Rebecca Rogers Ackermann

Biographic Data

ID162946
NAMERebecca Rogers Ackermann
GIVEN NAMESRebecca Rogers
FAMILY NAMEAckermann
SIGNATUREACKERMANN R R
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Cape Town
ORCID0000-0001-8757-6878
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS35
TOTAL CITATIONS491
AUTHOR COUNT35
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2000
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2024
H-INDEX15

  • Paleoanthropology: Decolonizing and Building for the Future

    Open AccessRebecca Rogers Ackermann, Rebecca Ackermann et al.OTHERThe International Encyclopedia of…2024

    The study of human evolution, also known as palaeoanthropology, focuses on our distant and more recent human past; what shaped us as a lineage, genus, and species; and how we came to be the diverse single species we are today. However, the bulk of this research, knowledge production, and understanding has been driven by the global North to the exclusion of non‐Western scientists, despite the deep and rich fossil record of formerly colonized regio…

  • Moving beyond the adaptationist paradigm for human evolution, and why it matters

    Open AccessLauren Schroeder, Rebecca Rogers AckermannARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2023Cited by: 2References: 236

    The Journal of Human Evolution (JHE) was founded 50 years ago when much of the foundation for how we think about human evolution was in place or being put in place, providing the main framework for how we consider our origins today. Here, we will explore historical developments, including early JHE outputs, as they relate to our understanding of the relationship between phenotypic variation and evolutionary process, and use that as a springboard …

  • Effects of hybridization on pelvic morphology: A macaque model

    Open AccessL T Buck, David C Katz et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2021Cited by: 6References: 82

    Ancient DNA analyses have shown that interbreeding between hominin taxa occurred multiple times. Although admixture is often reflected in skeletal phenotype, the relationship between the two remains poorly understood, hampering interpretation of the hominin fossil record. Direct study of this relationship is often impossible due to the paucity of hominin fossils and difficulties retrieving ancient genetic material. Here, we use a sample of known …

  • The emergence of complexity and novelty in the human fossil record

    Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, Lauren SchroederCHAPTERTheology and Evolutionary…2020

    Outside of possible evidence for more complex social practices (e.g. longevity post-trauma, preserved infant remains), the fossil record of human evolution is limited in its ability to address the transition towards transcendental forms of wisdom. Indeed, it is difficult to equate our modern intellectual condition with deep past biological indicators at all. Nonetheless, arguably the best and most visible evidence for biological changes that migh…

  • Hybridization in human evolution: Insights from other organisms

    Open AccessRebecca Rogers Ackermann, Michael L Arnold et al.ARTICLEEvolutionary Anthropology Issues…2019

    During the late Pleistocene, isolated lineages of hominins exchanged genes thus influencing genomic variation in humans in both the past and present. However, the dynamics of this genetic exchange and associated phenotypic consequences through time remain poorly understood. Gene exchange across divergent lineages can result in myriad outcomes arising from these dynamics and the environmental conditions under which it occurs. Here we draw from our…

  • Upholding "good science" in human origins research: A response to Chan et al (2019)

    Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, Sheela Athreya et al.PREPRINT2019Cited by: 3References: 5

    The recent publication by Chan et al (2019) entitled “Human origins in a southern African palaeo-wetland and first migrations” fails to meet scientific standards for publication in two ways. First, it neglects its scientific duty to discuss the entire body of scientific evidence around human origins, which leads to unsupportable claims. Second, it reinforces racialized power dynamics within the science of human origins. We argue that the authors …

  • AAPA Statement on Race and Racism

    Open AccessA Fuentes, Rebecca Rogers Ackermann et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2019Cited by: 23

    Race does not provide an accurate representation of human biological variation. It was never accurate in the past, and it remains inaccurate when referencing contemporary human populations. Humans are not divided biologically into distinct continental types or racial genetic clusters. Instead, the Western concept of race must be understood as a classification system that emerged from, and in support of, European colonialism, oppression, and discr…

  • Reflections on the history and legacy of scientific racism in South African paleoanthropology and beyond

    Open AccessRebecca Rogers AckermannARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2019Cited by: 4References: 8

  • Hybridization in human evolution: Insights from other organisms

    Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, Michael Arnold et al.PREPRINT2018Cited by: 1References: 26

    During the late Pleistocene, isolated lineages of hominins exchanged genes thus influencing genomic variation in humans in both the past and present. However, the dynamics of this genetic exchange and associated phenotypic consequences through time remain poorly understood. Gene exchange across divergent lineages can result in myriad outcomes arising from these dynamics and the environmental conditions under which it occurs. Here we draw from our…

  • The emergence of complexity and novelty in the human fossil record

    Rebecca Rogers Ackermann, Lauren SchroederPREPRINT2018

    Outside of possible evidence for more complex social practices (e.g. longevity post-trauma, preserved infant remains), the fossil record of human evolution is limited in its ability to address the transition towards transcendental forms of wisdom. Indeed, it is difficult to equate our modern intellectual condition with deep past biological indicators at all. Nonetheless, arguably the best and most visible evidence for biological changes that migh…

