Anthropology Colloquium with Prof. Benjamin Finkel, Lecturer at Dartmouth College
Growing Old in the Wild: Challenges and Evolution of Aging for Chimpanzees
Thursday, May 14, 2026
12:15pm - 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.