The Improbable Primate

How Water Shaped Human Evolution

Clive Finlayson (Director of the Gibraltar Museum)

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English

Oxford University Press
02 February 2016

Mathematics & Sciences; Popular science; Ecological science, the Biosphere; Evolution

Taking an ecological approach to our evolution, Clive Finlayson considers the origins of modern humans within the context of a drying climate and changing landscapes.

Finlayson argues that environmental change, particularly availability of water, played a critical role in shaping the direction of human evolution, contributing to our spread and success. He argues that our ancestors carved a niche for themselves by leaving the forest and forcing their way into a long-established community of carnivores in a tropical savannah as climate changes opened up the landscape. They took their chance at high noon, when most other predators were asleep. Adapting to this new lifestyle by shedding their hair and developing an active sweating system to keep cool, being close to fresh water was vital. As the climate dried, our ancestors, already bipedal, became taller and slimmer, more adept at travelling farther in search of water. The challenges of seeking water in a drying landscape moulded the minds and bodies of early humans, and directed their migrations and eventual settlements.

In this fresh and provocative view of a seven-million-year evolutionary journey, Finlayson demonstrates the radical implications for the interpretation of fossils and technologies and shows that understanding humans within an ecological context provides insights into the emergence and spread of Homo sapiens sapiens worldwide.

By: Clive Finlayson (Director of the Gibraltar Museum)
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 195mm, Width: 145mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 170g
ISBN: 9780198743897
ISBN 10: 0198743890
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 02 February 2016
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

PREFACE ; 1. The Inverted Panda ; 2. And the World Changed Forever ; 3. At the Lake's Edge ; 4. The first humans ; 5. Middle Earth: The home of the first humans ; 6. The Drying World of the Middle Pleistocene ; 7. The Rain Chasers - Solutions in a Drying World ; 8. The Exceptional World of the Neanderthal ; 9. Global Expansion of the Rain Chasers ; 10. Nature's Driving Force ; 11. Australia ; 12. From Lake Chad to Puritjarra and beyond ; 13. The Improbable Primate Revisited

Clive Finlayson is a noted expert on the Neanderthals and has been researching their final stand in Gibraltar. He is Director of the Gibraltar Museum and Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, having trained in Oxford as an evolutionary ecologist. His previous books include Neanderthals and Modern Humans: An Ecological and Evolutinary Perspective (CUP, 2004) and The Humans Who Went Extinct (OUP, 2009).

Reviews for The Improbable Primate: How Water Shaped Human Evolution

Finlayson writes in a dry, clear, scholarly style which somehow accentuates the sheer improbability of humanity's long journey Brandon Robshaw, Independent on Sunday