Gabrielle A Russo 

My research program broadly investigates the functional and evolutionary anatomy of primates. I am particularly interested in three transformations to the locomotor skeleton that occurred during ape and human evolution in the Miocene (~23–5 Ma). These include the loss of an external tail in early apes, the adoption of more upright positional behaviors in apes of a modern aspect, and the acquisition of adaptations to bipedal stance and locomotion in the earliest members of the human lineage. My work emphasizes comparative, ontogenetic, and experimental frameworks, and I have a well-developed fieldwork program that bridges multiple sites in northern Kenya. My dual-stream research program positions me both to discover the fossils that serve as primary data concerning ape and human evolution, and, to analyze and contextualize these fossils to elucidate the lifestyles and evolutionary relationships of extinct apes and human ancestors.