William Jungers
Professor
Ph.D., University of Michigan,
1976

william.jungers@stonybrook.edu

Functional morphology, morphometrics, primate evolution, paleoanthropology

Dr. Jungers' research is concerned with functional, mechanical and ontogenetic aspects of musculoskeletal design in living and fossil primates, ranging from subfossil lemurs to early hominids. Quantitative methods are essential tools in comparative analyses of form and function, and experimental approaches provide crucial in vivo, neontological sources of information. The present remains the key to understanding the past.

Analyses of biomechanical scaling and relative growth continue on different aspects of the locomotor skeleton, including limb proportions, articular shape and cross-sectional geometry in prosimians, monkeys and hominoids. Growth-related changes in bone shape and positional behavior provide valuable clues for understanding the functional significance of adult form. Locomotor behavior itself is also analyzed within a size- and age- related framework.

Fieldwork continues in Madagascar. New species continue to be discovered and diagnosed, and improved reconstructions of paleo-communities are now possible. A temporal framework is also emerging that is relevant to the extinction of Malagasy, large-bodied primates. Functional analyses focus on the dental microwear, cross-sectional geometry, and the biomechanics of hands and feet.

Selected Publications:

Jungers, W.L. (1982). Lucy's limbs: Skeletal allometry and locomotion in Australopithecus afarensis (A.L. 288-1). Nature 297:676-678

Jungers, W.L., ed. (1985). "Size and Scaling in Primate Evolution." Plenum Press, New York

Jungers, W.L. (1990). Problems and methods in reconstructing body size in fossil primates. In: "Body Size in Mammalian Paleobiology" (J. Damuth and B. MacFadden, eds.), pp. 103-118. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Jungers, W.L. (1991). A pygmy perspective on body size and shape in Australopithecus afarensis (A.L. 288-1, "Lucy"). Cahiers de Paleoanthropologie. Origins De La Bipedie Chez Les Hominides, pp. 237-246

Jungers, W.L., L.R. Godfrey, E.L. Simons, P.S. Chatrath and B. Rokotosamimanana (1991). Phylogenetic and functional affinities of Babokotia (Primates), a fossil lemur from northern Madagascar. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., Vol. 88:9082-9086

Jungers, W.L. and D.B. Burr (1994). Body size, long bone geometry and locomotor in quadrupedal monkeys. Z. Morph. Anthrop. 80:89-97

Richmond, B.G. and W.L. Jungers (1995). Size variation and sexual dimorphism in Australopithecus afarensis and living hominoids. J. Human Evol. 29:229-245

Jungers, W.L., L.R. Godfrey, E.D. Simons, and P.S. Chatrath. Subfossil Indri indri from the Ankarana Massif of Northern Madagascar. Amer. J. Phys. Anthrop. 97:357-366

Jungers, W.L., Falsetti, A.B., and Wall, C.E. (1995). Shape, relative size and size-adjustments in morphometrics. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 38:137-161

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