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ABSTRACT Here I review some of the newsworthy developments in biological anthropology for the year 2014. This review essay focuses broadly upon three areas: (1) the illumination of sexual harassment and assault issues in fieldwork settings by Clancy and colleagues (2014), (2) the abandonment of traditional concept of race in favor of a more sophisticated geographic and genetic view of ancestry in human populations, and (3) the increasing importance of using ancient DNA techniques toward an understanding of human prehistoric movements and adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT 2013 was a remarkable year in biological anthropology. From perplexing fossil hominin discoveries to revealing genome analyses, discussions of ethics in the field, and the continuing public dissemination of our work, we grappled with a lot both within and outside the academy. Here I explore some of these major accomplishments across four main themes: (1) new hominin finds and resulting consideration of the complex landscapes across which our various ancestors lived, adapted, and possibly interbred; (2) recent news from (nonhuman) primate evolution and contemporary primatological practice; (3) the demonstrated relevance of biological anthropology to anthropology with examples from integrative biocultural and ethnoprimatological approaches that move beyond dated subfield constraints; and (4) the value of social media and engagement of the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research produced in biological anthropology over the past year spans a dizzying array of topics, methodologies, and perspectives on human evolution and variation. In this essay, I attempt to encapsulate a slice of that research into a broader discussion of the discipline. In this view, what stands out most notably in the past year's research is the way in which new observations, the product of new technologies and new interactions across disciplinary and subdisciplinary boundaries, have dramatically shifted understandings of long-studied anthropological questions. The origin of modern humans, the evolution of human birth, and the locomotion of our hominin ancestors are just three topics that exemplify such changes in perspective over the past year. An additional shift within the discipline is the increasing importance of open access and online forums for the research process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]