Our Human Story: An Introduction to Biological Anthropology

by Rachel Mitchell

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This introductory text traces the human evolutionary story from a biological anthropology perspective using evidence from genetics, primatology, paleoanthropology, and archaeology. Timely and engaging real-world examples and applications of key concepts are used throughout the text to help students make connections between the reading material and their lived experiences.

Description from LibreTexts.

Publisher
Gavilan College
Subjects
Social Sciences
Licence
CC BY-NC 4.0, as LibreTexts states it. Non-commercial use only.
Who can read
Teens profiles and older, judged from its title and subjects

Contents

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  1. Front Matter
  2. TitlePage
  3. InfoPage
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Licensing
  6. About This Text
  7. 1: Introduction to Anthropology
  8. 1.1: Introduction to Anthropology
  9. 1.2: Key Anthropological Perspectives
  10. 1.3: The Scope of Biological Anthropology
  11. 1.4: Anthropology and Colonialism
  12. 1.5: Key Terms
  13. 1.6: References
  14. 2: An Evolutionary Worldview
  15. 2.1: Ways of Knowing
  16. 2.2: Science as Process
  17. 2.3: Evolution, Religion, and Society
  18. 2.4: Misconceptions About Evolution
  19. 2.5: Critical Thinking
  20. 2.6: Key Terms
  21. 2.7: References
  22. 3: Natural Selection
  23. 3.1: A Brief History of Evolutionary Thought
  24. 3.2: The Journey to Natural Selection
  25. 3.3: Natural Selection
  26. 3.4: Evidence
  27. 3.5: Origin of Species
  28. 3.6: Are We Still Evolving?
  29. 3.7: An Evolutionary Perspective
  30. 3.8: Misconceptions About Natural Selection
  31. 3.9: Key Terms
  32. 3.10: References and Attributions
  33. 4: Evolutionary Genetics
  34. 4.1: The Blueprint of Life- DNA
  35. 4.2: Making Proteins- How Genes Work
  36. 4.3: Passing Traits Down- Mendelian Inheritance
  37. 4.4: When DNA Changes- Mutations
  38. 4.5: Genetic Variation and Sexual Reproduction
  39. 4.6: Beyond the Sequence- The Human Genome and Epigenetics
  40. 4.7: Genetic Testing and Genetic Engineering
  41. 4.8: Key Terms
  42. 4.9: References and Attributions
  43. 5: Evolutionary Processes and Genes in Populations
  44. 5.1: Population Genetics- Thinking About Evolution at the Right Scale
  45. 5.2: The Four Forces of Evolution
  46. 5.3: Key Terms
  47. 5.4: References and Attributions
  48. 6: Human Variation
  49. 6.1: A Brief and Troubling History of Race Concepts
  50. 6.2: What the Genetics Actually Shows
  51. 6.3: Clinal Variation
  52. 6.4: Race as a Social Construct
  53. 6.5: Race, Ancestry, and Ethnicity
  54. 6.6: Medicine, Forensics, and Social Justice
  55. 6.7: Key Takeaways
  56. 6.8: Key Terms
  57. 6.9: References and Attributions
  58. 7: Introduction to Primates
  59. 7.1: Traits of Primates
  60. 7.1.1: Eyes and Hands
  61. 7.1.2: Teeth and Diet
  62. 7.1.3: Locomotion
  63. 7.1.4: Brains, Development, Behavior
  64. 7.1.5: Habitat and Threats
  65. 7.2: Learning from Primates
  66. 7.3: Key Terms
  67. 7.4: References and Attributions
  68. 8: Primate Diversity
  69. 8.1: Primate Taxonomy
  70. 8.2: The Prosimian Suborder
  71. 8.3: The Anthropoid Suborder
  72. 8.3.1: The Tarsier Infraorder
  73. 8.3.2: New World Monkeys
  74. 8.3.3: Old World Monkeys
  75. 8.3.4: The Apes
  76. 8.3.4.1: Gibbons and Siamangs
  77. 8.3.4.2: Orangutans
  78. 8.3.4.3: Gorillas
  79. 8.3.4.4: Chimpanzees and Bonobos
  80. 8.3.4.5: Humans
  81. 8.4: Primate Research- A Complicated History
  82. 8.5: Key Terms
  83. 8.6: References and Attributions
  84. 9: Primate Behavior
  85. 9.1: So What Makes Us Human?
  86. 9.2: Did Dads Evolve?
  87. 9.3: The Anthropocentric Bias
  88. 9.4: Key Terms
  89. 9.5: References
  90. 10: Studying the Human Past
  91. 10.1: Finding and Studying Hominin Remains
  92. 10.2: The Fossil Record is Tricky to Interpret
  93. 10.3: How Apes Reveal Human History
  94. 10.4: The Evolution of Upright Walking
  95. 10.5: Key Terms
  96. 11: Early Hominins
  97. 11.1: Lessons from Lucy
  98. 11.2: Setting the Stage - The Paleoenvironment
  99. 11.3: Pre-Australopithecines
  100. 11.4: Australopithecines
  101. 11.5: The Robust Hominins
  102. 11.6: Key Terms
  103. 12: Evolution of the Genus Homo
  104. 12.1: Defining the Genus Homo
  105. 12.2: The Climate Context
  106. 12.3: Homo habilis - The Earliest Member of our Genus
  107. 12.4: Homo erectus
  108. 12.5: Putting It All Together- How Diet, Tools and Movement Made Us Human
  109. 12.6: Fossil Evidence
  110. 12.7: Key Terms
  111. 12.8: References
  112. 13: Becoming Human
  113. 13.1: Surviving the Middle Pleistocene
  114. 13.2: Archaic Homo Sapiens
  115. 13.2.1: The Neanderthals
  116. 13.2.2: The Denisovans
  117. 13.2.3: Five Human Species You May Not Know About
  118. 13.3: Becoming Human
  119. 13.4: The Future of Humanity
  120. 13.5: Key Terms
  121. 13.6: References and Attributions
  122. Back Matter
  123. Index
  124. Detailed Licensing