J. Michael Plavcan Data-verified

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

High Impact

Researcher

Last publication 2025 Last refreshed 2026-05-16

faculty

41 h-index 102 pubs 5,574 cited

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

J. Michael Plavcan's research focuses on physical anthropology, with a particular emphasis on primate evolution and comparative anatomy. His work investigates the relationship between oral processing, sexual selection, and variations in skeletal morphology, specifically within the circumorbital region of colobus monkeys. Plavcan also examines primate ingestive behaviors through the analysis of canine microwear patterns, distinguishing between "stubby" and "stabby" wear types.

His research extends to hominin evolution, including the analysis of fossil remains. This includes contributions to the understanding of early hominin populations through the description of isolated teeth and corrigenda related to new fossil discoveries. Plavcan also studies functional morphology, exploring asymmetries in enthesis size and hand preference between humans and nonhuman primates.

With a substantial publication record (100 publications, 5,544 citations) and an h-index of 41, Plavcan is recognized as a highly cited researcher. He leads a research group at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and collaborates with other researchers in his field.

Metrics

  • h-index: 41
  • Publications: 102
  • Citations: 5,574

Selected Publications

  • Enthesis Size and Hand Preference: Asymmetry in Humans Contrasts With Symmetry in Nonhuman Primates (2025)
  • Additional isolated hominin canine tooth from Kanapoi, Kenya (2024)
  • Stubby versus stabby: A preliminary analysis of canine microwear in primates: Implication for inferring ingestive behaviors (2024)
    1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • The 50th anniversary of JHE (2022)
  • Corrigendum to “New fossils of Australopithecus anamensis from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya (2012–2015)” [Journal of Human Evolution 140 (2020) 102368] (2022)
  • Oral processing, sexual selection, and size variation in the circumorbital region of <i>Colobus</i> and <i>Piliocolobus</i> (2021)
    5 citations DOI OpenAlex

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Collaboration Network

11 Collaborators 8 Institutions 2 Countries

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