Scholars@Duke
Matt Cartmill

Matt Cartmill

Professor Emeritus of Evolutionary Anthropology
Evolutionary Anthropology
matt.cartmill@duke.edu
DUMC, Durham, NC 27708
108 Biological Sciences Bldg, Durham, NC 27708

Selected Publications

Anxiety in first year medical students taking gross anatomy.

Journal Article Clinical anatomy (New York, N.Y.) · September 2014 To study anxiety levels in first-year medical students taking gross anatomy. Thirty medical students per year, for 2 years, completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) 10 times during a 13-week gross anatomy course. In addition, behavioral observations were ... Full text Cite

Vertebral body area profiles in primates and other mammals

Conference AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · March 1, 2014 Link to item Cite

Series introduction

Chapter · 2014 Cite

The end of higher taxa: a reply to Tattersall.

Journal Article Evolutionary anthropology · July 2013 Full text Cite

Review of The Philosophy of Human Evolution by Michael Ruse

Other Reports of the National Center for Science Education · 2013 Cite

Primate origins, human origins, and the end of higher taxa.

Journal Article Evolutionary anthropology · November 2012 When people learn that I study human evolution and we start talking about it, they sometimes ask me, "How long ago did the first humans live?" My answer is usually another question: "What do you mean by 'humans'?" That response seems as baffling and wrong- ... Full text Cite

Foreword

Chapter · 2012 Cite

Human fat deposition and upright posture.

Conference AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2012 Link to item Cite

The Human Lineage

Book · September 20, 2011 This textbook, aimed at advanced undergraduates and postgraduates in paleoanthropology courses, tackles a rather difficult task—that of presenting the substantial body of paleontological, genetic, geological and archaeological evidence ... ... Cite

Turtles all the way down: the Atlas of Creation

Other Reports of the National Center for Science Education · 2011 Cite

Being human means that "being human" means whatever we say it means

Conference AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2011 Link to item Cite

The human (R)evolution(s)

Journal Article Evolutionary Anthropology · May 1, 2010 Full text Cite

The effect of substrate size on the locomotion and gait patterns of the kinkajou (Potos flavus).

Journal Article Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological genetics and physiology · March 2010 Diagonal-sequence (DS) gaits, which are very rare among mammals, are common and well documented in primates and some arboreal marsupials. DS walking gaits have been reported in the kinkajou (Potos flavus), which shows ecological similarities with primates ... Full text Cite

Primate Classification and Diversity

Chapter · February 1, 2010 This chapter discusses current understanding of primate phylogeny. It argues that a cladistic approach based on genetics, supplemented by morphological and behavioral data, offers unique promise for organizing relationships among living primates, as well a ... Full text Cite

Gait patterns in primates and marsupials: similarities and differences.

Conference AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2008 Link to item Cite

Primate gaits and primate origins

Journal Article · December 1, 2007 Full text Cite

Adaptive value of ambling gaits in primates and other mammals.

Journal Article The Journal of experimental biology · June 2006 At speeds between the walk and the gallop, most mammals trot. Primates almost never trot, and it has been claimed that they transition directly from a walk to a gallop without any distinctive mid-speed running gait. If true, this would be another character ... Full text Cite

Ambling: An unusual intermediate speed gait in primates and other mammals

Journal Article COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-MOLECULAR & INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY · April 1, 2006 Link to item Cite

Series introduction

Chapter · 2006 Cite

Species taxa, characters, and symplesiomorphies.

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2006 Link to item Cite

Darwin, Darwinism, and the speciation process.

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2006 Link to item Cite

Darwin and design: Does evolution have a purpose?

Journal Article American Journal of Physical Anthropology · October 2005 Full text Cite

Review of Darwin and Design by Michael Ruse

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 2005 Cite

Review of Catastrophes and Other Calamities by Tony Hallam

Other TLS - The Times Literary Supplement · 2005 Cite

Review of Icons of Evolution — Science or Myth? by Jonathan Wells

Other Reports of the National Center for Science Education · 2005 Cite

Walking backwards: testing the association between centers of mass and footfall patterns.

