Department of Anthropology university of pennsylvania

Theodore G. Schurr

Associate Professor
tgschurr@sas.upenn.edu
Phone: 
215-573-7632
Concentration: 
Evolutionary Anthropology
Education: 
Ph.D. Emory University 1998
Office Hours: 
By appointment
Research Interests: 
Subject areas: Human evolutionary genetics, mitochondrial biology and disease, biomedical genetics, ancient DNA, primate genetics; Geographic areas: Africa, Americas, Australia, Caucasus, Melanesia, Siberia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Turkey
Office Address: 

University Museum, Room 426

Website: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~tgschurr/home.html

Appointments: 
Anthropology Department Faculty; Department of Biology Graduate Group, University of Pennsylvania; Associate Member, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania; Member, CHOP Mitochondrial Research Affinity Group, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; Research Associate, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania; Member, International Center for Clinical Genetics, Kharkiv, Ukraine; Consortium Faculty, Penn Genomic Frontiers Institute; Consulting Curator, American and Physical Anthropology Sections, Penn Museum; Consortium Faculty, African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania
Publications: 

Published during the last 5 years:

Books and Edited Volumes:
Weber AW, Katzenberg MA, Schurr TG, eds. 2010. Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers of the Baikal Region, Siberia: Bioarchaeological Studies of Past Lifeways. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Peer-Reviewed Articles:

Schurr TG, Dulik MC, Owings AC, Zhadanov SI, Gaieski JB, Vilar MG, Ramos J, Moss MB, Natkong F, Genographic Consortium. 2012. Clan, language and migration history have shaped genetic diversity in Haida and Tlingit populations from southeast Alaska. Am J Phys Anthropol 148:422–435.

Dulik MC, Owings AC, Gaieski JB, Vilar MG, Andre A, Lennie C, Mackenzie MA, Kritsch I, Snowshoe S, Wright R, Martin J, Gibson N, Andrews TD, Schurr TG, Genographic Consortium. 2012. Y-chromosome analysis reveals genetic divergence and new founding native lineages in Athapaskan and Eskimoan-speaking populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 109(22): 8471-8476.

Arunkumar G, Soria-Hernanz DF, Kavitha VJ, Arun VS, Syama A, Ashokan KS, Gandhirajan KT, Vijayakumar K, Narayanan M, Jayalakshmi M, Ziegle JS, Royuru AK, Parida L, Wells RS, Renfrew C, Schurr TG, Smith CT, Platt DS, Pitchappan R, Genographic Consortium. 2012. Population differentiation of southern Indian male lineages correlates with agricultural expansions predating the caste system. PLoS ONE 7(11): e50269.

Badano I, Schurr TG, Stietz SM, Dulik MC, Mampaey M, Quintero IM, Zinovich JB, Campos RH, Liotta DJ. 2012. TNF promoter SNP variation in Amerindians and white-admixed populations from Misiones, Argentina. Internatl J Immunogenet doi: 10.1111/iji.12002.

Dulik MC, Zhadanov SI, Osipova LP, Askapuli A, Gau L, Gokcumen O, Rubinstein S, Schurr TG. 2012. Mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome variation provides evidence for a recent common ancestry between Native Americans and Indigenous Altaians. Am J Hum Genet 90:1–18.

Badano I, Stietz S, Schurr TG, Picconi A, Fekete D, Quintero I, Cabrera M, Campos R, Liotta J. 2012. Analysis of TNF-a promoter SNPs and the risk of cervical cancer in urban populations of Posadas (Misiones, Argentina). J Clin Virol 53:54-59.

Xie HM, Perin JC, Schurr TG, Dulik MC, Zhadanov SI, Baur J, King M, Place E, Clarke C, Grauer M, Schug J, Santani A, Albano A, Kim C, Hakonarson H, Gai X, Falk MJ. 2011. Mitochondrial genome sequence analysis: A custom bioinformatics pipeline substantially improves Affymetrix MitoChip call rate and accuracy. BMC Bioinformatics 12:402.

Babb PL, McIntosh AM, Fernandez-Duque E, Di Fiore T, Schurr TG. 2011. An optimized genetic fingerprinting strategy reveals individual identity and kinship in Azara’s owl monkeys (Aotus azarai azarai). Folia Primatologia 82:107-117.

Gaieski JB, Owings AC, Vilar MG, Dulik MC, Gaieski D, Gittelman RM, Dulik MC, Lindo J, Gau L, Schurr TG, The Genographic Consortium. 2011. Genetic ancestry and indigenous heritage in a Native American descendant community in Bermuda. Am J Phys Anthropol 46(3): 392–405.

Yardumian A, Schurr TG. 2011. Who are the Anatolian Turks? A reappraisal of the anthropological genetic evidence. Archeol Anthropol Eurasia 50(1): 6-43 (Summer).

Babb PL, Fernandez-Duque E, Baiduc C, Gagneux P, Evan S, Schurr TG. 2011. Mitochondrial DNA diversity in Azara's owl monkey (Aotus azarai) of the Argentinean Chaco. Am J Phys Anthropol 146: 209-224.

Balanovsky O, Dibirova K, Dybo A, Mudrak O, Frolova S, Pocheshkhova E, Haber M, Platt D, Schurr TG, Haak W, Kuznetsova M, Radzhabov M, Balaganskaya O, Druzhinina E, Zakharova T, Koshel S, Renfrew C, Wells RS, Tyler-Smith C, Balanovska E, The Genographic Consortium. 2011. Parallel evolution of genes and languages in the Caucasus. Mol Biol Evol 28(10): 2905-2920.

