Comments on: Book review – Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind

By: Book review – Jay Matternes: Paleoartist and Wildlife Painter | The Inquisitive Biologist

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 15:52:41 +0000

[…] (p. 137). He has subsequently barely been credited. Even Kermit Pattison in his book Fossil Men only pays lip service to his role, condensing it into a single sentence. “Ardi came to life […]

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By: Book review – When the Sahara Was Green: How Our Greatest Desert Came to Be | The Inquisitive Biologist

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 13:15:40 +0000

[…] in Ethiopia, such as the famous Australopithecus fossil nicknamed Lucy and the Ardipithecus fossils Tim White and his team worked on. Graecopithecus is only mentioned in the context of the Saharan desert dust deposit it was found in […]

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By: Book review – Jungle: How Tropical Forests Shaped the World – and Us | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 20 Apr 2022 13:22:35 +0000

[…] of forests becomes apparent. Bipedality may very well have evolved in the trees, as evidenced by the limbs of Ardipithecus ramidus. And savannahs are not just endless rolling grasslands but encompass a range of plant types, […]

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By: Book review – The Wood Age: How One Material Shaped the Whole of Human History | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 17 Nov 2021 15:22:46 +0000

[…] This point aside, what elevates this book beyond “merely” a solid piece of environmental history are the chapters that bookend the core. The first three chapters are an unexpected dive into primatology, showing our deep affinity with trees. It is pretty well known that various great ape species fashion tools out of sticks, but fewer people might be familiar with the treetop nests in which they sleep. Furthermore, Ennos considers the evolution of bipedalism. Might it have evolved in the treetops when walking along branches? This was one of several ideas discussed, though not favoured by, Begun in The Real Planet of the Apes. And he briefly touches on the limb anatomy of Danuvius guggenmosi and Ardipithecus ramidus (especially its big toe, such a bone of contention in Fossil Men). […]

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By: Book review – The Sediments of Time: My Lifelong Search for the Past | The Inquisitive Biologist

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 12:42:17 +0000

[…] just reviewed Fossil Men, which portrayed the notorious palaeoanthropologist Tim White, I was curious to see what Meave had […]

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By: Book review – The Real Planet of the Apes: A New Story of Human Origins | The Inquisitive Biologist

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 15:38:59 +0000

[…] Seeing the book’s age, it is relevant to ask what has happened since publication to change or reinforce this idea. When I contacted Begun, he confirmed that there have been no major finds to overthrow his ideas, with new work adding further support. I will next turn to the 12-million-year-old finds recently described in Ancient Bones. Also of interest is the story of the 4.4 million-year-old Ardipithecus, one of the last species Begun mentions, which is told in more detail in the recently published Fossil Men. […]

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