Patterns of Growth and Development in the Genus Homo

This book focuses on species within the genus Homo to investigate the evolutionary origins of characteristic human patterns.

J. L. Thompson (Edited by), G. E. Krovitz (Edited by), A. J. Nelson (Edited by)

9780521822725, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 December 2003

470 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.885 kg

Review of the hardback: 'This book is an excellent addition to the literature on growth and development, and a long overdue examination of our own genus's growth and development.' International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

It is generally accepted that the earliest human ancestors grew more like apes than like humans today. If they did so, and we are now different, when, how and why did our modern growth patterns evolve? This book focuses on species within the genus Homo to investigate the evolutionary origins of characteristic human patterns and rates of craniofacial and postcranial growth and development, and to explore unique ontogenetic patterns within each fossil species. Experts examine growth patterns found within available Plio-Pleistocene hominid samples, and analyse variation in ontogenetic patterns and rates of development in recent modern humans in order to provide a comparative context for fossil hominid studies. Presenting studies of some of the newer juvenile fossil specimens and information on Homo antecessor, this book will provide a rich data source with which anthropologists and evolutionary biologists can address the questions posed above.

List of contributors
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction G. E. Krovitz, A. J. Nelson and J. L. Thompson
Part I. Setting the Stage: What Do we Know about Human Growth and Development?: 2. The human pattern of growth and development in paleontological perspective B. Bogin
3. Postnatal ontogeny of facial position in Homo sapiens and Pan troglodytes B. McBratney-Owen and D. E. Lieberman
4. Variation in modern human dental development H. Liversidge
5. Developmental variation in the facial skeleton on anatomically modern Homo sapiens U. Strand Vidarsdóttir and P. O'Higgins
6. Linear growth variation in the archaeological record L. T. Humphrey
7. Hominid growth and development: the modern context J. L. Thompson, A. J. Nelson and G. E. Krovitz
Part II. The First Steps: From Australopithecines to Middle Pleistocene Homo: 8. Reconstructing australopithecine growth and development: what do we think we know? K. L. Kuykendall
9. Growth and life history in Homo erectus S. C. Antón and S. R. Leigh
10. Patterns of dental development in Lower and Middle Pleistocene hominins from Atapuerca (Spain) J. M. Bermúdez de Castro, F. Ramírez Rozzi, M. Martinón-Torres, S. Sarimiento Pérez and A. Rosas
11. Hominid growth and development from australopithecines to Middle Pleistocene Homo G. E. Krovitz, J. L. Thompson and A. J. Nelson
Part III. The Last Steps: The Approach to Modern Humans: 12. Diagnosing heterochronic perturbations in the craniofacial evolution of Homo (Neandertals and modern humans) and Pan (P. troglodytes and P. paniscus) F. L. Williams, L. R. Godfrey and M. R. Sutherland
13. Shape and growth differences between Neandertals and modern humans: grounds for a species-level distinction? G. E. Krovitz
14. Ontogenetic patterning and phylogenetic significance of mental foramen number and position in the evolution of Upper Pleistocene Homo sapiens H. Coqueugniot and N. Minugh-Purvis
15. A new approach to the quantitative analysis of postcranial growth in Neandertals and modern humans: evidence from the hipbone T. Majó and A.-M. Tillier
16. Ontogenetic variation in the Dederiych Neandertal infants: postcranial evidence O. Kondo and H. Ishida
17. Hominid growth and development in Upper Pleistocene Homo A. J. Nelson, G. E. Krovitz and J. L. Thompson
18. Conclusions: putting it all together A. J. Nelson, J. L. Thompson and G. E. Krovitz
Index.

Subject Areas: Human biology [PSX]