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RESEARCH INTERESTS
Evolutionary ecology; population genetics
genetic evidence about human demographic history
evolutionary game theory
life-history evolution
PUBLICATIONS
I study the evolution of phenomena ranging from neutral DNA sequences
to human menopause. My approach to these problems is usually
quantitative: I enjoy developing quantitative models and statistical
methods.
Most recently, the lion's share of my time has been devoted to the
problem of using genetic data to draw inferences about the history of
population size. A few years ago, Henry Harpending and I developed the
method of "mismatch analysis," which is useful primarily with
mitochondrial DNA, and which indicates that the human population
underwent an enormous population expansion during the late
Pleistocene. I am now working on a new method that will use Markov
Chain Monte Carlo integration and will be applicable to DNA throughout
the genome.
The other main component of my research involves adaptive evolution. I
have been interested in such questions as (a) why do human females
stop reproducing so early in life, and (b) why do young adults seem to
discount the future at a higher rate than their elders do? Both
questions fall under the umbrella of "life history evolution."
Finally, I have recently developed a statistical method for use with
assemblages of animal bone recovered from archaeological sites. The
method attempts to estimate (a) the fraction of the assemblage that
was deposited by each of several agents, (b) the severity of damage to
the assemblage, and (c) the number of animals that contribute to the
assemblage.
Alan R. Rogers. Order emerging from chaos in human
evolutionary genetics. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, USA, 98:779-780, 2001.
Henry C. Harpending and Alan R. Rogers. Genetic perspectives
on human origins and differentiation. Annual Review of
Genomics and Human Genetics, 1:361-385, 2000.
Stephen Wooding and Alan R. Rogers. A Pleistocene population
X-plosion? Human Biology, 72:693-695, 2000.
Alan R. Rogers. Analysis of bone counts by maximum likelihood.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 27(2):111-125, 2000.
Alan R. Rogers. Evolution and human choice over time. In
G. Bock and G. Cardew, editors, Characterizing Human
Psychological Adaptations, number 208 in CIBA Foundation
Symposia, pages 231-252. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, UK,
1997.
Alan R. Rogers. Mitochondrial mismatch analysis is insensitive
to the mutational process. Molecular Biology and Evolution,
13(7):895-902, 1996.
Alan R. Rogers. Evolution of time preference by natural
selection. The American Economic Review, 84(3):460-481, June
1994.
Alan R. Rogers. Why menopause? Evolutionary Ecology,
7(4):406-420, July 1993.
Alan R. Rogers and Henry C. Harpending. Population growth
makes waves in the distribution of pairwise genetic differences.
Molecular Biology and Evolution, 9:552-569, 1992.
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