Evolution's bite : a story of teeth, diet, and human origins
Ungar, Peter S.2017
Book
In 'Evolution's Bite', noted paleoanthropologist Peter Ungar brings together advances in understanding human evolution and climate change with new approaches to uncovering dietary clues from fossil teeth to present a remarkable investigation into the ways that teeth - their shape, chemistry, and wear - reveal how we came to be. Ungar describes how a tooth's 'foodprints' - distinctive patterns of microscopic wear and tear - provide details about what an animal actually ate in the past. These clues, combined with groundbreaking research in paleoclimatology, show how a changing climate altered the food options available to our ancestors, what Ungar calls the biospheric buffet. When diets change, species change, and Ungar traces how diet and an unpredictable climate determined who among our ancestors was winnowed out and who survived, as well as why we transitioned from the role of forager to farmer.
Main title:
Evolution's bite : a story of teeth, diet, and human origins / Peter S. Ungar.
Author:
Ungar, Peter S., author
Imprint:
Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2017.
Collation:
248 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Audience:
Specialized.
ISBN:
9780691160535 (hbk)
Dewey class:
599.938599.938 UNG
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
3627011