Match tier Likely match
Presence Current · Arkansas
Last published 2025
Sources OpenAlex · ORCID
Refreshed 2026-08-15

J. Michael Plavcan

This is a likely match — the affiliation was inferred from OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources but has not been fully confirmed. Treat with appropriate caution.

High Impact

Researcher

Also affiliated: State University of New York (1999); SUNY Old Westbury (1995–2002); Max Planck Society (2014); Duke University (1987–1999); Morpho (United States) (1993); The Ohio State University at Mansfield (2002); New York Institute of Technology (1997–1999); York University (1995–2002); Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (2014); Duke Medical Center (1987–1993); Fayetteville Public Library (2024); Duke University Hospital (1988–1993); Institute of Seismology (2001); The Ohio State University (2002); University of Cincinnati (1993–1994)

Faculty Researcher

41 h-index 99 pubs 5,307 cited

  • Animals
  • Fossils
  • Male
  • Sex Characteristics
  • Female
  • Hominidae
  • Biological Evolution
  • Primates
  • Humans
  • Cuspid
  • Anthropology, Physical
  • Sexual Behavior, Animal
  • Kenya
  • Phylogeny
  • Mandible

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

J. Michael Plavcan's research investigates primate evolution, focusing on functional morphology, sexual selection, and the interpretation of fossil evidence. His work often examines skeletal features related to diet and locomotion, contributing to our understanding of primate adaptation and diversification. Recent publications explore the circumorbital region in colobine monkeys, analyzing size variation in relation to oral processing and sexual selection. He has also investigated primate canine microwear to infer ingestive behaviors and examined enthesis size and hand preference, contrasting human asymmetry with nonhuman primate symmetry.

Plavcan's contributions extend to paleoanthropology, with research on hominin fossil discoveries. He has published on isolated hominin canine teeth and has been involved in corrigenda for studies on *Australopithecus anamensis* fossils from Kenya. His scholarly output is reflected in a high h-index of 41 and over 5,600 citations, indicating significant impact within his field. He leads a research group at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and collaborates with colleagues such as Lucas K. Delezene and Peter S. Ungar.

Metrics

  • h-index: 41
  • Publications: 99
  • Citations: 5,307

Selected Publications

  • Enthesis Size and Hand Preference: Asymmetry in Humans Contrasts With Symmetry in Nonhuman Primates (2025)
    American Journal of Biological Anthropology 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Additional isolated hominin canine tooth from Kanapoi, Kenya (2024)
    Journal of Human Evolution DOI OpenAlex
  • Stubby versus stabby: A preliminary analysis of canine microwear in primates: Implication for inferring ingestive behaviors (2024)
    American Journal of Primatology 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • The 50th anniversary of JHE (2022)
    Journal of Human Evolution DOI OpenAlex
  • Corrigendum to “New fossils of Australopithecus anamensis from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya (2012–2015)” [Journal of Human Evolution 140 (2020) 102368] (2022)
    Journal of Human Evolution DOI OpenAlex
  • Oral processing, sexual selection, and size variation in the circumorbital region of <i>Colobus</i> and <i>Piliocolobus</i> (2021)
    American Journal of Physical Anthropology 6 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Editorial note: “Reflections on the history and legacy of scientific racism in South African paleoanthropology and beyond” (2020)
    Journal of Human Evolution 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Introduction to special issue Kanapoi: Paleobiology of a Pliocene site in Kenya (2020)
    Journal of Human Evolution 5 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • The ecology of Australopithecus anamensis in the early Pliocene of Kanapoi, Kenya (2020)
    Journal of Human Evolution 37 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Cercopithecid fossils from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya (2007–2015) (2020)
    Journal of Human Evolution 27 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • A late Miocene hominid partial pelvis from Hungary (2019)
    Journal of Human Evolution 33 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • A diminutive Pliocene guenon from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya (2019)
    Journal of Human Evolution 12 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Late Middle Pleistocene Elephants from Natodomeri, Kenya and the Disappearance of Elephas (Proboscidea, Mammalia) in Africa (2019)
    Journal of Mammalian Evolution 17 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Allometry and body size (2018)
    The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology 2 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Sexual Dimorphism in Hominin Ancestors (2018)
    The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology 8 citations DOI OpenAlex

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Collaboration Network

11 Collaborators 8 Institutions 2 Countries

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