Education

Ph.D. Harvard University
B.A. Washington University, St. Louis

Research Interests

     Vertebrate taphonomy and paleoecology, evolution of terrestrial ecosystems, the geological context of human evolution, fluvial stratigraphy and sedimentology, and the evolutionary impact of climate change.

     I am particularly interested in the ecological history of land organisms and the biological and geological processes that control what gets preserved in the fossil record. My current research is focused on several different field sites and problems, including:
     1) the taphonomy and paleoecology of hominid-bearing deposits in East Africa, with special emphasis on deciphering how environmental change affected mammalian evolution over the past 4 million years, 2) evolution of the environments and faunas of the Miocene Siwalik sequence in Pakistan, 3) long-term taphonomic study of modern vertebrate remains in Amboseli Park, Kenya (including the bio- and geochemical processes involved in fossilization), 4) investigation of Phanerozoic-scale taphonomic patterns and biases in both the terrestrial and marine fossil records, in conjunction with the Taphonomy/ Paleoecology Working Group associated with the Paleobiology Database, 5) analysis of the patterns of occurrence of bonebeds through geological time, 6) the paleoecology of the earliest mammals and associated small vertebrates (late Triassic – early Jurassic).

Assistants, Current, and Former Post-doctoral Fellows and Students

Post-Doctoral:

• Caroline Stromberg
• Denné Reed
• Robin Whatley
• Jason Head
• René Bobe
• John Damuth
• Hans-Dieter Sues
• Robert Hook
• Brian Willis
• Nancy Todd
• Daniel Deocampo
• Christian Sidor
  

Pre-Doctoral:

• Tyler Faith
• Henry Bunn
• Kevin Downing
• Imran Khan
• Yolanda Fernandez-Jalvo
• Martha Tappen
• Rick McGovern-Wilson
• Michèle Morgan
• Michal Kowalewski
• Nancy Todd
• Fred Kyalo Manthi

Interns/Volunteers:

• Suzanne Lepple
• Frederick Lala Odock
• Karen Sears
• Surangi Punyasena
• C. Tristan Stayton
• Christina Moon
• Christine O'Reilly
  

Affiliations

• 1993 - 1996: Acting Associate Director for Science, National Museum of Natural History
• 1988 - Present: Administrative co-director of Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program (ETE), National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
• 1987 - Present: Adjunct Professor, Geosciences Departments, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
• 1991 - Present: Adjunct Professor, Paleobiology Program, Department of Geology, University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College, Philadelphia, PA

Recent Grants

• 2002-2007 National Science Foundation Grant (Human Origins Initiative, Anthropology Program), "Ecosystem Dynamics and the evolution of human adaptability," with R. Potts (PI), P. deMenocal, C. Feibel and B. Wood.
• 2002-2007 National Science Foundation Grant (Geology and Paleontology Program) "Ecological Diversity of the Miocene Mammals of Pakistan" with C. E. Badgley (PI), J. C. Barry and T. E. Cerling.
• 2003-2006 National Geographic Society grant, “Taphonomic impact of predators in the Amboseli ecosystem, Kenya.”
• 2004 NSF (Anthropology) Grant: “Workshop on faunal evidence for hominin paleoecology in East Africa,” with R. Bobe (co-PI).
• 2002-2004 National Science Foundation Grant (Anthropology Program), "An ecosystem approach to hominid environments in the East African Plio-Pleistocene" with R. Bobe (PI).
  

Editorial Service

• 1979, l982, l985. Associate Editor, Paleobiology
• 1985-1987. Board of Associate Editors, Journal of Human Evolution
• 1989-1993. Associate Editor, Palaios
• 1993-1996. Associate Editor, Palaeoclimates

Publications

Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 2006. “Climate change and human evolution.” Science 311:476-478.

Cohen, Andrew S., Ashley, Gail M., Potts, Richard, Behrensmeyer, Anna K. and Quade, Jay. 2006. “Paleoclimate and human evolution workshop.” EOS 87(16):161.

Trueman, Clive N., Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Potts, Richard, and Tuross, Noreen. 2006. “High-resolution records of location and stratigraphic provenance from the rare earth element composition of fossil bones.” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta   70(17):4319-4562.

Faith, J. Tyler and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 2006.”Changing patterns of carnivore modification in a landscape bone assemblage, Amboseli Park, Kenya.”  Journal of Archeological Science 33: 1718-1733.

