The real planet of the apes
Subtitle: a new story of human origins
By: David R. Begun
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 246
ISBN-13: 9780691149240
Copyright date: 2016
Subjects: Mammals; Evolution; Behavior; Human evolution
Description: Was Darwin wrong when he traced our origins to Africa? The Real Planet of the Apes makes the explosive claim that it was in Europe, not Africa, where apes evolved the most important hallmarks of our human lineage--such as bipedalism, dexterous hands, and larger brains. In this compelling and accessible book, David Begun, one of the world's leading paleoanthropologists, transports readers to an epoch in the remote past when the Earth was home to many migratory populations of ape species. Drawing on the latest astonishing discoveries in the fossil record as well as his own experiences conducting field expeditions across Europe and Asia, Begun provides a sweeping evolutionary history of great apes and humans. He tells the story of how one of the earliest members of our evolutionary group--a new kind of primate called Proconsul--evolved from lemur-like monkeys in the primeval forests of Africa. Begun vividly describes how, over the next 10 million years, these hominoids expanded into Europe and Asia and evolved climbing and hanging adaptations, longer maturation times, and larger brains, setting the stage for the emergence of humans.
Notes: Includes index.

Date of publication from publisher's website.