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c2005., Thunder's Mouth Press ; Distributed by Publishers Group West Call No: 155.7 B658b Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library
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By Grady, Waynec2006., McClelland & Stewart Call No: 304.2 G733b Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library
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[2007], Grove Press Call No: 599.222 F585c Edition: 1st American ed. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: Conservationist Flannery draws on three decades of travel, research, and field work to craft a love letter to his native land and one of its most unique and beloved inhabitants: the kangaroo. Crisscrossing the continent, Flannery shows us how the destiny of this extraordinary creature is inseparable from the environment that created it. Along the way he uses encounters with ancient aboriginal cultures and eccentric fossil hunters, farmers and scientists, kangaroo advocates and kangaroo hunters, to explore how Australia's deserts and rainforests have shaped human responses to the continent--and how kangaroos have evolved to handle the resulting challenges. A synthesis of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science.--From publisher description.
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c2006., National Geographic Call No: 599.93 W456d Availability:1 of 1 At Your LibraryClick here to watch Click here to view More... Summary Note: Science tells us we're all related--one vast family sharing a common ancestor who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago. But countless questions remain about our great journey from the birthplace of Homo sapiens. How and when did we end up where we are? Why do we display such a wide range of colors and features? The fossil record offers some answers, but new research reveals many more, since our DNA carries a chronicle of our species and its migrations. This book translates complicated concepts into accessible language and explains how each individual's DNA contributes another piece to the puzzle. It takes readers inside the Genographic Project, the landmark study now assembling the world's largest collection of DNA samples and employing the latest in testing technology and computer analysis to examine hundreds of thousands of genetic profiles from all over the globe, showing how universal our human heritage really is.--From publisher description.
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-- Self-deception, false beliefs, and the origins of the human mind2013., Adult, Twelve Call No: 121.63 V313d Edition: 1st ed. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: Presents a radical new theory on the origins of our species. It was not, the authors argue, a biological leap that set humanity apart from other species, but a psychological one: namely, the uniquely human ability to deny reality in the face of inarguable evidence--including the willful ignorance of our own inevitable deaths. The awareness of our own mortality could have caused anxieties that resulted in our avoiding the risks of competing to procreate--an evolutionary dead-end. Humans therefore needed to evolve a mechanism for overcoming this hurdle: the denial of reality. As a consequence of this evolutionary quirk we now deny any aspects of reality that are not to our liking--we smoke cigarettes, eat unhealthy foods, and avoid exercise, knowing these habits are a prescription for an early death. Reality-denial affords us many valuable attributes, such as optimism, confidence, and courage in the face of long odds.
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2017., General, Doubleday Call No: 591.56 P971e Edition: First edition. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "What can explain the incredible diversity of beauty in nature? Ornithologist Richard O. Prum discusses Charles Darwin's second and long-neglected theory - aesthetic mate choice - and what it means for our understanding of evolution. Prum connects those same evolutionary dynamics to the origins and diversity of human sexuality, offering new thinking about the evolution of human beauty and the role of mate choice, thereby transforming our ancestors from typical infanticidal primates into socially intelligent, pair-bonding caregivers. An exhilarating tour de force that begins in the trees and ends by fundamentally challenging how we understand human evolution and ourselves. Richard O. Prum is a professor of ornithology at Yale University."--Provided by publisher.
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By Gibbons, Annc2006., Doubleday Call No: 599.93 G441f Edition: 1st ed. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library
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Ã2017., Adult, Harper Call No: Fic Erd Edition: First edition. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: A tale set in a world of reversing evolution and a growing police state follows pregnant thirty-two-year-old Cedar Hawk Songmaker, who investigates her biological family while awaiting the birth of a child who may emerge as a member of a primitive human species.
