Denné N. Reed
Associate Professor — Ph.D., Stony Brook University
Associate Professor; Faculty Graduate Advisor

Contact
- E-mail: reedd@mail.utexas.edu
- Phone: Office (512) 471-7529, Lab (512) 232-6380
- Office: WCP 4.148
- Campus Mail Code: C3200
Interests
Human evolution, micromammal paleoecology, taphonomy, GIS, remote sensing; Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Morocco
Biography
Denné is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin who studies the influences of ecology and environment on hominin adapations and behavior. His research interests include human evolution, terrestrial paleoecology, taphonomy, GIS and remote sensing.
Denné teaches courses on introductory physical anthropology, early hominin evolution and paleoecology, applied data analysis, GIS and remote sensing. He has research projects in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Morocco. Learn more about active research here.

Photograph of an ancient tablet written in Ge'ez, an extinct semitic language of Ethiopia.
The University of Texas at Austin has an excellent graduate degree program in Physical Anthropology. If you are a student considering graduate studies at UT Austin be sure to check out the departmental web page and the physical anthroplogy subdiscipline web page. Also feel free to send an email with questions or interests.
Courses
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Arch/Paleo-Wb
32104 • Spring 2021
Meets MW 1:00PM-2:30PM
Internet; Synchronous
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 398T • Supv Teaching In Anthro-Wb
32290 • Spring 2021
Meets W 9:00AM-12:00PM
Internet; Synchronous
ANT 301 • Biological Anthropology-Wb
30765-30820 • Fall 2020
Internet; Synchronous
N1
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeo/Pale-Wb
31110 • Fall 2020
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM
Internet; Synchronous
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 398T • Supv Teaching In Anthropology
31885 • Spring 2020
Meets W 9:00AM-12:00PM WCP 5.124
ANT 301 • Biological Anthropology-Honors
30850 • Fall 2019
Meets TTH 12:30PM-2:00PM WCP 5.172
N2
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol/Paleo
31125 • Fall 2019
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM RLP 1.402
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 301 • Biological Anthropology
31400-31465 • Fall 2018
Meets TTH 12:30PM-1:30PM FAC 21
N2
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol/Paleo
31735 • Fall 2018
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM RLP 1.402
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 398T • Supv Teaching In Anthropology
31975 • Fall 2018
Meets W 9:00AM-12:00PM SAC 4.120
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol/Paleo
31470 • Fall 2017
Meets TTH 8:00AM-9:30AM CLA 1.404
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 388 • Gis For Anthropology
31605 • Fall 2017
Meets T 2:00PM-5:00PM CLA 1.404
ANT 388 • Human Evolution
31610 • Fall 2017
Meets W 9:00AM-12:00PM SAC 5.124
ANT 301 • Physical Anthropology
30095-30147 • Spring 2016
Meets MW 3:00PM-4:00PM WEL 1.308
ANT 388 • Gis For Anthropology
30565 • Spring 2016
Meets M 9:00AM-12:00PM CLA 1.404
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol/Paleo
30655 • Spring 2015
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM SAC 5.112
GCQR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol/Paleo
31692 • Spring 2014
Meets TTH 9:30AM-11:00AM CLA 1.402
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 301 • Physical Anthropology
31035-31085 • Fall 2013
Meets MW 11:00AM-12:00PM WEL 2.122
N2
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol/Paleo
31400 • Fall 2013
Meets MW 2:00PM-3:00PM SAC 5.172
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 388 • Applied Data Analysis
31555 • Fall 2013
Meets T 1:00PM-4:00PM SAC 5.112
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol/Paleo
31280 • Spring 2013
Meets W 11:00AM-1:00PM SAC 5.172
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 388 • Gis For Anthropology
31445 • Spring 2013
