Deming Yang

Deming Yang

@demingyang.bsky.social

Assistant Professor of Anatomy at Midwestern University. Hominin evolution, eastern Africa, faunal change, teeth, stable isotopes, and Bayesian models. Practical microbiologist, culinary enthusiast, photographer

142 followers191 following15 posts

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Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

Mini pig cuteness 🚨: we found fossils of a mini pig (Cainochoerus) in the southern Kenyan Rift, near Narok, the first reporting of Cainochoerus at the site (Lemudong’o). Link to the article @jvertpaleo.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1080/0272...

doi.orgThe first occurrence of Cainochoerus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Suidae) from the Late Miocene Lemudong’o Formation, KenyaCainochoerus is an extinct suid (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) taxon of very small size, found in multiple late Neogene sites in southern and eastern Africa. Despite its wide geographic distribution and ...

Deming Yang reposted

Kevin Hatala
@kevinhatala.bsky.social

New paper out in @pnas.org: Insights into hominin body size, locomotion, and behavior from Early Pleistocene trackways in northern Kenya. Link here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.orgInsights into hominin body size, locomotion, and behavior from Early Pleistocene trackways in northern Kenya | PNASThe Early Pleistocene fossils of the Koobi Fora Formation, northern Kenya, record two well-documented hominin genera, Homo and Paranthropus, preser...

Deming Yang reposted

Dorien de Vries
@paleodorien.bsky.social

Replying to @paleodorien.bsky.social

Thanks also to co-authors Robin Beck and Darin Croft for their contributions to this study and for discussions on mammals and teeth! You can find our Journal of Mammalian Evolution paper here: doi.org/10.1007/s109... 5/6

doi.orgDental topography and diet in marsupials and comparisons with primates - Journal of Mammalian EvolutionDental topography is a powerful tool for investigating the relationship between diet and tooth shape in mammals. Here, we test whether dental topographic metrics (DTMs) can accurately predict diet in marsupials based on 81 lower molars from 43 extant species in 12 families (six of the seven extant orders), and compare them to DTMs of primates with similar diets. DTMs tested included Dirichlet normal energy (DNE) and variants (ariaDNE, convex DNE, and ariaDNE CV), orientation patch count rotated (OPCR), and Relief Index (RFI). We also investigate the use of the ratio of trigonid to talonid height (TriTaHI) as an additional DTM. Notably, RFI and ariaDNE were less sensitive to sample composition and scanning modality than OPCR and ariaDNE CV were. For marsupials, highest dietary classification accuracy of the leave-one-out quadratic discriminant analysis was achieved by combining ariaDNE, RFI, molar size, and TriTaHI of lower second and third molars, resulting in 69.2% accuracy. In contrast, the primate sample of lower second molars reached highest classification accuracy (80.4%) when using only ariaDNE, RFI, and molar size. When using a clade-based cross-validated approach (i.e., using the primate sample to predict marsupial diets and vice versa), only ariaDNE, RFI, and molar size were needed to obtain the maximum classification accuracy (69.7% when classifying primates using the marsupial training set; and 61.8% vice versa). The comparative dataset of this study should prove useful for studies aiming to reconstruct the diets of fossil mammals that lack phylogenetically close extant analogues.

Deming Yang reposted

Rosemary Joyce
@rajoyce.bsky.social

NSF has led the way in complying in advance. They don’t need to assume the budget request will be what Congress implements.

Liz Neeley@lizneeley.bsky.social

"At an internal all-hands meeting on Friday, NSF leaders announced that they would dissolve the agency’s Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorate based on the budget request, according to two NSF staff members who shared information anonymously in order to speak freely"

Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

It was great working with folks at the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont on this communication article for our recent paper on Cainochoerus. Mini-pig with a big story: bit.ly/4rMinJb. Original article free to access at doi.org/10.1080/0272...

bit.lyMini-pig with a big story: A Dog-Sized Pig roamed Ancient KenyaThe extinct pig Cainochoerus inhabited eastern Africa during the late Miocene, around 6 million years ago and was remarkably small compared to modern African pigs. Now, a team of paleontologists reports the discovery of rare fossil jaws and teeth from the Lemudong’o site in the southern Kenyan Rift,...

