Download or read book Triangulating the Evolution of the Vertebral Column in the Last Common Ancestor written by Burt Alain Rosenman and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The primate vertebral skeleton has been studied intensively by morphologists for more than a century and has become a focal point of investigation in biological anthropology. However, several issues regarding vertebral homology and anatomy remain controversial. I collected metric and non-metric data on 392 cercopithecine and hominoid spines to answer the following questions: First, what is the homology of the lumbar transverse process (LTP) in catarrhines? Second, how many lumbar vertebrae do early hominids possess? Third, how do last rib length, LTP width, and sacral width covary in catarrhines? Methods included data collection by caliper measurement as well as statistical tests such as ANCOVA. I conclude that all catarrhine primates share a similar LTP homology, in which the LTP is composed of a rib element ventrally and derivative of the thoracic transverse process dorsally. Based on these findings, I show that the early hominid specimens Sts 14 and Stw 431 possessed a minimum of six functional lumbar vertebrae. In the metric comparisons, I find that humans have relatively short last ribs; that, in addition to their relatively narrow sacra, the African apes have narrow penultimate and ultimate lumbar vertebrae; and that the early hominids Sts 14 and AL 288-1 have the relatively widest LTPs and sacra of the taxa studied. Incorporating all these data, I present a model of hominoid lumbar vertebral evolution in which each of the great apes has independently evolved a short lumbar spine of three to four segments. Therefore, the long lumbar column of early hominids was most likely a primitive retention, and it is not derived as is commonly assumed.
Download or read book Hominin Postcranial Remains from Sterkfontein South Africa 1936 1995 written by Bernhard Zipfel and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sterkfontein hominin fossils generally are attributed to the species Australopithecus africanus, because most craniodental remains from the site are attributable to that taxon (reviews in Grine, 2013, 2019). However, there may be more than one hominin represented within the sample, even within the most productive Member, Member 4, and given the complex stratigraphy of the site and challenges in dating the deposits, this may or not may be the case. In general. Several studies have suggested the presence of two or more australopith taxon within the sample, each citing more morphological variation among the craniodental remains from Sterkfontein that can be attributed to a single species, at least compared to extant hominoid taxa (Kimbel and White, 1988; Clarke 1988, 1994; Lockwood, 1997, Lockwood and Tobias, 2002). However, it is notable that none of these studies agree on which specimens comprise the different possible taxa or groups, largely due to emphasis on different aspects of morphology varying among the fossils. The likely time depth of the Sterkfontein sample, even within Member 4, (see Chapter 3, this volume), may also complicate assessment of potential taxonomic heterogeneity at the site. None of the Sterkfontein postcranial fossils can be definitively associated with any craniodental specimens (but see Thackeray et al., 2002), and so cannot be related directly to any of the proposed taxonomic divisions within the sample. However, some studies have cited variation within the postcranial fossils that may also reflect taxonomic variation, although many studies to date have not tackled this question rigorously. Even though these suggestions have been made occasionally in the literature, no clear or consistent suggestion of two or more taxa has been apparent within the postcranial samples (reviewed in Grine 2019). Taxonomic variation is one of the key questions that each chapter in this volume addresses (summarized in Chapter 18, this volume)"--
Download or read book The Ancient Origins of Consciousness written by Todd E. Feinberg and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2016-03-25 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How consciousness appeared much earlier in evolutionary history than is commonly assumed, and why all vertebrates and perhaps even some invertebrates are conscious. How is consciousness created? When did it first appear on Earth, and how did it evolve? What constitutes consciousness, and which animals can be said to be sentient? In this book, Todd Feinberg and Jon Mallatt draw on recent scientific findings to answer these questions—and to tackle the most fundamental question about the nature of consciousness: how does the material brain create subjective experience? After assembling a list of the biological and neurobiological features that seem responsible for consciousness, and considering the fossil record of evolution, Feinberg and Mallatt argue that consciousness appeared much earlier in evolutionary history than is commonly assumed. About 520 to 560 million years ago, they explain, the great “Cambrian explosion” of animal diversity produced the first complex brains, which were accompanied by the first appearance of consciousness; simple reflexive behaviors evolved into a unified inner world of subjective experiences. From this they deduce that all vertebrates are and have always been conscious—not just humans and other mammals, but also every fish, reptile, amphibian, and bird. Considering invertebrates, they find that arthropods (including insects and probably crustaceans) and cephalopods (including the octopus) meet many of the criteria for consciousness. The obvious and conventional wisdom–shattering implication is that consciousness evolved simultaneously but independently in the first vertebrates and possibly arthropods more than half a billion years ago. Combining evolutionary, neurobiological, and philosophical approaches allows Feinberg and Mallatt to offer an original solution to the “hard problem” of consciousness.
Download or read book Feeding in Vertebrates written by Vincent Bels and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-04-23 with total page 865 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides students and researchers with reviews of biological questions related to the evolution of feeding by vertebrates in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Based on recent technical developments and novel conceptual approaches, the book covers functional questions on trophic behavior in nearly all vertebrate groups including jawless fishes. The book describes mechanisms and theories for understanding the relationships between feeding structure and feeding behavior. Finally, the book demonstrates the importance of adopting an integrative approach to the trophic system in order to understand evolutionary mechanisms across the biodiversity of vertebrates.
