First in line : tracing our ape ancestry / Tom Gundling.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gundling, Tom, 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human beings--Origin.

Human beings.

Fossil hominids.

Australopithecines.

Paleoanthropology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (222 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Despite Darwin's bold contention in 1871 that the likely ancestor for Homo sapiens was an African ape, the scientific community hesitated for decades before accepting small-brained but bipedal walking "apes" from southern Africa as direct human ancestors. Remains of the australopiths, as these bipedal apes are now called, were first discovered in 1924, yet 25 years passed before the australopiths found their place on the human family tree. This book is the first to document in detail this paradigm shift in paleoanthropology between 1924 and 1950.Tom Gundling examines a period in anthropological history when ideas about what it means to be human were severely tested. Drawing on extensive primary sources, many never before published, he argues that the reinterpretation of early human fossils came about at last because of changes in theoretical approach, not simply because new and more complete fossils had been recovered. Gundling concludes with a review of the most significant post-1950 events in the field of paleoanthropology.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Prologue

1. The Great Chain Legacy

2. Putting the Chain in Motion

3. Finding Missing Links

4. The Southern Ape

5. Darwin Redux

Epilogue

Appendixes

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [175]-191) and index.

ISBN:

9786611730864

9781281730862

1281730866

9780300130744

0300130740

OCLC:

952731715