Elisabeth S Vrba
Biographic Data
| ID | 112103 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elisabeth S Vrba |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elisabeth S |
| FAMILY NAME | Vrba |
| SIGNATURE | VRBA E S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Yale University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 106 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1975 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Role of Environmental Stimuli in Hominid Origins
Paleoenvironments and Hominin Evolution
Macrovertebrate Paleontology and the Pliocene Habitat of Ardipithecus ramidus
A diverse assemblage of large mammals is spatially and stratigraphically associated with Ardipithecus ramidus at Aramis. The most common species are tragelaphine antelope and colobine monkeys. Analyses of their postcranial remains situate them in a closed habitat. Assessment of dental mesowear, microwear, and stable isotopes from these and a wider range of abundant associated larger mammals indicates that the local habitat at Aramis was predomina…
Role of Environmental Stimuli in Hominid Origins
Asa Issie, Aramis and the origin of Australopithecus
Plio-Pleistocene climatic change in the Turkana Basin (East Africa): Evidence from large mammal faunas
Methods for inferring paleohabitats from the functional morphology of bovid phalanges
Methods for inferring paleohabitats from discrete traits of the bovid postcranial skeleton
A method for inferring paleohabitats from the functional morphology of bovid astragali
Remains of Homo erectus from Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia
Climate, Heterochrony, and Human Evolution
The Late Neogene African records of climatic change at the start of the modern ice age, and of turnover in some mammalian groups including Hominidae, support the turnover pulse prediction. Many of the new species that appear 2.9-2.5 myr (millions of years) ago show similar suites of integrated character complexes, including larger bodies (consistent with Bergmann's Rule) and relative reduction in some body parts (Allen's Rule in the case of bodil…
African Homo erectus: Old Radiometric Ages and Young Oldowan Assemblages in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
Fossils and artifacts recovered from the middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar depression sample the Middle Pleistocene transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens . Ar/Ar ages, biostratigraphy, and tephrachronology from this area indicate that the Pleistocene Bodo hominid cranium and newer specimens are approximately 0.6 million years old. Only Oldowan chopper and flake assemblages are present in the lower stratigraphic units, but Acheulean bi…
New discoveries of Australopithecus at Maka in Ethiopia
Mammals as a Key to Evolutionary Theory
Mammalogy provides exceptionally fertile grounds for advancing evolutionary theory, because its data base spans from diverse researches on living forms to a rich fossil record. I illustrate this by integrating interdisciplinary evidence and hypotheses in the habitat theory, including: 1) the context of paleoclimatic changes, and how species' distributions responded to them; 2) geographical biases in turnover rates of species; 3) the turnover-puls…
The Evolution of the Advanced Hominid Brain [and Comments and Reply]
A stochastic, hierarchical model for the evolution of the advanced hominid brain is developed. The fossil and geological data date the event to 1.6-1.8 million years ago. Palaeoclimatological evidence does not suggest that it coincided with significant ecological change. The cognitive capacities of "small" hominoid brains are reviewed in the context of pongid technology and carnivory and the evidence for hominid stone tool technology prior to the…
Exaptation—a Missing Term in the Science of Form
Adaptation has been defined and recognized by two different criteria: historical genesis (features built by natural selection for their present role) and current utility (features now enhancing fitness no matter how they arose). Biologists have often failed to recognize the potential confusion between these different definitions because we have tended to view natural selection as so dominant among evolutionary mechanisms that historical process a…
A new study of the scapula of Australopithecus africanus from Sterkfontein
Until recently the two broken parts of the Sterkfontein A. africanus scapular fragment, STS 7, were separated and oriented towards one another at an unnatural angle in the partially encasing breccia matrix. Removal of the latter and reconstruction have allowed a reassessment of, and additions to, previously published descriptions and measurements. Several hypotheses, based mainly on features of the coracoid process, are presented for testing: the…
Some evidence of chronology and palaeoecology of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai from the fossil Bovidae
A new study of the scapula of Australopithecus africanus from Sterkfontein
Until recently the two broken parts of the Sterkfontein A. africanus scapular fragment, STS 7, were separated and oriented towards one another at an unnatural angle in the partially encasing breccia matrix. Removal of the latter and reconstruction have allowed a reassessment of, and additions to, previously published descriptions and measurements. Several hypotheses, based mainly on features of the coracoid process, are presented for testing: the…
A method for inferring paleohabitats from the functional morphology of bovid astragali
Plio-Pleistocene climatic change in the Turkana Basin (East Africa): Evidence from large mammal faunas
Climate, Heterochrony, and Human Evolution
