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The second volume in a series dedicated to fossil discoveries made in the Afar region of Ethiopia, this work contains the definitive description of the geological context and paleoenvironment of the early hominid Ardipithecus kadabba. This research by an international team describes Middle Awash late Miocene faunal assemblages recovered from sediments firmly dated to between 5.2 and 5.8 million years ago. Compared to other assemblages of similar age, the Middle Awash record is unparalleled in taxonomic diversity, composed of 2,760 specimens representing at least sixty five mammalian genera. This comprehensive evaluation of the vertebrates from the end of the Miocene in Africa provides detailed morphological and taxonomic descriptions of dozens of taxa, including species new to science. It also incorporates results from analyses of paleoenvironment, paleobiogeography, biochronology, and faunal turnover around the Pliocene-Miocene boundary, opening a new window on the evolution of mammals, African fauna, and its environments.
Leading scholars take stock of Darwin's ideas about human evolution in the light of modern science In 1871, Charles Darwin published The Descent of Man, a companion to Origin of Species in which he attempted to explain human evolution, a topic he called "the highest and most interesting problem for the naturalist." A Most Interesting Problem brings together twelve world-class scholars and science communicators to investigate what Darwin got right—and what he got wrong—about the origin, history, and biological variation of humans. Edited by Jeremy DeSilva and with an introduction by acclaimed Darwin biographer Janet Browne, A Most Interesting Problem draws on the latest discoveries in fie...
This volume describes a 3.6 million-years-old partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis from the Woranso-Mille, central Afar, Ethiopia. This specimen is the first adult partial skeleton to be recovered since Lucy’s (A.L. 288-1) discovery in 1974. It is older than Lucy by 400,000 years and sheds light on the paleobiology of early Australopithecus afarensis, particularly the morphology of the shoulder girdle and thoracic shape, which are thus far poorly understood and actively debated. The fauna associated with the partial skeleton tells us enormously about Au. afarensis paleoecology and give us another piece of the puzzle regarding habitat availability and use for Au. afarensis outside the Hadar region where it has been well-known for the last four decades.
The second volume in a series dedicated to fossil discoveries made in the Afar region of Ethiopia, this work contains the definitive description of the geological context and paleoenvironment of the early hominid Ardipithecus kadabba. This research by an international team describes Middle Awash late Miocene faunal assemblages recovered from sediments firmly dated to between 5.2 and 5.8 million years ago. Compared to other assemblages of similar age, the Middle Awash record is unparalleled in taxonomic diversity, composed of 2,760 specimens representing at least sixty five mammalian genera. This comprehensive evaluation of the vertebrates from the end of the Miocene in Africa provides detailed morphological and taxonomic descriptions of dozens of taxa, including species new to science. It also incorporates results from analyses of paleoenvironment, paleobiogeography, biochronology, and faunal turnover around the Pliocene-Miocene boundary, opening a new window on the evolution of mammals, African fauna, and its environments.
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In this dynamic account, award-winning science writer Ann Gibbons chronicles an extraordinary quest to answer the most primal of questions: When and where was the dawn of humankind?Following four intensely competitive international teams of scientists in a heated race to find the “missing link”–the fossil of the earliest human ancestor–Gibbons ventures to Africa, where she encounters a fascinating array of fossil hunters: Tim White, the irreverent Californian who discovered the partial skeleton of a primate that lived 4.4 million years ago in Ethiopia; French paleontologist Michel Brunet, who uncovers a skull in Chad that could date the beginnings of humankind to seven million years ago; and two other groups–one led by zoologist Meave Leakey, the other by British geologist Martin Pickford and his French paleontologist partner, Brigitte Senut–who enter the race with landmark discoveries of their own. Through scrupulous research and vivid first-person reporting, The First Human reveals the perils and the promises of fossil hunting on a grand competitive scale.
... what people are saying about this book ...'A marvelous recounting of Ethiopian and world history during those years. Mandatory reading for anyone interested in Third World relations and certainly for anyone who seeks to understand contemporary Ethiopian or Horn of Africa affairs.'?Foreign Service Journal?A significant primary source in its first hand account by a meticulously observant insider.'?Foreign Affairs?Commands attention and respect. John Spencer's personal, candid, and basically reliable record will have an honored place in the contemporary annals of that tortured country.'?Times Literary Supplement?Spencer is one of the very few living people in a position to describe Ethiopia...
Where did we come from? What were our ancestors like? Why do we differ from other animals? How do scientists trace and construct our evolutionary history? The Evolution of Our Tribe: Hominini provides answers to these questions and more. The book explores the field of paleoanthropology past and present. Beginning over 65 million years ago, Welker traces the evolution of our species, the environments and selective forces that shaped our ancestors, their physical and cultural adaptations, and the people and places involved with their discovery and study. It is designed as a textbook for a course on Human Evolution but can also serve as an introductory text for relevant sections of courses in Biological or General Anthropology or general interest. It is both a comprehensive technical reference for relevant terms, theories, methods, and species and an overview of the people, places, and discoveries that have imbued paleoanthropology with such fascination, romance, and mystery.
International Best Seller The existence of God has long fascinated the human species. Based on a system of belief and several historical encounters with God, the human society has constructed various religions. Whenever something bizarre bothers someone, and that someone takes refuge in divine guidance, hardcore religious preachers give only one absurd answer : “God works in a mysterious way”. But has any of the billions of human minds on this planet ever experienced a true Almighty Being? Or is there a mysterious biological phenomenon underneath the human experience of God and Divinity? Does a Supreme Omnipotent Entity ever intervene in the daily issues of life on this planet? In this book celebrated Neuroscientist and International Bestselling Author Abhijit Naskar takes us to the scientific land of investigation where we shall explore the true biological foundation of God and religious beliefs. In this fascinating journey of neuroscience we shall discover how exactly we humans constructed God and not the other way around.
“If origin defines race, then we are all Africans – we are all black. No matter how fascinatingly white one’s skin is, or how classy one’s accent of English is, the fact remains, the whole of humanity comes from the land of Africa. It is the cradle of our species.” In this scientific literature, the celebrated Scientist Abhijit Naskar makes a humanitarian attempt with his sharp insight of the molecular realm of the mind, to unite all of humanity with the thread of biological oneness. This is a treatise of biological sciences that makes humanism triumph over the primordial evil of racial discrimination. In “We Are All Black” Naskar makes us delve deep into the neural domain of the human mind, to recognize the innate biological seeds of Racism, and empowers us to make more effective and conscientious efforts to terminate this primitive evil from the human society. We emerge from this spell-binding odyssey of science and philosophy with one sole conviction, that we are all humans coming from Africa.