Bernard Wood

Bernard Wood

Grants

Bernard Wood is presently the GW University Professor of Human Origins and Professor of Human Evolutionary Anatomy at The George Washington University and Adjunct Senior Scientist at the National Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Institution. He is also Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Evolutionary History at George Washington University. Dr. Wood is a medically qualified paleoanthropologist who practiced as a surgeon before moving into full-time academic life in 1972.
In 1982 he was appointed to the S.A. Courtauld Chair of Anatomy in The University of London, and in 1985 he moved to The University of Liverpool to the Derby Chair of Anatomy and to the Chairmanship of the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology. He was appointed the Dean of The University of Liverpool Medical School in 1995 and served as Dean until his move to Washington in the fall of 1997.

BIOGRAPHY

When he was still a medical student he joined Richard Leakey's first expedition to what was then Lake Rudolf in 1968 and he has remained associated with that research group, and pursued research in paleoanthropology, ever since. His research centers on increasing our understanding of human evolutionary history by developing and improving the ways we analyze the hominin fossil record, and on using the principles of bioinformatics to improve the ways we store and collate data about the hominin fossil record. He collaborates with researchers interested in the evolution of non-hominins in the interests of ensuring that we analyze hominin evolution in a proper comparative context. He has written one of the monographs in the series on the Koobi Fora site, and publishes papers on paleoanthropological topics.
For those who care about such things, at the last count Dr. Wood was the author, or co-author of eight books, the author, or co-author, of 161 refereed articles or book chapters, 138 delivered papers or posters, the author of 57 commentaries, encyclopedia entries, etc., 97 book reviews and the co-author of one electronic database.

PUBLICATIONS

Submitted	‘Taxonomic utility of the hominid mandibular corpus.’ Silverman, N., Lague, M., Richmond, B. and Wood, B. J. Anat.

	‘Protostylid expression at the outer enamel surface and at the enamel-dentine junction of mandibular molars of Paranthropus robustus and Australopithecus africanus.’ Skinner, M., Wood, B.A. and Hublin, J- J. J. Hum. Evol.

	‘The feeding biomechanics and dietary ecology of Australopithecus africanus.’ Strait, D.S., Weber, G.W., Neubauer, S., Chalk, J., Richmond, B.G., Lucas, P.W., Spencer, M.A., Schrein, C., Dechow, P C., Ross, C.F., Grosse, I.R., Wright, B.W., Constantino, P., Wood, B.A., Lawn, B., Wang, Q., Slice, D., Byron, C., Smith, A.L. Science.

In Press	‘The changing boundary of the genus Homo.’ Wood, B. In: The First Humans: Origins of the Genus Homo. Eds. F.E. Grine, J.G. Fleagle and R.E. Leakey. New York: Springer.

	‘Comparative anatomy, homologies and evolution of the pectoral and forelimb musculature.’ Diogo, R., Abdala, V. and Wood, B. J. Morph.

	‘From fish to modern humans – comparative anatomy, homologies and evolution of the head and neck musculature.’ Diogo, R., Abdala, V., Lonergan, N. and Wood, B. J. Anat.

2008	'Dental trait expression at the enamel-dentine junction of lower molars in extant and fossil hominoids.' Skinner, M.M., Wood, B.A., Boesch, C., Olejniczak, A.J., Rosas, A., Smith, T.M., and Hublin, J-J. J. Hum. Evol., 54(2): 173-186. (PDF)

	The hominin fossil record: taxa, grades and clades.' Wood, B. and Lonergan, N.L. J. Anat., 212: 354-376. (PDF)

	'Hominin life history: reconstruction and evolution.' Robson, S.L. and Wood, B. J. Anat., 212: 394-425. (PDF)

	'Cranial base evolution within the hominin clade.' Nevell, L. and Wood, B. J. Anat., 212: 455-468. (PDF)

	'Inferences regarding the diet of extinct hominins: structural and functional trends in dental and mandibular morphology within the hominin clade.' Lucas, P.W., Constantino, P.J. and Wood, B.A. J. Anat., 212: 486-500. (PDF)

	'Dental enamel as a dietary indicator in mammals.' Lucas, P.W., Constantino, P., Wood, B.A. and Lawn, B.R. Bioessays, 30: 374-385. (PDF)

