Download or read book Reproductive Ecology and Human Evolution written by Peter T. Ellison and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-04 with total page 809 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of human reproductive ecology represents an important new development in human evolutionary biology. Its focus is on the physiology of human reproduction and evidence of adaptation, and hence the action of natural selection, in that domain. But at the same time the study of human reproductive ecology provides an important perspective on the historical process of human evolution, a lens through which we may view the forces that have shaped us as a species. In the end, all actions of natural selection can be reduced to variation in the reproductive success of individuals.Peter Ellison is one of the pioneers in the fast growing area of reproductive ecology. He has collected for this volume the research of thirty-one of the most active and influential scientists in the field. Thanks to recent noninvasive techniques, these contributors can present direct empirical data on the effect of a broad array of ecological, behavioral, and constitutional variables on the reproductive processes of humans as well as wild primates. Because biological evolution is cumulative, however, organisms in the present must be viewed as products of the selective forces of past environments. The study of adaptation thus often involves inferences about formative ecological relationships that may no longer exist, or not in the same form. Making such inferences depends on carefully weighing a broad range of evidence drawn from studies of contemporary ecological variation, comparative studies of related taxonomies, and paleontological and genetic evidence of evolutionary history. The result of this inquiry sheds light not only on the functional aspects of an organism's contemporary biology but also on its evolutionary history and the selective forces that have shaped it through time.Encompassing a range of viewpoints--controversy along with consensus--this far-ranging collection offers an indispensable guide for courses in biological anthropology, human biology, and primatology, along with
Download or read book Reproductive Ecology and Human Evolution written by Peter Thorpe Ellison and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Reproductive Ecology and Human Evolution written by Peter T. Ellison and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-09-04 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of human reproductive ecology represents an important new development in human evolutionary biology. Its focus is on the physiology of human reproduction and evidence of adaptation, and hence the action of natural selection, in that domain. But at the same time the study of human reproductive ecology provides an important perspective on the historical process of human evolution, a lens through which we may view the forces that have shaped us as a species. In the end, all actions of natural selection can be reduced to variation in the reproductive success of individuals.Peter Ellison is one of the pioneers in the fast growing area of reproductive ecology. He has collected for this volume the research of thirty-one of the most active and influential scientists in the field. Thanks to recent noninvasive techniques, these contributors can present direct empirical data on the effect of a broad array of ecological, behavioral, and constitutional variables on the reproductive processes of humans as well as wild primates. Because biological evolution is cumulative, however, organisms in the present must be viewed as products of the selective forces of past environments. The study of adaptation thus often involves inferences about formative ecological relationships that may no longer exist, or not in the same form. Making such inferences depends on carefully weighing a broad range of evidence drawn from studies of contemporary ecological variation, comparative studies of related taxonomies, and paleontological and genetic evidence of evolutionary history. The result of this inquiry sheds light not only on the functional aspects of an organism's contemporary biology but also on its evolutionary history and the selective forces that have shaped it through time.Encompassing a range of viewpoints--controversy along with consensus--this far-ranging collection offers an indispensable guide for courses in biological anthropology, human biology, and primatology, along with
Download or read book Human Evolution Reproduction and Morality written by Lewis Petrinovich and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extremely well-organized, conceptually clear, empirically informed, and carefully argued volume...What makes this contribution special is the invigorating infusion of a wealth of principles and knowledge derived from evolutionary biology, neurophysiology, and cognitive science...The chapters provide abundant material for animated discussion.'' --- Evolution and Human Behavior, September 1997 When engaging in laboratory and field studies, researchers have an extensive set of implicit assumptions that justifies their research. However, these assumptions are rarely made explicit either to the researchers themselves, to their colleagues, or to the public. In this fascinating volume, the author gives insight into these underlying beliefs that scientists have regarding moral and biological issues involved in human life-such as decisions that influence reproductive practices, the termination of life, and the pursuit of biomedical research. He then uses this descriptive base to develop an ethic based on rational liberalism. His arguments stem from the thinking of biologists, moral philosophers, cognitive scientists, and social and developmental psychologists.
