Bones, Stones and Molecules: Out of Africa and Human Origins

Alternating between hard-core and literary, "Bones, Stones and Molecules" covers all of the latest anthropological discoveries and developments. Sahelanthropus and Orrorin are breaking news in paleoanthropology and are covered early in the book. These two new fossils are from the "wrong" side of the Great Rift Valley and neatly dispense with another recent favorite theory of human origins that involved the stranding of Old World and New World monkeys on either side of the Great Rift. "Out of Africa" versus the "Multiregional" hypothesis are the book's main focus, and "Out of Africa" comes out the clear winner. David Cameron and Colin Groves each have their own slant on human origins, and these are clearly depicted in dozens of cladograms, each co-author posing variations. There are numerous sketches and photographs, and brief boxed interludes that also display a sense of humor. "Bones, Stones and Molecules" introduces Groves' strong background in Australian fossils, the controversy over the timeline of Australian colonization has ramifications that affect much of anthropology. This is a solid book best suited to those with previous knowledge of the field. The appendix provides mathematical proof of assertions made in the book, hundreds of anatomical measurements are detailed. There are very few works that achieve such an excellent balance between mathematical rigor and literary readability.

Cameron and Groves have produced a handsome volume that details the anatomical structure of the species immediately ancestral to homo sapiens, and fleshes out the multiple "Out of Africa" episodes that have characterised the longer span of human evolution. Full of ecological and detailed anatomical descriptions of the key species in human evolution, this volume very rarely, if not uniquely, integrates the story of hominid anatomical adaptation and modification across the Miocene through to the Holocene. Students of paleoanthropology will not find a more thorough one volume overview, which while going far beyond being an introduction, admirably serves that role to. For those who want to come to grips with, at a very detailed level, the drivers and form of anatomical and associated behavioural change amongst the human ancestral species, this Cameron/Groves volume is the ideal reference.

This is a great read for anyone interested in human evolution. It includes all of the most recent fossil hominid discoveries as well as providing an up-to-date overview and systematic analysis of human evolution over the last 6 million years or so (including molecular - archaeological information). It provides a convincing argument for the 'Out of Africa' Hypothesis for modern human origins. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in evolution and human and great ape evolution in particular.