The research鈥攑ublished as the cover article in the 鈥攚as conducted in collaboration with scientists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. It focuses on Purgatorius, a small, tree-dwelling mammal that lived about 66 million years ago and is considered the earliest known relative of all primates, including humans. Chester served as lead author on the paper, alongside co-authors Jordan Crowell (also a CUNY Graduate Center graduate), Tyler Lyson, and David Krause of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Until now, fossils of Purgatorius had only been found in northern regions such as Montana and Saskatchewan, leaving scientists with an incomplete picture of how and where these animals evolved.

Chester and his colleagues report the southernmost discovery of Purgatorius fossils ever found, uncovered in Colorado鈥檚 Denver Basin. The fossils were recovered through careful screen washing of ancient sediments at the Corral Bluffs study area.

鈥淭his discovery helps fill a gap in understanding the geography and evolution of our earliest primate relatives after dinosaur extinction,鈥� Chester said.

The newly discovered fossils are tiny teeth that show a unique mix of features, suggesting they may belong to a previously unknown, early species of Purgatorius. Their presence in Colorado suggests that archaic primates originated in the north and then spread southward, diversifying soon after the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

A lifelike rendering of the archaic primate Purgatorius. (Rendering by Andrey Atuchin.)

The study also challenges long-standing assumptions about where archaic primates lived. Scientists thought Purgatorius might be absent from southern regions during this time, but the new findings suggest that this was likely due to limited fossil sampling, not true absence.

鈥淥ur results demonstrate that small fossils can easily be missed,鈥� Chester explained. 鈥淲ith more intensive searching, especially using screen-washing techniques, we will undoubtedly discover many more important specimens.鈥�

可乐视频 Professor Stephen Chester (center) points out dental features on an enlarged model of an extinct mammal to undergraduate research assistants (left to right) Aisha Amir, Aidan Smith, Todd Skahill, and Shruthika Srinivasan) at his lab on campus.

This work was supported in part by a nearly $3 million collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation that Chester and his colleagues received in 2023. Over the five years, this grant will fund 可乐视频 undergraduate research assistants who sifted through excavated sediment in Chester鈥檚 laboratory, uncovering fossils of Purgatorius and other vertebrates that lived in the immediate aftermath of the dinosaurs鈥� extinction.

You can read more about this study in

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A dual-appointed professor in the departments of Anthropology and Children and Youth Studies, Hejtmanek will work as a research fellow in the university鈥檚 Memory and Anxiety Laboratory, diving deep into the cultural and psychological underpinnings of modern life. She will also teach in the Graduate School and the School of Governance and Social Sciences, bringing 可乐视频鈥檚 academic spirit to classrooms halfway around the world.

But her vision goes beyond research and teaching. Hejtmanek hopes to build a transnational academic bridge between 可乐视频 and Free University. She will be collaborating with Deans Nutsa Batiashvili and Nikoloz Aleksidze to organize institutional opportunities for students including a field school or a laboratory exchange that promises to enrich the educational experiences of students and faculty on both continents.

An innovative scholar, Hejtmanek is known for exploring the edges of culture鈥攆rom institutional care for children to the world of CrossFit and strength sports. Her latest book, The Cult of CrossFit (2025), examines how American Christian values undergird the popularity of the exercise regime.

Hejtmanek joins this distinguished cohort of Fulbright Scholars, continuing 可乐视频鈥檚 proud tradition of global engagement and academic excellence.

The Fulbright Program, established in 1946, is the U.S. government鈥檚 flagship international exchange initiative. With more than 400,000 alumni, including 62 Nobel Prize winners and 44 heads of state, the program connects scholars across borders to tackle today鈥檚 most pressing global issues.

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As a student at 可乐视频, Shelley Vidia Worrell 鈥�01 wondered why there was no Little Caribbean in New York City. There were official city designations for other ethnic enclaves like Chinatown, Little Italy, Koreatown, and more. Why not for the well-established Caribbean community of Flatbush? A child of Trinidadian immigrants, Worrell double majored in Caribbean studies and anthropology, graduated, and spent nearly a decade exploring a variety of professional roles in hospitality, media, and the tech sector before shifting to produce a number of film festivals and community events that would evolve into the brand, I AM caribBEING.