Deming Yang reposted

The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

Meet our fall 2025 research grant recipients! Thanks to our donors, we awarded grants to 30 scientists exploring fundamental questions about human origins, including 17 PhD candidates at the start of their careers.

leakeyfoundation.orgIntroducing the fall 2025 Leakey Foundation research grant recipientsMeet the 30 scientists who received Fall 2025 research grants from The Leakey Foundation to study human origins, evolution, behavior, and survival.

Deming Yang reposted

W. Andrew Barr
@wabarr.bsky.social

I am really excited to share news of this new jaw...until now Paranthropus had been conspicuously absent from the Afar. Fieldwork at Mille-Logya is not easy, and this fossil is the result of years of very hard work (and a lot of days of dry screening by our team)! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comAfar fossil shows broad distribution and versatility of Paranthropus - NatureWith its attribution to Paranthropus, a 2.6-million-year-old partial mandible expands the range of the genus into the Afar region of Ethiopia and adds to our understanding of hominin evolution in east...
Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

Proud to be part of this study! Excellent team work from @stonybrooku.bsky.social @mwuanatomy.bsky.social @unm.edu and other institutions.

The Anatomical Record@anatrecord.bsky.social

KNM-ER 64061, most complete Homo habilis skeleton yet (Koobi Fora) shows primitive limb proportions: long forearms, thick cortices, small body mass & ~160 cm stature. Upper limbs like early Homo, but proportions differ from H. erectus Grine et al anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

I'm fortunate work with our amazing team that include Kyalo Manthi at National Museums of Kenya, Julia Arenson at Yale, Erin DiMaggio at Penn State, Stan Ambrose at UIUC, Antoine Souron at U Bordeaux, and Ashley Hammond at Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont

Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

Unlike most "mini pigs" on Instagram, Cainochoerus is a true mini pig, standing at ~knee height of a mid-sized human (image below). Unfortunately, it went extinct a few million years back. The fossils that we found consist of jaw fragments and teeth. More in the paper!

Deming Yang reposted

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
@jvertpaleo.bsky.social

🚨New Pub!🚨The first occurrence of Cainochoerus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Suidae) from the Late Miocene Lemudong’o Formation, Kenya🐷🇰🇪by Yang et al. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.comThe first occurrence of Cainochoerus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Suidae) from the Late Miocene Lemudong’o Formation, KenyaCainochoerus is an extinct suid (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) taxon of very small size, found in multiple late Neogene sites in southern and eastern Africa. Despite its wide geographic distribution and ...

Deming Yang reposted

Dr. Jaimi Gray
@jaimiagray.bsky.social

Hey folks out there who ❤️ to #CTscan things and ❤️ museums! the @amnh.org is hiring a Laboratory Manager for their Microscopy and Imaging Facility, a.k.a. the CT lab 🧪 careers.amnh.org/postings/4550

careers.amnh.orgLaboratory ManagerThe American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions, and has as its mission to discover, interpret and disseminate information about human cult...

Deming Yang reposted

MWU Anatomy
@mwuanatomy.bsky.social

New Publication Alert! Dr. Jieun Kim, Dr. Erin Leslie, and Dr. Hadiah Kedwaii (DO, MWU alumnus) have a new paper out in Forensic Science International. "Breaking the 50+ Barrier: Cortical Speed of Sound via Quantitative Ultrasound as a New Age-at-death Estimator in Older Adults"

Deming Yang reposted

MWU Anatomy
@mwuanatomy.bsky.social

The MWU Anatomy Department in Downers Grove welcomes our newest faculty member, Dr. Deming Yang! Dr. Yang earned his Ph.D. and M.A. from Stony Brook University and completed postdoctoral research fellowship at the American Museum of Natural History. (1/4)

Deming Yang reposted

MWU Anatomy
@mwuanatomy.bsky.social

A couple photos from the 2025 CGS Picnic, where the Anatomy Department retained our BEAST trophy for another year, thanks to Tyler Speer (CCOM '28) and Dr. Deming Yang!

