John G. Fleagle – författare

**2026 Textbook and Academic Authors Association (TAA) McGuffey Longevity Award Winner**Primate Adaptation and Evolution, Fourth Edition provides key features of extant families and references to more detailed texts. The book sets the scene and creates space for a thorough updating of exciting developments in primate paleontology and a reconstruction through early hominid species of our own human origins. This updated version covers recent developments in primate paleontology, the latest taxonomy, and includes new visuals, including helpful illustrations and evolutionary trees. It is an ideal text for undergraduate and post-graduate students studying the evolution and functional ecology of primates and early fossil hominids.The book retains its grounding in the extant primate groups as the best way to understand the fossil trail and evolution of these modern forms. However, this coverage is now more streamlined, referring to the many new and excellent books on living primate ecology and adaptation - a field that has burgeoned since this book's first publication.Includes over 200 new illustrations and revised evolutionary treesOffers the latest information on primate physiology, isotopes and geneticsDiscusses life history and dispersal patterns among speciesProvides new genera and data on the behavior and ecology of New World monkeysPresents the newest fossil discoveries, including platyrrhine and primitive catarrhine origins

This volume brings together information about recent discoveries and current theories concerning the origin and early evolution of anthropoid primates­ monkeys, apes, and humans. Although Anthropoidea is one of the most dis­ tinctive groups of living primates, and the origin of the group is a frequent topic of discussion in the anthropological and paleontological literature, the topic of anthropoid origins has rarely been the foeus of direct discussion in primate evolution. Rather, diseussion of anthropoid origins appears as a ma­ jor side issue in volumes dealing with the origin of platyrrhines (Ciochon and Chiarelli, 1980), in discussions about the phylogenetic position of Tarsius, in descriptions of early anthropoid fossils, and in descriptions and revisions of various fossil prosimians. As a result, the literature on anthropoid origins has a long history of argument by advocacy, in which scholars with different views have expounded individual theories based on a small bit of evidence at hand, often with little consideration of alternative views and other types of evidence that have been used in their support. This type of scholarship struck us as a relatively unproductive approach to a critical issue in primate evolution.

This comprehensive source introduces the reader to Primate Biogeography as a discipline, highlights the many factors that may influence the distribution of primates, and reveals the wide range of approaches that are available to understanding the distribution of this order.

Elwyn Simons has held professional appointments at Yale University (1960-1977), Duke University (1977-present), and was the Director of the Duke Primate Center (1977-1991) and Scientific Director (1991-2001). He has authored nearly 300 scientific publications and is the holder of many high honors. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, as well as many other professional associations. He was elected a "Knight of the National Order" by the government of Madagascar and has been the recipient of many awards including the prestigious Charles R. Darwin Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.For nearly a half century, Dr. Simons has dominated the study of primate evolution. The volume aims to summarize the current state of knowledge in many aspects of primate and human evolution that have been studied by Simons and his colleagues and place it in a broader paleontological and historical perspective. The volume will contain the results of new research and reviews of many of the critical issues in primate and human evolution during the last half of the twentieth century and well as aspects of African paleontology and primate conservation in Madagascar. The authors are an extremely distinguished group of international authorities on all aspects of primate and human evolution and primate behavior.Although linked primarily by their connection to Simons’ own career, the chapters will include a wide range of important new works that will be valuable contributions to the field of physical anthropology and paleontology and are certain to be widely cited and used in teaching. Several of the papers (Simons et al., Wing et al., Seiffert et al., Gingerich, O’Conner) will be broad reviews of the history of research and discoveries in the fossil deposits of the Fayum, Egypt that have formed the background of our understanding of anthropoidevolution for over a century and will be important researchers for students and researchers in primate evolution and African paleontology. Similarly, broad reviews of the history of primate paleontology and human evolution (Rasmussen, Pilbeam, Wood; Sussman and Hart) will be essential reading in courses in primate and human evolution as well as the history of physical anthropology. Other authors will describe new research results on early anthropoid fossils from Egypt (Kay and Simons) Tanzania (Stevens) and Myanmar (Gunnell and Ciochon). The chapter by John Oakley, Professor of Law at the University of California addresses the challenges to the teaching of evolution in schools- both public and universities world wide. Another major focus of several chapters will be the primates of Madagascar. Two chapters will be reviews of the extraordinary radiation of fossil lemurs (Godfrey et al, Jungers et al.). Two will review the behavior and conservation of living lemurs (Taylor and Wright) and the chapter by Tattersall will bridge the two major sections of the book by discussing about the biogeographic history of Malagasy mammals.

There are some issues in human paleontology that seem to be timeless. Most deal with the origin and early evolution of our own genus – something about which we should care. Some of these issues pertain to taxonomy and systematics. How many species of Homo were there in the Pliocene and Pleistocene? How do we identify the earliest members the genus Homo? If there is more than one Plio-Pleistocene species, how do they relate to one another, and where and when did they evolve? Other issues relate to questions about body size, proportions and the functional adaptations of the locomotor skeleton. When did the human postcranial “Bauplan” evolve, and for what reasons? What behaviors (and what behavioral limitations) can be inferred from the postcranial bones that have been attributed to Homo habilis and Homo erectus? Still other issues relate to growth, development and life history strategies, and the biological and archeological evidence for diet and behavior in early Homo. It is often argued that dietary change played an important role in the origin and early evolution of our genus, with stone tools opening up scavenging and hunting opportunities that would have added meat protein to the diet of Homo. Still other issues relate to the environmental and climatic context in which this genus evolved.

