Staff profile

• Ecology, palaeobiology and palaeoecology
• Evolutionary medicine
• Functional morphology
• Old World monkey biogeography
• Plio-Pleistocene hominin evolution
• Primate locomotion

Authored book

• Ulijaszek, S., Mann, N., & Elton, S. (2012). Evolving Human Nutrition: Implications for Public Health. Cambridge University Press

Chapter in book

• Lillie, M. C., & Elton, S. (2022). Palaeoecology: considering proximate and ultimate influences in human diets and environmental responses in the early Holocene Dnieper River region of Ukraine. In K. A. Plomp, C. A. Roberts, S. Elton, & G. R. Bentley (Eds.), Palaeopathology and Evolutionary Medicine: An Integrated Approach. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198849711.003.0007
• Bentley, G. R., Roberts, C. A., Elton, S., & Plomp, K. A. (2022). Now you have read the book, what next?. In K. A. Plomp, C. A. Roberts, S. Elton, & G. R. Bentley (Eds.), Palaeopathology and Evolutionary Medicine: An Integrated Approach. Oxford University Press
• Plomp, K. A., Roberts, C. A., Elton, S., & Bentley, G. R. (2022). What's it all about? A legacy for the next generation of scholars in evolutionary medicine and palaeopathology,. In K. A. Plomp, C. A. Roberts, S. Elton, & G. R. Bentley (Eds.), Palaeopathology and Evolutionary Medicine: An Integrated Approach. Oxford University Press
• Elton, S. (2017). Adaptive Radiation. In A. Fuentes (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of primatology. John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119179313.wbprim0207
• Elton, S. (2017). Pliocene primates. In A. Fuentes (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of primatology. John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119179313.wbprim0476
• Elton, S. (2017). Paleobiology and behavior. In A. Fuentes (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of primatology. John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119179313.wbprim0485
• Elton, S. (2017). Palaeoenvironmental and sea-level change. In A. Fuentes (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of primatology. John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119179313.wbprim0481
• Elton, S., & Dunn, J. (2015). Species, populations and groups in human evolution. In P. Kreager, B. Winney, S. Ulijaszek, & C. Capelli (Eds.), Population in the human sciences : concepts, models, evidence (401-430). Oxford University Press
• Elton, S. (2012). Impacts of environmental change and community ecology on the composition and diversity of the southern African monkey fauna from the Plio-Pleistocene to the present. In S. C. Reynolds, & A. Gallagher (Eds.), African genesis : perspectives on hominin evolution (471-486). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139096164.028
• Cardini, A., Diniz Filho, J., Polly, P., & Elton, S. (2010). Chapter 8: Biogeographic analysis using geometric morphometrics: clines in skull size and shape in a widespread African arboreal monkey. In Morphometrics for Nonmorphometricians (191-217). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-95853-6_8
• Elton, S., & O’Higgins, P. (2008). Medicine and evolution : current applications, future prospects (Introduction). In P. O’Higgins, & S. Elton (Eds.), Medicine and evolution : current applications, future prospects (1-8). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420051377
• Elton, E. (2008). Environments, adaptation and evolutionary medicine: should we be eating a ‘Stone Age’ diet?. In P. O’Higgins, & S. Elton (Eds.), Medicine and evolution: current applications, future prospects (9-34). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420051377.ch2
• O'Higgins, P., & Elton, S. (2008). Is there a place for evolution in UK medical education?. In S. Elton, & P. O'Higgins (Eds.), Medicine and Evolution (257-272). https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420051377.ch12
• Shaw, L., & Elton, S. (2008). Seasonality, climatic unpredictability, food deprivation and polycystic ovary syndrome. In S. Elton, & P. O’Higgins (Eds.), Medicine and evolution : current applications, future prospects (77-97). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420051377.ch5
• Foley, R., & Elton, S. (1998). Time and energy: the ecological context for the evolution of bipedalism. In E. Strasser, J. Fleagle, A. Rosenberger, & H. McHenry (Eds.), Primate Locomotion: Recent Advances (419-433). Plenum Press

Conference Paper

• O’Regan, H., Bishop, L., Elton, S., Lamb, A., & Turner, A. (2004). Afro-Eurasian mamalian dispersions of the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene. In L. C. Maul, & R. D. Kalkhe (Eds.),

Edited book

• Plomp, K. A., Roberts, C. A., Elton, S., & Bentley, G. R. (Eds.). (2022). Palaeopathology and Evolutionary Medicine: An Integrated Approach. Oxford University Press
• Elton, S., & O'Higgins, P. (Eds.). (2008). Medicine and Evolution: Current Applications, Future Prospects. Taylor and Francis