Today, caribBEING supports local businesses and raises awareness of Flatbush鈥檚 Caribbean culture through events, tours, public programs, and partnerships with public and private organizations. Last year, she opened her own brick-and-mortar that sells sweatshirts, rum cakes, pepper sauces, aprons, souvenirs, and memorabilia. But perhaps the accomplishment she鈥檚 deservedly best known for is spearheading the push for the official designation of Little Caribbean in Flatbush, the largest and most diverse Caribbean population outside the West Indies. The neighborhood is now trending from a string of recent accolades, including the 2024 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award by the Preservation League of New York State, and Timeout magazine鈥檚 designation as 2024鈥檚 鈥渃oolest neighborhood in NYC.鈥�

Can you tell us about your background?

I grew up between Flatbush, East Flatbush, and even a bit in Kensington. I started going to Trinidad when I was six months old, just like many children of first-generation Caribbean immigrants. That, in addition to growing up in a Caribbean household in Brooklyn, informed who I am as well as the work that I do today.

I spent all of my early childhood summers in the Caribbean. We would effectively get out of school and then I just remember being in Trinidad with all my extended family. Days were filled with outdoor play, a lot of beach parties, bathing in the rain. And then straight back into the classroom at the end of the summer.

I also have vivid memories of walking to school and just being in the Brooklyn community. I grew up seeing and hearing and speaking with other children like myself and families like ours. The first school that I went to was a Haitian bilingual school. My family talks about me coming home speaking in Creole and singing in French.

Did you enter 可乐视频 knowing what you wanted to study?聽

Actually, after I got admitted to 可乐视频, I went to Trinidad for a bit. I still had some paperwork to get in order, so my father enrolled me in all my courses and that鈥檚 how I ended up in Caribbean studies and anthropology. I didn鈥檛 have a clear path at that time.

But you stuck with those majors.

I did because it was a way for me to further explore my identity in a more academic way. And I had amazing professors and opportunities. It gave me the opportunity to be on the ground in the neighborhood that鈥檚 always been home. I lived off Church Avenue, so I could walk or take the train a few stops, and I was just really immersed in the culture and the community.

How did all of that evolve into caribBEING?

I thought about caribBEING when I was at 可乐视频, but I didn鈥檛 know what it would be. Years later, one of my former classmates was working in cultural programming at the library in Flatbush. She came to me and said, 鈥楬ey, Shelley, remember when you had this idea about doing caribBEING?鈥�

I had been thinking a lot about the lack of representation in storytelling. So, I ended up doing our first film festival at the Flatbush library. It was sort of the pilot. It was horrible. No one came. It was weird and not what I wanted to do.

Around that time, I would run into [former New York State Assemblywoman] Rhoda Jacobs 鈥�62 a lot during my walks. Starbucks had just opened on Hillel Plaza, and we just always had the same timing. She had been following me and my work, and she ended up helping facilitate us doing our first pivotal public program film screening at 可乐视频 in Whitman Theater. One of my old professors, Regine Latortue, was the moderator.

And from there, we just continued to grow and evolve. Jumaane Williams, 鈥�01, M.A. 鈥�05, [the current New York City Public Advocate] also helped out with some of our film programming, and that one was also a hit. I said, wait, maybe there is more viability to this. Let me see where this is going.

When did you decide to push for the Little Caribbean designation from the city?

I had been spending a lot more time on the ground in the neighborhood. And that鈥檚 when the idea for a Little Caribbean came to be. I was asking myself very existential questions, in large part because I had the privilege of having gone to 可乐视频 and studying anthropology and Caribbean studies, of having been to dozens of islands by then and more than 70 countries. My graduate studies in hospitality and tourism and my time in the media made me think about storytelling and representation. And in all that time, no one could answer me one question: Why was there no Little Caribbean? I was determined to push it through.

And you did, in 2017. What has the designation meant for the community?

Now we get to tap some city and state funding. [We receive] media accolades, we have a tour with National Geographic. Cornell University and Pratt Institute have taught classes on Little Caribbean. There have been a lot of benefits for all of us who鈥檝e lived here and made this our home for many generations.

