Christophe Soligo

Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology

Soligo_2
  • Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 8839
  • Fax: +44 (0)20 7679 8632
  • E-mail: c.soligo@ucl.ac.uk
  • Room: 223
  • Office hours: Tuesdays 1:00-3:00pm, or get in touch for alternative time.

PhD, Biological Anthropology

University of Zürich, Switzerland, 2001

Co-Editor in Chief, Folia Primatologica

Selected Publications

General interests

My main interests are in the adaptive origin of primate radiations, evolutionary anatomy and palaeoecology.

A central aim of my research is to reconstruct the evolutionary history of primates by investigating the major issues relating to the adaptive nature of primate radiations: the identification of key features, the sequence of acquisition of those features and the timing of the major divergence events (the divergence of primates from other mammals and the main divergences within the primate order).

The investigation and interpretation of evolutionary processes requires knowledge of the environmental conditions under which they operated. An equally important aim of my research is therefore concerned with the refinement of current methods to assess and control for taphonomic bias (the bias introduced through the processes of differential burial, fossilisation and recovery rates of individual organisms) prior to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

Primates phylogeny

Schematic representation of the main divergence events in primate evolution.

Teaching

I contribute to the core course teaching of the MSc in Palaeoanthropology and Palaeolithic Archaeology, methods teaching in the MSc in Human Evolution and Behaviour, and the second year cross-disciplinary module ANTH0015 - Being Human.

I also organise and run an advanced undergraduate module and a postgraduate module.

Undergraduate modules:

  • ANTH0040 A6U and A7U - Primate Anatomy, Evolution and Environments

Postgraduate module:

  • ANTH0040 A7P - Primate Evolution
Sheppey

ANTH0040 students searching for fossils on the Isle of Sheppey.

Administration

  • Head of Section - Biological Anthropology
  • Programme Chair - Human Sciences
  • Exams Tutor - Anthropology
     

PhD students

Nicole Barber - Phylogeny, form and function of primate tarsa bones (with Anjali Goswami; current)

Anna Westland - Intraspecific variation of cranial morphology in Hominoidea (with Aida Gomez-Robles and Anjali Goswami; current)

Shruti Kamath - Virtual analysis of the lower premolar crown morphology of the Atapuerca hominins (with María Martinon-Torres and Laura Martín-Francés; current)

Aalaa Al-Shamahi - A comprehensive exploration of evolutionary rate in the hominin lineage (current)

Michael Hanks - A model for human evolution in Europe (with María Martinon-Torres; current)

Suzanna White - The taxonomic status of Homo heidelbergensis sensu lato: A 3D geometric morphometric investigation of craniofacial variation (with Simon Hillson and Matt Pope; Awarded 2018)

Kathleen Bryson - The evolving binary: Perspectives on infra- and ultrahumanisation (with Volker Sommer; Awarded 2017)

Anas Yahaya - Correlates of facial asymmetry and facial sexual dimorphism in the Hausa of Nigeria (Awarded 2016)

Gemma Price - Environmental, ecological and phylogenetic correlates of cranial shape variation in strepsirrhine primates (Awarded 2016)

Katharine Balolia - Sexual dimorphism, growth and development beyond dental maturity in the cranium of extant hominoid primates (Awarded 2015)

Anna Barros - Ontogeny of the shoulder girdle in hominoid primates (Awarded 2014)

Alexander Bjarnason - Phylogenetic signals and adaptive diversification in the skull of New World monkeys (Awarded 2012)

Anneke van Heteren - Masticatory adaptations of extant and extinct Ursidae: an assessment using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics (Roehampton University, Awarded 2012)

Eric Lewitus - Placental morphology and the cellular brain in mammalian evolution (Awarded 2011)

William Parr - Evolution of locomotor adaptations in the astragalus of hominoid primates (Awarded 2009)