While some of us today enjoy exploring our own family genealogy, paleoanthropologists study fossils of our evolutionary family members and try to identify our relatives in the deep past. How do they determine these evolutionary relationships, which now-extinct ancient species are more closely related to us, and which fossils belong to which species?

Dr. Bernard Wood, University Professor of Human Origins at the George Washington University, will explain how paleoanthropologists attempt to answer these questions.

Moderator: Briana Pobiner, paleoanthropologist and educator at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

This Zoom webinar with Dr. Bernard Wood aired live on May 21st 2026 as part of the ongoing "HOT (Human Origins Today) Topic" series.