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2005 Link to item Cite

75 years of the annual AAPA meetings, 1930-2004.

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2005 Link to item Cite

Catastrophes and lesser calamities - The causes of mass extinctions

Journal Article TLS-THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT · 2005 Cite

Duty factors and lateral-sequence gaits in primates and chameleons

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2004 Link to item Cite

Hypoglossal canal size in living hominoids and the evolution of human speech.

Journal Article Human biology · August 2003 The relative size of the hypoglossal canal has been proposed as a useful diagnostic tool for the identification of human-like speech capabilities in the hominid fossil record. Relatively large hypoglossal canals (standardized to oral cavity size) were obse ... Full text Cite

Footfall patterns and interlimb co-ordination in opossums (Family Didelphidae): Evidence for the evolution of diagonal-sequence walking gaits in primates

Journal Article Journal of Zoology · August 1, 2003 Most primates typically use a diagonal-sequence footfall pattern during walking. This footfall pattern, which is unusual for mammals, is believed to have originated in ancestral primates in association with the use of grasping extremities for movement and ... Full text Cite

Comment on "Grasping primate origins".

Other Science (New York, N.Y.) · May 2003 Full text Cite

Men behaving childishly (Review of The Eternal Child by Clive Bromhall)

Other TLS - The Times Literary Supplement · 2003 Cite

Surveying the race concept: A reply to Lieberman, Kirk, and Littlefield

Journal Article American Anthropologist · January 1, 2003 Leonard Lieberman, Rod Kirk, and Alice Littlefield report a significant decrease over the past 20 years in the percentage of physical anthropologists who support the race concept, while Matt Cartmill concludes that use of this concept did not decline durin ... Full text Cite

Locomotor modes of primates at moderate speeds. II. Analysis of support patterns.

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2003 Link to item Cite

Historical Explanation and the Concept of Progress in Primatology

Journal Article Evolutionary Anthropology · December 1, 2002 To commemorate the centenary of the Anthropologisches Institut in Zürich, I want to discuss an important midcentury change in the way we think about human and primate evolution, and about evolution in general. This change seems like an appropriate topic, b ... Full text Cite

Support polygons and symmetrical gaits in mammals

Journal Article Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society · November 1, 2002 The symmetrical gaits of quadrupedal mammals are often described in terms of two variables: duty factor (S = the stance period of one foot, as a percentage of the gait cycle) and diagonality (D = the percentage of the cycle period by which the left hind fo ... Full text Cite

Paleoanthropology: Science or mythological charter?

Journal Article Journal of Anthropological Research · January 1, 2002 Causal explanations involve both narrative and laws. To explain some event as the effect of other events, we must at least demonstrate (1) that the cause and effect both took place, with the cause preceding the effect, and (2) that the effect belongs to a ... Full text Cite

Replies to correspondents

Other Phi Beta Kappa Key Reporter · 2001 Cite

Series introduction

Chapter · 2001 Cite

Predicting mammalian walking gaits from optimized support polygons.

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2001 Link to item Cite

A view on the science: physical anthropology at the millennium.

Journal Article American journal of physical anthropology · October 2000 The year 2000 marks the onset of the 21st century. In this transitional year, prominent physical anthropologists will provide brief reflections on our discipline, including what attracted them to it, and their views on the directions our discipline may pur ... Full text Cite

Understanding the evil that men do

Other Chronicle of Higher Education · June 2000 Cite

The ascent of words

Other Pomona College Magazine · 2000 Cite

A view on the science: physical anthropology at the millennium

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 2000 Cite

Review of Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction? by Michael Ruse

Other Reports of the National Center for Science Education · 2000 Cite

Animal consciousness: Some philosophical, methodological, and evolutionary problems

Journal Article American Zoologist · January 1, 2000 SYNOPSIS. No consensus exists concerning the mechanisms, distribution, or adaptive significance of consciousness. Agreement on any one of these issues would aid in resolving others. Given a reliable behavioral or neuroanatomical test for consciousness, we ... Full text Cite

Symposium introduction. Charles Oxnard: an appreciation.

