Cover
Table of Contents
Preface
The revolutionary innovation: walking upright
How old is that fossil?
The hominin tree
The earliest hominins
They heyday of the ape-men
The first Homo
Towards modern times
Heterochrony and Haeckel’s law
Cleavages and germ layers
Axes to provide direction
Model animals in developmental biology
The molecular toolkit for development
New axes for limbs
Tinkers, watchmakers and a Boeing 747
The naked human
Adaptations to bipedalism in the locomotor apparatus
Gill slits, larynx and middle ear
The intestines and the lung
Heart and urogenital system
Evolution of the brain
Giant leaps, neutral fluctuations or gradual adaptation?
The emergence of variation
Equilibrium between allele and genotype frequencies
Neutral evolution
Geographical distance causes genetic differences
On top of genetics
Phylogenetic reconstruction
The molecular clock
Out of Africa or multiregional evolution?
Migrations in all directions
Hybridisations between ancient humans
Prehistoric tools and cave drawings
The Neolithic transition
Language: early or late?
Living in groups: altruistic behaviour
Cultural evolution
Quantitative characters and heritability
Ecogeographic variation in human body form
Evolution of biomedical traits
Evolution of the life cycle
Partner choice and sexual selection
Evolutionary medicine
Epilogue
Further reading
Primary literature
Credits
Index