The Real Planet of the Apes - by David R Begun (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The astonishing new story of human origins

Was Darwin wrong when he traced our origins to Africa? The Real Planet of the Apes makes the explosive claim that it was in Europe, not Africa, where apes evolved the most important hallmarks of our human lineage. In this compelling and accessible book, David Begun, one of the world's leading paleoanthropologists, transports readers to an epoch in the remote past when the Earth was home to many migratory populations of ape species. Begun draws on the latest astonishing discoveries in the fossil record, as well as his own experiences conducting field expeditions, to offer a sweeping evolutionary history of great apes and humans. He tells the story of how one of the earliest members of our evolutionary group evolved from lemur-like monkeys in the primeval forests of Africa. Begun then vividly describes how, over the next ten million years, these hominoids expanded into Europe and Asia and evolved climbing and hanging adaptations, longer maturation times, and larger brains. As the climate deteriorated in Europe, these apes either died out or migrated south, reinvading the African continent and giving rise to the lineages of African great apes, and, ultimately, humans. Presenting startling new insights, The Real Planet of the Apes fundamentally alters our understanding of human origins.

From the Back Cover

"This is a masterful book by a leading scholar that provides an authoritative and engaging introduction to the evolution of apes--including humans. "The R""eal Planet of the Apes" is punctuated with wonderful bits of paleontological history and anecdotes about Begun's own experiences in the field. No other book covers the topic in such a coherent and comprehensive way."--John G. Fleagle, author of "Primate Adaptation and Evolution"

"This book tackles what is perhaps the most timely question in paleoanthropology, and also one of the thorniest--our ape origins and what that tells us about ourselves. There is no more knowledgeable, careful, or thorough a scholar of ape evolution than David Begun. This is a story that needs to be told."--Carol V. Ward, University of Missouri

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