I am a biological anthropologist and a vertebrate paleontologist with research interests in the phylogeny, functional morphology, dental development and life history of Primates. I do fieldwork in vertebrate paleontology across the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in the Great Divide Basin of southwestern Wyoming. Recently I have been exploring applications of Geographic Information Sciences to vertebrate paleontology. Supervisors: Gerald Eck and Daris Swindler Phone: office 336-256-1189 Address: Department of Anthropology University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC 27412
The publication of a new volume in the Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series provides an op... more The publication of a new volume in the Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature and breadth of our discipline. According to the publisher, the aim of this series is to offer “comprehensive syntheses of the traditional subdisciplines, primary subjects, and geographic areas of inquiry…and a cutting edge guide to the emerging research and intellectual trends in the field as a whole.” In this, the seventh title in the series, editor Clark Spencer Larsen and a large (N = 40), diverse group of authors have succeeded brilliantly in describing the wide range of issues and themes of interest to biological anthropologists, as well as summarizing what we know, and sometimes what we don't know, about these questions. As the editor explicitly points out in his Introduction, the central paradigm of biological anthropology is evolutionary theory. I should say that I use the term paradigm in the sense of a lens or explanatory framework with wh...
Most vertebrate fossils are rare and difficult to find and although paleontologists and paleoanth... more Most vertebrate fossils are rare and difficult to find and although paleontologists and paleoanthropologists use geological maps to identify potential fossil-bearing deposits, the process of locating fossiliferous localities often involves a great deal of luck. One way to reduce the role of serendipity is to develop predictive models that increase the likelihood of locating fossils by identifying combinations of geological, geospatial, and spectral features that are common to productive localities. We applied GEographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) of high resolution QuickBird and medium resolution images from the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) along with GIS data such as slope and surface geology layers to identify potentially productive Eocene vertebrate fossil localities in the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming. The spectral and spatial characteristics of the image objects that represent a highly productive locality (WMU-VP-222) were used to extract similar image objects in the area covered by the high resolution imagery and throughout the basin using the Landsat imagery. During the 2013 summer field season, twenty-six locations that would not have been spotted from the road in a traditional ground survey were visited. Fourteen of the eighteen localities that were fossiliferous were identified by the predictive model. In 2014, the GEOBIA techniques were applied to Landsat 8 imagery of the entire basin, correctly identifying six new productive localities in a previously unsurveyed part of the basin.
The condylarths, or archaic ungulates, are a paraphyletic mammalian group including a number of f... more The condylarths, or archaic ungulates, are a paraphyletic mammalian group including a number of fossil taxa whose relationships are unresolved. Included are two genera from the Paleocene and Eocene of North America, Meniscotherium and Phenacodus. Some workers place both genera in the family Phenacodontidae, while others exclude the highly dentally derived Meniscotherium. In this study, we use growth increments in histological thin sections to examine the timing of crown formation in five molars of Meniscotherium and one each of Phenacodusintermedius and Phenacodus trilobatus. We also use perikymata counts on an additional six molars of Meniscotherium. Although estimated body mass and molar dimensions in Meniscotherium are smaller than in either species of Phenacodus, molar formation times are longer, ranging from 0.71 to 1.44 years. Both Phenacodus molars take less than a year to form. Crown extension rates, the rate at which the crown grows in height, are as low as 3-15 microm per ...
Successful identification of fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits in the field typically requires ... more Successful identification of fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits in the field typically requires expert knowledge in geology and anatomy and some degree of luck. One way to reduce the role of serendipity is to develop an empirical model that increases the likelihood of locating productive fossil-bearing deposits by identifying combinations of geological, geospatial and spectral features that are common to productive localities.
