Darwin apparently described South Africa as dull and uninteresting when he first visited, but we know today, thanks to many a #SAscienceHero, that SA’s evolutionary history is anything but boring. Below is our round-up of Evolution Day, hosted by Wits on 20 June 2015.
Prof Francis Thackeray says Charles Darwin called SA a dull and un-interesting country in 1836! #Evolutionday
— SciBraai (@SciBraai) June 20, 2015
Darwin, age 7, holding the South African cowslip flower #Evolutionday (source: https://t.co/Klkm3scyEC) pic.twitter.com/Io7awEYmJP
— SciBraai (@SciBraai) June 20, 2015
The day actually began right at the beginning, with stories about single cell organisms, our mammalian origins, what Karoo fossil pollen can tell us about mass extinctions, and dinosaurs of course.
#evolutionday : Dr Jonah Choiniere, resident dino-expert, on the SA origins of dinosaurs. pic.twitter.com/bQRbUJfQJ0
— Wits_News (@Wits_News) June 20, 2015
We're moving from dinosaurs to Darwin next at #EvolutionDay at Wits Great Hall. pic.twitter.com/jYCNymDdDC
— Harry the Hominid (@harrythehominid) June 20, 2015
The focus then turned to human evolution, with Prof Marion Bamford weighing in on the low-carb diet debate based on what we know about our ancestors’ diet:
Early humans ate everything, so you can go back to eating starch, not just meat – @WitsUniversity's Marion Bramford #Evolutionday #paleo
— SciBraai (@SciBraai) June 20, 2015
Next up, Prof Lyn Wadley talked about early seashell and ostrich eggshell art, and whether we should read into ancient carvings like the one pictured below. In fact, for more on the first artists, many of whom lived in South Africa, check out this National Geographic feature (there are lots of great pics!)
Blombos engraved ochre – is it art/symbolism? That's the question – Wadley #Evolutionday https://t.co/58hFpbV1Ny pic.twitter.com/vRJCHsGdm6
— SciBraai (@SciBraai) June 20, 2015
During the break, the folks from PAST gave a stunning performance about our origins with a South African flavour.
@PASTEvolve entertaining #evolutionday crowd @WitsUniversity pic.twitter.com/zIXaDnkXFU
— Wits_News (@Wits_News) June 20, 2015
We recorded a short clip for your viewing pleasure:
And here’s something else we thought is pretty darn cool:
lovely website for fossil lovers: http://t.co/BHRPJUHRk9 is a repository of 1000s of 3D fossil captures + geomapping #evolutionday #wits
— Nechama Brodie (@brodiegal) June 20, 2015
In the afternoon, Dr Mirriam Tawane took the podium:
When I grew up, we only heard village gossip about Taung child – Dr Tawane. #evolutionday pic.twitter.com/EZm3W8Pp7S
— Wits_News (@Wits_News) June 20, 2015
If you’d like to see more Tweets from the day, just search for #evolutionday or click here. We also liked Harry the Hominid’s round-up:
Missed the fascinating #EvolutionDay event at @Wits_News on Saturday? Read about it here: http://t.co/i0ZxrDdI62 pic.twitter.com/qCrExaFc7W
— Harry the Hominid (@harrythehominid) June 22, 2015