Peter S. Ungar

Peter Ungar a biological anthropologist and evolutionary biologist, recognized for his contributions to the understanding of the evolution of human diet and the impacts of climate and environment on food choice in living and fossil mammals. He grew up in New York City, received his BA in Anthropology from Binghamton University, and earned his PhD in Anthropological Sciences from Stony Brook University. He taught anatomy in the medical schools of Johns Hopkins University and Duke University before joining the University of Arkansas faculty, where he now serves as Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Environmental Dynamics graduate programs. He is a Fellow of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars and the American Association for the Advancement of Science as well as a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has authored or coauthored academic papers on ecology and evolution in journals including Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, and many others. He has also edited or co-edited three book volumes on human evolution, and is author of Mammal Teeth: Origin, Evolution, and Diversity, which won the PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers. His forays into popular science writing include Teeth: A Very Short Introduction, and Evolution’s Bite: A Story about Teeth, Diet, and Human Origins.