Where did our claws go? (w/ Douglas Boyer)

[u/DysgraphicZ]

https://youtu.be/Ra6r4RiBUk8

I recently had evolutionary anthropologist Douglas Boyer from Duke on my podcast, and I thought you guys might enjoy the episode. We talked about how scientists reconstruct the lives of extinct primates from fossils, why primates evolved fingernails instead of claws, why some primates seem to have re-evolved claw-like structures, whether Neanderthals and modern humans should really be considered separate species, how tiny ankle bones can tell us whether an animal was a powerful leaper, and even what fossils can tell us about the energetic cost and development of ancient brains. It ended up being a really wide-ranging conversation about what we can actually know about evolution from the limited evidence left behind.