The History of Our Tribe: Hominini

Reviewed by Sharon Methvin, Instructor, Mt. Hood Community College on 8/15/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

It provided an excellent review of primates and human evolution. Later homo is a bit scanty, but the lineage is clearly covered. No discussion of current trends.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Well supported and well referenced.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Updates and additions will be easy to include.

Clarity rating: 5

Consistent in format and easy to follow.

Consistency rating: 5

I love the consistent pattern throughout each section. So great!

Modularity rating: 5

Each section is modular and has the same approach.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Flows well across each evolutionary period. Covers same format for each.

Interface rating: 5

Excellent diagrams and illustrations. Would like more media links.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

None noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

No mention of local conservation of sites and materials.

Comments

Would like greater coverage of later homo. Inclusion of modern homo. Inclusion of more media links. Inclusion of discussion questions.

Reviewed by Guy Prouty, Ph.D., Instructor, Boise State University on 1/9/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

There is no index or glossary to this text; they are needed to make this text more comprehensive. Plus, a number of the references are cited from Wikipedia. Although using Wikipedia may be useful for initial research to prepare content, it would have been better instead to cite the academic literature for students. Plus, there is no tight peer review for Wikipedia articles. I teach online sections in introductory Biological Anthropology, plus lab, and I do not use Wikipedia for this very reason.

In addition, Part 1 needs expansion; there is too little material present. There is little discussion of the principles of genetics, natural selection, and the process of fossilization. These basic biological topics are essential to help students understand the evolutionary and adaptive processes of primates and hominins.

I also would have preferred to see a chapter on modern biological variation. I try to make my courses very relevant to my students, especially to those who are not anthropology majors, and they enjoy learning why there is no such thing as “race.” This would have been a welcome addition to this text.

Finally, I would have preferred to see a module presented on the last 10,000 years of human prehistory, particularly how the development and adoption of agriculture impacted human health, such as the increased rates of developing type II diabetes, obesity, cancer and how they may be treated. My students are often surprised to learn this, along with the fact that modern Homo sapiens are continuing to evolve.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found all of the sections to accurate, and I appreciate the updated material on the individual chapters on the various species of hominins analyzed in the text.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

As previously noted, more relevant material needed to be added about modern human biological variation and the last 10,000 years of human prehistory. These are very important topics and need to be included in all introductory texts such as this one.

The author has done a nice job of keeping the material up to date and updates should be relatively easy.

Clarity rating: 4

I found the text to be well-written overall with adequate definitions of jargon and technical terminology. However, more clarification is needed about dating techniques, genetics, and natural selection. In-depth discussions of these would help illuminate content for students, especially when they read technical material about hominins in the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene epochs.

Consistency rating: 4

The text is consistent in terminology and framework. I did not observe any significant inconsistent statements or content.

However, I think that each chapter, whenever possible, should have at least one video to maintain consistency. Many, if not most introductory students are visual learners, and I think they would appreciate viewing a number of excellent video productions available on the Internet.

Modularity rating: 5

I found the text to have adequate subheadings, and not overtly self-referential. The modules on the various hominins discussed and analyzed in Parts II, III, and IV are well done. Often, in traditional texts, a number of hominin ancestors are discussed together, which can confuse students. A chapter dedicated to a specific genus and species in this text is most welcome.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

I found the topics in the text to be well organized and easy to follow. There are no discrepancies that I observed.

Interface rating: 3

A number of the tables and figures were difficult to read; apparently, there was a problem in resolution, and they were not sharp and clear. How will students with visual problems, along with normal vision, be able to clearly read these? The text obviously needs to be updated with these corrections to prevent confusion or distractions.

Also, although I appreciated the figure drawings by KIeenan Taylor, they are not of the caliber found in traditional textbooks. Although creating more professional illustrations would require greater costs, the quality of the drawings needs improvement.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Homo was described as “same”, rather than the correct Latin description of “man.” The heading of chapter 5 was also misspelled as “hominim”, rather than “hominin.” These are the only grammatical problems I observed. Tighter proof-reading is needed.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The material is benign and is not offensive to different ethnicities and backgrounds. As noted earlier, a discussion on racism is needed to make the material relevant to students.

Comments

As this text is currently presented, I would not use it to replace my current textbook; it’s lack of introductory material on genetics, natural selection, and modern biological anthropology does not fulfill my needs for a 100-level textbook. Rather, I would gladly use it as a supplement, especially the material presented in Parts III-IV where each chapter is dedicated to a specific hominin ancestor.

