Paleoanthropology
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Paleoanthropology is the branch of physical anthropology (often called biological anthropology) that focuses on the study of human evolution, tracing the anatomic and genetic linkages of pre-humans from millions of years ago up to modern times.
Paleoanthropologists study early hominids through fossil remains, traces, or impressions of ancient life; evidence such as preserved bones, tools, or footprints. Typically, a team is composed of scientists, students, and local workers, representing diverse backgrounds and academic fields.
The science arguably began in the late 1800s when important discoveries occurred which led to the study of human evolution. The discovery of the Neanderthal in Germany, Thomas Huxley's Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature, and Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man were all important to early paleoanthropological research.
As Ian Tattersall notes (writing in 2006 Nature volume 441:155), paleoanthropology is distinguished as the "branch of science [that] keeps its primary data secret."
Renowned paleoanthropologists
- Davidson Black (1884-1934)
- Robert Broom (1866-1951)
- Raymond Dart (1893-1988)
- Eugene Dubois (1858-1940)
- Johann Carl Fuhlrott (1803-1877)
- Donald C. Johanson (1943- )
- Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald (1902-1982)
- Louis Leakey (1903-1972)
- Mary Leakey (1913-1996)
- Richard Leakey (1944- )
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)
- Franz Weidenreich (1873-1948)
- Milford H. Wolpoff (1942- )
- Carleton S. Coon (1904-1981)
- Meave Leakey (1942- )
- J. Desmond Clark (1916-2002)
- Kamoya Kimeu (1940- )
External links
- [Paleoanthropology in the 1990s]
- [Fossil Hominids]
- [Many aspects of paleoanthropology]
- [Becoming Human: Paleoanthropology, Evolution and Human Origins]
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