigan.
Let’s talk about evolution
The Leakey Foundation
Are you fascinated with human origins and interested in meeting others who share your curiosity? Join the Evolution Exchange on February 27 for a lively virtual discussion group exploring the evolution of childhood and the human family.