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For over 140 years, Mixodectes has puzzled paleontologists, with much of what was known limited to fragments of fossilized teeth and jaws. But a groundbreaking new study, led by noted paleontologist Chester, has revealed the most complete skeleton of the species ever found. This discovery sheds light on the mammal鈥檚 anatomy, lifestyle, and鈥攑erhaps most surprisingly鈥攊ts proximity to humans and other primates on the evolutionary tree.

The study鈥攆or which Chester is the lead author鈥攚as published on .

First described by legendary paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1883, Mixodectes pungens was a small mammal that lived around 62 million years ago. The new research shows that these creatures weighed roughly three pounds as adults, lived in trees, and primarily ate leaves. Even more striking, the study reveals that Mixodectes was a close evolutionary cousin to humans, as well as other modern primates and flying lemurs 鈥� an exciting new link to our distant past.

Mixodectes pungens
(Illustration by Andrey Atuchin)

鈥淭his fossil skeleton provides new evidence concerning how placental mammals diversified ecologically following the extinction of the dinosaurs,鈥� said Chester, who is also doctoral faculty at the CUNY Graduate Center. 鈥淐haracteristics such as a larger body mass and an increased reliance on leaves allowed Mixodectes to thrive in the same trees likely shared with other early primate relatives.鈥�

Co-author of the study and Yale University anthropologist Eric Sargis, added: 鈥淎 62-million-year-old skeleton of this quality and completeness offers novel insights into mixodectids, including a much clearer picture of their evolutionary relationships. Our findings show that they are close relatives of primates and colugos 鈥� flying lemurs native to Southeast Asia 鈥� making them fairly close relatives of humans.鈥�

The newly revealed Mixodectes skeleton is more than just a remarkable fossil 鈥� it鈥檚 a window into a pivotal moment in mammalian evolution, offering scientists invaluable clues about the origins of some of today鈥檚 most fascinating species, including us. And it is just one of many fossils that Chester and his students 鈥� including co-author Jordan Crowell, a lecturer at 可乐视频 and Ph.D. candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center 鈥� have been studying to understand our evolutionary history.

Skeleton of Mixodectes pungens
(Photo by Stephen Chester)

The skeleton was discovered in New Mexico鈥檚 San Juan Basin by co-author Thomas Williamson, curator of paleontology at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, under a permit from the federal Bureau of Land Management. This rare find includes a partial skull, ribs, vertebral column, and both forelimbs and hind limbs, giving the team crucial insights into how this ancient mammal lived.

At a weight of just 2.9 pounds, Mixodectes was relatively large for a tree-dwelling mammal of its time. The structure of its limbs and claws suggests it was adept at clinging to tree trunks and branches, and its molars, evolved to break down plant material, show it primarily ate leaves.

Interestingly, Mixodectes was much larger than another small, tree-dwelling mammal 鈥� Torrejonia wilsoni 鈥� found at the same fossil locality. While Mixodectes had a more leafy diet, Torrejonia primarily ate fruit, hinting at a distinct ecological role for Mixodectes among its contemporaries.

In terms of evolutionary placement, two independent cladistic analyses were conducted to determine Mixodectes‘ relationships. The findings confirm that Mixodectes belongs to the group known as primatomorphans 鈥� a group that includes living primates and colugos.

Other co-authors include Mary Silcox of the University of Toronto Scarborough and Jonathan Bloch of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida.

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Professor of Anthropology, author, and champion weightlifter Katie Rose Hejtmanek has explored the CrossFit phenomenon in her latest book, , which examines how this exercise program is shaped by American Christian values and practices, connecting American religious ideologies to capitalist, secular institutions in contemporary American culture.

Drawing upon interviews with gym owners and participants, CrossFit media, and the author鈥檚 experiences in CrossFit gyms across six continents, Hejtmanek argues this fitness regimen is both heavily influenced by and deeply intertwined with American Christian values. Offering a new cross-cultural perspective for understanding a popular workout, The Cult of CrossFit provides a window into a particularly American rendition of a Christian plotline, lived out one workout at a time.

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Now a survey being conducted by the sportswear company , with the help of Professor of Anthropology Katie Rose Hejtmanek and Cara Ocobock, a biological anthropologist at the University of Notre Dame, aims to improve sportswear to help athletes reach peak performance.

