Chris Kirk

Chris Kirk is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts. He holds dual appointments as a Research Associate at the Jackson School Museum of Earth History and a Research Affiliate at the Center for Perceptual Systems. His research focuses on primate evolution, sensory systems, and functional anatomy, with extensive fieldwork in Texas’s Tornillo Basin since 2005. He earned his B.A. in Anthropology from UT Austin (1995) and his Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology and Anatomy from Duke University (2003).

Research interests include the evolution of primate sensory organs (vision, hearing, olfaction), Eocene North American primates, and the functional anatomy of the head and neck. Key projects involve describing new primate species from the Devil’s Graveyard Formation and analyzing the Canoe Formation mammalian fauna. His work integrates field paleontology, CT scanning, and comparative morphology.

Publications highlight interdisciplinary approaches, including studies on inner ear morphology of Adalatherium, Eocene crocodyliforms, and sensory adaptations in primates. Notable awards include the Texas Black and White Award (2020), Billy Carr Distinguished Teaching Fellowship (2016), and membership in the Academy of Distinguished Teachers (2016). He has advised two PhD students: Benjamin Rodwell and Ingrid Lundeen.

Teaching spans courses such as Biological Anthropology, Primate Sensory Ecology, and Evolutionary Anatomy of the Head and Neck. He actively participates in public science outreach through the “Hot Science Cool Talks” series, delivering lectures on topics like tarsier evolution and Texas’s primate fossil history.