The Late Neogene African records of climatic change at the start of the modern ice age, and of turnover in some mammalian groups including Hominidae, support the turnover pulse prediction. Many of the new species that appear 2.9-2.5 myr (millions of years) ago show similar suites of integrated character complexes, including larger bodies (consistent with Bergmann's Rule) and relative reduction in some body parts (Allen's Rule in the case of bodil…
Methods for inferring paleohabitats from the functional morphology of bovid phalanges
The Evolution of the Advanced Hominid Brain [and Comments and Reply]
A stochastic, hierarchical model for the evolution of the advanced hominid brain is developed. The fossil and geological data date the event to 1.6-1.8 million years ago. Palaeoclimatological evidence does not suggest that it coincided with significant ecological change. The cognitive capacities of "small" hominoid brains are reviewed in the context of pongid technology and carnivory and the evidence for hominid stone tool technology prior to the…
Methods for inferring paleohabitats from discrete traits of the bovid postcranial skeleton
Some evidence of chronology and palaeoecology of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai from the fossil Bovidae
A new study of the scapula of Australopithecus africanus from Sterkfontein
Until recently the two broken parts of the Sterkfontein A. africanus scapular fragment, STS 7, were separated and oriented towards one another at an unnatural angle in the partially encasing breccia matrix. Removal of the latter and reconstruction have allowed a reassessment of, and additions to, previously published descriptions and measurements. Several hypotheses, based mainly on features of the coracoid process, are presented for testing: the…
Exaptation—a Missing Term in the Science of Form
Adaptation has been defined and recognized by two different criteria: historical genesis (features built by natural selection for their present role) and current utility (features now enhancing fitness no matter how they arose). Biologists have often failed to recognize the potential confusion between these different definitions because we have tended to view natural selection as so dominant among evolutionary mechanisms that historical process a…
The Evolution of the Advanced Hominid Brain [and Comments and Reply]
A stochastic, hierarchical model for the evolution of the advanced hominid brain is developed. The fossil and geological data date the event to 1.6-1.8 million years ago. Palaeoclimatological evidence does not suggest that it coincided with significant ecological change. The cognitive capacities of "small" hominoid brains are reviewed in the context of pongid technology and carnivory and the evidence for hominid stone tool technology prior to the…
Mammals as a Key to Evolutionary Theory
Mammalogy provides exceptionally fertile grounds for advancing evolutionary theory, because its data base spans from diverse researches on living forms to a rich fossil record. I illustrate this by integrating interdisciplinary evidence and hypotheses in the habitat theory, including: 1) the context of paleoclimatic changes, and how species' distributions responded to them; 2) geographical biases in turnover rates of species; 3) the turnover-puls…
New discoveries of Australopithecus at Maka in Ethiopia
African Homo erectus: Old Radiometric Ages and Young Oldowan Assemblages in the Middle Awash Valley, Ethiopia
Fossils and artifacts recovered from the middle Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar depression sample the Middle Pleistocene transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens . Ar/Ar ages, biostratigraphy, and tephrachronology from this area indicate that the Pleistocene Bodo hominid cranium and newer specimens are approximately 0.6 million years old. Only Oldowan chopper and flake assemblages are present in the lower stratigraphic units, but Acheulean bi…
Climate, Heterochrony, and Human Evolution
The Late Neogene African records of climatic change at the start of the modern ice age, and of turnover in some mammalian groups including Hominidae, support the turnover pulse prediction. Many of the new species that appear 2.9-2.5 myr (millions of years) ago show similar suites of integrated character complexes, including larger bodies (consistent with Bergmann's Rule) and relative reduction in some body parts (Allen's Rule in the case of bodil…
Remains of Homo erectus from Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia
A method for inferring paleohabitats from the functional morphology of bovid astragali
Methods for inferring paleohabitats from the functional morphology of bovid phalanges
Methods for inferring paleohabitats from discrete traits of the bovid postcranial skeleton
Asa Issie, Aramis and the origin of Australopithecus
Plio-Pleistocene climatic change in the Turkana Basin (East Africa): Evidence from large mammal faunas
Role of Environmental Stimuli in Hominid Origins
Macrovertebrate Paleontology and the Pliocene Habitat of Ardipithecus ramidus
A diverse assemblage of large mammals is spatially and stratigraphically associated with Ardipithecus ramidus at Aramis. The most common species are tragelaphine antelope and colobine monkeys. Analyses of their postcranial remains situate them in a closed habitat. Assessment of dental mesowear, microwear, and stable isotopes from these and a wider range of abundant associated larger mammals indicates that the local habitat at Aramis was predomina…
Paleoenvironments and Hominin Evolution
Role of Environmental Stimuli in Hominid Origins
Biology (17 works) · Evolution and Paleontology Studies (14 works) · Evolutionary biology (14 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (13 works) · Paleontology (11 works) · Geography (9 works) · Primate Behavior and Ecology (8 works) · Paleontology (6 works) · Zoology (5 works) · Ecology (4 works)