The Cradle of Humanity

The Cradle of Humanity
Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Total Pages : 257
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780198704522
ISBN-13 : 0198704526
Rating : 4/5 (526 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Cradle of Humanity by : Mark Maslin

Download or read book The Cradle of Humanity written by Mark Maslin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the fundamental questions of our existence is why we are so smart. There are lots of drawbacks to having a large brain, including the huge food intake needed to keep the organ running, the frequency with which it goes wrong, and our very high infant and mother mortality rates compared with other mammals, due to the difficulty of giving birth to offspring with very large heads. So why did evolution favour the brainy ape? This question has been widely debated among biological anthropologists, and in recent years, Maslin and his colleagues have pioneered a new theory that might just be the answer. Looking back to a crucial period some 1.9 million years ago, when brain capacity increased by as much as 80%, The Cradle of Humanity explores the implications of two adaptive responses by our hominin ancestors to rapid climatic changes - big jaws, and big brains. Maslin argues that the impact of changing landscapes and fluctuating climates that led to the appearance of intermittent freshwater lakes in East Africa may have played a key role in human evolution. Alongside the physical evidence of fossils and tools, he considers social theories of why a large, complex brain would have provided a major advantage when trying to survive in the constantly changing East African landscape.


The Cradle of Humanity Related Books

The Cradle of Humanity
Language: en
Pages: 257
Authors: Mark Maslin
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017 - Publisher: Oxford University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

One of the fundamental questions of our existence is why we are so smart. There are lots of drawbacks to having a large brain, including the huge food intake ne
The Cradle of Humanity
Language: en
Pages: 220
Authors: Georges Bataille
Categories: Art
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Art of indigenous peoples.
Africa, the Cradle of Human Diversity
Language: en
Pages: 341
Authors:
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-11-22 - Publisher: BRILL

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book explores important chapters of past and recent African history from a multidisciplinary perspective. It covers an extensive time range from the evolut
Caves of the Ape-men
Language: en
Pages: 149
Authors: Ronald J. Clarke
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010 - Publisher: Witwatersrand University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A coffee-table book full of amazing pictures of unique fossils of early hominids The unique fossils featured in Caves of the Ape-Men were excavated at cave site
Journey Toward the Cradle of Mankind
Language: en
Pages: 172
Authors: Guido Gozzano
Categories: Travel
Type: BOOK - Published: 1996 - Publisher: Northwestern University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Before leaving home he had engaged to send back dispatches to La Stampa; after appearing there, his "letters from India" were collected and issued posthumously