Books in the Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology series

Primate Dentition is a comprehensive reference work on the teeth of extant primates that will serve as a benchmark for researchers in primatology, physical anthropology, comparative anatomy and vertebrate paleontology.

This book presents an overview of how and why human populations vary so markedly in their skin colour. The biological aspects of the pigment cell and its production of melanin are reviewed and the functions of melanin are considered. The social and biological interface of skin colour in society is also discussed.

The transition from an active hunter-gatherer lifestyle to that of a 'modern' urbanzsed lifestyle brings with it many consequences for health and fitness. In this volume, this transition is examined in circumpolar populations, where change has been rapid and extensive in the last thirty years.

Somatotyping is a method of description and assessment of the body on three shape and composition scales: endomorphy (relative fatness), mesomorphy (relative musculoskeletal robustness), and ectomorphy (relative linearity). This book presents a comprehensive history of somatotyping.

While most of us live our lives according to the working week, we did not evolve to be bound by industrial schedules, nor did the food we eat. Despite this, we eat the products of industrialization and often suffer as a consequence. This book considers aspects of changing human nutrition from evolutionary and social perspectives. It considers what a 'natural' human diet might be, how it has been shaped across evolutionary time and how we have adapted to changing food availability. The transition from hunter-gatherer and the rise of agriculture through to the industrialisation and globalisation of diet are explored. Far from being adapted to a 'Stone Age' diet, humans can consume a vast range of foodstuffs. However, being able to eat anything does not mean that we should eat everything, and therefore engagement with the evolutionary underpinnings of diet and factors influencing it are key to better public health practice.

As a group, western diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, allergies and mental health problems constitute one of the major problems facing humans at the beginning of the 21st century, particularly as they extend into poorer countries. An evolutionary perspective has much to offer standard biomedical understandings of western diseases. At the heart of this approach is the notion that human evolution occurred in circumstances very different from the modern affluent western environment and that, as a consequence, human biology is not adapted to the contemporary western environment. Written with an anthropological perspective and aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduates taking courses in the ecology and evolution of disease, Tessa Pollard applies and extends this evolutionary perspective by analysing trends in rates of western diseases and providing a new synthesis of current understandings of evolutionary processes, and of the biology and epidemiology of disease.

Neanderthals and Modern Humans develops the theme of the close relationship between climate change, ecological change and biogeographical patterns in humans during the Pleistocene. In particular, it challenges the view that Modern Human 'superiority' caused the extinction of the Neanderthals between 40 and 30 thousand years ago. Clive Finlayson shows that to understand human evolution, the spread of humankind across the world and the extinction of archaic populations, we must move away from a purely theoretical evolutionary ecology base and realise the importance of wider biogeographic patterns including the role of tropical and temperate refugia. His proposal is that Neanderthals became extinct because their world changed faster than they could cope with, and that their relationship with the arriving Modern Humans, where they met, was subtle.

The first of its kind collection and analysis of human health data recorded from the skeletal remains of 15,119 individuals at 101 localities across the continent of Europe. The book will interest a wide range of scholars and students across the medical and the social sciences.

Reviewing and expanding upon recent research into lemur behavioural traits, this comparative study analyses links between lemurs, primates and humans. Suitable for both experts and non-experts, this book attempts to break the conceptual walls between primate taxa to encourage further research into ancestral traits between primates and humans.

Compiling osteological research from Rapanui remains, this book demonstrates how the application of modern techniques utilised in skeletal biology research can be employed to address questions of human population origins and microevolution. Evidence is presented in an accessible manner that allows researchers to critically analyse current evidence of Rapanui prehistory.

Exploring developments in palaeoanthropology since the discovery of Australopithecus africanus in 1924, this book is a valuable companion for students and researchers of human origins. It covers a range of key themes, from the earliest hominin fossils to the origins of bipedalism and the evolution and dispersal of modern humans.

Skeletonized human remains are often the only biological evidence for interpreting violent interactions in the past (by bioarchaeologists) and the present (by forensic anthropologists). Experts in bone analysis reveal how bone trauma is reconstructed. Case studies highlight methods for reading the bones and interpreting the violent encounters that took place.

