Sexual dimorphism and human evolution

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Adam Van Arsdale

I am once again going to promote BU’s on-going Dialogues in Biological Anthropology series. This Thursday they are hosting a discussion on sexual dimorphism and human evolution (Does Size Matter?) featuring Michael Plavcan (Univ. of Arkansas) and Josh Reno (Penn State Univ.). Plavcan has written extensively on the subject, including a very approachable review piece in the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology (2001), while he and Reno have argued back and forth in publications on the relative degree of dimorphism and its significance in Australopithecus afarensis (Plavcan – a lot, Reno – human-like).

This has really been a wonderful series put together by the people at BU and has included previous discussions about the pelvis, early Homo, altruism and the enigmatic fossils of Homo florisiensis from Indonesia.

*****

1. Plavcan, J. M. (2001). “Sexual Dimorphism in Primate Evolution.” Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 44: 25-53. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10011

About Adam Van Arsdale

I am biological anthropologist with a specialization in paleoanthropology. My research focuses on the pattern of evolutionary change in humans over the past two million years, with an emphasis on the early evolution and dispersal of our genus, Homo. My work spans a number of areas including comparative anatomy, genetics and demography.
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