The First Humans

Part I. Retrospectives and Theoretical Perspectives1. Early humans: of whom do we speak? Richard E. Leakey2. Homo habilis - a premature discovery: remembered by one of its founding fathers, 42 years laterPhillip V. Tobia3. Where does the genus Homo begin, and how would we know? Bernard WoodPart II. Craniodental Perspectives on Taxonomy and Systematics4. The origin of Homo William H. Kimbel5. Comparisons of Early Pleistocene skulls from East Africa and the Georgian Caucasus: evidence bearing on the origin and systematics of genus HomoG. Philip Rightmire and David Lordkipanidze6. Phenetic affinities of Plio-Pleistocene Homo fossils from South Africa: molar cusp proportionsFrederick E. Grine, Heather F. Smith, Christopher P. Heesy and Emma J. SmithPart III. Postcranial Perspectives on Locomotion and Adaptation7. Evolution of the hominin shoulder: early Homo Susan G. Larson8. Brains, brawn, and the evolution of human endurance running capabilities Daniel E. Lieberman, Dennis M. Bramble, David A. Raichlen and John J. Shea9. Interlimb proportions in humans and fossil hominins: variability and scalingWilliam L. JungersPart IV. Perspectives on Development, Diet and Behavior10. Growth and development of the Nariokotome youth, KNM-WT 15000M. Christopher Dean and B. Holly Smith 11. Dental evidence for diets of early Homo Peter S. Ungar and Robert S. Scott12. Origins and adaptations of early Homo: what archaeology tells us Hélène Roche, Robert J. Blumenschine and John J. Shea Part V. Environmental and Ecological Perspectives13. Plio-Pleistocene EastAfrican pulsed climate variability and its influence on early human evolution.Mark A. Maslin and Martin H. Trauth14. Tracking ecological change in relation to the emergence of Homo near the Plio-Pleistocene boundary.Kaye E. Reed and Samantha M. Russak15. Ecology of Plio-Pleistocene mammals in the Omo-Turkana Basin and the emergence of Homo.René Bobe and Meave G. Leakey16. Biogeochemical evidence for the environments of early Homo in

Frederick E. Grine

Fred Grine is Professor of Anthropology and of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University. He has published over 100 articles in scientific journals dealing with the subject of human evolution, and his work on the Late Pleistocene human fossil from Hofmeyr, South Africa, was named by Time Magazine as one of the top ten science stories of 2007. He edited Evolutionary History of the 'Robust' Australopithecines (1988, Aldine de Gruyter), and is author of Regional Human Anatomy: a Laboratory Workbook (2002, 2005, 2007, McGraw-Hill).



John G. Fleagle

John Fleagle is Distinguished Professor of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University. He has conducted paleontological field work in many parts of the world, including Argentina, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia and India. He is the author of the textbook Primate Adaptation and Evolution (1988, 1999, Elsevier), co-editor of the Human Evolution Sourcebook (1993, 2006, Prentice Hall), and editor of the journal Evolutionary Anthropology.



Richard E. Leakey

Richard Leakey is Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University and former Director of the Kenya National Museums and the Kenya Wildlife Service. His field work around Lake Turkana, Kenya, has yielded a treasure trove of hominin fossils that has provided much of the paleontological record on which our understanding of human evolution is based. He has authored a number of books, including Origins, and most recently, The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and The Future of Humankind. He is Chairman of the Board of the Turkana Basin Institute at Stony Brook University.

From the reviews:

"This volume provides an up-to-date, concise synthesis of what is known about early Homo and highlights what still remains to be done." Journal of Human Evolution, 2009