Ruth Mace
ruthmace.bsky.social
Ruth Mace
@ruthmace.bsky.social
Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, UCL
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Once every 20 years or so, the director-general of the BBC is forced to resign for being insufficiently rightwing. Alastair Milne in 1987. Greg Dyke in 2004. Tim Davie in 2025. The great irony is that the BBC was in all cases profoundly biased towards established power. But just not biased enough …
November 10, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Tomorrow Tuesday @UCLanthropology evo anth seminar: Ozan Aksoy 'Hair speaks: social context and the interpretation of religious signals such as veiling and beards'. DFL 3.30-5pm followed by🍷 All welcome
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Evolutionary Anthropology seminars
Exploring the evolutionary roots of human behaviour, biology, and culture through interdisciplinary research and debate.
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:24 AM
FINALLY we understand why lactase persistance spread!
Effects of ancestry, agriculture, and lactase persistence on the stature of prehistoric Europeans: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Effects of ancestry, agriculture, and lactase persistence on the stature of prehistoric Europeans
Cox et al. combine polygenic scores and skeletal metrics to show that Neolithic Europeans were not substantially shorter than earlier or later groups. They also show a strong gene-environment interact...
www.cell.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:36 PM
The fitness costs and benefits of hunter-gatherer locomotor engagement | Evolutionary Human Sciences | by George Brill and Mark Dyble. Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The fitness costs and benefits of hunter-gatherer locomotor engagement | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
The fitness costs and benefits of hunter-gatherer locomotor engagement - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
It's hiring season at @iast.fr!

- 2y research postdoc contract
- Full autonomy, you are your own PI
- Awesome multidisciplinary environment
- All social and behavioral sciences welcome
- Seed funding for projects and workshops
- Gorgeous city in the south of France

www.iast.fr/research-fel...
September 20, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Funding for students!!

New £6k UCL Anthropology MSc Bursary for Home students:
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...

You can also apply to the £10k UCL Bursary at the same time - so if you get both, it should cover all your fees & a chunk of living costs🤞
www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships...
Julia Scott Memorial Bursary
The aim of the Julia Scott Memorial Bursary is intended to enable students in financial need to pursue their postgraduate studies in the Anthropology Department at UCL.
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 2, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Leiden looking good today ;-)
📢 Abstract submission will be open Nov 1st – Dec 15th for EHBEA 2026
⚡Present your research, connect & collaborate 14-17 April
📝 300 words (extendable to 800 after acceptance)
For more information & our full call for abstracts, check www.ehbea2026.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Happy to announce that reflections on our workshop about non-biological kinship in Vienna last year is already published!
@anahcorral.bsky.social @sabinacvecek.bsky.social
www.sciepublish.com/article/pii/...
Beyond Genetics: Exploring Aspects of Non-Biological Kinship in Prehistoric Times
This article explores alternative ways of conceptualizing kinship in prehistoric contexts beyond the confines of genetic reductionism. While ancient DNA research has revitalized interest in the archae...
www.sciepublish.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
'New proposals by Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wiley and Sage were sent to universities this week after their initial offers were decisively rejected by institutions in a sector-wide consultation run by Jisc,...negotiating jointly with Universities UK on behalf of universities.' 1/3
New offers from big five ‘still too costly’ for UK universities
‘Significant’ number of institutions predicted to drop deals with main scholarly imprints, leaving journal access much reduced
www.timeshighereducation.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Check out the new 'most read' tab at EHS (Evolutionary Human Sciences), currently topped by this paper by @olkcampbell.bsky.social et al on sex ratio and violence against women
Skewed sex ratios correlate with violence against women from spouses, boyfriends and in-laws, but less so for honour-based violence from natal family @olkcampbell.bsky.social Maheen Pracha @ruthmace.bsky.social | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Skewed sex ratios and violence against women in Pakistan | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Skewed sex ratios and violence against women in Pakistan
www.cambridge.org
October 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
'21st century resurgence of eugenics and scientific racism' @rebeccasear.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk Evolutionary Anthropology seminar. Tomorrow TUESDAY 3.30-5pm DFL followed by 🍷 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Evolutionary Anthropology seminars
Exploring the evolutionary roots of human behaviour, biology, and culture through interdisciplinary research and debate.
www.ucl.ac.uk
October 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Cultural evolution in the laboratory: evolution of cooperative altruistic punishing | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - William Baum and Pete Richerson www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Cultural evolution in the laboratory: evolution of cooperative altruistic punishing | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Cultural evolution in the laboratory: evolution of cooperative altruistic punishing - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
October 20, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Researchers analyzed 102 “just-so” stories shared in online antifeminist spaces. 83% focused on sex differences and rarely acknowledged speculation. The authors call for renewed discussion and reflection on evolutionary hypothesizing.
🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A Hundred and Two Just-So Stories: Exploring the Lay Evolutionary Hypotheses of the Manosphere | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
A Hundred and Two Just-So Stories: Exploring the Lay Evolutionary Hypotheses of the Manosphere
www.cambridge.org
October 11, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
In our new paper, we show why religious signals can serve as reliable markers of commitment: insiders perceive both cooperative and supernatural benefits in participation, but outsiders—who don’t share those supernatural expectations—see no comparable gains, making the signal not worhtwile
Our (with Pushkar Puryag, Radek Kundt & @martinlangcz.bsky.social ) study on the perceived costs & benefits of the Kavadi ritual in Mauritius was recently published in EHS.

