Pauline Fänder
Doctoral student
Abteilung für Menschliche Ursprünge
Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Deutscher Platz 6
04103 Leipzig
E-Mail:
pauline_faender@[>>> Please remove the text! <<<]eva.mpg.de
Research Interests
My doctoral study under the supervision of Dr. Philipp Gunz and Dr. Alexander Stoessel focuses on the evolution of human hearing. I combine 3D geometric morphometrics and immunofluorescence techniques to analyze the morphology of external, middle and inner ear structures and their integration into the cranial base across extant primates. I plan to explore possible correlations between bony ear morphology, soft tissue anatomy and function, perhaps also environmental factors and frequency ranges that are most frequently emitted during vocalizations. Ultimately, I hope to apply these findings to fossil hominins to infer what and how they might have heard and to contribute to our understanding of the evolution of auditory capabilities in our lineage.
Curriculum vitae
Career & Education
| 10/2018-09/2021 | B.Sc. Biology Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena Thesis: “Metabolic Phenotypic Profiling of Pathogenic Candida Species” |
| 10/2021-03/2024 | M.Sc. Evolution, Ecology and Systematics Thesis: “Variation of the Human Middle and External Ear in the Light of the Out of Africa Hypothesis” |
| Since 09/2024 | Doctoral student at Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Dpt. Human Origins |
Research experience
| 08/2023 | Participation in teaching excavation at Alter Gleisberg (Löberschütz) Institute of Near Eastern Studies, Indo-European Studies and the Archaeology of Prehistory to the Early Middle Ages, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena |
| 05/2023-10/2023, 12/2023-02/2024 | Student assistant at Max-Planck-Institute for Geoanthropology in Jena, Dpt. Archaeology: Zooarchaeological taphonomic analyses on small mammal bones |