The Evolution of Sex and Gender

Speaker Chase Mendenhall, Assistant Curator of Birds at Carnegie Museum of Natural History

In recent decades plants and animals have revealed far more diversity in their bodies and behaviors than Darwin ever imagined, especially when it comes to cooperating to make and raise offspring. From bacteria to bonobos we will explore the fundamental questions of why sex evolved, how bodies are built, and how gender develops from sex. Using the science of cooperation and evidence from our natural history, we will examine what it means to be an individual, a male, a female, or part of a family or group. Finally, I will share how natural selection works on groups of organisms to give rise to functional organization like multicellularity, sociality, and civilization.

To take place in the Earth Theater