Ape-Move Lab
University of Chicago
PI: Zewdi Tsegai
Jeffrey K. Spear, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Researcher
My research focuses on understanding the evolution of bipedalism in the earliest human relatives. I am particularly interested in the locomotion of the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans, and the evolutionary context from which bipedalism evolved. My current research includes functional anatomy and biomechanics of the foot and morphological integration of the primate postcranial skeleton.
Education and Training
2024 - present
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago
2016 - 2024
PhD, Department of Anthropology & Center for the Study of Human Origins, New York University, and New York Consortium for Evolutionary Primatology
2016 – 2020
M.Phil, Department of Anthropology & Center for the Study of Human Origins, New York University, and New York Consortium for Evolutionary Primatology.
2016 - 2020
Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude; Salutatorian), Columbia University. Major: Evolutionary Biology of the Human Species; Departmental Honors in Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology
Research Grants
2021
2020
2020
Leakey Foundation – Research Grant. Integration and homoplasy in the forelimbs of suspensory primates. ($15,000)
National Science Foundation – Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. Integration and homoplasy in the forelimbs of suspensory primates. ($6,439)
Sigma Xi – Grants in Aid of Research ($1,000)
Selected Fellowships and Awards
2016 - 2024
NYU MacCracken Fellowship
2016 - 2021
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
2020
Sigma Xi Research Honor Society Associate Membership
2019
NYU Dean’s Travel Grant
2018
NYU Council Conference Fellowship
2010
Columbia College Salutatorian
2010
NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship
2009
Phi Beta Kappa Columbia College Chapter
Publications
2025
Spear, J.K.*, S. Kuo*; N.J. Gidmark; M.C. Granatosky; M.F. Laird; Z.J. Tsegai; C.V. Ward; C.F. Ross. 2025. Comparison of ankle dorsiflexion using XROMM and external angular kinematics in a quadrupedally walking macaque. Journal of Experimental Biology. 228 (17): jeb251088 *indicates co-first authors
Spear, J. K., E. A. Hoffman, J.A. Miyamae, C. D. Whalen, A. Arre, C. Chen-Kraus; M. K. Corley, M. Fabbri, M. Hanson, J. A. Gauthier, A. Leiss, N. Mongiardino Koch, J. Widness, D. J. Field, B. A. S. Bhullar. 2025. Ancestral state reconstructions of the deep-time history of primate behavior and ecology. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 32:21.
2024
Turcotte, C. M., A. Choi, J. K. Spear, E. H. Janer, E. Dickinson, H. G. Taboada, M. K. Stock, C. I. Villlamil, S. E. Bauman, Cayo Biobank Research Unit, M. I. Martinez, L. J. N. Brent, N. Snyder-Mackler, M. J. Montague, M. L. Platt, S. A. Williams, S. C Antón, J. P. Higham. 2024. Mechanical and morphometric approaches to body mass estimation in rhesus macaques: a test of skeletal variables. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. 184:e24901.
Turcotte, C. M., A. Choi, J. K. Spear, E. H. Janer, H. G. Taboada, M. K. Stock, C. I. Villamil, M. J. Montague, M. I. Martinez, S. E. Bauman, Cayo Biobank Research Unit, L. J. N. Brent, N. Snyder-Mackler, J. P. Higham, S. A. Williams, Susan C. Antón. 2024. Quantifying the relationship between bone and soft tissue measures within the rhesus macaques of Cayo Santiago. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. 184:e24920.
2023
Spear, J. K., M. Grabowski, Y. Sekhavati, C. E. Costa, D. M. Goldstein, L. A. Petrullo, A. B. Lee, M. R. Shattuck, A. Gómez-Olivencia, S. A. Williams. 2023. The evolution of the vertebral column in primates, with a focus on hominoids and the last common ancestor of hominins and panins. Journal of Human Evolution 179:103359.
Williams, S. A., T. C. Prang, M. R. Meyer, T. K. Nalley, R. Van Der Merwe, C. Yelverton, D. García-Martínez, G. A. Russo, K. R. Ostrofsky, J. K. Spear, J. Eyre, M. Grabowski, S. Nalla, M. Bastir, P. Schmid, S. E. Churchill, and L. R. Berger. 2021. New fossils of Australopithecus sediba reveal a nearly complete lower back. eLife 10:e70447.