Bio
Dr. Alexandra Kralick is the incoming Wittig Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. As a biological anthropologist with a background in feminist science studies and four-field anthropology, her research integrates feminist epistemologies with evolutionary biology to examine sex-based variation in the human and great ape skeleton.
Her work focuses on orangutan skeletal biology, with particular attention to within- and between-sex variation in life history and functional morphology. She developed an osteobiographic method for identifying flanging status in museum collections to better understand male bimaturism. Her upcoming Leakey Foundation-funded project at the Tuanan Orangutan Research Station connects skeletal biology with behavior.
Dr. Kralick earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2023, where her dissertation investigated orangutan skeletal development and variation. She previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University’s GenderSci Lab. She previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bryn Mawr College. She holds a B.S. in Biological Anthropology from The George Washington University, where she conducted research on gorilla dental development and wrist bone morphology.
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Alexandra E. Kralick, Babette S. Zemel, Clara Nolan, Phillip Lin, Matthew W. Tocheri. (2024). Relative leg-to-arm skeletal strength proportions in orangutans by species and sex. Journal of Human Evolution 188: 103496.
Specimens as individuals: Four interventions and recommendations for great ape skeletal collections research and curation
Alexandra E. Kralick, Stephanie Canington, Andrea Eller, and Kate McGrath.Specimens as Individuals: Four interventions and recommendations for great ape skeletal collections research and curation. (2023) Evolutionary Anthropology.1:20. doi: 10.1002/evan.22002
Beyond Dimorphism: Body Size Variation among Adult Orangutans is not Dichotomous by Sex
Open Access Publication available here
Alexandra E Kralick, Caitlin A O'Connell, Meredith L Bastian, Morgan K Hoke, Babette S Zemel, Theodore G Schurr, Matthew W Tocheri. (2023). Beyond Dimorphism: Body Size Variation among Adult Orangutans is not Dichotomous by Sex, Integrative and Comparative Biology, icad015, https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icad015
Sex and Biology: Broader Impacts Beyond the Binary
Sam Sharpe, Andrew P.Anderson, Idelle Cooper, Alexandra E. Kralick, Timothy James, HansLindahl, Sara Lipshutz, J. F. McLaughlin, Banu Subramaniam, Alicia Roth Weigel,A. Kelsey Lewis. Sex and Biology: Broader Impacts Beyond the Binary. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 1:8. doi: 10.1093/icb/icad113
More severe stress markers in the teeth of flanged versus unflanged orangutans (Pongo spp.)
Alexandra E. Kralick and Kate McGrath. (2021). More severe stress markersin the teeth of flanged versus unflanged orangutans (Pongo spp.). American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 1:13. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24387
Faster growth corresponds with shallower linear hypoplastic defects in great ape canines
McGrath, K., Reid, D.J., Guatelli-Steinberg, D., Arbenz-Smith, K., El Zaatari, S., Fatica, L.M., Kralick, A.E., Cranfield, M.R., Stoinski, T.S., Bromage, T.G. and Mudakikwa, A., 2019. Faster growth corresponds with shallower linear hypoplastic defects in great ape canines. Journal of Human Evolution, 137, p.102691
Evolutionary perspectives on the developing skeleton and implications for lifelong health
Open access Publication available here
Alexandra E. Kralick and Babette S. Zemel. (2020). Evolutionary perspectives on the developing skeleton and implications for lifelong health. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 11: 99. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2020.00099
A radiographic study of permanent molar development in wild Virunga mountain gorillas of known chronological age from Rwanda
Alexandra E. Kralick, M. Loring Burgess, Halszka Golwacka, Keely Arbenz-Smith, Kate McGrath, Christopher B. Ruff, King Chan, Michael R. Cranfield, Tara S. Stoinski, Timothy G. Bromage, Antoine Mudakikwa, Shannon C. McFarlin. (2017). A radiographic study of permanent molar development in wild Virunga mountain gorillas of known chronological age from Rwanda. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 163(1):129-147.
Public Science Communication
"Habitat Destruction Is Affecting The Facial Features Of Orangutans"
Frontiers for Young Minds is an open access scientific journal that brings the latest research in real time to school kids
Teaching
Professor Kralick prioritizes applied and experiential learning in her courses.
In Fall of 2025, Byrn Mawr College students in the course "ANTH 283- The Living Primates: Bones Biology, and Behavior" visited the Philadelphia Zoo with Professor Kralick to collect data for a course project
A big thank you to funding sources
NSF (National Science Foundation)
The Leakey Foundation
P.E.O. (Philanthropic Education Organization)
AABA (American Association of Biological Anthropologists)
Penn Museum
University of Pennsylvania
George Washington University
Contact
Feel free to each out over email.
Email
