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The Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University invites applications for two three-year post-doctoral positions at the Assistant Research Professor level to begin in July of 2018. Each post-doc will contribute to the department’s teaching mission by teaching two courses each semester, and each is also expected to be active in research. Teaching and research will be supported in part through mentoring by senior faculty members.  Consideration will be given to applicants in all areas of Evolutionary… read more about Evolutionary Anthropology Post-Doctoral Teaching and Research Position »

The 2016 Faculty Scholars: Indrani Saha, Meghana Rao and Yilun Zhou. Many Duke undergraduates have found excitement in an original research project. Junior Meghana Rao has taken her research one step further and connected it in a socially meaningful way to problems right here in Durham. Rao is conducting research on the gut microbiome of long-tailed macaques, attempting to see how changes in diet and social status affect the trillion of microbes inside the primates. Evolutionary Anthropology Assistant Professor… read more about Three Juniors Honored With Faculty Scholars Award »

Humans aren’t alone in their ability to mix perfumes and colognes. Lemurs, too, get more out of their smelly secretions by combining fragrances to create richer, longer-lasting scents, finds a study led by Duke University.The results appear online April 20 in Royal Society Open Science.The “perfume” of the ring-tailed lemur could never be confused with Chanel. Male ring-tailed lemurs, our distant primate cousins, produce their distinctive musky odor with help from a pair of glands on their wrists that give off droplets of… read more about Lemurs Mix Smelly Secretions to Make Richer, Longer-Lasting Scents »

The bearcat. The binturong. Whatever you call this shy, shaggy-haired creature from Southeast Asia, many people who have met one notice the same thing:  it smells like a movie theater snack bar.Most describe it as hot buttered popcorn. And for good reason -- the chemical compound that gives freshly made popcorn its mouthwatering smell is also the major aroma emitted by binturong pee, finds a new study.Most people have never heard of a binturong, let alone caught a whiff of one up close. But for many zookeepers, the… read more about Why Bearcats Smell Like Buttered Popcorn »

Duke scientist-explorer Elwyn Simons, who studied living and extinct primates for more than 50 years, died in his sleep on Sunday, March 6, in Peoria, Arizona. He was 85.Widely regarded as the founder of modern primate paleontology, Simons was an expert on the history of primates leading up to humans. Simons’ fossil-hunting expeditions and primate conservation work took him all over the globe, from the badlands of Wyoming to the Egyptian desert and the rainforests of Madagascar. From 1961 to 2012, he led more than 90 field… read more about Fossil Expert and Primate Conservationist Elwyn Simons Dies at 85 »

For the 12th straight year, Duke University is one of the top producers of U.S. Fulbright Scholars, with 12 students awarded the latest scholarships, the U.S. Department of State announced Monday.The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program. The success of the top-producing institutions is highlighted in The Chronicle of Higher Education. "We are delighted to see Duke named as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars for the 12th year in a row, which is really a… read more about 12 Duke Graduates Named Fulbright Scholars »

Two Duke faculty are among 126 chosen to be this year’s Sloan Research Fellows from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.Jenny Tung is an assistant professor of evolutionary anthropology and biology who is exploring the interaction between genes and the environment. Her work pairs a 40-year study of social interactions and life course among the Amboseli baboons of Kenya with the latest genetic analyses. She is also affiliated with the Science & Society initiative and the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences.Qiu Wang is an… read more about Two Junior Faculty Named 2016 Sloan Fellows »

3-D scan of the fossilized skull of Homo naledi, an ancient human whose remains were discovered in a South African cave. The creature is one of more than 500 extinct species whose fossil scans are available for anyone to download at http://MorphoSource.org. Reconstruction by Peter Schmid and Ashley Kruger, University of the Witwatersrand.Duke assistant professor Doug Boyer’s office is more than 8,000 miles away from the vault at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the fossil remains… read more about Free Site Lets You Download and 3-D Print Fossils »

Professor Ashley Gosselin-Ildari, Visiting Assistant Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, was recognized by Dean Lee Baker for earning student course evaluations that fell among the top 5% of all undergraduate instructors of small and medium classes at Duke University. Dean Baker praised Dr. Gosselin-Ildari's commitment to teaching, dedication to students, and creative approaches.  Well done, Dr. Gosselin-Ildari! read more about Professor Gosselin-Ildari recognized for teaching excellence »