News

How can chimpanzees and bonobos help us understand human evolution? Leakey Foundation grantee Sean Lee is collecting data on behavioral development and physical growth from wild populations of chimpanzees and bonobos in order to study how behavioral differences evolved in these species.

Francis H. Brown was a beloved member of The Leakey Foundation family and co-chair of our Scientific Executive Committee. Frank Brown was a geologist who made enormous contributions to our collective understanding of human evolution. He was known for his curiosity, kindness, and generosity.

What can fossil pig teeth teach us about human evolution? Deming Yang is a PhD candidate from Stony Brook University. He was awarded a Leakey Foundation Research Grant during our spring 2017 cycle for his project entitled “Isotopic variability among Plio-Pleistocene Turkana suids:  Paleoenvironments and hominin evolution.”

Megan Petersdorf is a PhD candidate from New York University. She was awarded a Leakey Foundation Research Grant during our spring 2017 cycle for her project entitled “The reproductive ecology of the little-known Kinda baboon.”

Frank Brown’s study of the Omo-Turkana Basin over a 50-year period (1966-2016) provides the basis for a detailed chronology of human evolution.

Abigale Koppa was awarded a Leakey Foundation Research Grant during our spring 2016 cycle for her project entitled “Nutritional and mechanical properties of Kenyan savanna and wetland plants.”

What do chimpanzees do after a fire? Nicole Herzog was awarded a Leakey Foundation Research Grant during our spring 2016 cycle for her project entitled “Chimpanzees in fire-altered landscapes:  Investigating foundations for hominin fire exploitation.”

New moms need social support, and mother chimpanzees are no exception. So much so that female chimps that lack supportive friends and family wait longer to start having babies, according to researchers who have combed through the records of Jane Goodall’s famous Gombe chimpanzees.

David Samson is from the University of Toronto, Mississauga. He was awarded a Leakey Foundation Research Grant during our spring cycle for his project entitled “What drives sleep flexibility? A comparative investigation of circumpolar and equatorial hunter-gatherers.” 

With funding from The Leakey Foundation, scientists have discovered a new species of orangutan in Sumatra. This great ape is “among the most threatened great apes in the world.”