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RECORD NUMBER: 31 OF 32

Main Title Understanding climate's influence on human evolution /
Publisher National Academies Press,
Year Published 2010
OCLC Number 568050174
ISBN 9780309148382; 0309148383
Subjects Climatic changes ; Human beings--Climatic factors ; Human beings--Effect of environment on ; Human evolution--Environmental aspects ; Human ecology ; Biological Evolution ; Hominidae ; Climate ; Climatic changes--Environmental aspects ; Human beings--Effect of climate on
Internet Access
Description Access URL
National Academies Press http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12825
ebrary http://site.ebrary.com/id/10379897
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK208104/
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record%5Fid=12825
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
ERAM  GF71 .U63 2010 Region 9 Library/San Francisco,CA 04/06/2010
Collation xii, 115 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color. maps ; 23 cm
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 93-103).
Contents Notes
"The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; increases in brain size; and the emergence of Homo sapiens, tools, and culture. The Earth's geological record suggests that some evolutionary events were coincident with substantial changes in African and Eurasian climate, raising the possibility that critical junctures in human evolution and behavioral development may have been affected by the environmental characteristics of the areas where hominins evolved. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution explores the opportunities of using scientific research to improve our understanding of how climate may have helped shape our species. Improved climate records for specific regions will be required before it is possible to evaluate how critical resources for hominins, especially water and vegetation, would have been distributed on the landscape during key intervals of hominin history. Existing records contain substantial temporal gaps. The book's initiatives are presented in two major research themes: first, determining the impacts of climate change and climate variability on human evolution and dispersal; and second, integrating climate modeling, environmental records, and biotic responses. Understanding Climate's Change on Human Evolution suggests a new scientific program for international climate and human evolution studies that involve an exploration initiative to locate new fossil sites and to broaden the geographic and temporal sampling of the fossil and archeological record; a comprehensive and integrative scientific drilling program in lakes, lake bed outcrops, and ocean basins surrounding the regions where hominins evolved and a major investment in climate modeling experiments for key time intervals and regions that are critical to understanding human evolution."--Publisher's description.