Dean Falk, Ph.D. Hale G. Smith Professor of Anthropology Florida State University   Curriculum Vitae The Origins of Language Reconsidered, Kyoto, Japan. Program in History and Philosophy of Science Member of Iceman Commission (South Tyrolean government) Department of Anthropology 1847 West Tennessee St. Florida State University Tallahassee, FL 32306-7772 Phone: (850) 644-7016 Fax: (850) 645-0032 Email: dfalk@fsu.edu Office Hours: By appointment

Photograph by Ray Stanyard An ancestral portrait of Dean Falk by Ray Stanyard

Recent Publications and Writing Projects

MOTHERESE:
2006	Falk, D., invited New York Times Op-Ed Contributor: "Our Mother Tongue"; (May 14, 2006)	Dean Falk putting the baby (grandson Jacob Riddle) up. Photograph by Michael Riddle.
2004	Falk, D. Prelinguistic evolution in early hominins: Whence motherese? (target article, commentaries, and response) Behavioral and Brain Sciences 27: 491-503
HOBBITS & MICROCEPHALICS:		Virtual Skull Endocast of LB1
2007	Falk, D.; Hildebolt, C.; Smith, K.; Morwood, M.J.; Sutikna, T.; Jatmiko; Saptomo W.E.; Imhof, H., Seidler, H. & F. Prior. Brain shape in human microcephalics and Homo floresiensis. PNAS 104:2513-2518. Request a Reprint of the Above Article Supporting Online Material
2006	Falk, D.; Hildebolt, C.; Smith, K.; Morwood, M.J.; Sutikna, T.; Jatmiko; Saptomo W.E.; Brunsden, B. & F. Prior. Response to comment on "The brain of LB1, Homo floresiensis" by Martin et al. Science 312:999c. Abstract Full Text
2005b	Falk, D.; Hildebolt, C.; Smith, K.; Morwood, M.J.; Sutikna, T.; Jatmiko; Saptomo W.E.; Brunsden, B. & F. Prior. Response to comment on "The brain of LB1, Homo floresiensis" by Weber et al. Science 310:236c.
2005a	Falk, D.; Hildebolt, C.; Smith, K.; Morwood, M.J.; Sutikna, T.; Brown, P.; Jatmiko, Saptomo W.E.; Brunsden, B. & F. Prior. The brain of LB1, Homo floresiensis. Science 308:242-245. Supporting Online Material
BRAIN EVOLUTION/CRANIAL RADIATORS:
2007	Falk, D. History of Neuroscience: The Evolution of Broca's Area, IBRO History of Neuroscience
2007	Falk, D. & R. Clarke. New reconstruction of the Taung endocast: A brief communication. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Early View (September 4, 2007)
2007	Falk, D. Constraints on brain size: The radiator hypothesis. In J. H. Kaas (Ed), The Evolution of Primate Nervous Systems, Academic Press, Oxford, p. 347-354.
2007	Falk, D. Evolution of the primate brain. In W. Henke, H. Rothe & I. Tattersall (Eds), Handbook of Palaeoanthropology Vol. 2: Primate Evolution and Human Origins, Springer-Verlag, p. 1133-1162.
2007	Wu, X, Schepartz, L. A., Falk, D. & Wu, L. Endocranial cast of Hexian Homo erectus from South China. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 130:445-454.
OTHERS:
2008	Falk, D. Evolution of Language. To appear in The Harvard Companion to Evolution (Eds: M. Ruse & J. Travis), Harvard University Press.
2006	Falk, D. & Seguchi, N. Professor C. Loring Brace: Bringing physical anthropology ("kicking and screaming") into the 21st century! Retrospectives on Eight Michigan Anthropologists (Ed: Derek Pomeroy Brereton), Michigan Discussions in Anthropology, Vol. 16:175-211, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
2004	Falk, D. Braindance, Revised and Expanded Edition. University Press of Florida.
2003	Keenan, J., with Gallup, G. and D. Falk. The Face in the Mirror Ecco (Harper Collins).
2002	Falk, D. Dig Deeper: Skulls and 'Minds'. BBC
2001	Falk, D. and K. Gibson (eds) Evolutionary Anatomy of the Primate Cerebral Cortex. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2000	Falk, D. Primate Diversity. New York: Norton.
2000	Falk, D. Careers in science offer women an unusual bonus: immortality. Nature 407:833..
2000	Falk, D., Redmond, J. C., Jr., Guyer, J., Conroy, G. C., Recheis, W., Weber, G. W. and H. Seidler. Hominid brain evolution: A new look at old endocasts, J. Hum. Evol. 38:695-717.
2000	L'Australopithèque Gracile Était-il Musicien? La Recherche, Novembre, 78-81.

Research Interests and Activities

Paleoanthropology;

application of medical imaging technology to studies of endocasts,

evolution of brain and behavior in higher primates,

neurological & behavioral substrates that preceded the evolution of protolanguage,

origins of music and language

My research focuses on the evolution of the brain and cognition in higher primates, including humans. I am currently working with my long-time collaborators at Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis on a comparative study of endocasts from the skulls of LB1 (Homo floresiensis) and fossil hominins. Endocasts reproduce details from the interior of the braincase that were imprinted by the exterior surface of the brain. This project is in collaboration with colleagues in Australia and Indonesia and has been supported by the National Geographic Society. I have also recently completed a book that develops and extends my 'putting the baby down' hypothesis, which associates the evolution of infant-directed speech ('motherese' or 'musical speech') with natural selection for walking on two legs (bipedalism) -- the key feature that distinguishes fossils of our ancestors from apes. Human parents' universal use of lullabies, rocking and cuddling, and baby talk are an early focus of the book. Later chapters ponder the emergence of our ancestors' first words, grammars, and syntax; how these may have become conventionalized within populations; and how the evolution of language paved our species' way for other creative endeavors such as art, music, and dance.

Teaching Specializations

primate behavior

paleoanthropology

evolution of the hominin brain and cognition

origins of music and language

Courses for 2007-2008

Fall 2007

ANT 2511 - Introduction to Human Evolution and Prehistory (ANT 2511L, Laboratory)

This year's graduate student assistants for the course and laboratories: left to right, Guy Hepp (standing), Ian Pawn and Maria Fashing (back), Angela Schauber and Tim Parsons (front).