Download or read book The Evolution of Human Life History written by Kristen Hawkes and published by James Currey. This book was released on 2006 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human beings may share 98 percent of their genetic makeup with their nonhuman primate cousins, but they have distinctive life histories. When and why did these uniquely human patterns evolve? To answer that question, this volume brings together specialists in hunter-gatherer behavioral ecology and demography, human growth, development, and nutrition, paleodemography, human paleontology, primatology, and the genomics of aging. The contributors identify and explain the peculiar features of human life histories, such as the rate and timing of processes that directly influence survival and reproduction. Drawing on new evidence from paleoanthropology, they question existing arguments that link human's extended childhood dependency and long 'post-reproductive'lives to brain development, learning, and distinctively human social structures. The volume reviews alternative explanations for the distinctiveness of human life history and incorporates multiple lines of evidence in order to test them.
Download or read book Evolutionary Ecology and Human Behavior written by Eric Alden Smith and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ""à required reading for anyone interested in the economy, ecology, and demography of human societies."" --American Journal of Human Biology ""This excellent book can serve both as a text¼book and as a scholarly reference."" --American Scientist
Download or read book On Fertile Ground written by Peter Thorpe ELLISON and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reproduction is among the most basic of human biological functions, both for our distant ancestors and for ourselves, whether we live on the plains of Africa or in North American suburbs. Our reproductive biology unites us as a species, but it has also been an important engine of our evolution. In the way our bodies function today we can see both the imprint of our formative past and implications for our future. It is the infinitely subtle and endlessly dramatic story of human reproduction and its evolutionary context that Peter T. Ellison tells in On Fertile Ground. Ranging from the latest achievements of modern fertility clinics to the lives of subsistence farmers in the rain forests of Africa, this book offers both a remarkably broad and a minutely detailed exploration of human reproduction. Ellison, a leading pioneer in the field, combines the perspectives of anthropology, stressing the range and variation of human experience; ecology, sensitive to the two-way interactions between humans and their environments; and evolutionary biology, emphasizing a functional understanding of human reproductive biology and its role in our evolutionary history. Whether contrasting female athletes missing their periods and male athletes using anabolic steroids with Polish farm women and hunter-gatherers in Paraguay, or exploring the intricate choreography of an implanting embryo or of a nursing mother and her child, On Fertile Ground advances a rich and deeply satisfying explanation of the mechanisms by which we reproduce and the evolutionary forces behind their design.
Download or read book Human Evolutionary Biology written by Michael P. Muehlenbein and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-29 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wide-ranging and inclusive, this text provides an invaluable review of an expansive selection of topics in human evolution, variation and adaptability for professionals and students in biological anthropology, evolutionary biology, medical sciences and psychology. The chapters are organized around four broad themes, with sections devoted to phenotypic and genetic variation within and between human populations, reproductive physiology and behavior, growth and development, and human health from evolutionary and ecological perspectives. An introductory section provides readers with the historical, theoretical and methodological foundations needed to understand the more complex ideas presented later. Two hundred discussion questions provide starting points for class debate and assignments to test student understanding.
Download or read book How We Do It written by Robert Martin and published by Basic Books (AZ). This book was released on 2013-06-11 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A primatologist explores the mystery of the origins of human reproduction, explaining that understanding the evolutionary past can provide insight into what worked, what didn't, and what it all means for the future of mankind.
Download or read book Evolutionary Ecology of Plant Reproductive Strategies written by Thomas Johannes de Jong and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-10-13 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book places the wealth of data that have been collected on plants into the unifying framework of game theory.
Download or read book Reproduction and Adaptation written by C. G. N. Mascie-Taylor and published by . This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examination of human reproductive ecology focussing on environmental, demographic, health and family planning issues.
