Mario A. Avella
@marioavella.bsky.social
Soon to be a Paleoanthropologist... I hope.
B.Sci. Biology (UNAM) / Biological Anthropology (ENAH-INAH) 🇲🇽/🇵🇹
I like fossils, history of science and human evolution. Currently at UNAM in México.
B.Sci. Biology (UNAM) / Biological Anthropology (ENAH-INAH) 🇲🇽/🇵🇹
I like fossils, history of science and human evolution. Currently at UNAM in México.
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
The latest issue of PaleoAnthropology is out now!
Volume 2025, Issue 2 #openaccess
📖Read Here: paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
#paleoanthropology #humanevolution
Volume 2025, Issue 2 #openaccess
📖Read Here: paleoanthropology.org/ojs/index.ph...
#paleoanthropology #humanevolution
November 6, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Defining non-human #ToolUse remains contested, complicating scientific generalization & inspiring the concept of “tooling.” Our new 📄 @philscijournal.bsky.social proposes a synthetic framework to advance research on 🔧 use & tooling 👇 www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #philsci #cogsci #evosky #HPbio
November 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Defining non-human #ToolUse remains contested, complicating scientific generalization & inspiring the concept of “tooling.” Our new 📄 @philscijournal.bsky.social proposes a synthetic framework to advance research on 🔧 use & tooling 👇 www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #philsci #cogsci #evosky #HPbio
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Full OA paper here: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Confounding fuels misinterpretation in human genetics | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The scientific literature has seen a resurgence of interest in genetic influences
on human behaviour and socioeconomic outcomes. Such studies face the central difficulty
of distinguishing possible cau...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Full OA paper here: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
It is an interesting article 👇🏽🤓
Happy to share a new preprint, the first from my PhD research with Professor John Huelsenbeck at UC Berkeley! Here, we test whether PCA can recover hominin phylogeny from both geometric morphometric data and traditional measurements. 1/ 🧪 #PaleoSky #phylogenetics
November 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
It is an interesting article 👇🏽🤓
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
This week we welcome Prof. Steven Shapin to the pod!🎙️
We explore his journey through interdisciplinary spaces, revisit Leviathan and the Air-Pump 40 years on, and explore how credibility, trust and expertise are shaped by the fragmentation of expertise and (recent) political & cultural challenges
We explore his journey through interdisciplinary spaces, revisit Leviathan and the Air-Pump 40 years on, and explore how credibility, trust and expertise are shaped by the fragmentation of expertise and (recent) political & cultural challenges
S5 E11 - Steven Shapin on the Social Life of Scientific Knowledge
Podcast Episode · The HPS Podcast - Conversations from History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science · 19/10/2025 · 50m
podcasts.apple.com
October 19, 2025 at 10:25 AM
This week we welcome Prof. Steven Shapin to the pod!🎙️
We explore his journey through interdisciplinary spaces, revisit Leviathan and the Air-Pump 40 years on, and explore how credibility, trust and expertise are shaped by the fragmentation of expertise and (recent) political & cultural challenges
We explore his journey through interdisciplinary spaces, revisit Leviathan and the Air-Pump 40 years on, and explore how credibility, trust and expertise are shaped by the fragmentation of expertise and (recent) political & cultural challenges
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Bernard Vandermeersch and Ofer Bar-Yosef led excavation at Qafzeh Cave in 1967 when the burials of two skeletons were uncovered. Oafzeh 9 is an adult found in a flexed position, with the Qafzeh 10 child skeleton at its feet. Both lived sometime between 100,000 and 90,000 years ago. #inktober
October 19, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Bernard Vandermeersch and Ofer Bar-Yosef led excavation at Qafzeh Cave in 1967 when the burials of two skeletons were uncovered. Oafzeh 9 is an adult found in a flexed position, with the Qafzeh 10 child skeleton at its feet. Both lived sometime between 100,000 and 90,000 years ago. #inktober
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Compared to the costs of training LLMs, the education system is so cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly.
September 21, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Compared to the costs of training LLMs, the education system is so cost effective, energy efficient, and environmentally friendly.
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Excellent explainer on why private industry and venture capital can’t replace government funded basic science research.
That view is exceptionally naive.
As @narosenblum.bsky.social and I wrote last fall, “basic scientific research [is] a long-term investment, one that only governments have the time horizon to make, and it brings enormous payoffs.”
It can’t just be moonshots and looking for unicorn behemoths.
As @narosenblum.bsky.social and I wrote last fall, “basic scientific research [is] a long-term investment, one that only governments have the time horizon to make, and it brings enormous payoffs.”
It can’t just be moonshots and looking for unicorn behemoths.
Basic Science Is The Foundation Of Future Cures
Injecting partisan politics into American basic science would be terrible for the US: for the economy, and for development of future treatments for diseases like schizophrenia and Alzheimer's.
www.infotimes.us
September 21, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Excellent explainer on why private industry and venture capital can’t replace government funded basic science research.