New associated craniodental and postcranial remains of Omomys carteri from Bridger C beds in Uint... more New associated craniodental and postcranial remains of Omomys carteri from Bridger C beds in Uinta County, Wyoming represent the largest and most nearly complete single taxon sample of omomyid postcranial fossils presently known. They allow, for the first time, a description and detailed analysis of the functional morphology of the hindlimb of this middle Eocene omomyine primate. Comparisons of pelvic, femoral, tibial, and pedal morphology and metrics with a large sample of prosimian primates of known locomotor behavior suggest that Omomys possessed a highly distinctive mosaic of functional adaptations related to active quadrupedalism and leaping. Traits suggestive of quadrupedalism include the lengths of the ischium and ilium, position of the femoral trochanters, and lengths and features of the tarsal bones. Morphological traits that suggest leaping include a semi-cylindrical femoral head with moderate posterior expansion of the articular surface, greater trochanter projecting anterior to the femoral shaft, deeper than wide femoral condyles, narrow and deep patellar groove with prominent lateral border, elongated calcaneus, and close aposition of distal tibia and fibula. While Omomys most closely resembles active quadrupedal cheirogaleids like Cheirogaleus and Mirza, leaping must have been an important component of its locomotor repertoire. In this respect, Omomys closely resembles other North American omomyines (notably Hemiacodon), and is significantly more generalized postcranially than European microchoerines (e.g., Microchoerus, Nannopithex, and Necrolemur).
Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 2011
Chance and serendipity have long played a role in the location of productive fossil localities by... more Chance and serendipity have long played a role in the location of productive fossil localities by vertebrate paleontologists and paleoanthropologists. We offer an alternative approach, informed by methods borrowed from the geographic information sciences and using recent advances in computer science, to more efficiently predict where fossil localities might be found. Our model uses an artificial neural network (ANN) that is trained to recognize the spectral characteristics of known productive localities and other land cover classes, such as forest, wetlands, and scrubland, within a study area based on the analysis of remotely sensed (RS) imagery. Using these spectral signatures, the model then classifies other pixels throughout the study area. The results of the neural network classification can be examined and further manipulated within a geographic information systems (GIS) software package. While we have developed and tested this model on fossil mammal localities in deposits of Paleocene and Eocene age in the Great Divide Basin of southwestern Wyoming, a similar analytical approach can be easily applied to fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits of any age in any part of the world. We suggest that new analytical tools and methods of the geographic sciences, including remote sensing and geographic information systems, are poised to greatly enrich paleoanthropological investigations, and that these new methods should be embraced by field workers in the search for, and geospatial analysis of, fossil primates and hominins.
The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a w... more The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a welcome trend for the study of primate and human evolution. The use of remote sensing (RS) imagery and geographic information systems (GIS) allows vertebrate paleontologists, paleoanthropologists, and functional morphologists to study fossil localities, landscapes, and individual specimens in new and innovative ways that recognize and analyze the spatial nature of much paleoanthropological data. Whether one is interested in locating and mapping fossiliferous rock units in the field, creating a searchable and georeferenced database to catalog fossil localities and specimens, or studying the functional morphology of fossil teeth, bones, or artifacts, the new geospatial sciences provide an essential element in modern paleoanthropological inquiry. In this article we review recent successful applications of RS and GIS within paleoanthropology and related fields and argue for the importance of these methods for the study of human evolution in the twenty first century. We argue that the time has come for inclusion of geospatial specialists in all interdisciplinary field research in paleoanthropology, and suggest some promising areas of development and application of the methods of geospatial science to the science of human evolution. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 54: 19-46, 2011.
Chance and serendipity have long played a role in the location of productive fossil localities by... more Chance and serendipity have long played a role in the location of productive fossil localities by vertebrate paleontologists and paleoanthropologists. We offer an alternative approach, informed by methods borrowed from the geographic information sciences and using recent advances in computer science, to more efficiently predict where fossil localities might be found. Our model uses an artificial neural network (ANN) that is trained to recognize the spectral characteristics of known productive localities and other land cover classes, such as forest, wetlands, and scrubland, within a study area based on the analysis of remotely sensed (RS) imagery. Using these spectral signatures, the model then classifies other pixels throughout the study area. The results of the neural network classification can be examined and further manipulated within a geographic information systems (GIS) software package. While we have developed and tested this model on fossil mammal localities in deposits of P...
The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a w... more The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a welcome trend for the study of primate and human evolution. The use of remote sensing (RS) imagery and geographic information systems (GIS) allows vertebrate paleontologists, paleoanthropologists, and functional morphologists to study fossil localities, landscapes, and individual specimens in new and innovative ways that recognize and analyze the spatial nature of much paleoanthropological data. Whether one is interested in locating and mapping fossiliferous rock units in the field, creating a searchable and georeferenced database to catalog fossil localities and specimens, or studying the functional morphology of fossil teeth, bones, or artifacts, the new geospatial sciences provide an essential element in modern paleoanthropological inquiry. In this article we review recent successful applications of RS and GIS within paleoanthropology and related fields and argue for the importance of ...
