Department of Neuroscience

Research Abstract

My research focuses on the interpretation of adaptive function in the fossil record via comparative mammalian anatomy and behavior and the use of these data to reconstruct ecological and evolutionary pressures acting on extinct primate communities. In particular, two main points of interest are: 1) the timing and ecological correlates of brain size evolution, brain proportions, and cranial anatomy in primates, and 2) the use of cranio-dental anatomy to reconstruct ecological adaptations (e.g. Feeding ecology) in the fossil record.

Selected Publications

• Gongora J, Cuddahee RE, do Nascimento FF, Palgrave CJ, Lowden S, Ho SYW, Simond D, Damayanti CS, White DJ, Tay WT, Randi E, Klingel H, Rodrigues-Zarate CJ, Allen K, Moran C, Larson G, Rethinking the evolution of extant sub-Saharan African suids (Suidae, Artiodactyla). Zoologica Scripta. 2011: 40(4): 327-335. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2011.00480.x
• Allen KL, Kay RF, Dietary Quality and Encephalization in Platyrrhine Primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2011: 279(1729): 715-21. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.1311.
• Allen KL, Cooke SB, Gonzales LB, Kay RF, Dietary inference from upper and lower molar morphology in platyrrhine primates. PLoS ONE. 2015: 10(3): e0118732. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118732.