Reviewed by Cat Sartin, Instructor, Fort Hays State University on 11/25/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the Hominini fossil record, including many recent finds. In order to use this book in a Biological Anthropology or Human Origins course, it may be necessary to pull in other, more introductory, resources about constructing phylogenies, dating fossils, etc.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This book offers an accurate description of all the fossil material. When discussing how different fossils fit into the phylogeny, it does a good job of indicating where there are disagreements and the nature of those disagreements.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

This book is up-to-date and arranged in a way that would make up-dates relatively easy and straightforward to implement. As new discoveries are likely, and those discoveries will likely change and/or add to our existing theories, up-dates will almost certainly be necessary. However, it is impossible to predict how far in the future the next such big discovery will be made.

Clarity rating: 5

The writing is extremely clear, but does not shy away from technical terms. Students would need knowledge of human osteology and, depending on prerequisites for the course, may need additional materials to aid their understanding.

Consistency rating: 5

The layout for each chapter is consistent and makes it very easy to navigate and find information.

Modularity rating: 5

Each chapter, which usually covers a single taxa, is relative short. Within each chapter are sections headings, which could easily be assigned individually if the full chapter was too long.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is organized into broad geologic time periods. Within each time period, each fossil taxa is given its own chapter. This will make it quite easy to move taxa in light of new evidence. It also helps to reinforce the idea that evolution is not directional - that it not a straight line, but resembles a bush instead.

Interface rating: 5

The book was easy to navigate and read on my laptop (HP), tablet (HP), and iPhone. It was formatted nicely for each device and free of distortions and other formatting problems.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is well written and free of grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This text addresses misconceptions about different taxa, such as H. neanderthalensis, in an objective and scientific manner. When discussing anatomically modern H. sapiens, the text addresses the paucity of the fossil record and why more is known about certain regions (e.g. western Europe) than others.

Reviewed by Daniel Kreutzer, Community Faculty, Metropolitan State University on 8/2/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The book feels like it begins in the middle of the semester. The subject of paleoanthropology is introduced without an explanation of what anthropology is and quickly summarizes the history of paleoanthropology while touching upon major subjects like evolutionary theory and population genetics, which are rather important to the concept of an evolving hominin lineage. How paleoanthropologists conduct research in the field and in the laboratory would benefit from additional details and explanation. There are three chapters that discuss the primates as an Order comprehensively, including their classification, evolution, and social structures. Likewise, the chapter that describes the hominins is equally comprehensive in introducing the group. The majority of the text is dedicated to a chronological listing and description of the genera and species identified as hominins, taking a splitter’s approach by exploring each species separately. The latest available information is used along with maps, photographs, and sketches, which allows for a fairly complete picture of hominin history and diversity.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

There are no glaring inaccuracies within the text. The public domain images used connect to the material and are placed appropriately within the text. The sketches that begin the chapters are creative interpretations and visually interesting.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The information is relatively up-to-date, which is not easy in this field. The way the text is organized should make it easy to update information as needed.

Clarity rating: 4

The author’s voice clearly comes through in the writing style. While her sense of humor won’t appeal to everyone, personally I find it more accessible than the usual dry style of the typical textbook.

Consistency rating: 5

There are no obvious inconsistencies within the text.

Modularity rating: 4

The text is highly modular and could easily be divided into numerous sections. Some chapters are far less informative than others, but that is more a reflection of how spotty the evidence is for some hominin species.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of topics is logical and the chronological presentation of the hominin species is standard for texts on this subject at this level.

Interface rating: 3

Some of the public domain images used are distorted at 100% magnification, including text elements that are unreadable.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The most glaring error is chapter 5’s title, What is a Hominim, rather than Hominin. Otherwise, spelling and grammar are acceptable.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

In chapter 36, Homo sapiens, the discussion of cultural traits and innovations focuses on Europe to the exclusion of AMH elsewhere in Eurasia and especially in Africa. This makes it seem like all paleolithic cultural development occurred in Europe.

Comments

The textbook works better as a supplemental resource for biological anthropology courses rather than as a primary text because it is focused solely as a paleoanthropology text. Even for a paleoanthropology course there would need to be more information on evolution, archaeological methods and laboratory techniques, especially on the topics of reconstructing paleoenvironments and relative and chronometric dating.

