Caley Orr

Science for #caturday 🐈

Submissions accepted through tomorrow Mar 7! @bioanth.org @leakeyfoundation.org #AABA2026

#FossilFriday Qafzeh 11 Homo sapiens child, Israel ~100ka 🏺

Meet ‘Tous’ — an entirely new genus of mammal we identified. Here’s why it’s so exciting A plantation worker photographed this new genus of mammal in New Guinea, thought to have been dead for 6,000 years.

Meet ‘Tous’ — an entirely new genus of mammal we identified. Here’s why it’s so exciting. 🐾🇮🇩 theconversation.com/meet-tous-an...

Sulfur isotopes evidence spatial ecology of Late Pleistocene ungulates in southwestern France Understanding prey species spatial behaviour is key to unravelling contemporary hunter-gatherer subsistence and movement patterns. Here, we use sulfur…

"Understanding prey species spatial behaviour is key to unravelling contemporary hunter-gatherer subsistence and movement patterns....These results reveal that Neanderthals hunted three different groups of game who occupied different areas of the landscape."
🧪🦣🏺

Heartbreaking grave goods.

Beware the claims for bottlenecks and the new fashion for admixture/hybridisation! Population structure is harder to model, and messes up some nice simple narratives, but it is fundamental. Important new publication by. Chikhi et al 2026 (link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...)

Definitely tricky to address a question that spans multiple theoretical levels: the basic mechanics, the biological role (in each ape taxon), and the original adaptive drive at origin (assuming anatomical ape-ness is homologous in all apes).

Feeding in Forest Chimpanzees: Do Food Type and Canopy Location Predict Positional Behavior? Ngogo chimpanzees from Kibale National Park, Uganda use versatile postures, like suspension, more when eating leaves than other foods. However, in the terminal canopy, eating fruit is most associated...

Interesting new paper shows that contrary to expectations, Ngogo chimps are more frequently suspensory when eating leaves than fruit. Why ape anatomical specializations evolved remains a bit unclear.

Humans and Neanderthals interbred — but it was mostly male Neanderthals and female humans who coupled up, study finds A preference for pairings between male Neanderthals and female Homo sapiens may answer the question of why there are "Neanderthal deserts" in human chromosomes.

A new study suggests the “Neanderthal deserts” on the human X chromosome may be from mate preference rather than natural selection acting on deleterious genes. 🧪🏺

Rob Dyrdek - Footage- 1990 YouTube video by badger816

I first heard The Wagon (would have been just a single at the time) in this skate video part and was hooked.

Northern Britain's oldest human remains are of a young female child, DNA analysis reveals The oldest human remains ever found in Northern Britain have been identified as a young female three years after being discovered in a Cumbrian cave. Excavated at Heaning Wood Bone Cave in Cumbria's G...

Northern Britain's oldest human remains are of a young female child, DNA analysis reveals ⛏️🧬🇬🇧 phys.org/news/2026-02...

Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind (Full Album) (1991) 2006 Re-Issue with Bonus Tracks YouTube video by craftberryful

This album released 35 years ago today ignited a still burning Dinosaur Jr obsession. My desert island would be loud with fuzz-drenched guitar solos.

Colorado doctors perform first ‘game-changing’ thumb arthritis surgery in the western U.S. Learn how a new thumb arthritis surgery using a small prosthetic joint offers faster recovery, less pain and improved function for patients.

Orthopedic surgeons on my campus doing some amazing work here. I like that the prosthetic trapeziometacarpal joint is a ball and socket. It's like getting a gibbon thumb.

Biological Anthropology Research Associate 2 in New Haven, Connecticut, 06511 | Other at Yale University Apply for Biological Anthropology Research Associate 2 job with Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, 06511. Other at Yale University

Research Associate job.

Why do we care if any of it matters in the grand scheme of things if the Dow is over 50,000?

I remain convinced that drivers who don't use turn signals lack a theory of mind.

Insightful commentary on the new Ileret Homo habilis material by Ian Tattersall: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Frontiers | A comparative bone surface modification database for revealing the origins and evolution of human carnivory Fossilized trace marks left by our ancestors as they processed animals for food are important clues to the emergence and intensification of human carnivory a...

Our lab has a new open-access paper out today!

We are presenting our database of several hundred experimentally generated bone surface modifications that the Pante lab has been creating, collecting, and scanning over the last 10+ years!

Birds unrelated.

www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...

Many congrats to all our pals up there in Fort Collins! Nice work.

Fantastic! I'm glad that worked out. Happy to help spread the word locally if helpful.

A graphic reading "AABA Art, Culture and Science Engagement Exhibition" with stylized DNA, skulls, and primate faces. Art by Michelle Bezanson

The Art/Culture/SciComm Expo returns for the 2026 @bioanth.org meeting! #Science -related #SciArt photography, poetry, needlepoint, painting, sculpture, games, posters about podcasts or local engagement work…all these and more are welcome! Submission deadline is Mar 7.
forms.gle/kk7qCfQGXe6h...

Were you and Kate able to identify any institutions here in Denver interested in an outreach session?

Figure 1 from Blasi-Toccacceli et al. Views of OMO VE3-10063. Humerus OMOVE3-10063a, proximal portion: A,lateral; B,anterior; C,medial, D,posterior; E,proximal. Humerus OMOVE3-10063a, diaphysis: F,lateral; G,anterior; H,medial;I,posterior. Humerus OMOVE3-10063a, distalportion: J, Anterior; K, posterior; L,distal.Clavicle OMOVE3-10063c: M, Proximal; N, posterior; O, distal; P,a nterior. Scapula OMO-VE 3-10063b: Q, Anterior; R, posterior; S, lateral. Cervical neural arch OMOVE3-10063d: T, Superior; U, inferior. Cervical body OMOVE3-10063e: V,Anterior; W,posterior;X,inferior;Y,superior. RibOMOVE3-10063f: Z-superior ; a,inferior. See the detailed description of the individual in the Supplementary Material (Supplementary Text “Description of OMO VE 3-10063”) and Table S1. Abbreviations: Prox.: proximal; Dist.: distal; Med.: medial; Lat.: lateral; Post.: posterior; Ant.: anterior.

Preprint describing an interesting 1.84 million-year-old partial hominin skeleton (mostly shoulder) from the Shungura Formation in Ethiopia. Unfortunately, no craniodental remains to confirm taxon, but it shows some derived features linking it to genus Homo.
paleo.peercommunityin.org/articles/rec...

Me too. I really miss working there.

Great analytical work done on the specimen by our collaborator Matteo Romandini.