Fossil Primates

A unique reconstruction of the paleobiology of fossil non-human primates and their key role in inferring evolutionary processes on earth.

Susan Cachel (Author)

9780521183024, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 April 2015

315 pages, 103 b/w illus. 8 tables
24.6 x 17.4 x 1.4 cm, 0.64 kg

'… students will get a lively introduction to some of the palaeobiology and geographical/ecological context of many of our non-hominin fossil relatives.' Todd C. Rae, Primate Eye

Reconstructing the paleobiology of fossil non-human primates, this book is intended as an exposition of non-human primate evolution that includes information about evolutionary theory and processes, paleobiology, paleoenvironment, how fossils are formed, how fossils illustrate evolutionary processes, the reconstruction of life from fossils, the formation of the primate fossil record, functional anatomy, and the genetic bases of anatomy. Throughout, the emphasis of the book is on the biology of fossil primates, not their taxonomic classification or systematics, or formal species descriptions. The author draws detailed pictures of the paleoenvironment of fossil primates, including contemporary animals and plants, and ancient primate communities, emphasizing our ability to reconstruct lifeways from fragmentary bones and teeth, using functional anatomy, stable isotopes from enamel and collagen, and high resolution CT-scans of the cranium. Fossil Primates will be essential reading for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in evolutionary anthropology, primatology and vertebrate paleobiology.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: primates in evolutionary time
2. Primate taxonomy
3. Fossils and fossilization
4. The world of the past
5. The lifeways of extinct animals
6. Evolutionary processes and the pattern of primate evolution
7. Primate origins
8. The Paleocene primate radiation
9. The Eocene primate radiation
10. The Malagasy primate radiation
11. The Oligocene bottleneck
12. Rise of the anthropoids
13. The platyrrhine radiation
14. The Miocene hominoid radiation
15. The cercopithecoid radiation
16. Late Cenozoic climate changes
17. Conclusions
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Physical anthropology [JHMP], Anthropology [JHM]