Bobe, René, Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Chapman, Ralph E., Eck, Gerald G. 2006.  “Faunal Change, Environmental Variability and Late Pliocene Hominin Evolution.”  Special publication of the Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel, Spain.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Fürsich, Franz T. Gastaldo, Robert A., Kidwell, Susan M. Kosnik, Matthew A., Kowalewski, Mikael, Plotnick, Roy E., Rogers Ray R. and Alroy, John.  2005. “Are the most durable shelly taxa also the most common in the marine fossil record?” Paleobiology 31(4):607-623.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K. and Barry, John C. 2005. “Biostratigraphic Surveys in the Siwaliks of Pakistan: A Method for Standardized Surface Sampling of the Vertebrate Fossil Record.” <http://palaeo-electronica.org/paleo/2005_1/behrens15/issue1_05.htm >. [ Palaeontologia Electronica, Vol. 8, Issue 1; 15A:24p, 839KB special issue of Paleontologia Electronica, honoring paleontologist Will Downs.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Badgley, Catherine E., Barry, John C., Morgan, Michele, and Raza, S. Mahmood. 2005. “The Paleoenvironmental Context of Siwalik Miocene Vertebrate Localities.” Pp. 48-62. In: D.E. Lieberman, R. J. Smith, and J. Kelley (eds.). Interpreting the Past: Essays on Human, Primate, and Mammal Evolution in Honor of David Pilbeam. Brill Academic Publishers, Inc., Boston.

Badgley, Catherine E., Nelson, Sherry, Barry, John C., Behrensmeyer, Anna K. and Cerling, Thure. 2005. “Testing models of faunal turnover with Neogene mammals from Pakistan.” Pp. 29-44. In: Lieberman, D. E., R. J. Smith, J. Kelley (eds.). Interpreting the Past: Essays on Human, Primate, and Mammal Evolution, in Honor of David Pilbeam.  American School of Prehistoric Research Monograph Series.. Brill Academic Publishers, Inc., Boston.

Bobe, Rene and Behrensmeyer, Anna K.  2004. “The expansion of grassland ecosystems in Africa in relation to mammalial evolution and the origin of the genus Homo.” Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology  207:399-420.

Trueman, Clive N.G., Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Tuross, N. and Weiner, Steve.  2004. “Mineralogical and compositional changes in bones exposed on soil surfaces in Amboseli National Park, Kenya: Diagenetic mechanisms and the role of sediment pore fluids.” Journal of Archeological Science, 31:721-739.

Potts, Richard, Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Deino, Alan, Ditchfield, Peter and Clark, Jennifer. 2004. “Small mid-Pleistocene hominin associated with East African Acheulean technology.” Science 305:75-78.

DiMichele, W. A., Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Olszewski, Thomas. D., Labandeira, Conrad C., Pandolfi, John M., Wing, Scott L. and Bobe, René.  2004. “Long-term stasis in ecological assemblages: Evidence from the fossil record.” Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics  35:285-322.

Bobe Quinteros, R., Behrensmeyer, Anna K. and Carroasco Ormazábal, G..  2004. “Paleoclima y evolución faunística en el Plio-Pleistoceno de África y América del Sur.”  (Proceedings de Primer Congreso Latinoamericano de Paleontología de Vertebrados, Santiago, Chile, January 2003) Ameghiniana (Rev. Asoc. Paleontol. Argent.) 41(4):641-649.

Bobe, R., Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Chapman, Ralph E., Eck, Gerald G. 2004. “Evolución humana en valle del Omo (Etiopía): relación con cambios faunísticos y variaciones ambientales en el Plioceno terminal.” Fundamental 3, 1-59.  (First Prize, International Award for Excellence in Paleontological Research from the Paleontological Foundation of Teruel, Spain, and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology.)

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Stayton, C. Tristan, and Chapman, Ralph E. 2003. “Taphonomy and ecology of modern avifaunal remains from Amboseli Park, Kenya.” Paleobiology, 29(1):52-70.

Bobe, R., Behrensmeyer, Anna K.  and Chapman, Ralph E.. 2002. “Faunal change, environmental variability and late Pliocene hominin evolution.” Journal of Human Evolution 42:475-497.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 2002. “Bones through Time: The Importance of Biotic versus Abiotic Taphonomic Processes in the Vertebrate Fossil Record.” Pp. 297-304. In: De Renzi, M., M.V.P. Alonso, M. Belinchon, E. Penalver, P. Montoya (eds.). Current topics on Taphonomy and Fossilization. Proceedings of the International Conference Taphos 2002, Valencia, Spain.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Deino, Alan L., Hill, Andrew, Kingston, John, and Saunders, Jeffrey J. 2002. “Geology and chronology of the middle Miocene Kipsaramon fossil site complex, Muruyur Beds, Tugen Hills, Kenya.” Journal of Human Evolution  42:11-38.

Barry, John C., Morgan, Michele M., Flynn, Lawrence J., Pilbeam, David, Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Raza, S. Mahmood, Khan, Imran, A., Badgley, Catherine E., Hicks, Jason and Kelley, Jay. 2002. “Faunal and environmental change in the late Miocene Siwaliks of northern Pakistan.” Paleobiology  28(Memoir 3).