Meets T 12:00PM-1:00PM SAC 5.172
ANT 301 • Physical Anthropology
30875-30925 • Fall 2012
Meets MW 3:00PM-4:00PM WEL 1.308
SB
T C 302 • Relig/Sci In Amer: Evol/Creatn
42960 • Fall 2012
Meets TTH 3:30PM-5:00PM MAI 220B
Wr
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol & Paleo
31035 • Fall 2011
Meets W 11:00AM-12:00PM SAC 5.172
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 348K • Early Hominid Evolution
31060 • Fall 2011
Meets TTH 2:00PM-3:30PM SAC 5.172
ANT S301 • Physical Anthropology
81935 • Summer 2011
Meets MTWTHF 10:00AM-11:30AM SAC 5.172
SB
ANT 301 • Physical Anthropology
31070-31120 • Spring 2011
Meets MW 3:00PM-4:00PM JGB 2.324
SB
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns Archaeol/Paleo
31345 • Spring 2011
Meets TH 2:00PM-5:00PM SAC 5.112
QR
ANT 391L • Applied Data Anly & Statistics
30350 • Fall 2010
Meets M 9:00AM-12:00PM MEZ 2.120
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns For Archaeol/Paleo
30295 • Spring 2010
Meets M 3:00PM-6:00PM GRG 206
QR
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 301 • Physical Anthropology
30160-30210 • Fall 2009
Meets MW 2:00PM-3:00PM UTC 2.112A
SB
ANT S301 • Physical Anthropology
81432-81433 • Summer 2009
Meets MTWTH 1:00PM-2:30PM JGB 2.218
SB
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns For Archaeol/Paleo
29880 • Spring 2009
Meets T 10:00AM-11:00AM EPS 2.136
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 301 • Physical Anthropology
30025-30075 • Spring 2008
Meets MW 2:00PM-3:00PM JES A121A
SB
ANT 324L • Gis/Rem Sns For Archaeol/Paleo
30325 • Spring 2008
Meets T 9:00AM-11:00AM EPS 2.136
(also listed as GRG 356T)
ANT 301 • Physical Anthropology
29635-29685 • Spring 2007
Meets MW 2:00PM-3:00PM JES A121A
SB
Research
Dikika Research Project
Early human evolution in Ethiopia.
In the remote Afar triangle of northeastern Ethiopia a team led by Zeresenay (Zeray) Alemseged has discovered spectacular fossil remains of a young Australopithecus afarensis. My work examines the micromammalian fauna associated with this fossil and the paleoecological context of our early adaptation and evolution. Our study area, called Dikika, is remarkably fossiliferous and every season yields exciting fossil discoveries. Check out Zeray's TED conference presentation!
Micromammal Spatial Ecology
Taphonomy and spatial distribution of rodents and insectivores in a savanna ecosystem.

This research in the Serengeti ecosystem of northern Tanzania examines the spatial abundance patterns of small mammals based on their occurence in owl-pellet assemblages. Owl pellets are an excellent and efficient method for biodiversity survey. Understanding the spatial ecology of small mammals that occur in owl assemblages provides the baseline data needed to improve our interpretation of fossil micromammal assemblages, many of which were created by owls hunting in the ancient past.
Amboseli Taphonomy
The process of fossilization in a savanna ecosystem.
Taphonomy is the study of how bones become fossils. Kay Behrehnsmeyer has been researching taphonomy in savanna landscapes for many years. Working with Kay and others in Amboseli I have been exploring the fate of small mammal remains accumulated by both mammalian and avian predators.
Grotte de Contrebandiers
Archaeozoology on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

Grotte de Contrebandiers (Smuggler's Cave) preserves Middle Stone Age and Aterian artefacts. The Aterian is a stone tool culture spread throughout the Maghreb but it is poorly understood. Research at Contrebandiers seeks to understand the origin and context of the Aterian. My work focuses on archaezoological analysis of the micromammals from Contrebandiers and their implications for past environments at the site.
Vegetation Modeling
Vegetation structure in modern savanna ecosystems.
The study of modern savanna ecosystems plays a critical role in understanding paleoenvironments and the ecological context of human evolution. Using satellite imagery and GIS data, I have been exploring vegetation structure in the Serengeti Ecosystem. pdf. serengeti vegetation map.