Reviewed by Christine Boston, Assistant Professor, Lincoln University (Missouri) on 6/19/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

While the front matter of this textbook suggests that this is a textbook meant to cover physical anthropological subject matter this textbook emphasizes that which the title refers to: human evolution, or as the author liberally defines, subject matter related to primates: nonhuman and human alike. These are two primary topics addressed within the text, meaning there is a great emphasis on primatology (primate classifications, anatomy, and social organization) and paleoanthropology (hominid/human evolution). I disagree with the the author’s recommendation of this textbook for an introduction to physical anthropology class. Having taught introductory anthropology courses for over a decade it is my belief and experience that this text is not suitable for such a course. In the Introductory chapter the author admits that she wrote it with her 200 level Human Evolution course in mind, and the subject matter seems to mirror that curriculum closely. Topics that I would expect to see in an introductory text but are excluded herein include an overview of anthropology and its subfields, a history of evolutionary thought, evolutionary theory, Mendelian and population genetics, and modern human variation. Several of these topics are briefly discussed but in insufficient detail to allow a novice student the ability to understand the subject matter as presented in this textbook. That is not to say that this textbook is not without its merits. What it does discuss-primatology and paleoanthropology-is very well addressed and rather comprehensive. This textbook would therefore make an excellent supplement to an advanced (300-400 level) primatology or human evolution course where students already have the background missing from this text.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Based on the content presented herein being primarily based on primatological and paleoanthropological subject matter I see no glaring inaccuracies in the subject matter, as well as no biases. The subject matter is presented clearly and with multiple viewpoints shown when needed. Therefore the accuracy is very high given the ever changing nature of the paleoanthropological subject matter.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The paleoanthropological content is up-to-date based on the current information within the field regarding the specific species that are known and published in the literature. I find fault in the author’s lack of inclusion of more information pertaining to the debates regarding the origins of modern Homo sapiens, specifically her brief discussion on the Out-of-Africa, Multiregional, and Mostly-Out-of-Africa hypotheses. These hypotheses are at the forefront of much current debate within the paleoanthropological scholarly community, and at the present time there does not appear to be a suitable means of incorporating that information into this textbook without creating a new chapter. This may actually be preferred given the amount of information on this topic, which is a favored one for students to explore in writing assignments for introductory and advanced physical anthropology courses. Overall, though, the information presented herein is quite relevant, making this textbook one that can be used for several semesters before either major edits are required to the text or a large amount of supplemental information is necessary to make up for deficiencies that occur as new information is discovered.

Clarity rating: 3

Unfortunately, this textbook does lack in clarity in various ways. While there are summary tables that are meant to enable the reader to better understand the content through concise description of the information presented within the body of the chapters many of these tables are unlabeled and a couple are not closely positioned to the content they are meant to summarize. This left me, an advanced reader and physical anthropologist, confused, which means that students, who do not have the same background, may become lost by the content. When the tables are labeled and closely positioned they are amazing resources. This just is not consistently done throughout the textbook.

Another area of lack of clarity is the information presented within the first few chapters that are meant to summarize content related to archaeology and evolutionary theory. These chapters are quite sparse and act more of summaries than actual explanatory content. They currently warrant additional information to enable an introductory student the ability to understand the content. As written these chapters are most suitable for students who already have the background to understand what the author is referring to, further demonstrating the usefulness of this textbook in advanced anthropology courses.

Lastly, the author explains the differences between Australopithecines and Paranthropocines rather oddly. She correctly identifies that the primary differences between these two genera is based on the cranial morphology, specifically related to mastication, but she provided more detail on what specifically these differences entailed with the Paranthropus introduction, which came after the introduction to Australopithecines. I feel this explanation is needed with the Australopithecines to better explain the differences between the genera.

Consistency rating: 5

This textbook is internally consistent. Each major section is introduced by a brief introduction, providing the reader with an idea of what the main theme is. The chapters follow a sequential order that is required and standard of physical anthropological subject matter, as well as chronological order of the hominid species addressed herein. The chapters have similar structure, allowing for ease of understanding by the reader.

Modularity rating: 4

As noted above there are main sections identified within the text, which does allow for an educator to easily assign specific sections or modules of information to students. The only critique within this criteria is that the summarizing tables are often not labeled, which can cause confusion and difficulties in quick review of the information by readers.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The subject matter and order presented herein follows the standards within the field of physical anthropology. The only critiques are the lack of introductory information pertaining to anthropology, evolutionary theory, etc. (as noted above), and the inclusion of anatomical terms between the sections on primates and human evolution. I understand why the author may have chosen this placement as her discussion on primates was not very anatomically heavy, whereas the discussion of human evolution is, but it can seem to distract the reader if they are not able to make that connection.

