john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

Popgen ramblings on range dispersals

Sun, 2008-07-06 19:44 -- John Hawks

Popgen Ramblings:

What stops a species from extending its range indefinitely, why does a species not adapt and spread to every environment it encounters? This question has strong evolutionary and ecological importance, and it is not just an academic question as shown by the changing range of mosquitoes due to climate change.

...followed by a concise discussion of some explanations, with links to primary sources.

Neandertals

For years, I've worked on their bones. Now I'm working on their genes. Read more about the science studying these ancient people.

Denisova

From a finger bone of an ancient human came the record of a completely unexpected population. My lab is working on the science of the Denisova genome.

Acceleration

The advent of agriculture caused natural selection to speed up greatly in humans. We're uncovering some of the ways that populations have rapidly changed during the last 10,000 years.

Malapa

Just outside Johannesburg, the Malapa site is producing some of the most exciting finds in human evolution. This site is the headquarters of the Malapa Soft Tissue Project.