Blythe A. Williams, Associate Professor of the Practice

Contact Info:

Office Location:	0013 Biological Sciences Building
Office Phone:	(919) 660-7385
Email Address:

Teaching (Fall 2012):  (typical courses)

• EVANTH 235L.001, PRIMATE ANATOMY Synopsis

  Bio Sci 130, TuTh 11:45 AM-01:00 PM

• EVANTH 235L.01L, PRIMATE ANATOMY Synopsis

  Bio Sci 013, Tu 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

• EVANTH 235L.02L, PRIMATE ANATOMY Synopsis

  Bio Sci 013, Th 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

• EVANTH 590S.01, SP TOPICS Synopsis

  Bio Sci 013, W 10:05 AM-12:35 PM

Education:

Ph.D.	University of Colorado, Boulder	1994
M.A.	University of Colorado, Boulder	1989
B.A.	Hamline University	1983

Specialties:

Primate Paleontology & Morphology
Primate Biology
Evolution of Primate Behavior
Paleoanthropology

Research Interests: Primate and human evolution; Paleontology; Systematics and adaptations of primates

Current projects: Evolution of anthropoid primates, Effects of climate change on primate evolution in the Cenozoic, Primate evolution in the Miocene of India , Paleontological fieldwork in the Eocene deposits of the Devil’s Graveyard Formation, west Texas (with Dr. E. Christopher Kirk, University of Texas).

I'm interested in the evolutionary relationships and ecological adaptations of primates, with particular focus on the initial diversification of the order Primates, the origin of the Anthropoidea, and the early hominoid radiation. I am also interested in the effects of climate change on the evolution of primates.

Areas of Interest:

Primate and Human Evolution
Anthropoid origins
Effects of climate on primate evolution

Keywords:

Primate evolution • Human evolution • primate systematics • adaptation • primate morphology

Duties:

Teaching undergraduate and graduate courses; Curator of Evolutionary Anthropology Research and Teaching Collections

Representative Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

1. E.C. Kirk, B.A. Williams, A new adapiform primate of Old World affinities from the Devil's Graveyard Formation of Texas, Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 61 (2011), pp. 156-168 [S0047248411000832]  [abs]
2. Williams, B.A., Kay, R.F., Kirk, E.C., and Ross, C.F., Darwinius masillae is a strepsirrhine – a reply to Franzen et al. 2009, Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 59 (2010), pp. 567-573 [science]
3. Williams, B.A., Kay, R.F. and Kirk, E.C., New Perspectives on Anthropoid Origins, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, vol. 107 (2010), pp. 4794-4804 [full]  [abs]
4. Williams, B.A. and Kirk, E.C., New Uintan Primates from Texas and their implications for North American patterns of species richness during the Eocene., Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 55 (2008), pp. 927-941 [science]  [abs]
5. Bajpai, S., Kay, R.F., Williams, B.A., Das, Debasis, Kapur, V.V., Tiwari, B.N., The oldest Asian record of Anthropoidea, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, vol. 105 (2008), pp. 11093-11098
6. Williams, B.A., Comparing levels of homoplasy in the primate skeleton, Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 52 (2007), pp. 480-489
7. Ross, C.F., Williams, B. A., and Kay, R. F., Phylogenetic Analysis of Anthropoid Relationships, Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 35 (1998), pp. 221-306
8. Sánchez-Villagra, M. and Williams, B.A., Levels of homoplasy in the evolution of the mammalian skeleton, Journal of Mammalian Evolution, vol. 5 no. 2 (1998), pp. 113-126
9. Kay, R.F., Ross, C.F., and Williams, B.A., and Johnson, D., Cladistic Analysis and Anthropoid Origins, Science, vol. 278 (1997), pp. 2134-2136
10. Kay, R.F., Williams, B.A., Ross, C.R., Takai, M, and Shigehara, N., Anthropoid Origins: a phylogenetic analysis, in Anthropoid Origins: New Visions, edited by C.F. Ross and R.F. Kay (2004), pp. 91-135, Kluwer/Plenum, New York
11. Kay, R.F., Williams, B.A., and Anaya, F., The adaptations of Branisella boliviana, the earliest South American monkey, in Reconstructing behavior in the fossil record, edited by M. Plavcan, R. Kay, W. Jungers, and C. van Shaik Schaik (2001), pp. 339-370, Plenum, New York
12. Covert, H., and Williams, B.A., Recently recovered North American Eocene omomyids and adapids and their bearing on debates about anthropoid origins, in Anthropoid Origins: the fossil evidence, edited by J. Fleagle and R. Kay (1994), pp. 29-54, Plenum Press, New York
13. Kay, R.F. and Williams, B.A., Dental evidence for anthropoid origins, in Anthropoid Origins: the fossil evidence, edited by J. Fleagle and R. Kay (1994), pp. 361-446, Plenum Press, New York

Selected Field Work

1. Paleontological Field Work, 2009 - 2010, Kutch, India    
2. Paleontological Field Work, 2009, Devil's Graveyard, West Texas    
3. Paleontological Field Work, 2005, Patagonia, Argentina    
4. Paleontological Field Work, 1994 - 1995, Ngamiland, Botswana    
5. Paleontological Field Work, 1992 - 1994, Bolivia    
6. Paleontological Field Work, 1989, Fayum Region, Egypt    
7. Paleontological Field Work, 1987 - 1993, Wyoming and Colorado    

Selected Grant Support

• Exploration for middle Cenozoic primates, Kutch District, Gujarat, western India, L.S.B. Leakey, 22442.