Jeffrey Meldrum, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Anatomy & Anthropology
Adjunct Associate Professor, Dept. of Anthropology,
Dept. of Occupational and Physical Therapy
Affiliate Curator, Idaho Museum of Natural History
meldd@isu.edu
(208) 282-4379
Room 308/9 Gale Life Sciences Bldg
Evolutionary Morphology Lab
Functional morphology, Evolutionary Anthropology
Education
B.S., 1982, Zoology (Anatomy & Physiology), Brigham Young University
M.S., 1984, Zoology (Anatomy & Physiology), Brigham Young University
Ph.D., 1989, Anatomical Sciences (Physical Anthropology), State University of New York at Stony Brook
Postdoctoral Visiting Assistant Professor , 1989-1991, Duke University Medical Center
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Meldrum joined the ISU faculty in 1993, after a stint with Northwestern University. His research revolves around questions of vertebrate evolutionary morphology, especially primate locomotor adaptations. His formal study of primates began with doctoral research on terrestrial adaptations in African primates, and has since taken him from the dusty skeletal cabinets of far-flung museums to the remote badlands of Colombia and Argentina in search of fossil New World primates. He has published extensively on the evolutionary history of the South American primates and has described several new extinct species. He has documented varied primate locomotor specializations in laboratory and semi-natural settings. More recently his attention has returned to the emergence of modern human bipedalism. His co-edited volume, From Biped to Strider: the Emergence of Modern Human Walking, Running, and Resource Transport, proposes a more recent innovation of modern striding gait than previously assumed. As the acting director of the Center for Motion Analysis and Biomechanics (CMAB) he is collaborating with engineering faculty, paleontologists, and the Idaho Virtualization Lab, to model the pattern of evolution of the hominid foot skeleton. His interests also encompass the evaluation of the footprints purportedly left by an unrecognized North American ape, commonly known as Sasquatch. He has authored an expanded companion volume to the very successful Discovery Channel documentary, Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science.
Teaching
BIOS 474/574 Human Anatomy (OT/PT emphasis)
BIOS 470/570 Sectional Anatomy
BIOS 417 Organic Evolution
BIOS 492 Senior Seminar
ANTH 433 Survey of Living Primates
ANTH 435 Survey of Fossil Primates
Publications
Journals:
2006 MacPhee RDE and DJ Meldrum. Postcranial remains of extinct Antillean monkeys (Platyrrhini, Callicebinae, Xenotrichini). American Museum Novitates 3516, 65 pp.
2004 Meldrum, DJ. Midfoot flexibility, fossil footprints, and Sasquatch steps: New perspectives on the evolution of bipedalism. J. Scientific Exploration 18:67-79.
2003 Meldrum, DJ and Stephens, TD. Who are the Children of Lehi? Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 12:38-51.
1998 Kay, RF, Johnson, D and Meldrum, DJ. A new pitheciin primate from the middle Miocene of Argentina. Am. J. Primatol. 45:317-336.
1997 Meldrum, DJ, Dagosto, MD and White, J. Hindlimb suspension and hindfoot reversal in Varecia variegata and other arboreal mammals. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 103:85-102.
1997 Meldrum, DJ and Kay, RF. A new genus of pitheciine primate from the Miocene of Colombia. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 102:407-427.
Edited Volumes:
2004 Meldrum, DJ. Fossilized Hawaiian footprints compared to Laetoli hominid footprints. In DJ Meldrum and CE Hilton (eds.), From Biped to Strider: The Emergence of Modern Human Walking, Running, and Resource Transport. pp. 63-84 , New York: Kluwer Academic and Plenum Publishing.
2004 Hilton, CE and Meldrum, DJ, Walkers, Runners, Transporters. In DJ Meldrum and CE Hilton (eds.), From Biped to Strider: The Emergence of Modern Human Walking, Running, and Resource Transport. pp. 1-8, New York: Kluwer Academic and Plenum Publishing.
2004 Meldrum, DJ and Hilton, CE (eds.), From Biped to Strider: The Emergence of Modern Human Walking, Running, and Resource Transport. New York: Kluwer Academic and Plenum Publishing.
2002 Hartwig, WC and Meldrum, DJ. Miocene platyrrhines of the northern Neotropics. In WC Hartwig (ed.) The Primate Fossil Record. pp. 175-188, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2002 Meldrum, DJ and Jenecke, S. An Eocene titanothere from the Pahsimeroi Valley, Idaho. In: Akersten, WA, Thompson, ME, Meldrum, DJ and Rapp, RA, and McDonald, HG (eds.). And Whereas—Papers on the Vertebrate Paleontology of Idaho Honoring John A. White, Volume 2. Idaho Museum of Natural History Occasional Papers 37, pp. 18-22.
2002 Akersten, WA, Thompson, ME, Meldrum, DJ and Rapp, RA, and McDonald, HG (eds.). And Whereas—Papers on the Vertebrate Paleontology of Idaho Honoring John A. White, Volume 2. Idaho Museum of Natural History Occasional Papers 37, 192 pp.
1998 Akersten, WA, McDonald, HG, Meldrum, DJ and Flint, MET (eds.) And Whereas—Papers on the Vertebrate Paleontology of Idaho, Volume 1. Idaho Museum of Natural History Occasional Paper 36, 216 pp.
1998 Meldrum, DJ. Tail-assisted hindlimb suspension as a transitional behavior in the evolution of prehensile tails, in E Strasser, JG Fleagle, and HM McHenry, (eds.): Advances in Primatology: Primate Locomotion. New York: Plenum Press, 1998, pp. 145- 156.
1997 Kay, RF and Meldrum, DJ. A new small platyrrhine from the Miocene of Colombia and the phyletic position of the callitrichines. In RF Kay, RH Madden, RL Cifelli, and J Flynn (eds.): A History of Neotropical Fauna: Vertebrate Paleontology of the Miocene of Tropical South America. Washington, D.C.:Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 435-458.
1997 Meldrum, DJ and Kay, RF. Primate postcranial fossils from the Miocene of Colombia. In RF Kay, RH Madden, RL Cifelli, and J Flynn (eds.): A History of Neotropical Fauna: Vertebrate Paleontology of the Miocene of Tropical South America. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 459-472.
Monographs:
2006 Meldrum, J. Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. New York: Forge Books.
2001 Stephens, TD, and Meldrum, DJ, with Petersen, FB. Evolution and Mormonism: A Quest for Understanding, Salt Lake City, Signature Press.