The First HumanIn this dynamic account, award-winning science writer Ann Gibbons chronicles an extraordinary quest to answer the most primal of questions: When and where was the dawn of humankind?Following four intensely competitive international teams of scientists in a heated race to find the “missing link”–the fossil of the earliest human ancestor–Gibbons ventures to Africa, where she encounters a fascinating array of fossil hunters: Tim White, the irreverent Californian who discovered the partial skeleton of a primate that lived 4.4 million years ago in Ethiopia; French paleontologist Michel Brunet, who uncovers a skull in Chad that could date the beginnings of humankind to seven million years ago; and two other groups–one led by zoologist Meave Leakey, the other by British geologist Martin Pickford and his French paleontologist partner, Brigitte Senut–who enter the race with landmark discoveries of their own. Through scrupulous research and vivid first-person reporting, The First Human reveals the perils and the promises of fossil hunting on a grand competitive scale. |
Contents
| 3 | |
PART | 23 |
CHAPTER TWO Continental Divide | 46 |
CHAPTER THREE The Early Ancestor | 59 |
CHAPTER FOUR Drawing Bloodlines | 70 |
CHAPTER FIVE Lucy the Late Ancestor | 79 |
CHAPTER SIXDefining Humans | 88 |
CHAPTER SEVEN Banishment | 98 |
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Toeing the Line | 180 |
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Millennium Man | 193 |
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Toumaï | 208 |
PART THREE | 223 |
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Habitat for Humanity | 236 |
Acknowledgments | 244 |
Notes | 253 |
PART | 264 |
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Common terms and phrases
Addis Ababa Afar afarensis African apes Alan Walker anamensis ancestor of humans ancient Andrew Hill anthropology Aramis Ardipithecus ramidus Asfaw Australopithecus Baringo Beauvilain Berkeley bone canine Chad Chadian chimpanzees colleagues David Pilbeam discovered discovery e-mail earliest hominids early hominid eastern Africa Ethiopia extinct fossil beds fossil hunter fossil record fossil sites French Galili genus geologist Gitonga gorillas Hadar hominid Homo human evolution human family jawbone Johanson kadabba Kanapoi Kenya known hominid later Leakey's looked Louis Leakey Lucy Lucy's species Martin Pickford Meave Leakey Michel Brunet Middle Awash million years ago million years old Miocene modern humans molar Museums of Kenya Nairobi National Museums Nature Orrorin paleoanthropologists paleontologist Patterson permit Pickford and Senut Poitiers primitive Ramapithecus researchers Richard Leakey Rift Valley Sahelanthropus Sarich Science scientists sediments skull Taieb teeth telephone interview thighbone Tim White Toumaï Tugen Hills Turkana upright walking walked upright White WoldeGabriel Yohannes Haile-Selassie Yves Coppens