Apes and human evolution /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Tuttle, Russell H., 1939-
Imprint:Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2014.
Description:1 online resource (xiv, 1056 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps)
Language:English
Subject:
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11224713
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:0674726537
9780674726536
9781785396007
1785396005
9780674073166
0674073169
Digital file characteristics:data file
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 691-1015) and index.
In English.
Print version record.
Summary:In this masterwork, Russell H. Tuttle synthesizes a vast research literature in primate evolution and behavior to explain how apes and humans evolved in relation to one another, and why humans became a bipedal, tool-making, culture-inventing species distinct from other hominoids. This encyclopedic volume is both a milestone in primatological research and a critique of what is known and yet to be discovered about human and ape potential.
Other form:Print version: Tuttle, Russell H., 1939- Apes and human evolution. 9780674073166 0674073169
Standard no.:10.4159/harvard.9780674726536
Review by Choice Review

Although the evolutionary history of humans is understood in a broad sense, the search for the details of our ancestry is ongoing. In this book, Tuttle (anthropology, Univ. of Chicago) examines what is known and unknown about our lineage. He begins with a survey of the earliest primates and provides a meticulously researched catalog of the fossil record of the family Hominidae. The second section of the book examines how seemingly minor features of anatomy explain similarities and major differences in behavior among the closest human relatives. An inspection of the hands of hominids and a consideration of their importance in tool use follows. A comparison of the brains of apes leads to a discussion of sociality, sexual behaviors, and communication, and the book culminates in an analysis of what it means to be human. This is an enormous work, brimming with citations; the literature cited amounts to over 300 pages. A volume this detailed has the potential to be a colossal bore, but Tuttle's command of the material is impressive, his writing style is fluid, and his sense of humor is apparent throughout the book. --John L. Hunt, University of Arkansas--Monticello

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review