Deming Yang reposted

Gavin Schmidt
@climateofgavin.bsky.social

AI in the DOE report? This ref (p29) is fake: Lee, S., Byrne, M. P., Loikith, P. C., & O’Dell, C. W. (2024). Zonal contrasts of the tropical Pacific climate predicted by a global constraint. Climate Dynamics, 62(1–2), 229–246. doi:10.1007/s00382-023-06741-7 www.realclimate.org/index.php/ar...

realclimate.orgRealClimate: The Endangerment of the Endangerment Finding?RealClimate: The EPA, along with the "Climate Working Group" (CWG) of usual suspects (plus Judith Curry and Ross McKitrick) at DOE, have just put out a document for public comment their attempt to res...

Deming Yang reposted

Jason West
@profjasonwest.bsky.social

Pass this on. I've signed up. This is what this is about: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/c...

nytimes.comEnergy Dept. Attacks Climate Science in Contentious Report
Andrew Dessler@andrewdessler.com

🚨 If you're interested in working on a coordinated response to the DOE climate report, please enter your info on this google form 🚨 Please RT this so as many people see it as possible. forms.gle/BL9xUAfRxA...

forms.gleDOE climate report response formWe are collecting names to assemble a writing team to respond to the DOE climate working group report. If you'd like to contribute, enter your info below. At this point, there is no guarantee what we'll do (if anything), but we want to keep our options open by collecting names. If you have any further questions, feel free to email me. We are primarily looking for Ph.D. scientists at universities or government labs in appropriate fields. I realize that this will exclude some qualified people and I apologize, but we felt this was necessary for a variety of reasons.

Deming Yang reposted

Dr Briana Pobiner
@brianapobiner.bsky.social

Anthropology collections manager job at the AMNH @amnh.org in New York! Additional info: A PhD (or PhD candidacy) is required to apply. Prior training in collections management and databases is essential. This is not a research position. Salary range $93-98k/year. careers.amnh.org/postings/4509

careers.amnh.orgCuratorial AssociateThe American Museum of Natural History is one of the world’s preeminent scientific and cultural institutions, and has as its mission to discover, interpret and disseminate information about human cult...

Deming Yang reposted

Nature Portfolio
@natureportfolio.nature.com

Most staple food crops are expected to experience substantial production losses due to climate change, even when mitigation measures to limit the impact of climate change are considered, according to a study in Nature. The study finds that only rice might avoid substantial losses. 🧪

go.nature.comImpacts of climate change on global agriculture accounting for adaptation - NatureAnalysis of data on six stable crops, capturing two-thirds of global crop calories, allows estimation of agricultural impacts and the potential of global producer adaptations to reduce output losses owing to climate change.

Deming Yang reposted

Carl Zimmer
@carlzimmer.com

A federal judge on Monday declared the Trump administration’s move to cut hundreds of grants issued by the National Institutes of Health illegal, accusing the government of discrimination against minorities and L.G.B.T.Q. individuals. nyti.ms/4jSIjOG

nyti.msTrump’s Cuts to N.I.H. Grants Are Illegal, Federal Judge RulesThe judge accused the Trump administration of discriminating against minorities and L.G.B.T.Q. people and ordered the government to restore much of the funding.

Deming Yang reposted

Lil Boo-kens 👻
@paleosol.bsky.social

Replying to @paleosol.bsky.social

So who are the winners? Very clearly AI takes the cake. $22M more would be added to AI programs in GEO (>1100% incr) [who really asked for this?] In contrast, the Global Change cross-cutting program would drop from $335M to $10M (-97%). OPP would drop from $161M to $12M (-93%).

