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Department of Human Origins

Director: Prof. Dr. Tracy L. Kivell

The Department of Human Origins combines new fossil and archaeological discoveries with an interdisciplinary approach to reconstructing how our fossil relatives interacted with their past environments. Our goal is to uncover the emergence and evolution of the human lineage through fieldwork and analysis, studying the fossils of our early relatives and those of African apes. We aim to reconstruct the key behaviours that define humans by integrating high-resolution imaging, quantitative analyses of anatomy, experimental biomechanics and study of living primates. 

News

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Endurance running or endurance diving - which came first?

Human OriginsLMRG Technological Primates

New study takes a land-and-water perspective on the evolution of our exceptional human stamina

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Two new junior research groups explore the future of biodiversity

Human OriginsMPRG Cooperative Cultures

Two new junior research groups, Behavioural Conservation and BirdFutures, have started at the German Centre…

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Fossil footprints reveal body size and group dynamics of 1.4-million-year-old human relative

Human Origins

New study provides a rare snapshot of “fossil behavior” from Paranthropus boisei, an ancient hominin group in…

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