AnthroBiology Podcast

• Dr. David Orton – Rats in Europe and Zooarchaeology

  Dr. David Orton of the University of York joins the show to discuss how he uses zooarchaeology (the study of animal remains in archaeological contexts) to understand the how rat and human populations interacted and affected each other over time in Europe. He gets into the spread of rats, the plague, using ancient DNA and isotopic analysis to analyze rats, and what rats can tell us about historic events. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Dr. Orton's University of York faculty profile RATTUS project website Eric Guiry et al., The ratting of North America: A 350-year retrospective on Rattus species compositions and competition. Scientific Advancements. 10, eadm6755(2024). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adm6755 Yu, H., Jamieson, A., Hulme-Beaman, A. et al. Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history. Nature Communications. 13, 2399 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-30009-z Jason Munshi-South et al., The evolutionary history of wild and domestic brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). Science. 385, 1292-1297. (2024). DOI:10.1126/science.adp1166 E. E. Puckett, D. Orton, J. Munshi-South, Commensal Rats and Humans: Integrating Rodent Phylogeography and Zooarchaeology to Highlight Connections between Human Societies. BioEssays 2020, 42, 1900160. https://doi.org/10.1002/bies.201900160 Guiry, E.J., Gaulton, B.C. Inferring Human Behaviors from Isotopic Analyses of Rat Diet: a Critical Review and Historical Application. J Archaeol Method Theory 23, 399–426 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-015-9248-9 Susat, Julian et al. A 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer already plagued by Yersinia pestis. Cell Reports, Volume 35, Issue 13, 109278. Hall, A. R., Kenward, H. K., and Williams, D. Environmental Evidence from Roman Deposits in Skeldergate. The Archaeology of York. Volume 14, Issue 3. (1980). Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Owl Pellet Teaching Tips. Beisaw, April. (2013). Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones: A Manual. Texas A&M University Press. O'Connor, Terry. (2008). The Archaeology of Animal Bones. Texas A&M University Press. O'Connor, Terry. (2014). Animals as Neighbors: The Past and Present of Commensal Animals. Michigan State University Press. MacArthur, R.H. and E.O. Wilson. (1967). The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton University Press. Kalmring, Sven. (2024). Towns and Commerce in Viking-Age Scandinavia. Cambridge University Press. Vinge, Vernor. (2010). A Fire Upon the Deep. Tor Books. Larian Studios. (2023). Baldur's Gate 3. Chambers, Becky. (2021). The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. Harper Voyager Books.

  25/6/2025  

  1:13:21
• Dr. Henry Erlich - Genetic Reconstruction of the Past

  Dr. Henry Erlich, Researcher Emeritus at Benioff UCSF Children's Hospital, joins the show to discuss his book, Genetic Reconstruction of the Past: DNA Analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution. We chatted about what it was like to pioneer PCR tests along with how PCR testing works, its applications (including medicine, understanding human evolution, and forensics), and some of the ethical dilemmas around DNA testing more generally. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Dr. Erlich's personal website Dr. Erlich's Medium profile Erlich, H. (2023). Genetic Reconstruction of the Past: DNA Analysis in Forensics and Human Evolution. Oxford University Press. Ed. H Erlich, E Stover, TJ White. (2020). Silent Witness: Forensic DNA Evidence in Criminal Investigations and Humanitarian Disasters. Oxford University Press. Wulf, A. (2016). The Invention of Nature: Alexander Von Humboldt's New World. Knopf - Vintage.

  28/5/2025  

  1:11:30
• Dr. Christopher Schmitt - Vervets and woolly monkeys

  Dr. Christopher Schmitt of Boston University joins the show to talk about how he uses life history theory and epigenetics as a lens for his work with vervets and woolly monkeys. We also chatted about the highs of fieldwork, along with understanding how identity can affect an individual's experience of the field. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Dr. Schmitt's personal website Dr. Schmitt's faculty profile at Boston University Schmitt, C., Service, S., Jasinska, A. et al. Obesity and obesogenic growth are both highly heritable and modified by diet in a nonhuman primate model, the African green monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus). Int J Obes 42, 765–774 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.301 Carrey, N. (2011). The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance. Stearns, S.C. (1992). The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford University Press. Turner, T. R., Schmitt, C. A., & Cramer, J. D. (2019). Savanna Monkeys: The Genus Chlorocebus. Cambridge University Press.

