The Last Human
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A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans
Created by G. J. Sawyer and Viktor Deak; Text by Esteban Sarmiento, G.J. Sawyer, and Richard Milner; With Contributions by Donald C. Johanson, Meave Leakey, and Ian Tattersall
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Format: ClothPrice: $49.95
"This unusual book draws on three-dimensional recreations to bring to life 22 of our long-vanished ancestors. . . . Convey(s) both scientific information and the sense that these were once thinking, feeling creatures."—Scientific American
"Although the art is spectacular—reason enough to spend a lot of time with this book—its triumph is science."—Nan Crystal Arens, American Paleontologist
This book tells the story of human evolution, the epic of Homo sapiens and its colorful precursors and relatives. The story begins in Africa, six to seven million years ago, and encompasses twenty known human species, of which Homo sapiens is the sole survivor. Illustrated with spectacular, three-dimensional scientific reconstructions portrayed in their natural habitat developed by a team of physical anthropologists at the American Museum of Natural History and in concert with experts from around the world, the book is both a guide to extinct human species and an astonishing hominid family photo album. The Last Human presents a comprehensive account of each species with information on its emergence, chronology, geographic range, classification, physiology, lifestyle, habitat, environment, cultural achievements, co-existing species, and possible reasons for extinction. Also included are summaries of fossil discoveries, controversies, and publications. What emerges from the fossil story is a new understanding of Homo sapiens. No longer credible is the notion that our species is the end product of a single lineage, improved over generations by natural selection. Rather, the fossil record shows, we are a species with widely varied precursors, and our family tree is characterized by many branchings and repeated extinctions.
"This book vividly brings to life twenty extinct species of our ancestors, branches of a diverse human family tree. It shows the sequence of development of a combination of crucial adaptations that make us, the last surviving human, the unique species that we are today."—from the Afterword by Meave Leakey
"This book features a colorful cast of characters . . .that have participated in the ongoing drama of human evolution. . . . In both word and image, it presents a series of intimate and unprecedented portraits of our extinct relatives. . . . This is, indeed, the guidebook to the human past, and the one that comes closest to being a personal time machine."—from the Introduction
“[A] marvelous new book on our ancestors. . . . From paleontological and anthropological data previously available only in scientific publications, the authors have created an accessible field guide to our extinct cousins. Beginning each section with a short slice-of-life story about the species in question brings that hominid to life, with the supportive scientific evidence following. . . . Striking illustrations accompany the write-ups and breathe life into dry fossil bones. . . . This very current book explains the science as it now stands and is a must buy for all libraries.”—Booklist
Publication Date: June 28, 2007
63 color, 8 b/w, 21 maps
