Richard Potts
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View article: Qualitative and Quantitative Use-Wear Analysis of Percussive Stone Tools from Nyayanga (Homa Peninsula, Kenya)
Qualitative and Quantitative Use-Wear Analysis of Percussive Stone Tools from Nyayanga (Homa Peninsula, Kenya) Open
This study presents a comprehensive examination of the function of 26 percussive stone tools (PSTs) from Nyayanga, an Oldowan site located on the Homa Peninsula in southwestern Kenya. These artifacts, dating between 3.032 to 2.581 million …
View article: Selective use of distant stone resources by the earliest Oldowan toolmakers
Selective use of distant stone resources by the earliest Oldowan toolmakers Open
The adaptive shift that favored stone tool–assisted behavior in hominins began by 3.3 million years ago. However, evidence from early archaeological sites indicates relatively short-distance stone transport dynamics similar to behaviors ob…
View article: New Oldowan locality Sare-Abururu (ca. 1.7 Ma) provides evidence of diverse hominin behaviors on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya
New Oldowan locality Sare-Abururu (ca. 1.7 Ma) provides evidence of diverse hominin behaviors on the Homa Peninsula, Kenya Open
View article: Pleistocene vegetation dynamics of the Olorgesailie-Koora Basin in the last 1 Myr: Implications for human evolution and technological innovations 
Pleistocene vegetation dynamics of the Olorgesailie-Koora Basin in the last 1 Myr: Implications for human evolution and technological innovations  Open
The Olorgesailie basin, southern Kenya Rift, is a renowned prehistoric site that preserves evidence of hominin behavior over the past ~1 million years. During this period the basin experienced environmental variability in response to orbit…
View article: Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and <i>Paranthropus</i>
Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and <i>Paranthropus</i> Open
The oldest Oldowan tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago, have previously been confined to Ethiopia’s Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.032 to 2.581 million years ago and expand this distribution by ov…
View article: Controls on Quaternary Geochemical and Mineralogical Variability in the Koora Basin and South Kenya Rift
Controls on Quaternary Geochemical and Mineralogical Variability in the Koora Basin and South Kenya Rift Open
View article: Late quaternary biotic homogenization of North American mammalian faunas
Late quaternary biotic homogenization of North American mammalian faunas Open
Biotic homogenization—increasing similarity of species composition among ecological communities—has been linked to anthropogenic processes operating over the last century. Fossil evidence, however, suggests that humans have had impacts on …
View article: Holocene bidirectional river system along the Kenya Rift and its influence on East African faunal exchange and diversity gradients
Holocene bidirectional river system along the Kenya Rift and its influence on East African faunal exchange and diversity gradients Open
East Africa is a global biodiversity hotspot and exhibits distinct longitudinal diversity gradients from west to east in freshwater fishes and forest mammals. The assembly of this exceptional biodiversity and the drivers behind diversity g…
View article: Training to Promote Empathic Communication in Graduate Medical Education: A Shared Learning Intervention in Internal Medicine and General Surgery
Training to Promote Empathic Communication in Graduate Medical Education: A Shared Learning Intervention in Internal Medicine and General Surgery Open
Background: Empathic communication skills have a growing presence in graduate medical education to empower trainees in serious illness communication. Objective: Evaluate the impact, feasibility, and acceptability of a shared communication …
View article: Effects of reduced mobility on trabecular bone density in captive big cats
Effects of reduced mobility on trabecular bone density in captive big cats Open
Bone responds to elevated mechanical loading by increasing in mass and density. Therefore, wild animals should exhibit greater skeletal mass and density than captive conspecifics. This expectation is pertinent to testing bone functional ad…
View article: Reconstructing the Environmental Context of Human Origins in Eastern Africa Through Scientific Drilling
Reconstructing the Environmental Context of Human Origins in Eastern Africa Through Scientific Drilling Open
Paleoanthropologists have long speculated about the role of environmental change in shaping human evolution in Africa. In recent years, drill cores of late Neogene lacustrine sedimentary rocks have yielded valuable high-resolution records …
View article: Biodiversity and DNA degradation patterns recorded in a 2200-year-long sequence of sedimentary ancient DNA from the afrotropical Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
Biodiversity and DNA degradation patterns recorded in a 2200-year-long sequence of sedimentary ancient DNA from the afrotropical Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda Open
<p>Most of the Earth’s biodiversity is concentrated in the tropics. While the ultimate causes of this geographic pattern remain to be established, ongoing anthropogenic impacts in the tropical belt lead to rapid losses of s…
View article: Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution
Increased ecological resource variability during a critical transition in hominin evolution Open
Adaptations characteristic of early Homo sapiens prevailed during a shift to unstable environment and less predictable resources.