Elwyn Simons has held professional appointments at Yale University (1960-1977), Duke University (1977-present), and was the Director of the Duke Primate Center (1977-1991) and Scientific Director (1991-2001). He has authored nearly 300 scientific publications and is the holder of many high honors. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, as well as many other professional associations. He was elected a "Knight of the National Order" by the government of Madagascar and has been the recipient of many awards including the prestigious Charles R. Darwin Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.For nearly a half century, Dr. Simons has dominated the study of primate evolution. The volume aims to summarize the current state of knowledge in many aspects of primate and human evolution that have been studied by Simons and his colleagues and place it in a broader paleontological and historical perspective. The volume will contain the results of new research and reviews of many of the critical issues in primate and human evolution during the last half of the twentieth century and well as aspects of African paleontology and primate conservation in Madagascar. The authors are an extremely distinguished group of international authorities on all aspects of primate and human evolution and primate behavior.Although linked primarily by their connection to Simons’ own career, the chapters will include a wide range of important new works that will be valuable contributions to the field of physical anthropology and paleontology and are certain to be widely cited and used in teaching. Several of the papers (Simons et al., Wing et al., Seiffert et al., Gingerich, O’Conner) will be broad reviews of the history of research and discoveries in the fossil deposits of the Fayum, Egypt that have formed the background of our understanding of anthropoidevolution for over a century and will be important researchers for students and researchers in primate evolution and African paleontology. Similarly, broad reviews of the history of primate paleontology and human evolution (Rasmussen, Pilbeam, Wood; Sussman and Hart) will be essential reading in courses in primate and human evolution as well as the history of physical anthropology. Other authors will describe new research results on early anthropoid fossils from Egypt (Kay and Simons) Tanzania (Stevens) and Myanmar (Gunnell and Ciochon). The chapter by John Oakley, Professor of Law at the University of California addresses the challenges to the teaching of evolution in schools- both public and universities world wide. Another major focus of several chapters will be the primates of Madagascar. Two chapters will be reviews of the extraordinary radiation of fossil lemurs (Godfrey et al, Jungers et al.). Two will review the behavior and conservation of living lemurs (Taylor and Wright) and the chapter by Tattersall will bridge the two major sections of the book by discussing about the biogeographic history of Malagasy mammals.

Biogeography is a vital component in many aspects of Primatology, including studies of evolution, speciation systematics, population genetics, and community ecology. Despite its integral position in studies of primate evolution and ecology and the broad representation of research on this subject in journals, field guides, and edited volumes on different regions of the world, Primate Biogeography is a subject that is rarely addressed as a discipline in its own right. This comprehensive source introduces the reader to Primate Biogeography as a discipline, highlights the many factors that may influence the distribution of primates, and reveals the wide range of approaches that are available to understanding the distribution of this order.

This volume brings together information about recent discoveries and current theories concerning the origin and early evolution of anthropoid primates­ monkeys, apes, and humans.

There are some issues in human paleontology that seem to be timeless. Most deal with the origin and early evolution of our own genus – something about which we should care. Some of these issues pertain to taxonomy and systematics. How many species of Homo were there in the Pliocene and Pleistocene? How do we identify the earliest members the genus Homo? If there is more than one Plio-Pleistocene species, how do they relate to one another, and where and when did they evolve? Other issues relate to questions about body size, proportions and the functional adaptations of the locomotor skeleton. When did the human postcranial “Bauplan” evolve, and for what reasons? What behaviors (and what behavioral limitations) can be inferred from the postcranial bones that have been attributed to Homo habilis and Homo erectus? Still other issues relate to growth, development and life history strategies, and the biological and archeological evidence for diet and behavior in early Homo. It is often argued that dietary change played an important role in the origin and early evolution of our genus, with stone tools opening up scavenging and hunting opportunities that would have added meat protein to the diet of Homo. Still other issues relate to the environmental and climatic context in which this genus evolved.

For the first two thirds of our evolutionary history, we hominins were restricted to Africa. Dating from about two million years ago, hominin fossils first appear in Eurasia. This volume addresses many of the issues surrounding this initial hominin intercontinental dispersal. Why did hominins first leave Africa in the early Pleistocene and not earlier? What do we know about the adaptations of the hominins that dispersed - their diet, locomotor abilities, cultural abilities? Was there a single dispersal event or several? Was the hominin dispersal part of a broader faunal expansion of African mammals northward? What route or routes did dispersing populations take?

For the first two thirds of our evolutionary history, we hominins were restricted to Africa. Dating from about two million years ago, hominin fossils first appear in Eurasia. This volume addresses many of the issues surrounding this initial hominin intercontinental dispersal. Why did hominins first leave Africa in the early Pleistocene and not earlier? What do we know about the adaptations of the hominins that dispersed - their diet, locomotor abilities, cultural abilities? Was there a single dispersal event or several? Was the hominin dispersal part of a broader faunal expansion of African mammals northward? What route or routes did dispersing populations take?

Australopithecus species have been the topic of much debate in palaeoanthropology since Raymond Dart described the first species, Australopithecus africanus, in 1925. This volume synthesizes the geological and paleontological context of the species in East and South Africa; covers individual sites, such as Dikika, Hadar, Sterkfontein, and Malapa; debates the alpha taxonomy of some of the species; and addresses questions regarding the movements of the species across the continent. Additional chapters discuss the genus in terms of sexual dimorphism, diet reconstruction using microwear and isotopic methodologies, postural and locomotor behavior, and ontogeny.