The improbable primate : how water shaped human evolution /

Drawing on information contained in the fossil record, Finlayson (director, Gibraltar Museum) reconstructs the habitats occupied by our distant ancestors. The author uses data about ecological features common to these environments (trees, open spaces, and water) to support a "Water Optimization Hypothesis" of human evolution. Finlayson argues that the patchy availability of water in an increasingly arid environment was the principle driving force that shaped the early course of human evolution (including extinction events). The need to travel quickly and efficiently over long distances while searching for dwindling water resources favored development of a lightweight body, larger brains, and more advanced tool technologies (e.g., development of hafted tools). Other advantages that might have been gained along the way, such as greater safety and hunting efficacy afforded by an improved tool kit, were merely byproducts of the need for "travelling light" in order to cover greater distances. Finlayson's consideration of patchy environments and increased adaptability of marginalized populations echoes discussion in his earlier work, The Humans Who Went Extinct (CH, May'10, 47-4998). Although certain to fuel controversy among paleoanthropologists, Finlayson's proposal makes for intriguing reading and will interest students of human evolution. --Danny A. Brass, independent scholar

Evolutionary ecologist Finlayson (The Humans Who Went Extinct) attempts to cover seven million years of human evolution while making sweeping assertions about some major paleontological controversies without providing enough supporting documentation to make his case. He begins with a highly contentious premise: there has never been more than one species in the human genus at a time. In other words, Homo erectus, H. heidelbergensis, and the other species in our genus should rightfully be considered subspecies of Homo sapiens. This leads Finlayson to the equally controversial conclusion that the "out of Africa" model for human evolution, currently the dominant view, should be replaced by the less well-accepted multiregional hypothesis. While Finlayson might be correct on both counts, his abbreviated presentation fails to do justice to the topic's import and complexity. In many ways, these larger controversies are not crucial to his central point: "there has been a long interrelationship between climate change and human evolution and that the main driver behind this story has been water." How early humans dealt with their need for fresh water, he argues, can explain virtually every aspect of human evolution. Finlayson's presentation is interesting at the macro level, but those looking for detail should turn elsewhere. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary ecologist Finlayson (director, Gibraltar Museum; The Humans Who Went Extinct: Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived) considers the entire course of human evolution against the backdrop of shrinking water resources as the African continent underwent a series of severe drying episodes. Beginning with our most remote ancestors, he describes how their physical adaptations (bigger brains, lighter bodies, longer hind limbs), as well as their behavioral ones, were in response to scattered and ephemeral water resources. He concludes with an examination of the survival strategies of the Mardu aborigines of Australia, presenting them as a window into our past as they live by their wits in the harsh Australian desert. Finlayson presents a number of provocative arguments and hypotheses (e.g., our adaptation to finding water in an increasingly drying world was the crowning evolutionary achievement of our species), but it's unlikely that nonspecialists will have the scientific background to evaluate their validity. It would have been helpful to include a glossary instead of burying definitions in the endnotes. VERDICT Recommended to serious human evolution buffs and those with an academic background in the subject.-Cynthia Lee Knight, formerly with -Hunterdon Cty. Lib., -Flemington, NJ (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.