Louis Clark Vanuxem LectureMarch 9, 2006
Alan Walker, Professor of Biological Anthropology, Department of Anthropology at Penn State
Our bodies feel like complete integrated wholes to us, yet our evolutionary history shows that many of our body parts have very ancient origins while others have been incorporated sequentially over time. For example, we and our ancestors have had jaws for nearly half a billion years but have been walking upright for only about 6 million years. The evidence from fossils and comparative biology reveals a fascinating history of our patchwork bodies.Dr. Walker is a paleoanthropologist working on primate and human evolution. His concentration is primarily on the Neogene record from East Africa. He is a research associate of the National Museum of Kenya and has collaborated with the museum on many field programs.
