Not so long ago, all a student studying human evolution needed was a familiarity with the relatively sparse fossil record and what limited information there was about the context of the sites, a basic knowledge of gross anatomy and archeology, and an understanding of simple analytical methods. Times have changed. The fossil record has grown exponentially, imaging techniques have advanced dramatically, quantitative methods have burgeoned, and molecular biology has revolutionized our understanding of genetics, evolutionary history, and development. Added to this are advances in the archeological, biological, and earth sciences that help interpret the context of the fossil evidence and reconstruct behavior. But presently there is nowhere students of human evolution cna easily find out about topics as disparate as ameloblast, Coopers Cave, daily secretion rate, the effect hypothesis, homeobox genes, insolation, phylogenetically independent contrasts, quantitative trait locus, semicircular canals, and tephrostratigraphy. The Wiley Blackwell Student Dictionary of Human Evolution contains upwards of 2500 entries, all drafted with an eye on the student user. It is an indispensable source for those studying human evolution.

The study of human evolution is advancing rapidly. New fossil evidence is adding ever more pieces to the puzzle of our past; the new science of ancient DNA is completely reshaping theories of early human populations and migrations. Bernard Wood traces the field of palaeoanthropology from its beginnings in the eighteenth century to the present.

Chimpanzees, including bonobos and common chimpanzees, are our closest living relatives. However, surprisingly, the information about the soft tissues of bonobos is very scarce, making it difficult to discuss and understand human evolution. This book, which is the first photographic and descriptive musculoskeletal atlas of bonobos (Pan paniscus), adopts the same format as the photographic atlases of other apes previously published by the same authors. These books are part of a series of monographs that will set out the comparative and phylogenetic context of the gross anatomy and evolutionary history of the soft tissue morphology of modern humans and their closest relatives. The present atlas, which includes detailed high quality photographs of the musculoskeletal structures from most anatomical regions of the body as well as textual information about the attachments, innervation, function and weight of the respective muscles, is based on dissections of seven bonobos, including adults, adolescents, infants and fetuses, and males and females, and on an extensive review of the literature for comparisons with common chimpanzees. It therefore provides an updated review of the anatomical variations within chimpanzees as well as an extensive list of synonyms used in the literature to designate the structures covered here. Moreover, contrary to the previous photographic atlases of apes, it also provides details on neurovascular structures such as the brachial and lumbrosacral plexuses. The book will therefore be of interest to students, teachers and researchers focusing on primatology, comparative anatomy, functional morphology, zoology, and physical anthropology and to medical students, doctors and researchers who are curious about the origin, evolution, homology and variations of the musculoskeletal and neurovascular structures of modern humans.

Human prehistory is an effective tool for adopting an evolutionary perspective on present day and future challenges humans face.

This comprehensive A to Z encyclopedia provides extensive coverage of important scientific terms related to improving our understanding of how we evolved. Specifically, the 5,000 entries in this two-volume set cover evidence and methods used to investigate the relationships among the living great apes, evidence about what makes the behavior of modern humans distinctive, and evidence about the evolutionary history of that distinctiveness, as well as information about modern methods used to trace the recent evolutionary history of modern human populations. This text provides a resource for everyone studying the emergence of Homo sapiens. Visit the companion site www.woodhumanevolution.com to browse additional references and updates from this comprehensive encyclopedia.