2012) Let your fingers do the walking: a simple spectral signature model for "remote" fossil pros... more 2012) Let your fingers do the walking: a simple spectral signature model for "remote" fossil prospecting.
The Clarkforkian (latest Paleocene) North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) remains a relatively p... more The Clarkforkian (latest Paleocene) North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) remains a relatively poorly sampled biostratigraphic interval at the close of the Paleocene epoch that is best known from the Bighorn Basin of northwestern Wyoming. A period of global warming between the cooler early and middle Paleocene and the extreme warming of the early Eocene, the Clarkforkian witnessed significant floral and faunal turnover with important ramifications for the development of Cenozoic biotas. The combination of warming global climates with mammalian turnover (including likely intercontinental dispersals) marks the Clarkforkian and the succeeding Wasatchian (Earliest Eocene) NALMAs as periods of intense interest to paleobiologists and other earth scientists concerned with aspects of biostratigraphy and with the biotic effects of climate change in the past. In this paper we describe a new Clarkforkian mammalian fauna from the Great Divide Basin of southwestern Wyoming with some surprising ...
The publication of a new volume in the Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series provides an op... more The publication of a new volume in the Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature and breadth of our discipline. According to the publisher, the aim of this series is to offer “comprehensive syntheses of the traditional subdisciplines, primary subjects, and geographic areas of inquiry…and a cutting edge guide to the emerging research and intellectual trends in the field as a whole.” In this, the seventh title in the series, editor Clark Spencer Larsen and a large (N = 40), diverse group of authors have succeeded brilliantly in describing the wide range of issues and themes of interest to biological anthropologists, as well as summarizing what we know, and sometimes what we don't know, about these questions. As the editor explicitly points out in his Introduction, the central paradigm of biological anthropology is evolutionary theory. I should say that I use the term paradigm in the sense of a lens or explanatory framework with wh...
The publication of a new volume in the Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series provides an op... more The publication of a new volume in the Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature and breadth of our discipline. According to the publisher, the aim of this series is to offer “comprehensive syntheses of the traditional subdisciplines, primary subjects, and geographic areas of inquiry…and a cutting edge guide to the emerging research and intellectual trends in the field as a whole.” In this, the seventh title in the series, editor Clark Spencer Larsen and a large (N = 40), diverse group of authors have succeeded brilliantly in describing the wide range of issues and themes of interest to biological anthropologists, as well as summarizing what we know, and sometimes what we don't know, about these questions. As the editor explicitly points out in his Introduction, the central paradigm of biological anthropology is evolutionary theory. I should say that I use the term paradigm in the sense of a lens or explanatory framework with wh...
Most vertebrate fossils are rare and difficult to find and although paleontologists and paleoanth... more Most vertebrate fossils are rare and difficult to find and although paleontologists and paleoanthropologists use geological maps to identify potential fossil-bearing deposits, the process of locating fossiliferous localities often involves a great deal of luck. One way to reduce the role of serendipity is to develop predictive models that increase the likelihood of locating fossils by identifying combinations of geological, geospatial, and spectral features that are common to productive localities. We applied GEographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) of high resolution QuickBird and medium resolution images from the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) along with GIS data such as slope and surface geology layers to identify potentially productive Eocene vertebrate fossil localities in the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming. The spectral and spatial characteristics of the image objects that represent a highly productive locality (WMU-VP-222) were used to extract similar image objects in the area covered by the high resolution imagery and throughout the basin using the Landsat imagery. During the 2013 summer field season, twenty-six locations that would not have been spotted from the road in a traditional ground survey were visited. Fourteen of the eighteen localities that were fossiliferous were identified by the predictive model. In 2014, the GEOBIA techniques were applied to Landsat 8 imagery of the entire basin, correctly identifying six new productive localities in a previously unsurveyed part of the basin.
The condylarths, or archaic ungulates, are a paraphyletic mammalian group including a number of f... more The condylarths, or archaic ungulates, are a paraphyletic mammalian group including a number of fossil taxa whose relationships are unresolved. Included are two genera from the Paleocene and Eocene of North America, Meniscotherium and Phenacodus. Some workers place both genera in the family Phenacodontidae, while others exclude the highly dentally derived Meniscotherium. In this study, we use growth increments in histological thin sections to examine the timing of crown formation in five molars of Meniscotherium and one each of Phenacodusintermedius and Phenacodus trilobatus. We also use perikymata counts on an additional six molars of Meniscotherium. Although estimated body mass and molar dimensions in Meniscotherium are smaller than in either species of Phenacodus, molar formation times are longer, ranging from 0.71 to 1.44 years. Both Phenacodus molars take less than a year to form. Crown extension rates, the rate at which the crown grows in height, are as low as 3-15 microm per ...
Successful identification of fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits in the field typically requires ... more Successful identification of fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits in the field typically requires expert knowledge in geology and anatomy and some degree of luck. One way to reduce the role of serendipity is to develop an empirical model that increases the likelihood of locating productive fossil-bearing deposits by identifying combinations of geological, geospatial and spectral features that are common to productive localities.
New associated craniodental and postcranial remains of Omomys carteri from Bridger C beds in Uint... more New associated craniodental and postcranial remains of Omomys carteri from Bridger C beds in Uinta County, Wyoming represent the largest and most nearly complete single taxon sample of omomyid postcranial fossils presently known. They allow, for the first time, a description and detailed analysis of the functional morphology of the hindlimb of this middle Eocene omomyine primate. Comparisons of pelvic, femoral, tibial, and pedal morphology and metrics with a large sample of prosimian primates of known locomotor behavior suggest that Omomys possessed a highly distinctive mosaic of functional adaptations related to active quadrupedalism and leaping. Traits suggestive of quadrupedalism include the lengths of the ischium and ilium, position of the femoral trochanters, and lengths and features of the tarsal bones. Morphological traits that suggest leaping include a semi-cylindrical femoral head with moderate posterior expansion of the articular surface, greater trochanter projecting anterior to the femoral shaft, deeper than wide femoral condyles, narrow and deep patellar groove with prominent lateral border, elongated calcaneus, and close aposition of distal tibia and fibula. While Omomys most closely resembles active quadrupedal cheirogaleids like Cheirogaleus and Mirza, leaping must have been an important component of its locomotor repertoire. In this respect, Omomys closely resembles other North American omomyines (notably Hemiacodon), and is significantly more generalized postcranially than European microchoerines (e.g., Microchoerus, Nannopithex, and Necrolemur).
Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 2011
Chance and serendipity have long played a role in the location of productive fossil localities by... more Chance and serendipity have long played a role in the location of productive fossil localities by vertebrate paleontologists and paleoanthropologists. We offer an alternative approach, informed by methods borrowed from the geographic information sciences and using recent advances in computer science, to more efficiently predict where fossil localities might be found. Our model uses an artificial neural network (ANN) that is trained to recognize the spectral characteristics of known productive localities and other land cover classes, such as forest, wetlands, and scrubland, within a study area based on the analysis of remotely sensed (RS) imagery. Using these spectral signatures, the model then classifies other pixels throughout the study area. The results of the neural network classification can be examined and further manipulated within a geographic information systems (GIS) software package. While we have developed and tested this model on fossil mammal localities in deposits of Paleocene and Eocene age in the Great Divide Basin of southwestern Wyoming, a similar analytical approach can be easily applied to fossil-bearing sedimentary deposits of any age in any part of the world. We suggest that new analytical tools and methods of the geographic sciences, including remote sensing and geographic information systems, are poised to greatly enrich paleoanthropological investigations, and that these new methods should be embraced by field workers in the search for, and geospatial analysis of, fossil primates and hominins.
The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a w... more The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a welcome trend for the study of primate and human evolution. The use of remote sensing (RS) imagery and geographic information systems (GIS) allows vertebrate paleontologists, paleoanthropologists, and functional morphologists to study fossil localities, landscapes, and individual specimens in new and innovative ways that recognize and analyze the spatial nature of much paleoanthropological data. Whether one is interested in locating and mapping fossiliferous rock units in the field, creating a searchable and georeferenced database to catalog fossil localities and specimens, or studying the functional morphology of fossil teeth, bones, or artifacts, the new geospatial sciences provide an essential element in modern paleoanthropological inquiry. In this article we review recent successful applications of RS and GIS within paleoanthropology and related fields and argue for the importance of these methods for the study of human evolution in the twenty first century. We argue that the time has come for inclusion of geospatial specialists in all interdisciplinary field research in paleoanthropology, and suggest some promising areas of development and application of the methods of geospatial science to the science of human evolution. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 54: 19-46, 2011.
Chance and serendipity have long played a role in the location of productive fossil localities by... more Chance and serendipity have long played a role in the location of productive fossil localities by vertebrate paleontologists and paleoanthropologists. We offer an alternative approach, informed by methods borrowed from the geographic information sciences and using recent advances in computer science, to more efficiently predict where fossil localities might be found. Our model uses an artificial neural network (ANN) that is trained to recognize the spectral characteristics of known productive localities and other land cover classes, such as forest, wetlands, and scrubland, within a study area based on the analysis of remotely sensed (RS) imagery. Using these spectral signatures, the model then classifies other pixels throughout the study area. The results of the neural network classification can be examined and further manipulated within a geographic information systems (GIS) software package. While we have developed and tested this model on fossil mammal localities in deposits of P...
The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a w... more The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a welcome trend for the study of primate and human evolution. The use of remote sensing (RS) imagery and geographic information systems (GIS) allows vertebrate paleontologists, paleoanthropologists, and functional morphologists to study fossil localities, landscapes, and individual specimens in new and innovative ways that recognize and analyze the spatial nature of much paleoanthropological data. Whether one is interested in locating and mapping fossiliferous rock units in the field, creating a searchable and georeferenced database to catalog fossil localities and specimens, or studying the functional morphology of fossil teeth, bones, or artifacts, the new geospatial sciences provide an essential element in modern paleoanthropological inquiry. In this article we review recent successful applications of RS and GIS within paleoanthropology and related fields and argue for the importance of ...
2012) Let your fingers do the walking: a simple spectral signature model for "remote" fossil pros... more 2012) Let your fingers do the walking: a simple spectral signature model for "remote" fossil prospecting.
The Clarkforkian (latest Paleocene) North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) remains a relatively p... more The Clarkforkian (latest Paleocene) North American Land Mammal Age (NALMA) remains a relatively poorly sampled biostratigraphic interval at the close of the Paleocene epoch that is best known from the Bighorn Basin of northwestern Wyoming. A period of global warming between the cooler early and middle Paleocene and the extreme warming of the early Eocene, the Clarkforkian witnessed significant floral and faunal turnover with important ramifications for the development of Cenozoic biotas. The combination of warming global climates with mammalian turnover (including likely intercontinental dispersals) marks the Clarkforkian and the succeeding Wasatchian (Earliest Eocene) NALMAs as periods of intense interest to paleobiologists and other earth scientists concerned with aspects of biostratigraphy and with the biotic effects of climate change in the past. In this paper we describe a new Clarkforkian mammalian fauna from the Great Divide Basin of southwestern Wyoming with some surprising ...
The publication of a new volume in the Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series provides an op... more The publication of a new volume in the Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature and breadth of our discipline. According to the publisher, the aim of this series is to offer “comprehensive syntheses of the traditional subdisciplines, primary subjects, and geographic areas of inquiry…and a cutting edge guide to the emerging research and intellectual trends in the field as a whole.” In this, the seventh title in the series, editor Clark Spencer Larsen and a large (N = 40), diverse group of authors have succeeded brilliantly in describing the wide range of issues and themes of interest to biological anthropologists, as well as summarizing what we know, and sometimes what we don't know, about these questions. As the editor explicitly points out in his Introduction, the central paradigm of biological anthropology is evolutionary theory. I should say that I use the term paradigm in the sense of a lens or explanatory framework with wh...
Education Ph.D. University of Washington Biological Anthropology March 1988 B.A. University of Or... more Education Ph.D. University of Washington Biological Anthropology March 1988 B.A. University of Oregon Anthropology December 1976 Miami University, Ohio 1972-1975 Dissertation "The Functional Morphology of the Prosimian Hindlimb: Some Correlates Between Anatomy and Positional Behavior" Thesis Advisor: Gerald G. Eck. Committee: Daris R. Swindler (deceased), John M. Rensberger, Peter A. Nute (deceased)
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