Jan 4, 2021
Hominid Evolution
Poems are a great way to explore scientific topics! They help to expand complicated ideas in the flow of the verses of a poem.
Explanation
This is based on the lectures of Dirk Kroon on the evolution of hominids in the Horn of Africa. He uses his knowledge in paleoclimates to try to understand how climatic changes encouraged early stages of evolution and migration of the early homininds. The research itself is quite illuminating, but the stories from his expedition to the those areas in Africa are much more interesting.
Dirk visited the studied areas many times and had many interesting stories of the people who gathered the data for the paper. One of the aspects of the reaserch was a search for skulls in the jungle. Researchers set out in grids to try to find bone fragments. In a lot of cases it is a hit and miss. One of the researchers described how when he goes to look for bones, he goes into some sort of trance, where he can hear, quote on quote: “The ancestors are singing.”
There are interesting personal stories behind a lot of the research.
Relevance of the eastern African coastal forest for early hominin biogeography
Hominids Wonder Wander
Modern man wonders, where are we from?
Did we wander out of the forests of Africa?
How and When and Why? What tricks of science might it reveal?
What family of human animals do we belong to?
Do the ancestors sing?
Our knowledge of the past is as extensive,
As the length of this poem.
