CURRICULUM VITAE
Educational Background
1965 B.Sc. Zoology and Marine Zoology (Honours)
University of North Wales, UK
1968 Ph.D Zoology. University of North Wales, UK
Honorary Degrees
2002 D.Sc. State University of New York ,USA
2004 D.Sc University of London, UK
Positions Held
1965-1967 Research Assistant, Tigoni Primate Research Centre, Kenya
1968 Acting Head, Tigoni Primate Research Centre, Kenya
1969-1977 Research Associate Kenya National Museums
1977-1979 Research Fellow International Louis Leakey Memorial Institute for African Prehistory, Nairobi
1979-1980 Research Associate, Division of Palaeontology, National Museums of Kenya
1981- 1982 Acting Head Division of Palaeontology,National Museums of Kenya
1982 to 2001 Head Division of Palaeontology, National Museums of Kenya
2001-present Research Associate, National Museums of Kenya
2002-present Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society
2003-2006 Adjunct Professor, Department of Anthropology and Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, New York
2006-present Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, New York
Field Experience
1969-1982 Koobi Fora Research Project, East Turkana
1978 Nakali/Suguta Valley Research Project
1983 Buluk - Early Miocene Project
1984-1990 West Turkana Research Project
1989-1997 Coordinator Kalakol Research Project
1995-1997 Joint coordinator Allia Bay Research Project (with Alan Walker)
1998-1999 Joint coordinator West Turkana Research Projects (with Louise Leakey)
2000-present Joint coordinator Koobi Fora Research Project (with Louise Leakey)
Research interests
Evolution of African Cercopithecoidea
Evolution of Miocene Hominoidea in East Africa
East African Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene faunas
Evolution of Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominini
Societies
Society of Vertebrate Palaeontology
Palaeoanthropology Society
East African Natural History Society
East African Wildlife Society
American Association of Physical Anthropologists
Other Positions
Secretary, United World Colleges, Kenya Committee (until 1998)
Trustee, Bill Bishop Memorial Trust; (until 2003)
Editorial Board Journal of Human Evolution (until 2003)
Scientific Advisor to Leakey Foundation
Genographic Project Advisory Board, National Geographic Society
Patron Prehistory Club of Kenya
Publications
1973 Leakey, M.G. and Leakey, R.E.F. Further evidence of Simopithecus (Mammalia, Primataes) from Olduvai and Olorgesailie. Fossil Vertebrates of Africa 3:101-120.
1973 Leakey, M.G. and Leakey, R.E.F. New large Pleistocene Colobinae (Mammalia, Primates) from East Africa. Fossil Vertebrates of Africa 3:121-138.
1976 Leakey, M.G. and Leakey, R.E.F. Further Cercopithecinae (Mammalia, Primates) from the Plio-Pleistocene of East Africa. Fossil Vertebrates of Africa 4:121-146.
1976 Leakey, M.G. Carnivora of the East Rudolf Succession. In Earliest Man and Environments in the Lake Rudolf Basin. Stratigraphy, Paleoeocology and Evolution Coppens, Y, Clark Howell, F.C. Isaac, G.Ll. and Leakey R.E.F. (eds.). Pp. 302-313. University of Chicago Press
1976 Leakey, M.G. Cercopithecoidea of the East Rudolf Succession. In Earliest Man and Environments in the Lake Rudolf Basin. Stratigraphy, Paleoeocology and Evolution eds. Coppens, Y, Clark Howell, F.C. Isaac, G.Ll. and Leakey R.E.F. Pp. 345-350. University of Chicago Press
1978 Leakey, M.G. and Leakey, R.E.F. eds. The fossil hominids and an introduction to their context, 1968-1974. Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 1. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
1978 Leakey, R.E., Leakey, M.G. and Behrensmeyer, A.K. The Hominid Catalogue. Ibid. Pp. 86-182.
1979 Leakey, M. Giant fossil baboons. Kenya Past and Present. 11:18-22.
1980 Leakey, M.G. Evidence of palaeoenvironmental changes in the Turkana Basin from some extinct Cercopithecoidea. Proc. 8th Pan African Congress on Prehistory and Quarternary Studies, Nairobi, 1977. eds Leakey R.E.and Ogot B.A.
