Research 2009 - 2011
Using the Past to Understand the Present
Mary T. Silcox, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Anthropology
Dr. Mary Silcox is interested to learn more about the evolution of the brain in these early primates, as they represent the first phases of our own evolution. Modern primates have brains larger than those of other orders, and Dr. Silcox wants to know why, and when, this difference first appeared.
It is a unique field of study, and for Dr. Silcox most recently it has centred on the most primitive primate skeleton known, and on the tiny skulls of creatures no bigger than a house cat, which lived 55 million years ago in what is now Wyoming. Using a powerful CT scanner she obtained hundreds of high-resolution images of the skull interiors. This is allowing her to study the skulls in detail, measuring the proportionality of parts of the brain to determine which parts were well developed and which senses were most strongly developed. This helps to paint a picture of what these animals, our earliest cousins, were like. “Part of the point of my research is to enhance our understanding of our own place in nature and to develop a sense of connection with the biological world.”
Dr. Silcox is also involved in The Mammal Tree of Life, a collaborative project with researchers from across North America and Europe. Through this enormous multi-institutional effort, a phylogenetic tree for mammals, past and present, is being compiled.