|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
The Wrong Ape for Early Human Origins examines ways in which the
chimpanzee referential model has exerted a primary influence on
evolutionary theory, dominating portraits of proto- and early human
social life, and in the broader sense, of human nature itself.
Evidence on which this model is based is revisited, along with new
cross-disciplinary findings that point to alternative scenarios for
hominin phylogeny, ecology and subsistence, primeval kinship,
cognition and language, and the respective roles played by
aggression and cooperation as evolutionary drivers. Recent advances
in phylogenetics, evolutionary biology, and new additions to the
fossil record are rendering linear, monotypic models obsolete.
Contemporary theories on species divergence and change over time
are shifting attention from ancient genotypes to factors that
influence gene expression, and from innate prescriptive behaviors
to epigenesis and the capacity for behavioral plasticity. This
broader platform has the potential to fundamentally revise current
notions about the basic nature, phenotypic traits, and lifeways of
ancestral humans. It informs a different profile of our
progenitors—one that reflects greater ecological bandwidth,
reliance on creative niche construction, and hominin agency in the
structuring of ancient reproductive and social groups.
What set our ancestors off on a separate evolutionary trajectory
was the ability to flex their reproductive and social strategies in
response to changing environmental conditions. Exploring new
cross-disciplinary research that links this capacity to critical
changes in the organization of the primate brain, Social DNA
presents a new synthesis of ideas on human social origins -
challenging models that trace our beginnings to traits shaped by
ancient hunting economies, or to genetic platforms shared with
contemporary apes.
What set our ancestors off on a separate evolutionary trajectory
was the ability to flex their reproductive and social strategies in
response to changing environmental conditions. Exploring new
cross-disciplinary research that links this capacity to critical
changes in the organization of the primate brain, Social DNA
presents a new synthesis of ideas on human social origins -
challenging models that trace our beginnings to traits shaped by
ancient hunting economies, or to genetic platforms shared with
contemporary apes.
"Female of the Species" is an attempt to use the approach of
traditional anthropology in the examination of the position of
women at the species level. While Martin and Voorhies recognize
that there are fundamental differences between men and women that
stem from basic biological differences, they are committed to the
proposition that culture rather than biology plays the more
critical role in determining those features of behavior which
ultimately dichotomize the sexes. "Female of the Species "takes a
step towards quantifying and understanding these cultural
differences by looking at the changing roles women have played in
society over time.
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
|
Email address subscribed successfully.
A activation email has been sent to you.
Please click the link in that email to activate your subscription.