Recent Publications
In reverse chronological order
Reed DN, and D Geraads. 2012. Evidence for a Late Pliocene faunal transition based on a new rodent assemblage from Oldowan locality Hadar A.L. 894, Afar Region, Ethiopia. Journal of Human Evolution 62(3):328337. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.02.013. pdf
Reed DN 2011. New murid (Mammalia, Rodentia) fossils from a late Pliocene (2.4 Ma) locality, Hadar A.L. 894, Afar Region, Ethiopia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31(6):13261337. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2011.620676. pdf
Reed D, Denys C. (2011) The taphonomy and paleoenvironmental implications of the Laetoli micromammals. In: Harrison T, (Ed.) Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Volume I: Geology, Geochronology, Paleoecology & Paleoenvironment. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. pdf
Reed D. (2011) Serengeti micromammal communities and the paleoecology of Laetoli, Tanzania. In: Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context. Volume I: Geology, Geochronology, Paleoecology & Paleoenvironment. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. pdf
McPherron SP, Alemseged Z, Marean CW, Wynn JG, Reed D, Geraads D, Bobe R, and Bearat, HA. (2010) Evidence for stone-tool-assisted consumption of animal tissues before 3.39 million years ago at Dikika, Ethiopia. Nature 466(7308):857-860. doi: 10.1038/nature09248. pdf
Reed DN, Barr WA. (2010) A preliminary account of the rodents from Pleistocene levels at Grotte des Contrebandiers (Smuggler's Cave), Morocco. Historical Biology. 22:286-294. pdf
Geraads D, Alemseged Z, Bobe R, Reed D. (2010) Nyctereutes lockwoodi n. sp., a new canid (Carnivora: Mammalia) from the middle Pliocene of Dikika, Lower Awash, Ethiopia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30(3):981-987. doi:10.1080/02724631003758326. pdf
Reed D, Anderson TM, Dempewolf J, Metzger K, Serneels S. (2009) The spatial distribution of vegetation types in the Serengeti ecosystem: The influence of rainfall and topographic relief on vegetation patch characteristics. Journal of Biogeography.36(4):770-782. pdf
Wynn JG, Roman DC, Alemseged Z, Reed D, Geraads D, Munro S, (2008) Stratigraphy, depositional environments, and basin structure of the Hadar and Busidima Formations at Dikika, Ethiopia. In: Quade J, Wynn J, (Eds.) The Geology of Early Humans in the Horn of Africa. Vol. 446. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Co. pp. 87-118. pdf (large 4.6 MB)
Anderson TM, Dempewolf J, Metzger KL, Reed DN, Serneels S. (2008) Generation and Maintenance of Heterogeneity in the Serengeti Ecosystem. In A. Sinclair (ed). Serengeti III: The Future of an Ecosystem. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pdf (large 4.4 MB)
Reed DN. (2007) Serengeti micromammals and their implications for Olduvai paleoenvironments. In: R Bobe, Z Alemseged and K Behrensmeyer (eds.) Hominin environments in the East African Pliocene an assessment of the faunal evidence. New York: Kluwer Academic Press. pdf
Wynn JG, Alemseged Z, Bobe R, Geraads D, Reed D, Roman D. (2006) Geology and palaeontological context of a Pliocene juvenile hominin at Dikika, Ethiopia. Nature 443:332-336.
Alemseged Z, Spoor F, Kimbel W, Bobe R, Geraads D, Reed D, Wynn J. (2006) A juvenile hominin skeleton from Dikika, Ethiopia. Nature 443:296-301. pdf
Alemseged Z, Wynn JG, Kimbel WH, Reed DN, Geraads D, Bobe, R. (2005) A new hominin from the Basal Member of the Hadar Formation, Dikika, Ethiopia, and its geological context. Journal of Human Evolution. 49:499-514.
Reed DN. (2005) Taphonomic implications of roosting behavior and trophic habits in two species of African owl. Journal of Archaeological Science. 32:1669-1676. pdf
Geraads D, Alemseged Z, Reed D, Wynn J. (2004) The Pleistocene fauna (other than Primates) from Asbole, lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia, and its environmental and biochronological implications. Geobios. 37:697-718. pdf
Reed D. (2003) Micriomammal Paleoecology: Past and present relationships between African small mammals and their habitats. PhD thesis. Stony Brook University. pdf
Technology Resources
Technology Resources
This page provides links to helpful web resources.
Guides and HOWTOs
Links to instructional pages.
- SQLite - DBVis MINI HOWTO A short guide on how to connect to SQLite databases using DBVisualizer.
Bioinformatics Resources
Data, schemas and resources for bioinformatics
- Biodiversity Collections Index a central index of biological collections. Part of GBIF's Global Biodiversity Resources Discovery System (GBRDS).
- Biodiversity Information Standards, also known as the Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG), is a not for profit scientific and educational association that is affiliated with the International Union of Biological Sciences.
- Chronos Geochronology working group.
- Darwin Core data structure and schema for biodiversity developed and maintained by the TDWG.
- DELTA DEscription Language for TAxonomy. One of the first computer implimentations of a taxonomic system.
- DiGIR Distributed Generic Information Retrieval. Biodiversity web services. A client/server protocol for distributing biodiversity data.
- Dryad an online repository for published datasets in the basic and applied biosciences.
- eSkeletons a digital database for comparative morphology.
- ESRF Virtual Database a digitial specimen database for the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
- ETE database the Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems database at the Smithsonian.
- GBIF the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Making biodiversity data available on the net.
- Global Mammal Parasite Database a comprehensive collection of host-parasite records from the published scientific literature and supplemented with original data on taxonomy, sampling localities, and parasite characteristics, such as transmission mode. The data can be used to investigate mammalian socioecology, parasite "spillover" to humans, and human evolution.
- MaNIS the Mammal Networked Information System. Data services on mammal biodiversity.