1982 Leakey, M.G. Extinct Large colobines from the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa. Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. 58: 153-172
1985 Leakey, M. G. Early Miocene cercopithecids from Buluk, northern Kenya. Folia Primatol. 44:1-14.
1986 Leakey, R. E. and Leakey M. G. A new Miocene hominoid from Kenya. Nature 324:143-146.
1986 Leakey, R. E. and Leakey M. G. A second new Miocene hominoid from Kenya. Nature 324:146-148.
1987 Leakey, M. G. and Delson, E. Fossil Cercopithecidae from the Laetolil Beds. In The Pliocene Site of Laetoli, northern Tanzania eds. Leakey M. D. and Harris J. M. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ..91-107.
1987 Leakey, M. G. Fossil aardvarks from the Laetolil Beds. Ibid. Pp. 297-300.
1987 Leakey, R. E. and Leakey, M. G. A new Miocene small-bodied ape from Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 16:369-387.
1987 Leakey, M. G. Colobinae (Mammalia, Primates) from the Omo Valley, Ethiopia. In Les faunes Plio-Pleistocene de la Basse Vallee de L’Omo (Ethiopie) Tome 3. Cercopithecidae de la Formations de Shungura. Eds. Y. Coppens and F.C. Howell. Editions CNRS, Paris, Pp. 147-169.
1988 Leakey, M. G. Fossil evidence for the evolution of the guenons. In A primate radiation. Evolutionary biology of the African quenons. eds. Gautier-Hion A., Bourliere F., Gautier H.and Kingdon J. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 7-12.
1988 Harris, J. M., Brown, F. H., Leakey, M. G., Walker, A.C. and Leakey, R.E., Pliocene and Pleistocene hominid-bearing sites from west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Science 239:27-33.
1988 Leakey, R. E., Leakey, M. G. and Walker, A. C. Morphology of Turkanapithecus kalakolensis from Kenya. Am. J..Phys. Anthrop. 76:277-288
1988 Leakey, R. E., Leakey, M. G. and Walker A. C. Morphology of Afropithecus turkanesis from Kenya. Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. 76:289-307.
1988 Harris, J. M. Brown, F. H. and Leakey, M. G. Stratigraphy and Paleontology of Plioene and Pleistocene localities west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. 399: 1-128.
1988 Leakey, M. G. A Guide to Koobi Fora, the East Turkana fossil sites. National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi.
1990 Struhsaker, T. T. and Leakey, M. G. Prey selectivity by crowned hawk-eagles on monkeys in the Kibale Forest, Uganda. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 26: 435-443.
1991 Leakey, M. G., Leakey, R. E., Richtmeier, J. T., Simons, E. L and Walker, A. C. Similarities in Aegyptopithecus and Afropithecus facial morphology. Folia Primatol. 56:65-85
1991 Rose, M. D., Leakey, M. G., Leakey, R. E. F. and Walker, A.C. Postcranial specimens of Simiolus enjiessi and other primitive castarrhines from the early Miocene of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 22:171-273
1993 Leakey, M.G. Evolution of Theropithecus in the Turkana Basin. In Theropithecus the rise and fall of a primate genus ed. Jablonski, N. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 85-123.
1993 Delson, E., Eck, G.G., Leakey, M.G. and Jablonski, N.G. A partial catalogue of fossil remains of Theropithecus. Appendix 1. In Theropithecus the rise and fall of a primate genus. ed. Jablonski, N. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 499-525.
1993 Harris, J.M. and Leakey, M. The faunal Context. In The Nariokotome Homo erectus skeleton. eds. Walker, A. and Leakey, R. Harvard University Press. Pp.55-60
1994 Coffing, K., Feibel, C., Leakey, M. and Walker, A. Four-million-year old hominids from East Lake Turkana, Kenya. Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. 93:55-65.
1994 Ayliffe, L.K., Chivas, A.R., and Leakey, M.G. The retention of primary oxygen isotope composition of fossil elephant skeletal phosphate. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 58(23):5291-5298.
