Human Paleontology and Prehistory: Contributions in Honor of Yoel Rak 1st ed. 2017

The aim of the book is to present original and though-provoking essays in human paleontology and prehistory, which are at the forefront of human evolutionary research, in honor of Professor Yoel Rak (a leading scholar in paleoanthropology). The volume presents a collection of original papers contributed by many of Yoel"s friends and colleagues from all over the globe. Contributions from experts around the globe fall roughly into three broad categories: Reflections on some of the broad theoretical questions of evolution, and especially about human evolution; the early hominins, with special emphasis on Australopithecus afarensis and Paranthropus; and the Neanderthals, that contentious group of our closest extinct relatives. Within and across these categories, nearly every paper addresses combinations of methodological, analytical and theoretical questions that are pertinent to the whole human evolutionary time span. This book will appeal most to scholars and advanced students inpaleoanthropology, human paleontology and prehistoric archaeology.1 Why Was Human Evolution So Rapid.- 2 Wallace"s Controversy with Darwin on Man"s Mental Evolution, on the Position of the Natives in Human Evolution and his Anticipation of Cultural Evolution, as Distinct from Biological Evolution.- 3 Man"s Place in Past and Future Evolution: A Historical Survey of Remarkable Ideas.- 4 The Paleoecology of the Upper Ndolanya Beds, Laetoli, Tanzania, and Its Implications for Hominin Evolution.- 5 The Australopithecine Brain: Controversies Perpetual.- 6 Posture, Locomotion and Bipedality: The Case of the Gerenuk (Litocranius walleri). 7 Canine Height and Jaw Gape in Catarrhines with Reference to Canine Reduction in Early Hominins.-8 Paranthropus: Where Do Things Stand? 9 Feeding Behavior and Diet in Paranthropus Boisei: The Limits of Functional Inferences from the Mandible.- 10 Aspects of Mandibular Ontogeny in Australopithecus afarensis.- 11 Middle Pleistocene Homo crania from Broken Hill and Petralona: Morphology, Metric Comparisons, and Evolutionary Relationship.-12 Thermoregulation in Homo erectus and Neanderthals: A Reassessment Using a Segmented Model.-13 Behavioral Differences between Near Eastern Neanderthals and the Early Modern Humans from Skhul and Qafzeh: An Assessment Based on Comparative Samples of Holocene Humans.- 14 The Acheulo-Yabrudian - Early Middle Paleolithic Sequence of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel.- 15 A 3-D Look at the Tabun C2 Jaw.-16 The Dentition of the Earliest Modern Humans: How "Modern" Are They?.-17 Talking Hyoids and Talking Neanderthals.- 18 3D Reconstruction of the Spinal Posture of the Kebara 2 Neanderthal.- 19 Brother or Other? The Place of Neanderthals in Human Evolution.