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Explore the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behaviors and Create Our Future

Where we come from, who we are, where we are going

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Biological Anthropology

 is the study of ‘where we come from, who we are and where we are going’. We are a biological species of humans, but we are also a cultural people. From the time human beings began to walk upright and on two legs, they used their hands to make tools, acquired language, and built cultures and civilisations. Humans have changed their habitat environment with their own hands and then evolved anew in the environment created. It was a rare evolutionary path for any animal. The unique biological characteristics that resulted from this process live on in our behaviour and minds. Our laboratory continues to challenge us to understand how these biological traits, which are part of our nature, have evolved over time, how they work in our present lives and how they conflict with the environment of modern society, through a comparative approach with nonhuman primates.

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Latest publications

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Madagascar's lemurs have twin vocal folds

lemurs, a species endemic to Madagascar, have evolved a unique trait not seen in other primates: twin vocal folds.

The Biological Anthropology Lab. at Osaka University is a laboratory where you can learn human evolution studies and primatology. We study the evolutionary origins of human behavioral characteristics by comparing the anatomies and movements of non-human primates, our evolutionary neighbors. In particular, we conduct research on language, which gave us culture and civilization, upright bipedal walking, which gave rise to human beings, and dexterous hands, which developed tools and drove environmental change. We are equipped with the world's largest animal movement experiment facility and cutting-edge observation and measurement equipment, and we conduct cutting-edge education and research on the anatomy and physiology, acoustics, motor function, and biomechanics of vocalization, locomotion, hand manipulation, etc., in primates including humans.

Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

1-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, JAPAN

© 2024 by Biological Anthropology Lab., Osaka University

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