David Tab Rasmussen
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David Tab Rasmussen (born June 17, 1958 in Salt Lake City ( Utah ), † August 7, 2014 in Edwardsville (Illinois) ) was an American paleoanthropologist and behavioral ecologist , who frequently abbreviated his name to D. Tab Rasmussen in specialist publications . He was considered an expert on the fossil mammals of the paleogene , especially the early Old World monkeys and the hyrax , and was since 2001 Professor of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis .
Life
D. Tab Rasmussen was born in 1958 to Deon R. and David I. Rasmussen in Salt Lake City, Utah, but grew up in the southern United States, in Tempe (Arizona) , on the edge of the Sonoran Desert . In 1976 he graduated from McClintock High School, Tempe. He then went to Colorado Springs , where he graduated from Colorado College with a bachelor's degree in biology in 1980 . After receiving his PhD in anthropology from Duke University in 1986 under the direction of Elwyn L. Simons , he taught for a year as a visiting professor at Rice University in Houston , Texas , and then as an assistant professor at the University of California at Los Angeles , before he finally moved to Washington University in St. Louis in 1991, where he was appointed full professor in 2001.
Rasmussen was married to Asenath Bernhardt from 1987 to 1997 and to Jennifer Rehg from 2000 to 2013. Both his father and his father, Daniel Irvin Rasmussen, were biologists. He died in 2014 after an accident.
research
Rasmussen contributed to the reconstruction of the evolution of primates by bringing together two different research approaches: the comparative analysis of fossils of different ages and the comparative analysis of the behavior of primates still living today. He assumed that conclusions can be drawn about their evolution from the behavior and the associated special adaptations of the recent species and that these conclusions can also provide insights into the evolutionary process of fossil species. He applied this approach primarily to important evolutionary transitions, that is, to fossil primate species, which are among the earliest records of their taxon , and to the adaptive radiation of the original species that often followed .
His archaeological and palaeontological interests led him to study visits to Egypt , Kenya , Libya , Ethiopia , Namibia , South Africa , Madagascar , Ecuador , Colombia and various states of the USA, from which more than 85 scientific specialist papers emerged. As an author and co-author, he was involved in the first description of the primate genera Aframonius , Alophe and Chipetaia , the primate species Propliopithecus ankeli , as well as Antilohyrax , Arsinoitherium giganteum , Chilgatherium and Losodokodon losodokius .
He also regularly combined his research in the field of mammals with his hobby of bird watching , which was also reflected in some specialist articles.
In 2000 a fossilized mammal from the Eocene of Egypt, Widanelfarasia rasmusseni , was named after him.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: Obituaries. Tab Rasmussen has passed away.
- ^ A b c Robert Sussman et al .: David Tab Rasmussen, Naturalist at Large. In: Evolutionary Anthropology. Volume 23, No. 5, 2014, p. 161, doi: 10.1002 / evan.21426 , full text (PDF)
- ↑ David Tab Rasmussen, June 17, 1958 ~ August 7, 2014 ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Daniel Irvin Rasmussen. Obituary on pwrc.usgs.gov
- ↑ a b Obituary: D. Tab Rasmussen, professor of anthropology, 56.
- ^ Erik R. Seiffert and Elwyn L. Simons : Widanelfarasia, a diminutive placental from the late Eocene of Egypt. In: PNAS . Volume 97, No. 6, 2000, pp. 2646-2651, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.040549797
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rasmussen, David Tab |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rasmussen, D. Tab |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American paleoanthropologist and behavioral ecologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 17, 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Salt Lake City |
| DATE OF DEATH | 7th August 2014 |
| Place of death | Edwardsville, Illinois |