Professor of Anthropology
lawlerrr@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Website: http://www.propithecus-verreauxi.com
Education
B.A. University of Illinois
M.A. Southern Illinois University
M.Phil. Yale University
Ph.D. Yale University
Post-doc. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Teaching
- Introduction to Biological Anthropology
- Bioanthropological Perspectives on Human Inequality
- Research Design in Biological Anthropology
- Anthropological Genetics
- Monkey Love: The Evolution of Primate Sexuality
Research
Primate behavioral ecology, population genetics, quantitative genetics, demography, life history theory, primate locomotion, evolutionary theory
Selected Publications
Guevara EE, Goplan S, Massey D, Adegboyega M, Zhou W, Solis A, Anaya A, Churchill SE, Feldblum J, Lawler RR (2023) Getting it right: Teaching undergraduate biology to undermine racial essentialism. Biol Meth Prot. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomethods/bpad032
Palkovitz RE, Lawler RR (2023) Developing evolutionary anthropology in local ecosystems. Evolutionary Anthropology https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.22016
Zipple MN, Altmann J, Campos FA, Cords M, Fedigan LM, Lawler RR, Lonsdorf EV, Perry S, Pusey AE, Stoinski TS, Strier KB, Alberts SC. Beyond orphaned infants: Novel effects of maternal death in wild primates (2021) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. 118: e2015317118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2015317118
Guevara EE, Webster TH, Lawler RR, Bradley BJ, Greene LK, Ranaivonasy J, Ratsirarson J, Harris RA, Liu Y, Murali SC, Raveendran M, Hughes DST, Muzny DM, Yoder AD, Worley CK, Rogers J. (2021) Comparative genomic analysis of sifakas (Propithecus) reveals selection for folivory and high heterozygosity despite population declines. Science Advances. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd2274
Guevara EE, Lawler RR (2018) Epigenetic Clocks. Evolutionary Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21745
Lawler RR (2018) Emerging and enduring issues in primate conservation genetics. Annual Reviews of Anthropology. Vol. 47: 395-415.
Lawler RR (2011) Demographic concepts and research pertaining to the study of wild primate populations. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 53: 63-85
Lawler RR (2011) Feeding competition, cooperation, and the causes of primate sociality: A comment on Sussman et al. American Journal of Primatology 73: 84-90.
Wunderlich RE, Lawler RR, Williams AE (2011) Field and experimental approaches to the study of locomotor ontogeny in Propithecus verreauxi. In: Studying Primate Locomotion: Linking in situ and ex situ Research. New York, Springer Verlag.
Lawler RR (2009) Monogamy, monomorphism, and mechanisms of sexual dimorphism. Journal of Human Evolution 57: 321-325.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
