Essentials of physical anthropology / Robert Jurmain, Lynn Kilgore, Wenda Trevathan.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 405-416) and index.

ch. 1. Introduction to physical anthropology -- Biocultural evolution -- Cultural anthropology -- Archaeology -- Linguistic anthropology -- Physical anthropology -- Forensic anthropologists in the contemporary world -- ch. 2. The development of evolutionary theory -- In Darwin's shadow -- Natural selection -- Constraints of Nineteenth-century evolutionary theory -- Opposition to evolution -- ch. 3. The biological basis of life -- DNA structure -- DNA replication -- Protein synthesis -- Regulatory genes -- Coding and noncoding DNA -- Cell division -- Chromosomes -- Mitosis -- Meiosis -- ch. 4. Heredity and evolution -- Genetic principles discovered by Mendel -- Segregation -- Dominance and recessiveness -- Independent assortment -- Mendelian inheritance in humans -- Polygenic inheritance -- Genetic and environmental factors -- Mitochondrial inheritance -- Modern evolutionary theory -- Mutation -- Gene flow -- Genetic drift and founder effect -- ch. 5. Processes of macroevolution -- The human place in the organic world -- Principles of classification -- Cladistics -- Definition of species -- Fossil species -- Fossil genera -- Vertebrate evolutionary history -- Mammalian evolution -- Emergence of major mammalian groups -- Processes of macroevolution -- Adaptive radiation -- Microevolution and macroevolution -- ch. 6. An overview of primates -- Primate characteristics -- Primate adaptations -- Evolutionary factors -- Geographical distribution and habitats -- Diet and teeth -- Locomotion -- Primate classification -- Survey of living primates -- Lemurs and lorises -- Tarsiers -- Hominoids : apes and humans -- Endangered primates -- ch. 7. Primate behavior -- Evolution of behavior -- Social structure -- Primate social strategies -- Dominance -- Communication -- Aggressive interactions -- Affiliation and altruism -- Reproduction and reproductive behaviors -- Sexual selection -- Infanticide -- Mothers, fathers, and infants -- Primate cultural behavior -- Language -- Evolution of language -- Evolution of human language -- The primate continuum.

ch. 8. Primate and hominin origins -- Eocene primates : closer connections to living primates -- Oligocene primates : anthropoid connections -- Miocene fossil hominoids : closer connections to apes and humans -- Biocultural evolution -- Science of paleoanthropology -- Early hominin tools -- Paleoanthropological dating methods -- Bipedal adaptation -- Early hominins from Africa -- Pre-Australopiths -- Australopiths -- Australopithecus afarensis -- Adaptive patterns of early African hominins -- Paleoanthropology : on the trail of our early ancestors and the environments in which they lived -- ch. 9. The first dispersal of the genus Homo : Homo erectus and contemporaries -- Morphology of Homo erectus -- Body size -- Brain size -- Cranial shape -- Homo erectus from Africa -- Homo erectus from Indonesia -- Homo erectus from China -- Zhoukoudian Homo erectus -- Discoveries from Asia -- Asian and African Homo erectus -- Later Homo erectus from Europe -- Technological trends during Homo erectus times -- ch. 10. Premodern humans -- The Pleistocene -- Dispersal of Middle Pleistocene hominins -- Premodern humans of the Middle Pleistocene -- Africa -- Europe -- Premodern human (H. heidelbergensis) fossils from Africa -- Premodern human (H. heidelbergensis) fossils from Europe -- Premodern human (H. heidelbergensis) fossils from Asia -- Middle Pleistocene evolution -- Middle Pleistocene culture -- Neandertals : premodern humans of the Late Pleistocene -- Western Europe -- Central Europe -- Western Asia -- Central Asia -- Culture of the Neandertals -- Technology -- Subsistence -- Neandertal fossil discoveries -- Speech and symbolic behavior -- Burials -- Molecular connections : the genetic evidence -- ch. 11. The origin and dispersal of modern humans -- Multiregional evolution -- Modern Homo sapiens discoveries form Africa and the Near East -- Asia -- Australia -- Central Europe -- Western Europe -- Modern Homo sapiens discoveries from Europe and Asia -- The "little people" -- Technology and art in Upper Paleolithic -- Europe -- Africa -- Upper Paleolithic culture -- ch. 12. Human variation and adaptation -- Concept of race -- Human polymorphisms -- Polymorphisms at the DNA level -- Human biocultural evolution -- Population genetics -- Adaptive significance of human variation -- Solar radiation and skin color -- The thermal environment -- High altitude -- Infectious disease -- Paleopathology : what bones can tell us about ancient diseases and injury -- ch. 13. Legacies of human evolutionary history : effects on the individual -- Biocultural evolution and the life course -- Human growth and development today and in the past -- Nutritional requirements for growth -- Genes and environment -- Hormones -- The human life cycle -- Pregnancy, birth, and infancy -- Childhood -- Adolescence -- Adulthood -- Aging and longevity -- Effects of technology on the brain -- ch. 14. The human disconnection -- Human impact on the planet and other life-forms -- Humans and the impact of culture -- Global climate change -- Impact on biodiversity -- Acceleration of evolutionary processes -- Appendix A. Atlas of primate skeletal anatomy -- Appendix B. Summary of early hominin fossil finds from Africa -- Appendix C. Population genetics -- Appendix D. Sexing and aging the skeleton.