The Invaders: How Humans and Their Dogs Drove Neanderthals to Extinction - Softcover

Shipman, Pat

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674975413 ISBN 13: 9780674975415

Publisher: Belknap Press, 2017

Synopsis

A Times Higher Education Book of the Week

Approximately 200,000 years ago, as modern humans began to radiate out from their evolutionary birthplace in Africa, Neanderthals were already thriving in Europe―descendants of a much earlier migration of the African genus Homo. But when modern humans eventually made their way to Europe 45,000 years ago, Neanderthals suddenly vanished. Ever since the first Neanderthal bones were identified in 1856, scientists have been vexed by the question, why did modern humans survive while their closest known relatives went extinct?

“Shipman admits that scientists have yet to find genetic evidence that would prove her theory. Time will tell if she’s right. For now, read this book for an engagingly comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving understanding of our own origins.”
―Toby Lester, Wall Street Journal

“Are humans the ultimate invasive species? So contends anthropologist Pat Shipman―and Neanderthals, she opines, were among our first victims. The relationship between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis is laid out cleanly, along with genetic and other evidence. Shipman posits provocatively that the deciding factor in the triumph of our ancestors was the domestication of wolves.”
―Daniel Cressey, Nature

About this title

About the Author

Pat Shipman is retired Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University.

Review

Shipman [is] a genial and authoritative guide to a complex field... Shipman admits that scientists have yet to find genetic evidence that would prove her theory. Time will tell if she’s right. For now, read this book for an engagingly comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving understanding of our own origins. (Toby Lester Wall Street Journal)

Few if any readers of this lucid and compelling exposition will come away believing that the early modern Europeans were not deeply implicated in the Neanderthals’ disappearance. (Ian Tattersall Times Literary Supplement)

Are humans the ultimate invasive species? So contends anthropologist Pat Shipman―and Neanderthals, she opines, were among our first victims. The relationship between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis is laid out cleanly, along with genetic and other evidence. Shipman posits provocatively that the deciding factor in the triumph of our ancestors was the domestication of wolves. Perhaps more troubling is the concept of early humans as invaders, rather than just another species finding its way. (Daniel Cressey Nature)

Since the discovery in the 19th century of Neanderthal remains, the cause of their extinction has arguably been the most compelling mystery in human evolution... The Invaders offers us the appealing prospect of an expert writing on her specialism and clearly having a great deal of fun doing so. Shipman builds an extremely compelling case for the role of Homo sapiens as an invasive species who arrived in Europe about 40,000 to 50,000 years ago and had an immediate impact on their new ecosystem. The Neanderthals were not the only victims... What makes Shipman’s argument really stand out and offer a fresh perspective on the extinction of Neanderthals is the role that she gives to wolves in the process that led to the dominance of Homo sapiens. (Simon Underdown Times Higher Education)

According to a leading U.S. anthropologist, early dogs, bred from wolves, played a critical role in the modern human’s takeover of Europe 40,000 years ago when we vanquished the Neanderthal locals... If Shipman is right, she will have solved one of evolution’s most intriguing mysteries. (Robin McKie The Observer)

[A] cautious but compelling argument. (Brian Bethune Maclean’s)

Provocative...Shipman’s story makes for a dramatic and compelling narrative. (Mark Derr Psychology Today)

If you want to understand your own mind, read this remarkable and important book. Summoning new evidence, Pat Shipman shows how our coevolution with wolves contributed to the extinction of Neanderthals and further transformed us through the process of domesticating dogs. You will never look at Fido the same way again! (Nina G. Jablonski, Ph.D., Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University)

Why did the Neanderthals disappear? In a judicious and enthralling account, Shipman makes a compelling case that, as a truly invasive species, humans were the main cause. An original twist adds an accomplice to the scenario: An unexpectedly early prototype of man’s best friend proved to be the Neanderthals’ worst enemy. (Robert D. Martin, A. Watson Armour III Curator of Biological Anthropology, The Field Museum, Chicago)

With her lucid synthesis of recent research, Shipman demonstrates that Homo sapiens was and is the very model of an invasive species. (Harriet Ritvo, Arthur J. Conner Professor of History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Edition details

• Publisher: Belknap Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0674975413
• ISBN 13: 9780674975415
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 288