Man the Hunted: Primates, Predators, and Human Evolution, Expanded Edition

by Hart,Donna

• ISBN13: 9780813344034
• ISBN10: 0813344034
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780429978715
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2008-07-29
• Publisher: Routledge
• More Book Details

Summary

Man the Huntedargues that primates, including the earliest members of the human family, have evolved as the prey of any number of predators, including wild cats and dogs, hyenas, snakes, crocodiles, and even birds. The authors' studies of predators on monkeys and apes are supplemented here with the observations of naturalists in the field and revealing interpretations of the fossil record. Eyewitness accounts of the "man the hunted" drama being played out even now give vivid evidence of its prehistoric significance.This provocative view of human evolution suggests that countless adaptations that have allowed our species to survivefrom larger brains to speechstem from a considerably more vulnerable position on the food chain than we might like to imagine. The myth of early humans as fearless hunters dominating the earth obscures our origins as just one of many species that had to be cautious, depend on other group members, communicate danger, and come to terms with being merely one cog in the complex cycle of life.The expanded edition includes a new chapter that describes the ever-increasing evidence of predation on humans and other primates and claims that the earliest humans were neither hunters nor even the accomplished scavengers that many authorities have claimed.ContentsForeword by Ian Tattersall1. Just Another Item on the Menu 2. Debunking "Man the Hunter" 3. Who's Eating Whom? 4. Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! 5. Coursing Hyenas and Hungry Dogs 6. Missionary Position 7. Terror from the Sky 8. We Weren't Just Waiting Around to be Eaten! 9. Gentle Savage or Bloodthirsty Brute? 10. Man the Hunted 11. The Final Word

Author Biography

Donna L. Hart Robert W. Sussman, Washington University (St. Louis), is recent editor of American Anthropologist and has served in editorial capacities with numerous other journals in anthropology and primatology.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the First Edition	p. ix
Preface to the Expanded Paperback Edition	p. xv
Just Another Item on the Menu	p. 1
Fossil Evidence and Living Primates	p. 5
Predation and Primate Studies	p. 9
An Accurate Appraisal of Predation	p. 9
Debunking "Man the Hunter"	p. 11
Will the First Hominid Please Stand Up?	p. 13
A Messy Bush	p. 21
Wanderlust	p. 22
Man the Hunter?	p. 23
Man the Dancer!	p. 28
We Were Not "Cat Food"!	p. 30
Who's Eating Whom?	p. 33
A Tale of Two Families	p. 34
The Prey Flee, the Predator Pursues	p. 38
Who Are These Primate Prey?	p. 41
The Dichotomy about Death	p. 45
The James Carville Approach	p. 46
Predation Risk versus Predation Rate	p. 52
Who Was Eating Our Hominid Ancestors?	p. 55
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!	p. 57
Choose Your Weapon	p. 63
The Long and Winding Road from South Africa to Georgia	p. 70
Killing Machines	p. 76
Before the Age of Ulcers	p. 77
Perfect Primate Predators	p. 80
Give Us the Bear Facts	p. 84
Coursing Hyenas and Hungry Dogs	p. 89
Wolves at the Door	p. 90
No Laughing Matter	p. 95
Howls in the Prehistoric Night	p. 97
Leaders of the Pack	p. 104
Missionary Position	p. 111
The Serpentine Route	p. 112
Breathing Fire: The Komodo Dragon	p. 124
My, What Big Teeth You Have!	p. 127
On Top of Everything Else, Sharks, Too?	p. 133
Terror from the Sky	p. 135
Featherweights and Talon Tips	p. 138
Crested Viragos	p. 141
An Alfred Hitchcock Moment	p. 147
The Record of Giant Raptors	p. 149
The Taung Child Tells Its Tale	p. 151
Running Hawks, Hungry Toucans, and Giant Owls	p. 155
We Weren't Just Waiting Around to Be Eaten!	p. 161
Heavyweight Champions	p. 166
Why Hermits Seem Odd	p. 170
We Saw ... Food. We Came ... Down from the Trees. We Conquered ... Gravity	p. 174
On the Path to Einstein	p. 180
Daytime Talk Shows	p. 182
Making a Last Stand: Counterattack and Chutzpah	p. 186
Weapons of Mass Destruction	p. 189
Gentle Savage or Bloodthirsty Brute?	p. 191
The Hunting Myth and Sociobiology	p. 194
Chimpanzee and Human Males as Demonic Killers	p. 201
Chimpanzee Aggression	p. 207
Getting Out of Our Genes	p. 211
The Other 50%	p. 213
Man the Hunted	p. 219
Sink Your Teeth into This!	p. 226
Painting the Family Portrait	p. 231
Habitat for Humanity	p. 235
Macaques [characters not reproducible] Us?	p. 239
Put It All Together and What Do You Have?	p. 242
Man the Hunted	p. 245
The Oldest Story	p. 248
The Last Word	p. 251
Carnivore Crimes: More about Bears, Big Cats, and Hyenas	p. 257
Python Pestilence and Eagle Escapades	p. 262
Man the Cannibal	p. 265
Cut Marks, Tooth Marks, and Question Marks	p. 268
Man the Sneaky Meat Thief	p. 271
Man the Peace-Loving Hippie?	p. 275
Conventional Wisdom as Science	p. 283
Really Our Last Words	p. 284
Acknowledgments	p. 287
Notes	p. 289
Bibliography	p. 311
Index	p. 347
About the Authors	p. 359
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