Behrensmeyer, A.K. 2001. Taphonomy: 3.3.7. Terrestrial Vertebrates. In: Briggs, D.E.G. and P.R. Crowther, eds., Palaeobiology II: 318-321.

Koch, P.L., Behrensmeyer, Anna K. Tuross, Noreen, Stott, A.W., Evershed, R.P., and Fogel, Marilyn L., 2001. The effects of surficial weathering on the stable isotope composition of bones. Ancient Biomolecules 3:117-134.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Kidwell, S.M. and Gastaldo, R.A. 2000. “Taphonomy and Paleobiology.”  Paleobiology 26(4), Supplement:103-144.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., 2000.  Taphonomy: 3.3.7. “Terrestrial Vertebrates.” In: Briggs, D.E.G. and P.R. Crowther, eds., Palaeobiology II: 318-321.

Cutler, Alan H., Behrensmeyer, Anna K. and Chapman, Ralph E. 1999. “Environmental information in a recent bone assemblage: roles of taphonomic processes and ecological change.” In: Martin, R., S. Goldstein and R.T. Patterson, Eds., Fossil Taphonomy: Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction and Environmental Assessment. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 149: 359-372.

Potts, Richard, Behrensmeyer, Anna K. and Ditchfield, Peter. 1999. “Paleolandscape variation and early Pleistocene hominid activities: Members 1 and 7, Olorgesailie Formation.” Journal of Human Evolution 37:747-788.

Sikes, Nancy, Potts, Richard, and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1999. “Early Pleistocene habitat in Member 1 Olorgesailie based on paleosol stable isotopes.” Journal of Human Evolution 37:721-746.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Todd, Nancy E., Potts, Richard, and McBrinn, Gerry.  1997. "Late Pliocene faunal turnover in the Turkana Basin, Kenya and Ethiopia." Science 278:1589-1594.

Aslan, Aslan, and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1996. "Taphonomy and Time Resolution of Bone Assemblages in a Contemporary Fluvial System: The East Fork River, Wyoming." Palaios 11 (5)(1996): 411-421.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Potts, Richard, Plummer, Tom, Tauxe, Lisa, Opdyke, Neal, and Jorstad, Tom. 1996. "The Pleistocene Locality of Kanjera, Western Kenya; Stratigraphy, Chronology, and Paleoenvironments." Journal of Human Evolution 29 (1995): 247-274.

Cutler, Alan H., and Behrensmeyer Anna K. 1996. "Models of Vertebrate Mass Mortality Events at the K/T Boundary." Geological Society of America Special Paper 307 (1996): 375-379.

Koch, Paul L.; Heisinger, J., Moss, Cynthia, Carlson, R. W., Fogel, Marilyn L., and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1995. "Isotope Tracking of Change in Diet and Habitat Use in African Elephants." Science 267 (5202)(1995): 1340-1343.

Willis, B. J., and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1994. "Architecture of Miocene Overbank Deposits in Northern Pakistan." Journal of Sedimentary Research B64 (1)(1994): 60-67.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1993. "Fossil Deposits and their Investigation." In The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution (1992): 187-190. Edited by S. Jones, R. Martin, and D. Pilbeam. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 506 pages.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K.. 1993. "Discussion: Identifying and Controlling for Non-cultural Processes." In From Bones to Behavior (1993): 342-348. Edited by Jean Hudson. [Center for Archaeological Investigations Occasional Paper 21] Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 354 pages.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K.. 1993. Review of "The Dragon in the Cliff (A Novel Based on the Life of Mary Anning)," by Sheila Cole. Science 260 (5106)(1993): 366-377.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K.. 1993. Review of "Miocene Paleosols and Ape Habitats of Pakistan and Kenya," by G. J. Retallack. Earth Science Reviews 34 (1)(1993): 62-63.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1993. "The Bones of Amboseli: Bone Assemblages and Ecological Change in a Modern African Ecosystem." National Geographic Research 9 (4)(1993): 402-421.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., and Chapman, Ralph E. 1993. "Models and Simulations of Taphonomic Time-averaging in Terrestrial Vertebrate Assemblages." In Taphonomic Approaches to Time Resolution in Fossil Assemblages (1993): 125-149. Edited by Susan M. Kidwell and Anna K. Behrensmeyer. [Short Courses in Paleontology Number 6] Knoxville, Tennessee: The Paleontological Society, 309 pages.

Greenwood, David R., Wing, Scott L., and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1993. "Determining Paleoclimates" [Letter to the Editor]. Science 260 (5106): 278-279.

