The improbable primate : how water shaped human evolution /

The improbable primate : how water shaped human evolution /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Finlayson, Clive, 1955-, author.
Edition:First edition.
Imprint:Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2014.
©2014
Description:xix, 202 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm
Language:English
Subject:
Human beings -- Origin.
Water -- History.
Human evolution.
Paleoecology -- Pleistocene.
Human beings -- Effect of environment on.
Monogenism and polygenism.
Neanderthals.
Paleoanthropology.
Human beings -- Effect of environment on.
Human beings -- Origin.
Human evolution.
Monogenism and polygenism.
Neanderthals.
Paleoanthropology.
Paleoecology.
Pleistocene Geologic Epoch.
Water.
History.
Format: Map Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/9953805
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780199658794
019965879X
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-191) and index.
Summary: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.

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