Bringing together every major expert in the field, this book is the first detailed collation of the evolution, ecology and conservation of the pitheciines, some of the oddest and least-known monkeys in South America. It provides authoritative topic reviews and insights into current research that encompass all four pitheciine genera.

The follow-up companion to The Anthropology of Modern Human Teeth (Cambridge, 1997), this volume focuses on applied dental research. It starts with a cutting-edge section on genetics, and continues with a series of case studies demonstrating the utility of morphological analysis in fossil hominin and more recent populations (and individuals).

This volume is a review of methods used in human growth research. Aimed at junior and senior researchers in human biology, anthropology, epidemiology and paediatrics, it provides a minimum of the mathematics behind the methods, and focuses on concepts, possibilities, limitations and applications.

Seasonal variability in food abundance affects what primates eat, how they search for food, how and when they are active, and as a consequence, their body size, social life and reproductive timing. This book examines how seasonality might have also affected human evolution particularly in the transition to the savannah.

This volume considers evidence concerning prehistoric migration, and colonial, regional and global processes in the production of health change in the Asia-Pacific region. This cohesive volume will be of interest to graduates and researchers specializing in public/global health and biocultural anthropology.

Spider monkeys are traditionally very difficult to study in the wild, but there has been an expansion in research being carried out on this genus in the past decade. This book is an assimilation of both published and previously unpublished research on spider monkeys, for academic researchers and graduate students.

Bringing together a variety of accomplished dental researchers, this valuable reference source focuses on methodology required for the study of modern dental anthropology. It comprises the most up-to-date scientific methods in use today. Written for graduate students, academic researchers and professionals in social and life sciences and clinicians.

Explores the most recent findings in human reproductive ecology organised around four key themes: the impact of the environment on reproduction, the role of physical activity and energetics in regulating reproduction, sexual maturation and ovulation assessment and demographic, health and family planning issues.

This 2006 book provides in-depth guidelines for designing a field project on stress in humans. It provides pros and cons of various methods and guides the researcher through every aspect of study design from what containers to use to collect samples, to the most appropriate measures and statistical analysis.

Exploring developments in palaeoanthropology since the discovery of Australopithecus africanus in 1924, this book is a valuable companion for students and researchers of human origins. It covers a range of key themes, from the earliest hominin fossils to the origins of bipedalism and the evolution and dispersal of modern humans.

Shaping Primate Evolution describes form in terms of primate biology, and the consequences of form for function and behavior. Covering cellular morphometrics through to the primate evolutionary ecology and written by leading researchers, it will be a must-have volume for primate functional morphologists.

Through a historical perspective on the long-studied Arashiyama population of Japanese macaques, this book reviews the range of current primatological research topics, including life history, sexual, social and cultural behaviour and ecology. It highlights the historic value of the Arashiyama group and illustrates its continuing importance with significant new research.

If the earliest human ancestors grew more like apes than like humans today, when, how and why did our modern growth patterns evolve? This book focuses on species within the genus Homo to investigate the evolutionary origins of characteristic human patterns and rates of craniofacial and postcranial growth and development.

The 20 species of macaques show a broad range of social relationships, making them an ideal group for exploring the evolution of primate societies. Written especially for those studying animal behaviour and primatology, this book will also be of interest to those studying human societies and their evolution.

This volume is a review of methods used in human growth research. Aimed at junior and senior researchers in human biology, anthropology, epidemiology and paediatrics, it provides a minimum of the mathematics behind the methods, and focuses on concepts, possibilities, limitations and applications.

Shaping Primate Evolution describes form in terms of primate biology, and the consequences of form for function and behavior. Covering cellular morphometrics through to the primate evolutionary ecology and written by leading researchers, it will be a must-have volume for primate functional morphologists.

If the earliest human ancestors grew more like apes than like humans today, when, how and why did our modern growth patterns evolve? This book focuses on species within the genus Homo to investigate the evolutionary origins of characteristic human patterns and rates of craniofacial and postcranial growth and development.

This book synthesises the biological consequences of changes environments on the migrants and the genetic impact of immigration on the host populations. Patterns of migration, past and present and genetic, epidemological and demographic consequences are considered, forming a unique synthesis for human biologists in general.