Caley Orr
@caleyorr.bsky.social
Associate Professor | CU School of Medicine & CU Denver Anthropology | Paleoanthropology, Primate Morphology, Teaching Anatomy, Noisy Rock & Roll, Felis catus | Research: ucdenver.academia.edu/CaleyOrr
Reposted by Caley Orr
One of the two human evolution news roundups I wrote to close out the year! 🧪🏺
10 things we learned about our human ancestors in 2025
Findings about our human ancestors continue to surprise us, especially those from 2025.
www.livescience.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:07 PM
One of the two human evolution news roundups I wrote to close out the year! 🧪🏺
Reposted by Caley Orr
Fully-Funded PhD in Human Origins – University of Tübingen, Germany.
PhD role in archaeology & paleoecology.
Eligibility: Master’s degree.
Deadline: 31 January 2026.
Apply: higherjobz.com/fully-funded...
#AcademicJobs #ArchaeologyJobs #Paleoanthropology #GermanyJobs @unituebingen.bsky.social
PhD role in archaeology & paleoecology.
Eligibility: Master’s degree.
Deadline: 31 January 2026.
Apply: higherjobz.com/fully-funded...
#AcademicJobs #ArchaeologyJobs #Paleoanthropology #GermanyJobs @unituebingen.bsky.social
Fully-Funded PhD in Human Origins at Tübingen, Germany | HigherJobz
Apply for a fully funded PhD in Human Origins at University of Tübingen, Germany. Eligibility is master’s degree. Deadline: 31 Jan 2026.
higherjobz.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Fully-Funded PhD in Human Origins – University of Tübingen, Germany.
PhD role in archaeology & paleoecology.
Eligibility: Master’s degree.
Deadline: 31 January 2026.
Apply: higherjobz.com/fully-funded...
#AcademicJobs #ArchaeologyJobs #Paleoanthropology #GermanyJobs @unituebingen.bsky.social
PhD role in archaeology & paleoecology.
Eligibility: Master’s degree.
Deadline: 31 January 2026.
Apply: higherjobz.com/fully-funded...
#AcademicJobs #ArchaeologyJobs #Paleoanthropology #GermanyJobs @unituebingen.bsky.social
Reposted by Caley Orr
A legend🫡🥃
Gave the best 1 minute bass guitar lesson ever 🎯👌✊
Asked about his style compared to others;
“The basic difference is most bass players sound like this. Whereas I sound quite different!”
(Cranks up the amp to maximum, plays and faces melt 😂)!
#Lemmy
youtu.be/FT4nWq3sI7s?...
Gave the best 1 minute bass guitar lesson ever 🎯👌✊
Asked about his style compared to others;
“The basic difference is most bass players sound like this. Whereas I sound quite different!”
(Cranks up the amp to maximum, plays and faces melt 😂)!
#Lemmy
youtu.be/FT4nWq3sI7s?...
December 24, 2025 at 1:49 PM
A legend🫡🥃
Gave the best 1 minute bass guitar lesson ever 🎯👌✊
Asked about his style compared to others;
“The basic difference is most bass players sound like this. Whereas I sound quite different!”
(Cranks up the amp to maximum, plays and faces melt 😂)!
#Lemmy
youtu.be/FT4nWq3sI7s?...
Gave the best 1 minute bass guitar lesson ever 🎯👌✊
Asked about his style compared to others;
“The basic difference is most bass players sound like this. Whereas I sound quite different!”
(Cranks up the amp to maximum, plays and faces melt 😂)!
#Lemmy
youtu.be/FT4nWq3sI7s?...
Reposted by Caley Orr
Las diferencias en dimensiones coronales de los molares de tres cráneos de Dmanisi llevan a Nery et al a sugerir dos taxones: Homo georgicus para el cráneo 5, y Homo caucasi para los cráneos 2 y 3...
Testing the taxonomy of Dmanisi hominin fossils through dental crown area doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Testing the taxonomy of Dmanisi hominin fossils through dental crown area doi.org/10.1371/jour...
