Review by Choice Review
Apes--chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons--are represented today by relatively few species restricted to tropical Africa and Asia. However, 5 to 20 million years ago, during the Miocene period, a remarkably rich diversity of apes was distributed throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia. More than 100 extinct apes are known from the fossil record, providing evidence of a once-flourishing adaptive radiation. Study of these creatures provides clues about what may have precipitated the near-demise of humans' closest relatives and offers important insights into human evolutionary ancestry. Begun (Univ. of Toronto), a leading expert on ape evolution, has produced an engaging, superbly written account of the evolutionary history of apes. The book starts 35 million years ago and progresses through time, introducing the most important fossil discoveries along the way. The text is enlivened by the author's personal recollections and anecdotes about historical events and figures and the scientists he encountered during the course of his research over the past three decades. The brisk pacing of the narrative, the depth of knowledge presented, and Begun's ability to convey difficult concepts simply and with minimal technical detail contribute to the book's success. This excellent book will attract readers with an interest in vertebrate paleontology, primate evolution, and human origins. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All library collections. --Terry Harrison, New York University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Begun, professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, asks two large questions in this thought-provoking book: How did the planet go "from dozens of ape species at any one time, hundreds in all over the millennia, to just a few today"? And what are the characteristics of the common ancestor that chimpanzees and humans shared with one another approximately seven million years ago? Along the way to finding answers, Begun explains the reasoning and data that scientists use to discern evolutionary relationships among long-extinct species, describes the excitement that comes from making a new discovery, and demonstrates how interpretive differences between scientists can be productive and nonconfrontational. The book also contains a wealth of information about the comparative anatomy of humans and other apes. Begun's overarching goal is to promote his hypothesis that the ancestor of the African apes and humans may actually have evolved in Europe instead of Africa. He builds a strong case for this not-yet-mainstream idea while making it abundantly clear that he is open to data that would prove him wrong. Begun's passion is evident in both his writing and his science, but the important details of his work are likely to be overwhelming to all but the most dedicated students of anthropology. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Review by Library Journal Review
Paleoanthropologist Begun (anthropology, Univ. of Toronto; The Evolution of Thought) tells the story of great ape evolution based on the fossil evidence of the Miocene epoch (some ten to 20 million years ago), when many ancestral great ape species flourished in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Much of this story involves teeth. Fossil apes are often taxonomically classified on the basis of a single tooth or even tooth fragment because it is the only fossil evidence available. Amazingly, one tooth can be enough to provide important clues about an extinct animal's diet and environment. Based on just such fossil evidence, the author argues that the ancestral species that gave rise to the modern great ape and human lineages originated in Europe rather than Africa. Sometimes referred to as the "out of Africa and back again" hypothesis, it is not a widely held view. VERDICT While it offers lay readers a fascinating glimpse into the rugged field work of a paleoanthropologist, this book's lengthy descriptions of anatomy and dentition make it most suitable for those with an academic background in the subject or primate evolution.-Cynthia Lee Knight (CLK), formerly with Hunterdon Cty. Lib., Flemington, NJ © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Paleoanthropologist Begun (Anthropology/Univ. of Toronto; editor: A Companion to Paleoanthropology, 2013, etc.) claims that the great ape ancestors of humans evolved in Europe and moved to Africa, not the other way around. The author makes clear that our species has a complex history that can only be properly studied by understanding ape evolution. His examination of fossil apes in Europe, especially the genus Dryopithecus, led him to conclude that they were hominids, the same group to which humans belong. Primitive apes flourished in Africa 20 million years ago, and when some species dispersed to Eurasia, ecological conditions there selected for new adaptations: larger brains and new means of locomotion. When a cooler, drier climate caught up with them there, the ancestors of orangutans ended up in Southeast Asia, whereas the common ancestor of humans and great apesgorillas and chimpanzees, for examplemigrated back to Africa. Begun describes the zone from Germany and Turkey to Kenya as "the Grand Central Station of the middle Miocene," with the ancestors of many mammals, including apes and humans, dispersing through it. The fossil evidence, he notes, suggests that hominids were thriving in Europe in the late-middle and early-late Miocene but were at that time extremely rare in Africa, a situation that later changed in response to global climate changes. Begun employs diagrams, maps, and photographs of fossils to aid general readers, but the plethora of unfamiliar scientific names and lengthy discussions of skeletal features, facial orientation, and dentition demand close attention, even repeat readings. More accessible are his accounts of his fieldwork, and his comments about the impact of ecological factors on migration, extinction, and diversification are highly relevant today. The questions of where, when, and how our species evolved are fascinating, but this well-developed, technically challenging account will be tough going for those without a background in the subject matter. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
