Timothy D. Weaver

Education

• Ph.D., Anthropology, Stanford University, 2002
• A.M., Anthropology, Stanford University, 1998
• A.B., Computer Science and Earth Sciences, Dartmouth College, 1995 (cum laude overall with high honors for thesis)

About

Tim Weaver is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, and an Associated researcher of the Human Evolution Department, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. He graduated with a double major in Computer Science and Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College (1995), and he received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Stanford University (2002). He was a postdoc in the Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (2003-2004), and the Human Evolution Department, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (2004-2006). He joined the UC Davis Anthropology Department in 2006.

Research Focus

Professor Weaver studies human evolution, with a focus on the origins, evolution, and disappearance of Neandertals, and the related topic of the origins of humans who were anatomically and behaviorally modern. While his emphasis is on the later phases of human evolution, he has also worked on earlier periods, mostly in the context of the evolution of human bipedal walking and running and childbirth. Most of his publications address specific questions about why Neandertal, early modern human, or present-day human skeletons look the way they do. In his work, he strives to integrate approaches and datasets from population and molecular genetics with traditional studies of the fossil and archaeological records.

Publications

• Katz, D. C., Grote, M. N., & Weaver, T. D. (2016). A mixed model for the relationship between climate and human cranial form. American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
• Gilmore, Cassandra C. and Timothy D. Weaver. 2016. Comparative perspective on antemortem tooth loss in Neandertals. Journal of Human Evolution 92:80-90.
• Weaver, T. D., & Chris B. Stringer, C. B. (2015). Unconstrained cranial evolution in Neandertals and modern humans compared to common chimpanzees. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282: 20151519.

Awards

• Nominee for Associated Students of UC Davis Excellence in Education Award, 2010
• Article selected by Faculty of 1000 Biology, 2009
• Bernard J. Siegel Award (for research and publication), Stanford University, 2002
• Juan Comas Award (for a presentation), American Association of Physical Anthropologists, 2001