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 2000 Link to item Cite

Revolution, evolution, and Kuhn: A response to Chamberlain and Hartwig

Journal Article Evolutionary Anthropology · January 1, 1999 Full text Cite

Language and human evolution

Other AnthroQuest · 1999 Cite

Gait patterns and interlimb coordination in woolly opossums: how did ancestral primates move?

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1999 Link to item Cite

Axial rotation in the lumbar vertebral column of Australopithecus africanus.

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1999 Link to item Cite

The gift of gab

Other Discover · November 1998 Cite

The hypoglossal canal and the origin of human vocal behavior.

Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · April 1998 The mammalian hypoglossal canal transmits the nerve that supplies the muscles of the tongue. This canal is absolutely and relatively larger in modern humans than it is in the African apes (Pan and Gorilla). We hypothesize that the human tongue is supplied ... Full text Cite

Oppressed by evolution

Other Discover · March 1998 Cite

Animal minds, animal dreams

Other NATURAL HISTORY · March 1, 1998 Link to item Cite

The status of the race concept in physical anthropology

Journal Article American Anthropologist · January 1, 1998 There are hereditary differences among human beings. Some of these differences have geographical correlates. Some genetic variants that produce physical or behavioral deficits occur significantly more often in some areas, or in some ethnic groups, than in ... Full text Cite

The third man

Other Discover · September 1997 Cite

Ancient single origin for Malagasy primates.

Journal Article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · May 1996 We report new evidence that bears decisively on a long-standing controversy in primate systematics. DNA sequence data for the complete cytochrome b gene, combined with an expanded morphological data set, confirm the results of a previous study and again in ... Full text Cite

Obituary: Weston LaBarre, 1911-1996

Other Anthropology Newsletter · 1996 Cite

Anatomy and pathology

Chapter · 1996 Cite

Report of the Editors

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1995 Cite

Hunting and humanity in Western thought

Journal Article Social Research · 1995 Cite

Aping language

Journal Article Nature · January 1995 Full text Cite

Animal Rights: A Reply to Howard

Journal Article Journal of Mammalogy · November 18, 1994 Full text Cite

A critique of homology as a morphological concept.

Journal Article American journal of physical anthropology · May 1994 Two sequences of nucleotides are homologous if they are descended through a chain of replication from a common precursor molecule. Since organs are not copies or transcriptions of organs, the concept of morphological homology has no such simple and unambig ... Full text Cite

Molecules and morphology in primate systematics: an introduction

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1994 Cite

Report of the Editors

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1994 Cite

Reinventing anthropology

Journal Article Yearbook of Physical Anthropology · 1994 Cite

Molecules and morphology in Primate Systematics: An introduction

Journal Article American Journal of Physical Anthropology · January 1, 1994 Full text Cite

Questions of enslavement.

Journal Article Science (New York, N.Y.) · January 1994 Full text Cite

Reply to Campbell

Other Natural History · September 1993 Cite

THE BAMBI SYNDROME

Other NATURAL HISTORY · June 1, 1993 Link to item Cite

Report of the Editors

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1993 Cite

Obituary: John Buettner-Janusch, 1924-1992

Other Anthropology Newsletter · 1992 Cite

Non-human primates

Chapter · 1992 Cite

Report of the Editor

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1992 Cite

New views on primate origins

Journal Article Evolutionary Anthropology · 1992 Cite

Science matters in the liberal arts

Other Duke Faculty Newsletter · 1991 Cite

Report of the Editor

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1991 Cite

Review of Primate Visions by Donna Haraway

Other International Journal of Primatology · 1991 Cite

Review of Wonderful Life by S.J. Gould

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1991 Cite

The changing image of the hunt in Western thought

Journal Article Perspectives in Ethology · 1991 Cite

Human uniqueness and theoretical content in paleoanthropology

Journal Article International Journal of Primatology · June 1, 1990 One of the things that distinguishes science from nonscientific discourse is the incorporation of its hypotheses into theoretical structures. Like parapsychology, the study of human evolution lacks theoretical content and connections. This lack is due, in ... Full text Cite

Report of the Editor

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1990 Cite

Misdeeds in anthropology: bones, bodies, behavior.

