Elwyn Simons: A Search for Origins

Elwyn Simons has held professional appointments at Yale University (1960-1977), Duke University (1977-present), and was the Director of the Duke Primate Center (1977-1991) and Scientific Director (1991-2001). He has authored nearly 300 scientific publications and is the holder of many high honors. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, as well as many other professional associations. He was elected a “Knight of the National Order” by the government of Madagascar and has been the recipient of many awards including the prestigious Charles R. Darwin Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.

• The Life of a Scientist.- to the Festschrift.- Elwyn LaVerne Simons.- A Personal Reminiscence of Elwyn.- Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark.- Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark.- Human Evolution and the Challenge of Creationism.- The Fayum and Other Fossil Adventures.- Five Decades in the Fayum.- Geology, Paleoenvironment, and Age of Birket Qarun Locality 2 (BQ-2), Fayum Depression, Egypt.- Eocene and Oligocene Mammals of the Fayum, Egypt.- Early Evolution of Whales.- The Basicranial Anatomy of African Eocene/Oligocene Anthropoids. Are There Any Clues for Platyrrhine Origins?.- Paleontological Exploration in Africa.- Return to Dor al-Talha.- Revisiting Haritalyangar, the Late Miocene Ape Locality of India.- Revisiting Primate Postcrania from the Pondaung Formation of Myanmar.- A Haplorhine First Metatarsal from the Middle Eocene of China.- New Data on Loveina (Primates: Omomyidae) from the early Eocene Wasatch Formation and Implications for Washakiin Relationships.- The Behavioral Ecology of our Earliest Hominid Ancestors.- The Fayum and Other Fossil Adventures.- Decades of Lemur Research and Conservation.- Low Fetal Energy Deposition Rates in Lemurs.- Old Lemurs.- Peculiar Tooth Homologies of the Greater Bamboo Lemur (Prolemur = Hapalemur simus).- How Big were the “Giant” Extinct Lemurs of Madagascar?.- Ghosts and Orphans.- Vicariance vs. Dispersal in the Origin of the Malagasy Mammal Fauna.- On the Brink of Extinction.

From the reviews: "This volume, edited by Fleagle and Gilbert ... includes 26 chapters of varying length. ... A full bibliography of Simons' astounding 315 publications ... closes the volume. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty." (E. Delson, Choice, Vol. 46 (3), November, 2008) "A Search for Human Origins is of interest to all primatologists, whether they study living or extinct species. ... A Search for Human Origins deals with paleontological collecting in different parts of the world, principally in Egypt, but also in Libya, Tanzania, India, China, and North America. ... a testament to the enduring influence of Elwyn Simons on vertebrate paleontology, primate evolution, and prosimian biology and conservation." (Susan Cachel, International Journal Primatology, Vol. 29, 2008) "Elwyn Simons: A Search for Origins, edited by John Fleagle and Chris Gilbert, succeeds primarily because no real attempt at blanket coverage of Elwyn's career is made. Instead, it is a delightfully idiosyncratic sampling of personal history, fossil discovery, and comparative study. ... This book includes coverage of subfossil lemurs and the current status of Malagasy ecosystems, current finds in North Africa, India, and Asia and even a chapter on hominid behavioral ecology, all of which reflect the interests and passions of Elwyn Simons." (Christopher P. Heesy, Evolutionary Anthropology, Vol. 18, 2009)