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The Cradle of Humanity : How the Changing Landscape of Africa Made Us So Smart

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Title: The Cradle of Humanity : How the Changing Landscape of Africa Made Us So Smart
Description: Humans are rather weak when compared with many other animals. We are not particular fast and have no natural weapons. Yet Homo sapiens currently number nearly 7.5 billion and are set to rise to nearly 10 billion by the middle of this century. We have influenced almost every part of the Earth system and as a consequence are changing the global environmental and evolutionary trajectory of the Earth. So how did we become the worlds apex predator and take over the planet? Fundamental to our success is our intelligence, not only individually but more importantly collectively. But why did evolution favour the brainy ape? Given the calorific cost of running our large brains, not to mention the difficulties posed for childbirth, this bizarre adaptation must have given our ancestors a considerable advantage. In this book Mark Maslin brings together the latest insights from hominin fossils and combines them with evidence of the changing landscape of the East African Rift Valley to show how all these factors led to selection pressures that favoured our ultrasocial brains. Astronomy, geology, climate, and landscape all had a part to play in making East Africa the cradle of humanity and allowing us to dominate the planet.
Authors: Mark Maslin
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Paleoclimatology--Africa, East, Climatic changes--Africa, East--History, Paleoecology--Africa, East, Landscape changes--Africa, East--History, Human evolution, Intellect, Human evolution--Africa, East, Human beings--Effect of environment on--Africa, East--History, Human beings--Effect of climate on--Africa, East--History
Categories: SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
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  – Type: ebook-pdf
  – Type: ebook-epub
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  Availability: 0
Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 1435297
RelevancyScore: 1077
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 1077.00524902344
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  Data: The Cradle of Humanity : How the Changing Landscape of Africa Made Us So Smart
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  Label: Description
  Group: Ab
  Data: Humans are rather weak when compared with many other animals. We are not particular fast and have no natural weapons. Yet Homo sapiens currently number nearly 7.5 billion and are set to rise to nearly 10 billion by the middle of this century. We have influenced almost every part of the Earth system and as a consequence are changing the global environmental and evolutionary trajectory of the Earth. So how did we become the worlds apex predator and take over the planet? Fundamental to our success is our intelligence, not only individually but more importantly collectively. But why did evolution favour the brainy ape? Given the calorific cost of running our large brains, not to mention the difficulties posed for childbirth, this bizarre adaptation must have given our ancestors a considerable advantage. In this book Mark Maslin brings together the latest insights from hominin fossils and combines them with evidence of the changing landscape of the East African Rift Valley to show how all these factors led to selection pressures that favoured our ultrasocial brains. Astronomy, geology, climate, and landscape all had a part to play in making East Africa the cradle of humanity and allowing us to dominate the planet.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mark+Maslin%22">Mark Maslin</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Paleoclimatology--Africa%2C+East%22">Paleoclimatology--Africa, East</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Climatic+changes--Africa%2C+East--History%22">Climatic changes--Africa, East--History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Paleoecology--Africa%2C+East%22">Paleoecology--Africa, East</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Landscape+changes--Africa%2C+East--History%22">Landscape changes--Africa, East--History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+evolution%22">Human evolution</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intellect%22">Intellect</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+evolution--Africa%2C+East%22">Human evolution--Africa, East</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+beings--Effect+of+environment+on--Africa%2C+East--History%22">Human beings--Effect of environment on--Africa, East--History</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Human+beings--Effect+of+climate+on--Africa%2C+East--History%22">Human beings--Effect of climate on--Africa, East--History</searchLink>
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Classifications:
      – Code: 599.938
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Paleoclimatology--Africa, East
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Climatic changes--Africa, East--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Paleoecology--Africa, East
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Landscape changes--Africa, East--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Human evolution
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intellect
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Human evolution--Africa, East
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Human beings--Effect of environment on--Africa, East--History
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Human beings--Effect of climate on--Africa, East--History
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The Cradle of Humanity : How the Changing Landscape of Africa Made Us So Smart
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Mark Maslin
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Mark Maslin
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2017
            – D: 23
              M: 02
              Type: profile
              Y: 2017
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780191009716
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780198704522
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780198704539
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9780191009709
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: The Cradle of Humanity : How the Changing Landscape of Africa Made Us So Smart
              Type: main
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