figure out whether the monkeys are eating different things now because there are different foods available . Some animals are going extinct because humans are hunting them and cutting down trees . But macaques and baboons are increasing in population because they ’ ve figured out that humans have garbage dumps where they can find human food that ’ s easier to eat . So we ’ re seeing changes in them that , in a million years , might make them a different animal ,” she said .
Since joining WVSOM , Smail has presented a conference abstract (“ Patterns of Dental Macrowear in Living and Fossil Cercopithecid Primates ”) at the American Association of Biological Anthropologists and visited the National Museum of Ethiopia — where fossils are taken after they are discovered — to prepare a manuscript on fossil monkeys . As a faculty member , she hopes to involve students by inviting them to assist with data collection and analysis .
“ Our students don ’ t have time to go to Washington , D . C ., to visit the Smithsonian . But part of my goal in building the 3D models is to give them a chance to use their anatomy training in form-function research ,” she said . “ I can tell them , ‘ You know what this part looks like on a human . It looks the same on a monkey . These measurements will help us figure out how the anatomy influences what they ’ re doing .’”
Ultimately , Smail ’ s research is about answering big questions regarding humanity , a pursuit that requires an intermingling of the disciplines of anthropology and anatomy .
“ I want to figure out what makes humans unique . We don ’ t know when that happened . I ’ m trying to find a time when you see small changes happening in monkeys and a big change happening in humans so that I can point to that time and say , ‘ Here ’ s the point when humans can do something monkeys can ’ t do ,’” she said .
Image : Photo by E . Scott . Smail and Ellis sorting fossils .
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