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c2011., BenBella Books ; Distributed by Perseus Distribution Edition: eBook ed. Summary Note: "The scientific consensus is that our ability to understand human speech has evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. After all, there are whole portions of the brain devoted to human speech. We learn to understand speech before we can even walk, and can seamlessly absorb enormous amounts of information simply by hearing it. Surely we evolved this capability over thousands of generations. Or did we? Portions of the human brain are also devoted to reading. Children learn to read at a very young age and can seamlessly absorb information even more quickly through reading than through hearing. We know that we didn't evolve to read because reading is only a few thousand years old. In "Harnessed," cognitive scientist Mark Changizi demonstrates that human speech has been very specifically designed" to harness the sounds of nature, sounds we've evolved over millions of years to readily understand. Long before humans evolved, mammals have learned to interpret the sounds of nature to understand both threats and opportunities. Our speech--regardless of language--is very clearly based on the sounds of nature. Even more fascinating, Changizi shows that music itself is based on natural sounds. Music--seemingly one of the most human of inventions--is literally built on sounds and patterns of sound that have existed since the beginning of time"--Provided by publisher.
![Harnessed [eBook] : how language and music mimicked nature and transformed ape to man](/Library/images/~imageCT76862.JPG "Harnessed [eBook] : how language and music mimicked nature and transformed ape to man")
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2015., Adult, HarperCollins Canada Call No: 636.1 W728h Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: "Horses have a story to tell, one of resilience, sociability, and intelligence, and of partnership with human beings. Jjournalist and equestrienne Wendy Williams brings that story to life. She chronicles the 56-million-year journey of horses as she explores what our biological affinities and differences can tell us about the bond between horses and humans, and what our longtime companion might think and feel. Recent scientific breakthroughs regarding the social and cognitive capacities of the horse and his ability to adapt to changing ecosystems indicate that this animal is a major evolutionary triumph. The course that leads to our modern Equus -- from the protohorse to the Dutch Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds, and cow ponies of the twenty-first century. Magnificent ancient cave art in France and Spain signals a deep respect and admiration for horses well before they were domesticated. The author visits the mountains of Wyoming with experts in equine behavior to understand the dynamics of free-roaming mustangs; witnesses the fluid gracefulness of the famous Lipizzans of Vienna; contemplates what life is like for the sure-footed, mustachioed Garrano horses who thrive on the rugged terrain of Galicia; meets a family devoted to rehabilitating abandoned mustangs on their New Hampshire farm; celebrates the Takhi horses of Mongolia; and more. A blend of scientific insights and remarkable stories, creating a unique biography of the horse as a sentient being with a fascinating past and a finely nuanced mind. The story of the animal who has been at our side through the ages, befriending us and traveling with us over the mountains and across the plains"--Provided by publisher.
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By Walter, Chip2013., Walker Call No: 569.9 W231l Edition: 1st U.S. ed. Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: Over the past 180 years scientists have sifted through evidence that at least twenty-seven human species have evolved on planet Earth. And as you may have noticed, twenty-six of them are no longer with us, done in by their environment, predators, disease, or the unfortunate shortcomings of their DNA. What enabled us to survive when so many other human species were shown the evolutionary door? Last Ape Standing: The Seven-Million-Year Story of How and Why We Survived by acclaimed science journalist Chip Walter tells the intriguing tale of how against all odds and despite nature's brutal and capricious ways we stand here today, the only surviving humans, and the planet's most dominant species.Drawing on a wide variety of scientific disciplines, Walter reveals how a rare evolutionary phenomenon led to the uniquely long childhoods that make us so resourceful and emotionally complex. He looks at why we developed a new kind of mind and how our highly social nature has shaped our moral (and immoral) behavior. And in exploring the traits that enabled our success, he plumbs the roots of our creativity and investigates why we became self-aware in ways that no other animal is. Along the way, Last Ape Standing profiles other human species who evolved with us and who have also shaped our kind in startling ways - the Neanderthals of Europe, the "Hobbits" of Indonesia, the Denisovans of Siberia, and the recently discovered Red Deer Cave people of China, who died off just as we stood at the brink of civilizations eleven thousand years ago.Last Ape Standing is an engaging and accessible story that explores the forces that molded us into the peculiar and astonishing creature that we are.
