john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

Don't mess with hippos

Fri, 2007-08-17 21:48 -- John Hawks

They kill more people in Africa than any predator, and now they're hitting the capybaras:

GULF BREEZE, Fla. - A Capybara at a Florida Panhandle zoo died after it was attacked by an adult hippopotamus, zoo officials said Thursday.

The Capybara, a large aquatic rodent, died last week at The Zoo Northwest Florida, just a month after a baby hippo was fatally attacked by an adult hippo.

Fortunately, they're not nearly as dangerous in zoos as gorillas. I guess they shouldn't assume the giant rodents can look out for themselves, though.

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.