Daniel Lieberman

Last updated
Daniel Eric Lieberman
Dan Lieberman at Ancestral Health Symposium.jpg
Lieberman speaks at Ancestral Health Symposium 2012
Born (1964-06-03) June 3, 1964 (age 59)
Alma mater Harvard University (BA, MA, PhD)
Known for Human evolution
Scientific career
Fields Biologist, anthropologist
Institutions Rutgers University
George Washington University
Harvard University

Daniel E. Lieberman (born June 3, 1964) is a paleoanthropologist at Harvard University, where he is the Edwin M Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. He is best known for his research on the evolution of the human head [1] and the human body. [2]

Contents

Biography

Lieberman was educated at Harvard University, where he got his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. He also received a M. Phil from Cambridge University. [3] He was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows and taught at Rutgers University and the George Washington University before becoming a professor at Harvard University in 2001.

Director of the Skeletal Biology Laboratory at Harvard, Lieberman is on the curatorial board of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, a member of the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, and the Scientific Executive Committee of the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation.

Honors and awards

Research

Lieberman studies how and why the human body is the way it is, with a primary focus on the evolution of physical activity [2] His research combines paleontology, anatomy, physiology and experimental biomechanics in the lab and in the field. In his career, he initially focused to a large extent on why and how humans have such unusual heads. [1] Since 2004 most of his research has focused on the evolution of human locomotion including whether the first hominins were bipeds, [4] why bipedalism evolved, [5] the biomechanical challenges of pregnancy in females, [6] how locomotion affects skeletal function [7] and, most especially, the evolution of running. His 2004 paper with Dennis Bramble, “Endurance Running and the Evolution of Homo” [8] proposed that humans evolved to run long distances to scavenge and hunt. His research on running in general, especially barefoot running [9] [10] was popularized in Chris McDougall's best-selling book Born to Run. [11] Lieberman is an avid marathon runner, often barefoot, which has earned him the nickname 'The Barefoot Professor'. [12]

Bibliography

Books

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bipedalism</span> Terrestrial locomotion using two limbs

Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where a tetrapod moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped, meaning 'two feet'. Types of bipedal movement include walking or running and hopping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human evolution</span> Evolutionary process leading to anatomically modern humans

Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes all the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of traits such as human bipedalism, dexterity, and complex language, as well as interbreeding with other hominins, indicating that human evolution was not linear but weblike. The study of the origins of humans, also called anthropogeny, anthropogenesis, or anthropogony, involves several scientific disciplines, including physical and evolutionary anthropology, paleontology, and genetics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homininae</span> Subfamily of mammals

Homininae, also called "African hominids" or "African apes", is a subfamily of Hominidae. It includes two tribes, with their extant as well as extinct species: 1) the tribe Hominini ―and 2) the tribe Gorillini (gorillas). Alternatively, the genus Pan is sometimes considered to belong to its own third tribe, Panini. Homininae comprises all hominids that arose after orangutans split from the line of great apes. The Homininae cladogram has three main branches, which lead to gorillas, and to humans and chimpanzees via the tribe Hominini and subtribes Hominina and Panina. There are two living species of Panina and two living species of gorillas, but only one extant human species. Traces of extinct Homo species, including Homo floresiensis have been found with dates as recent as 40,000 years ago. Organisms in this subfamily are described as hominine or hominines.

<i>Homo habilis</i> Archaic human species from 2.8 to 1.65 mya

Homo habilis is an extinct species of archaic human from the Early Pleistocene of East and South Africa about 2.8 million years ago to 1.65 million years ago (mya). Upon species description in 1964, H. habilis was highly contested, with many researchers recommending it be synonymised with Australopithecus africanus, the only other early hominin known at the time, but H. habilis received more recognition as time went on and more relevant discoveries were made. By the 1980s, H. habilis was proposed to have been a human ancestor, directly evolving into Homo erectus which directly led to modern humans. This viewpoint is now debated. Several specimens with insecure species identification were assigned to H. habilis, leading to arguments for splitting, namely into "H. rudolfensis" and "H. gautengensis" of which only the former has received wide support.

<i>Orrorin</i> Postulated early hominin discovered in Kenya

Orrorin is an extinct genus of primate within Homininae from the Miocene Lukeino Formation and Pliocene Mabaget Formation, both of Kenya.

