PDFs

CV

• • Science B-27 (Human Evolution)
• • Life Sciences 2 (Evolutionary Human Anatomy and Physiology)
• • OEB 121a (Adv. Structure & Physiology of Vertebrates)
• • HEB 1420 (Human Anatomy)

 

 

I study how and why the human body looks the way it does.

Heads. Much of my research focuses on the unusual nature of the human head. Unlike other mammals, we have very large brains, nearly balanced heads with short vertical necks that attach near the center of the skull’s base, no snouts, external noses, small teeth, short round tongues, a descended larynx, and tiny faces that are tucked almost beneath the frontal lobes. How, when, and why did these features evolve? And what do they tell us about the selective forces that acted during human evolution?

Bodies. The human body below the neck is also unusual in several respects related to locomotion. I am especially interested in when, how and why early hominins first became bipeds, and then became so exceptional as long distance endurance runners.

- Our work on early hominins (Sahelanthropus) suggests that the first hominins were bipeds and that the origins of upright walking was a major factor that helped set humans on a novel evolutionary trajectory from the African apes.

- The evolution of human gait involves more than just walking. My research with Dennis Bramble and other colleagues, suggests that long distance endurance running played a key role in the evolution of the genus Homo. We have found and continue to study novel human features, from head to toe, that help us be great endurance runners, including spring-like arches in the foot, short toes, long tendons in the legs, a large gluteus maximus, unusually large joints in the legs and spine, a nuchal ligament connecting the head and neck, low and wide shoulders that are decoupled from the head, an elaboration of sweat glands, and loss of body fur.

Fossils, bones and experiments. I employ a host of experimental and comparative methods to examine how key human features grow and develop, how they function, how their function affects performance, and how and when they evolved. Major methods used in my lab include:
- morphological analyses of the fossil record
- comparative morphological analyses of other primates and mammals
- analyses of skeletal growth and development (at cellular, histological and macro levels)
- experimental biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system (kinematics, kinetics, strain, EMG, etc)

CURRENT PROJECTS INCLUDE:

• How humans run barefoot (and why it may be good for you)
• How changes in human diet affect how skulls grow and function
• How and why humans evolved capabilities for throwing
• How we stabilize our bodies during locomotion
• How heads grow, develop and are so evolvable
• And more…