K. Christopher Beard
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K. Christopher Beard is an American paleontologist, an expert on the primate fossil record and a 2000 MacArthur Fellowship "Genius" Award Winner. Beard's research is reshaping critical debates about the evolutionary origins of mammals, including primates, routinely questioning current thinking about their geographical origins.[1] Dr. Beard is the former Curator of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History,[2] and Mary R. Dawson Chair of Vertebrate Paleontology, at University of Pittsburgh.[3] He is currently Distinguished Foundation Professor, Senior Curator at the University of Kansas.[4] He was co-author with Dan Gebo about an extinct primate from China.[5] Dr. Beard also authored the book The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey: Unearthing the Origins of Monkeys, Apes and Humans.[1] Beard was also part of the research teams that discovered Teilhardina, the earliest primate ever found in North America, and Eosimias, one of the earliest higher primates yet discovered.[1] He worked with NASA to scan a Tyrannosaurus rex skull.[6] Beard received his PhD from the Functional Anatomy and Evolution Program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1989.[1]
Below is a list of taxa that Beard has contributed to naming:
| Year | Taxon | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Phenacolemur cavatus sp. nov. | Anemone, Jones, Van Regenmorter, & Beard[7] |
| 2023 | Palaeohodites naduensis gen. et sp. nov. | Rust, Ni, Tietjen, & Beard[8] |
| 2023 | Ignacius dawsonae sp. nov. | Miller, Tietjen, & Beard[9] |
| 2023 | Ignacius mckennai sp. nov. | Miller, Tietjen, & Beard[9] |
| 2023 | Ceutholestes acerbus sp. nov. | Jones & Beard[10] |
| 2023 | Plagioctenodon dawsonae sp. nov. | Jones & Beard[10] |
| 2023 | Plagioctenodon goliath sp. nov. | Jones & Beard[10] |
| 2023 | Plagioctenoides cryptos sp. nov. | Jones & Beard[10] |
| 2021 | Nesomomys bunodens gen. et sp. nov. | Beard, Métais, Ocakoğlu, & Licht[11] |
| 2021 | Altaynycteris aurora gen. et sp. nov. | Jones, Li, Ni, & Beard[12] |
| 2021 | Simonsius harujensis sp. nov. | Mattingly, Beard, Coster, Salem, Chaimanee, & Jaeger[13] |
| 2020 | Africtis sirtensis gen. et sp. nov. | Mattingly, Beard, Coster, Salem, Chaimanee, & Jaeger[14] |
| 2018 | Anatolianycteris insularis gen. et sp. nov. | Jones, Coster, Licht, Métais, Ocakoğlu, Taylor, & Beard[15] |
| 2018 | Carpolestes twelvemilensis sp. nov. | Mattingly, Sanisidro, & Beard[16] |
| 2019 | Chiromyoides kesiwah sp. nov. | Beard, Jones, Thurber, & Sanisidro[17] |
| 2016 | Apidium zuetina sp. nov. | Beard, Coster, Salem, Chaimanee, & Jaeger[18] |
| 2007 | Baataromomys ulaanus gen. et sp. nov. | Ni, Beard, Meng, Wang, & Gebo[19] |
| 2004 | Eosimias dawsonae sp. nov. | Beard & Wang[20] |
| 2004 | Phenacopithecus krishtalkai sp. nov. | Beard & Wang[20] |
| 2004 | Phenacopithecus xueshii gen. et sp. nov. | Beard & Wang[20] |
| 1994 | Macrotarsius macrorhysis sp. nov. | Beard, Qi, Dawson, Wang, & Li[21] |
| 1994 | Adapoides troglodytes gen. et sp. nov. | Beard, Qi, Dawson, Wang, & Li[21] |
| 1994 | Eosimias sinensis gen. et sp. nov. | Beard, Qi, Dawson, Wang, & Li[21] |
Books
- The hunt for the dawn monkey: unearthing the origins of monkeys, apes, and humans, University of California Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-520-23369-0
- "Mammalian Biogeography and Anthropoid Origins", Primate biogeography: progress and prospects, Editors Shawn M. Lehman, John G. Fleagle, Springer, 2006, ISBN 978-0-387-29871-9
- "Basal Anthropoids", The primate fossil record, Editor Walter Carl Hartwig, Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-521-66315-1
- "Early Wasatchian Mammals From the Gulf Coastal Plain of Mississippi", Eocene biodiversity: unusual occurrences and rarely sampled habitats, Editor Gregg F. Gunnell, Springer, 2001, ISBN 9780306465284
