Book

The improbable primate : how water shaped human evolution

Finlayson, Clive, 1955-, author

Overview

In The Improbable Primate, Clive Finlayson takes an ecological approach to our evolution, considering the origins of modern humans within the context of a drying climate and changing landscapes. Finlayson argues that environmental change, particularly availability of water, played a critical role in shaping the direction of human evolution, contributing to our spread and success. He asserts that our ancestors carved a niche for themselves by leaving the forest and forcing their way into a long-established community of carnivores in a tropical savannah as climate changes opened up the landscape. They took their chance at high noon, when most other predators were asleep. Adapting to this new lifestyle by shedding their hair and developing an active sweating system to keep cool, being close to fresh water was vital. As the climate dried, our ancestors, already bipedal, became taller and slimmer, more adept at travelling farther in search of water. The challenges of seeking water in a drying landscape moulded the minds and bodies of early humans, and directed their migrations and eventual settlements.

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Subject: Human beings Origin. / Water History. / Human evolution. / Paleoecology Pleistocene. / Human beings Effect of environment on. / Monogenism and polygenism. / Neanderthals. / Paleoanthropology.
• ISBN: 9780199658794, 019965879X

Item info:

1 item available

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Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
GN281.4.F56 2014	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE