ABSTRACT

Down from the Trees: Man’s Amazing Transition from Tree-Dwelling Ape Ancestors covers the evolution of man from tree-dwelling ape to Homo sapiens as he is today. Using easy-to-read language, the author takes complex, jargon-filled material and extracts the essence of the topic and coveys it in a clear and engaging manner. He approaches the subject of human evolution from three different disciplines: fossil evidence and its interpretation, evolutionary theory and its applicability, and genetic evidence and its ability to unlock prehistoric information. The third discipline has advanced unbelievably in the last few years, and this book includes the most up-to-date research.

There is nothing more interesting to humans than the story of their origins. The evolutionary process of a tree-dwelling ape becoming a walking, talking man who has developed the technology to walk on the moon, transplant hearts, or modify living things is no trivial story. This book provides a fascinating and comprehensive view of what science has learned of human evolution.

part |2 pages

PART I: FOSSILS TELL A STORY

chapter 1|6 pages

Stratigraphy

chapter 2|6 pages

Time Divisions

chapter 4|7 pages

Primates and Apes

chapter |1 pages

Problem Set

part |2 pages

PART II: BIPEDAL SPECIES

chapter 5|6 pages

Fossils and Human Evolution

chapter 6|6 pages

The Paleoanthropologists

chapter 7|6 pages

Overview of Our Distant Ancestors

chapter 8|6 pages

Ardi

chapter 9|8 pages

Lucy and Australopithecus afarensis

chapter 10|6 pages

Australopithecus sediba

chapter 11|6 pages

Homo naledi

chapter 12|10 pages

Homo erectus

chapter 13|10 pages

Neanderthal Man

chapter 14|10 pages

Homo sapiens

chapter |2 pages

Problem Set

part |2 pages

PART III: HOW EVOLUTION WORKS

chapter 15|12 pages

Charles Darwin

chapter 16|8 pages

The Modern Synthesis

chapter 17|10 pages

Richard Dawkins, the Darwin of Our Times

chapter 18|16 pages

Mechanisms of Speciation

chapter 19|4 pages

The Red Queen Effect

chapter 20|9 pages

Evolution of Bipedal Apes and Humans

chapter |1 pages

Problem Set

part |2 pages

PART IV: DNA: A POWERFUL NEW TOOL

chapter 21|6 pages

Introduction to DNA Technology

chapter 22|8 pages

The Race to Discover DNA’s Structure

chapter 23|6 pages

Discovering the Secret to Life

chapter 24|5 pages

Mutations and Junk DNA

chapter |1 pages

Problem Set

part |2 pages

PART V: DNA APPLIED TO PALEOANTHROPOLOGY

chapter 25|6 pages

DNA Science Applied to Human Origins

chapter 26|8 pages

Tracing Our Ape Heritage

chapter 27|8 pages

The Age and Origin of Our Species

chapter 28|14 pages

Out of Africa

chapter 29|14 pages

Neanderthal-Human Interbreeding

chapter 30|5 pages

Denisovan-Human Interbreeding

chapter |1 pages

Problem Set

part |2 pages

PART VI: UNIQUELY HUMAN EVOLUTION

chapter 31|14 pages

Bipedal Walking

chapter 32|8 pages

Hairlessness

chapter 33|10 pages

Big Brain Development

chapter 34|10 pages

Speech and Language

chapter 35|10 pages

Fire, Cooking, and Tools

chapter 36|11 pages

Sex

chapter |3 pages

Problem Set

part |2 pages

PART VII: HOMO SAPIENS DOMINATE

chapter 37|12 pages

Great Leap Forward

chapter 38|12 pages

Agriculture and Civilization

chapter 39|12 pages

The Journey from Ape to Man

chapter 40|8 pages

What the Future Holds

chapter |2 pages

Problem Set