Terry Harrison
Professor Emeritus of Anthropology; CSHO Founding Director
Ph.D. 1982; B.Sc. 1978, University College London
Email: terry.harrison@nyu.edu
Collections
Research Interests
- human evolution
- functional morphology
- primate comparative anatomy
- taphonomy
- fossil apes and monkeys
- paleobiology
- allometry
- paleoecology
Other Affiliations
Professor Emeritus, NYU Department of Anthropology
Resource Faculty, New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology
Research Associate, Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Associate Editor, Journal of Human Evolution
Associate Editor, Anthropological Science
Current Projects
Fossil Hominoids from Pleistocene Cave Sites in China
Functional Anatomy and Evolutionary Morphology
Miocene Catarrhine Primates from East Africa
New Pliopithecoids from the Miocene of Asia
Paleoanthropological Research at Laetoli, Tanzania
Paleoecology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Africa
Phylogenetic Relationships and Paleobiology of Early Hominins
Selected Publications
[ Academia | ResearchGate ]Harrison, T., Zhang, Y., Wei, G., Sun, C., Wang, Y., Liu, J., Tong, H., Huang, B., Xu, F. 2020. A new genus of pliopithecoid from the late Early Miocene of China and its implications for the paleozoogeography of the Pliopithecoidea. Journal of Human Evolution 145: 102838.
Li, S., Ji, X., Harrison, T., Deng, C., Wang, S., Wang, L., Zhu, R. 2020. Uplift of the Hengduan Mountains on the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in the late Miocene and its paleoenvironmental impact on hominoid diversity. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 553: 109794.
Reed, D., Dirks, W., McMaster L., Harrison, T. 2019. Accuracy of habitat reconstruction based on a blind test of micromammal evidence from East Africa. Historical Biology 31 (2): 243-252.
Ortiz, A., Zhang, Y., Jin, C., Wang, Y., Zhu, M., Yan, Y., Kimock, C., Villamil, C.I., He. K., Harrison, T. 2019. Morphometric analysis of fossil hylobatid molars from the Pleistocene of southern China. Anthropological Science 127: 109-121.
Ortiz, A., Bailey, S.E., Delgado, M., Zanolli, C., Demeter, F., Bacon, A-M., Nguyen, T.M.H., Nguyen, A.T., Zhang, Y., Harrison, T., Hublin, J-J., Skinner, M.M. 2019. A distinguishing feature of Pongo upper molars and its implications for the taxonomic identification of isolated hominid teeth from the Pleistocene of Asia. Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. 170: 595-612.
Reed, D., Harrison, T., Kwekason, A. 2019. Eyasi Plateau Paleontological Expedition, Laetoli, Tanzania, fossil specimen database 1998-2005. Scientific Data 6, 304: 1-11.
Genise, J., Harrison, T. 2019. Walking on ashes: Insect trace fossils from Laetoli indicate poor grass cover associated with early hominin environments. Palaeontology 61: 597-624.
Spehar, S.N, Sheil, D., Harrison, T., Louys, J., Ancrenaz, M., Marshall, A.J., Wich, S.A., Bruford, M.W., Meijaard, E. 2018. Orangutans venture out of the rainforest and into the Anthropocene. Science Advances 4: e1701422: 1-13.
Zhang, Y-Q., Jin, C-Z., Wang, Y., Ortiz, A., He. K., Harrison, T. 2018. Fossil gibbons (Mammalia, Hylobatidae) from the Pleistocene of Chongzuo, Guangxi, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 56 (3): 248-263.
Laird, M.F., Kozma, E., Kwekason, A., Harrison, T. 2018. Fossil cercopithecid tibia from Laetoli and its implications for positional behavior and paleoecology. Journal of Human Evolution 118: 27-42.
Harrison, T. 2017. The paleoecology of the Upper Ndolanya Beds, Laetoli, Tanzania, and its implications for hominin evolution, in Marom, A., Hovers, E. (Eds.) Human Paleontology and Prehistory: Contributions in Honor of Yoel Rak, pp. 31-44. Springer, Dordrecht.
Rein, T.R., Harrison, T., Carlson, K., Harvati, K. 2017. Adaptation to suspensory locomotion in Australopithecus sediba. Journal of Human Evolution 104: 1-12.
Sankhyan, A.R., Kelley, J., Harrison, T. 2017. A highly derived pliopithecoid from the Late Miocene of Haritalyangar, India. Journal of Human Evolution 105: 1-12.
Harrison, T. 2016. The fossil record and evolutionary history of hylobatids, in Reichard, U.H., Hirohisa, H., Barelli, C. (Eds.), Evolution of Gibbons and Siamang: Phylogeny, Morphology, and Cognition, pp. 91-110. Springer, New York.