December 23, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Las diferencias en dimensiones coronales de los molares de tres cráneos de Dmanisi llevan a Nery et al a sugerir dos taxones: Homo georgicus para el cráneo 5, y Homo caucasi para los cráneos 2 y 3...
Testing the taxonomy of Dmanisi hominin fossils through dental crown area doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Testing the taxonomy of Dmanisi hominin fossils through dental crown area doi.org/10.1371/jour...
Reposted by Caley Orr
Curator of Education job (tenure-track Assistant Professor) at the Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado Boulder! Salary $90-$100K, 9 month full time position. Apply by Jan 21. jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...
Assistant Professor - Curator of Education (Tenure-Track)
jobs.colorado.edu
December 22, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Curator of Education job (tenure-track Assistant Professor) at the Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado Boulder! Salary $90-$100K, 9 month full time position. Apply by Jan 21. jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...
Reposted by Caley Orr
Happy #WinterSolstice ❄️
In Chaco Canyon in the US Southwest, ancient monumental roads align with the winter solstice sunrise over Mount Taylor. Features of both land and sky were (and still are) ritually important to the region's Indigenous people.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
In Chaco Canyon in the US Southwest, ancient monumental roads align with the winter solstice sunrise over Mount Taylor. Features of both land and sky were (and still are) ritually important to the region's Indigenous people.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
December 21, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Happy #WinterSolstice ❄️
In Chaco Canyon in the US Southwest, ancient monumental roads align with the winter solstice sunrise over Mount Taylor. Features of both land and sky were (and still are) ritually important to the region's Indigenous people.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
In Chaco Canyon in the US Southwest, ancient monumental roads align with the winter solstice sunrise over Mount Taylor. Features of both land and sky were (and still are) ritually important to the region's Indigenous people.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Very happy to see our work on the Paranthropus boisei hand highlighted here. It was an incredible fossil to study amidst a great year of Paranthropus discoveries.
My colleague Ryan McRae and I wrote our annual round up of top discoveries in human evolution from this year for the @plos.org Sci Comm blog - enjoy! scicomm.plos.org/2025/12/19/t...
Top Stories in Human Evolution of 2025 - PLOS SciComm
By Ryan McRae and Briana Pobiner 2025 has been quite the wild year! With more exciting stories in human evolution than we…
scicomm.plos.org
December 20, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Very happy to see our work on the Paranthropus boisei hand highlighted here. It was an incredible fossil to study amidst a great year of Paranthropus discoveries.
Reposted by Caley Orr
While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Evaluating the effects of archaic protein-altering variants in living human adults
Promise and pitfalls of using large biobanks to study impacts of archaic protein-coding variants in living humans.
www.science.org
December 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Professional anatomist here. I label this diagram "Job Security."
Given all the recent buzz about how great ChatGPT has gotten, including its prowess with images, I figured I'd check in on its anatomical skills. Nope.
December 19, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Professional anatomist here. I label this diagram "Job Security."
Reposted by Caley Orr
Reposted by Caley Orr
Will an anthropologist be able to identify your sex and gender from your bones 100 years from now? I sure hope so!
Read my essay on the limited and limiting methods we currently have for sex estimation to learn where the science has room to improve.
www.prosocial.world/posts/an-ant...
Read my essay on the limited and limiting methods we currently have for sex estimation to learn where the science has room to improve.
www.prosocial.world/posts/an-ant...
An Anthropologist’s Perspective on Sex and Gender in the Skeleton
Anthropological methods show that skeletal sex is an estimate, not a certainty, revealing the limits of binary claims about human identity.
www.prosocial.world
December 18, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Will an anthropologist be able to identify your sex and gender from your bones 100 years from now? I sure hope so!
Read my essay on the limited and limiting methods we currently have for sex estimation to learn where the science has room to improve.
www.prosocial.world/posts/an-ant...
Read my essay on the limited and limiting methods we currently have for sex estimation to learn where the science has room to improve.
www.prosocial.world/posts/an-ant...
