Book contents
- Only in Africa
- Only in Africa
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Part I The Physical Cradle: Land Forms, Geology, Climate, Hydrology and Soils
- Part II The Savanna Garden: Grassy Vegetation and Plant Dynamics
- Part III The Big Mammal Menagerie: Herbivores, Carnivores and Their Ecosystem Impacts
- Part IV Evolutionary Transitions: From Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans
- Chapter 15 Primate Predecessors: From Trees to Ground
- Chapter 16 Primate Ecology: From Forests into Savannas
- Chapter 17 How an Ape Became a Hunter
- Chapter 18 Cultural Evolution: From Tools to Art and Genes
- Chapter 19 Reticulate Evolution Through Turbulent Times
- Chapter 20 Prospects For a Lonely Planet
- Appendix Scientific Names of Extant Animal and Plant Species Mentioned in the Book Chapters (Ecologically Conservative with Regard to Species Recognition)
- Index
- References
Chapter 15 - Primate Predecessors: From Trees to Ground
from Part IV - Evolutionary Transitions: From Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 September 2021
- Only in Africa
- Only in Africa
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Foreword
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Part I The Physical Cradle: Land Forms, Geology, Climate, Hydrology and Soils
- Part II The Savanna Garden: Grassy Vegetation and Plant Dynamics
- Part III The Big Mammal Menagerie: Herbivores, Carnivores and Their Ecosystem Impacts
- Part IV Evolutionary Transitions: From Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans
- Chapter 15 Primate Predecessors: From Trees to Ground
- Chapter 16 Primate Ecology: From Forests into Savannas
- Chapter 17 How an Ape Became a Hunter
- Chapter 18 Cultural Evolution: From Tools to Art and Genes
- Chapter 19 Reticulate Evolution Through Turbulent Times
- Chapter 20 Prospects For a Lonely Planet
- Appendix Scientific Names of Extant Animal and Plant Species Mentioned in the Book Chapters (Ecologically Conservative with Regard to Species Recognition)
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter describes how Old World monkeys are partitioned between colobine and cercopithecoid subfamilies. Apes form a separate family, the Hominidae, including humans in the hominin subfamily. Little is known about their ancestry because fossils are rarely formed in wet forest environments. Baboons are distributed across savanna Africa in geographically distinct populations differentiated as species despite inter-breeding.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Only in AfricaThe Ecology of Human Evolution, pp. 249 - 252Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021