Debra R Bolter

This workshop provides the opportunity to approach paleoanthropology at the emergence of a sub-discipline of study: sub-adults in the fossil record. The workshop will synthesize across three fields’human growth studies, paleoanthropology and primatology’their common language, applications and methods. Researchers from these three fields and across research designs will come together to integrate and define a new paradigm for studying immature fossil specimens in human evolution. Human and primate studies will include perspectives from both living subjects and their dento-skeletal remains. Additionally both wild and captive primate perspectives will be included as these variations in selective pressures differently shape growth, development and life histories. The goal will be carrying forward this new line of study to define and stimulate future research of human ancestors. Synthesizing an approach with shared theory and application to investigate the fossil record will further the understanding of human evolution and selective pressures shaping maturity patterns across a broad range of species.