View article: Investigating Biotic Interactions in Deep Time
Investigating Biotic Interactions in Deep Time Open
View article: The Challenges of Reconstructing Tropical Biodiversity With Sedimentary Ancient DNA: A 2200-Year-Long Metagenomic Record From Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda
The Challenges of Reconstructing Tropical Biodiversity With Sedimentary Ancient DNA: A 2200-Year-Long Metagenomic Record From Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda Open
Sedimentary ancient DNA has been proposed as a key methodology for reconstructing biodiversity over time. Yet, despite the concentration of Earth’s biodiversity in the tropics, this method has rarely been applied in this region. Moreover, …
View article: Hydrological basin connectivity in a low-latitude rift: the impact of the Holocene African Humid Period (AHP) on fluvial activity and species dispersal in the Kenya Rift, East African Rift System (EARS)
Hydrological basin connectivity in a low-latitude rift: the impact of the Holocene African Humid Period (AHP) on fluvial activity and species dispersal in the Kenya Rift, East African Rift System (EARS) Open
<p>As a result of sustained tectonic and magmatic processes throughout the latter half of the Cenozoic, the eastern branch of the EARS exhibits an extensional tectonic system with pronounced relief contrasts, constituting both corrid…
View article: Rift-basin compartmentalization and changing environments: tectono-climatic forcing of environmental conditions and species dispersal in the East African Rift System (EARS)
Rift-basin compartmentalization and changing environments: tectono-climatic forcing of environmental conditions and species dispersal in the East African Rift System (EARS) Open
<p>In the EARS orographic forcing of rainfall, pronounced relief contrasts between shoulder areas and the axial rift sectors results in steep environmental and surface-process gradients, severed fluvial networks, and diverse vegetati…
View article: The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia
The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia Open
Ancient human movements through Asia Ancient DNA has allowed us to begin tracing the history of human movements across the globe. Narasimhan et al. identify a complex pattern of human migrations and admixture events in South and Central As…
View article: Chronostratigraphic model of a high-resolution drill core record of the past million years from the Koora Basin, south Kenya Rift: Overcoming the difficulties of variable sedimentation rate and hiatuses
Chronostratigraphic model of a high-resolution drill core record of the past million years from the Koora Basin, south Kenya Rift: Overcoming the difficulties of variable sedimentation rate and hiatuses Open
View article: Evolution of Early Equus in Italy, Georgia, the Indian Subcontinent, East Africa, and the Origins of African Zebras
Evolution of Early Equus in Italy, Georgia, the Indian Subcontinent, East Africa, and the Origins of African Zebras Open
We report here ecological and morphological characterization of the main Old World Equus in North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa, by comparing the studied fossil forms with the living Equus grevyi zebra. Equus simplicidens from North Am…
View article: The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project
The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project Open
The role that climate and environmental history may have played in influencing human evolution has been the focus of considerable interest and controversy among paleoanthropologists for decades. Prior attempts to understand the environment…
View article: The Genomic Formation of South and Central Asia
The Genomic Formation of South and Central Asia Open
The genetic formation of Central and South Asian populations has been unclear because of an absence of ancient DNA. To address this gap, we generated genome-wide data from 362 ancient individuals, including the first from eastern Iran, Tur…
View article: The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project: inferring the environmental context of human evolution from eastern African rift lake deposits
The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project: inferring the environmental context of human evolution from eastern African rift lake deposits Open
The role that climate and environmental history may have played in influencing human evolution has been the focus of considerable interest and controversy among paleoanthropologists for decades. Prior attempts to understand the environment…