Journal Article

• Berthaume, M., & Elton, S. (2024). Biomechanics in anthropology. Evolutionary Anthropology, https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.22019
• Grunstra, N. D., Louys, J., & Elton, S. (2023). Climate, not Quaternary biogeography, explains skull morphology of the long-tailed macaque on the Sunda Shelf. Quaternary Science Reviews, 310, Article 108121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108121
• Elton, S. (2022). JHE 50th anniversary: Generosity. Journal of Human Evolution, 170, Article 103236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103236
• Elton, S., Adams, J. W., Arenson, J. L., Beaudet, A., Belmaker, M., Harrison, T., …Hlusko, L. (2022). Comment (Case 3847) – Support for proposed conservation of Simopithecus oswaldi Andrews, 1916 (currently Theropithecus oswaldi; Mammalia, Primates, Cercopithecidae) by reversal of precedence with Cynocephalus atlanticus Thomas, 1884 (see BZN 78: 99–106 [Case]; BZN 79: 53–54 [Comment]; BZN 79: 55–57 [authors' response to Comment]). Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 79(1), 58-60. https://doi.org/10.21805/bzn.v79.a012
• Crompton, R., McClymont, J., Elton, S., Thorpe, S., Sellers, W., Heaton, J., …Clarke, R. (2022). StW 573 Australopithecus prometheus: Its Significance for an Australopith Bauplan. Folia Primatologica, 92(5-6), 243-275. https://doi.org/10.1159/000519723
• Schroeder, L., Elton, S., & Ackermann, R. R. (2022). Skull variation in Afro-Eurasian monkeys results from both adaptive and non-adaptive evolutionary processes. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 12516. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16734-x
• Cardini, A., Elton, S., Kovarovic, K., Strand Vidarsdottir, U., & Polly, D. (2021). On the misidentification of species: sampling error in primates and other mammals using geometric morphometrics in more than 4,000 individuals. Evolutionary Biology, 48(2), 190-220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11692-021-09531-3
• Nadell, J., Elton, S., & Kovarovic, K. (2021). Ontogenetic and morphological variation in primate long bones reflect signals of size and behavior. American journal of physical anthropology, 174(2), 327-351. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24198
• Elton, S., & Dunn, J. (2020). Baboon biogeography, divergence and evolution: morphological and palaeoecological perspectives. Journal of Human Evolution, 145, Article 102799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102799
• Elton, S. (2020). My New Year's resolution for 2020 is to try harder at sharing data. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 172(3), 337-338. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24071
• Fischer, J., Higham, J. P., Alberts, S. C., Barrett, L., Beehner, J. C., Bergman, T. J., …Zinner, D. (2019). Insights into the evolution of social systems and species from baboon studies. eLife, 8, Article e50989. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.50989
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2017). Is there a "Wainer's rule"? Testing which sex varies most as an example analysis using GueSDat, the free Guenon Skull Database. Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy, 28(2), 147-156. https://doi.org/10.4404/hystrix-28.2-12139
• Bjarnason, A., Soligo, C., & Elton, S. (2017). Phylogeny, phylogenetic inference, and cranial evolution in pitheciids and Aotus. American Journal of Primatology, 79(3), Article e22621. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.22621
• Elton, S. (2016). Mismatch or mass marketing? Stone Age diets, industrialisation and ultra-processed foods (in Turkish). Toplum ve hekim, 31(5), 323-333
• Elton, S., Jansson, A., Meloro, C., Louys, J., Plummer, T., & Bishop, L. C. (2016). Exploring morphological generality in the Old World monkey postcranium using an ecomorphological framework. Journal of Anatomy, 228(4), 534-560. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.12428
• Bishop, L., Barham, L., Ditchfield, P., Elton, S., Harcourt-Smith, W., & Dawkins, P. (2016). Quaternary fossil fauna from the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Journal of Quaternary Science, 31(3), 178-190. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2855
• Stevenson, T., Visser, M., Arnold, W., Barrett, P., Biello, S., Dawson, A., …Helm, B. (2015). Disrupted seasonal biology impacts health, food security and ecosystems. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 282(1817), https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1453
• Bjarnason, A., Soligo, C., & Elton, S. (2015). Phylogeny, ecology, and morphological evolution in the atelid cranium. International Journal of Primatology, 36(3), 513-529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-015-9839-z
• Louys, J., Meloro, C., Elton, S., Ditchfield, P., & Bishop, L. C. (2015). The potential and pitfalls of using simple dental metrics to infer the diets of African antelopes (Mammalia: Bovidae). Palaeontologia africana, 49, 8-24
• Louys, J., Meloro, C., Elton, S., Ditchfield, P., & Bishop, L. C. (2015). Analytical framework for reconstructing heterogeneous environmental variables from mammal community structure. Journal of Human Evolution, 78, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.11.001
