Classification and human evolution / edited by Sherwood L. Washburn.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Washburn, S. L. (Sherwood Larned), 1911-2000.

Edith E. Clark Endowment Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human evolution.

Primates.

Human beings--Origin.

Human beings.

Physical Description:

viii, 371 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, NJ : AldineTransaction, [2007]

Summary:

The names given to the variety of man-like fossils known to scientists should reflect no more than scientific views of the nature of human evolution. However, often in the past these names have also reflected confusion regarding the basic principles of scientific nomenclature; and the matter has been further complicated by the many new finds of recent decades. It is the unique purpose of this book to clarify the present state of knowledge regarding the main lines of human evolution by expressing what is known (and what is surmised) about them in appropriate taxonomic language.

The papers in this volume were prepared by the world's leading authorities on the subject, and were revised in the light of discussions at a remarkable conference held in Austria in 1962 under the auspices of the Wenner-Gren Foundation. The authors review first the meaning of taxonomic statements as such, and then consider the substance of our present knowledge regarding the number and characteristics of species among living and extinct primates, including man and his ancestors. They also examine the relationship of behavior changes and selection pressures in evolutionary sequences. Ample illustrations, bibliographies, and an index enhance the permanent reference value of the book, which will undoubtedly prove to be among the fundamental paleoanthropological works of our time.

Contents:

The Meaning of Taxonomic Statements / George Gaylord Simpson 1

East African Fossil Hominoidea and the Classification within This Super-Family / L. S. B. Leakey 32

Quantitative Taxonomy and Human Evolution / Bernard Campbell 50

Some Considerations in the Formulation of Theories of Human Phylogeny / G. A. Harrison, J. S. Weiner 75

Age Changes, Sex Differences, and Variability as Factors in the Classification of Primates / Adolph H. Schultz 85

The Evaluation of Characteristics of the Skull, Hands, and Feet for Primate Taxonomy / Josef Biegert 116

The Classification of Oreopithecus / William L. Straus, Jr. 146

The Locomotor Functions of Hominids / John Napier 178

Behavior and Human Evolution / S. L. Washburn 190

Man's Place in the Phylogeny of the Primates as Reflected in Serum Proteins / Morris Goodman 204

The Chromosomes of the Hominoidea / Harold P. Klinger, John L. Hamerton, David Mutton, Ernst M. Lang 235

Perspectives in Molecular Anthropology / Emile Zuckerkandl 243

Some Problems in the Analysis and Comparison of Monkey and Ape Behavior / K. R. L. Hall 273

A Comparison of the Ecology and Behavior of Monkeys and Apes / Irven DeVore 301

Psychological Definitions of Man / Anne Roe 320

The Taxonomic Evaluation of Fossil Hominids / Ernst Mayr 332

Genetic Entities in Hominid Evolution / Theodosius Dobzhansky 347.

Notes:

Originally published: Chicago : Aldine Pub. Co., 1963. In series: Viking fund publications in anthropology ; no. 37.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edith E. Clark Endowment Fund.

ISBN:

9780202309354

0202309355

OCLC:

71369594