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Nuestra conversación--- CEIICH UNAM www.youtube.com/watch?v=enQ6...
Presentación del libro: Sex Is Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary.
YouTube video by CEIICH UNAM
www.youtube.com
August 26, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Nuestra conversación--- CEIICH UNAM www.youtube.com/watch?v=enQ6...
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
With great joy—and a touch of nervousness—I’m thrilled to share that my first academic monograph will be published by @mitpress.bsky.social in May 2026! It examines the organism–environment relationship in biology from an integrated #HPS perspective: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #philsky
The Organism-Environment Pairing
In this first systematic book-length examination of the organism-environment relationship in the life sciences, Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda addresses a crucia...
mitpress.mit.edu
August 21, 2025 at 2:20 PM
With great joy—and a touch of nervousness—I’m thrilled to share that my first academic monograph will be published by @mitpress.bsky.social in May 2026! It examines the organism–environment relationship in biology from an integrated #HPS perspective: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #philsky
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
En la UNAM el 25 de agosto...presentación de mi libro
Sex is a Spectrum:The Biological Limits of the Binary...acompañanos
Sex is a Spectrum:The Biological Limits of the Binary...acompañanos
August 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM
En la UNAM el 25 de agosto...presentación de mi libro
Sex is a Spectrum:The Biological Limits of the Binary...acompañanos
Sex is a Spectrum:The Biological Limits of the Binary...acompañanos
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
New paper! Material matters: raw material influences stone tool performance in capuchin monkeys 🐒 🔨🌰 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @neoprego.org 🧪
@mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @neoprego.org 🧪
Material matters: raw material influences stone tool performance in capuchin monkeys
Identifying the conditions that facilitate and shape tool use is a central focus in the field of human evolution and animal behaviour. Particular inte…
www.sciencedirect.com
August 4, 2025 at 8:26 PM
New paper! Material matters: raw material influences stone tool performance in capuchin monkeys 🐒 🔨🌰 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
@mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @neoprego.org 🧪
@mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @neoprego.org 🧪
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
We’re excited to share that the #CROSSROADS VOLUME is published and also printed!🥳It features 28 contributions from the closing CROSSROADS symposium (Feb. 2022, Tübingen).
It took time, but was worth the wait!✨️Edited by K. Harvati & M. Ioannidou.
Congrats to all involved!🎉
Link: tinyurl.com/4s5mwdht
It took time, but was worth the wait!✨️Edited by K. Harvati & M. Ioannidou.
Congrats to all involved!🎉
Link: tinyurl.com/4s5mwdht
August 4, 2025 at 8:19 AM
We’re excited to share that the #CROSSROADS VOLUME is published and also printed!🥳It features 28 contributions from the closing CROSSROADS symposium (Feb. 2022, Tübingen).
It took time, but was worth the wait!✨️Edited by K. Harvati & M. Ioannidou.
Congrats to all involved!🎉
Link: tinyurl.com/4s5mwdht
It took time, but was worth the wait!✨️Edited by K. Harvati & M. Ioannidou.
Congrats to all involved!🎉
Link: tinyurl.com/4s5mwdht
End of a field season, no fossils, but beautiful views…
August 3, 2025 at 1:19 AM
End of a field season, no fossils, but beautiful views…
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Emeritus Professor Charles Oxnard on the 27th of June at the age of 91. We extend our deepest condolences to Eleanor and their sons, Guy and Hugh, and to their extended families.
July 9, 2025 at 4:55 AM
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Emeritus Professor Charles Oxnard on the 27th of June at the age of 91. We extend our deepest condolences to Eleanor and their sons, Guy and Hugh, and to their extended families.
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Save the date! Interdisciplinary Workshop:
The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbiomes, Ethics, and Society in Africa
#hpbio #histbio #philbio 🌱🐋
Check the Call for Abstracts for our special issue on our website: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...
The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbiomes, Ethics, and Society in Africa
#hpbio #histbio #philbio 🌱🐋
Check the Call for Abstracts for our special issue on our website: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...
June 10, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Save the date! Interdisciplinary Workshop:
The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbiomes, Ethics, and Society in Africa
#hpbio #histbio #philbio 🌱🐋
Check the Call for Abstracts for our special issue on our website: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...
The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the Intersection of Microbiomes, Ethics, and Society in Africa
#hpbio #histbio #philbio 🌱🐋
Check the Call for Abstracts for our special issue on our website: perspectivesrace.wixsite.com/the-human-di...
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Hello,
Our paper on enamel proteins from Paranthropus robustus has finally been peer reviewed, please have a read here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paranthropus robustus has been puzzling scientists since its discovery in 1938 in South Africa, where a high number of fossils have been found.
Our paper on enamel proteins from Paranthropus robustus has finally been peer reviewed, please have a read here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paranthropus robustus has been puzzling scientists since its discovery in 1938 in South Africa, where a high number of fossils have been found.
Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus
Paranthropus robustus is a morphologically well-documented Early Pleistocene hominin species from southern Africa with no genetic evidence reported so far. In this work, we describe the mass spectrome...
doi.org
May 29, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Hello,
Our paper on enamel proteins from Paranthropus robustus has finally been peer reviewed, please have a read here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paranthropus robustus has been puzzling scientists since its discovery in 1938 in South Africa, where a high number of fossils have been found.
Our paper on enamel proteins from Paranthropus robustus has finally been peer reviewed, please have a read here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paranthropus robustus has been puzzling scientists since its discovery in 1938 in South Africa, where a high number of fossils have been found.
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
If you're interested in philosophy of biology—particularly its intersections with #evolution, #paleosky, and comparative studies of #behavior, #cognition, and #culture —consider following @theramseylab.bsky.social! We're a cool group of philosophers with a broad range of expertise! #philsci #HPbio
April 10, 2025 at 6:34 PM
If you're interested in philosophy of biology—particularly its intersections with #evolution, #paleosky, and comparative studies of #behavior, #cognition, and #culture —consider following @theramseylab.bsky.social! We're a cool group of philosophers with a broad range of expertise! #philsci #HPbio
A todas y todos los interesados en la Ecología (y sus distintas vertientes, incluso históricas 🤓), ¡los invito a inscribirse a este magnífico evento!
¿Te interesa formar parte de un espacio de encuentro para ecólogos latinoamericanos? Únete a la conversación sobre los retos y desafíos de la ecología en la región.
📅 Regístrate aquí 👉 sites.google.com/view/elac202...
#EcologíaLatinoamericana #ColoquioEcología #CienciaLatAm
📅 Regístrate aquí 👉 sites.google.com/view/elac202...
#EcologíaLatinoamericana #ColoquioEcología #CienciaLatAm
ELAC2025
Te invitamos a ser parte de una experiencia única, un espacio dedicado a reflexionar sobre la historia, los retos actuales y los horizontes futuros de la Ecología en América Latina.
El propósito de es...
sites.google.com
April 1, 2025 at 6:09 PM
A todas y todos los interesados en la Ecología (y sus distintas vertientes, incluso históricas 🤓), ¡los invito a inscribirse a este magnífico evento!
For those interested in the history and historiography of anthropology in Mexico, the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) offers an interesting diploma course.
April 1, 2025 at 4:11 AM
For those interested in the history and historiography of anthropology in Mexico, the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico (INAH) offers an interesting diploma course.
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Evolution of the Human Life Cycle, Revisited. Barry Bogin & Holly Smith onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Evolution of the Human Life Cycle, Revisited
Click on the article title to read more.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
March 21, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Evolution of the Human Life Cycle, Revisited. Barry Bogin & Holly Smith onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
March 14, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
Neandertal capitate-metacarpal articular morphology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Neandertal capitate‐metacarpal articular morphology
Neandertal capitate-metacarpal 2 and 3 articulations have been observed to differ in orientation and shape from those of more recent humans. To evaluate this, we tested for differences in capitate-me....
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199706)103:2<219::AID-AJPA7>3.0.CO;2-O
March 11, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Neandertal capitate-metacarpal articular morphology onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
THIS!!! "We are past the point at which reform and persuasion, by themselves, are sufficient to turn the tide. For higher education to survive the current onslaught, it must fight."
For @chronicle.com, I take stock of the moment in which higher ed finds itself -- under attack from forces in the government and in civil society -- and what we should do about it. www.chronicle.com/article/hand...
Opinion | Hands Off Higher Ed!
The sector is at war. It’s time to fight harder.
www.chronicle.com
March 5, 2025 at 8:27 PM
THIS!!! "We are past the point at which reform and persuasion, by themselves, are sufficient to turn the tide. For higher education to survive the current onslaught, it must fight."
Reposted by Mario A. Avella
New #Homonaledi paper from @dizachster.bsky.social and @tracykivell.bsky.social looks at the 2015 hand from Rising Star and discusses some surprising implications about H. naledi social behaviour! 🏺 🦣 🧪 #paleosky (abstract is French but article is English) sciencepress.mnhn.fr/fr/periodiqu...
Adult Homo naledi hand skeleton points to life before birth
La morphologie évolue au fil des modifications de la croissance et du développement, mais les inférences sur l’ontogenèse d’organismes disparus sont souvent limitées par des échantillons f...
sciencepress.mnhn.fr
December 2, 2024 at 10:14 PM
New #Homonaledi paper from @dizachster.bsky.social and @tracykivell.bsky.social looks at the 2015 hand from Rising Star and discusses some surprising implications about H. naledi social behaviour! 🏺 🦣 🧪 #paleosky (abstract is French but article is English) sciencepress.mnhn.fr/fr/periodiqu...