Physical (or as it is sometimes called, biological) anthropology
is a biological science that focuses on the evolution, behavior,
and variation (genetic and morphological) of humans, our living
primate relatives, and the fossil remains of our hominid
ancestors and their relatives. As a subdiscipline of
anthropology, however, physical anthropologists work in the
combined realm of the biological and social sciences.
Specifically, unlike human biologists, physical anthropologists
study humans from a biocultural perspective. Tulane University's
Anthropology Department has three physical anthropologists on
its faculty. Professor Trenton Holliday specializes in
paleoanthropology (the multidisciplinary study of human
evolution), human paleontology (the study of hominid fossils),
and human functional morphology. Professor Katharine Jack is a
primatologist who specializes in the ethology (behavior),
ecology, and conservation of New World primates, especially
members of the genus Cebus (capuchin monkeys). Professor Joh