Table Of ContentArsuaga/ChosenSpecies 1405115327-1-pretoc FinalProof page 1 9.6.2005 9:37am
The Chosen Species
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For Lourdes
For Chon
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Spanishedition(cid:1)1998byJuanLuisArsuagaFerreras,IgnacioMart´ınezMendiza´bal,and
EdicionesTemasdeHoy,Ltd.(T.H.)
Illustrations(cid:1)1998byMauricioAnto´n
Englishtranslation(cid:1)2006byBlackwellPublishing,Ltd.
BLACKWELLPUBLISHING
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Originallypublishedin1998byTemasdeHoyasLaespecieelegida
Englisheditionpublished2006byBlackwellPublishing
TranslatedintoEnglishbyRachelGomme
1 2006
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Arsuaga,JuanLuisde.
[Especieelegida.English]
Thechosenspecies:thelongmarchofhumanevolution/JuanLuisArsuaga,Ignacio
Mart´ınez;illustrationsbyMauricioAnto´n;[translatedintoEnglishbyRachelGomme].
p.cm.
‘‘Originallypublishedin1997byTemasdeHoyasLaespecieelegida’’—T.p.verso.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-1-4051-1532-2(hardcover:alk.paper)
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ISBN-13:978-1-4051-1533-9(pbk.:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:1-4051-1533-5(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Fossilhominids.2.Humanevolution.3.Primates—Evolution.4.Anthropology,
Prehistoric.I.Mart´ınez,Ignacio.II.Anto´n,Mauricio.III.Title.
GN282.A698132006
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Prehistory 1
Little Lucy 1
Intrepid Paleontologists 3
Part I Children of Africa 7
1 Basic Principles of Evolutionary Theory 9
TheInheritance of Acquired Characteristics 9
Natural Selection 10
TheStaircaseof Progress 13
2 We the Primates 17
TheEcological Definition and Diversityof Primates 17
TheClassification of Primates 20
Hominoids,Apes of Our Own Branch 22
Historyof the Primates 27
3 Climate and Evolution 35
TheOrigin of Species 35
Climate Changesover the Last Few Million Years 36
Paleotemperature Scales 38
Factors in Climate Change 39
v
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Contents
Milankovitch Cycles 40
A ClimaticModelforEquatorialAfrica 43
TheControversial Gas 45
TheEnd of Paradise 46
4 The Origin of Humanity 49
Molecular Clocks 49
TheFirst Fossil Hominids 51
Change of Habitat 53
East Side Story 57
Dating Fossils 59
TheTaung Child 61
Distinguishing Marks 62
5 The Bipedal Chimpanzee 66
TheGreat Step 66
TheLaetoliFootprints 74
TheMysteryof Mysteries of Human Evolution 76
Portrait of the Entire Body of an Australopithecine 78
6 Paranthropus – Hominids of the Open Plains 87
TheEmergence and Distributionof Paranthropus 87
TheSpecialist 94
7 A New Kind of Hominid 97
TheFirst Humans 97
TheStone Cutters 98
TheDiversification of Homo 102
Ready for the Great Leap 105
Family Relationships 107
TheScience of Relationships 110
TheHominid Tree 112
8 The Evolution of the Brain 116
TheOrganof Intelligence 116
Large andSmallBrains 117
World Champions of Encephalization 120
Weighing Ghosts 120
TheBrain Size of Fossil Hominids 123
Surface Area of the Brain 124
TheSize of the Intellect 127
vi
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Contents
9 Teeth, Guts, Hands, Brain 129
Types of Diet 129
CarnivorousandHerbivorous Mammals 132
TheTeeth of Primates 134
TheTeeth of the First Hominids 136
Size of the Molars and Shape of the Hand 138
Gutsand Brain 142
10 Development 145
TheRhythm ofthe Molars 145
Birth and the Newborn 146
Childhoodand Adolescence 152
11 Social Intelligence 155
TheUnexciting Sex Life of the FemaleOrangutan 155
Behavior as Adaptation 156
ComparativeSociobiology of Hominoids 158
Natural Selection and Sexual Selection 160
BipedalandMonogamous from the Beginning? 162
Brain Size and Size of SocialGroup 169
Summary 171
Part II A New Home 177
12 New Locations for Human Evolution 179
Homo erectus and the Settlementof Asia 179
TheFirst Europeans 182
Gran Dolinaand the First Europeans 184
Prehistoric Cannibalism 186
Homo antecessor 187
Human Evolutionin Europe during the Middle
Pleistocene 190
ThePit ofBones 192
13 The Neanderthals 197
TheWayThey Were 197
Life and Death among the Neanderthals 205
TheBeginning andEnd of the Neanderthals 208
vii
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Contents
14 The Origins of Modern Humanity: The Fossil Evidence 212
Neanderthals and Modern Humans 212
Two Intelligent HumanSpecies 216
TheLevant:A Crossroads 219
Tothe EasternmostEdge of Asia 222
TheAfrican Origin of Homo sapiens 223
15 The Origins of Modern Humanity: The Genetic
Evidence 226
A Brilliant Idea 226
TheMolecules of Inheritance 228
Black Eve 229
An Adam for Eve 231
TheOther Chromosomes 232
PleistocenePark 233
Fossils and Molecules 235
Standards of Beauty 237
16 The Origins of Human Language 239
King Solomon’s Ring 239
Language and Brain 241
TheChoking Primate 243
TheProduction of Speech 244
TheFossils Speak 247
Group Selection andthe Extinction of the Neanderthals 249
TheCrooked Lines of Natural Selection 253
17 The Meaning of Evolution 255
TheAction Replay of Life 255
Organizationand Chaos 261
Epilogue 264
TheNever-ending Story 264
Bibliography 268
Index 275
viii
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For nowconsider,likethezoologistsandtheanatomists,
that man has more of the ape than of the angel, and that
he has few grounds for vanity or conceit.
Santiago Ramo´n y Cajal
