Investigating Our Evolving Species

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What do we truly have in common with the Neanderthals? What can fossilized teeth tell us about the life expectancy of our ancient ancestors? How can simple geometric comparisons of fossils suggest a possible origin to our social nature? Korea’s first paleoanthropologist Sang-Hee Lee explores some of our greatest evolutionary questions from new and unexpected angles. She joins us with excerpts from her book Close Encounters with Humankind, and shares fresh perspectives and surprising conclusions about our first hominin ancestors by combining anthropological insight with exciting, cutting-edge research. Lee shares how our big brains may have set our species apart and spurred our societal development—though perhaps not in the ways we have often assumed—and suggests that our infamous Neanderthal ancestors may not have been the primitive beings portrayed by twentieth-century science. She reveals our species’ history of continuous change, from our first steps on two feet to our first forays into toolmaking and our formations of community. Join Lee for an illuminating discussion on the evolutionary path to the present, and tackle one of our most pressing scientific questions—does humanity continue to evolve?