	'The Homo floresiensis cranium (LB1): Size, scaling and early Homo affinities.' Gordon, A.D., Nevell, L. and Wood, B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.,105: 4650-4655. (PDF); Supplemental material (PDF)

2007	'Hominin homoiology: An assessment of the impact of phenotypic plasticity on phylogenetic analyses of humans and their fossil relatives.' Collard, M. and Wood, B., J. Hum. Evol., 52: 573-584. (PDF)

	'Masticatory biomechanics and its relevance to early hominid phylogenty: An examination of palatal thickness using finite element analysis.' Strait, D.S., Richmond, B.G., Spencer, M.A., Ross, C.F., Dechow, P. and Wood, B., J. Hum. Evol., 52: 585-599. (PDF)

	'Defining the genus Homo.' Collard, M. and Wood, B., In: Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Volume 3. Phylogeny of Hominids. Eds. W. Henke and I. Tattersall, pp. 1575-1611. Springer: Berlin. (PDF)

	'The evolution of Zinjanthropus boisei.' Constantino, P. and Wood, B., Evol. Anthropol., 16(2): 49-62. (PDF)

	'Trends in postcanine occlusal morphology within the hominin clade: The case of Paranthropus.' Bailey, S.E. and Wood, B.A. In: Dental Perspectives on human evolution: State of the art research in dental paleoanthropology. Eds. S.E. Bailey and J-J. Hublin, pp. 33-52. Dordrecht: Springer. (PDF)

	'Dental development.' Wood, B. In: Dental Perspectives on human evolution: State of the art research in dental paleoanthropology. Eds. S.E. Bailey and J-J. Hublin, pp. 231-235. Dordrecht: Springer. (PDF)

	'Paranthropus boisei: fifty years of fossil evidence and analysis.' Wood, B. and Constantino, P. Yb. Phys. Anthropol., 50: 106-132. (PDF)

	'Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark: The making of a paleoanthropologist.' Wood, B. In: Elwyn Simons: A Search for Origins. Eds. J.G. Fleagle and C.C. Gilbert, pp. 19-33. New York: Springer. (PDF)

2006	'The evolution of modern human life history - a paleontological perspective.' Skinner, M. and Wood, B. In: The Evolution of Modern Human Life History. Eds. K. Hawkes and R. Paine, pp. 331-364. School of American Research, Santa Fe. (PDF)

	'Palaeoecology of Kolpochoerus heseloni (= K. limnetes): a multiproxy approach.' Bishop, L.C., King, T., Hill, A., and Wood, B. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 61(2): 81-88. (PDF)

	'Whose Diet? An introduction to the hominin fossil record.' Henry, A. and Wood, B. In: Early Hominin Diets: The Known, The Unknown and the Unknowable. Ed. P. Ungar, pp. 11-28. New York: Oxford University Press. (PDF)

	‘The hominin fossil record and the emergence of the modern human central nervous system.’ de Sousa, A. and Wood, B. In: Evolution of Nervous Systems: A Comprehensive Reference. Vol. 4: The Evolution of Primate Nervous Systems. Ed. J.H. Kaas, pp. 291-336. Oxford: Elsevier.

2005	‘Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction.’ Wood, B. pp. 1-144. Oxford University Press, New York.

	‘A tale of two taxa.’ Wood, B. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. 60(2): 91-94. (PDF)

	‘Early evolution of the foot.’ Griffin, N.L. and Wood, B. In: The Human Foot: A companion to clinical studies, Eds. Klenerman, L. and Wood, B. pp. 1-25. London: Springer-Verlag. (PDF)

	‘Recent evolution of the human foot.’ Griffin, N.L. and Wood, B. In: The Human Foot: A companion to clinical studies, Eds. Klenerman, L. and Wood, B. pp. 27-79. London: Springer-Verlag. (PDF)

2004	'Paranthropus paleobiology.' Constantino, P. and Wood, B. In: Miscelánea en homenaje a Emiliano Aguirre Vol. III: Paleoantropologia. pp. 136-151. Museo Arqueolócico Regional. (PDF)

	‘Interobserver error involved in independent attempts to measure cusp base areas of Pan M1s.’ Bailey, S.E., Pilbrow, V.C. and Wood, B.A. J. Anat., 205: 323-331. (PDF)

