African Genesis: Perspectives on Hominin Evolution

Sally C. Reynolds · Andrew Gallagher

2012年3月 · Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology 第 62 本图书 · Cambridge University Press

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The discovery of the first species of African hominin, Australopithecus africanus, from Taung, South Africa in 1924, launched the study of fossil man in Africa. New discoveries continue to confirm the importance of this region to our understanding of human evolution. Outlining major developments since Raymond Dart's description of the Taung skull and, in particular, the impact of the pioneering work of Phillip V. Tobias, this book will be a valuable companion for students and researchers of human origins. It presents a summary of the current state of palaeoanthropology, reviewing the ideas that are central to the field, and provides a perspective on how future developments will shape our knowledge about hominin emergence in Africa. A wide range of key themes are covered, from the earliest fossils from Chad and Kenya, to the origins of bipedalism and the debate about how and where modern humans evolved and dispersed across Africa.

作者简介

Sally C. Reynolds is an honorary research staff member of the Institute for Human Evolution, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and Liverpool John Moores University, UK. She conducts research on the world-famous Sterkfontein Cave fossils and is interested in the relationships between geomorphology, mosaic habitats and extinction in hominins.

Andrew Gallagher is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg. His principal research focuses on the evolutionary significance of size variation in hominin evolution and the functional morphology of the locomotor system.