Kari Allen's research focuses on the interpretation of adaptive function in the fossil record via comparative mammalian anatomy and behavior and the use of these data to reconstruct ecological and evolutionary pressures acting on extinct primate communities.
Allen's current research is concerned primarily with two areas:
1) the timing and ecological correlates of brain size evolution, brain proportions, and cranial anatomy in primates, and
2) the use of cranio-dental anatomy to reconstruct ecological adaptations (e.g. feeding ecology) in the fossil record