<i>Australopithecus</i> Genus of hominin ancestral to modern humans

Australopithecus is a genus of early hominins that existed in Africa during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. The genera Homo, Paranthropus, and Kenyanthropus evolved from some Australopithecus species. Australopithecus is a member of the subtribe Australopithecina, which sometimes also includes Ardipithecus, though the term "australopithecine" is sometimes used to refer only to members of Australopithecus. Species include A. garhi, A. africanus, A. sediba, A. afarensis, A. anamensis, A. bahrelghazali and A. deyiremeda. Debate exists as to whether some Australopithecus species should be reclassified into new genera, or if Paranthropus and Kenyanthropus are synonymous with Australopithecus, in part because of the taxonomic inconsistency.

<i>Sahelanthropus</i> Extinct hominid from Miocene Africa

Sahelanthropus tchadensis is an extinct species of the hominid dated to about 7 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch. The species, and its genus Sahelanthropus, was announced in 2002, based mainly on a partial cranium, nicknamed Toumaï, discovered in northern Chad.

<i>Australopithecus afarensis</i> Extinct hominid from the Pliocene of East Africa

Australopithecus afarensis is an extinct species of australopithecine which lived from about 3.9–2.9 million years ago (mya) in the Pliocene of East Africa. The first fossils were discovered in the 1930s, but major fossil finds would not take place until the 1970s. From 1972 to 1977, the International Afar Research Expedition—led by anthropologists Maurice Taieb, Donald Johanson and Yves Coppens—unearthed several hundreds of hominin specimens in Hadar, Ethiopia, the most significant being the exceedingly well-preserved skeleton AL 288-1 ("Lucy") and the site AL 333. Beginning in 1974, Mary Leakey led an expedition into Laetoli, Tanzania, and notably recovered fossil trackways. In 1978, the species was first described, but this was followed by arguments for splitting the wealth of specimens into different species given the wide range of variation which had been attributed to sexual dimorphism. A. afarensis probably descended from A. anamensis and is hypothesised to have given rise to Homo, though the latter is debated.

<i>Australopithecus anamensis</i> Extinct hominin from Pliocene east Africa

Australopithecus anamensis is a hominin species that lived approximately between 4.2 and 3.8 million years ago and is the oldest known Australopithecus species, living during the Plio-Pleistocene era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knuckle-walking</span> Form of quadrupedal walking using the knuckles

Knuckle-walking is a form of quadrupedal walking in which the forelimbs hold the fingers in a partially flexed posture that allows body weight to press down on the ground through the knuckles. Gorillas and chimpanzees use this style of locomotion, as do anteaters and platypuses.

Orthograde is a term derived from Greek ὀρθός, orthos + Latin gradi that describes a manner of walking which is upright, with the independent motion of limbs. Both New and Old World monkeys are primarily arboreal, and they have a tendency to walk with their limbs swinging in parallel to one another. This differs from the manner of walking demonstrated by the apes.

Henry Malcolm McHenry is a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis, specializing in studies of human evolution, the origins of bipedality, and paleoanthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arches of the foot</span> Load-bearing curves in the tarsal and metatarsal bones of the feet

The arches of the foot, formed by the tarsal and metatarsal bones, strengthened by ligaments and tendons, allow the foot to support the weight of the body in the erect posture with the least weight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persistence hunting</span> Hunting until the prey animal can no longer flee

Persistence hunting, also known as endurance hunting or long-distance hunting is a variant of pursuit predation in which a predator will bring down a prey item via indirect means, such as exhaustion, heat illness or injury. Hunters of this type will typically display adaptions for distance running, such as longer legs, temperature regulation, and specialized cardiovascular systems.

A facultative biped is an animal that is capable of walking or running on two legs (bipedal), as a response to exceptional circumstances (facultative), while normally walking or running on four limbs or more. In contrast, obligate bipedalism is where walking or running on two legs is the primary method of locomotion. Facultative bipedalism has been observed in several families of lizards and multiple species of primates, including sifakas, capuchin monkeys, baboons, gibbons, gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees. Different facultatively bipedal species employ different types of bipedalism corresponding to the varying reasons they have for engaging in facultative bipedalism. In primates, bipedalism is often associated with food gathering and transport. In lizards, it has been debated whether bipedal locomotion is an advantage for speed and energy conservation or whether it is governed solely by the mechanics of the acceleration and lizard's center of mass. Facultative bipedalism is often divided into high-speed (lizards) and low-speed (gibbons), but some species cannot be easily categorized into one of these two. Facultative bipedalism has also been observed in cockroaches and some desert rodents.

David Pilbeam is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and curator of paleoanthropology at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University.