1994 Harris, J., Leakey, M. Walker, A. A note on the reported occurrence of very early Homo from West Lake Turkana, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 27:447-448.
1995 Gibert, J., Ribot, F., Gibert, L., Leakey, M., Arribas, A. and Martines, B. Presence of the Cercopithecid genus Theropithecus in Cueva Victoria (Murcia, Spain). Journal of Human Evolution 28:487-493.
1995 Leakey, M.G., Ungar, P.S. and Walker, A.C. A new genus of large primate from the Late Oligocene of Lothidok, Turkana District, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 28:519-532
1995 Leakey, M.G., Feibel, C.S., McDougall, I., and Walker, A. New four-million-year-old hominid species from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya. Nature 376:565-571
1995 Leakey, M.G. and Harris, J.M. Past Biodiversity in the Turkana Basin. In Proceedings of "Conservation of Biodiversity in Africa" National Museums of Kenya.
1995 Leakey, M. The Farthest horizon. National Geographic Magazine. 188,No.3,38-51
1996 Leakey, M.G., Feibel, C.S., Bernor, R.L., Cerling, T.E., Harris, J.M., Stewart, K, M., Storrs, G.W., Walker, L., Werdelin, L. and Winkler, A. Lothagam: a record of faunal change in the late Miocene of East Africa. Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology.16:556-570
1996 Spoor, F. and Leakey, M.G. Absence of the subarcuate fossa in cercopithecids. Journal of Human Evolution. 31:569-575
1996 Macho, G.A., Reid, D. J., Leakey, M.G., Jablonski, J., and Beynon, D. Climatic effect on dental development of Theropithecus oswaldi from Koobi Fora and Olorgesailie. Journal of Human Evolution 30:57-70
1997 Leakey, M. and Walker, A. Afropithecus Function and Phylogeny. Function Phylogeny and Fossils: Miocene Hominoid Evolution and Adaptations, ed. Begun et al. Plenum Press, New York.
1997 Ward, C.V., Walker, A. and Leakey, M.G. (Abstract) New fossils of Australopithecus anamensis from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya. Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. Supplement 24:235
1997 Leakey, M.G. and Ward, C.V. (Abstract) Morphology of Australopithecus anamensis lower deciduous first molar and capitate. Journal of Human Evolution 32:323-344
1997 Fleagle, J. G., Bown, T. M., Harris, J. M., Watkins, R. T., and Leakey, M. G. Fossil monkeys from northern Kenya. Abstract volume, Amer. Soc. of Physical Anthropology, Annual Meeting, St Louis, April 1-5, 1997.
1997 Leakey, M. and Walker, A. Early Hominid fossils from Africa. Scientific American. 276:60-65
1997 Cerling, T.E., Harris, J.M., MacFadden, B.J., Leakey, M.G. Quade, J., Eisenmann V. and Ehleringer, J.R. Global vegetation change through the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. Nature 389:153-158
1997 Cerling, T.E., Harris, J.M., Ambrose, S.H., Leakey, M. G. and Solounias, N. Dietary and environmental reconstruction with stable isotope analyses of herbivore tooth enamel from the miocene locality of Fort Ternan, Kenya Journal of Human Evolution 33:635-650.
1997 Leakey, M. The search for humanitiy’s earliest origins. Kenya Past and Present 29:12-20.
1998 Leakey, M. G., Feibel, C. S., McDougall, I., Ward, C. and Walker, A., New specimens and confirmation of an early age for Austalopithecus anamensis. Nature 393: 62-66
1998 Beynon, A.D., Dean, M.C., Leakey, M.G., Reid, D.J., and Walker, A. Comparative dental development and microstructure of Proconsul teeth from Rusinga Island. Journal of Human Evolution 35:163-209
1999 C. V. Ward, M. G. Leakey, B. Brown, F. Brown, J. Harris, A. Walker. 1999. South Turkwel: A new Pliocene hominid site in Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 36:69-95
1999 Ward, C., Leakey, M. and Walker, A. The new hominid species Australopithecus anamensis. Evolutionary Anthropology 7: 191-226
1999 Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., and Leakey, M. G. Browsing and grazing in elephants: the isotope record of modern and fossil proboscideans. Oecologia 120:364-374
1999 M.G. Introduction: Hominid evolution. In: T. Bromage and F. Schrenk (eds.) African Biogeography, Climate Change, and Human Evolution. New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 271-272.
