Human Origins: An Introduction
Edition: 5
Copyright: 2018
Pages: 278
Edition: 5
Copyright: 2018
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Human Origins: An Introduction is a textbook geared towards undergraduate freshmen anthropology majors and non-majors. Generally, it will give all majors a basic foundation in biological anthropology and prepare them for further studies in human evolution.
Why use this textbook? This textbook was created for simplicity in learning key concepts and practicality in terms of completing all chapters within a semester without sacrificing important topics and concepts. The author created the text from a course pack of PowerPoint lecture outlines used in his Human Origins course, which speaks to the student-centered learning aspect of it. In short, this textbook will not overwhelm the user with twenty-five to thirty page chapters and blind them with excessive color images. Additionally, this textbook has a comprehensive glossary and presents several topics that have relevance to real world problems, such as the distribution of the ABO blood types in the world and disease history in human populations; evolution of respective mutant genes that prevents HIV and malarial infections; evolution of human skin color; history of the race concept; the 98% genetic similarity between chimps and humans and what it really means; and the origins of modern humans. Finally, each chapter includes a summary of key ideas; key terms; study guides; and practice exercises where a student can write directly on the sheet and detach it from the textbook.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Physical (Biological) Anthropology
Subfields in Physical Anthropology
Dead Populations
Living Populations
What Is It to Be “Human”?
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 2: Evolutionary Theory
Pre-Darwinian Thought
Middle Ages (Dark Ages or Medieval—10th Century to 15th Century)
Age of Discovery (Renaissance—15th Century to 18th Century)
Age of Reason (Enlightenment—18th Century to 19th Century)
Geology and the Ancient Formation of the Earth
Erasmus Darwin
Jean Baptiste Lamarck
Thomas Malthus
Charles Darwin
Darwin, Wallace, and the Theory of Natural Selection
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 3: Genetics and Heredity
Modern Synthesis
Molecular and Population Genetics
Molecular Level
Chromosomes
Mitosis and Meiosis
Protein Synthesis
Genetic (Blood) Polymorphisms
Rhesus Blood Group System in RH-Induced Hemolytic Disease (Erythroblastosis Fetalis):
Selection Against the Heterozygote
ABO Types and Disease History
CCR5-A32 Gene and Disease Resistance
Polygenic Variation and Pleiotrophy
Heritability
Population Genetics
Using the Chi-Square Statistic to Test for Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Summary of Key Ideas Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 4: Evolutionary Forces
Mutation
Chromosomal Mutations
Natural Selection
Directional Selection
Stabilizing Selection
Balancing Selection
The Duffy Blood Group and Malaria
Tay Sachs Disease and Cystic Fibrosis: Natural Selection?
Sexual Selection
Genetic Drift
Gene Flow
The Species Problem
Biological Species Concept
Evolutionary Species Concept
Phylogenetic Species Concept
Ecological Species Concept
Speciation
Allopatric Speciation
Sympatric Speciation
Parapatric Speciation
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 5: Modern Humans: Environmental and Cultural Adaptation
Human Adaptation
Rules of Adaptation: Bergmann and Allen
Types of Adaptation
Genetic Adaptation
Developmental Adaptation
Physiological Adaptation 1 (Acclimation)
Physiological Adaptation 2 (Acclimatization) Cultural Adaptation
Climate Adaptation
Cold Stress
Heat Stress
The Race Concept
A Brief History of the Race Concept
Skin Color: Pigmentation and Depigmentation
Sunlight and Vitamin D Synthesis
High Altitude Adaptation
Biocultural Environmental Adaptation
Nutrition and Disease
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 6: Primate Evolution
The Hypotheses for Primate Origins
Arboreal Hypothesis
Visual Predation Hypothesis
Angiosperm Radiation Hypothesis
Proprimates: First Primates?
Euprimates: The First True Primates
Anthropoids: The Higher Primates
Platyrrhine Origins: New World Monkeys
Catarrhine Origins 1: Old World Monkeys
Catarrhine Origins 2: Apes
Dryopithecines: The Mid-Miocene Apes
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 7: The Living Primates
Primate Evolution
The Hypotheses for Primate Origins
Arboreal Hypothesis
Visual Predation Hypothesis
Angiosperm Radiation Hypothesis
Biogeography of the Living Primates
General Primate Characteristics (Adaptations)
Taxonomic Classification
Prosimians (Sense of Smell is Enhanced)
Anthropoidea (Sense of Vision is Enhanced)
Evolutionary Traits
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 8: Dating Methods
Geological Time Period
Paleozoic Era (545–245 Million Years Ago)
Mesozoic Era (245–65 Million Years Ago)
Cenozoic Era (65 Million Years Ago to Present)
Dating Methods
Relative Dating
Numerical Dating (Radiometric)
Numerical Dating (Nonradiometric)
Reconstruction of Ancient Environments
Stable Oxygen Isotope Studies
Stable Carbon Isotope Studies and Animal Remains
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 9: Australopiths and Early Homo
The Origin of Bipedalism
Charles Darwin’s Tool Use and Hunting Hypothesis for Bipedalism
Energy Efficiency and Bipedalism Hypothesis
Body Temperature and Bipedalism Hypothesis
Male Provisioning Hypothesis for Bipedalism
Pre-Australopithecines
Sahelanthropus tchadensis (Approximately 7 to 6 Million Years Ago)
Orrorin tugenesis (Approximately 6 Million Years Ago)
Ardipithecus ramidus (Approximately 5.8 to 4.4 Million Years Ago)
Australopithecines
East African Australopithecines
South African Australopithecines
Australopithecus sediba (Approximately 2.0 million years ago)
Missing Links and the Piltdown Fraud
Robust Australopithecines (East and South Africa, Approximately 2.5 to 1.2 Million Years Ago)
Evidence of Tool Use in Australopiths?
Australopithecus garhi (2.5 Million Years Ago)
Early Homo
Homo habilis (East Africa, Approximately 2.0 to 1.8 Milion Years Ago)
Diets of Early Hominins
Dental Microwear Analysis
Stable Carbon Isotopes
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 10: Homo Erectus
Pithecanthropus erectus
Morphology of Homo erectus 179
Geography
Homo erectus in Africa, Asia, and Europe (Approximately 1.8 Million to 300,000 Years Ago)
Tools and Subsistence
Interpretation of Morphological Diversity in the Early Homo Fossil Record: Dmanisi and the
Roots of H. erectus Evolution
Morphological Variation in Early Homo
Intraspecific Variation (Single Evolving Lineage) Versus Interspecific Variation (Several Species)
Speech and Language in Homo erectus?
Cranial Base Flexion and Position of Vocal Anatomy: A Clue to the Evolution of Speech?
Archaic Homo sapiens
Lithic Technology
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Chapter 11: The Origins of Modern Humans
The Hypotheses for Modern Human Origins
Multiregional Continuity Hypothesis
Out of Africa Hypothesis
Assimilation Hypothesis
Neanderthals (130,000 to 24,000 Years Ago)
Geography
Neanderthal Biology
Neanderthal DNA
Culture and Behavior
Speech and Language in Neanderthals
Recent Discovery: The Denisovans (Approximately 50,000 to 30,000 years ago)
Other Early Moderns
Asia and Europe (Approximately 90,000 to 15,000 Years Ago)
Lithic Technology The Cultural Revolution: The Shift to Agriculture
Peopling of the “New World”
Asian Ancestry for Native Americans: The Dental and Genetic Evidence
Paleoindians: Culture and Behavior
Summary of Key Ideas
Key Terms
Further Readings
Study Guide
Practice Exercises
Glossary
References
Index