 
RICHARD J. SMITH Ralph E. Morrow Distinguished University Professor, Physical Anthropology Dean of the Graduate School Ph.D., Yale University, 1980 314-935-4843 rjsmith@artsci.wustl.edu |
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RICHARD J. SMITH Ralph E. Morrow Distinguished University Professor, Physical Anthropology Dean of the Graduate School Ph.D., Yale University, 1980 314-935-4843 rjsmith@artsci.wustl.edu |
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I am interested in understanding biological variation in fossil apes and humans, particularly australopithecines and Miocene hominoids. Inferences concerning the life-history, ecology, and behavior of these species from the fragmentary morphology found in the fossil record usually involve comparisons with living species. These comparisons, often based on statistical analysis, also depend upon many assumptions about the nature of adaptation and the process of historical explanation.
At present, my work is divided about equally among two main themes. First, I am involved in studies of applied comparative functional morphology. In this work, I attempt to identify relationships between form and function in living primates that may provide insight into the causes for variations in form among fossil hominids. I am particularly interested in the ecological, behavioral, and life-history implications of differences among primate species in body mass, sexual dimorphism in body mass, neonatal maturity, and in the morphology and biomechanics of the cranio-facial skeleton. My second major area of interest concerns the methods used to draw inferences about the past from the present. In this work, I focus on the process of paleontological inference itself and ask questions such as "How do we test statements made about the behavior or ecology of extinct species? How much confidence can we have in these inferences?" Much of this work concerns the theory and logic of statistical methods, particularly some of the new comparative methods that attempt to incorporate phylogenetic information into statistical models.
For more information see the overview of the department's research in physical anthropology.
Comparative Methods in Physical Anthropology; Craniofacial Biology
Smith, R.J.
1996 Biology and body size in human evolution. Current Anthropology 37:451-481.
Smith, R.J. and W.L. Jungers
1997 Body mass in comparative primatology. Journal of Human Evolution 32:523-559.
Smith, R.J. and S.R. Leigh
1998 Sexual dimorphism in primate neonatal body mass. Journal of Human Evolution 34: 173-201.
Smith, R.J.
1999 Statistics of sexual size dimorphism. Journal of Human Evolution 36: 423-458.
Smith R.J. and J.M. Cheverud
2002 Scaling of sexual dimorphism in body mass: a phylogenetic analysis of Rensch's Rule in primates. International Journal of Primatology 23:1095-1135.
Smith R.J.
2005 Species recognition in paleoanthropology: implications of small sample sizes. In: Interpreting the Past: Essays on Human, Primate, and Mammal Evolution in Honor of David Pilbeam (DE Lieberman, RJ Smith, and J Kelley, eds.). Boston, Brill Academic Publishers, pp. 207-219.
2005 Relative size versus controlling for size: interpretation of ratios in research on sexual dimorphism in the human corpus callosum. Current Anthropology 46: 249-273.
