Anna Katherine "Kay" Behrensmeyer is an American taphonomist and

paleoecologist Paleoecology (also spelled palaeoecology) is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs ...

. She is a pioneer in the study of the fossil records of terrestrial ecosystems and engages in geological and paleontological field research into the ecological context of

human evolution Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of '' Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual development o ...

in East Africa. She is Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology in the Department of Paleobiology at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

(NMNH). At the museum, she is co-director of the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems program and an associate of the Human Origins Program.

Education and career

Behrensmeyer received her

bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. In 1968, Behrensmeyer made a detailed investigation of

Lothagam Lothagam is a geological formation located in Kenya, near the southwestern shores of Lake Turkana, from Kanapoi. It is located between the Kerio and Lomunyenkuparet Rivers on an uplifted fault block. Lothagam has deposits dating to the Miocene- ...

, a Kenyan paleontological formation dating to the late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

-early

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Richard Leakey Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (19 December 1944 – 2 January 2022) was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. Leakey held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife conse ...

to be his team's geologist and map fossil deposits at

Koobi Fora Koobi Fora refers primarily to a region around Koobi Fora Ridge, located on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana in the territory of the nomadic Gabbra people. According to the National Museums of Kenya, the name comes from the Gabbra language: ...

in Kenya. She discovered a cluster of

stone tools A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

eroding out of a volcanic

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

, an ash layer from an ancient eruption that filled a small paleochannel. The site was named in her honor and the layer was named the Kay Behrensmeyer Site Tuff or KBS Tuff. The tools were similar to those discovered by

Mary Leakey Mary Douglas Leakey, FBA (née Nicol, 6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a British paleoanthropologist who discovered the first fossilised ''Proconsul'' skull, an extinct ape which is now believed to be ancestral to humans. She also disc ...

Olduvai Gorge The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropological localities in the world; the many sites exposed by the gorge have proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human evolution. A steep-si ...

. The team's

radiometric dating Radiometric dating, radioactive dating or radioisotope dating is a technique which is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incorporated when they were formed. The method compares ...

indicated that the fossils were 2.6 million years old. The dating of the site was controversial, as it contradicted other paleobiological evidence. A later independent investigation revised the date to 1.9 mya. Behrensmeyer received her Ph.D. in

vertebrate paleontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct animals with vertebrae or a notochord. It also tries to connect, by us ...

and sedimentology from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

's Department of Geological Sciences in 1973. Her dissertation, published in 1975, showed that the composition of the fossil vertebrate faunas of East Turkana, Kenya, varied with sedimentary environment (channel, floodplain, lake margin), and this provide new information on the taphonomy and paleoecology of hominin-bearing, Plio-Pleistocene sediments . She held post-doctoral positions at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

and

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and taught for

UC Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge ...

's Earth Science Board before beginning her career at the

in 1981. Since 1986, she has led research on the geological context of Olorgesailie. Since 1987, Behrensmeyer has been the co-director of Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Program at the National Museum of Natural History. From 1993 to 1996, she served as Acting Associate Director for Science at NMNH. She has served as Associate Editor for the ''

Paleobiology Paleobiology (or palaeobiology) is an interdisciplinary field that combines the methods and findings found in both the earth sciences and the life sciences. Paleobiology is not to be confused with geobiology, which focuses more on the interactio ...

'', ''

PALAIOS ''PALAIOS'' is a bimonthly academic journal dedicated to the study of the impact of life on Earth history, combining the fields of palaeontology and sedimentology. It has been published by the Society for Sedimentary Geology since its inception i ...

'' and ''Palaeoclimates'' journals. From 1985 to 1987, she was on the Board of Associate Editors for the ''

Journal of Human Evolution The ''Journal of Human Evolution'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that concentrates on publishing the highest quality papers covering all aspects of human evolution. JHE was established in 1972 and is published by Elsevier. The Edi ...

''. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

and

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

. Aside from Behrensmeyer's research into the paleoecology and taphonomy of hominid-bearing deposits in the

Olorgesailie Olorgesailie is a geological formation in East Africa, on the floor of the Eastern Rift Valley in southern Kenya, southwest of Nairobi along the road to Lake Magadi. It contains a group of Lower Paleolithic archaeological sites. Olorgesaili ...

basin, Baringo basin and East Turkana, she has conducted a long-term study of the taphonomy of modern vertebrate remains in Kenya's

Amboseli National Park Amboseli National Park, formerly Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve, is a national park in Kajiado South Constituency in Kajiado County, Kenya. The park is in size at the core of an ecosystem that spreads across the Kenya-Tanzania border. The local ...

beginning in 1975, in collaboration with ecologist David Western. The study involves a census of live animals and carcasses every five to 10 years. The study suggests that fossil animal assemblages in tropical settings can be used to make inferences about ancient habitats when post-depositional taphonomic biases are accounted for. Her other projects include field exploration and analysis of

Upper Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. ...

–

Lower Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, 201.3 Ma&nb ...

vertebrate taphonomy and paleoecology in Arizona and paleoecological research in the Miocene Pakistan

Siwalik The Sivalik Hills, also known as the Shivalik Hills and Churia Hills, are a mountain range of the outer Himalayas that stretches over about from the Indus River eastwards close to the Brahmaputra River, spanning the northern parts of the Indi ...

sequence. Behrensmeyer is also compiling a taphonomic reference collection of bones and fossils at the National Museum of Natural History. She was named one of the "50 Most Important Women Scientists" by ''

Discover Discover may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Discover'' (album), a Cactus Jack album * ''Discover'' (magazine), an American science magazine Businesses and brands * DISCover, the ''Digital Interactive Systems Corporation'' * D ...

'' magazine in 2002.

Honors and awards

*2016: Raymond C. Moore Medal of the

Society for Sedimentary Geology The Society for Sedimentary Geology is an international not-for-profit, scientific society based in Oklahoma. It is commonly referred to by its acronym SEPM, which refers to its former name, the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists. ...

*2018:

Romer-Simpson Medal The Romer-Simpson Medal is the highest award issued by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology for "sustained and outstanding scholarly excellence and service to the discipline of vertebrate paleontology". The award is named in honor of Alfred S. Ro ...

of the

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) is a professional organization that was founded in the United States in 1940 to advance the science of vertebrate paleontology around the world. Mission and Activities SVP has about 2,300 members inter ...

*2018:

Paleontological Society Medal The Paleontological Society Medal is an award given by the Paleontological Society to a person whose eminence is based on advancement of knowledge in paleontology.Paleontology Society Medal information page https://www.paleosoc.org/paleontological ...

* 2019: G. K. Warren Prize *2020: Elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences

Selected publications

Behrensmeyer has published over 130 scientific articles. *Behrensmeyer, A. K. (1970) "Preliminary geological interpretation of a new hominid site in the Lake Rudolf Basin." ''Nature'' 226 (5242):225–226. *Isaac, G., Leakey, R., Behrensmeyer, A. (1971) "Archeological traces of early hominid activities east of Lake Rudolf, Kenya." ''Science'' 173:1129–1134. *Behrensmeyer, A. K. (1975) "The Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Plio-Pleistocene Vertebrate Assemblages East of Lake Rudolf, Kenya." ''Bulletin MCZ'' 145 (10):473–574. (Ph.D. Dissertation) *Behrensmeyer, A. K. (1978) "The habitat of Plio-Pleistocene hominids in East Africa: taphonomic and microstratigraphic guidance." In: C. Jolly (ed.), ''Early Hominids of Africa'' (Duckworth: London), pp. 165–189. *Behrensmeyer, A. K., Hill A. (Editors). (1980) ''Fossils in the Making: Vertebrate Paleoecology and Taphonomy'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). 338 pp. *Behrensmeyer, A. K., Laporte, L.F. (1981) "Footprints of a Pleistocene Hominid in Northern Kenya." ''Nature'' 289: 167–169. *Behrensmeyer, A. K. (1985) "Taphonomy and the paleoecologic reconstruction of hominid habitats in the Koobi Fora Formation." In: Coppens, Y., Ed., ''L'environment des hominides au Plio-Pleistocene.'' (Paris: Foundation Singer-Polignac). pp. 309–324. *Behrensmeyer, A. K., Gordon, K. D., Yanagi, G. T. (1986) "Trampling as a cause of bone surface damage and pseudo-cutmarks." ''Nature'' 319:768–771. *Behrensmeyer, A. K. (1991) "Terrestrial Vertebrate Accumulations." pp. 291–335 in Allison, P. and