Zhang, Y., Harrison, T. 2016. Gigantopithecus blacki: A giant ape from the Pleistocene of Asia revisited. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 162, Supplement S63: 153-177.
Zhang, Y., Jin, C., Kono, R.T., Harrison, T., & Wang, W. 2016. A fourth mandible and associated dental remains of Gigantopithecus blacki from the Early Pleistocene Yanliang Cave, Fusui, Guangxi, South China. Historical Biology 28: 95-104.
Zhang, Y., Kono, R.T., Wang, W., Harrison, T., Takai, M., Ciochon, R.L., & Jin, C. 2015. Evolutionary trend in dental size in Gigantopithecus blacki revisited. Journal of Human Evolution 83: 91-100.
Sukselainen, L, Fortelius, M., & Harrison, T. 2015. Co-occurrence of pliopithecoid and hominoid primates in the fossil record: an ecometric analysis. Journal of Human Evolution 84: 25-41.
Ortiz, A., Pilbrow, V., Villamil, C.I., Korsgaard, J.G., Bailey, S.E., & Harrison, T. 2015. The taxonomic and phylogenetic affinities of Bunopithecus sericus, a fossil hylobatid from the Pleistocene of China. PLoS One e0131206: 1-17.
Su, D.F. & Harrison, T. 2015. The paleoecology of the Upper Laetolil Beds, Laetoli, Tanzania: A review and synthesis. Journal of African Earth Sciences 101: 405-419.
Rein, T.R., Harvati, K., & Harrison, T. Inferring the use of forelimb suspensory locomotion by extinct primate species via shape exploration of the ulna. Journal of Human Evolution 78: 70-79.
Zhang, Y., Kono, R.T., Jin, C., Wang, W., & Harrison, T. 2014. Possible change in dental morphology in Gigantopithecus blacki just prior to its extinction: Evidence from the upper premolar enamel-dentine junction. Journal of Human Evolution 75: 166-171.
Jin, C., Wang, Y., Deng, C., Harrison, T., Qin, D., Pan, W., Zhang, Y., Zhu, M., & Yan, Y. 2014. Chronological sequence of the early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus faunas from cave sites in the Chongzuo, Zuojiang River area, South China. Quaternary International 354: 4-14.
Harrison, T., Jin, C., Zhang, Y., Wang, Y., & Zhu, M. 2014. Fossil Pongo from the Early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus fauna of Chongzuo, Guangxi, southern China. Quaternary International 354: 59-67.
Roberts, P., Delson, E., Miracle, P., Ditchfield, P., Roberts, R.G., Jacobs, Z., Blinkhorn, J., Ciochon, R.L., Fleagle, J.G., Frost, S.R., Gilbert, C.C., Gunnell, G.F., Harrison, T., Korisettar, R., & Petraglia, M.D. 2014. Continuity of mammalian fauna over the last 200,000 y in the Indian subcontinent. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 111: 5848-5853.
Harrison, T. 2013. Catarrhine origins, in D. Begun (Ed.) A Companion to Paleoanthropology, pp. 376-396. New York: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Rein, T.R., Harrison, T., & Zollikofer, C.P.E. 2011. Skeletal correlates of quadrupedalism and climbing in the anthropoid forelimb: Implications for inferring locomotion in Miocene catarrhines. Journal of Human Evolution 61: 564-574.
Wood, B. & Harrison, T. 2011. The evolutionary context of the first hominins. Nature 470: 347-352.
Harrison, T. 2011. Laetoli revisited: Renewed palaeontological and geological investigations at localities on the Eyasi Plateau in northern Tanzania, in T. Harrison (Ed.) Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Volume 1: Geology, Geochronology, Paleoecology and Paleoenvironment, pp. 1-15. Dordrecht: Springer.
Harrison, T. 2011. Hominins from the Upper Laetolil and Upper Ndolanya Beds, Laetoli, in T. Harrison (Ed.) Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Volume 2: Fossil Hominins and the Associated Fauna, pp. 141-188. Dordrecht: Springer.
Harrison, T. (Ed.) 2011. Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli, Tanzania: Human Evolution in Context. Volume 1: Geology, Geochronology, Paleoecology and Paleoenvironment. Dordrecht: Springer.
Harrison, T. (Ed.) 2011. Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli, Tanzania: Human Evolution in Context. Volume 2: Fossil Hominins and the Associated Fauna. Dordrecht: Springer.
Harrison, T. 2010. Apes among the tangled branches of human origins. Science 327: 532-534.
Harrison, T. 2010. Dendropithecoidea, Proconsuloidea and Hominoidea, in L. Werdelin & W.J. Sanders (Eds.) Cenozoic Mammals of Africa, pp. 429-469. Berkeley: University of California Press.