Human Evolution and Development

Nico M. van Straalen is professor of Animal Ecology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and specialises in evolutionary biology. Dick Roelofs is associate professor of Molecular Ecology and Ecogenomics, also at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Preface 1. Our ancestors' story - The revolutionary innovation: walking upright - How old is that fossil? - The human tree of descent - The old hominins - The golden age of ape-men - The first Homos - Towards modern times 2. From egg to human - Heterochrony and Haeckel's law - Cleavages and germ layers - Axes provide direction - Developmental biology's model animals - The molecular tool kit - Limbs need new axes 3. The tinkered body - Tinkering, watchmakers and a Boeing 747 - The naked body - Adaptations to bipedalism in the locomotor apparatus - Gill slits, jaws, the thyroid, and the middle ear - Heart, urogenitals, guts and lungs - Evolution of the brain 4. There's got to be differences - Neutral jumps or stepwise adaptation? - The origin of genetic variation - Equilibrium between allele and genotype frequencies - Neutral evolution - Geographic distance and genetic variation - On top of genetics 5. The past inside the present - Phylogenetic reconstruction - The molecular clock and coalescence analysis - Out of Africa or multiregional evolution? - Migrations in so many directions - Hybridizations between ancient hominins 6. The cultural human - Prehistoric tools and cave art - The Neolithic transition - Evolution of language: early or late? - Group living; kin selection and altruism - Cultural evolution 7. Do humans still evolve? - Quantitative genetics and heritability - Evolution of biomedical traits - Evolution of the human life-cycle - Partner preference and sexual selection - Evolutionary medicine Epilogue Further reading Primary literature Figure acknowledgements Index