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Overview
What should the average person know about science? Because science is so central to life in the 21st century, science educators and other leaders of the scientific community believe that it is essential that everyone understand the basic concepts of the most vital and far-reaching disciplines. Human Origins 101 does exactly that. This accessible volume provides readers - whether students new to the field or just interested members of the lay public - with the essential ideas of the origins of humans using a minimum of jargon and mathematics. Concepts are introduced in a progressive order so that more complicated ideas build on simpler ones, and each is discussed in small, bite-sized segments so that they can be more easily understood.
Human Origins 101 enables students and the general public to understand the basic concepts underlying our knowledge of our evolution as a species. This small volume covers:
; A brief history of paleoanthropology, and the discovery of human's place in nature
; Evolution and the Origin of Life
; Clues to human origins from genetics
; The fossil and archaeological records
; The distinctive traits that makes us human
; The diversity of modern humans
With a bibliography, glossary, and discussion of hoaxes, fringe theories, and hot-button issues, Human Origins 101 provides the perfect starting point for anyone wishing to understand how scientists know how humans evolved.
Human Origins 101 enables students and the general public to understand the basic concepts underlying our knowledge of our evolution as a species. This small volume covers:
; A brief history of paleoanthropology, and the discovery of human's place in nature
; Evolution and the Origin of Life
; Clues to human origins from genetics
; The fossil and archaeological records
; The distinctive traits that makes us human
; The diversity of modern humans
With a bibliography, glossary, and discussion of hoaxes, fringe theories, and hot-button issues, Human Origins 101 provides the perfect starting point for anyone wishing to understand how scientists know how humans evolved.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780313336737 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Bloomsbury Academic |
Publication date: | 08/30/2007 |
Series: | Science 101 |
Pages: | 224 |
Product dimensions: | 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d) |
Age Range: | 14 - 18 Years |
About the Author
Holly M. Dunsworth is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the Pennsylvania State University. When not collecting fossils in Kenya or the Republic of Georgia, she uses sophisticated imaging technology to look at their inner structures. By interpreting clues from the outer and inner anatomy of bones, she reconstructs the biology and behavior of fossil monkeys, apes, and hominins to better understand how humans arrived at their present state.
Table of Contents
Series Foreword xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction xix
A Brief Overview of the Search for Human Origins 1
The Science of Human Origins and Evolution 1
Scientific Method 2
Forefathers 5
Piltdown 9
Dubois and Beyond 10
Current Issues 13
From Fish to Fishermen 17
Evidence for Evolution 17
Biogeography 18
Fossils and Geology 19
Artificial Selection 19
Homology and Analogy 19
Vestigial Traits 21
Embryology 21
Natural Selection 22
Variation 23
Heredity 23
Differential Fitness 24
Adaptation 24
From Mendel to the Modern Synthesis 25
DNA, Chromosomes, Cells, and Inheritance 27
Forces of Evolution 30
Mutation 30
Gene Flow 31
Genetic Drift 31
Selection 31
Sexual Selection 32
Speciation 34
Clarifying Evolution 37
Taxonomy and Classification 38
Primates 41
Monkeys and Apes 44
Prehistoric Evidence 47
What Is a Fossil? 47
Geology and Dating Methods 50
Climate Change and Paleoenvironment 54
The Earliest Primates and Fossil Monkeys 55
Fossil Apes 57
Bushes and Trees 61
The Last Common Ancestor 62
Quadrupedal to Bipedal 64
The Earliest Hominins 65
Sahelanthropus 67
Orrorin 69
Ardipithecus 69
Australopiths 70
Australopithecus anamensis 72
Australopithecus afarensis 73
Australopithecus africanus 75
Australopithecus garhi 77
Paranthropus (Robust Australopiths) 78
The Human Genus 80
Homo erectus 82
Archaic Homo Sapiens 86
Neanderthals 88
Stone Tools 90
Anatomically Modern Humans 93
Homo Floresiensis 95
Modern Evidence 97
Molecular Clocks 97
Humans and Chimpanzees: The Narrow Divide 99
Mitochondrial Eve and Y-Chromosome Adam 102
Human Adaptation 105
Sickle Cell Trait 106
Lactose Tolerance 106
Skin Color 107
Ancient DNA and the Neanderthal Genome 109
Interpreting the Evidence 113
Big Brains and Intelligence 113
Evolutionary Psychology 117
Bipedalism 118
Reduced Body Hair 122
Body Size, Shape, and Strength 124
Teeth 126
Tool Use 128
Diet 131
Scavenging and Hunting 133
Fire 136
Reproduction 137
Language 140
Human Revolution 143
Altruism and the Human Colony 146
War or Peace? 148
Beyond Human Origins 151
Multiregional and Out of Africa Models 151
Worldwide Dispersal 155
Will We Evolve or Will We Go Extinct? 158
Deep Impact 160
Rewinding and Replaying Evolution 162
Human and Chimpanzee Skeletal Anatomy 165
Geologic Time Scale 167
Recommended Resources 169
Glossary 171
Selected Bibliography 179
Index 185
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