This is Origin Stories, the Leaky Foundation podcast. I'm Meredith Johnson. It's December,

and that means it's time for our annual look back at the year in human evolution research.

And because the Leaky Foundation is a donor-supported nonprofit, December also means that before we

get into today's episode, I'd like to ask for your support. Through December 31st, your one-time

or monthly tax-deductible donation will be quadruple-matched. So please go to Leakyfoundation.org

slash origin stories or click the link in your show notes right now to support this show and the science we talk about.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

Now, on with the episode.

Origin Stories producer Ray Pang is here with me, and he's going to surprise us with three of the most exciting human origins

discoveries of 2024. Hello, Ray. Hi, Meredith. I'm so happy to be here. It's great to see you

as always. So tell me, Ray, what have you been up to? Well, to get ready for this episode,

I talked to three different leaky grantees who brought me their favorite discoveries of the year.

So Ray really does keep this a tight secret. I have no idea who he spoke with or what discoveries they shared.

So I'm very eager to get into it.

Well, the wait is over.

First up, we have Christian Capelli, a molecular anthropologist from the University of Parma

in Italy.

He's a leaky grantee and his research focuses on the molecular side of human evolutionary

history.

And he's also doing incredible work looking at the genetics of geladas in Ethiopia.

I love them so much. I think they have the best hair. Yeah, they're really beautiful animals.

...