{"id":187,"date":"2023-06-05T10:50:43","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T17:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/?page_id=187"},"modified":"2023-10-25T13:20:56","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T20:20:56","slug":"climate-change-human-evolution","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--intro-text align-center\"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--intro-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  \n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <p>Dramatic changes in African Climate may have been implicated in faunal evolution in Africa during the last 12 million years. The East African Rift Valley continues to reveal a remarkable archive of human evolution. Marine sediments offshore preserve continuous climate information which can help to explore the potential pressures driving evolutionary changes. Many parts of the evolutionary history and climate history of the region remain to be discovered making this an exciting arena for interdisciplinary research with fundamental implications for who we are and why we are here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n  \n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p style=\"text-align: left;\">For example, here is a publication as a result of our plant wax evidence contributing to understanding the paleoenvironmental context of a recent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ethioembassy.org.uk\/dr-yohannes-among-top-10-people-who-mattered-in-science-in-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">discovery<\/a>\u00a0of a remarkably complete cranium \u201cMRD\u201d (with facial features) of the species\u00a0<em>Australopithecus anamensis<\/em>\u00a0by Yohannes Hailie-Selassie at Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Saylor, B.Z., Gibert, L., Deino, A., Alene, M., Levin, N.E., Peaple, M.D.*,\u00a0<strong>Feakins, S.J.,<\/strong>\u00a0Bourel, B., Barboni, D., Novello, A., Sylvestre, F., Mertzman, S.A., Haile-Selassie, Y. Age and context of new mid-Pliocene hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia,\u00a0<em>Nature<\/em>, doi: 10.1038\/s41586-019-1513-8.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-019-1514-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">article<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Our research seeks to explore climate change during the Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene using compound specific isotopic approaches. This research will yield fundamental insights into environmental transformations during this time interval. Ultimately this research has broader impacts for paleoanthropology, in order to explore the possible climatic pressures on evolution at key branch points in evolution of the hominins and emergence of important \u2018human\u2019 traits such as bipedalism.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Feakins, S.J.,\u00a0<\/strong>Levin, N.E., Liddy, H.M.*, Sieracki, A., Eglinton, T.I., Bonnefille, R., 2013. Northeast African vegetation change over 12 million years,<em>\u00a0Geology<\/em>, 41, 295-298, doi:10.1130\/G33845.1\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/geology.geoscienceworld.org\/cgi\/content\/full\/41\/3\/295?ijkey=qALM8qf4ygHCU&amp;keytype=ref&amp;siteid=gsgeology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">open access article\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/hurricane.ncdc.noaa.gov\/pls\/paleox\/f?p=519:1:0::::P1_STUDY_ID:13677\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>see press page for extensive coverage, as this study found grasslands long before bipedalism, thus dismissing the savanna hypothesis.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>also important to note that this is the earliest emergence of C4 grasslands globally soon after 10 Ma.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Feakins, S.J.<\/strong>, 2013. Pollen-corrected leaf wax D\/H reconstructions of northeast African hydrological changes during the late Miocene,\u00a0<em>Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology,\u00a0<\/em>374, 62-71.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.palaeo.2013.01.004\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">article<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Feakins, S.J.<\/strong>, Eglinton, T.I. and deMenocal, P.B., 2007. A comparison of biomarker records of northeast African vegetation from lacustrine and marine sediments ca. 3.40 Ma,\u00a0<em>Organic Geochemistry<\/em>, doi: 10.1016\/j.orggeochem.2007.06.008.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0146638007001507\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">article<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Feakins, S.J.<\/strong>, Brown, F.H., and deMenocal, P.B., 2007.Plio-Pleistocene Microtephra in DSDP Site 231, Gulf of Aden,\u00a0<em>Journal of African Earth Sciences<\/em>, doi: 10.1016\/j.jafrearsci.2007.05.004.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1464343X07001045\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">article\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/hurricane.ncdc.noaa.gov\/pls\/paleox\/f?p=519:1:302583564912707::::P1_STUDY_ID:13828\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>data<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Feakins, S.J.<\/strong>, deMenocal, P,B. Eglinton, T.I, 2005. Biomarker Records of Late Neogene changes in northeast African Vegetation,\u00a0<em>Geology<\/em>, 33, 977-980.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/geology.gsapubs.org\/content\/33\/12\/977.short\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">article<\/a><strong>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/hurricane.ncdc.noaa.gov\/pls\/paleox\/f?p=519:1:0::::P1_STUDY_ID:13677\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>see\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov\/pub\/data\/paleo\/contributions_by_author\/feakins2013\/feakins2013.xls\">2013 update<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The question of environmental change driving evolution is highlighted as one of the themes motivating the next decade of ocean drilling. The record of vegetation change from plant leaf waxes (Feakins et al., 2005, Geology) is featured on p34 of the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.iodp.org\/Science-Plan-for-2013-2023\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">IODP Science Plan for 2013-2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I participated in a National Research Council Workshop on Climate Change and Human Evolution, at the National Academies in Irvine, CA. A publication arising from that meeting and the work of the committee is available\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nap.edu\/catalog.php?record_id=12825\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n          \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--link-list \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--link-list\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      <div class=\"header-container\">\n\n                  \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Research Activities\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n                <\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"links-container\">\n\n                        \n        \n          \n            <div class=\"column\">\n                <ul>\n                                                                  <li>\n                                \n<div class=\"f--field f--link\">\n\n    \n    \n  \n<a \n  class=\"link\"\n  href= https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/molecular-and-isotopic-proxies\/\n    aria-label=\"Read more about Molecular and Isotopic Proxies\"  \n>\n    Molecular and Isotopic Proxies \n  <svg version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" viewBox=\"0 0 35 35\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 35 35\" width=\"25\" height=\"25\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><polygon fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" fill=\"#000\" points=\"19.3,27.5 29.3,17.5,19.3,7.5 16.3,10.4 21.4,15.4 6.7,15.4 6.7,19.6 21.4,19.6 16.3,24.6 \"\/><\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n                                                    <\/li>\n                                                                                        <li>\n                                \n<div class=\"f--field f--link\">\n\n    \n    \n  \n<a \n  class=\"link\"\n  href= https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/\n    aria-label=\"Read more about Climate Change &#038; Human Evolution\"  \n>\n    Climate Change &#038; Human Evolution \n  <svg version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" viewBox=\"0 0 35 35\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 35 35\" width=\"25\" height=\"25\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><polygon fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" fill=\"#000\" points=\"19.3,27.5 29.3,17.5,19.3,7.5 16.3,10.4 21.4,15.4 6.7,15.4 6.7,19.6 21.4,19.6 16.3,24.6 \"\/><\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n                                                    <\/li>\n                                                                                        <li>\n                                \n<div class=\"f--field f--link\">\n\n    \n    \n  \n<a \n  class=\"link\"\n  href= https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-in-the-western-us-california\/\n    aria-label=\"Read more about Climate Change in the Western US &#038; California\"  \n>\n    Climate Change in the Western US &#038; California \n  <svg version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" viewBox=\"0 0 35 35\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 35 35\" width=\"25\" height=\"25\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><polygon fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" fill=\"#000\" points=\"19.3,27.5 29.3,17.5,19.3,7.5 16.3,10.4 21.4,15.4 6.7,15.4 6.7,19.6 21.4,19.6 16.3,24.6 \"\/><\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n                                                    <\/li>\n                                                          <\/ul>\n            <\/div>\n\n          \n          \n        \n          \n            <div class=\"column\">\n                <ul>\n                                                                  <li>\n                                \n<div class=\"f--field f--link\">\n\n    \n    \n  \n<a \n  class=\"link\"\n  href= https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/warm-periods-in-deep-time\/\n    aria-label=\"Read more about Warm Periods in Deep Time\"  \n>\n    Warm Periods in Deep Time \n  <svg version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" viewBox=\"0 0 35 35\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 35 35\" width=\"25\" height=\"25\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><polygon fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" fill=\"#000\" points=\"19.3,27.5 29.3,17.5,19.3,7.5 16.3,10.4 21.4,15.4 6.7,15.4 6.7,19.6 21.4,19.6 16.3,24.6 \"\/><\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n                                                    <\/li>\n                                                                                        <li>\n                                \n<div class=\"f--field f--link\">\n\n    \n    \n  \n<a \n  class=\"link\"\n  href= https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/beyond-ice\/\n    aria-label=\"Read more about Beyond Ice\"  \n>\n    Beyond Ice \n  <svg version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" x=\"0px\" y=\"0px\" viewBox=\"0 0 35 35\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 35 35\" width=\"25\" height=\"25\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><polygon fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" fill=\"#000\" points=\"19.3,27.5 29.3,17.5,19.3,7.5 16.3,10.4 21.4,15.4 6.7,15.4 6.7,19.6 21.4,19.6 16.3,24.6 \"\/><\/svg>\n<\/a>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n                                                    <\/li>\n                                                          <\/ul>\n            <\/div>\n\n          \n          \n        \n\n\n\n    <\/div>\n  \n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":575,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-187","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution - Sarah J. Feakins<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution - Sarah J. Feakins\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sarah J. Feakins\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-25T20:20:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution - Sarah J. Feakins\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-05T17:50:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-25T20:20:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/\",\"name\":\"Sarah J. Feakins\",\"description\":\"USC Dornsife Sarah J. Feakins\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution - Sarah J. Feakins","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution - Sarah J. Feakins","og_url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/","og_site_name":"Sarah J. Feakins","article_modified_time":"2023-10-25T20:20:56+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/","name":"Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution - Sarah J. Feakins","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-06-05T17:50:43+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-25T20:20:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/climate-change-human-evolution\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Climate Change &amp; Human Evolution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/","name":"Sarah J. Feakins","description":"USC Dornsife Sarah J. Feakins","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/575"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406,"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/187\/revisions\/406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/feakins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}