Deming Yang reposted

Eos
@eos.org

Happy Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month from Eos!

Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

20 years ago, on April 22, 2005, Misha the zoo elephant was moved from Vallejo, CA to Salt Lake City, UT. Her relocation inspired a suite of studies about isotope turnover, including my recent one published in @commsbio.bsky.social Learn more about the study here: www.nature.com/articles/s42...

nature.comStrontium isotope mapping of elephant enamel supports an integrated microsampling-modeling workflow to reconstruct herbivore migrations - Communications BiologyComparisons of 87Sr/86Sr data from the tusk and molar enamel of a zoo elephant suggest that a microsampling-modeling workflow is the best practice strategy for geospatial reconstructions of seasonal m...

Deming Yang reposted

Paul Voosen
@voosen.me

BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency. Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.

science.orgTrump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agencyWhite House aims to end NOAA’s research office; NASA also targeted

Deming Yang reposted

David Malakoff
@davidmalakoff.bsky.social

NEW: The number of new grants handed out by the National Science Foundation since President Donald Trump took office has fallen by nearly 50% compared with the same 2-month period 1 year ago. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

science.orgNSF has awarded almost 50% fewer grants since Trump took officeThe reasons aren’t clear—and the agency’s director claims the president’s policies haven’t slowed grant awards

Deming Yang reposted

Science X / Phys.org
@sciencex.bsky.social

Geologists are using strontium isotope analysis from a zoo elephant's teeth to track large herbivore migrations, offering insights into both ancient and modern wildlife movement patterns. doi.org/g87t9p

phys.orgMisha the elephant lived in zoos, but her tooth enamel helps reconstruct wildlife migrationsTeeth recovered from a beloved zoo elephant that died in 2008 are helping University of Utah geologists develop a method for tracking the movements of large herbivores across landscapes, even for animals now extinct, such as mastodons and mammoths.
Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

The KSL also reported on our recent work published in @commsbio.bsky.social and what Misha can teach us about forensics and paleoecology: kslnewsradio.com/utah/misha-h... Our original paper: www.nature.com/articles/s42...

nature.comStrontium isotope mapping of elephant enamel supports an integrated microsampling-modeling workflow to reconstruct herbivore migrations - Communications BiologyComparisons of 87Sr/86Sr data from the tusk and molar enamel of a zoo elephant suggest that a microsampling-modeling workflow is the best practice strategy for geospatial reconstructions of seasonal m...
Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

The University of Utah @utah.edu wrote a great article about our recently published paper in Communications Biology. The link to the article here: attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff... The link to our original article here: www.nature.com/articles/s42...

attheu.utah.eduMisha lived in zoos, but the elephant’s tooth enamel helps reconstruct wildlife migrations - @theUUtah geologists show how strontium isotopes found in teeth or tusks reveal where large plant-eating animals have roamed.

Deming Yang reposted

The Leakey Foundation
@leakeyfoundation.org

Ever wondered what happens to your grant proposal once you submit it? Join a hands-on “mock review” workshop to learn about review processes at The Leakey Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. March 12 at #AABA2025. Registration is limited so act fast! @bioanth.org bit.ly/4havY78

bit.lyAABA Workshop in Baltimore: What happens to my grant proposal? Peek into the process through mock review!This workshop introduces early career scholars to the grant review process through mock review exercises with experienced panelists and representatives from Leakey and Wenner-Gren. Date and Time: Marc...
Deming Yang
@demingyang.bsky.social

This study uses a similar #Bayesian framework (BITS) that we published 2 years back! besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Thanks to the funding agencies NSF and @natural-history.bsky.social for the fellowship in supporting this research!

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.comBITS: A Bayesian Isotope Turnover and Sampling model for strontium isotopes in proboscideans and its potential utility in movement ecologyStrontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) of incrementally grown tissues have been widely used to study movement ecology and migration of animals. However, the time scale of 87Sr/86Sr incorporation fro...

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