  30/4/2025  

  55:55
• Dr. Kate Clancy - Period: The Real Story of Menstruation

  Dr. Kate Clancy of Illinois State University Urbana-Champaign joins the show to talk about her book, Period: The Real Story of Menstruation. We touch on what periods are, why humans might menstruate, factors that affect menstruation, the study of women's health in general, and a few things to keep in when doing research. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Clancy, K. (2023). Period: The Real Story of Menstruation. Princeton University Press. (Audiobook version) Dr. Clancy's website Dr. Clancy's faculty profile at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Dr. Clancy's Bluesky profile Dr. Clancy's Buttondown profile Ellison, P.T. (2003). On Fertile Ground: A Natural History of Human Reproduction. Harvard University Press. Van Der Sijpt, E. (2018). Wasted Wombs: Navigating Reproductive Interruptions in Cameroon. Vanderbilt University Press. Nguyen, M. (2024). The Promise of Beauty. Duke University Press. Gladstone, M. (2012). Three Parts Dead. Tor Books.

  27/3/2025  

  45:00
• Dr. Rebecca Gilmour - Roman bioarchaeology

  Dr. Rebecca Gilmour of Mount Royal University talks about bones, their mechanics, and how we can use both to understand humans' lives in the past -- especially around her main focus of disability and care in ancient Rome. Books, articles, and media mentioned in this episode + helpful sites and articles: Ed. CS Hirst, RJ Gilmour, FA Cardoso, KA Plomp. (2023). Behaviour in our Bones: How Human Behaviour Influences Skeletal Morphology. Elsevier. Gilmour, Rebecca & Plomp, Kimberly. (2022). The Changing Shape of Palaeopathology: The Contribution of Skeletal Shape Analyses to Investigations of Pathological Conditions. (OPEN ACCESS). Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 10.1002/ajpa.24475.. Battles, Heather & Gilmour, Rebecca. (2022). Beyond Mortality: Survivors of Epidemic Infections and the Bioarchaeology of Impairment and Disability. (OPEN ACCESS). 6. 23–40. 10.5744/bi.2021.0003. Gilmour, Rebecca & Brickley, Megan & Jurriaans, Erik & Prowse, Tracy. (2018). Maintaining mobility after fracture: A biomechanical analysis of fracture consequences at the Roman Sites of Ancaster (UK) and Vagnari (Italy). International Journal of Paleopathology. 24. 10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.09.002.. Gilmour, Rebecca & Prowse, Tracy & Jurriaans, Erik & Brickley, Megan. (2017). Well-Trodden Roads: Skeletal Evidence for Sex-Related Mobility at the Roman Site of Vagnari, Italy. Conference presentation: American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Gilmour, Rebecca. (2017). Resilient Romans: Cross-Sectional Evidence for Long-Term Functional Consequences of Extremity Trauma. PhD thesis completed at McMaster University. Cunningham, C., Scheuer, L., Black, S. (2016). Developmental Juvenile Osteology. Academic Press. White, T. & Folken, P. (2005). The Human Bone Manual. Academic Press. Eds. Hirst, C.S., Gilmour, R.J., Cardoso, F.A. (2023). Behaviour in Our Bones: How Human Behaviour Influences Skeletal Morphology. Elsevier Science Publishing. Canci, Alessandro & Marchi, Damiano & Caramella, Davide & Sparacello, Vitale. (2024). A severe case of bilateral humerus varus deformity from the Middle Bronze age necropolis of Olmo di Nogara, Northeast Italy: The contribution of biomechanical analysis to paleopathological study. International journal of paleopathology. 47. 12-20. 10.1016/j.ijpp.2024.07.005. Ed. Laes, C. (2024). A Cultural History of Disability in Antiquity. Bloomsbury Acadamic. Van Pelt, S. (2022). Remarkably Bright Creatures. Ecco Press. Holmes, R. (2024). Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide. Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster. Blum, D. (2011). The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York. Penguin Books.

  26/2/2025  

  53:33

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