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Séminaire

Using paleoclimatic simulations to track ecological niches and dispersal of extinct primates

Corentin Gibert

If, since your childhood, you have been wondering where you come from, then you may have some answers during this seminar. Corentin Gibert will show how a very multidisciplinary study conducted within the framework of the ANR HADoC, for Human Ancestors Dispersal: the role of Climate, provides some answers to these fundamental questions. The conference will be held in English.

       

Date de début 23/09/2022 11:00
Date de fin 23/09/2022
Lieu LSCE

Description

Once upon a time, a little more than 25 million years ago, tailless monkeys (apes) appeared in Africa. They were the first members of Hominidea, a primate clade including humans. The evolutionary history of oldest apes remains largely unknown because of the scarcity of fossil remains and their fragmentary nature (mainly isolated teeth). However, even the recent history of our lineage is kept in the dark because of this very limited fossil record. We ignore what the ancestors of chimpanzees and bonobos look like, just as we don’t know where they lived in Africa. In humans, even if the number of species discovered is high, the number of fossils per species is relatively low and prevents us from accurately reconstructing the ecological habits of ancient humans, including their actual distribution areas (ranges) in Africa. Methods such as niche modelling combined with paleoclimatic simulations may be a solution to circumvent this fragmentary record. I will be presenting different studies based on the use of paleoclimate reconstructions made by LSCE for the earliest hominids (17-14 myr), the first ancestors of chimpanzees and Australopithecus (4-3 myr).

Informations supplémentaires

En présentiel au LSCE – Orme des Merisiers – Gif sur Yvette – Room 118

En ligne : via Zoom (https://cnrs.zoom.us/j/96194728440?pwd=SVFZbndBR0NHOVFMUnVLbE12SXc3QT09)