October 14, 2020
Javier Ortega-Hernández, Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology; Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
Earth is home to a vast diversity of organisms that collectively define the modern biosphere. How did this diversity come to be? Javier Ortega-Hernández will discuss his approach to answering this question by studying organisms that lived more than half a billion years ago in the Cambrian Period (541–485 million years ago). By focusing on the earliest-known animals—some of the most versatile to ever exist—Ortega-Hernández aims to reconstruct the early evolutionary history of major animal groups and contribute to our understanding of Earth’s biodiversity.
Evolution Matters Lecture Series
Series supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit