Elwyn L. Simons, Professor Emeritus

Elwyn L. Simons

I am interested in the history, general biology, and behavior of living and extinct primates. My primary research concerns focus on the early evolution of anthropoids based on craniodental and postcranial remains that have recently been discovered in the late Eocene and early Oligocene sites of the Fayum Depression, Egypt; the paleoecology, dating, taphonomy, anatomy, and relationships of extinct placentals from these sites; dating, extinctions, anatomy, and relationships of giant subfossil lemurs of Madagascar; behavioral and conservation studies of extant Malagasy lemurs; the evolutionary history and relationships of middle and late Tertiary apes, as well as Plio-Pleistocene hominids. I have conducted paleontological fieldwork in India, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Spain, Madagascar, and the western United States, and have ongoing field projects in the Paleogene of Egypt, the Miocene of India, the subfossil sites of Madagascar, and the Eocene of Wyoming.

Office Location:  Dlc Biological Sciences Building
Email Address: send me a message
Web Page:  http://www.fossils.duke.edu

Education:

D.Sc.University College, Oxford1995
D. PhilUniversity College, Oxford1959
Ph.D.Princeton University1956
Specialties:

Primate Paleontology & Morphology
Primate Biology
Research Interests: Anthropoid origins and evolution

Current projects: Fayum paleoanthropology

Dr. Elwyn L. Simons is primarily interested in the history, general biology, and behavior of living and extinct primates. His primary research concerns focus on the early evolution of anthropoids in the late Eocene and early Oligocene of the Fayum Depression, Egypt; the paleoecology, dating, taphonomy, anatomy, and relationships of extinct placentals from these sites; dating, extinctions, anatomy, and relationships of giant subfossil lemurs of Madagascar; behavioral and conservation studies of extant Malagasy lemurs; the evolutionary history and relationships of middle and late Tertiary apes, as well as Plio-Pleistocene hominids. Dr. Simons has led over 70 field expeditions to Egypt, Madagascar, India, Iran, Nepal, and Wyoming.

He has held professional appointments at Yale University (1960-1977), Duke University (1977- present), and was the Director of the Duke Primate Center (1977-1991) and Scientific Director (1991- 2001). He has authored nearly 300 scientific publications and is the holder of many high honors. Dr. Simons is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, as well as many other professional associations. He was elected a “Knight of the National Order” by the government of Madagascar and has been the recipient of many awards including the prestigious Charles R. Darwin Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.

Areas of Interest:

Paleontology
Primate Evolution
Anthropoid Evolution
Primate Ecology/Conservation

I am interested in the biology and behavior of living and fossil primates, the diversification of archaic mammals, the origin and radiation of both anthropoideans and Hominidae, and in primate conservation and behavior. My publications have contributed to the understanding of primate history, dating and paleo-environmental context, particularly of Eocene primates of Europe and North America and of the wide variety of Eocene/ Oligocene primates from Egypt that include the earliest well-known higher primates. These contributions deal particularly with the timing and nature of anthropoid origins and diversification. Over the years I have published extensively about the Old World radiation of Miocene-Pliocene apes and its relationship to origin of Hominidae. Several symposia on hominid evolution were organized by me, and I have held a life-long interest in both researching and teaching about various aspects of hominid evolution. I have contributed much to details of primate classification and have described many genera and species. I have also carried out projects dealing with the description, classification, behavior, reproduction, and captive conservation of living prosimians and the anatomy, dating, environments, and causes of extinction of the extinct giant lemurs of Madagascar. I am interested in the conservation of living primates.

Keywords:

Activity Cycles • Adaptation, Physiological • Africa • Allometry • Animals • Anovulation • Anthropoid • Anthropology, Physical • Bicuspid • Biogeography • Biological Evolution • Biometry • Birth Intervals • Blood Cell Count • Blood Chemical Analysis • Body Constitution • Body Size • Body Temperature • Body Weight • Bone and Bones • Cercopithecidae • Cuspid • Dental Enamel • Dental Occlusion • Dentition • Diet • Egypt • Facial Bones • Fayum • Female • Femur • Foot • Fossils • Frontal Bone • Fruit • Galago • Haplorhini • Hematologic Tests • History, 17th Century • History, 20th Century • History, Ancient • Humerus • Incisor • Insects • Karyotyping • Lactation • Lemur • Lemurs • Locomotion • Lorisidae • Macaques • Madagascar • Male • Mandible • Mastication • Maxilla • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning • Molar • Occipital Bone • Omomyidae • Ontogeny • Orbit • Paleodontology • Paleontology • Phylogeny • Pregnancy • Primate • Primates • Puerperal Disorders • Reference Values • Senegal • Sex Characteristics • Shape • Size • Skull • Species Specificity • Strepsirhini • Talus • Tarsometatarsus • Temporal Bone • Tooth • Tooth Abrasion • Tooth Eruption • United States • Vertebrae • Vertebrate • Vocalization, Animal • Zygoma

Current Ph.D. Students  

Recently Featured in:

Representative Publications   (search)

  1. ER Seiffert, EL Simons and Y Attia, Fossil evidence for an ancient divergence of lorises and galagos., Nature, vol. 422 no. 6930 (2003), pp. 421-424, ISSN 0028-0836 [12660781], [doi]  [abs]
  2. EL Simons, The cranium of Parapithecus grangeri, an Egyptian Oligocene anthropoidean primate., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 98 no. 14 (2001), pp. 7892-7897, ISSN 0027-8424 [11438736], [doi]  [abs]
  3. EL Simons, ER Seiffert, PS Chatrath and Y Attia, Earliest record of a parapithecid anthropoid from the Jebel Qatrani formation, Northern Egypt., Folia Primatol (Basel), vol. 72 no. 6 (2002), pp. 316-331, ISSN 0015-5713 [11964500]  [abs]
  4. ER Seiffert and EL Simons, Astragalar morphology of late Eocene anthropoids from the Fayum Depression (Egypt) and the origin of catarrhine primates., J Hum Evol, vol. 41 no. 6 (2001), pp. 577-606, ISSN 0047-2484 [11782110], [doi]  [abs]
  5. ER Seiffert, EL Simons and JG Fleagle, Anthropoid humeri from the late Eocene of Egypt., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 97 no. 18 (2000), pp. 10062-10067, ISSN 0027-8424 [10963669]  [abs]
  6. EL Simons and ER Seiffert, A partial skeleton of Proteopithecus sylviae (Primates, Anthropoidea): first associated dental and postcranial remains of an Eocene anthropoidean, Comptes Rendus De L'Academie Des Sciences Serie II Fascicule a- Sciences De La Terre Et Des Planetes, COMPTES RENDUS DE L ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES SERIE II FASCICULE A-SCIENCES DE LA TERRE ET DES PLANETES, vol. 329 no. 12 (1999), pp. 921-927, ISSN 1251-8050 [Gateway.cgi], [doi]
  7. EL Simons, JM Plavcan and JG Fleagle, Canine sexual dimorphism in Egyptian Eocene anthropoid primates: Catopithecus and Proteopithecus., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 96 no. 5 (1999), pp. 2559-2562, ISSN 0027-8424 [10051682]  [abs]
  8. EL Simons, The prosimian fauna of the fayum Eocene/Oligocene deposits of Egypt, FOLIA PRIMATOLOGICA, vol. 69 (1998), pp. 286-294, ISSN 0015-5713 [Gateway.cgi]
  9. EL Simons, Preliminary description of the cranium of Proteopithecus sylviae, an Egyptian late Eocene anthropoidean primate., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 94 no. 26 (1997), pp. 14970-14975, ISSN 0027-8424 [9405723]  [abs]
  10. EL Simons and DT Rasmussen, Skull of Catopithecus browni, an early tertiary catarrhine., Am J Phys Anthropol, vol. 100 no. 2 (1996), pp. 261-292, ISSN 0002-9483 [8771315], [doi]  [abs]
  11. RE Wunderlich, EL Simons and WL Jungers, New pedal remains of Megaladapis and their functional significance, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, vol. 100 no. 1 (1996), pp. 115-138, ISSN 0002-9483 [Gateway.cgi], [doi]