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Brings together ecology, evolution, genetics, anatomy and geology to provide a new perspective on human evolution from the apes' viewpoint.
List of contents
Preface; 1. How can we recognise common ancestors?; Part I. Apes - Their Morphology and Behaviour: 2. Morphology and behaviour of living apes; 3. Human and ape phylogenies; 4. Review of fossil apes; Part II. Environments and Palaeoenvironments: 5. Structure and composition of ape environments; 6. Environmental indicators; Part III. Review of Fossil Apes - Morphology and Environment: 7. The view from the Early Miocene; 8. The environment in the Early Miocene; 9. The view from the Middle Miocene; 10. Specialised apes from the Middle Miocene; 11. The environment in the middle Miocene; 12. A second view from Europe; 13. The environment in Europe; 14. Late Miocene to Pleistocene apes; 15. Apes, hominins and environment in the Late Miocene; Part IV. Last Common Ancestor: 16. Putting together the evidence; 17. An ape's view of human evolution; References and further reading; Index.
About the author
Peter Andrews has always had a keen interest in fossils, and an encounter with Dr L. S. B. Leakey while working in the Kenya Forestry Department encouraged him to make the move to anthropology. He has spent much of his career at the Natural History Museum, London, where he was Head of Human Origins until his retirement in 2000. Since then he has been curator of Blandford Museum while retaining an Emeritus Research Associate position at the Natural History Museum along with honorary professorships at University College London and the University of York. He has published ten books, two with Chris Stringer, and nearly 200 articles in the scientific and popular press.
Summary
Whilst many books have addressed human evolution and the human fossil record, very few have examined our fossil ape relatives. This volume synthesises genetic, ecological and anatomical data to develop a unique account of what we know about our last common ancestor and how they lived.
