It Takes a Village: A Paleoanthropologist’s Journey Leads to Community

Path to the main 2022 dig site. A new site was also discovered and excavated in the distant mountains during the 2022 field season. Photo: Johannes Setzer
February 10, 2023

For nearly two decades, assistant professor of anthropology at Yale, curator at the Yale Peabody Museum, and YIBS affiliate, Jessica Thompson has investigated the history of early humanity in present-day Malawi — work that owes its success to the support and cooperation of a growing local network of specialists. For more information, click here for an article published by the Yale Peabody Museum.

News & Updates

Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture: The World Without Evolution? with Andrew Hendry

April 23, 2025
Dear YIBS community, Please join us in attending the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture: The World Without Evolution? with Andrew Hendry Date: Wednesday, April 23rd from...
Mixodectes pungens, small mammals that inhabited western North America 62 million years ago, weighed about 3 pounds, dwelled in trees, and largely dined on leaves. Illustration by Andrey Atuchin

A 62-million-year-old skeleton sheds light on an enigmatic mammal

March 11, 2025
For more than 140 years, Mixodectes pungens, a species of small mammal that inhabited western North America in the early Paleocene, was a mystery. What little was known about...
Snail darter

Fish at center of key conservation fight not a distinct species after all

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In the late-1970s, a small freshwater fish known as the snail darter made history when its newly acquired status as an endangered species helped to temporarily block...