Dulik MC, Osipova LP, Schurr TG. 2011. Y-chromosome variation in Altaian Kazakhs reveals a common paternal gene pool for Kazakhs and the influence of Mongol expansions. PLoS ONE 6(3): e17548.

Gokcumen O, Gultekin T, Dogan Alakoc Y, Tug A, Gulec E, Schurr TG. 2011. Biological ancestries, kinship connections, and projected identities in four central Anatolian settlements. Amer Anthropol 113(1): 116-131.

Babb PL, Fernandez-Duque E, Schurr TG. 2010. AVPR1A variation in the monogamous owl monkey (Aotus azarai azarai), and its implications for the evolution of platyrrhine social behavior. J Mol Evol 71(4): 279–297.

Zhadanov SI, Dulik MC, Markley M, Jennings G, Gaieski JB, Elias G, Schurr TG, The Genographic Consortium. 2010. Genetic heritage and native identity of the Seaconke Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts. Am J Phys Anthropol 142(4): 579-589.

Alakoc YD, Tug A, Gokcumen O, Gultekin T, Gulec E, Schurr TG. 2010. Y-chromosome and autosomal STR diversity in four proximate settlements in Central Anatolia. Forensic Sci Int Genet 4(5): e135-e137.

Stefflova K, Dulik MC, Pai CA, Walker AH, Zeigler-Johnson C, Gueye SM, Schurr TG, Rebbeck TR. 2009. Evaluation of group genetic ancestry of populations from Philadelphia and Dakar in the context of sex-biased admixture in the Americas. PLoS ONE 4(11): e7842. 

Schroeder KB, Jakobsson M, Crawford MH, Schurr TG, Simina B, Conrad DF, Tito RY, Osipova LP, Tarskaia LA, Zhadanov SI, Wall JD, Pritchard JK, Malhi RS, Smith DG, Rosenberg NA. 2009. Haplotypic background of a private allele at high frequency in the Americas. Mol Biol Evol 26: 995-1016.

Rubinstein S, Dulik MC, Gokcumen O, Zhadanov SI, Osipova LP, Mehta N, Cocca MF, Gubina M, Posukh O, Schurr TG. 2008. Russian Old Believers: Genetic consequences of their persecution and exile, as shown by mitochondrial DNA evidence. Hum Biol 80(3): 203-238.

Gokcumen O, Dulik MC, Pai AA, Zhadanov SI, Osipova LP, Andreenkov O, Tabikhanova L, Gubina M, Labuda D, Schurr TG. 2008. Genetic variation in the enigmatic Altaian Kazakhs of South-Central Russia: Insights into Turkic population history. Am J Phys Anthropol 136(3): 278-293.

Zhadanov SI, Grechanina EYa, Grechanina YuB, Gusar VA, Fedoseeva NP, Lebon S, Münnich SA, Schurr TG. 2007. Fatal manifestation of a de novo ND5 mutation: Implication for the pathogenetic mechanisms of ND5 gene defects. Mitochondrion 7(4): 260-266.

Friedlaender JS, Friedlaender FR, Hodgson JA, Stoltz M, Koki G, Horvat G, Zhadanov SI, Schurr TG, Merriwether DA. 2007. Melanesian mtDNA complexity. PLoS ONE 2(2): e248.

Schroeder KB, Schurr TG, Long JC, Rosenberg NA, Grote MN, Crawford MH, Tarskaia L, Osipova LP, Zhadanov SI, Smith DG. 2007. Native Americans descend from a common founding population. Biology Letters 3(2): 218-223.
Book Chapters:

 Schurr TG. 2013. When did we become human? Evolutionary perspectives on the emergence of the modern human brain and culture. In: The Evolution of Mind, Brain and Culture, Hatfield G, Pittman H, eds. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum Press (in press).

Dulik MC, Lorenz JG, Schurr TG. 2011. Hasanlu IVB: An ancient DNA pilot project. In: Dyson R, M de Schaudensee, editors, Aspects of Peoples and Crafts in Period IVB at Hasanlu, Iran: Hasanlu Special Studies Volume 4, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum Press, pp. 195-199.

Schurr TG, Pipes L. 2011. The prehistory of Mongolian populations: Evidence from cranio-facial, dental trait and genetic studies. In: Sabloff P, editor, Mapping Mongolia: Situating Mongolia in the World from Geologic Time to the Present, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum Press, pp. 134-165.

Kemp BM, Schurr TG. 2010. Ancient and modern genetic variation in the Americas. In: Auerbach B, editor. Human Variation in the Americas: The Integration of Archeology and Biological Anthropology. Carbondale: Center for Archeological Investigations, Occasional Paper No. 38, Southern Illinois University Press. p. 12-50.

Schurr TG. 2010. Coastal waves and island hopping: A genetic view of Caribbean prehistory in the context of New World colonization. In: SM Fitzpatrick, A Ross, editors. Island Shores, Distant Pasts: Archaeological and Biological Approaches to the Pre-Columbian Settlement of the Caribbean. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. p 177-198.

Schurr TG, Osipova LP, Zhadanov SI, Dulik MC. 2010. Genetic diversity in native Siberian populations: Implications for the prehistoric settlement of the Cis-Baikal. In: Weber A, Katzenberg MA, Schurr TG, editors. Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers of the Baikal Region, Siberia: Bioarchaeological Studies of Past Lifeways. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p 121-134.

Friedlaender J, Friedlaender F, Hodgson J, McGrath S, Stoltz M, Koki G, Schurr TG, Merriwether DA. 2007. Mitochondrial DNA variation in northern Island Melanesia. In: Friedlaender J, editor. Genes, Language, and Culture History in the Southwest Pacific. Oxford University Press. p 61-80.


Please contact me by email (tgschurr@sas.upenn.edu) to request a copy of any of these publications.