The red ape : orangutans and human origins / Jeffrey Schwartz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwartz, Jeffrey H.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human evolution.

Bornean orangutan.

Human beings--Origin.

Human beings.

Physical Description:

xvi, 286 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

Updated and revised edition.

Place of Publication:

Boulder, Colo. ; Oxford : Westview, 2004.

Summary:

We've all heard that chimpanzees are our closest living relatives-that, in fact, they share almost 98 percent of their genes with us. But what evidence supports these often-repeated claims? Very little, concludes physical anthropologist and evolutionary biologist Jeffrey H. Schwartz in his controversial classic, The Red Ape. In upending the conventional wisdom on relationships between apes and humans, Schwartz provides a fresh examination of the fossil record, genetics, and the comparative anatomy and physiology of humans and other living primates. Discussing these topics from a historical, philosophical, and theoretical perspective, he argues that it is the Asian organutan, not the African chimpanzee, bonobo, or gorilla, that is humankind's closest evolutionary cousin. The result is a compelling challenge to what we think we know about the origins of humans.

In this thoroughly revised edition, Schwartz analyzes the myriad human and ape fossil discoveries made since the publication of the first edition in 1987. He reveals the startling fact that orangutan and human teeth are so similar that they have commonly been misidentified for each other, even by experts. Based on new insights from the fields of human development and genetics he provocatively addresses whether molecules (including DNA) are more reliable than fossils and anatomy in assessing evolutionary relationships. Numerous new plates and drawings illustrate the text.

Contents:

1 The Orangutan 1

2 In Pursuit of Human Ancestry 25

3 The Search for Our Closest Relatives 51

4 The Riddle of Relatedness 79

5 Primates First, Hominoids Last 99

6 The Hominoids 129

7 Humans and Orangutans 145

8 Blood's Thicker Than Bones 161

9 Of Molecules and Evolution 183

10 In the Wake of The Red Ape 203

11 Chimps uber Alles? 219

12 The Return of the Red Ape 239.

ISBN:

0813340640

OCLC:

57709530