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Dr. Plummer’s research focuses on reconstructing the behavior
and ecology of extinct members of our biological family, the
Hominidae. It includes a strong paleoecological component
because paleoenvironmental information is integral to issues
ranging from the origin of major morphological complexes (e.g.
bipedalism), understanding adaptive shifts within and between
hominid lineages (e.g. between hominids with gracile and robust
chewing apparatuses) and elucidating the context of novel
behaviors (e.g. the appearance of the first archeological sites at
c. 2.5 million years ago). Moreover, habitat availability and
usage are important variables when considering socioecological
traits (e.g. group size, day range, dietary breadth, predator
avoidance strategies) of interest to paleoanthropologists. Dr.
Plummer’s fieldwork focuses on investigating paleontological
and archeological occurrences in late Pliocene and Pleistocene
sediments on the Homa Peninsula, southwestern Kenya. He is
also involved in investigating the paleoecology of a number of
South and East African hominid localities, including Olduvai
Gorge, Tanzania.
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