Craig B. Stanford Henry T. Bunn Russell L. Ciochon
When, why, and how early humans began to eat meat are three of the most fundamental unresolved questions in the study of human origins. Before 2.5 million years ago the presence and importance of meat in the hominid diet is unknown. After stone tools appear in the fossil record it seems clear that meat was eaten in increasing quantities, but whether it was obtained through hunting or scavenging remains a topic of intense debate. This book takes a novel and strongly interdisciplinary approach to the role of meat in the early hominid diet, inviting well-known researchers who study the human...
When, why, and how early humans began to eat meat are three of the most fundamental unresolved questions in the study of human origins. Before 2.5 mil...
Evolutionary scientists know that the line that divides humans from other animals has grown increasingly blurry, yet many other fields, especially in the social sciences, have not really absorbed this knowledge. At the same time, the knowledge that all humans are genetically and cognitively modern has left the apes as our only true "savages." Thus if we want to learn about human nature and how we came to be as we are, we must look to the apes. In this sweeping, fresh, controversial book, primatologist Craig Stanford does just that, giving us fascinating insights--and debunks many myths--about...
Evolutionary scientists know that the line that divides humans from other animals has grown increasingly blurry, yet many other fields, especially in ...
Our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, are familiar enough--bright and ornery and promiscuous. But they also kill and eat their kin, in this case the red colobus monkey, which may say something about primate--even hominid--evolution. This book, the first long-term field study of a predator-prey relationship involving two wild primates, documents a six-year investigation into how the risk of predation molds primate society. Taking us to Gombe National Park in Tanzania, a place made famous by Jane Goodall's studies, the book offers a close look at how predation by wild...
Our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, are familiar enough--bright and ornery and promiscuous. But they also kill and eat their kin, in thi...
What makes humans unique? What makes us the most successful animal species inhabiting the Earth today? Most scientists agree that the key to our success is the unusually large size of our brains. Our large brains gave us our exceptional thinking capacity and led to humans' other distinctive characteristics, including advanced communication, tool use, and walking on two legs. Or was it the other way around? Did the challenges faced by early humans push the species toward communication, tool use, and walking and, in doing so, drive the evolutionary engine toward a large brain? In this...
What makes humans unique? What makes us the most successful animal species inhabiting the Earth today? Most scientists agree that the key to our su...
Apes and dolphins: primates and cetaceans. Could any creatures appear to be more different? Yet both are large-brained intelligent mammals with complex communication and social interaction. In the first book to study apes and dolphins side by side, Maddalena Bearzi and Craig B. Stanford, a dolphin biologist and a primatologist who have spent their careers studying these animals in the wild, combine their insights with compelling results. Beautiful Minds explains how and why apes and dolphins are so distantly related yet so cognitively alike and what this teaches us about another...
Apes and dolphins: primates and cetaceans. Could any creatures appear to be more different? Yet both are large-brained intelligent mammals with com...
"Planet Without Apes" demands that we consider whether we can live with the consequences of wiping our closest relatives off the face of the Earth. Leading primatologist Craig Stanford warns that extinction of the great apes chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans threatens to become a reality within just a few human generations. We are on the verge of losing the last links to our evolutionary past, and to all the biological knowledge about ourselves that would die along with them. The crisis we face is tantamount to standing aside while our last extended family members vanish from...
"Planet Without Apes" demands that we consider whether we can live with the consequences of wiping our closest relatives off the face of the Earth....
Drawing on extensive observations of wild chimpanzees' behavior and social dynamics, Craig Stanford portrays a complex and more humanlike ape than the chimps Jane Goodall popularized more than a half century ago one that plots political coups, strategizes for resources, and passes on cultural traditions to younger generations.
Drawing on extensive observations of wild chimpanzees' behavior and social dynamics, Craig Stanford portrays a complex and more humanlike ape than the...
