The History of Our Tribe Hominini Textbook Introduction

Introduction Where did we come from ?

What were our ancestors like ?

Why do we differ from other animals ?

How do scientists trace and construct our evolutionary history ?

I have attempted to answer those questions and more . The title of this book is a bit . Primate taxonomy has changed immensely in recent years , and while the changes make the subject more difficult to master , the classification of great apes is much improved . Like it or not , we are great apes . We used to have our own family , as distinct from the other great apes , making us the hominids . All great apes are now hominids . At the level of the subfamily , the Asian great ape ( the orangutan ) splits off , leaving us and our fellow African great apes in the subfamily . We are . The gorillas then come out at the tribal level ( leaving humans and possibly chimps , depending on who is doing the lumping or splitting , as members of the tribe . We are . When we refer to , we mean humans and our extinct bipedal relatives . Of course , the title likely first conjures a cultural aspect of human social organization , that is , the tribe , because most people are not familiar with new and improved human taxonomy . That brings up my sense of humor . I am a naturally silly person , and I hope my nonsense will not be putting to the reader . I wrote this book to fill a perceived gap between basic texts in physical anthropology and advanced books that cover paleoanthropology and fossil in great detail . I designed it with my Human Evolution course in mind . I wanted more than is available in an introductory text without overwhelming students with the jargon , complex anatomy , numerous fossil sites , etc . of an advanced text . I also tried to avoid the general tedium of textbooks , but I am not sure if I succeeded . The book can also serve as a text ( since it free ! for any course that covers aspects of human evolution , such as Introduction to Anthropology , Introduction to Physical Anthropology , Human Ecology , Old World Prehistory , etc . After presenting an overview of the discipline of paleoanthropology , I introduce nonhuman primates so as to show students where we fit and what we can learn from their ecology and behavior . I trace the history of the primates , with a special emphasis on the ancestry of the . An overview of human and anatomy is presented so that students can understand how bodies changed over time as came down from the trees , moved out of the forests , and began their . The remainder of the book is dedicated to all of the extinct species as well as the earliest members of our own species , Homo sapiens . The are organized chronologically , and this book includes the following information where able ( brief introduction ( phylogeny or evolutionary history ( discovery and geographic range wherein , sites , and famous discoveries are covered ( physical characteristics and ( environment and way of life , including relevant aspects of behavior and culture . I have tried to keep the sections uniform and encyclopedic in nature so that students can quickly find what they need . dent aids and additional references are included . And now , a little about why the crazy monkey lady ( as students are wont to refer to me ) wrote a book on human evolution . I am an anthropologist , physical anthropologist , anatomist , and behavioral ecologist . I have thus been trained in both animal and human behavior , from a cultural and biological . I have taught comparative primate and human anatomy . I have been teaching General , Physical Anthropology , Human Evolution , Human Ecology , Human Osteology ( skeletal anatomy ) and primate courses for 18 years . I have approached the topic of human evolution from the perspective of my training and experience . Thus I have covered what I learned about the various species , in terms of , sites , anatomy , and cultural remains I have also focused where possible on their ecology and environment , the adaptive significance of their morphology and behavior , and their behavioral ecology and , such as social organization , mating systems , male and female strategies ,

tion and abilities , etc . My goal was to create a more holistic and enjoyable textbook by bringing the species to life . I have learned from the and strived to understand past species from my own perspective , founded in comparative primate anatomy , ecology , and behavior . My hope is that students will gain both an evolutionary perspective and a more synthetic understanding of and themselves . I hope readers will enjoy and benefit from the book . I have tried to keep it interesting , accessible , and organized . In proposing to write an open textbook , I wanted to provide students with a useful ence at no cost . While I think of some textbooks as expensive sleeping aids , at least mine is free ! xi