The Daily Bulletin Archive

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar “Nocturnal Primates and Our Views on Human Evolution,” presented by Stephanie Poindexter, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University at Buffalo, on Monday, October 30, at 3:00 p.m. in Science and Math Complex 151. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:30 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies before the seminar.

Abstract
This talk centers on the diverse world of nocturnal primates and their importance in understanding human evolution. Studies on primate evolution regularly focus on the pivotal times and traits that prompted the emergence of all the diverse humans we see today. We can look to living non-human primates to reconstruct ancestral states and estimate evolutionary pathways. Still, we often attempt to create a comprehensive picture with a limited dataset, biased by a historical emphasis on diurnal primates. Dr. Poindexter will present new data on nocturnal primates that may disrupt how we see non-human primates and ourselves.