Elwyn Simons

by Feagle, John G.; Gilbert, Christopher C.

• ISBN13: 9780387738956
• ISBN10: 0387738959
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-11-30
• Publisher: Springer Nature

Summary

For nearly a half century, Dr. Simons has dominated the study of primate evolution. This volume summarizes the current state of knowledge in many aspects of primate and human evolution that have been studied by Simons and his colleagues and place it in a broader paleontological and historical perspective. The book contains the results of new research as well as reviews of many of the critical issues in primate and human evolution during the last half of the twentieth century.

Author Biography

Elwyn Simons 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. He 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 ôKnight of the National Orderö 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.

Table of Contents

The Life of a Scientist	p. 1
Introduction to the Festschrift	p. 3
Elwyn LaVerne Simons: A Very Personal View	p. 7
A Personal Reminiscence of Elwyn	p. 13
Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark: The Making of a Paleoanthropologist	p. 19
Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark: Personal Recollections of Le Gros	p. 35
Human Evolution and the Challenge of Creationism: A speech given at Duke University, September 16, 2005	p. 41
The Fayum and Other Fossil Adventures	p. 47
Five Decades in the Fayum	p. 51
Geology, Paleoenvironment, and Age of Birket Qarun Locality 2 (BQ-2), Fayum Depression, Egypt	p. 71
Eocene and Oligocene Mammals of the Fayum, Egypt	p. 87
Early Evolution of Whales: A Century of Research in Egypt	p. 107
The Basicranial Anatomy of African Eocene/Oligocene Anthropoids. Are There Any Clues for Platyrrhine Origins?	p. 125
Paleontological Exploration in Africa: A View from the Rukwa Rift Basin of Tanzania	p. 159
Return to Dor al-Talha: Paleontological Reconnaissance of the Early Tertiary of Libya	p. 181
Revisiting Haritalyangar, the Late Miocene Ape Locality of India	p. 197
Revisiting Primate Postcrania from the Pondaung Formation of Myanmar: The Purported Anthropoid Astragalus	p. 211
A Haplorhine First Metatarsal from the Middle Eocene of China	p. 229
New Data on Loveina (Primates: Omomyidae) from the early Eocene Wasatch Formation and Implications for Washakiin Relationships	p. 243
The Behavioral Ecology of our Earliest Hominid Ancestors	p. 259
Primates from Madagascar and Elsewhere	p. 281
Decades of Lemur Research and Conservation: The Elwyn Simons Influence	p. 283
Low Fetal Energy Deposition Rates in Lemurs: Another Energy Conservation Strategy	p. 311
Old Lemurs: Preliminary Data on Behavior and Reproduction from the Duke University Primate Center	p. 319
Peculiar Tooth Homologies of the Greater Bamboo Lemur (Prolemur = Hapalemur simus): When is a Paracone Not a Paracone?	p. 335
How Big were the "Giant" Extinct Lemurs of Madagascar?	p. 343
Ghosts and Orphans: Madagascar's Vanishing Ecosystems	p. 361
Vicariance vs. Dispersal in the Origin of the Malagasy Mammal Fauna	p. 397
On the Brink of Extinction: Research for the Conservation of the Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus)	p. 409
Publications by Elwyn Simons Through 2006	p. 429
Subject Index	p. 445
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