Briggs, D. E. G. Derek Ernest Gilmor Briggs (born 10 January 1950) is an Irish palaeontologist and taphonomy, taphonomist based at Yale University. Briggs is one of three palaeontologists, along with Harry Blackmore Whittington and Simon Conway Morris, who were ...

''Taphonomy: Releasing the Data Locked in the Fossil Record.'' New York: Plenum. *Behrensmeyer, A. K. Hook, R.W. (1992) "Paleoenvironmental contexts and taphonomic modes in the terrestrial fossil record." In: Behrensmeyer, A. K., Damuth, J. D., DiMichele, W. A., Potts, R., Sues, H.-D., Wing, S.L. ''Terrestrial Ecosystems Through Time'', pp. 15–136. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). *Behrensmeyer, A. K., Potts, R., Plummer, T., Tauxe, L., Opdyke, N., Jorstad, T. (1995) "Stratigraphy, chronology, and paleoenvironments of the Pleistocene locality of Kanjera, western Kenya." ''Journal of Human Evolution'' 29: 247–274. *Isaac, G. L., Behrensmeyer, A. K. (1997) "Chapter 2: Geological Context and Paleoenvironments." pp. 12–53. In: ''Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 5: Plio-Pleistocene Archaeology.'' Glynn L. Isaac and B. Isaac, Eds. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 556 pp. *Behrensmeyer, A. K., Todd, N.E., Potts, R., McBrinn, G.E. (1997) "Late Pliocene faunal turnover in the Turkana Basin, Kenya and Ethiopia." ''Science'' 278:1589–1594. *Potts, R., Behrensmeyer, A.K., Ditchfield, P. (1999) "Paleolandscape variation and early Pleistocene hominid activities: Members 1 and 7, Olorgesailie Formation." ''Journal of Human Evolution'' 37:747–788. *Behrensmeyer, A. K., Potts, R., Deino, A., Ditchfield, P. (2002) "Olorgesailie, Kenya: A million years in the life of a rift basin." ''Sedimentation in Continental Rifts'', Renaut, R.W. and Ashley, G.M, Eds.) SEPM Special Publication 73: 97–106. *Bobe, René, Behrensmeyer, A.K. (2004) "The expansion of grassland ecosystems in Africa in relation to mammalian evolution and the origin of the genus Homo." ''Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology'' 207: 399–420. *Potts, R., Behrensmeyer, A.K., Deino, A., Ditchfield, P., Clark, J. (2004) "Small mid-Pleistocene hominin associated with East African Acheulean technology." ''Science'' 305: 75–78. *Behrensmeyer, A. K. (2006) "Climate change and human evolution." ''Science'' 311:476–478. *Behrensmeyer, A. K. (2008) "Paleoenvironmental context of the Pliocene A.L. 333 “First Family” Hominin Locality, Denen Dora Member, Hadar Formation, Ethiopia." GSA Special Paper 446: ''The Geology of Early Humans in the Horn of Africa'', edited by Jay Quade and Jonathan Wynn, pp. 203–214. *Western, D., Behrensmeyer, A.K. (2009) "Bones track community structure over four decades of ecological change." ''Science'' 324: 1061–1064.

References

External links

National Museum of Natural History staff page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behrensmeyer, Kay Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American paleontologists Paleozoologists Taphonomists Academic journal editors Women paleontologists Women zoologists George Washington University faculty Harvard University alumni University of Arizona faculty Washington University in St. Louis alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 20th-century American zoologists 21st-century American zoologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Smithsonian Institution people