Journal Article Science (New York, N.Y.) · May 1989 Full text Cite

Ecce homo: An annotated bibliographic history of physical anthropology

Journal Article Journal of Human Evolution · May 1989 Full text Cite

Review of Ecce Homo by F. Spencer

Other Journal of Human Evolution · 1989 Cite

Why I became a scientist

Journal Article American Scientist · 1988 Cite

Size and Scaling in Primate Biology. William L. Jungers, ed

Journal Article American Anthropologist · March 1987 Full text Cite

Human Structure

Book · 1987 Human Structure is an innovative introduction to human gross anatomy with a twofold approach: to view the basics of anatomy from a broad scientific perspective and to explain the facts of form and function in terms and concepts that minimize ... ... Cite

100 YEARS OF PALEOANTHROPOLOGY

Journal Article AMERICAN SCIENTIST · July 1, 1986 Link to item Cite

TARSIER AFFINITIES - THE OTIC EVIDENCE REEXAMINED

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · February 1, 1986 Link to item Cite

Reply to E.P. Banks

Journal Article American Scientist · 1986 Cite

One hundred years of paleoanthropology

Journal Article American Scientist · 1986 Cite

Climbing

Chapter · 1985 Cite

THE G-BANDED KARYOTYPE OF TARSIUS-BANCANUS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR PRIMATE PHYLOGENY

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1985 Link to item Cite

Innate grammars and the evolutionary presumption

Journal Article Behavioral and Brain Sciences · January 1, 1984 Full text Cite

BIOLOGY, CULTURE, AND PUNCTUATIONISM

Journal Article Evolution · September 1983 Full text Cite

New Palaeogene primate basicrania and the definition of the order Primates.

Journal Article Nature · February 1983 The anatomy of the posterior basicranium has been repeatedly invoked in systematic definitions of Primates. One widely cited definition of the order claims that 'all undoubted primates' are distinguished from other mammals by two basicranial specialization ... Full text Cite

4 LEGS GOOD, 2 LEGS BAD - MANS PLACE (IF ANY) IN NATURE

Journal Article NATURAL HISTORY · January 1, 1983 Link to item Cite

T-lymphocyte immunology and hominoid evolution.

Journal Article Science (New York, N.Y.) · December 1982 Full text Cite

W.C. Osman Hill: selected publications (l926-l974)

Other International Journal of Primatology · 1982 Cite

ARCHAIC PRIMATE BASICRANIA - NEW FACTS AND INTERPRETATIONS

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1982 Link to item Cite

Hypothesis testing and phylogenetic reconstruction

Journal Article Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research · January 1, 1981 Full text Cite

Anatomy of the temporal bone in early anthropoids, with remarks on the problem of anthropoid origins

Journal Article American Journal of Physical Anthropology · January 1, 1981 New and previously undescribed specimens of the petrous, squamous, and tympanic parts of the temporal bones of anthropoid primates from the Oligocene of Egypt display a general morphological resemblance to the equivalent parts of Recent ceboid skulls. Like ... Full text Cite

FURTHER EVIDENCE FOR A TARSIER-ANTHROPOID CLADE WITHIN HAPLORHINI

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1981 Link to item Cite

CHANGING VIEWS AND INTERPRETATIONS OF PRIMATE EVOLUTION

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1981 Link to item Cite

Introductory statement

Other International Journal of Primatology · 1980 Cite

TARSIER RELATIONSHIPS - IS AN ALGORITHM FOR PHYLOGENY RECONSTRUCTION ATTAINABLE

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1980 Link to item Cite

The volar skin of primates: its frictional characteristics and their functional significance.