• Elton, S. (2014). Adaptive diversity: from the trees to the ground. Antiquity, 88(341), 923-924. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00050821
• O'Regan, H. J., Elton, S., & Schreve, D. (2014). Introduction: Editors' overview for the Alan Turner Memorial volume. Quaternary Science Reviews, 96, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.06.010
• Elton, S., & O'Regan, H. J. (2014). Macaques at the margins: the biogeography and extinction of Macaca sylvanus in Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews, 96, 117-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.04.025
• Kuykendall, K., & Elton, S. (2014). The Human Biology of the Past. Annals of Human Biology, 41(4), 283-286. https://doi.org/10.3109/03014460.2014.924252
• Dunn, J., Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2013). Biogeographic variation in the baboon: dissecting the cline. Journal of Anatomy, 223(4), 337-352. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.12085
• Meloro, C., Elton, S., Louys, J., Bishop, L., & Ditchfield, P. (2013). Cats in the forest: predicting habitat adaptations from humerus morphometry in extant and fossil Felidae (Carnivora). Paleobiology, 39(3), 323-344. https://doi.org/10.1666/12001
• Meloro, C., & Elton, S. (2013). The Evolutionary History and Palaeo-Ecology of Primate Predation: Macaca sylvanus from Plio-Pleistocene Europe as a Case Study. Folia Primatologica, 83(3-6), 216-235. https://doi.org/10.1159/000343494
• Walmsley, A., Elton, S., Louys, J., Bishop, L., & Meloro, C. (2012). Humeral shape in felids: phylogenetic, locomotor and allometric influences. Journal of Morphology, 273(12), 1424-1438. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmor.20084
• Louys, J., Ditchfield, P., Meloro, C., Elton, S., & Bishop, L. (2012). Stable isotopes provide independent support for the use of mesowear variables for inferring diets in African antelopes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1746), 4441-4446. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1473
• Cardini, A., Dunn, J., O'Higgins, P., & Elton, S. (2012). Clines in Africa: does size vary in the same way among widespread sub-Saharan monkeys?. Journal of Biogeography, 40(2), 370-381. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02783.x
• Louys, J., Meloro, C., Elton, S., Ditchfield, P., & Bishop, L. (2011). Mesowear as a means of determining diets in African antelopes. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38(7), 1485-1495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.02.011
• O’Regan, H., Turner, A., Bishop, L., Elton, S., & Lamb, A. (2011). Hominins without fellow travellers? First appearances and inferred dispersals of Afro-Eurasian large-mammals in the Plio-Pleistocene. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(11-12), 1343-1352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.11.028
• Chenery, C., Lamb, A., O’Regan, H., & Elton, S. (2011). Multi-tissue analysis of oxygen isotopes in wild rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 25(6), 779-788. https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.4916
• Louys, J., Meloro, C., Elton, S., Ditchfield, P., & Bishop, L. (2011). Mammal community structure correlates with arboreal heterogeneity in faunally and geographically diverse habitats. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 20(5), 717-729. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00643.x
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2011). 'Geometric morphometric approach to the study of biological diversity': an example study from the red colobus species complex. International Journal of Primatology, 32(2), 377-389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-010-9475-6
• Elton, S., Dunn, J., & Cardini, A. (2010). Size variation facilitates population divergence but does not explain it all: an example study from a widespread African monkey. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 101(4), 823-843. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01504.x
• Murdoch-Eaton, D., Drewery, S., Elton, S., Emmerson, C., Marshall, M., Smith, J., …Whittle, S. (2010). What Do Medical Students Understand By Research And Research Skills? Identifying Research Opportunities Within Undergraduate Projects. Medical Teacher, 32(3), https://doi.org/10.3109/01421591003657493
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2009). Geographic and taxonomic influences on cranial variation in red colobus monkeys (Primates, Colobinae): introducing a new approach to ‘morph’ monkeys. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 18(2), 248-263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00432.x
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2009). The radiation of red colobus monkeys (Primates, Colobinae): morphological evolution in a clade of endangered African primates. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 157(1), https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00508.x
