Evolutionary Anthropology

Mike Tomasello discusses cooperation in humans and other primates during a talk last week. Photo by Les Todd/Duke Photography

September 14, 2017

Even Preschoolers Play Fair, But Chimps? Not So Much.

Read

This tiny ankle bone belonged to one of the earliest members of the primate family tree. The 52-million-year-old fossil suggests that the first primates were expert leapers. Photo by Douglas Boyer, Duke University.

September 11, 2017

Why Your Ancestors Would Have Aced the Long Jump

Read

Baby lemur twins Nemesis and Narcissa were the product of a breeding program developed by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums to preserve the future genetic health of North America’s captive ring-tailed lemurs.

August 22, 2017

Captive Lemurs Get a Genetic Health Checkup

Read on Duke Research Blog

A Hadza man sleeps on the ground on an impala skin in northern Tanzania. Photo by David Samson, University of Toronto Mississauga

July 11, 2017

Live-In Grandparents Helped Human Ancestors Get a Safer Night’s Sleep

Read

A meerkat wipes his scent on a shrub in South Africa’s Kalahari Desert, like a chemical “keep out” notice. Meerkats identify group members and potential mates with help from odor-producing bacteria that lurk in their hindquarters. Photo by Lydia Greene.

June 12, 2017

Microbes Give Meerkat Gangs Their Signature Scents

Read

Shanen Ganapathee: I did not necessarily have the means to make my dreams come to life when I was home, but ever since my Duke journey began, I just have witnessed my dream space expand

May 8, 2017

Shanen Ganapathee: Exploring the Intersection of Art and Science

Read

Former Duke graduate student Gabe Yapuncich and assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology Doug Boyer are making 3-D X-ray scans of dozens of lemurs and other rare and endangered primates. Photos by Megan Mendenhall; design by Jon Fuller.

April 10, 2017

Building a Virtual Ark for Lemurs

Read

Meerkats at the Kuruman River Reserve in Northern Cape, South Africa. Photo by Jenny Tung.

March 23, 2017

Researchers Win $1.2M to Study Social Mobility in Meerkats

Read

Dollar bills. Public domain

March 12, 2017

What Is the Worth of Money? An Evolutionary Anthropology Perspective

Read on Duke Research Blog

Looking at bright screens before bed can make it hard to fall asleep. Photo by Andrés Nieto Porras.

February 16, 2017

People Far From Urban Lights, Bright Screens Still Skimp on Sleep

Read

Some baboon males are prone to commit domestic violence when forced to move into a group with few fertile females, researchers find. Photo by Catherine Markham, Stony Brook University.

January 18, 2017

Why Baboon Males Resort to Domestic Violence

Read

Flirt, a young female chimpanzee, left her brothers and other relatives behind when she reached puberty to reproduce in a new group. A study finds that chimps can tell genetically similar mates from more distant ones, even among unfamiliar partners.

January 11, 2017

Genetic Opposites Attract When Chimpanzees Choose a Mate

Read

Duke students collect data at SAVA in Madagascar

December 16, 2016

Exploring Health and Biodiversity in the SAVA Region of Madagascar

Read on

A study in rhesus monkeys shows the link between status and health has deep biological roots. Photo by Lauren Brent, University of Exeter

November 24, 2016

Upward Mobility Boosts Immunity in Monkeys

Read

Studies find that female meerkats can produce up to twice as much testosterone as their male counterparts. Their unusual hormone levels fuel their bullying behavior, but at a cost. Photo courtesy of Charli Davies, Duke University.

October 20, 2016

‘Mean Girl’ Meerkats Can Make Twice As Much Testosterone As Males

Read

A low-ranking young female chimpanzee was wounded in a fight when she attempted to enter the female social hierarchy. Credit: Ian C. Gilby

October 14, 2016

Female Chimpanzees Don’t Fight for “Queen Bee” Status

Read