Extinct Humans

Natural History

In a new look at the fossil record of human evolution (argumented by numerous photgraphs), two anthropologist show convincing evidence for the existence of fifteen kinds of humans and near-humans that once walked the Earth- many of them, surprisingly, at the same time and in the same places.

Scientific American

They [Tattersall and Schwartz] develop their theme with great style (and great photographs)....the book is an intellectual adventure that would be well worth undertaking for [the] intriguing denouement alone, but there are in addition a wealth of informative stops en route.

Choice

Paleoanthropologists Tattersall and Schwartz offer a provocative...survey of the fossil evidence for human evolution, based on direct study of a great proportion of the original material, a task that few paleoanthropologists can claim to have undertaken.

Science News

As two of the world's most preeminent anthropologists, Tattersall and Schwartz know the fossil record first-hand.

New York Times

...[I] shall continually go back to [Extinct Humans] with profit.

Meave Leakey

No longer can human evolution be viewed as a simple progression of a single lineage from a primitive ancestor to ourselves. Research over the last half century has revealed a plethora of species and raised provocative questions about our past. This absorbing, comprehensive[,] and authoritative narrative, based on the authors' own firsthand experience of the original fossils, is a must for anyone with an interest in our origins.

Donald Johanson

No two scientists are better qualified to talk about the fossil record of human evolution than Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz. ...this volume speaks with authority and commitment; its revelations about our ancestors are rewarding and provocative. A must for every fossil lover's library — layperson and professional alike.

Yves Coppens

Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz' book is a particularly refreshing inventory of fixtures of the Paleoanthropology Building. Their historical (history of Sciences) and prehistorical (history of Man) magnificent overview is realistic enough to let them claim that the diversity of extinct humans—and the consecutive number of hominid species—-is much broader than many colleagues have thought it to be. Instead of having one flower—at a time—in the pot, it's a bunch of multicolored flowers that the paleoanthropologists have to deal with to accommodate the variety of body plans that they have found and described all along the six to eight millions years of the hominid adventure.

Peter Andrews

Extinct Humans is a fascinating review that is expressed in clear and simple language that yet does not compromise scientific accuracy. What distinguishes this book from many others is that the ideas it portrays are built on firm historical foundations. Tattersall and Schwartz make an overwhelming case for a bush-like evolutionary process operating for human evolution. Many species are now well known in the human fossil record, and most of them cannot be considered ancestral to recent humans. This is a lesson some anthropologists are still unwilling to learn, but this book should go a long way in setting the record straight.

Hisao Baba

Tattersall and Schwartz have collected up-to-date data of 'Extinct Humans' from fossil sites and laboratories around the world. With this evidence they have succeeded in clearly illuminating the five million-year-old story of human evolution. In this fantastic book we learn the where, when, and why so many other human species have disappeared and only we have fortunately survived until now.

Winfried Henke

This excellent illustrated volume on human origins is a masterful combination of good science and narrative writing, equally appealing for students and general readers. The decided splitter`s perspective is provoking and will certainly intensify the ongoing debate in paleoanthropology.

Silvana M. Borgognini Tarli

A timely and original framework for professionals and an updated synthesis for students and the public, this masterly work leads us on an intellectual itinerary from early hominid diversity to modern human variability. The authors locate ancient hominids in a modern evolutionary scenario, shedding new light on old problems like the origin of language, symbolic thought, and consciousness. The reasons why we lost so many other human species along the pathways of our evolution will remain for long a matter of debate, yet the theory put forward in this skillfully written book will be the entry for many heuristic reflections.

R. J. Clarke

Tattersall and Schwartz have produced a masterpiece that combines historical thought processes on man's place in nature and prehistoric fossil reality in a highly entertaining and informative style. The authors have travelled world-wide to examine the fossils they discuss and have written an inspiring and thought-provoking book.

Richard G. Klein

Tattersall and Schwartz demolish the popular notion that human evolution involved a simple, unilineal progression towards ever less hairy, more upright, and bigger brained creatures, and they show that the actual pattern was far more complex and far more interesting. If you want a lucid, authoritative, up-to-date introduction to the evolution of our species and you have time for only one book, choose this one.