- Morphobank an online workspace for phylogenetic research on phenotypes (e.g., morphology, behavior, development). A web application and database, it has a user-friendly interface for collaboration on phylogenetic matrices in real time in a private workspace, and intuitive media tools.
- Morphobrowser a web tool tool for exploring digital morphological datasets.
- Nomenclator Zoologicus a comprehensive database of taxonomic Genera since Linnaeus.
- NOW the Neogene of the Old World database
- NYCEP Morphometrics Group (NMG) a loose association of researchers who share an interest in analyzing morphological evolution of primates using three-dimensional geometric morphometric (3D GM) methods; GM is an approach to the quantitative interpretation of form utilizing coordinate data, which thus retains the relative placement of structures under study.
- PaleoanthPortal provides links to active databases in paleoanthropology. The plan is for it to serve as a portal through which users may search such databases from a single entry point without visiting their sites directly; this may direct users to those databases which contain information of the type sought and avoid those which don't.
- Paleobiology Datase a comprehensive database of paleontological occurrences, as reported in the paleontological literature.
- Paleontology Portal a web portal for all things paleontological.
- PRIMO the NYCEP PRImate Morphometrics Online database, is an open-access resource for a range of data types. Caliper data on teeth and skulls of cercopithecids (and a few hominoids) are posted now, and 3D Microscribe digitizer landmark data are being prepared for inclusion. Surface scans (as well as digital images) will be available later, as will additional geographical information.
- RHOI specimen database the database for the Revealing Hominid Origins Initiative.
Programming Resources
Computer programming languages, IDEs, libraries
- Python An elegant language and perfect for acdademic programming
- R A not-so-elegant but very powerful statistical programming language. Excellent for ecology and paleobiology.
- R Studio An excellent cross platform IDE for R
- Tinn-R A Windows based editor and IDE for R. For you poor souls who don't (yet) have macs.
- ggplot2 Hadley Wickham's grammar of graphics. The best way to make plots in R. See also Andrew Barr's basic introduction to using ggplot2.
- reshape Another great R package from Hadley Wickham for structuring data.
- RPy A simple, yet robust, python interface to the R programming language. Two great tastes that taste great together.
- Julia A high level programming language similar to python, perl and java.
- Eclipse Cross-platform programming IDE for Java, C++, and Python (with PyDev)
- PyDev A plugin to Eclipse that provides functionality for Python and Jython programming.
- Boa Constructor Cross-platform IDE and GUI development for Python.
- Xcode Apple's excellent IDE and GUI development platform. Now supports python via PyObjC.
- Jython A wrapper for Python in Java
- REALBasic If you simply must use basic. Nice GUI development and DB integration.
- Python vs. Java? Comparison between the two languages.
- TeXshop Typsetting for the fierce.
- LyX The only way to LaTeX! A great open source document processor. What you see is what you mean
- Sweave Embed R in your Lyx documents. That's right, dynamic document production with embedded R code!
- Reproducible Research A new approach to scientific publishing.
- JabRef Cross-platform bibtex database management tool.
- LaTeX bibliography database A database of LaTeX bibliographic styles for different journals.
- fink Open source package management tool for mac.
- gentoo Brass knuckles linux distro for those who like to customize...everything! Great documentation and online support.
- ubunto User friendly linux distro for those who don't need an extra headache.
- Red Hat Tried and true enterprise ready linux distro.
Web Resources
HTML editors, Web Application Servers
- Taco A nice, lightweight HTML editor for Mac.
- Django Pythonic web application framework. Fantastic.
- Zope A python based web application server.
Database Resources
Database management systems, DB clients
- SQLite An open-source, light-weight, cross platform database engine
- SpatiaLite A spatially aware open-source database engine.
- PostgreSQL An open source relational database management system (RDBMS) that is geospatially enabled.
- PostGIS PostGIS adds support for geographic objects to the PostgreSQL object-relational database.The stuff that makes PostgreSQL geospatially enabled.
- XMLSpy A windows based XML editor
- oXygen A mac based XML editor
- DBVisualizer Cross-platform database administration and editing tool.
- Database Spy Windows based database administration and editing tool. From the makers of XML Spy.
Project Servers
File servers, web servers and project resources
- University of Texas Laits File Server File server for collaborative projects. Hosted at: file.laits.utexas.edu, ip:128.83.180.188. Accessible via ssh, sftp.
- SSH Free ssh and sftp client for windows. This is the software needed to connect to the UT (and other) project file server.
- FUGU Free sftp client for Mac. Note that you can also use ssh, sftp, rsync from the command line in a mac terminal window. rsync is ... powerful.