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Anthropological Debate: Why Do Humans Have Chins?

Sean Dreilinger / flickr
Only modern humans have chins. Why?

We all have chins, but why humans have chins when other species don’t, is controversial. It’s also the focus of research at the University of Iowa.

On this News Buzz edition of River to River, Ben Kieffer discusses the great anthropological chin debate with Bob Franciscus, UI professor of anthropology.

“Natural selection is not an engineer, but a tinkerer," says Franciscus.

Other stories this segment: Katie Olthoff of the Iowa Turkey Foundation talks about the threat of avian flu to turkey flocks in the state, and Grant Rodgers of the Des Moines Register shares an update on the trial of a Norwalk man accused of hacking the lottery to win $14 million.

Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River