May 5, 2008 (Vol. 7, No. 8)

Prof. Delson to Deliver Annual Sigma Xi Lecture

Professor Eric Delson (Anthropology) will deliver Lehman's annual Sigma Xi lecture on "Old World Monkeys: Fossils, Phylogeny, and 3D Inference." The talk, which is open to the campus community, will be held on Wednesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room.

For over forty years, Professor Delson has researched the evolutionary history of monkeys from Africa, Asia, and Europe. He has studied fossil monkeys in museums from Johannesburg to Beijing and Moscow to Paris. One major project examines Paradolichopithecus, a large extinct monkey known from sites across Europe, to determine its phylogenetic position and locomotor adaptations. A parallel research effort investigated the site in France where the first fossil of this animal was recovered.

In addition, Professor Delson and his colleagues are using advanced techniques in 3D analysis of morphology to study the evolution of monkeys and other primates. One project examined the distribution of morphological variation in the skulls of baboons across Africa, in part to assess how many species are known. An ongoing effort is attempting to infer the shape of the skull in common ancestors of several living monkey groups by combining molecular systematic relationships, statistical 3D analysis, and computer visualization.

For more information on this event, call 718-960-8235.

Select a Volume Volume 7 (Spring 2008) Volume 6 (Fall 2007) Volume 5 (Spring 2007) Volume 4 (Fall 2006) Volume 3 (Spring 2006) Volume 2 (Fall 2005) Volume 1 (Spring 2005)