“The Evolution of Man”. Lecturer: Spyros Sfendourakis, Professor of Ecology and Biodiversity, University of Cyprus.

This talk focuses on the particular branch of the tree of life that leads to the modern human. We will examine who were our distant ancestors, how they evolved during the past few million years, and we will discuss the factors that played an important role in this evolutionary process. Coming to the modern human, we will look into his relations with the other hominids which he co-existed with for quite a long period of time, and we will take a closer look at the perception we have today on how he managed to reach and settle in every part of our planet. Finally, we will discuss the consequences of our evolutionary process on who we are and how we conduct ourselves today.