Book contents
- African Paleoecology and Human Evolution
- African Paleoecology and Human Evolution
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Modern Africa and Overview of Late Cenozoic Paleoenvironments
- 1 Introduction: African Paleoecology and Human Evolution
- 2 Approaches to the Study of Past Environments
- 3 Environmental and Stratigraphic Bias in the Hominin Fossil Record
- 4 Late Miocene and Earliest Pliocene Paleoecology of Africa
- 5 The Middle Pleistocene Through the Holocene of Africa
- Part II Southern Africa
- Part III Eastern and Central Africa
- Part IV Northern Africa
- Volume References
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
1 - Introduction: African Paleoecology and Human Evolution
from Part I - Modern Africa and Overview of Late Cenozoic Paleoenvironments
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 May 2022
- African Paleoecology and Human Evolution
- African Paleoecology and Human Evolution
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Part I Modern Africa and Overview of Late Cenozoic Paleoenvironments
- 1 Introduction: African Paleoecology and Human Evolution
- 2 Approaches to the Study of Past Environments
- 3 Environmental and Stratigraphic Bias in the Hominin Fossil Record
- 4 Late Miocene and Earliest Pliocene Paleoecology of Africa
- 5 The Middle Pleistocene Through the Holocene of Africa
- Part II Southern Africa
- Part III Eastern and Central Africa
- Part IV Northern Africa
- Volume References
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
Summary
Early hominins were not limited to particular sites or localities in a paleontological or archeological sense, but lived and died in complex and dynamic landscapes and ecosystems of which we have partial, incomplete records. The fossil evidence of early hominin paleoenvironments is always limited, sometimes providing brief snapshots of small areas, other times affording very coarse chronological and spatial resolution over large distances. Taphonomic conditions typically vary within any one locality over time, and from one locality to another. And yet, it is these partial and biased records that we use to build an understanding of the forces that have shaped our evolution.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- African Paleoecology and Human Evolution , pp. 1 - 6Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022
- 1
- Cited by