Paleoanthropologists classify ancient human fossil remains into different species — but what are fossil species, and how can we recognize, define, and delimitate them?

Ryan McRae is a biological anthropologist in the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology at the George Washington University and an expert in understanding the patterns of evolution in our lineage. In this presentation he discusses how early species are defined and what we know about the completeness of the early human fossil record.

Moderator: Briana Pobiner, paleoanthropologist and educator at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History

This program was offered as part of the ongoing HOT (Human Origins Today) Topic series.

Learn more about the HOT Topic series and get info about upcoming webinars on the museum's Events for Adults page: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/events/...

Smithsonian's Human Origins Website: https://humanorigins.si.edu/

Upcoming Events from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/events