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Reposted by Paige Madison

Dr Matt Pope @mattpope.bsky.social · 11h

Great interview with Svante Pääbo Source: EL PAÍS English
search.app/WcjQz
🏺🦣🧪 🧬

Svante Pääbo, father of paleogenetics: ‘The reason for the Neanderthals’ extinction lies in how numerous we’ve become’

The Nobel Prize winner in Medicine is investigating genetic changes that could have given our species a competitive advantage, and the possibility of extracting the genome of the Flores hobbit

search.app

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Reposted by Paige Madison

Human Evolution Research Institute at University of Cape Town @heriuct.bsky.social · 21h

The #TaungChild has been silent for over 2 million years — until now.

Our new podcast takes you back to 1924 #SouthAfrica, where one fossil would upend colonial narratives to centre human origins #Africa.

🌍Unburied Season 2: The Taung Child
🔗 Listen: linktr.ee/arcdocs

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you for sharing! I was hoping to tune in and was bummed to miss it.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 5d

Oh that's great, I think you'll love it. Would love to hear your thoughts once you've visited!

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 5d

That was something else.

A woman stands in front of a grand stone building with ornate balustrades and columns. Behind her, a large vertical banner shows the face of an Australopithecus afarensis fossil reconstruction, advertising an exhibition titled Lucy & Selam. The woman is smiling slightly at the camera, with long blonde hair and a nose ring, wearing a dark jacket.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 6d

In case you missed it, I went to Prague to visit Lucy for her first-ever appearance in Europe and wrote down a few thoughts: open.substack.com/pub/paigemad... 🏺

Circling Lucy

Bowing to ancient bone fragments in a hushed room

open.substack.com

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 6d

#OnThisDay in 2009, after years of preparation, Ardipithecus ramidus was unveiled. The stunningly old 4.4 million-year-old fossils from Ethiopia were introduced as "a new kind of ancestor."

Fossilized skeletal remains of Ardipithecus ramidus, against a black background. The partial skeleton includes the skull, pelvis, arms, hands, legs, and feet, with many bones fragmented but laid out in ~approximate anatomical position.

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Reposted by Paige Madison

Kaedan O'Brien, Ph.D. @deadbovids.bsky.social · 7d

The world has lost one of the biggest figures in Anthropology, Biology, and Conservation to have ever lived. Science will be an emptier place without her, and I can only take solace in knowing that she has inspired entire new generations of researchers who will continue her work. Rest in peace, Jane

NPR @npr.org · 7d

JUST IN: Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

Jane Goodall, legendary primatologist, has died at age 91

Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

n.pr

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 7d

#OnThisDay in 1861, Charles Darwin wrote to his friend "But I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything." n.pr/3kVZvon

Black-and-white portrait photograph of an older man , darwin, with a long, full white beard and receding hairline, wearing a dark coat. He looks to the right in a serious, contemplative pose.

A small piece of handwritten text in cursive ink on paper, difficult to read but appearing to say: “But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything.”

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Reposted by Paige Madison

Dr Rebecca Wragg Sykes @lemoustier.bsky.social · 8d

🏺🧪🦣
Brilliant writing from Paige - what does it mean to encounter a being from such ancient times, who holds so much meaning in material remains?
"Each visit to see her feels like paying respects, but also like taking notes on a conversation that is ongoing between the present and the past."

Photo of outside of museum building, with classical porrico, in the gaps between the columns are hung large pennants for the exhibition, with a hominin face in the centre. Photo by Paige Madison.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 8d

Thank you, glad it resinates.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 8d

Our famous ancestor Lucy is on display in Prague. I visited the exhibit and wrote up some early thoughts about the experience:
paigemadison.substack.com/p/circling-lucy
📸Czech Tourism

A life-like reconstruction of the fossil hominin “Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis) created by Élisabeth Daynès. She is shown standing upright with dark hair and skin, gazing slightly to the side. She is holding green foliage to her lips. The rest of the room is dark.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 8d

Prague’s history spans centuries, but what I’m here chasing is measured in millions.
📍Aria Hotel Prague

A narrow courtyard enclosed by ornate, historic buildings with cream-colored walls decorated in geometric and sculpted patterns. The upper floors feature arched windows and frescoed arches beneath a red-tiled roof. Sunlight strikes one corner, while above, a patch of blue sky and white clouds is visible.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 9d

Netherlands to return 'Java Man' fossils to Indonesia. 🏺 www.dw.com/en/netherlan...