👉 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
October 17, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Today Tuesday Claudia Wascher on communication in corvids @UCL Anthropology 3.30pm DFL followed by 🍷 www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Evolutionary Anthropology seminars
Exploring the evolutionary roots of human behaviour, biology, and culture through interdisciplinary research and debate.
www.ucl.ac.uk
October 14, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
🚨𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀!
www.ehbea2026.com is now live for our 2026 European Human Behaviour & Evolution Association (EHBEA) conference in Leiden (NL🇳🇱) Check for 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, first 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 & the [𝗔𝗜]𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸!
🗓️ 14–17 Apr 2026 | CBEN pre-conf 14 Apr
📍Pesthuis
#EHBEA2026
Overview | EHBEA2026
www.ehbea2026.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
🚨AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT🚨

EHBEA is calling for SELF-nominations for their New Investigator Award.

If you are doing, or know someone, some really cool research as an early-career researcher please don’t hesitate to apply!

DEADLINE: December 19th, 2025

Here is the form👇
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
EHBEA-2026-New-Investigator-Award-nomination-form.docx
2026 NEW INVESTIGATOR AWARD Self-nomination Form Please submit this application form by e-mail to the EHBEA Secretary ehbea.secretary@gmail.com. Next Deadline: 5pm (GMT), 19th DECEMBER 2026 ...
docs.google.com
October 9, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Costly rituals endure because committed members see greater benefits – especially supernatural – despite high estimated cost. New paper by Klocova et al| Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Estimated costs and benefits of participation in an extreme ritual in Mauritius | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
Estimated costs and benefits of participation in an extreme ritual in Mauritius - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
October 10, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
@sriucl.bsky.social is HIRING 2 permanent Lecturers 🚀 in #QuantitativeSocialScience!

It comes with smart and lovely colleagues🌟, a central London office, and many big ideas and questions 🧐

Apply now! www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
September 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM
African harps as units of cultural evolution: a cladistic analysis on their morphology. New paper by Salome Strauch et al| Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
African harps as units of cultural evolution: a cladistic analysis on their morphology | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
African harps as units of cultural evolution: a cladistic analysis on their morphology - Volume 7
www.cambridge.org
October 8, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Conventional wisdom says motherhood should wait for tenure as before you land a permanent post, #academia is just not that family friendly🙁

@carersinstemm.bsky.social are calling for change and to celebrate their new report, a Saturday🧵on parenting & academia! 1/9 👩‍🔬🧪🔭⚛️

ℹ️: carersinstemm.co.uk
October 4, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
If you are around @ucl.ac.uk later this month, I’ll be giving a talk on Spatial Population Dynamics and Human Evolution on the 28th 🤩

www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Evolutionary Anthropology seminars
Exploring the evolutionary roots of human behaviour, biology, and culture through interdisciplinary research and debate.
www.ucl.ac.uk
October 6, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Reposted by Ruth Mace
Happy to share our new paper introducing the Animal Culture Database in Scientific Data: We’re putting together a resource consolidating primary research on cultural behaviors in wild animal populations and how they’re affected by human activity (1/5) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mapping nonhuman cultures with the Animal Culture Database - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - Mapping nonhuman cultures with the Animal Culture Database
www.nature.com
June 22, 2025 at 11:16 PM