Ishida / Tuttle / Pickford Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds

1. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-0-387-29798-9
Verlag: Springer-Verlag
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Wasserzeichen (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 282 Seiten

Advances in fossil studies relating to the origin of Homo sapiens have strengthened the hypothesis that our direct ancestors originated on the African continent. Most researchers also agree that the time when prehumans diverged from the last common ancestor was in the early part of the Late Miocene epoch. Focus must now shift from determining the times and places of hominid origins to clarifying hominid evolutionary problems, such as the selective factors and acquisition processes of hominid bipedalism. In March of 2003, researchers from Africa, Europe, Japan and the United States convened in Kyoto for a symposium on Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds, an interdisciplinary effort to consider these evolutionary puzzles, to report current research and to exchange thoughts towards better understanding the relationship among environmental changes, adaptive mechanisms and human origins. This book is the result of that symposium, and includes a diverse and unique set of papers on topics such as hominid evolution, dispersal and morphology, and the origins of bipedalism.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ishida, Hidemi

Tuttle, Russell

Pickford, Martin

Ogihara, Naomichi

Nakatsukasa, Masato

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;PREFACE;6
2;CONTENTS;7
3;HIDEMI ISHIDA: 40 YEARS OF FOOTPRINTS IN JAPANESE PRIMATOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY;10
4;SEVEN DECADES OF EAST AFRICAN MIOCENE ANTHROPOID STUDIES;24
5;EVOLUTION OF THE VERTEBRAL COLUMN IN MIOCENE HOMINOIDS AND PLIO- PLEISTOCENE HOMINIDS;39
6;TERRESTRIALITY IN A MIDDLE MIOCENE CONTEXT: VICTORIAPITHECUS FROM MABOKO, KENYA;52
7;LATE CENOZOIC MAMMALIAN BIOSTRATIGRAPHY AND FAUNAL CHANGE ;66
8;THE AGES AND GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUNDS OF MIOCENE HOMINOIDS NACHOLAPITHECUS, SAMBURUPITHECUS, AND ORRORIN FROM KENYA;78
9;PATTERNS OF VERTICAL CLIMBING IN PRIMATES;104
10;FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE MIDCARPAL JOINT IN KNUCKLE- WALKERS AND TERRESTRIAL QUADRUPEDS;112
11;MORPHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION OF RAT FEMORA TO DIFFERENT MECHANICAL ENVIRONMENTS;130
12;A HALLMARK OF HUMANKIND: THE GLUTEUS MAXIMUS MUSCLE ;141
13;PRIMATES TRAINED FOR BIPEDAL LOCOMOTION AS A MODEL FOR STUDYING THE EVOLUTION OF BIPEDAL LOCOMOTION;155
14;LOCOMOTOR ENERGETICS IN NONHUMAN PRIMATES;162
15;COMPUTER SIMULATION OF BIPEDAL LOCOMOTION ;172
16;PALEOENVIRONMENTS, PALEOECOLOGY, ADAPTATIONS, AND THE ORIGINS OF BIPEDALISM IN HOMINIDAE;180
17;ARBOREAL ORIGIN OF BIPEDALISM;204
18;NEONTOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON EAST AFRICAN MIDDLE AND LATE MIOCENE ANTHROPOIDEA;214
19;THE PREHOMINID LOCOMOTION REFLECTED: ENERGETICS, MUSCLES, AND GENERALIZED BIPEDS;229
20;EVOLUTION OF THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF HOMINOIDS ;238
21;ARE HUMAN BEINGS APES, OR ARE APES PEOPLE TOO?;252
22;CURRENT THOUGHTS ON TERRESTRIALIZATION IN AFRICAN APES AND THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN BIPEDALISM;262
23;INDEX;270