Human Evolution Trails From the Past Provides a Comprehensive Overview of Hominid Evolution

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c81730) has announced the addition of “Human Evolution: Trails from the Past” to their offering.

Human Evolution provides a comprehensive overview of hominid evolution, synthesising data and approaches from fields as diverse as physical anthropology, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, genetics, archaeology, psychology and philosophy.

The book starts with chapters on evolution, population genetics, systematics, and the methods for constructing evolutionary trees. These are followed by a comprehensive review of the fossil history of human evolution since our divergence from the apes. Subsequent chapters cover more recent data, both fossil and molecular, relating to the evolution of modern humans. A final section describes the evolution of culture, language, art, and morality.

The authors are leading experts in two complementary fields of scholarship, physical anthropology and molecular evolution. Throughout the book they successfully integrate their expertise in evolutionary theory, phylogenetics, genomics, cultural evolution, language, aesthetics and morality to produce a cutting edge textbook, copiously illustrated and with an extensive and up-to-date bibliography. It will be suitable for both senior undergraduate and graduate level students taking courses on human evolution within departments of biology, anthropology, psychology and philosophy. The book will also appeal to a more general audience seeking a readable, up-to-date and inclusive treatment of human origins and evolution.

Contents: Preface: Homo sapiens, the rational animal Chapter 1 Evolution, genetics, and systematics 1.1 The theory of evolution 1.2 Population and evolutionary genetics 1.3 The classification of living beings Chapter 2 The evolution of hominoids 2.1 Hominoid taxonomy 2.2 Early Miocene hominoids 2.3 Middle Miocene: the migration of apes out of Africa 2.4 Late Miocene: the divergence of great apes Chapter 3 The hominin lineage 3.1 The origin of hominins 3.2 Bipedal locomotion Chapter 4 Miocene and Pliocene genera and species 4.1 The first hominins 4.2 Australopithecus Chapter 5 Pliocene hominins: South Africa and the Rift Valley 5.1 South African sites 1 5.2 South African hominins of the Pliocene 5.3 The ”gracile” and ”robust” alternatives in East Africa Chapter 6 The Pliocene cladogenesis: Paranthropus versus Homo 6.1 Evidence from Koobi Fora 6.2 Alternatives in the evolution of robust and gracile clades Chapter 7 The radiation of Homo 7.1 Asian Homo erectus 7.2 The erectus grade in Africa Chapter 8 Evolutionary characteristics of the erectus grade 8.1 Cultural patterns in the migration out of Africa 8.2 The earliest cultures 8.3 Homo in Europe Chapter 9 The late-Pleistocene transition 9.1 Archaic Homo sapiens 9.2 Neanderthals 9.3 Molecular data 9.4 The origin of modern humans Chapter 10 The uniqueness of being human 10.1 Culture and mental traits during the late Paleolithic 10.2 The origins of symbolism 10.3 The origin of language 10.4 The evolution of moral behaviour Glossary References Index

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c81730

Source: Oxford University Press