Download or read book Human Reproductive Ecology written by Kenneth L. Campbell and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The recent and historically unique low level of fertility in industrialised nations poses a number of important medical questions, arising because reproductive physiology did not evolve to function optimally in this modern environment. In some non-industrialised regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, persistent high fertility and rapid population growth are associated with environmental deterioration. How do fecundity and fertility respond to such degradations? Do improvements of industrial environments or nutrition and health measurably alter fertility or fecundity? These are some of the issues explored in this volume, which contains contributions from anthropologists, demographers, reproductive biologists and epidemiologists.
Download or read book How We Do It written by Robert Martin and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2013-06-11 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the widespread belief that natural is better when it comes to sex, pregnancy, and parenting, most of us have no idea what "natural" really means; the origins of our reproductive lives remain a mystery. Why are a quarter of a billion sperm cells needed to fertilize one egg? Are women really fertile for only a few days each month? How long should babies be breast-fed? In How We Do It, primatologist Robert Martin draws on forty years of research to locate the roots of everything from our sex cells to the way we care for newborns. He examines the procreative history of humans as well as that of our primate kin to reveal what's really natural when it comes to making and raising babies, and distinguish which behaviors we ought to continue -- and which we should not. Although it's not realistic to raise our children like our ancestors did, Martin's investigation reveals surprising consequences of -- and suggests ways to improve upon -- the way we do things now. For instance, he explains why choosing a midwife rather than an obstetrician may have a greater impact than we think on our birthing experience, examines the advantages of breast-feeding for both mothers and babies, and suggests why babies may be ready for toilet training far earlier than is commonly practiced. How We Do It offers much-needed context for our reproductive and child-rearing practices, and shows that once we understand our evolutionary past, we can consider what worked, what didn't't, and what it all means for the future of our species.
Download or read book Life Strategies Human Evolution Environmental Design written by V. Geist and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consider that you were asked how to ensure human survival. Where would you begin? Conservation of resources jumps to mind. We need to conserve resources in order that economic activities may continue. Alas, this is a false start. Resources are always defined by a given economic system, and only it determines what is and what is not a resource. Therefore, conserving resources implies only the perpetua tion of the appropriate economic system. Conservation of resources as we know them has nothing to do with the survival of mankind, but it has very much to do with the survival of the industrial system and society we live in today. We have to start, therefore, at a more basic level. This level, some may argue, is addressed by ensuring for human beings "clean genes. " Again, this is a mistaken beginning. It is thoroughly mistaken-for reasons of science. It is a false start because malfunctioning organs and morphological structures are not only due to deleterious hereditary factors but particularly due to unfavorable environments during early growth and development. Moreover, eugenics is not acceptable to any but a small fraction of society. Eugenics may not be irrelevant to our future, but is premature and should be of little concern until we understand how human genes and environment interact.
Download or read book Human Reproductive Behaviour written by Laura Betzig and published by CUP Archive. This book was released on 1988-03-31 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Death Hope and Sex written by James S. Chisholm and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1999-09-02 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fascinating and controversial examination of how evolutionary theory sheds light on human nature using reproductive issues as a focus.
Download or read book Men written by Richard G. Bribiescas and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Males account for roughly 50 percent of the global population, but in America and other places, they account for over 85 percent of violent crime. A graph of relative risk of death in human males shows that mortality is high immediately following birth, falls during childhood, then exhibits a distinct rise between the ages of 15 and 35—primarily the result of accidents, violence, and risky behaviors. Why? What compels males to drive fast, act violently, and behave stupidly? Why are men's lives so different from those of women? Men presents a new approach to understanding the human male by drawing upon life history and evolutionary theory. Because life history theory focuses on the timing of, and energetic investment in, particular aspects of physiology, such as growth and reproduction, Richard Bribiescas and his fellow anthropologists are now using it in the study of humans. This has led to an increased understanding of human female physiology—especially growth and reproduction—from an evolutionary and life history perspective. However, little attention has been directed toward these characteristics in males. Men provides a new understanding of human male physiology and applies it to contemporary health issues such as prostate cancer, testosterone replacement therapy, and the development of a male contraceptive. Men proves that understanding human physiology requires global research in traditionally overlooked areas and that evolutionary and life history theory have much to offer toward this endeavor.
