Ryan McRae is a paleoanthropologist studying the hominin fossil record on a macroscopic scale. He is interested in the ways in which the hominin fossil record is described, catalogued, and published, and is interested in the mechanisms that lead to fossils and species being recognized in scientific literature. His Ph.D. focused on creating a list of hominin fossils in a comparative context and analyzing how inherent biases in the hominin fossil record affect how scientists identify species and the evolutionary relationships among them. Ryan is also interested in evolutionary theory and trends more generally, osteology, anatomy, and comparative studies of morphology.

Ryan received his B.A. from Yale University in 2017 where he studied Biological Anthropology and Archaeological Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from The George Washington University in 2023 in Hominid Paleobiology. He currently works for the Human Origins Program as a contractor focusing on research, education, and outreach, and is involved in international collaboration. Ryan also teaches Anatomy at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and has experience in repatriation and handling of biological anthropology collections.