Anthropology Colloquium w/ Prof. Benjamin Finkel, Dartmouth College

ANTH Colloquium w/ Prof. Benjamin Finkel 05/14/2026 12:15pm – Rocky 106. Growing Old in the Wild: Challenges and Evolution of Aging for Chimpanzees

Anthropology Colloquium with Prof. Benjamin Finkel, Lecturer at Dartmouth CollegeGrowing Old in the Wild: Challenges and Evolution of Aging for ChimpanzeesThursday, May 14, 202612:15pm – Rocky 106 Nature’s struggle for existence suggests that only the most fit may pass on their genes. So why then are the deteriorations of age, or senescence, universal biological phenomena? It turns out that in the wild, old animals persist across species. If evolution selects for vigor, are these elderly organisms even relevant to natural selection? In this talk, Prof. Finkel uses chimpanzees as a window into aging in the wild and the evolution of longevity, a hallmark of human evolution. He describes the challenges of growing old for male chimpanzees of Ngogo in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

Sponsored by: Anthropology Department