Primate Adaptation and Evolution

Primate Adaptation and Evolution, Third Edition, is a thorough revision of the text of choice for courses in primate evolution. The book retains its grounding in the extant primate groups as the best way to understand the fossil trail and the evolution of these modern forms. However, this coverage is now streamlined, making reference to the many new and excellent books on living primate ecology and adaptation – a field that has burgeoned since the first edition of Primate Adaptation and Evolution.

By drawing out the key features of the extant families and referring to more detailed texts, the author sets the scene and also creates space for a thorough updating of the exciting developments in primate palaeontology – and the reconstruction through early hominid species – of our own human origins. This updated version covers recent developments in primate paleontology and the latest taxonomy, and includes over 200 new illustrations and revised evolutionary trees.

This text is ideal for undergraduate and post-graduate students studying the evolution and functional ecology of primates and early fossil hominids.

John Fleagle is a primatologist whose research combines field studies and functional morpho-logical analysis. He is interested in the adaptive radiation of primates during the last 50 million years. He has conducted paleobiological research in Egypt, Argentina, and Ethiopia and has studied living primates in Malaysia, Surinam, Brazil and Madagascar. Dr. Fleagle is a MacArthur Fellow.