Biological Anthropology A Synthetic Approach to Human Evolution

The first edition ofBiological Anthropologyappeared in 1997. Since that time, a significant number of new discoveries in all of the subfields have been made that have altered to a greater or lesser extent our understanding of ourselves. Perhaps the most rapidly changing subfield of biological anthropology is that of paleoanthropology, or the study of our origins and evolution. During 2000 and 2001, two new genera of fossil hominids were announced based on discoveries that, in one instance, exceeded 5 million years of age. We were able to report on this discovery of a new fossil genus calledOrrorinin this edition. We were not able to report on one new subspecies of another hominid genus,Ardipithecus,a fossil hominid that, up to this point, we believed was only 4.5 million years of age because of publication deadlines. We will take the opportunity here to say that this new subspecies, calledArdipithecus ramidus kadabba,is represented by cranial, dental, and postcranial fragments, including a toe bone. This is enough to establish this new 5.5-million-year-old fossil from a site in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia as the earliest upright walking biped thus far known. Such discoveries, while not what one should consider commonplace, do set the field of biological anthropology off as different from many others because change, not quiescence, is its hallmark. This alone makes it nearly impossible to write a textbook that is completely up-to-date with new discoveries and the interpretations of those discoveries that follow by researchers who study them. It also makes this field one of the most fascinating, perhaps imponderable, likening itself to a mystery story whose plot not only thickens but is continually altered by a never-ending stream of new facts. Realizing our limitations to elucidate, we can only hope that we have passed on the sense of the fascination that will spark our readers to seek out answers to the many questions that remain about the human condition. ABOUT THE BOOK We believeBiological Anthropology, Second Edition,represents both a useful approach to the teaching of biological anthropology at the introductory college and university level and a restatement of the coherency and fundamental compatibility of the many subfields that contribute to its makeup. Throughout the book, the reader will find the unifying thread of evolution by natural selection that forms the basic paradigm of the discipline. As scientists, we believe that every question should remain open to the possibility of a new answer; however, Charles Darwin's formulations of evolution and its later modifications continue to be our best explanation for life on earth and the world around us. This work remains organized along lines of increasing complexity of living forms, beginning from prebiotic replicating molecules through to modernHomo Sapiens.Since this book is devoted to issues that revolve around us, we have devoted considerable space in the text to considering our past and present situation and, in an educated fashion, to speculating about our future. We have used available paleoecological data to set the stage and provide the context of the morphological and behavioral adaptations that have characterized our ancestors during each phase of our evolution. We believe that this organization serves to build students' understanding of the biological, genetic, and anatomical basics of biological anthropology so that complex questions of human relatedness to other life forms, behavior, variability, and modern-day adaptation to our increasingly demanding environments can be approached in more meaningful ways. In a field as fast paced as biological anthropology, we welcome the opportunity to revise and update the original text. New insights into old problems, new fossil finds, new people working in the field, and, sadly, people who have made their contribution and passed onBoaz, Noel T. is the author of 'Biological Anthropology A Synthetic Approach to Human Evolution', published 2002 under ISBN 9780130908193 and ISBN 0130908193.