Interface rating: 3

Several of the images are distorted and blurry. This includes photographs, charts, and figures. This disables the readers ability to clearly understand and read the content of these images to understand what the author is referring to in the chapter content. Unfortunately, at least in the downloaded PDF, there is no way to download the images to view them through a different image viewer to try to remove this distortion. As well, while I appreciate the inclusion of videos in this textbook as it enhances the learning experience it is unclear in several videos that there are embedded hyperlinks to view them.

Lastly, the author adds personal commentary throughout the text. This can be a boon or a bane to the reader, depending on how they feel about said commentary. This may draw readers in as they appreciate the quirkiness of the author’s thoughts and humor, engaging them in the subject matter further, or this may turn off the reader and act as a distraction. I found some of the commentary to be entertaining, while others were distracting and irrelevant (e.g. the Black Skull and the Skull and Cross Bones image).

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The textbook was largely grammatical and spelling error free. The only critique is the lack of capitalization of formal names of specific hominid species (e.g. Neandertals).

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The author does not engage in any culturally insensitive language or writes in an overtly offensive manner throughout the text. My only concern is the Eurocentric nature of her discussion of anatomically modern Homo sapiens. She claims that her discussion of largely European evidence is based on the amount of it, but I do not feel that is a logical argument to exclude the evidence from Africa. I would like to see an inclusion of that information within this chapter as it is different sets of evidence that demonstrates cultural diversity that has and continues to exist among groups on either continent, as well as showcases how environment affects cultural evolution.

Comments

None at this time.

Reviewed by Mary Baker, Professor, Rhode Island College on 5/21/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This a great undergraduate-level text focusing on human paleontology that fills a gap between less detailed introductory texts and more complex or challenging text meant for the graduate level. The book highlights the key fossil primates and gives complete coverage of the hominid record. There is no index, but I didn't find this to be a problem.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content was accurate and unbiased, which is not always easy in this discipline. I did not find errors.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book is up-to-date, covering the most recent discoveries. If the rate of discoveries continues, updates will soon be needed, but the organization of the text lends itself to easy amendments.

Clarity rating: 5

This is a excellent book for an undergraduate course on human paleontology that is written with a sense of humor that should help draw students in to a fascinating topic.

Consistency rating: 5

This is a wonderfully consistent book which I think will support student-learning. Key terms are highlighted and some include pronunciation guides. When possible, every section covering the fossil record is organized in the same subsections: Sites, main people associated with the fossils, a brief introduction, discovery and geographic range, physical characteristics with tables highlighting primitive and derived characteristics, and environment and way of life.

Modularity rating: 5

Overall, I like the text's organization. For future editions could separate the section on dating techniques from the history of the discipline.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization makes sense and it follows the structure of a typical undergraduate course on human evolution: an overview of the discipline including dating techniques, a section that connects human and nonhuman primate ecology and behavior, the evolutionary history of the primates, anatomy, and the human fossil record. I think students will find the consistent structure to be easy to follow and understand.

Interface rating: 5

Excellent use of images, charts. and tables. All of the links work.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The writing is clear, easy to understand; I did not find errors. The content is sufficiently challenging but avoids unnecessary jargon or overly complex concepts and details.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Explores evidence for the evolution of culture and fossil diversity.

Comments

I plan to adopt the book.

Reviewed by Brian Peasnall, Associate Professor, University of Delaware on 5/21/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The comprehensive nature of the material presented in this textbook was uneven. While some topics such as primate social organization was thorough and well presented, other topics were found wanting and sorely inadequate. This is particularly obvious with introductory material. For instance, one would expect a textbook on human evolution to present a discussion on the process of evolution by way of natural selection. Although the terms “evolution” and “natural selection” are used throughout the book, there is no explanation of what evolution is and how it works. Having taught many courses in physical anthropology, it has become painfully obvious that many, if not most, students have a poor understanding of these concepts. It is fair to assume that any textbook on the evolutionary sciences will contain a basic presentation of what evolution is. However, the discussion of evolution is pretty much summed up by the following sentence: “Biologists and geneticists have refined the theory of evolution by means of natural selection by determining how traits are inherited” (page 5).