  • Craniomandibular form and body size variation of first generation mouse hybrids: A model for hominin hybridization

    Open AccessKerryn A Warren, Terrence B Ritzman et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2018Cited by: 6References: 140

  • Colonialism and narratives of human origins in Asia and Africa

    Sheela Athreya, Rebecca Rogers AckermannPREPRINT2018Cited by: 1References: 23

    In their seminal works on postcolonialism, Edward Saïd (in Orientalism) and V.Y. Mudimbe (in The Idea of Africa) proposed that Asia and Africa, respectively, were constructs created around the notion of their otherness. Both regions were viewed as infantile, primitive, and homogenous entities that fell outside the domain of civilized (i.e. Western) humanity. These constructs shaped scientific perceptions of both continents over the course of seve…

  • The skull of Homo naledi

    Open AccessM F Laird, Lauren Schroeder et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2017Cited by: 30References: 45

  • Skull diversity in the Homo lineage and the relative position of Homo naledi

    Open AccessLauren Schroeder, Jill E Scott et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2017Cited by: 27References: 48

  • Evolutionary processes shaping diversity across the Homo lineage

    Open AccessLauren Schroeder, Rebecca Rogers AckermannARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2017Cited by: 7References: 61

  • Variation in the nasal cavity of baboon hybrids with implications for late Pleistocene hominins

    Open AccessKaleigh Anne Eichel, Kaleigh Eichel et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2016Cited by: 8References: 59

  • The evolutionary relationships and age of Homo naledi: An assessment using dated Bayesian phylogenetic methods

    Open AccessMorris Dembo, Davorka Radovčić et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2016Cited by: 73References: 52

  • The Hybrid Origin of “Modern” Humans

    Open AccessRebecca Rogers Ackermann, A Mackay et al.ARTICLEEvolutionary Biology2015Cited by: 39References: 41

  • A human deciduous molar from the Middle Stone Age (Howiesons Poort) of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa

    Open AccessK Harvati, Catherine C Bauer et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2015Cited by: 18References: 37

  • Questions of khoesan continuity: Dental affinities among the indigenous holocene peoples of South Africa

    Open AccessJoel D Irish, Wendy Black et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2014Cited by: 15References: 43

    The present report follows up on the findings of previous research, including recent bioarchaeological study of well‐dated Khoesan skeletal remains, that posits long term biological continuity among the indigenous peoples of South Africa after the Pleistocene. The Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System was used to record key crown, root, and intraoral osseous nonmetric traits in six early‐through‐late Holocene samples from the Cape c…

  • Further evidence for phenotypic signatures of hybridization in descendant baboon populations

    Open AccessRebecca Rogers Ackermann, Lauren Schroeder et al.ARTICLEJournal of Human Evolution2014Cited by: 16References: 30

  • The mid-face of lower Pleistocene hominins and its bearing on the attribution of SK 847 and StW 53

    Open AccessF Lukyn Williams, Frank L’engle Williams et al.ARTICLEHOMO2012Cited by: 5References: 15

  • Phenotypic traits of primate hybrids: Recognizing admixture in the fossil record

    Open AccessRebecca Rogers AckermannARTICLEEvolutionary Anthropology Issues…2010

    For many years, the likelihood that hybridization occurred in human evolution has been debated. Tattersall and Schwartz pointed out one of the core problems with resolving this debate, namely “that nobody has any idea what a Neanderthal/modern human hybrid might look like in theory, and few have dared to suggest in practice that any particular known fossil represents such a hybrid.” 1:7117 Moreover, while molecular data is proving increasingly us…

  • Comparing the accuracy and precision of three techniques used for estimating missing landmarks when reconstructing fossil hominin crania

    Open AccessRudolph Neeser, Rebecca Rogers Ackermann et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2009Cited by: 17References: 17

    Various methodological approaches have been used for reconstructing fossil hominin remains in order to increase sample sizes and to better understand morphological variation. Among these, morphometric quantitative techniques for reconstruction are increasingly common. Here we compare the accuracy of three approaches—mean substitution, thin plate splines, and multiple linear regression—for estimating missing landmarks of damaged fossil specimens. …

  • Biogeochemical and craniometric investigation of dietary ecology, niche separation, and taxonomy of Plio‐Pleistocene cercopithecoids from the Makapansgat Limeworks

    Open AccessNicolaas H Fourie, J A Lee‐thorp et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Physical…2008Cited by: 19References: 51

    Three sympatric fossil cercopithecoid genera ( Cercopithecoides , Parapapio , and Theropithecus ) occur in Members 3 and 4 at the Makapansgat Limeworks hominin locality, South Africa, and their presence in a single ecosystem suggest a certain degree of ecological and/or dietary differentiation between taxa. Here, we explore the extent of dietary niche separation amongst these taxa using stable isotope ( 13 C/ 12 C, 18 O/ 16 O) and trace‐element (…