2000 Leakey, M. G., Ward, C. V. and Walker, A. C. 2000 Australopithecus anamensis – a new species from Kanapoi. In Schnittstelle Mensch – Umwelt in Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zunkuft: Proceedings – 3. Kongress der Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie. Pp. 5-9. Gottingen: Cuvillier.
2001 Leakey, M. G., Spoor, F., Brown, F. H., Gathogo, P. N., Kiarie, C., Leakey, L. N., and McDougall. I. New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages. Nature 410:433-440.
2001 Ward, C. V., Leakey, M. G. and Walker, A. C. Morphology of Australopithecus anamenis from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 41:255-368
2001 Dean, C. Leakey, M.G., Reid, D., Schrenk, F. Schwartz, G. T., Stringer, C. and Walker, A. Growth processes in teeth distinguish modern humans from Homo erectus and earlier hominins. Nature 414: 628-631
2002 Hill, A., Leakey, M. G., Kingston, J. D., Ward, S. New Cercopithecoids and a hominoid from 12.5 Ma in the Tugen Hills Succession, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 42:75-93.
2002 Hsun-Hua Chou, Toshiyuki Hayakawa, Sandra Diaz, Matthias Krings, Etty Indriati, Meave Leakey, Svante Paabo, Yoko Satta, Naoyuki Takahata, and Ajit Varki. Inactivation of CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase occurred prior to brain expansion during human evolution. PNAS 99: 11736-11741
2002 Jablonski, N. G., Leakey, M. G., Kiarie, C. and Anton, M. 2002. A new skeleton of Theropithecus brumpti (Primates: Cercopithecidae) from Lomekwi, West Turkana, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 43:887-923.
2003 Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. (eds.) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M. G. Lothagam Birds. In Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. H. (eds,) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Pp. 161-166. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Leakey, M. G., Teaford, M.F. and Ward, C.V. Cercopithecidae from Lothagam. In Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. H. (eds.) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Pp. 201-248. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Leakey, M. G., and Walker A.C. The Lothagam Hominids. In Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. H. (eds.) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Pp. 249-257. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M. G. Lothagam Rhinocerotidae. In Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. H. (eds.) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Pp. 371-385. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M. G. Lothagam Suidae. In Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. H. (eds.) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Pp. 485-519. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Cerling, T.E., Harris, J. M., Leakey, M. G. and Mudida, N. Stable isotope ecology in Northern Kenya, with emphasis on the Turkana Basin. In Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. H. (eds.) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Pp. 583-603. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Cerling, T.E., Harris, J. M., and Leakey, M. G. Isotope palaeoecology of the Nawata and Nachukui Formations at Lothagam. In Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. H. (eds.) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Pp. 605-624. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Leakey, M. G., and Harris, J. M. Lothagam Its significance and contributions. In Leakey, M. G. and Harris, J. M. (eds.) Lothagam the Dawn of Humanity in eastern Africa. Pp. 625-660. Columbia University Press: New York.
2003 Smith, T. M., Martin, L. B., and Leakey, M.G. Enamel thickness, microstructure and development in Afropithecus turkanensis. Journal of Human Evolution 44:283-306.
2003 Leakey, M. and Walker, A. Early hominid fossils from Africa. Scientific American (special edition) vol 13 (2)14-19.
2003 Macho, G. A., Leakey, M.G., Williamson, D.K. and Jiang. Y. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction: evidence for seasonality at Allia Bay, Kenya, at 3.9 million years Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 199:17-30
2003 Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M. G. (eds.) Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of the early Plioene site of Kanapoi, Northern Kenya. Pp. 1-132. Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
2003 Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M.G. Introduction. In Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of the early Plioene site of Kanapoi, Northern Kenya. (eds.) Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M. G. pp.1-7. Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
2003 Harris, J. M., Leakey, M. G., Cerling, T. E. Early Pliocene tetrapod remains from Kanapoi, Lake Turkana Basin, Kenya. . (eds.) Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M. G. Pp. 9-113. Contributions in Science, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
2004 Dean, M.C. and Leakey, M. G. Enamel and dentine development and the life history profile of Victoriapithecus macinnesi from Maboko Island, Kenya. Annals of Anatomy 186:405-412.