Henry M. McHenry

This is the story of our origins and of our closest biological kin delightfully told by two of the leading scientists in the field. It gives an up-to-date and firsthand look at what we know and do not know about our family's deep history.

Roberto Macchiarelli

The task of the paleoanthropologist is never an easy one because, even under the best circumstances, the fossil record is by definition incomplete and fraught with uncertainties about specific details of the evolutionary sequence. The issues of the origin and diversification of our own genus are further complicated by alternate models of how evolution proceeds. Tattersall and Schwartz-extant humans studying fossil humans-have entered a spaceship, and 'flown' into the evolutionary scenario of Homo, viewing our past as hypothetical extraterrestrials might. Despite the clouds, their journey was successful, and its chronicle fascinating.

Jean-Jacques Hublin

Extinct Humans is the thrilling saga of the discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding of human evolution. Although modern humans are the only survivors of a complex family, once we were not alone on this planet. But thanks to Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz, who have studied the remains of almost all of them, we can now meet our extinct cousins.

Fachroel Aziz

Extinct Humans is very impressive and a great contribution to the understanding of our species Homo sapiens, and our interaction with other species and nature. Fortunately I have survived extinction, read Extinct Humans, and was able to learn the why and how of my survival.

Publishers Weekly

Stone tools and fossilized jawbones meet complex, reticulated theories from the history of anthropology and evolution in this attractively produced introduction to the vexed world of early hominids. Tattersall and Schwartz (who took many of the book's b&w photos) describe their popularly intended work as the by-product of a continuing paleontological goal: the authors want to describe "the huge variety of human fossils according to a single consistent protocol." The first chapter covers the history of speculation about human origins, from Aristotle's to Goethe's concepts to discovery of the 1856 Feldhofer Grotto Neanderthal fossil, to today's debates about the branching trees of Homo and Australopithecus. Then we're off to the fossils themselves and to the vigorous debates about them--debates until recently carried on with too little data and too little reference to norms of nonanthropoid paleontology. Was Robert Broom's Kromdraai hominid (1938) a new genus of proto-humans, Paranthropus? His reasons for saying so wouldn't have held water had he been classifying, say, sea urchins. Skull contours, pelvis shapes, tooth types, climate change and fossil footprints enter into the debates Tattersall (The Fossil Trail; The Last Neanderthal) and Schwartz (Skeleton Keys; Sudden Origins) record. Previous paleoanthropologists, the authors explain, tried too hard to imagine a single line culminating in Homo sapiens. Hominid history ought to look less like a queue than like a tree--later chapters explore that tree and its fruits. The authors clearly describe recent discoveries in China; map hypothesized early-human migrations; cover the decline of the Neanderthals; and consider Western Europe's trove of cave paintings and bone flutes--evidence of practices that characterize, not Neanderthals, but just us. (July) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

Tattersall (Becoming Human) and Schwartz (Sudden Origins) have written a clear and detailed overview of fossil hominid evidence and its various interpretations. One consequence of the Great Chain of Being mindset (intensified by the Mayr/Dobzhansky/Simpson new-Darwinian synthesis in terms of mutations and natural selection within dynamic populations) has been the application of a straight-line model to our evolving ancestors over the last few million years. Rejecting this single-linear-sequence hypothesis of hominid evolution, theses two scientists emphasize the very complex species diversity throughout the history of our now-vanished remote ancestors. They focused on the major discoveries and new dates in paleoanthropology, especially fossil evidence representing different African australopiths. Other chapters analyze the morphologies of Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and especially, the Neanderthals and discuss individual variations, interspecies competition, and species extinction. The authors succeed in making their topics both interesting and relevant. With its outstanding illustrations and levelheaded treatment of empirical data, this impressive and indispensable book is a very contribution to modern paleoanthropology. Highly recommended for all science collections. -- H. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo.

Richard Dawkins

... undeniably informative and beautifully illustrated...I learned a lot about fossils from this book, and shall continually go back to it with profit.
—The New York Times Book Review