Additionally much of the basic introductory material is perfunctory. For example, the history of paleoanthropology is presented in a single paragraph (page 7). Likewise, students often wonder how we know when certain hominid species lived. And it is important that they know that the dates we have are actually based on real evidence. However, the discussion of dating techniques is extremely abbreviated, frequently omitting detail about the underlying premises upon which the dating method is based. The student is told that obsidian hydration dating is used to date obsidian (volcanic glass) by measuring the amount of hydration that has occurred (page 11). This is not particularly useful to the student who has no familiarity with how the past is dated. It would have been much more effective had the author explained that after a piece of obsidian is broken, it will absorb water at a constant rate along the broken edge. This then can be measured to determine how long ago the piece was broken or chipped. And if this piece happens to be tool or the byproduct of tool manufacture, we can tell how long ago the tool was made. Discussion of other dating methods suffer from the same lack of detail and explanation.

Similar issues occur for the author’s discussion of primate classification (pages 13-23). Thus, the discussion on cladistics suffers from the same perfunctory treatment as dating methods mentioned above. At the very least, a formal definition of “cladistics” would have been useful. Instead the author presents terms used to delineate branches in a cladogram without actually talking about what a cladogram is or even what cladistics is.

On the other hand, other topics, such as primate social organization and the characteristics of Hominim anatomy are thorough and well presented. Where the textbook really shines is in its presentation of the various hominid species that have evolved throughout the Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene Epochs. In these chapters, which are located at the end of the book, the author presents a wealth of information concerning each hominid species, including information about the relevant fossils, important sites, who discovered the fossils and what the each species reveals about the evolution of our own species, Homo sapiens.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Overall the book was generally accurate in terms of the material it presented and in terms of the general consensus held by those who work within the field of paleoanthropology. However, there is one glaring issue that hits the knowledgeable reader in the face, the mistranslation of the scientific names given to some of the species discussed in the book. For some reason, the term for the genus name “Homo” was erroneously based on the Greek word homo meaning “same” rather than the Latin word, homo, which means “man”. This results in strange translations for the various species under discussion. So Homo habilis, which should mean “the handy man” in Latin (in reference to its production and use of the first known stone tools) is instead translated as “the same man”. This makes one wonder how such basic information made it past the editorial process, and may cause one to question the validity of other information presented in the book.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The material is current and up to date in terms of the research and presents the most recent understanding of hominid evolution. This is quite an accomplishment for a text dealing with a science that is constantly facing new data that challenges everything we thought we knew. Furthermore, the structure of that part of the book dealing with various hominid species is presented in a catalog form that will be very easy to update as new developments emerge.

Clarity rating: 3

Clarity of material presented in the textbook is somewhat uneven. Most of the lack of clarity stems from the same issues discussed above in terms of the book’s comprehensiveness. This is further exacerbated by prose that is frequently stilted and awkward, potentially impeding the students’ understanding of complex ideas. Furthermore the author’s tendency to add silly comments throughout the book frequently gets in the way of communication of the material.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is consistent in its use of terminology. And the overall framework for how the material is organized and presented is logical and well done.

Modularity rating: 4

The overall structure of the textbook makes it easy to divide the book into logical segments to be assigned for reading throughout the semester in a general course on human evolution. The topics presented are: Paleoanthropology, Primate Classification, Primate Evolution, Primate Social Organization and What is a Hominim. This is then followed by a comprehensive discussion and catalogue of various hominim species thus far known. The only real problem is that, although the book is divided into topics that make sense, the coverage of the topics themselves is uneven with some topics being thorough and others lacking in the presentation of information.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

As indicated above the organization of the book is logical and well planned. However the perfunctory nature of some topics and the tendency towards the use of stilted, run-on sentences sometimes impedes the flow of information.

Interface rating: 4

With exception of images drawn specifically for this book, images used in the book are all public domain images. Although not always the best, most are adequate to demonstrate the ideas being expressed by the author. On page 22, the author presents a link to an informative video demonstrating rudimentary linguistic capabilities of a bonobo chimpanzee named Kanzi. The link worked well. However some of the diagrams and text boxes, particularly those in the chapter on primate classification, are sometimes confusing.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

With the exception of run-on and stilted sentences, the book is relatively free of grammatical errors. However those that do occur standout like a sore thumb. For instance, on page 15, where the author discusses the diminution of our olfactory senses, the author writes “We haplorhines have simpler, dry noses and do not smell as good!”

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The language throughout the book is gender neutral and inclusive.

Comments

Due to the various issues discussed above, I would not adopt this book as a primary text for a course in human evolution. There are far too many gaps in basic information the students require in order to understand fully the concepts underlying the evolution of our species and the process of evolution generally. This need would be better served by a more detailed text on paleoanthropology and human evolution. However, I would certainly adopt this text as supplemental material primarily due to its excellent catalogue of the various hominid species that provides an invaluable understanding of our own evolutionary pathway.