The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey: Unearthing the Origins of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans

Christopher Beard, Mark Klingler0520233697, 9780520233690

Taking us back roughly 45 million years into the Eocene, “the dawn of recent life,” Chris Beard, a world-renowned expert on the primate fossil record, offers a tantalizing new perspective on our deepest evolutionary roots. In a fast-paced narrative full of vivid stories from the field, he reconstructs our extended family tree, showing that the first anthropoids-the diverse and successful group that includes monkeys, apes, and humans-evolved millions of years earlier than was previously suspected and emerged in Asia rather than Africa. In The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey, Beard chronicles the saga of two centuries of scientific exploration in search of anthropoid origins, from the early work of Georges Cuvier, the father of paleontology, to the latest discoveries in Asia, Africa, and North America’s Rocky Mountains. Against this historical backdrop, he weaves the story of how his own expeditions have unearthed crucial fossils-including the controversial primate Eosimias-that support his compelling new vision of anthropoid evolution. The only book written for a wide audience that explores this remote phase of our own evolutionary history, The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey adds a fascinating new chapter to our understanding of humanity’s relationship to the rest of life on earth. Illustrations: 14 color illustrations, 26 b/w photographs, 22 line illustrations

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Table of contents :
EEn……Page 0
The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey – Unearthing The Origins of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans……Page 1
Copyright Info……Page 4
Dedication……Page 5
TOC……Page 8
Illustrations……Page 10
Preface……Page 14
1 Missing Links and Dawn Monkeys……Page 18
2 Toward Egypt’s Sacred Bull……Page 46
3 A Gem from the Willwood……Page 78
4 The Forest in the Sahara……Page 104
5 Received Wisdom……Page 132
6 The Birth of a Ghost Lineage……Page 159
7 Initial Hints from Deep Time……Page 184
8 Ghost Busters……Page 211
9 Resurrecting the Ghost……Page 232
10 Into the African Melting Pot……Page 263
11 Paleoanthropology and Pithecophobia……Page 294
1. Missing Links And Dawn Monkeys……Page 312
2. Toward Egypt’s Sacred Bull……Page 313
3. A Gem From The Willwood……Page 315
4. The Forest In The Sahara……Page 317
5. Received Wisdom……Page 319
6. The Birth Of A Ghost Lineage……Page 321
7. Initial Hints From Deep Time……Page 322
9. Resurrecting The Ghost……Page 323
10. Into The African Melting Pot……Page 325
11. Paleoanthropology And Pithecophobia……Page 327
References Cited……Page 330
Index……Page 348