Download or read book Reading Prehistoric Human Tracks written by Andreas Pastoors and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021 with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Open Access book explains that after long periods of prehistoric research in which the importance of the archaeological as well as the natural context of rock art has been constantly underestimated, research has now begun to take this context into focus for documentation, analysis, interpretation and understanding. Human footprints are prominent among the long-time under-researched features of the context in caves with rock art. In order to compensate for this neglect an innovative research program has been established several years ago that focuses on the merging of indigenous knowledge and western archaeological science for the benefit of both sides. The book gathers first the methodological diversity in the analysis of human tracks. Here major representatives of anthropological, statistical and traditional approaches feature the multi-layered methods available for the analysis of human tracks. Second it compiles case studies from around the globe of prehistoric human tracks. For the first time, the most important sites which have been found worldwide are published in a single publication. The third focus of this book is on firsthand experiences of researchers with indigenous tracking experts from around the globe, expounding on how archaeological sciencecan benefit from the ancestral knowledge. This book will be of interest to professional archaeologists, graduate students, ecologists, cultural anthropologists and laypeople, especially those focussing on hunting-gathering and pastoralist communities and who appreciate indigenous knowledge.--
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Biology written by Don Rittner and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2004-08 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains approximately 800 alphabetical entries, prose essays on important topics, line illustrations, and black-and-white photographs.
Download or read book Back Pain written by J.K. Paterson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As we stated in our message in the book of abstracts for this congress, we have planned the programme over a long period with one clear objective: to present musculoskeletal medicine as an integral part of orthodox medical practice, rather than as something alternative or complementary. To this end we have based the plenary programme as far as possible on accepted epidemiological, anatomical, physiological and pathological phenomena. Scientifically well-validated material must surely be the base upon which any viable musculoskeletal medicine practice may be built. While we have chosen the plenary programme to reflect musculoskeletal medicine as a part of orthodoxy, we realize and wish to emphasize that there is a wealth of original work that has been carried out within FIMM. For this reason our first innovation for the congress was to invite members of the scientific advisory committee to select for a 'directed' programme the three topics they felt were of greatest current importance. The results of this democratic procedure was the choice of the sacroiliac joint, a comparison of manual therapies and biomechanics. This illustrates the broad direction of present thinking within FIMM.
Download or read book Clinical Anatomy of the Lumbar Spine and Sacrum written by Nikolai Bogduk and published by Elsevier Health Sciences. This book was released on 2005-01-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bogduk aims to provide a foundation of knowledge upon which an understanding of the various treatment and therapy techniques of the different specialities involved can be built. This edition includes discussion of the sacrum and sacro-iliac joint.
Download or read book In Pursuit of Early Mammals written by Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-12 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Mesozoic mammal fossils are the focus of this fascinating book, which reviews both the fossils themselves and the history of their discovery.” —Choice In Pursuit of Early Mammals presents the history of the mammals that lived during the Mesozoic era, the time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, and describes their origins, anatomy, systematics, paleobiology, and distribution. It also tells the story of the author, a world-renowned specialist on these animals, and the other prominent paleontologists who have studied them. Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska was the first woman to lead large-scale paleontological expeditions, including eight to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, which brought back important collections of dinosaur, early mammal, and other fossils. She shares the difficulties and pleasures encountered in finding rare fossils and describes the changing views on early mammals made possible by these discoveries. “A thorough review of the current state of early mammalian paleontology presented through the unique historical filter of someone who was at the foremost of the field for over half a century.” —The Quarterly Review of Biology “Whether she’s talking about how mammals evolved their distinctive ear bones, or how she built a cabin out of plywood during a particularly cold field season in the Gobi, you know that a remarkable, passionate person is telling a story of science and adventure in her own words.” —Priscum “A fascinating window into the development of the field . . . The perspective of an individual at the center of these developments is captivating, informative, and has never before been published.” —Gregory P. Wilson, University of Washington
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Athens written by Jenifer Neils and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-02-18 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a comprehensive introduction to ancient Athens, its topography, monuments, inhabitants, cultural institutions, religious rituals, and politics. Drawing from the newest scholarship on the city, this volume examines how the city was planned, how it functioned, and how it was transformed from a democratic polis into a Roman urbs.