Netherlands to return 'Java Man' fossils to Indonesia – DW – 09/26/2025

The Netherlands will give back the "Java Man" fossils that were taken "against the will of the people" from colonial Indonesia. The fossils were the first to show links between apes and humans.

www.dw.com

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 9d

Prague’s oldest Baroque garden, the Vrtba, has stood carved into this hillside since 1720. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, it's situated within a neighborhood first mapped in 1257. Centuries of history 🤯
📍Aria Hotel Prague

View of the Vrtba Garden in Prague, a terraced Baroque garden built into the slope of Petřín Hill. Green hedges, statues, and stairways rise in levels up the hillside, with the white and yellow buildings, red rooftops, and green domes of Malá Strana visible beyond. The sky is blue with white, puffy clouds spread throughout.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 10d

A grand place for Lucy to make her European debut.
📍 Národní muzeum

Grand interior of the National Museum in Prague, featuring a sweeping marble staircase lined with red carpets, ornate columns, and golden lamps. Busts of historical figures line the upper level beneath a decorative arched gallery, and the ceiling is made of elaborately patterned glass panels that let in natural light. Visitors walk up and down the staircases, giving a sense of scale to the opulent architecture.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 11d

Honestly a little speechless. Looking forward to spending the next few days here. 🏺
📍Narodni Muzeum

The front façade of the National Museum in Prague, with ornate statues, columns, and a fountain in the foreground. Large vertical banners hang between the columns, one reading “Lucy & Selam” and another showing a hominin face, advertising the exhibition inside. The sky above is overcast.

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Reposted by Paige Madison

Marta Mirazon Lahr @martamlahr.bsky.social · 11d

#ESHE2025
Elizabeth Veatch ‘Behavioural complexity in Homo floresiensis reconsidered’
Did H floresiensis hunt & use fire? NO!
Tapho– Komodo Dragon prey bones fr Atlanta!
3D study of 3200 bones w marks fr Liang Bua: most match Komodo Dragons; a few actual c/m - scavenging.
🔥? ~10K rat bones 😳… NONE

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 13d

I'm a bit confused as to why dwarfing is still so often assumed. Another leading idea is that the hobbit evolved from a small-bodied ancestor, no shrinking of bodies or brains required. Also, this study unfortunately missed the withdrawal of fire evidence in 2016. theconversation.com/hobbits-of-f...

Hobbits of Flores evolved to be small by slowing down growth during childhood, new research on teeth and brain size suggests

New research on the size relationship between brains and wisdom teeth suggests that bigger brains aren’t necessarily the driving force in human evolution.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Paige Madison

Marta Mirazon Lahr @martamlahr.bsky.social · 13d

#ESHE2025
Andrea Lukova ‘Reconstructing loading from the internal bone structure of the Homo naledi foot’
Signature of climbing in the naledi foot?
Close look at the talus and 1st MT
Human-like features – BUT!! Also climbing traits in talus – suggesting climbing was key element of locomotion!

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 15d

Most fossils sit quietly in drawers, known only by numbers. From the beginning, AL 288-1 was different. She had a story, she became Lucy. New Substack: paigemadison.substack.com/p/when-we-fi... 🏺

When We First Met Lucy

How a three-foot-tall skeleton became the most famous fossil in the world

paigemadison.substack.com

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 16d

What do you mean it’s already the fall equinox? Summer disappeared in a blur of book revisions.

Upward view of the grand arched entrance of the Natural History Museum in London, with alternating bands of cream and blue-gray terracotta tiles, ornate carvings of animals above arched windows, and two towers rising against a blue sky.

Row of colorful buildings along Nyhavn in Copenhagen reflected in the still water of the canal, with a bright red boat docked in front under a blue evening sky.

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Paige Madison @fossilhistory.bsky.social · 20d

Buckle up, gang. We're headed back in time. 🏺
paigemadison.substack.com/p/lets-go-se...

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Reposted by Paige Madison

Dr. Kim Foecke @kimfoecke.bsky.social · 23d

(1/2) Posting on behalf of Dr. Jamie Hodgkins, with whom I was on this panel.

“The promise of eLife was transparency. Spin still wins. Reviews are public, but truth bends when the communicator chooses to distort. I don’t appreciate being lied about.”

youtu.be/9XJd9Nbmy-k

Homo naledi the lies

YouTube video by Jamie Hodgkins

youtu.be

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Reposted by Paige Madison

Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 23d

HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, reached the Galápagos Islands #OnThisDay in AD 1835. It was on this voyage where the seeds were sown for his theory of natural selection.

Interested in human evolution? Learn more in Antiquity 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

Black and white photograph of Charles Darwin: a bald man with a grey beard wearing a black suit.

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