<i>Ardipithecus ramidus</i> Extinct hominin from Early Pliocene Ethiopia

Ardipithecus ramidus is a species of australopithecine from the Afar region of Early Pliocene Ethiopia 4.4 million years ago (mya). A. ramidus, unlike modern hominids, has adaptations for both walking on two legs (bipedality) and life in the trees (arboreality). However, it would not have been as efficient at bipedality as humans, nor at arboreality as non-human great apes. Its discovery, along with Miocene apes, has reworked academic understanding of the chimpanzee–human last common ancestor from appearing much like modern-day chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas to being a creature without a modern anatomical cognate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human skeletal changes due to bipedalism</span> Evoltionary changes to the human skeleton as a consequence of bipedalism

The evolution of human bipedalism, which began in primates approximately four million years ago, or as early as seven million years ago with Sahelanthropus, or approximately twelve million years ago with Danuvius guggenmosi, has led to morphological alterations to the human skeleton including changes to the arrangement, shape, and size of the bones of the foot, hip, knee, leg, and the vertebral column. These changes allowed for the upright gait to be overall more energy efficient in comparison to quadrupeds. The evolutionary factors that produced these changes have been the subject of several theories that correspond with environmental changes on a global scale.

The endurance running hypothesis is a series of conjectures which presume humans evolved anatomical and physiological adaptations to run long distances and, more strongly, that "running is the only known behavior that would account for the different body plans in Homo as opposed to apes or australopithecines".

Ardi (ARA-VP-6/500) is the designation of the fossilized skeletal remains of an Ardipithecus ramidus, thought to be an early human-like female anthropoid 4.4 million years old. It is the most complete early hominid specimen, with most of the skull, teeth, pelvis, hands and feet, more complete than the previously known Australopithecus afarensis specimen called "Lucy." In all, 125 different pieces of fossilized bone were found.

References

  1. 1 2 Lieberman, Daniel E (2011). The Evolution of the Human Head. Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University Press. ISBN   9780674046368.
  2. 1 2 Lieberman, Daniel E (2013). The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, Disease . New York, NY, USA: Pantheon. ISBN   978-0-307-37941-2.
  3. "CURRICULUM VITAE : Daniel Eric Lieberman" (DOC). Scholar.harvard.edu. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. Zollikofer, C. P. E.; Ponce De León, M. S.; Lieberman, D. E.; Guy, F.; Pilbeam, D.; Likius, A.; MacKaye, H. T.; Vignaud, P.; Brunet, M. (2005). "Virtual cranial reconstruction of Sahelanthropus tchadensis" (PDF). Nature. 434 (7034): 755–759. Bibcode:2005Natur.434..755Z. doi:10.1038/nature03397. PMID   15815628. S2CID   4362525.
  5. Lieberman, Daniel E (2010). Jonathann B Losos (ed.). Four legs good, two legs fortuitous: Brains, brawn and the evolution of human bipedalism in In the Light of Evolution. Greenwood Village, CO, USA: Roberts and Company. pp. 55–71.
  6. Whitcome, K. K.; Shapiro, L. J.; Lieberman, D. E. (2007). "Fetal load and the evolution of lumbar lordosis in bipedal hominins" (PDF). Nature. 450 (7172): 1075–1078. Bibcode:2007Natur.450.1075W. doi:10.1038/nature06342. PMID   18075592. S2CID   10158.
  7. Lieberman, D. E.; Pearson, O. M.; Polk, J. D.; Demes, B.; Crompton, A. W. (2003). "Optimization of bone growth and remodeling in response to loading in tapered mammalian limbs". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 206 (Pt 18): 3125–3138. doi: 10.1242/jeb.00514 . PMID   12909694.
  8. Bramble, D. M.; Lieberman, D. E. (2004). "Endurance running and the evolution of Homo" (PDF). Nature. 432 (7015): 345–352. Bibcode:2004Natur.432..345B. doi:10.1038/nature03052. PMID   15549097. S2CID   2470602.
  9. Lieberman, D. E.; Venkadesan, M.; Werbel, W. A.; Daoud, A. I.; d'Andrea, S.; Davis, I. S.; Mang'Eni, R. O.; Pitsiladis, Y. (2010). "Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners". Nature. 463 (7280): 531–535. Bibcode:2010Natur.463..531L. doi:10.1038/nature08723. PMID   20111000. S2CID   216420.
  10. Lieberman, D. E. (2012). "What We Can Learn About Running from Barefoot Running". Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews. 40 (2): 63–72. doi: 10.1097/JES.0b013e31824ab210 . PMID   22257937. S2CID   16480403.
  11. McDougall, Christopher (2009). Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen . Knopf. pp.  304. ISBN   978-0-307-26630-9.
  12. "Barefoot Professor". Nature. Retrieved 25 September 2013.