Download or read book Vertebral Column and Thorax written by A. H. SCHULTZ and published by Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers. This book was released on 1960-10-31 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Companion to Biological Anthropology written by Clark Spencer Larsen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-02-22 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extensive overview of the rapidly growing field of biologicalanthropology; chapters are written by leading scholars who havethemselves played a major role in shaping the direction and scopeof the discipline. Extensive overview of the rapidly growing field of biologicalanthropology Larsen has created a who’s who of biologicalanthropology, with contributions from the leadingauthorities in the field Contributing authors have played a major role in shaping thedirection and scope of the topics they write about Offers discussions of current issues, controversies, and futuredirections within the area Presents coverage of the many recent innovations anddiscoveries that are transforming the subject
Download or read book Noise Water Meat written by Douglas Kahn and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2001-08-24 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of the role of sound in twentieth-century arts. This interdisciplinary history and theory of sound in the arts reads the twentieth century by listening to it—to the emphatic and exceptional sounds of modernism and those on the cusp of postmodernism, recorded sound, noise, silence, the fluid sounds of immersion and dripping, and the meat voices of viruses, screams, and bestial cries. Focusing on Europe in the first half of the century and the United States in the postwar years, Douglas Kahn explores aural activities in literature, music, visual arts, theater, and film. Placing aurality at the center of the history of the arts, he revisits key artistic questions, listening to the sounds that drown out the politics and poetics that generated them. Artists discussed include Antonin Artaud, George Brecht, William Burroughs, John Cage, Sergei Eisenstein, Fluxus, Allan Kaprow, Michael McClure, Yoko Ono, Jackson Pollock, Luigi Russolo, and Dziga Vertov.
Download or read book Fossils Phylogeny and Form written by Jonathan M. Adrain and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2002-01-31 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phylogenetic analysis and morphometrics have been developed by biologists into rigorous analytic tools for testing hypotheses about the relationships between groups of species. This book applies these tools to paleontological data. The fossil record is our one true chronicle of the history of life, preserving a set of macroevolutionary patterns; thus various hypotheses about evolutionary processes can be tested in the fossil record using phylogentic analysis and morphometrics. The first book of its type, Fossils, Phylogeny, and Form will be useful in evolutionary biology, paleontology, systematics, evolutionary development, theoretical biology, biogeography, and zoology. It will also provide a practical, researcher-friendly gateway into computer-based phylogenetics and morphometrics.
Download or read book Lemur Biology written by Ian Tattersall and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The volume of studies on prosimian primates has, until recently, tended to lag well behind that of studies on the higher primates. This is so despite the fact that the considerable intrinsic interest of the living prosimians and the signifi cance of their stuQ,y for our understanding of the earlier stages of primate evolution have long been acknowledged by zoologists, paleontologists, and anthropologists alike. Among the prosimians, the Malagasy lemurs are of profound interest not only because they include the only extant diurnal forms, but also because it is only on Madagascar that the absence of competition with higher primates has allowed a surviving prosimian fauna to radiate, es sentially unrestricted, into a broad spectrum of ecological zones. In contrast, the few extant prosimians of Africa and Asia occupy a relatively narrow range of "refuge" niches; although of considerable interest in themselves, they do not show the richness and variety of adaptation which make the Malagasy prosimian fauna such a fascinating object of study. Over the past few years, however, there has been a considerable resur gence of interest in the prosimians in general, and in the lemurs in particular. The range of studies resulting from this rekindling of interest is wide, compre hending the systematics, evolution, anatomy, behavior, and ecology of these forms. This volume constitutes a progress report on our knowledge of the le murs.
Download or read book Unweaving the Rainbow written by Richard Dawkins and published by HMH. This book was released on 2000-04-05 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times–bestselling author of Science in the Soul. “If any recent writing about science is poetic, it is this” (The Wall Street Journal). Did Sir Isaac Newton “unweave the rainbow” by reducing it to its prismatic colors, as John Keats contended? Did he, in other words, diminish beauty? Far from it, says acclaimed scientist Richard Dawkins; Newton’s unweaving is the key too much of modern astronomy and to the breathtaking poetry of modern cosmology. Mysteries don’t lose their poetry because they are solved: the solution often is more beautiful than the puzzle, uncovering deeper mysteries. With the wit, insight, and spellbinding prose that have made him a bestselling author, Dawkins takes up the most important and compelling topics in modern science, from astronomy and genetics to language and virtual reality, combining them in a landmark statement of the human appetite for wonder. This is the book Dawkins was meant to write: A brilliant assessment of what science is (and isn’t), a tribute to science not because it is useful but because it is uplifting. “A love letter to science, an attempt to counter the perception that science is cold and devoid of aesthetic sensibility . . . Rich with metaphor, passionate arguments, wry humor, colorful examples, and unexpected connections, Dawkins’ prose can be mesmerizing.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Brilliance and wit.” —The New Yorker
Download or read book The Pediatric Spine written by Stuart L. Weinstein and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 1086 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by an international, multidisciplinary group of experts, this volume is a definitive reference on all nonoperative aspects of the pediatric spine. Coverage begins with developmental anatomy, biomechanics, an in-depth review of imaging, and a detailed guide to patient evaluation. Subsequent sections cover all disorders affecting the pediatric spine--congenital and developmental abnormalities, traumatic injuries, inflammatory and infectious conditions, neoplasms and malformations, metabolic disease, and neuromuscular diseases. The contributors offer authoritative advice on the medical and/or surgical treatment options for each condition. Each chapter includes a comprehensive bibliography. Also included is a detailed appendix of radiographic measurements, classifications, and definitions. A Brandon-Hill recommended title.
