Lowly Origin

by Kingdon, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780691120287
• ISBN10: 0691120285
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-14
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Titled after the last two words of Darwin's Descent of Man and written by a leading scholar of human evolution, Lowly Origin is the first book to explain the sources and consequences of bipedalism to a broad audience. Along the way, it accounts for recent fossil discoveries that show us a still incomplete but much bushier family tree than most of us learned about in school. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Jonathan Kingdon is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Biological Anthropology and Department of Zoology of Oxford University

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
List of Tables	xv
Acknowledgments	xvii
Preface to a Self-portrait from the Center of the World	1	(37)
On Being a Primate. From Gondwana to the Forests of Egypt	38	(37)
On Being an Ape. Excursions to Asia and Back	75	(40)
On Being a Ground Ape. Zanj	115	(36)
On Becoming a Biped. ``Evolution by Basin'': Domes, Rifts, and Floodplains	151	(43)
On Being a Manipulative Man-ape. Isolation in the South	194	(33)
On the Uncertainties of Becoming Human. Main-line, Side-line, or Parallel Humans?	227	(33)
On Going Far with Fire. Africans Go Abroad	260	(31)
On Being a Self-made Human. The Modern Diaspora	291	(42)
In Conclusion. Confessions of a Repentant Vandal	333	(38)
Appendix Plants Known to Be Especially Favored by Humans and Other Primates	371	(4)
Index	375