Journal Article American journal of physical anthropology · May 1979 Friction of volar skin on wood is not proportional to load in human beings and prosimians, but to load raised to a fractional power. This meets theoretical expectations for the frictional characteristics of convex elastic surfaces. Although this enables sm ... Full text Cite

VOLAR SKIN FRICTION AND PAD PROTUBERANCE IN PRIMATES

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1979 Link to item Cite

An ethmoid exposure (os planum) in the orbit of Indri indri (Primates, Lemuriformes).

Journal Article American journal of physical anthropology · May 1978 In 6 of 17 skulls of Indri indri retaining distinct sutures in the medial orbital wall, a small separate bony element intervenes between the frontal and the maxillolacrimal suture. This element is demonstrably continuous with the ethmoid on one such skull. ... Full text Cite

The orbital mosaic in prosimians and the use of variable traits in systematics.

Journal Article Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology · January 1978 Study of 579 skulls, representing all 33 extant prosimian species and several anthropoids, shows that an orbital exposure of the ethmoid occurs in most Malagasy genera. A palatine-lacrimal contact is normal only in Lemur; the zygomatic-lacrimal contact occ ... Full text Cite

ORBITAL MOSAIC IN PROSIMIANS

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1978 Link to item Cite

The lorisiform wrist joint and the evolution of "brachiating" adaptations in the hominoidea.

Journal Article American journal of physical anthropology · September 1977 In lorisines (Loris, Nycticebus, Perodicticus, Arctocebus), the tip of the ulna is reduced to the dimensions of a styloid process, a new and more proximal ulnar head is developed, and the pisiform is displaced distally away from its primitive contact with ... Full text Cite

Review of Monkeys Without Tails by John Napier

Other American Anthropologist · 1977 Cite

Cranial morphology and adaptations of Palaechthon nacimienti and other paromomyidae (Plesiadapoidea, ? primates), with a description of a new genus and species

Journal Article Journal of Human Evolution · January 1, 1977 The Middle Paleocene paromomyid Palaechthon nacimienti has the most primitive cranial anatomy known for any plesiadapoid. In relative size and functional morphology, its molars resemble those of primates and tree shrews known to feed largely on insects. It ... Full text Cite

WELSH VOWEL MUTATION - SURFACE PHONOLOGY AND UNDERLYING FORMS

Journal Article LINGUISTIC INQUIRY · January 1, 1976 Link to item Cite

Primate Origins

Other · 1975 Cite

PRIMATE EVOLUTION - ANALYSIS OF TRENDS - REPLY

Journal Article SCIENCE · January 1, 1975 Link to item Cite

Extinction of Lineages: Irrelevance of Ecological Hypotheses

Journal Article American Anthropologist · January 1, 1975 Full text Cite

On racism and terminology

Journal Article Current Anthropology · 1975 Cite

RACISM AND TERMINOLOGY

Journal Article CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY · 1975 Cite

SKULL OF PALAECHTHON AND COMMENTS ON ECOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS OF PLESIADAPOIDEA

Journal Article AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · January 1, 1975 Link to item Cite

Skull of Palaechthon nacimienti

Journal Article Nature · December 1, 1974 SPECIES in or near the ancestry of living primates first appear in the late Cretaceous and early Palaeocene of North America. Subsequent adaptive radiation of the Purgatorius-like ancestral stock produced the plesiadapoid families (Plesiadapidae, Carpolest ... Full text Cite

Rethinking primate origins

Journal Article Science · 1974 Cite

On the production, marketing and utilization of the Wenner-Gren casts

Journal Article Yearbook of Physical Anthropology · 1974 Cite

Background for Man

Other American Journal of Physical Anthropology · 1972 Cite

Ethmoid component in the orbit of primates

Journal Article Nature · 1971 Cite

Foreword

Chapter Cite