Hello everyone, I'm Ryan Governale, a senior at BASIS Scottsdale participating in a school-sponsored internship programme called a Senior Research Project (SRP), which gives seniors an opportunity to work in a field of interest (frequently research-based interest, but not always) in the last trimester of the year.
My project will focus on two species, many fossil casts, and a lot of prior research. With the help of my on-site mentor, Dr William Kimbel, and my school faculty adviser, Dr Matt Jette, I hope to, as the title says, analyse and further define the taxonomic relationship between extant early Homo finds in East Africa. By current consensus, that means looking at two species and their assigned fossil specimens: H. habilis and H. rudolfensis. Specifically, I'll be looking at the maxillae and crania of these species, because prior research has attempted to establish, using these fossils in particular, that H. habilis and H. rudolfensis are actually the same species with considerable variation; my goal is to evaluate whether that claim holds water, so to say. I'm not a betting man, but as you can see from the title, I'm putting my money on scepticism for now.
I hope this blog will be of use to you, the readers, and I hope my research will prove to be interesting and useful as the project moves forward.
What piqued your interest in human evolution? Why do you doubt that they are the same species?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, my interest in human evolution probably came from my interest in history and linguistics, both of which interact closely with our biology and development. I nearly did this project on a related topic of attempting to determine whether or not H. erectus had language, but I had better access to materials suitable for an analysis of Habilis and Rudolfensis.
DeleteSpeaking of them, I doubt that H. habilis and H. rudolfensis are the same species because of manifest differences in structure between them, as well as that they're currently classified as different species. I don't have the burden of proof this time.
Sounds like fun! What criteria are you using to evaluate the differences between the maxillae and crania?
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I'm looking forward to seeing the result. I'm not a betting man either (most of the time), but I agree with you. XD
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see where you're working! Would you happen to have a link?
ReplyDeleteI do; I've added one to the blog.
DeleteHi Ryan: An opportunity to work at the center is one that very few of your education level would ever get. Make the most of your chance to get to work with these artifacts and those who are experienced in this field. I will be stopping by your blog every now and then to see how things are progressing. Good luck
ReplyDeleteThank you! I owe the opportunity to you, Mr. Nishan. I hope you'll enjoy following what I do with it.
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