Essentials of Physical Anthropology

Brief Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
Supplements
Ch 1: Introduction to Physical Anthropology
	Introduction
	The Human Connection
	Biocultural Evolution
	What is Anthropology?
	Cultural Anthropology
	Archaeology
	Linguistic Anthropology
	Physical Anthropology
	Physical Anthropology and the Scientific Method
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
	Making a Difference: Forensic Anthropologists in the Contemporary World
Ch 2: The Development of Evolutionary Theory
	A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
	Natural Selection
	Natural Selection in Action
	Constraints on Nineteenth-Century Evolutionary Theory
	Opposition to Evolution Today
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 3: The Biological Basis of Life
	Cells
	DNA Structure
	DNA Replication
	Protein Synthesis
	What is a Gene?
	Regulatory Genes
	Cell Division
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 4: Heredity and Evolution
	The Genetic Principles Discovered by Mendel
	Mendelian Inheritance in Humans
	Polygenic Inheritance
	Genetic and Environmental Factors
	Mitochondrial Inheritance
	Modern Evolutionary Theory
	Factors that Produce and Redistribute Variation
	Natural Selection is Directional and Acts on Variation
	Review of Genetics and Evolutionary Factors
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 5: Processes of Macroevolution
	How We Connect: Discovering the Human Place in the Organic World
	Principles of Classification
	Constructing Classifications and Interpreting Evolutionary Relationships
	Definition of Species
	Interpreting Species and other Groups in the Fossil Record
	What are Fossils and How Do they Form?
	Vertebrate Evolutionary History: A Brief Summary
	Mammalian Evolution
	The Emergence of Major Mammalian Groups
	Processes of Macroevolution
	Working Together: Microevolution and Macroevoluation
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 6: An Overview of the Primates
	Introduction
	Primate Characteristics
	Primate Adaptations
	Primate Classification
	A Survey of the Living Primates
	Endangered Primates
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 7: Primate Behavior
	Introduction
	The Evolution of Behavior
	Why be Social?
	Primate Social Behavior
	Reproduction and Reproductive Behaviors
	Mothers, Fathers, and Infants
	Primate Cultural Behavior
	Language
	The Primate Continuum
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 8: Primate and Hominin Origins
	Early Primate Evolution
	Miocene Fossil Hominoids: Closer Connections to Apes and Humans
	Understanding the Human Connection to other Primates and Ways We Differ: Biocultural Evolution
	Discovering Human Evolution: The Science of Paleoanthropology
	Early Hominin Tools
	Connecting the Dots through Time: Paleoanthropological Dating Methods
	Understanding Our Direct Evolutionary Connections: What's a Hominin?
	Walking the Walk: The Bipedal Adaptation
	Digging for Connections: Early Hominins from Africa
	Pre-Australopiths (6.0+-4.4 mya)
	Australopiths (4.2-1.2 mya)
	Closer Connections: Early Homo (2.0+-1.4 mya)
	Interpretations: What does it All Mean?
	Seeing the Big Picture: Adaptive Patterns of Early African Hominins
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
	Paleoanthropology: On the Trail of Our Early Ancestors and the Environments in which they Lived
Ch 9: The First Dispersal of the Genus Homo: Homo erectus and Contemporaries
	A New Kind of Hominin
	The Morphology of Homo erectus
	The First Homo erectus: Homo erectus from Africa
	Who were the Earliest African Emigrants?
	Homo erectus from Indonesia
	Homo erectus from China
	Asian and African Homo erectus: A Comparison
	Later Homo erectus from Europe
	Technological Trends during Homo erectus Times
	Seeing the Connections: Interpretations of Homo erectus
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 10: Premodern Humans
	When, Where, and What
	Premodern Humans of the Middle Pleistocene
	A Review of Middle Pleistocene Evolution
	Middle Pleistocene Culture
	Neandertals: Premodern Humans of the Late Pleistocene
	Culture of Neandertals
	Molecular Connections: The Genetic Evidence
	Seeing Close Human Connections: Understanding Premodern Humans
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 11: The Origin and Dispersal of Modern Humans
	Approaches to Understanding Modern Human Origins
	The Earliest Discoveries of Modern Humans
	Something New and Different: The "Little People"
	Technology and Art in the Upper Paleolithic
	Summary of Upper Paleolithic Culture
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 12: Human Variation and Adaptation
	Historical Views of Human Variation
	The Concept of Race
	Contemporary Interpretations of Human Variation
	Human Biocultural Evolution
	Population Genetics
	The Adaptive Significance of Human Variation
	The Continuing Impact of Infectious Disease
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
	Paleopathology: What Bones can Tell us about Ancient Diseases and Injury
Ch 13: Legacies of Human Evolutionary History: Effects on the Individual
	Introduction
	Evolved Biology and Contemporary Lifestyles-Is there a Mismatch?
	Biocultural Evolution and the Life Course
	Human Growth and Development Today and in the Past
	The Human Life Cycle
	Aging and Longevity
	Are We Still Evolving?
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Ch 14: The Human Disconnection
	Human Impact on the Planet and other Life-Forms
	Looking for Solutions
	Is there Any Good News?
	Summary of Main Topics
	Critical Thinking Questions
Appendix A: Atlas of Primate Skeletal Anatomy
Appendix B: Summary of Early Hominin Fossil Finds from Africa
Appendix C: Population Genetics
Appendix D: Sexing and Aging the Skeleton
Glossary
Bibliography
Index