New popular piece on our hand and foot evolution study: current.fas.harvard.edu/stories/evol...
Evolution of human hands progressed feet-first
To grasp the evolution of the human hand, look to your feet.
current.fas.harvard.edu
@tdcapellini.bsky.social
1/ How did the human skeleton evolve to support bipedalism and tool use? 🦴 A new study from my lab in Genome Biology and Evolution dives into the genomic changes that separate us from chimpanzees during skeletal development. academic.oup.com/gbe/article/.... Here's a quick overview of what we found:
In Vitro Massively Parallel Screening of Human Regulatory Elements Involved in Postcranial Skeletal Development for Differential Activity Compared to Chimpanzee
Abstract. Every element of the human skeleton exhibits some differences in comparison to our closest living relatives, chimpanzees. Many of these skeletal
academic.oup.com
Modular genetic architecture underlies human hand and foot evolution | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Modular genetic architecture underlies human hand and foot evolution | PNAS
The functional divergence of the hand and foot for prehension and locomotion, respectively, has long been recognized as a critical event in human e...
pnas.org
Terrific new work on tendon growth by Heather Dingwall @dingwallaby.bsky.social and @jennagalloway.bsky.social in collaboration with my lab. Congrats Heather and all authors! journals.plos.org/plosgenetics...
Dynamic transcriptional and epigenetic changes define postnatal tendon growth
Author summary Tendons provide essential connections within our musculoskeletal system, transmitting the force from muscle to bone to enable movement. Concomitant with skeletal growth, tendon developm...
journals.plos.org
Great work on the genetics of osteoarthritis by my post-doc Dr. @clarissacoveney.bsky.social and lab: acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/.../art.43231
Pleased to announce our new review on human musculoskeletal evolution lead by my post-doc @gayani.bsky.social. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
New methodological approaches and insights gained toward understanding the evolved human skeleton
Modern humans exhibit marked musculoskeletal changes when compared to those of our African ape relatives, such as chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas. …
sciencedirect.com
Delighted to announce the publication of this amazing work by my post-doc Dr. Clarissa Coveney and a team of wonderful collaborators. This work on GDF5 and its roles in controlling disease risk was published in Arthritis & Rheumatology. acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
lnkd.in
Recent coverage of our Nature Paper on the Evolution of Human Bipedalism: www.sciencenews.org/article/gene...
Two tiny genetic shifts helped early humans walk upright
Scientists have linked bipedalism to changes in how the human pelvis developed millions of years ago.
sciencenews.org
Please share/repost widely: I have a postdoc position available. Please see ad below and reach out to apply. academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15449
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Capellini Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Genetics
The Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Evolutionary and Developmental Genetics Laboratory of Dr. Terence D. Capellini....
academicpositions.harvard.edu
Please share/repost widely: I have a postdoc position available. Please see ad below and reach out to apply. academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15449
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Capellini Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Genetics
The Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Evolutionary and Developmental Genetics Laboratory of Dr. Terence D. Capellini....
academicpositions.harvard.edu
Please share/repost widely: I have a postdoc position available. Please see ad below and reach out to apply. academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/15449
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Capellini Laboratory of Developmental and Evolutionary Genetics
The Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Evolutionary and Developmental Genetics Laboratory of Dr. Terence D. Capellini....
academicpositions.harvard.edu
In the sadness I feel for the passing of Jane Goodall, I take from her a continued energy, passion, and commitment to bolster up, fight for, and inspire those without voices! We must be champions to protect this earth and basic decency!
Question for those at academic research institutions: Have your institutions received requests from the federal government regarding recent changes in Restricted Party and Export Controls Screening Process?
Kirstin Sterner (University of Oregon) and I would like to give a big CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Sam Queeno, who successfully defended her dissertation entitled "A New Perspective on Human Bipedalism: Using Functional Genomics as a Window to Past Physiology". Terrific Job Sam!!!!
Study shows how the human pelvis was reshaped for upright walking | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Study shows how the human pelvis was reshaped for upright walking
Comparisons of pelvic development in human and primate embryos reveals key steps in human evolution
science.org
New research shows the human pelvis didn’t evolve gradually—it flipped its growth pattern 90° and rewired bone formation. These shifts let our ancestors walk upright and birth big-brained babies. #HumanEvolution #Anthropology #Bipedalism
Two Genetic Leaps That Set Us Walking
New research traces the pelvic transformation that let humans rise from the trees
anthropology.net
A genetic flip helped turn us into upright walkers. Here’s my evo-devo story about the ilium. Gift link: nyti.ms/45BOenz
Super excited and thrilled to see this work come out in Nature today. 🥹@tdcapellini.bsky.social Thank you so much for your amazing mentorship throughout the project, and to all my co-authors who helped take this work to the next level.
@tdcapellini.bsky.social · 11mo ago1) I am delighted to present this terrific tour de force research conducted by my post-doc Dr. Gayani Senevirathne @gayani.bsky.social and published today in Nature - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/s...
Uncovering the Genes That Let Our Ancestors Walk Upright
nytimes.com
1) I am delighted to present this terrific tour de force research conducted by my post-doc Dr. Gayani Senevirathne @gayani.bsky.social and published today in Nature - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The evolution of hominin bipedalism in two steps - Nature
The human pelvis exhibits distinct spatiotemporal ossification patterns and an ilium cartilage growth plate that is shifted perpendicularly compared with those of other mammals and non-human primates—...
nature.com
Newsom: "Democracy is under assault before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived. He's taking a wrecking ball to our Founding Father's historic project."
🧬NEW: Our Dr Palesa Madupe & colleagues retrieved some of the oldest human genetic data from #Africa They identify 2million year-old protein remains from Paranthropus robustus to reveal its biological sex & genetic variability Read about this breakthrough in human evolution studies: bit.ly/3HiOgqP
Ancient genetic data reveals biological sex and genetic variability of Paranthropus robustus — HERI - Human Evolution Research Institute
Using a technique called palaeoproteomics, researchers extracted 2-million-year-old protein remains from Paranthropus robustus teeth to reveal biological sex and genetic variability.
bit.ly
Today, I take the reigns as Chair, Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard. Big thankyou to Dan Lieberman outgoing Chair & Joe Henrich, previous Chair. They did tremendous jobs advancing HEB's intellectual/academic vibrancy. I'll work hard for all students, postdocs & faculty in this changing landscape