Customer Reviews
A bit of family history revealed - By: Stephen A. Haines, 22 Jun 2007 
Although published as a textbook for university students, this volume is an excellent read for anybody wishing to understand the course of evolution. The authors have assembled a wealth of material, organised it in an effective manner & presented it with outstanding prose skill. Lead author Craig Stanford, whose books on primate behaviour are well-known, is joined by neurologist & geneticist John Allen & anthropologist Susan Anton. The trio brings many years of experience to the task of explaining human origins.
After a brief introduction explaining what is meant by "Biological Anthropology", the authors provide a fine survey of the basic mechanisms of natural selection - DNA & genetics. Their depiction of how the genome is formed & how that structure builds the elements needed for natural selection to operate is an outstanding brief summary. Using available chemicals, DNA's mechanisms to build cells are explained, supplemented by vivid graphic images. From the process of cell building, the authors move on to show how the completed organism must deal with its environment, which includes other creatures, plant life & climate conditions through adaptation down succeeding generations. The authors describe the various factors leading to producing new species, isolation, elapsed time & new conditions. They also address the issue of how fossils & conditions are recorded in time & how researchers use a variety of techniques to determine age & place.
The species of concern, of course, are the primates. The sudden demise of the great reptiles that had ruled the Earth for over 150 million years opened new vistas for the life that survived the catastrophe. Little, fur-bearing creatures moved into niches that alllowed rapid change. Many varieties emerged, but noteworthy among them were shrew-sized omnivores. Spreading over the land & forests, some of them developed new traits that would ultimately lead to us. The origin of the primates is lost in the mists of time, compounded by the paucity of fossils & lack of agreement on what typifies a "primate". The earliest proposed species bears the ungainly name of "Plesiadapiforms". The authors describe the traits suggesting these were our earliest ancestors, while explaining what is lacking to establish a firm identity. Each of the points they introduce is enhanced by the contending researchers' arguments over lineage.
Once past the vague beginnings, the team offers insights into how ape transformed into human. The physiological trends, such as jaw structure & teeth are outlined. Each of the fossil examples of pre-human hominids is examined criticallly with the important elements indicating its lineage in the human story assessed. From a lonely skull in a desert to remote caves, creatures that one day would lead to you & me are revealed. At some point, one or more of the ape-like animals stood upright. Demonstrating what a major step this was, with changes in spinal column, head position & posture, the new form proved to be even more adaptable than its predecessors. Not the least of the advantages gained, they note, is the ability to travel long distances with minimal energy expenditure. As much as we've learned, the authors remind us of the many questions remaining. The actual number of species, where & how they lived, & how many lineages did the ape ancestor lead to over the millennia?
Emerging "modern" forms bring new challlenges in understanding. Although early apes sent offshoots out of Africa, it was the hominids that proved to be the most ambitious travellers. Homo erectus spent over a million years traversing Asia, leaving fossils in far-flung sites across the continent & in the islands southeast of the mainland. Their remains have been dated to as recently as 25 to 50 thousand years old. The recent find on the island of Flores suggest an even more recent descendant. A new species, Homo sapiens, & its own diaspora out of Africa follows. Its most significant aspect, the development of intelligence & language is thoroughly examined. A major change took place leading to the one species with the highest proportion of brain size to body weight. Coupled with changes in physiology, our species created a new form of intricate communication abilities. The brain also went through changes in organisation. Which factor made the greatest contribution to human behaviour patterns is the concluding segment of the book. It is that aspect of our history that remains most contentious & the authors examine the various views surrounding that issue. It's a fitting conclusion to this in-depth & comprehensive study. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
