New Mexico State University
Current Research
Dr. McCrossin has carried out field research in Africa since 1982, working
in Kenya since 1987. His current research is devoted to understanding
the phylogenetic relationships, adaptations and ecology of African ape
and human ancestors from the middle and late Miocene (between 15 and
5 million years before present), especially a long-misunderstood genus
called Kenyapithecus. Kenyapithecus was once thought to be a direct
ancestor of humans and more recently an archaic great ape, but Dr. McCrossin's
research shows that in fact Kenyapithecus is the common ancestor of
humans and our closest living relatives, the gorilla, bonobo, and chimpanzee.
In addition, new discoveries from Maboko Island made by Dr. McCrossin
reveal that Kenyapithecus possessed craniodental adaptations like those
seen in living pitheciine monkeys (bearded sakis and uakaris) for eating
hard fruit and nuts and limb bones adapted for a knuckle-walking mode
of semi-terrestrial locomotion. Due to its phylogenetic position as
common ancestor to gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans, Kenyapithecus
proves that the earliest human ancestors passed through a knuckle-walking
phase in their evolutionary history. Detailed descriptions of these
recent discoveries are in preparation, based on comparisons to specimens
of extant and extinct primates in museums in Africa, Europe, and the
United States. In the future, Dr. McCrossin plans to continue African
field research, in pursuit of information concerning the ecology and
adaptations of the ancestors of the australopithecines and other primates
from the Plio-Pleistocene.