Andrea B. Taylor, Associate Professor of Doctor of Physical Therapy Division, CFM and Evolutionary Anthropology

Contact Info:

Office Location:	DPT Division, Wing B Suite 230
Office Phone:	(919) 668-3016
Email Address:

Teaching (Spring 2010):  (typical courses)

• EVANTH 315S.01, CONCEPTS IN EVANTH

  Bio Sci 107, TuTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM

• PT-D 322.01, ARTHROL/PATHOL MOVEMT SCI I

Education:

Ph.D.	University of Pittsburgh	1992
B.A.	University of California, Berkeley	1983

Specialties:

Functional Morphology
Primate Biology
Genetic & Ecological Development

Research Interests:

My research has focused on function and evolution of the masticatory complex in primates. I am particularly interested in the ontogenetic allometric patterning of primate craniofacial variation and on the ecological bases of species diversification in primates.

My research is currently concentrated in two areas. One area of research has focused on investigating the architectural arrangement of muscle fiber, and how this arrangement is functionally and adaptively linked to feeding behavior. We have been comparing closely-related tree-gouging and nongouging callitrichid primates that share broadly overlapping diets but that diverge in the mechanisms by which they ingest tree excudates. We have shown that tree-gouging common and pygmy marmosets exhibit an architectural arrangement of the jaw-closing muscles that is well suited to producing the wide jaw gapes they generate during gouging. We are currently investigating the cellular architecture of the brainstem trigeminal system, which subserves the jaw-closing muscles, to determine whether peripheral feeding specializations extend to the central nervous system in these callitrichid.

The other focus of my work is the effects of mandibular distraction osteogenesis on the soft tissue environment. We are particularly interested in how the rate and rhythm of distraction influences muscle structure and function and how these two parameters can be modulated to improve surgical outcomes.

I am currently offering offering research experiences to exceptionally qualified undergraduates and I am willing to guide independent studies and honors theses. Previous undergraduates in my lab have received research honors and awards (e.g., URS awards, Howard Hughes Fellowships) and have presented their work at the Visible Thinking symposium and Howard Hughes Forum at Duke as well as national academic meetings.

I also have employment opportunities for a lab technician to assist in data collection and analysis of jaw-muscle fiber architecture in inbred strains of mice.  

Areas of Interest:

Craniofacial biology
Muscle fiber architecture and physiology

Representative Publications   (More Publications)   (search)

1. AB Taylor, CP van Schaik, Variation in brain size and ecology in Pongo., Journal of human evolution, England, vol. 52 no. 1 (January, 2007), pp. 59-71, ISSN 0047-2484  [abs]
2. AB Taylor, Feeding behavior, diet, and the functional consequences of jaw form in orangutans, with implications for the evolution of Pongo., Journal of human evolution, England, vol. 50 no. 4 (April, 2006), pp. 377-93, ISSN 0047-2484  [abs]
3. AB Taylor, Size and shape dimorphism in great ape mandibles and implications for fossil species recognition., Am J Phys Anthropol, United States, vol. 129 no. 1 (January, 2006), pp. 82-98  [abs]
4. AB Taylor, KE Jones, R Kunwar, MJ Ravosa, Dietary consistency and plasticity of masseter fiber architecture in postweaning rabbits., The anatomical record. Part A, Discoveries in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology, United States, vol. 288 no. 10 (October, 2006), pp. 1105-11, ISSN 1552-4884  [abs]
5. AB Taylor, CJ Vinyard, Comparative analysis of masseter fiber architecture in tree-gouging (Callithrix jacchus) and nongouging (Saguinus oedipus) callitrichids., J Morphol, United States, vol. 261 no. 3 (September, 2004), pp. 276-85  [abs]