The Emergence of Humans An Exploration of the Evolutionary Timeline

by Ash, Patricia J.; Robinson, David J.

• ISBN13: 9780470013151
• ISBN10: 047001315X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-10
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The Emergence of Humans is an accessible, informative introduction to the scientific study of human evolution. It takes the reader through time following the emergence of the modern human species Homo sapiens from primate roots. Acknowledging the controversy surrounding the interpretation of the fossil record, the authors present a balanced approach in an effort to do justice to different views.Each chapter covers a significant time period of evolutionary history and includes relevant techniques from other disciplines that have applications to the field of human evolution. Self-assessment questions linked to learning outcomes are provided for each chapter, together with further reading and reference to key sources in the primary literature. The book will thus be effective both as a conventional textbook and for independent study.Written by two authors with a wealth of teaching experience The Emergence of Humans will prove invaluable to students in the biological and natural sciences needing a clear, balanced introduction to the study of human evolution.

Author Biography

Patricia J. Ash, The Open University in the South, UK
David J. Robinson, Department of Life Sciences, The Open University, UK

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 01
The first human fossils	p. 05
Summary	p. 10
The geological context	p. 13
The geological time scale	p. 13
Movement of the continents	p. 14
Fossilization	p. 19
Dating	p. 19
Dating techniques	p. 21
Habitats and environment	p. 23
Climate changes and long-term cycles	p. 25
Summary	p. 26
Evolution and natural selection	p. 27
Darwin and the origin of species by natural selection	p. 27
The modern synthesis of evolution	p. 30
Inheritance of characters	p. 35
Population genetics	p. 30
Geographic isolation and speciation	p. 43
65 - 40mya: Primate and anthropoid origins	p. 47
The Scandentia and the Plesiadapiformes	p. 50
The emergence of primates	p. 54
Ancient primates	p. 58
Dentition of ancient primates	p. 64
The most ancient anthropoid?	p. 67
Evolutionary relationships of adapiformes, omomyiformes and anthropoids	p. 68
Classification of primates	p. 71
Summary	p. 71
40 - 8 mya: Anthropoids and hominoids	p. 75
Introduction	p. 75
Radiation of the anthropoids and other primates	p. 76
Use of cladistics for identifying evolutionary relationships in primate groups	p. 81
Social structures in primate groups	p. 85
The hominoidea	p. 87
Conclusion	p. 102
8 - 4.4 mya: Who were the ancestors of the hominins?	p. 107
The first hominin: Toumai?	p. 108
The first hominin: Orrorin?	p. 112
Another first hominin: Ardipithecus kadabba	p. 114
Ardipithecus ramidus	p. 115
An un-named hominin from Lothagam	p. 116
Evolutionary relationships of the early hominins	p. 116
Conclusion	p. 117
4.2 - 3.0 mya: Adaptive radiation of hominins	p. 119
The australopiths	p. 120
The First australopith-Australopithecus anamensis	p. 122
Australopithecus afarensis; a possible ancestor of Homo	p. 122
The Flat-faced skull from Kenya	p. 126
Australopithecus africanus	p. 127
Sterkfontein and the 'Little Foot' Discovery	p. 131
Which species belong in the genus Australopithecus?	p. 132
Conclusion	p. 134
3.0 - 1.0 mya: Emergence and diversification of the genus Homo	p. 137
The Robust australopiths	p. 138
Paranthropus boisei	p. 138
Paranthropus aethiopicus	p. 141
Australopithecus garhi	p. 142
Tools and tool technologies	p. 142
Australopiths in the human lineage	p. 143
Early Homo	p. 145
Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis	p. 150
Homo rudolfensis and Kenyanthropus platyops	p. 150
Radiation of Homo species	p. 153
Homo ergaster and Homo erectus	p. 153
Did Homo erectus Return to Africa?	p. 160
Conclusion	p. 161
1.0 mya - 700 000 years ago	p. 165
Introduction	p. 165
Persistence of Homo erectus in Africa and East Asia	p. 168
Homo antecessor in Spain	p. 181
The Ceprano hominin calvaria	p. 187
Conclusion	p. 188
700 000ya - 130 000ya: Emergence of new species of Homo	p. 191
Introduction	p. 191
The emergence and migration of Homo heidelbergensis	p. 192
The discovery of Neandertals	p. 205
The emergence of modern Homo sapiens	p. 219
Conclusion	p. 225
130 000 - 10 000 Years Ago Homo sapiens Out of Africa	p. 229
Introduction	p. 229
The role of genetic studies	p. 231
Studying Artefacts	p. 239
Modern Homo sapiens in Africa	p. 239
Neandertals and modern Homo sapiens in Western Asia and Middle East	p. 246
Neandertals and modern Homo sapiens in Europe	p. 254
Modern Humans and Neandertals in Central Asia	p. 263
South East Asia and Australasia	p. 264
A New Species of Homo?	p. 268
East Asia	p. 272
Modern Humans Arrive in the Americas	p. 275
Conclusion	p. 279
Coda	p. 285
Answers to End of Chapter Questions	p. 293
Glossary	p. 307
Index	p. 317
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