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Author: Yohannes Haile-Selassie Publisher: Springer ISBN: 9401774293 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 196
Book Description
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.
Author: Yohannes Haile-Selassie Publisher: Springer ISBN: 9401774293 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 196
Book Description
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.
Author: William H. Kimbel Publisher: ISBN: 0195157060 Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 273
Book Description
The book is the most in-depth account of the fossil skull anatomy and evolutionary significance of the 3.6-3.0 million year old early human species Australopithecus afarensis. Knowledge of this species is pivotal to understanding early human evolution, because 1) the sample of fossil remains of A. afarensis is among the most extensive for any early human species, and the majority of remains are of taxonomically inormative skulls and teeth; 2) the wealth of material makes A. afarensis an indispensable point of reference for the interpretation of other fossil discoveries; 3) the species occupies a time period that is the focus of current research to determine when, where, and why the human lineage first diversified into separate contemporaneous lines of descent. Upon publication of this book, this species will be among the most thoroughly documented extinct ancestors of humankind. The main focus of the book - its organizing principle - is the first complete skull of A. afarensis (specimen number A.L. 444-2) at the Hadar site, Ethiopia, the home of the remarkably complete 3.18 million year old skeleton known as "Lucy," found at Hadar by third author D. Johanson in 1974. Lucy and other fossils from Hadar, together with those from the site of Laetoli in Tanzania, were controversially attributed to the then brand new species A. afarensis by Johanson, T. White and Y. Coppens in 1978. However, a complete skull, which would have quickly resolved much of the early debate over the species, proved elusive until second author Y. Rak's discovery of the 444 skull in 1992. The book details the comparative anatomy of the new skull (and the cast of its brain, analyzed by R. Holloway and M. Huan) , as well as of other skull and dental finds recovered during the latest, ongoing field work at Hadar, and analyzes the evolutionary significance of A. afarensis in the context of other critically important discoveries of earliest humans made in recent years. In essence, it summarizes the state of knowledge about one of the central subjects of current paleoanthropological investigation.
Author: Bernhard Zipfel Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0197507670 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 504
Book Description
The 1924 African discovery of an early hominin child's skull, referred to as Australopithecus africanus by Raymond Dart, was a major event in the history of paleoanthropology. This provided the first evidence of early hominins in Africa and overturned conventional ideas about human evolution. Subsequent discoveries of A. africanus fossils, notably from cave deposits at Sterkfontein, yielded the first evidence that early hominins were habitual bipeds. Fifty years after this, the discovered wealth of fossil evidence in eastern Africa of the slightly older and craniodentally more primitive taxon, A. afarensis, catalyzed debates about the origin and evolution of human gait and the phylogentic relationships among early hominins. This formed the main basis of our understanding of early hominin bipedality and paleobiology. Little attention has been paid to the variation among species in postcranial anatomy and locomotion, although intriguing hints are beginning to appear in the literature. Did multiple varieties of bipedality evolve? Did australopith species differ in positional or manipulative abilities, body proportions, or patterns of sexual dimorphism? These are critical questions for understanding the evolution of australopiths and hominin locomotion. In this book, Bernhard Zipfel, Brian Richmond, Carol Ward, and the most knowledgeable scholars in their respective fields provide groundbreaking accounts for each postcranial fossil and expert examinations into the background of each fossil. The chapters include standardized high-quality photographs and anatomical descriptions to allow readers to read the book entirely or learn by comparing features across chapters. Hominin Postcranial Remains from Sterkfontein, South Africa, 1936-1995 is an evolutionary history of South African hominins, and it offers readers an orientation and introduction to the field. This is an important reference book for professional paleontologists, paleobiologists, anthropologists, geologists, students, and historians interested in human evolution.
Author: Kaye E. Reed Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 9400759193 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 287
Book Description
Australopithecus species have been the topic of much debate in palaeoanthropology since Raymond Dart described the first species, Australopithecus africanus, in 1925. This volume synthesizes the geological and paleontological context of the species in East and South Africa; covers individual sites, such as Dikika, Hadar, Sterkfontein, and Malapa; debates the alpha taxonomy of some of the species; and addresses questions regarding the movements of the species across the continent. Additional chapters discuss the genus in terms of sexual dimorphism, diet reconstruction using microwear and isotopic methodologies, postural and locomotor behavior, and ontogeny.
Author: D. Jeffrey Meldrum Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 144198965X Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 242
Book Description
The inspiration for this volume of contributed papers stemmed from conversations between the editors in front of Chuck Hilton's poster on the determinants of hominid walking speed, presented at thel998 meetings of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists (AAPA). Earlier at those meetings, Jeff Meldrum (with Roshna Wunderlich) had presented an alternate interpretation of the Laetoli footprints based on evidence of midfoot flexibility. As the discussion ensued we found convergence on a number of ideas about the nature of the evolution of modem human walking. From the continuation of that dialogue grew the proposal for a symposium which we called From Biped to Strider: the Emergence of Modem Human Walking. The symposium was held as a session of the 69th annual meeting of the AAPA, held in San Antonio, Texas in 2000. It seemed to us that the study of human bipedalism had become overshadowed by theoften polarized debates over whether australo pithecines were wholly terrestrial in habit, or retained a significant degree of arboreality.
Author: Sally C. Reynolds Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1107019958 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 599
Book Description
This book reviews key themes and developments in palaeoanthropology, exploring their impact on our understanding of human origins in Africa.
Author: Winfried Henke Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 3540324747 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 2057
Book Description
This 3-volume handbook brings together contributions by the world ́s leading specialists that reflect the broad spectrum of modern palaeoanthropology, thus presenting an indispensable resource for professionals and students alike. Vol. 1 reviews principles, methods, and approaches, recounting recent advances and state-of-the-art knowledge in phylogenetic analysis, palaeoecology and evolutionary theory and philosophy. Vol. 2 examines primate origins, evolution, behaviour, and adaptive variety, emphasizing integration of fossil data with contemporary knowledge of the behaviour and ecology of living primates in natural environments. Vol. 3 deals with fossil and molecular evidence for the evolution of Homo sapiens and its fossil relatives.
Author: National Research Council Publisher: National Academies Press ISBN: 0309152399 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 129
Book Description
The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; increases in brain size; and the emergence of Homo sapiens, tools, and culture. The Earth's geological record suggests that some evolutionary events were coincident with substantial changes in African and Eurasian climate, raising the possibility that critical junctures in human evolution and behavioral development may have been affected by the environmental characteristics of the areas where hominins evolved. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution explores the opportunities of using scientific research to improve our understanding of how climate may have helped shape our species. Improved climate records for specific regions will be required before it is possible to evaluate how critical resources for hominins, especially water and vegetation, would have been distributed on the landscape during key intervals of hominin history. Existing records contain substantial temporal gaps. The book's initiatives are presented in two major research themes: first, determining the impacts of climate change and climate variability on human evolution and dispersal; and second, integrating climate modeling, environmental records, and biotic responses. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution suggests a new scientific program for international climate and human evolution studies that involve an exploration initiative to locate new fossil sites and to broaden the geographic and temporal sampling of the fossil and archeological record; a comprehensive and integrative scientific drilling program in lakes, lake bed outcrops, and ocean basins surrounding the regions where hominins evolved and a major investment in climate modeling experiments for key time intervals and regions that are critical to understanding human evolution.