Laura MacLatchy is interested in the evolution of ape and human locomotor adaptations. She has been active in the study and recovery of fossil primates, as well as in the analysis of the morphology and locomotion of living primates. Her field experience includes paleontological work in Chad, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan and Uganda and behavioral studies in Ecuador.

She currently directs a multidisciplinary paleontological project in Eastern Uganda, where the remains of the only African fossil ape with upright, suspensory locomotor adaptations like those of modern apes have been found. This species, which has been radiometrically dated at more than 20 million years old, has been named Morotopithecus bishopi. The phylogenetic affinities, locomotor and dietary behaviors, and paleoecological setting of this species are under investigation, with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Dr. MacLatchy's interest in locomotor evolution has also led to a study of suspensory and upright behaviors in ateline primates at the Tiputini Biodiversity Field Station in Ecuador.

Anatomical research has largely focused on the relationship between joint morphology and function. She has recently begun to investigate patterns of trabecular microstructure and how they relate to functional loads using microCT. MicroCT is a relatively new technique that allows one to quantify the distribution, thickness and orientation of trabecular plates and struts.

Dr. MacLatchy teaches courses in human and primate evolution and anatomy.

Selected publications:

MacLatchy, L.M. 2004. The Oldest Ape. Evolutionary Anthropology 13(3 ) : 90-103.

Young, N. & MacLatchy, L.M. 2004. The phylogenetic position of Morotopithecus. Journal of Human Evolution 46: 163-184.

Kohler, M., Alba, D., Moya Sola, S. and MacLatchy, L. 2002. Taxonomic affinities of the Eppelsheim femur. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 11: 119:4 297-304.

MacLatchy, L. and Müller, R. 2002. A comparison of the femoral head and neck trabecular architecture of Galago and Perodicticus using micro-computed tomography. Journal of Human Evolution 43: 89-106.

Madar, S., Rose, M., Kelley, J., MacLatchy, L. and Pilbeam, D. 2002. New Sivapithecus postcranial specimens from the Siwaliks of Pakistan. Journal of Human Evolution 42: 705-752

MacLatchy, L., Gebo, D., Kityo, R. and Pilbeam, D. 2000. Postcranial functional morphology of Morotopithecus bishopi, with implications for the evolution of modern ape locomotion. Journal of Human Evolution 38: 159-183.

Excavating at Moroto II, Uganda, 2004. From left to right: James Rossie, Nathan Young, Ezra Musiime, Robert Kityo, Susy Cote, Moses Mafabi, Alisa Winkler.

Jacques Julien Monchamp, born May 15, 2005

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