Blythe A. Williams, Adjunct Associate Professor
Research Interests:
Systematics and adaptations of primates; primate cranio-dental morphology; anthropoid origins; homoplasy, paleoecology
Areas of Interest:
Anthropoid origins
Primate systematics
Primate adaptations
Current Projects: Morphological description and analysis of Plio-Pleistocene baboons from Botswana, Description and study of Eocene primates from Wyoming and Texas
Research Summary:
I'm interested in the evolutionary
relationships and ecological adaptations of primates, with
particular focus on the initial diversification of the order
Primates and the origin of the Anthropoidea. I'm
currently studying Plio-Pleistocene cercopithecoids from
Botswana and Eocene primates from the western and
southern United States.
- Representative Publications
(search)
- Kay, R.F., Ross, C.F., and Williams, B.A.. "Rethinking anthropoid origins." Science 275 (1997): 797-804.
- Kay, R.F., Williams, B.A., Ross, C.R., Takai, M, and Shigehara, N.. "Anthropoid Origins: a phylogenetic analysis." Anthropoid Origins: New Visions. Ed. C.F. Ross and R.F. Kay Kluwer/Plenum, 2004: 91-135.
- Sánchez-Villagra, M. and Williams, B.A.. "Levels of homoplasy in the evolution of the mammalian skeleton." Journal of Mammalian Evolution 5.2 (1998): 113-126.
- Williams, B.A. and Kay, R.. "The taxon anthropoidea and the crown clade concept." Evolutionary Anthropology 3.6 (1995): 188-190.
- Ross, C.F., Williams, B. A., and Kay, R. F.. "Phylogenetic Analysis of Anthropoid Relationships." Journal of Human Evolution 35 (1998): 221-306.
- Kay, R.F., Williams, B.A., and Anaya, F.. "The adaptations of Branisella boliviana, the earliest South American monkey." Reconstructing behavior in the fossil record. Ed. M. Plavcan, R. Kay, W. Jungers, and C. van Shaik Schaik Plenum, 2001: 339-370.
- Education:
- Ph.D., University of Colorado, Boulder, 1994
- Contact Info:
- 267A Sands Bldg |
+1 919 660 7385 |
blythe@duke.edu