Hejtmanek and Ocobock will analyze the survey data to help SPRHRA produce clothing that fits and feels better. The pair have collaborated on various projects in the past, including a COVID-19 gym closures and well-being project, and the book , which was the subject of a conference at Notre Dame in October 2021.

Hejtmanek has been teaching at 可乐视频 since 2010 and is a cultural anthropologist who studies cultures and processes of self-transformation, such as female empowerment through strength sports and salvation through fitness regimens. She is also the faculty athletics representative at the college and is a world and national champion in masters weightlifting.

With 可乐视频 being home to several women鈥檚 athletics teams, Hejtmanek is encouraging those athletes to take the survey and make their voices heard.

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可乐视频 Assistant Professor of Anthropology Kelly Britt (left) meets with King Willem-Alexander (third from left) and community members including Allyson Martinez from Brooklyn Level Up (far right).

The stop on the tour highlighted the ongoing work Britt is doing with the Center for the Study of Brooklyn and the community group . The center is a hub of Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary research, experiential and community-based learning, and nonprofit internships that advance the understanding of Brooklyn鈥檚 critical and cultural issues for the public good.

The visit showcased the ecosystem of East Flatbush community-based organizations, small businesses, and residents committed to community resilience, environmental justice, community land trust building, cultural heritage preservation, and small business support.

Learn more about the royal visit from this segment on .

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Professor Katie Rose Hejtmanek (center) stands on the podium with her first-place medal at the USA Weightlifting Masters National Championships.

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The paper was published on January 10 in and is significant in that it settled a paleontological debate that has been brewing for more than 100 years while helping to paint a clearer picture of primate evolution.

Stephen Chester

The research was done by Stephen Chester, the senior author and an associate professor of anthropology at 可乐视频 and the CUNY Graduate Center; Jordan Crowell, the lead author and adjunct lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at 可乐视频 and a Ph.D. candidate at the CUNY Graduate Center; and John Wible, curator of mammals at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

For the last 50 years, paleontologists have believed picrodontids, which were no larger than a mouse and likely ate foods such as fruit, nectar, and pollen, were primates, based on features of their teeth that they share with living primates. But by using modern CT scan technology to analyze the only known preserved picrodontid skull in the world at 可乐视频鈥檚 Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology Laboratory. Crowell worked with Chester and Wible to determine they are not closely related to primates at all.

Chester, who serves as Crowell鈥檚 Ph.D. adviser, has both a professional and personal interest in this research. It was Chester鈥檚 renowned colleague and 鈥渁cademic grandfather,鈥� Professor Emeritus Frederick Szalay from Hunter College (CUNY) and the CUNY Graduate Center, who, in 1968, first convincingly classified picrodontids as primates based on evidence from fossilized teeth. Szalay studied the teeth of the only known picrodontid skull, Zanycteris paleocenus, for his research鈥攖he same skull this team examined with the new technology that led to their discovery.

鈥淭丑别 Zanycteris cranium was prepared and partially submerged in plaster around 1917, so researchers studying this important specimen at the American Museum of Natural History were not aware of how much cranial anatomy was hidden over the last 100 years鈥� Chester said. 鈥淢icro-CT scanning has revolutionized the field of paleontology and allows researchers to discover so much more about previously studied fossils housed in natural history museum collections.鈥�

鈥淲hile picrodontids share features of their teeth with living primates, the bones of the skull, specifically the bone that surrounds the ear, are unlike that of any living primate or close fossil relatives of primates,鈥� Crowell said. 鈥淭his suggests picrodontids and primates independently evolved similarities of their teeth likely for similar diets. This study also highlights the importance of revisiting old specimens with updated techniques to examine them.鈥�

CT scan technology revealed previously unknown bones of the skull (colored on the right) that helped demonstrate that picrodontids are not primates as previously believed.

The research was funded by grants Chester and Crowell secured through 可乐视频 from the National Science Foundation and The Leakey Foundation. Chester and Crowell are also currently working on several additional externally funded research projects focused on how primates and other mammals evolved following the extinction of the dinosaurs. They encourage undergraduates to contact them regarding funded research opportunities in the Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology Laboratory.

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