2005 Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M. and Leakey, M. G. Environmentally driven dietary adaptations in African mammals. In Ehleringer, J. R., Cerling, T. E., and Dearing, M. D. (eds.) History of atmospheric CO2 and its effects on plants, animals and ecosystems. Springer-Verlag.
2005 Spoor, F., Leakey, M. G. and Leakey. L.N. Correlation of cranial and mandibular prognathism in extant and fossil hominids. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. 60:85-89
2006 Kimbel, W. H., Lockwood, C. A., Ward, C. V., Leakey, M. G., Rak, Y., Johansen, D. C. Was Australopithecus anamensis ancestral to A. afarensis? A case for anagenesis in the fossil record. Journal of Human Evolution 51:134-152
2006 Harris, J. M., Leakey M. G. and Brown, F. H. A brief history of research at Koobi Fora, northern Kenya. Ethnohistory 53 (1):35-69.
2007 F. Spoor, F., M. G. Leakey, M.G.,P. N. Gathogo, P.N., Brown F.H., Antón, S. C. McDougall I., Kiarie,C., Manthi, F.K.and Leakey, L.N. Implications of new early Homo fossils from Ileret, east of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Nature 448:688-691
2008 Jablonski, N.and Leakey, M.G. (eds). The fossil monkeys: Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 6. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences.
2008 Jablonski, N.and Leakey, M.G. Introduction. In Jablonski, N. and Leakey, M.G. (eds.) The fossil monkeys: Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 6. Ch. 1. pp. 1-11. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences
2008 Jablonski, N.and Leakey, M.G. Systematic paleontology of the small colobines. In Jablonski, N. and Leakey, M.G. (eds.) The fossil monkeys: Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 6. Ch. 2 pp.12-13. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences
2008 Jablonski, N., Leakey, M.G., Ward, C.V. and Antón, M. Systematic paleontology of the large colobines. In Jablonski, N. and Leakey, M.G. (eds.) The fossil monkeys: Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 6. Ch. 3. pp. 31-1-2. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences.
2008 Jablonski, N.and Leakey, M.G and Antón, M. Systematic paleontology of the cercopithecines. In Jablonski, N.and Leakey, M.G. (eds.) The fossil monkeys: Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 6. Chapter 4. pp. 103-300. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences
2008 Leakey, M.G., Gathogo, P. and Jablonski, N. Geological background, geochronology, and stratigraphic analysis. In Jablonski, N. and Leakey, M.G. (eds.) The fossil monkeys: Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 6. Ch. 7. pp. 359-398. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences
2008 Jablonski, N. and Leakey, M.G. The importance of the cercopithecoidea from the Koobi Fora Formation in the context of primate and mammalian evolution. In Jablonski, N. and Leakey, M.G. (eds.) The fossil monkeys: Koobi Fora Research Project Volume 6. Ch. 8. pp. 399-418. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences.
2008 Cerling, T. E., Harris, J. M., Hart, J. A., Kaleme P., Klingel, H., Leakey M. G.,. Levin, N. E., Lewison, L. R. and Passey, B. H. Stable isotope ecology of the common hippopotamus. Journal of Zoology
2008 J. M. Harris, J.M., Cerling, T. E., Leakey, M.G. and Passey, B. H. Stable isotope ecology of fossil hippopotamids from the Lake Turkana Basin of East Africa. Journal of Zoology
2008 Leakey, L. and Leakey, M. African origins of humankind – three generations of a Kenyan family. In Schoonover, J. (ed.) Adventurous dreams, adventurous lives. Pp. 184-187. Vancouver: Rocky Mountain Books.
2008 Leakey, M. Forward. In Schoonover, J. (ed.) Adventurous dreams, adventurous lives. Vancouver: Rocky Mountain Books.