I *do* need more chimpanzee or colobus hand bones! MORE DATA.
We are excited to announce a new collection - Powell-Cotton Museum! Did you ever need more Chimpanzee or Colobus hand bones for your project, or perhaps some Gorilla tibiae and femora (and more)? Visit the collection and explore!
human-fossil-record.org/index.php?/c...
human-fossil-record.org/index.php?/c...
December 18, 2025 at 2:45 AM
I *do* need more chimpanzee or colobus hand bones! MORE DATA.
Great blog post from Karen Baab and colleagues explaining the new reconstruction of the face in the 1.6-1.5 million year old DAN5 specimen of Homo erectus from Gona, Ethiopia. It shows an intriguing blend of traits characteristic of early Homo & more derived populations of Homo erectus.
A new face for the first human ancestor to venture out of Africa
Small fragments of an extinct human ancestor were reassembled to reveal a surprisingly primitive face to go with a small-brained Homo erectus cranial vault. When joined together, the new reconstructio...
communities.springernature.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Great blog post from Karen Baab and colleagues explaining the new reconstruction of the face in the 1.6-1.5 million year old DAN5 specimen of Homo erectus from Gona, Ethiopia. It shows an intriguing blend of traits characteristic of early Homo & more derived populations of Homo erectus.
Reposted by Caley Orr
Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are the smallest of the gorilla subspecies and the most widespread. They live in small stable family groups led by a silverback male. Threatened by poaching, disease, climate change, and habitat degradation and destruction. Critically Endangered.
December 11, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) are the smallest of the gorilla subspecies and the most widespread. They live in small stable family groups led by a silverback male. Threatened by poaching, disease, climate change, and habitat degradation and destruction. Critically Endangered.
When I "meow" at my cats, they only reply if I do it in their specific register.
"Living with humans...likely favored cats that could flexibly adjust their meows. Our results support the idea that meows have evolved into a highly adaptable tool for negotiating life in a human-dominated world."
"Living with humans...likely favored cats that could flexibly adjust their meows. Our results support the idea that meows have evolved into a highly adaptable tool for negotiating life in a human-dominated world."
Cats' purrs reveal who's who better than their meows 😺 phys.org/news/2025-12...
Cats' purrs reveal who's who better than their meows
A new study by researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the University of Naples Federico II shows a domestic cat's purr reveals far more about its individual identity than its meow. Whil...
phys.org
December 11, 2025 at 2:47 AM
When I "meow" at my cats, they only reply if I do it in their specific register.
"Living with humans...likely favored cats that could flexibly adjust their meows. Our results support the idea that meows have evolved into a highly adaptable tool for negotiating life in a human-dominated world."
"Living with humans...likely favored cats that could flexibly adjust their meows. Our results support the idea that meows have evolved into a highly adaptable tool for negotiating life in a human-dominated world."
Reposted by Caley Orr
Thank you to the @leakeyfoundation.org for writing this great news piece about our research, and thanks to Evan, Meredith, and their team for coming up with such a compelling name:
The great mucus mystery!
leakeyfoundation.org/the-great-mu...
The great mucus mystery!
leakeyfoundation.org/the-great-mu...
The great mucus mystery
How a Denisovan gene variant related to the production of mucus passed through Neanderthals and helped humans survive in the Americas.
leakeyfoundation.org
December 8, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Thank you to the @leakeyfoundation.org for writing this great news piece about our research, and thanks to Evan, Meredith, and their team for coming up with such a compelling name:
The great mucus mystery!
leakeyfoundation.org/the-great-mu...
The great mucus mystery!
leakeyfoundation.org/the-great-mu...
