#  HEB Colloquium: Guest speaker Professor Christian Rutz 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **December 12, 2019** 

 04:00PM - 05:15PM EST 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Science Center Hall A**  



 

 



 

 Speaker:

 Professor Christian Rutz, Harvard Radcliffe Fellow 2019-2020 & Professor of Biology, University of St. Andrews

 Abstract:

 Within a mere ~100,000 years, human technology has advanced from basic, hand-crafted hunting and subsistence tools, to truly mind-boggling feats of engineering, like super computers and space shuttles. This astonishing progress, towards ever-more complex and efficient designs, is driven by the gradual accumulation of innovations. Although often considered a uniquely human phenomenon, at least two non-human species appear to exhibit signs of cumulative technological advancement – our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, and a tropical bird species, the New Caledonian crow. In this talk, I will examine the possibility that New Caledonian crows may possess a rudimentary form of “cumulative material culture”, taking stock of several decades of observational and experimental evidence. If you are curious about my verdict, you feel that chimpanzees provide a compelling case, you are doubtful that any non-human species exhibits cumulative material culture, or you are generally interested in cumulative culture and technological evolution, please come to my talk – I look forward to a lively debate.



 

 



 

 See also:- [ Public Lectures ](/events/public-lectures)
 
 

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