• O’Regan, H., Chenery, C., Lamb, A., Stevens, R., Rook, L., & Elton, S. (2008). Modern macaque dietary heterogeneity assessed using stable isotope analysis of hair and bone. Journal of Human Evolution, 55(4), 617-626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.05.001
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2008). Variation in guenon skulls I: species divergence, ecological and genetic differences. Journal of Human Evolution, 54(5), 615-637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.09.022
• Nowak, K., Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2008). Evolutionary acceleration in an endangered African primate: speciation and divergence in the Zanzibar red colobus monkey. International Journal of Primatology, 29(5), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-008-9306-1
• Elton, S., & Cardini, A. (2008). Anthropology from the desk? The challenges of the emerging era of data sharing. Journal of Anthropological Sciences, 86, 209-212
• Wood, B., & Elton, S. (2008). Symposium on ‘Human evolution: ancestors and relatives’. Journal of Anatomy, 212(4), 335-336. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.00873.x
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2008). Does the skull carry a phylogenetic signal? Evolution and modularity in the guenons. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 93(4), 813-834. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01011.x
• Shaw, L., & Elton, S. (2008). Author response to: Polycystic ovary syndrome: a transgenerational evolutionary adaptation. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 115(7), 144-148. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2008.01725.x
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2008). GeMBiD, a ‘Geometric morphometric approach to the study of biological diversity’
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2008). Variation in guenon skulls II: sexual dimorphism. Journal of Human Evolution, 54(5), 638-647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.09.023
• Elton, S. (2008). The environmental context of human evolutionary history in Eurasia and Africa. Journal of Anatomy, 212(4), 377-393. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.00872.x
• Hughes, J., Elton, S., & O’Regan, H. (2008). Theropithecus and ‘Out of Africa’ dispersals in the Plio-Pleistocene. Journal of Human Evolution, 54(1), 43-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.06.004
• O'Higgins, P., & Elton, S. (2007). Walking on trees. Science, 316(5829), 1292-1294. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1143571
• Elton, S. (2007). Fossils, Hunters, and Controversies: Exploring Primate Evolution. Reviews in Anthropology, 36(4), 283-309. https://doi.org/10.1080/00938150701684185
• Cardini, A., Jansson, A., & Elton, S. (2007). Ecomorphology of vervet monkeys: a geometric morphometric approach to the study of clinal variation. Journal of Biogeography, 34, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01731.x
• Cardini, A., & Elton, S. (2007). Sample size and sampling error in geometric morphometric studies of size and shape. Zoomorphology, 126(2), https://doi.org/10.1007/s00435-007-0036-2
• Elton, S. (2007). Environmental correlates of the cercopithecoid radiations. Folia Primatologica, 78(5-6), 344-364. https://doi.org/10.1159/000105149
• Elton, S., & Morgan, B. (2006). Muzzle size, paranasal swelling size and body mass in Mandrillus leucophaeus. Primates, 47(2), 151-157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-005-0164-6
• Elton, S. (2006). Forty years on and still going strong: the use of hominin-cercopithecid comparisons in palaeoanthropology. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 12(1), 19-38. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2006.00279.x
• O’Regan, H., Bishop, L., Elton, S., Lamb, A., & Turner, A. (2006). Afro-Eurasian dispersions of the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene, and their bearing on earliest hominin movements
• O'Regan, H., Bishop, L., Lamb, A., Elton, S., & Turner, A. (2005). Large mammal turnover in Africa and the Near East 1.0 - 0.5Ma. Geological Society Special Publications, 247(1), 231-249. https://doi.org/10.1144/gsl.sp.2005.247.01.13
• Elton, S., Barham, L., Andrews, P., & Sambrook Smith, G. (2003). Pliocene femur of Theropithecus from the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Journal of Human Evolution, 44(1), 133-140. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0047-2484%2802%2900198-7
• Elton, S. (2002). A reappraisal of the locomotion and habitat preference of Theropithecus oswaldi. Folia Primatologica, 73(5), 252-280. https://doi.org/10.1159/000067457
• Elton, S., Bishop, L., & Wood, B. (2001). Comparative context of Plio-Pleistocene hominin brain evolution. Journal of Human Evolution, 41(1), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.2001.0475
• Elton, S. (2001). Locomotor and habitat classification of cercopithecoid postcranial material from Sterkfontein Member 4, Bolt’s Farm and Swartkrans Members 1 and 2, South Africa. Palaeontologia africana, 37, 115-126
• Elton, S., Foley, R., & Ulijaszek, S. (1998). Habitual energy expenditure of human climbing and clambering. Annals of Human Biology, 25, 523-531. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014469800006762