I am a biological anthropologist and paleontologist with interests in nonhuman primate anatomy and evolution. I study how individual development provides clues to behavior and to the "life history strategies" of extinct species. I use a variety of techniques to reconstruct the behavior and "lifeways" of extinct animals, with the ultimate goal of being able to reconstruct whole communities of primates in the past, and their transitions to the present. My particular expertise is the lemurs of Madagascar, where I have worked in the field for several decades. On this great island, I have worked with colleagues to better understand the recent extinctions of the "megafauna" (including the giant lemurs).
Articles
Genetic Diversity of Ixodid Ticks Parasitizing Eastern Mouse and Dwarf Lemurs in Madagascar, with Descriptions of the Larva, Nymph, and Male of Ixodes lemuris (Acari: Ixodidae) (with Marina B. Blanco, Mostafa A. Elfawal, Lance A. Durden, Lorenza Beati, Guang Xu, and Stephen M. Rich), Journal of Parasitology (2013)
The ixodid ticks parasitizing small-bodied nocturnal mouse and dwarf lemurs (Primates, Cheirogaleidae) in Madagascar are...
Imperfect Isolation: Factors and Filters Shaping Madagascar’s Extant Vertebrate Fauna (with Karen E. Samonds, Jason R. Ali, Steven M. Goodman, Miguel Vences, Michael R. Sutherland, Mitchell T. Irwin, and David W. Krause), PLOS One (2013)
Analyses of phylogenetic topology and estimates of divergence timing have facilitated a reconstruction of Madagascar’s...
A Glance to the Past: Subfossils, Stable Isotopes, Seed Dispersal, and Lemur Species Loss in Southern Madagascar (with B. E. Crowley and M. T. Irwin), American Journal of Primatology (2011)
The Spiny Thicket Ecoregion (STE) of Southern and southwestern Madagascar was recently home to numerous...
Morphometrics and Pattern of Growth in wild Sifakas (Propothecus Edwardsi) at Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar (with S. J. King, T. L. Morello, S. Arrigo-Nealson, F. J. Ratelolahy, J. Wyatt, S. Tecot, J. Jernvall, and P. C. Wright), American Journal of Primatology (2011)
We summarize morphometric data collected over a period of 22 years from a natural population...
A Structural Analysis of Feeding in Archaeolemur and Hadropithecus Using Finite Element Analysis (with E. R. Dumont and T. M. Ryan), American Journal of Physical Anthropology (2010)
Books
Scientists Confront Intelligent Disign and Creationanism (Paperback: Scientists Confront Creationism, Intelligent Design and Bryond) (with A. J. Petto) (2007)
In a time when creationist textbooks continue to appear in classrooms and the president of...
Dental Ontogeny and Life History Strategies (with A. J. Petto and M. R. Sutherland) (2002)
While investigating ecogeographic size variation in the extant and extinct lemurs of Madagascar (Albrechtet al.1990;...
Contributions to Books
Isotopic Variability and Lemur Diet in A Dry Madagascan Forest: A Cautionary Tale (with B. E. Crowley), Leaping Ahead: Advances in Prosimian Biology (2013)
With the increasing use of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope variations in studies of prosimian...
Coprolites Associated with Archaeolemur Remains in North-Western Madagascar Suggest Dietary Diversity and Cave Use in a Subfossil Prosimian (with N. Vasey and D. A. Burney), Leaping Ahead: Advances in Prosimian Biology (2013)
Subfossil fecal pellets associated with Archaeolemur cf. edwardsi skeletal material from Anjohikely Cave in north-western...
Life History Variation in Madagascar’s Giant Extinct Lemurs (with Gary T. Schwartz, William L. Jungers, Kierstin K. Catlett, Karen E. Samonds, Stephen J. King, Kathleen M. Muldoon, Mitchell T. Irwin, and David A. Burney), Leaping Ahead: Advances in Prosimian Biology (2013)
Demise of the Bet Hedgers: A Case Study of Human Impacts on Past and Present Lemurs of Madagascar (with E. Rasoazanabary), The Anthropology of Extinction: Essays on Culture and Species Death (2011)
We live in an era marked by an accelerating rate of species death, but since...