Michael Alan Park,
Central Connecticut State University
ISBN: 0078034957 Copyright year: 2013
New to This Edition
The biggest change is in further streamlining and condensing the material presented throughout the book. As a result, the book is now fourteen chapters long instead of fifteen. No major topic is left out; I have simply managed the amount and level of detail so that readers can more easily get to and understand the basic concepts. What I have trimmed are the asides and extended introductions, detail that is not referred to again, and qualifications or exceptions that are not built on later in the text. This gives instructors the choice of adding in details as they wish, either in class or in other readings. My hope is that students will then come to class having the essential material well in mind to build upon.
Throughout the text, I have further increased the number of chapter headings and subheadings to help readers navigate their way through the material. These headings reinforce ease of study by also acting as a built-in outline of the chapters.
In a field where new discoveries are made on a regular basis, and vital new interpretations appear frequently, I have been careful to provide the most up-to-date information in all the chapters. There are almost thirty new bibliographic references, half of which come from 2011.
Among the most important specific chapter changes and updates are these:
Chapter 3, “Evolutionary Genetics,” reflects new information in that field, including the importance of epigenetics.
Chapter 5, “The Origin of Species and the Shape of Evolution” has a new section, “The Grand Pattern of Evolution,” that better explains punctuated equilibrium in its context within an independent theory of macroevolution—in terms beginning students can understand.
Chapter 7, “The Primates,” simplifies the concept of cladistic taxonomy and has a new section, “Are We Hominids or Hominins?” in which I explain why I am returning to the model that classifies only humans in family Hominidae.
Chapter 10, “Evolution of the Early Hominids,” suffered from a forest-for-the-trees problem. The sections on Australopithecus and Paranthropus have been condensed to focus on the data at the level of the genus. Details on the individual fossil forms can be added, if desired, by the instructor. I have updated the map and chart to include A. sediba.
Chapter 11, “The Evolution of Genus Homo,” begins with a description of the nature and features of the whole genus. I have condensed detail on the individual proposed species of genus Homo and have added a new section about the Denisovans. Most important, I condensed the entirety of previous Chapter 12 on the modern human origins debate into a new section in this chapter, which includes my rationale for the change. I have thoroughly updated the chapter to reflect new finds and dates.
Chapter 12, “Evolution and Adaptation in Human Populations,” I have updated data on causes of death and HIV/AIDS. There is a new Contemporary Reflections box, “Are There Jewish Diseases? Are There Black Pharmaceuticals?”
Chapter 13, “Human Biological Diversity,” includes a rewritten and updated section on the genetic evidence for the nonexistence of biological races and a new section on “Anthropology and the History of Race Studies.”
To obtain an instructor login for this Online Learning Center, ask your local sales representative.
If you're an instructor thinking about adopting this textbook, request a free copy for review.
2013 McGraw-Hill Higher Education