	‘Human origins: life at the top of the tree.’ Wood, B. and Constantino, P. In: Assembling the Tree of Life, Eds. J. Cracraft and M.J. Donoghue. pp. 517-535. Oxford University Press, New York. (PDF)

	‘Patterns of resource use in early Homo and Paranthropus.’ Wood, B. and Strait, D. J. Hum. Evol., 46(2): 119-162. (PDF)

2002	'Soft tissue anatomy of the extant hominoids: a review and phylogenetic analysis. ' Wood, B., Collard, M. and Gibbs, S., J. Anat., 200: 3-49. (PDF)

	'Early hominin limb proportions.' Richmond,B.G., Aiello, L.C.,and Wood,B., J.Hum.Evol. 43:529-548. (PDF)

	‘Older than the Oldowan? Rethinking the emergence of hominin tool use.’ Panger, M.A., Brooks, A.S., Richmond, B.G., and Wood, B. Evol. Anthrop. 11(6): 235-245. (PDF)

	‘Stature-at-death of KNM-WT 15000.’ Ohman, J.C., Wood, C., Wood, B., Crompton, R.H., Gunther, M.M., Yu L., Savage, R. and Wang, W. Hum. Evol. 17 (3-4): 129-142.

2001	'Evolving interpretations of Homo.' Wood, B. and Collard, M. In: Humanity from African Naissance to Coming Millenia. Eds. P.V. Tobias, R. Rath, J. Moggi-Cecchi and G. Doyle. pp. 141-146. Firenze University Press, Florence. (PDF)

	'How reliable are current estimates of fossil catarrhine phylogeny? An assessment using extant great apes and Old World monkeys.' Collard, M. and Wood B. In: Hominid Evolution and Climate Change in Europe. Phylogeny of the Neogene Hominoid Primates of Eurasia. Vol. 2. Eds. L. de Bonis, G.D. Koufous, and P. Andrews. pp. 118-150. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. (PDF)

	'Testing the taxonomic integrity of Paranthropus boisei sensu stricto.' Silverman, N., Richmond, B. and Wood, B. Am. J. phys. Anthropol., 115(2): 167- 178. (PDF)

	'Comparative context of Plio-Pleistocene hominin brain evolution.' Elton, S., Bishop, L.C. and Wood, B. J. Hum. Evol., 41: 1- 27. (PDF)

	'Craniodental variation in Paranthropus boisei: a developmental and functional perspective.' Wood, B. and Lieberman, D.E. Am. J. phys. Anthropol.,116: 13-25. (PDF)

	'Homoplasy and the early hominid masticatory system: inferences from analyses of extant hominoids and papionins.' Collard, M. and Wood, B. J. Hum. Evol., 41: 167-194. (PDF)

	'The meaning of Homo.' Wood, B. and Collard, M. Ludus Vitalis, 9 (15): 63-74. (PDF)


2000	'Assessing exact randomization methods for determining the taxonomic significance of variability in the hominin fossil record.' Aiello, L.C., Collard, M., Thackeray, J.F. and Wood, B.A. S. Afr. J. Sci., 96(4): 179-184. (PDF)

	'How reliable are human phylogenetic hypotheses?' Collard, M. and Wood, B.A. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 97: 5003-5006. (PDF)

	'Investigating human evolutionary history.' Wood, B.A. J. Anat., 197: 3-17. (PDF)

	'Human evolution: taxonomy and paleobiology.' Wood, B.A. and Richmond, B. J. Anat., 97: 19-60. (PDF)

	'Soft-tissue characters in higher primate phylogenetics.' Gibbs, S., Collard, M. and Wood, B. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 97: 11130-11132. (PDF)

	'The history of the genus Homo.' Wood, B.A. Hum. Evol., 15 (No. 1-2): 39-49. (PDF)

	'Systematics of Humankind.' Cela-Conde, C.J., Aguierre, E., Ayala, F.J., Tobias, P.V., Turbon, D., Aiello, L.C., Collard, M., Goodman, M., Groves, C.P., Clark Howell, F., Schwartz, J.H., Strait, D.S., Szalay, F., Tattersall, I., Wolpoff, M.H., and Wood, B. Ludus Vitalis, 7 (No. 13):127-130. (PDF)

	'Old and new paradigms in the study of human evolution.' Wood, B. Rivista de Antropologia, 78: 17 - 34. (PDF)