Sabrina Curran

Narrative

I am interested in biological anthropology with a focus on paleoecology. Specifically, I am investigating the ecomorphology of cervids (deer and relatives) by analyzing aspects of their functional morphology as it relates to hhabitat adaptations (predator-escape behavior). My methods are based on two main units of analysis: joint-surface morphology and enthesis (muscle scar) morphology. I am conducting landmark, outline, and surface geometric morphometric (GM) analyses on various skeletal elements of cervid rearlimbs. I am quantifying enthesis shape and rugosity with scalar and GM techniques in addition to metrological and area-scale fractal analysis. In Eurasian hominin paleoanthropological assemblages the dominant mammalian family is often the Cervidae, and thus by elucidating cervid habitat adaptations, one can speak to the types of habitats hominins inhabited.