Understanding Human Evolution

Preface xi CHAPTER ONE TRENDS IN HUMAN EVOLUTION 1(28) Overview 2(3) Trend 1: The Evolution of Bipedalism 5(8) Origins of Bipedalism 9(4) Trend 2: Effective Exploitation of the Terrestrial Habitat 13(4) Language 15(2) Trend 3: Increasing Brain Size and Complexity 17(4) Trend 4: Extensive Manipulation of Natural Objects and the Development of Motor Skills to Facilitate Toolmaking 21(3) Trend 5: The Increased Acquisition of Meat Protein 24(2) Summary 26(1) Suggested Readings 27(2) CHAPTER TWO FOSSILS, FOSSILIZATION, AND DATING METHODS 29(15) The Fossilization Process 30(2) Dating Fossil Materials 32(7) Relative Dating 33(3) Chronometric Dating 36(3) Determining Past Environments 39(4) Climate and Geology 40(1) Plant Communities 41(1) Mammal Communities 42(1) Summary 43(1) Suggested Readings 43(1) CHAPTER THREE DETERMINING EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIPS 44(19) Linnaean Classification Scheme 45(1) Rules of Nomenclature 45(3) The Evolutionary Process 48(3) Speciation 51(2) Parallel and Convergent Evolution 53(1) Establishing Evolutionary Relationships 54(2) Guidelines for Evaluating Fossil Materials 56(3) Assessing the Pace of Evolution and Mode of Speciation 59(2) Summary 61(1) Suggested Readings 62(1) CHAPTER FOUR OUR PLACE IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 63(18) Geologic Time Scale 64(3) Vertebrate Evolution 67(2) Mammal-Like Reptiles and Mammalian Evolution 69(3) Mammalian Traits 70(1) Mammalian Subclasses 71(1) The Insectivora 72(2) The Primates 74(5) Primate Traits 74(2) The Human Ape Relationship 76(3) The Human Primate 79(1) Summary 80(1) Suggested Readings 80(1) CHAPTER FIVE RECONSTRUCTING ANCIENT HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS: USE OF THE COMPARATIVE APPROACH 81(28) Overview 82(1) The Nature of Explanatory Models 83(3) Foraging Societies 86(4) Rethinking Gender Roles in Early Hominins 89(1) Nonhuman Primates 90(16) A Note of Caution 91(1) Savanna Dwelling Baboons as Models of Early Hominin Behavior 91(1) Chimpanzees as Models of Early Hominin Behavior 92(1) Chimpanzee Tool Use 93(2) Another Great Ape in the Cultural Arena: The Orangutan 95(1) Hunting by Chimpanzees 96(3) Chimpanzee Social Organization and Feeding Ecology 99(2) The Peaceful Bonobo 101(4) A Composite Model 105(1) Social Carnivores 106(1) Summary 106(1) Suggested Readings 107(2) CHAPTER SIX EARLY PRIMATE EVOLUTION 109(18) Overview 110(1) Dietary Patterns 111(1) "Archaic" Primates of the Paleocene 112(2) Eocene True Primates 114(4) Adaptive Scenarios for Primate Origins 118(4) Arboreal Hypothesis 118(1) Visual Predation Theory 119(1) Angiosperm Exploitation Hypothesis 120(2) The Appearance of the First Higher Primates 122(1) The Earliest Anthropoids 122(3) Summary 125(1) Suggested Readings 126(1) CHAPTER SEVEN BASAL ANTHROPOIDS, THE EVOLUTION OF MONKEYS, AND THE TRANSITION TO APES 127(32) Fayum Deposits, Egypt 128(1) The Parapithecids 129(1) The Propliopithecids 130(4) The Oligopithecines 134(1) Origin of New World Monkeys 135(3) Origin of Old World Monkeys 138(2) Origin of the Apes 140(17) Backdrop for Ape Evolution 142(1) Early African Apes: The Proconsulids 143(3) Middle-Late Miocene African Hominoids 146(2) Eurasian Apes 148(2) Oreopithecus 150(1) The Dryopithecines 150(2) The Sivapithecines 152(2) The Ramapithecus Debate 154(2) Another (Big) Member of the Orangutan Clade: Gigantopithecus 156(1) Summary 157(1) Suggested Readings 158(1) CHAPTER EIGHT THE EARLY HOMININS 159(30) Geographic and Temporal Range of the Early Hominins 160(7) East Africa and Chad 160(5) South Africa 165(2) The Nature of the Fossil Evidence 167(1) Characteristics of the Fossil Species 168(5) Evolutionary Trends 173(10) Body Size and Limb Proportions 173(1) Jaws and "Teeth 173(2) Skull, Brain Size and Structure, and Face 175(2) The Postcranial Skeleton 177(4) Sexual Dimorphism 181(2) Early Hominin Paleoecology 183(1) Lifeways 184(3) Did Early Hominins Have Tools? 185(1) Dart's Osteodontokeratic Culture 185(1) Diet 186(1) Summary 187(1) Suggested Readings 187(2) CHAPTER NINE THE HOMININ DIVERGENCE 189(27) Historical Perspective 190(1) Geographic and Temporal Range of Late Pliocene Hominins 191(2) The Fossil Evidence 193(4) The Robust Australopithecines 194(1) Early Homo 195(2) Evolutionary Trends 197(4) Body Size 197(1) Postcranial Morphology 198(3) Lifeways 201(7) Tool Use and Manufacture 201(2) Other Possible Cultural Remains 203(2) Food Sources 205(2) Hunting and Scavenging 207(1) Paleoecology 208(7) The Dietary Hypothesis 211(2) Environmental Change and Hominin Evolution 213(2) Summary 215(1) Suggested Readings 215(1) CHAPTER TEN THE SPREAD OF HOMO BEYOND AFRICA 216(43) Overview 217(2) Geographic and Temporal Range of Plio-Pleistocene Hominins 219(25) Africa 219(8) Middle East 227(1) Asia 228(12) Europe 240(4) General Morphology 244(6) Evolutionary Relationships 250(2) Acheulian Tradition 252(3) Homo erectus and the Use of Fire 255(2) Summary 257(1) Suggested Readings 258(1) CHAPTER ELEVEN TRANSITIONS TO ARCHAIC HOMO SAPIENS 259(17) Overview 260(1) African Fossils 261(2) Asian Fossils 263(3) European Fossils 266(6) Lifeways 272(3) Summary 275(1) Suggested Readings 275(1) CHAPTER TWELVE NEANDERTALS AND THEIR IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS 276(33) The Neandertals: The Background 277(3) Discovery of Neandertal Remains 278(2) European Eemian (or Riss-Wurm) Interglacial Sample 280(4) Fontéchevade, France 280(1) Ehringsdorf, Germany 281(1) Krapina, Croatia 282(2) The Neandertals: The Fossil Sample 284(11) Western Europe 284(4) Central and Eastern Europe 288(3) The Middle East 291(4) Cultural Remains and Lifeways 295(8) Neandertal Burials 300(3) Evolutionary Relationships 303(5) Genetic Evidence 306(2) Summary 308(1) Suggested Readings 308(1) CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE APPEARANCE OF HOMO SAPIENS SAPIENS 309(45) Overview: Models and DNA 310(10) Mitochondrial DNA 314(3) Y Chromosome 317(1) Nuclear DNA 318(1) Fossils versus DNA 319(1) The Human Fossil Sample 320(21) Africa 320(3) Europe 323(2) Asia 325(3) Australia and the Pacific Region 328(2) New World Populations 330(10) South American Sites 340(1) Upper Paleolithic Lifeways 341(3) Dietary Patterns 341(1) Dwellings 341(1) Group Organization 342(1) Tool Inventory 342(2) Major Features 344(1) Aesthetic Expression of Upper Paleolithic Populations 344(8) Cave Art 345(5) Sculpture and Engravings 350(2) Summary 352(1) Suggested Readings 353(1) CHAPTER FOURTEEN CONCLUSION? 354(9) Retrospective 355(1) Questions to Be Answered and Gaps to Be Filled 356(2) What Constitutes Human Status? 358(1) Prospects for Continuing Evolution 359(4) Glossary 363(5) Bibliography 368(27) Index 395