David Katz

I am a 2016 UC Davis anthropology PhD, with a focus in physical anthropology. I am interested in the evolutionary and developmental processes that produce patterns of human diversity. Usually, I query the extent to which these processes are reflected in patterns of variation in skeletal shape and form. 
 
My dissertation focused on cranial and mandibular variation among Holocene human groups. More than two decades of research reveal multiple similarities in the global distribution of human cranial and genetic variation. These results show that neutral evolutionary processes (population history and structure) are an important predictor of human cranial diversity. Whether variation in modern human cranial form also reflects adaptations to external influences, such as climate and diet, is more controversial. My dissertation research applies recent innovations that extend quantitative genetics mixed models to highly multivariate observations in order to quantify the magnitude of each of these hypothesized influences. 
 
My postdoctoral research will take me a step further back in human evolutionary history. The genetic evidence for admixture among Homo sapiens, Neandertals, and Denisovans is among the most exciting paleoanthropological discoveries this century. My research will use a macaque model to quantify the extent to which skeletal evidence of admixture persists after several generations of backcrossing, when the genetic contribution of one lineage is small. The results will help to ground debates about the arguably hybrid morphology of Late Pleistocene fossil and subfossil finds.  
 

204 Young Hall ​
University of California, Davis 
One Shields Avenue 
Davis , California 95616

Email: dckatz@ucdavis.edu
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