The first humans : origin and early evolution of the genus Homo : contributions from the third Stony Brook Human Evolution Symposium and Workshop, October 3-October 7, 2006
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Bibliographic Information
The first humans : origin and early evolution of the genus Homo : contributions from the third Stony Brook Human Evolution Symposium and Workshop, October 3-October 7, 2006
（Vertebrate paleobiology and paleoanthropology）
Springer, c2009
- : hbk
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Includes bibliographical references and indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
There are some issues in human paleontology that seem to be timeless. Most deal with the origin and early evolution of our own genus - something about which we should care. Some of these issues pertain to taxonomy and systematics. How many species of Homo were there in the Pliocene and Pleistocene? How do we identify the earliest members the genus Homo? If there is more than one Plio-Pleistocene species, how do they relate to one another, and where and when did they evolve? Other issues relate to questions about body size, proportions and the functional adaptations of the locomotor skeleton. When did the human postcranial "Bauplan" evolve, and for what reasons? What behaviors (and what behavioral limitations) can be inferred from the postcranial bones that have been attributed to Homo habilis and Homo erectus? Still other issues relate to growth, development and life history strategies, and the biological and archeological evidence for diet and behavior in early Homo. It is often argued that dietary change played an important role in the origin and early evolution of our genus, with stone tools opening up scavenging and hunting opportunities that would have added meat protein to the diet of Homo. Still other issues relate to the environmental and climatic context in which this genus evolved.
Table of Contents
Part I. Retrospectives and Theoretical Perspectives
1. Early humans: of whom do we speak?
Richard E. Leakey
2. Homo habilis - a premature discovery: remembered by one of its founding fathers, 42 years later
Phillip V. Tobia
3. Where does the genus Homo begin, and how would we know?
Bernard Wood
Part II. Craniodental Perspectives on Taxonomy and Systematics
4. The origin of Homo
William H. Kimbel
5. Comparisons of Early Pleistocene skulls from East Africa and the Georgian Caucasus: evidence bearing on the origin and systematics of genus Homo
G. Philip Rightmire and David Lordkipanidze
6. Phenetic affinities of Plio-Pleistocene Homo fossils from South Africa: molar cusp proportions
Frederick E. Grine, Heather F. Smith, Christopher P. Heesy and Emma J. Smith
Part III. Postcranial Perspectives on Locomotion and Adaptation
7. Evolution of the hominin shoulder: early Homo
Susan G. Larson
8. Brains, brawn, and the evolution of human endurance running capabilities
Daniel E. Lieberman, Dennis M. Bramble, David A. Raichlen and John J. Shea
9. Interlimb proportions in humans and fossil hominins: variability and scaling
William L. Jungers
Part IV. Perspectives on Development, Diet and Behavior
10. Growth and development of the Nariokotome youth, KNM-WT 15000
M. Christopher Dean and B. Holly Smith
11. Dental evidence for diets of early Homo
Peter S. Ungar and Robert S. Scott
12. Origins and adaptations of early Homo: what archaeology tells us
Helene Roche, Robert J. Blumenschine and John J. Shea
Part V. Environmental and Ecological Perspectives
13. Plio-Pleistocene EastAfrican pulsed climate variability and its influence on early human evolution.
Mark A. Maslin and Martin H. Trauth
14. Tracking ecological change in relation to the emergence of Homo near the Plio-Pleistocene boundary.
Kaye E. Reed and Samantha M. Russak
15. Ecology of Plio-Pleistocene mammals in the Omo-Turkana Basin and the emergence of Homo.
Rene Bobe and Meave G. Leakey
16. Biogeochemical evidence for the environments of early Homo in South Africa
Matt Sponheimer and Julia Lee-Thorp
Part VI. Summary Perspective on the Workshop
17. The first humans: a summary perspective on the origin and early evolution of the genus Homo.
Frederick E. Grine and John G. Fleagle
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