This interdisciplinary book interprets early human evolution in the context of the local ecology and specific habitats. It assesses carefully the possible role of climate change in driving early human evolution. Bringing an ecological and biogeographic perspective to recent fossil finds, the book provides a new synthesis of ideas on hominid evolution. It will be a valuable resource for researchers in physical, biological, or paleoanthropology, evolutionary biology or biogeography.

List of Contributors Searching for an Interdisciplinary Convergence in Paleoanthropology, Timothy G. Bromage and Friedemann Schrenk Part I. Theory 1. Introduction, Yves Coppens 2. Habitat Theory in Relation to the Evolution in African Neogene Biota and Hominids, Elisabeth S. Vrba 3. Paleontology and Macroevolution: On the Theoretical Conflict between an Expanded Synthesis and Hierarchic Punctuationism, Frederick S. Szalay 4. The Autocatalytic Nature of Hominid Evolution in African Plio-Pleistocene Environments, Jeffrey K. McKee 5. In Search of Paleohominid Community Ecology, Michael L. Rosenzweig 6. Evolution in the African Plio-Pleistocene Mammalian Fauna: Correlation and Causation, Alan Turner Part II. Geology, Ecology, and Biogeography 7. Introduction, Jonathan Kingdon 8. Cenozoic Climate Change, George H. Denton 9. Landforms, Climate, Ecogeographic Mosaics, and the Potential for Hominine Diversity in Pliocene Africa, Eileen M. O'Brien and Charles R. Peters 10. Ecological Links between African Savanna Environments, Climate Change, and Early Hominid Evolution, Norman Owen-Smith 11. Evolutionary Processes Implicit in Distribution Patterns of Modern African Mammals, Peter Grubb Part III. Fossil Faunas 12. Introduction, F. Clark Howell 13. Biogeography, Dietary Specialization, and the Diversification of African Plio-Pleistocene Monkeys, Brenda R. Benefit 14. Toward an Evolutionary History of African Hipparionine Horses, Raymond L. Bernor and Miranda Armour-Chelu 15. Suid Paleoecology and Habitat Preferences at African Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominid Localities, Laura C. Bishop 16. Of Mice and Men: Evolution in East and South Africa during Plio-Pleistocene Times, Christiane Denys 17. Relationships between East and South African Mammal Faunas, Peter Grubb et al. Part IV. Hominid Evolution 18. Introduction, Meave Leakey 19. Basin Evolution, Sedimentary Dynamics, and Hominid Habitats in East Africa: An Ecosystem Approach, Craig S. Feibel 20. African Miocene Environments and the Transition to Early Hominines, Peter Andrews and Louise Humphrey 21. Plio-Pleistocene Floral Context and Habitat Preferences of Sympatric Hominid Species in East Africa, Nancy E. Sikes 22. Grades among the African Early Hominids, Mark Collard and Bernard Wood 23. Evolutionary Geography of Pliocene African Hominids, Robert Foley 24. Early Hominid Dental Development and Climate Change, Fernando Ramirez Rozzi, Christopher Walker, and Timothy Bromage 25. Habitat Specificity and Early Hominid Craniodental Ecomorphology, Timothy G. Bromage Appendix: A Locality-based Listing of African Plio-Pleistocene Mammals, Alan Turner et al. Glossary References Cited Taxon Index Subject Index

"This volume on paleoantropology is a welcome departure from the traditional focus on the morphology, taxonomy, and phylogeny of early hominids. It is the result of a Wenner-Gren symposium organized to better understand early hominids within an ecological and adaptive framework. . . .The editors are to be congratulated for deomonstrating the value of bringing togeter a wide variety of specialists, including geologists, ecologists, paleontologists, evolutionary theorists and hominid systematists." -- The Quarterly Review of Biology |k No