Reposted by Caley Orr
Today we’re reviewing the paradoxically and yet aptly named Teenage Cave Man (1958), the story of a 30-something teenage rebel who dares to break the rules and explore beyond his Stone Age tribe’s borders – and discovers a shocking twist!! 🧪🏺
youtu.be/ktHzfX7qusQ
youtu.be/ktHzfX7qusQ
Episode 117: Teenage Cave Man (1958) | Screens of the Stone Age Podcast
YouTube video by Screens of the Stone Age
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Today we’re reviewing the paradoxically and yet aptly named Teenage Cave Man (1958), the story of a 30-something teenage rebel who dares to break the rules and explore beyond his Stone Age tribe’s borders – and discovers a shocking twist!! 🧪🏺
youtu.be/ktHzfX7qusQ
youtu.be/ktHzfX7qusQ
"Moderate hip and knee flexion with slight ankle dorsiflexion yielded the most stable postures but compromised head mobility and vertical support. These trade-offs explain chimpanzees’ limited bipedal capabilities and short bout durations observed in the wild."
Multidimensional performance trade-offs in bipedal standing of common chimpanzees and implications for human bipedal evolution
Applied mechanics; Biophysics; Biomechanics
www.cell.com
December 7, 2025 at 8:50 PM
"Moderate hip and knee flexion with slight ankle dorsiflexion yielded the most stable postures but compromised head mobility and vertical support. These trade-offs explain chimpanzees’ limited bipedal capabilities and short bout durations observed in the wild."
Reposted by Caley Orr
Makassar tarsiers (Tarsius fuscus) occur on the southwestern peninsula of Sulawesi. Uniquely, they make their nests in honeycomb formations near the entrances of small karst caves. Threatened by habitat loss, use of agricultural pesticides and herbicides, and predation by domestic pets. Vulnerable.
December 5, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Makassar tarsiers (Tarsius fuscus) occur on the southwestern peninsula of Sulawesi. Uniquely, they make their nests in honeycomb formations near the entrances of small karst caves. Threatened by habitat loss, use of agricultural pesticides and herbicides, and predation by domestic pets. Vulnerable.
Geometric morphometrics isn't the right method for the goals of this study & it captures only minor shape differences. Functional anatomy needs underlying mechanical models to guide design & interpretation of our measurements. Unfortunately, shape analysis alone doesn't tell us much about function.
Inferences about fossil hominin locomotion through 3D morphometric analysis of wrist ligament insertion sites - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Inferences about fossil hominin locomotion through 3D morphometric analysis of wrist ligament insertion sites
www.nature.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Geometric morphometrics isn't the right method for the goals of this study & it captures only minor shape differences. Functional anatomy needs underlying mechanical models to guide design & interpretation of our measurements. Unfortunately, shape analysis alone doesn't tell us much about function.
A fun, engaging discussion of our team's work on the Paranthropus hand. Its combo of features help reconstruct the ancestral condition for Homo (i.e., what would be "transitional") but the fossil also shows specially derived traits that converge on Gorilla. It's its own thing. #paleoanthropology 🧪 🏺
December 2, 2025 at 8:30 PM
A fun, engaging discussion of our team's work on the Paranthropus hand. Its combo of features help reconstruct the ancestral condition for Homo (i.e., what would be "transitional") but the fossil also shows specially derived traits that converge on Gorilla. It's its own thing. #paleoanthropology 🧪 🏺
Congrats to our coauthor Joseph Won (PhD Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center) on his 1st publication.
Curvature of the hand & foot proximal phalanges varies between two orangutan species consistent with differences in their substrate use (all trees vs. some ground use). 🧪
Curvature of the hand & foot proximal phalanges varies between two orangutan species consistent with differences in their substrate use (all trees vs. some ground use). 🧪
Pedal and Manual Proximal Phalangeal Curvatures Among Pongo abelii and Pongo pygmaeus
Objectives Phalangeal curvature in hominoids correlates with locomotor behavior, with greater curvature associated with arboreality. Prior research using 2D geometric morphometrics (2DGM) demonstrat...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Congrats to our coauthor Joseph Won (PhD Program in Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center) on his 1st publication.
Curvature of the hand & foot proximal phalanges varies between two orangutan species consistent with differences in their substrate use (all trees vs. some ground use). 🧪
Curvature of the hand & foot proximal phalanges varies between two orangutan species consistent with differences in their substrate use (all trees vs. some ground use). 🧪