Extinct Humans [Paperback]

Ian Tattersall (Author), Jeffrey Schwartz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2001

Scientists have long envisioned the human “family tree” as a straight-line progression from the apelike australopithecines to the enigmatic Homo habilis to the famous Neanderthals, culminating in us, Homo sapiens. But this model is unlike the evolutionary patterns known for all other vertebrates—patterns that typically reveal multiple branchings and extinctions. In Extinct Humans, Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz present convincing evidence that many distinct species of humans have existed during the history of the hominid family, often simultaneously. Furthermore, these species may have contributed to one another’s extinction. Who were these different human species? Which are direct ancestors to us? And, the most profound question of all, why is there only a single human species alive on Earth now?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's time for a hominid family reunion, and anthropologists Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz have brought the scrapbook. Extinct Humans is both an album of knowledge of our ancestors and closely related species and a theoretical reconsideration of the fossil evidence. Tattersall and Schwartz suggest that many more human species existed than we previously thought, and that many of them existed contemporaneously until about 25,000 years ago. Profusely illustrated, the book makes its case well, showing and discussing the evidence and proposing a family history that pulls all the fossils and theories together into a testable whole. The authors have personally investigated every available hominid specimen, and the depth of their knowledge is staggering at times--but their obsession is enlightening and entertaining.

The introductory history of human taxonomy sets us up for the discussions to follow and reminds us of our tendency to read more into human history than can reasonably be inferred from the evidence. The racist sentiments of 19th-century anthropologists found firm footing in their theories, and we can only wonder what mistakes we're making today. Doing their best to eliminate extraneous details, Tattersall and Schwartz provide a lean, parsimonious theory to guide anthropology into the 21st century, as we try to learn why we're the only ones left. --Rob Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Stone tools and fossilized jawbones meet complex, reticulated theories from the history of anthropology and evolution in this attractively produced introduction to the vexed world of early hominids. Tattersall and Schwartz (who took many of the book's b&w photos) describe their popularly intended work as the by-product of a continuing paleontological goal: the authors want to describe "the huge variety of human fossils according to a single consistent protocol." The first chapter covers the history of speculation about human origins, from Aristotle's to Goethe's concepts to discovery of the 1856 Feldhofer Grotto Neanderthal fossil, to today's debates about the branching trees of Homo and Australopithecus. Then we're off to the fossils themselves and to the vigorous debates about themAdebates until recently carried on with too little data and too little reference to norms of nonanthropoid paleontology. Was Robert Broom's Kromdraai hominid (1938) a new genus of proto-humans, Paranthropus? His reasons for saying so wouldn't have held water had he been classifying, say, sea urchins. Skull contours, pelvis shapes, tooth types, climate change and fossil footprints enter into the debates Tattersall (The Fossil Trail; The Last Neanderthal) and Schwartz (Skeleton Keys; Sudden Origins) record. Previous paleoanthropologists, the authors explain, tried too hard to imagine a single line culminating in Homo sapiens. Hominid history ought to look less like a queue than like a treeAlater chapters explore that tree and its fruits. The authors clearly describe recent discoveries in China; map hypothesized early-human migrations; cover the decline of the Neanderthals; and consider Western Europe's trove of cave paintings and bone flutesAevidence of practices that characterize, not Neanderthals, but just us. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; New edition edition (December 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813339189
• ISBN-13: 978-0813339184
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, October 7, 2002

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Extinct Humans (Paperback)

It's been 20 years since I read up much on the paleoanthropology, so I thought I'd get up to date and read some of the recent books on the subject. One thing I noticed right away, compared to when I was last studying the subject in college, was how our evolutionary tree was now much "bushier," compared to what we knew back then. Now it's thought that there were at least 3 or 4 different species of Australopithecines, and the same goes for Homo habilis, and H. erectus.

Besides this book, so far I've read Paul Jordan's Neanderthal, Richard Leakey's The Origins of Humankind, and Richard Klein's The Dawn of Human Culture. They're all excellent books, but Klein's and Tattersall's were both published in the last year, so they're the most recent, and include important information on the most recent finds, such as Ardipithecus ramidus, although the Sahelanthropus tchadensis discovery by the M. Brunet expedition was so recent it unfortunately doesn't appear in either book.

This book is the most beauifully illustrated of the four books I've read so far. The full-color plates of the different skulls really allow you to connect the comparative anatomy as discussed in the text with the actual features. The book has very nice, glossy paper, so the photos look great, but that also means its the most expensive book of the four. Tattersall's writing is excellent and never gets dry or technical, and the Klein book is also extremely well written. Klein's book also has very clear explanations of high-tech dating methods such as radioisotope dating, thermoluminscence, ESR or electron spin resonance dating, and so on, and he also discusses their strengths and weaknesses, and the technical problems and limitations involved in using them, which I liked.

The book also has an excellent introductory chapter in which the author discusses the early history of comparative fossil anatomy, including the important work of Blumenbach, who founded the science and revised and expanded on many of Linnaeus's notions about taxonomy, especially the definition of the genus Homo, and our species, Homo sapiens.

The Leakey book is now almost 10 years old, and although somewhat dated, it's still worth reading, as its focus is different from these two books. It's not primarily about the comparative anatomy of the different fossil finds so much as what the changes in anatomy from the pre-homonids to the homonids meant for our physiology and ultimately our life-style. Leakey uses the fossil record to show that such human characteristics as a prolonged, helpless infancy, a more active and athletic way of life, delayed sexual maturity, the development of finer tool-making, and the advent of complex social relationships and sophisticated language, all arose during the transition from the Australopithecines to the more advanced Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

Neanderthal, by Paul Jordan, is the most technical and in some ways the most difficult to read, but it's the most detailed and in-depth discussion I've seen on this important homonid and its relatives. Jordan does have some chapters on the other pre-homonid and homonid evlutionary lines, but you don't get to these until you're halfway into the book, so the main emphasis is definitely on Neanderthal and the major discoveries there. Therefore, I would recommend you read either Klein's or Tattersall's book before this one to get a better idea of all the earlier and later species before tackling this book, since it's so heavily Neanderthal-weighted.