Kidwell, Susan M., and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1993. "Taphonomic Approaches to Time Resolution in Fossil Assemblages: Introduction." In Taphonomic Approaches to Time Resolution in Fossil Assemblages: 1-8. Edited by S. M. Kidwell and A. K. Behrensmeyer. [Short Courses in Paleontology Number 6] Knoxville, Tennessee: The Paleontological Society, 309 pages.

Kidwell, S. M., and Behrensmeyer, Anna K.. 1993."Summary: Estimates of Time-averaging." In Taphonomic Approaches to Time Resolution in Fossil Assemblages: 301-302. Edited by S. M. Kidwell and A. K. Behrensmeyer. [Short Courses in Paleontology Number 6] Knoxville, Tennessee: The Paleontological Society, 309 pages.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Damuth, John D., DiMichele, William A., Potts, Richard, Sues, Hans -D., and Wing, Scott L., Editors. 1992. Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals (1992). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 568 pages.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K., and Hook, Robert W. 1992. "Paleoenvironmental Contexts and Taphonomic Modes." In Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals (1992): 15-136. Edited by Anna K. Behrensmeyer, John D. Damuth, William A. DiMichele, Richard Potts, Hans -D. Sues, and Scott L. Wing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 568 pages.

DiMichele, W. A., Hook, R. W., Beerbower, J. R., Boy, J. A., Gastaldo, R. A., Hotton, Nicholas., III, Phillips, T. L., Scheckler, S. E., Shear, William A., and Sues, Hans -D. 1992. "Paleozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems." In Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals (1992): 205-235. Edited by Anna K. Behrensmeyer, John D. Damuth, William A. DiMichele, R. Potts, Hans-D. Sues, and Scott L. Wing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 568 pages.

Koch, P. L., and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. "Determining the Source Area of Ivory through Isotopic Analysis." African Wildlife Foundation: Elephant and Ivory Information Service No. 19 (1992): 1-4.

Koch P. L., Behrensmeyer, Anna K., and Fogel, M. L. 1992. "The Isotopic Ecology of Plants and Animals in Amboseli National Park, Kenya." Annual Report of the Director, Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1990-1991 No. 2250 (1991): 163-171.

Potts, R., and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1992. “Late Cenozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems.” In Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals (1992): 419-541. Edited by Anna K. Behrensmeyer, J. D. Damuth, William A. DiMichele, R. Potts, Hans-D. Sues, and Scott L. Wing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 568 pages.

Tauxe, Lisa, Deino, Alan D., Behrensmeyer, Anna K., and Potts, Richard, 1992. "Pinning Down the Bruhnes/Matuyama and Upper Jaramillo Boundaries: a Reconciliation of Orbital and Isotopic Time Scales." Earth and Planetary Science Letters 109 (3/4)(1992): 561-572.

Wing. Scott L., and DiMichele, William A. 1992. “Ecological Characterization of Fossil Plants.”  In Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals (1992): 139-180. Edited by Anna K. Behrensmeyer, John D. Damuth, William A. DiMichele, Richard Potts, Hans -D. Sues, and Scott L. Wing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 568 pages.

Wing, Scott L., and Sues, Hans -D. 1992. "Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems." In Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals (1992): 327-416. Edited by Anna K. Behrensmeyer, John D. Damuth, William A. DiMichele, Richard Potts, Hans -D. Sues, and Scott L. Wing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 568 pages.

Wing, Scott L., Sues, Hans -D., Potts, R., DiMichele, W. A., and Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1992. “Evolutionary Paleoecology.”  In Evolutionary Paleoecology of Terrestrial Plants and Animals (1992): 1-13. Anna K. Behrensmeyer, John D. Damuth, William A. DiMichele, Richard Potts, Hans -D. Sues, and Scott L. Wing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 568 pages.

Hill, Andrew, Behrensmeyer, Anna K., Brown, Bobbie., Dieno, Alan, Rose, Michael, Saunders, Jeffrey., Ward, Steve, and Winkler, Alicia 1991. Kipsaramon; a lower Miocene Hominoid Site in the Tugen Hills, Baringo District, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 20 (1): 67-75.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 1991. "Terrestrial Vertebrate Accumulations." In Taphonomy: Releasing the Data Locked in the Fossil Record: 291-335. Edited by P.Allison and D. E. G. Briggs. New York: Plenum, 560 pages.

Flynn, Lawrence J., Pilbeam, David, Jacobs, Louis L., Barry, John C., Behrensmeyer, Anna K., and Kappelman, John W. 1990. The Siwaliks of Pakistan: Time and Faunas in a Miocene Terrestrial Setting." Journal of Geology 98 (4): 589-604.

Behrensmeyer, Anna K.  1991. Transport/Hydrodynamics of Bones. In Palaeobiology: A Synthesis (1990): 232-235. Edited by D. E. G. Briggs and P. R. Crowther. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 608 pages.