Description |
256 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), maps ; 28 cm |
Note |
"A Peter N. Nevraumont book." |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (page 251) and index. |
Contents |
Foreword / by Donald C. Johanson -- We were not alone. Introduction / by Ian Tattersall -- The earliest African hominids. Morning encounters. Sahelanthropus tchadensis. Orrorin tuganensis. Ardipithecus ramidus and kadabba -- Omo, Lake Turkana, and Awash basins and the appearance of the human lineage. A much welcomed visit : Australopithecus anamensis. We are family : Kenyanthropus platyops. The first nomad? Australopithecus afarensis. Dispatching a mortal enemy : Paranthropus aethiopicus. The first tool-using scavenger? Australopithecus garhi -- The South African fossil caves sites. The animal trap : Australopithecus africanus. To live and die on the high veldt : Paranthropus robustus/crassidens -- Back to the East African Great Rift Valley and the appearance of Homo. A two leg advantage : Homo rudolfensis. The luck of the Pygmy : Homo habilis. In the shadow of man : Paranthropus boisei. When opportunity knocks : Homo ergaster -- From Africa to Asia? A handful of know-how : Homo georgicus. Eve without Adam : Homo erectus. A winter night's desperation : Homo pekinensis. An island sunset for the little people : Homo floresiensis -- Africa, Europe, and then the world. The ultimate competitor : Homo antecessor. How to grow a sugarplum tree : Homo rhodesiensis. Greed and equality : Homo heidelbergensis. Hunters and hunted : Homo neanderthalensis -- Then there was one. Homo sapiens -- Afterword / by Maeve Leakey -- Appendix 1. The search for faces of the past / by G.J. Sawyer and Viktor Deak -- Appendix 2. Portraits of prehistory : imaging our ancestors / by Richard Milner. |
Summary |
"This book tells the story of human evolution, the epic of Homo sapiens and its colorful precursors and relatives. The story begins in Africa, six to seven million years ago, and encompasses twenty-two known human species, of which Homo sapiens is the sole survivor. Illustrated with spectacular, three-dimensional scientific reconstructions portrayed in their natural habitat - the result of creative collaboration between physical anthropologist G.J. Sawyer of the American Museum of Natural History and paleoartist Viktor Deak, in consultation with experts from around the world - the book is both a guide to extinct human species and an astonishing hominid family photo album."--BOOK JACKET. |
Subject |
Hominidae.
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Biological Evolution.
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Fossils.
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Humans.
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Paleontology -- methods.
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Fossil hominids.
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Human evolution.
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Paleoanthropology -- Methodology.
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Human beings -- Origin.
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Added Author |
Sawyer, G. J. (Gary J.)
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Milner, Richard, 1941-
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Deak, Viktor.
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ISBN |
9780300100471 cloth alkaline paper |
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0300100477 cloth alkaline paper |
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