Overall, however, all of these are excellent books, and each has its own pros and cons. My preference, and the ones I enjoyed the most, were the present volume and Klein's, partly because their recent publication allows them to discuss the most recent finds, but also I found them to be the most readable and well-written.

Hope my little comparison review of recent paleoanthropology books helps, and happy book buying and reading!

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing account of human evolution, August 13, 2000

By 

Bruce Trinque (Amston, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Extinct Humans (Hardcover)

"Extinct Humans" is a fascinating account of human evolution, extraordinarily illustrated with crisp, powerful photographs of fossils which drive home the point that these are the remains of actual beings who have inhabited this world before us, whether they were our direct ancestors or instead "cousins" to our own line of descent.

Tattersall and Schwartz have studied not just the literature on the subject, but virtually all the fossils themselves, giving them a perhaps unmatched command of the variations in the homanid fossil record. They argue persuasively in a clear, well-organized text that modern Homo sapiens is the sole survivor of the many distinct homanid species which have existed over the past two million years, that most of the fossils which have been found represent not ancestors of our own specific line, but relatives which split off in different directions before ultimately coming to a literal dead end. Their discussion of the interaction between Neaderthals and modern humans in Europe (and possibly between Homo erectus and modern humans in southeast Asia) is especially absorbing, delving into questions of technological change, the emergence of symbolic thought, and the creation of language.

The study of human evolution has, well, evolved enormously in the 35 years I have been interested in the topic. "Extinct Humans" is, to my way of thinking, today's best summary and analysis of current knowledge.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Spare that tree!, February 23, 2002

By 

Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Extinct Humans (Paperback)

Tracing the course of human evolution is fraught with pitfalls. Each newly discovered fossil is scrupulously assessed for its place on the human family tree. Locating it properly is fundamental in understanding how evolution achieved Homo sapiens. Tattersall and Schwarz conduct us on a tour of the history of evolutionary thinking and detail the analysis procedures. The expedition is thoughtfully conceived, offering superb vistas and rewarding discoveries.

Over half a century ago, E. Mayr and T. Dobzhansky developed a "grand synthesis" of human evolution. According to the authors, the earlier workers postulated a "linear" path of hominid evolution. This analysis forged much of evolutionary thinking for decades. Dissenters, however, were always present. Nearly every book on human evolution spends some time describing the conflict between the "lumpers" and the "splitters". Viewing the many of the hominid fossils as but individual variations of general types, the lumpers find abhorrent the complexity resulting from too many species. To them, the family tree is a linear trunk with but a few branches. In contrast, the splitters see fossil variations reflecting a host of unearthed new hominid species. They feel that turning the human family tree into a frizzy bush gives the emergence of Homo sapiens an even more unique place in Nature than it already enjoys.

Tattersall and Schwarz produce a remarkable case for additional splitting. Morphology, the classifying of characteristics of anatomical features, is their operating system. In this book we are offered one of the most complete morphological analyses of human fossils in print. Dismissing the idea of the human family tree portraying a linear sequence of events, they examine in minute detail the bones unearthed to date. Eyebrow ridges, chin sutures and cheek form are critically reassessed in building their case. Homo erectus, once considered a world girdling precursor to modern humanity, demands reconsideration, according to the authors.

The text of this book might prove a bit daunting to newcomers to anthropology or anatomy. Rest assured, however, that this book will reward any reader with but minimal perseverance. You may need to engage in a bit of page flipping in understanding some points. The lavish illustrations on those pages will reward the curious; photographs and drawings clarifying what might seem obscure or unfamiliar. Indeed, this is one of the first popular books illustrating areas often remanded to text in other general books on this topic. The authors deserve the fullest accolades for their efforts in providing intelligible text and graphics. Their concluding presentation of a new family tree for human ancestors is an excellent summation of their assertions.

The authors spend an unexpected amount of ink dwelling on the idea that Neanderthal is not a member of Homo sapiens. It's difficult to understand why they feel the need to flog this so severely, since this concept has been out of mainstream paleoanthropology for some time. Since they fail to identify the target of their sniping, when so many others holding contrary views are disposed of elsewhere, we're at a loss to comprehend their vehemence. The assumption follows that since this is an area of Tattersall's expertise, he's simply taken this opportunity to caper a little. Since the explanation is so clear and accompanied by such magnificent illustrative material, we may forgive them a bit of prancing and enjoy the performance.

While the authors build a convincing case, it abides on a shaky foundation. In seeking support for new hominid species, the omit a definition of speciation. Species are organisms that reproduce successfully. Yet within any complex species, wide variations exist to trap the morphologist. A glance at any kennel with display a wide variation in bones, hair covering and colour, but the inmates remain dogs. While they argue that geographic distribution contributes to speciation [which it does], there's simply no evidence that the human diaspora generated new species. Quite the reverse in modern humans. From this, it seems their
assault on Mayr and Dobzhansky's thesis seems misplaced. No matter how many variations on the theme occur in the fossil record, the lineage of humanity does follow a path into the distant past. As Darwin grieved, the fossil record remains too sparse to trace that path in detail at this time.

Their omission of defining speciation detracts but little from the value of this book. The detailed information and the quality illustrative material makes it a rich addition to the library of anyone delving into the mysteries of human evolution. It's a costly addition, but well worth the investment to those concerned with learning their place in Nature. Their case may be flawed, but their evidence and how they present it is worthwhile.