This volume reviews the meaning of taxonomic statements and considers our present knowledge regarding the number and characteristics of species among living and extinct primates, including man and his ancestors.

The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.

An anthropologist and an anatomist have combined their skills in this book to provide students and research workers with the essentials of anatomy and the means to apply these to investigations into hominid form and function. Using basic principles and relevant bones, conclusions can be reached regarding the probable musculature, stance, brain size, age, weight, and sex of a particular fossil specimen. The sort of deductions which are possible are illustrated by reference back to contemporary apes and humans, and a coherent picture of the history of hominid evolution appears. Written in a clear and concise style and beautifully illustrated, An Introduction to Human Evolutionary Anatomy is a basic reference for all concerned with human evolution as well as a valuable companion to both laboratory practical sessions and new research using fossil skeletons.

A complete account of evolutionary thought in the social, environmental and policy sciences, creating bridges with biology.

The names given to the variety of man-like fossils known to scientists should reflect no more than scientific views of the nature of human evolution. However, often in the past these names have also reflected confusion regarding the basic principles of scientific nomenclature; and the matter has been further complicated by the many new finds of recent decades. It is the unique purpose of this book to clarify the present state of knowledge regarding the main lines of human evolution by expressing what is known (and what is surmised) about them in appropriate taxonomic language.The papers in this volume were prepared by the world's leading authorities on the subject, and were revised in the light of discussions at a remarkable conference held in Austria in 1962 under the auspices of the Wenner-Gren Foundation. The authors review first the meaning of taxonomic statements as such, and then consider the substance of our present knowledge regarding the number and characteristics of species among living and extinct primates, including man and his ancestors. They also examine the relationship of behavior changes and selection pressures in evolutionary sequences.Ample illustrations, bibliographies and an index enhance the permanent reference value of the book, which will undoubtedly prove to be among the fundamental paleoanthropological works of our time.

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.

Human Evolution: Processes and Adaptations is designed for introductory courses in biological anthropology. The book develops the theory and methods of the modern evolutionist and, with many clear examples, shows how to apply them to make sense of the biological traits that define our species. Featuring a scientific, issue-oriented perspective on human evolution - how it works, what it can and cannot do, and what it reveals about human nature - this textbook uses engaging analogies to make current research accessible to beginning students. This fourth edition includes new or expanded chapters on fossils and on genetics. More than a mere survey of the requisite topics, this book weaves the threads of natural selection, genetics, adaptation, speciation, classification, fossils, and human behavior into a coherent picture where each element usefully illuminates the others. In an approachable 250 pages, students learn not just the subject matter of biological anthropology, but acquire an evolutionary tool kit they can use to explore any biological question. Use of this tool kit is modeled through analyses that are of topical interest to the students, such as sex and sexuality. Human Evolution is a fresh, stand-alone text with key concepts depicted in more than 90 illustrations, and is designed to stimulate instructors and students alike. Prerecorded video lectures are available for each chapter of the book. Steven J. C. Gaulin earned his Ph.D. in biological anthropology at Harvard University, and is currently a professor in the Integrative Anthropological Sciences Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Gaulin has authored more than 100 scholarly articles, served for a decade as editor-in-chief of Evolution and Human Behavior, and recently won his university's highest teaching award.

In his new book The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack, human paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall argues that a long tradition of "human exceptionalism" in paleoanthropology has distorted the picture of human evolution. Drawing partly on his own career—from young scientist in awe of his elders to crotchety elder statesman—Tattersall offers an idiosyncratic look at the competitive world of paleoanthropology, beginning with Charles Darwin 150 years ago, and continuing through the Leakey dynasty in Africa, and concluding with the latest astonishing findings in the Caucasus. The book's title refers to the 1856 discovery of a clearly very old skull cap in Germany's Neander Valley. The possessor had a brain as large as a modern human, but a heavy low braincase with a prominent brow ridge. Scientists tried hard to explain away the inconvenient possibility that this was not actually our direct relative. One extreme interpretation suggested that the preserved leg bones were curved by both rickets, and by a life on horseback. The pain of the unfortunate individual's affliction had caused him to chronically furrow his brow in agony, leading to the excessive development of bone above the eye sockets. The subsequent history of human evolutionary studies is full of similarly fanciful interpretations. With tact and humor, Tattersall concludes that we are not the perfected products of natural processes, but instead the result of substantial doses of random happenstance.