Illuminating Human Evolution: 150 Years after Darwin

Description

This book presents a series of perspectives showing the current knowledge about human evolution. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Darwin's book, The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, in which he explicitly addresses the natural origin of the human species, this collective work reviews current and diverse aspects of human evolution: from psychology, linguistics, genomics, paleontology, artistic expression or sexual selection. It also offers a historical, social and ideological context of what is often considered to be Darwin's second great work after The Origin of Species. Although current research is concentrated largely on fossils and genomes, this book also deals with the main points Darwin centered his attention on; comparative morphology and psychology, and sexual selection. It also covers other new aspects, such as the origin of art, social structure and social learning. With contributions from leading experts in their respective fields, the book guides readers to the study of the social context of Darwin and his time, and the state of the art of studies on human evolution and sexual selection, considering all aspects that Darwin examined, including those that emerged later and now are important disciplines in our understanding of our own evolution. The English translation of parts of this book from its Spanish original manuscript was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content. Preface Contents Chapter 1: Light Would Be Thrown: Human Evolution 150 Years After Darwin 1.1 Victorian in Form and Substance 1.2 Evolution Without Fossils 1.3 A Well-Connected Author 1.4 The Use of the Image (or Not) in Darwin´s Work 1.5 Human Evolution Partially Enlightened 1.6 Translations of Descent into Spanish and Catalan References Chapter 2: The Historical Background to Darwin´s Descent of Man 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The Descent of Man 2.3 Sexual Selection and Society 2.4 Descent in Victorian Context 2.5 Aftermath References Chapter 3: Ways of Seeing the World: Darwin and the First Victorian Generation References Chapter 4: The Problem of Design in the Darwinian Proposal: A Historical Overview 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The Design Argument 4.3 The Danger of Projecting Our Obsessions 4.4 Is It Really Over with Finalism? 4.5 Conclusion References Chapter 5: Darwin Under Suspicion: The Representation of Darwinism in the Newspaper ABC (1909-1982) 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Contextualization: A Brief History of Darwinism in Spain 5.3 Darwin in the ABC: 1909-1982 5.4 Conclusions References Primary Bibliography Chapter 6: The Descent of Man: Darwin and Psychology 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Origin: From Species to Man 6.3 Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution and Its Impact on the Beginnings of Psychology 6.4 The Theory of Evolution and the Psychological Disciplines 6.5 Evolutionary Psychology: A New Theoretical Approach 6.6 Darwin and Twenty-First Century Psychology References Chapter 7: Human Evolution: The Linguistic Evidence 7.1 Phylogeny 7.2 Ontogeny 7.3 Glossogeny References Chapter 8: Human Evolution in Eurasia: The Fossils that Darwin Did Not Know 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Revisiting ``Out of Africa 1´´ 8.2.1 ``Out of Asia´´ and the Settlement of Europe 8.3 Revisiting ``Out of Africa 2´´ 8.4 Final Conclusion References Chapter 9: Human Evolution: The Genomic Evidence 9.1 The Family Tree of Humankind 9.2 The Tangled Bank of Human Evolution 9.3 The Faceless Human 9.4 Ghosts of the Past 9.5 Answers on Human Evolution Inscribed in the Genome 9.5.1 The African Origin of the Human Species 9.5.2 The Forgotten Diaspora: The Origins of the Roma People 9.5.3 Europe´s Prehistory Reconstructed from Ancient DNA References Chapter 10: The Adaptations That Made Us Human: Morphology 10.1 Introduction 10.1.1 The Concept of Adaptation 10.1.2 The Relationship Between Form and Function 10.1.3 Paleobiology 10.2 The Human Primates 10.2.1 Separating the Wheat From the Chaff 10.2.2 Humans´ Closest Relatives 10.2.3 The Last Common Ancestor of Chimpanzees and Humans 10.3 Main Adaptations of the Human Lineage 10.3.1 Locomotion 10.3.2 Manipulation 10.3.3 Cognition and Life History 10.3.4 Diet 10.3.5 Sociosexual Behavior 10.4 Discussion and Conclusions References Chapter 11: The Adaptations That Have Made Us Human: The Genome 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Cross-Species Comparisons 11.3 Tests Based on Intraspecific Variation 11.3.1 Tests Based on Frequency Spectrum 11.3.2 Tests Based on Population Differentiation 11.3.3 Tests Based on Unusual Haplotype Extension or Linkage Disequilibrium 11.4 Verifying the Statistical Significance 11.5 Beyond the Classic Selective Sweep 11.6 Limitations and Future of Selection Studies References Chapter 12: How Do We Humans Evolve? 12.1 Introduction 12.2 A Theoretical Approach to a Central Hypothesis on Humanization 12.2.1 Production 12.2.2 Communication 12.2.3 Socialization 12.3 Conclusion References Chapter 13: Art as a Human Element 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Darwin, Evolutionism, and the Origins of Prehistoric Art Research 13.3 Current Debates References Chapter 14: Sexual Selection: Following Darwin´s Legacy 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Pre-copulatory Mechanisms: Darwin´s Jigsaw Puzzle 14.2.1 Intrasexual Competition: Fighting for Mates 14.2.2 Intersexual Competition: Mate Choice 14.3 Post-copula Mechanisms: The Invisible Competition 14.3.1 Sperm Competition: Fighting for Fertilization 14.3.2 Cryptic Female Choice 14.4 Sex Roles and the Evolutionary Battle of the Sexes 14.5 The Importance of Sexual Selection in Evolution 14.6 Conclusions References Chapter 15: Genetic and Cultural Evolution of Mate Choice 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Mate-Choice Copying: Empirical Evidence 15.3 Mate-Choice Copying: Theoretical Approaches 15.4 Mate-Choice Copying and Speciation 15.5 Mate-Choice Copying in Humans 15.6 Mate-Choice Copying: Asocial or Social Learning Mechanism? 15.7 Concluding Remarks References Chapter 16: How Past Shapes Future: The Biological Future of Humankind 16.1 Background: If There Has Been a Past, There Will Be a Future 16.2 Knowing the Past to Predict the Future? 16.3 The Mechanisms of Evolution 16.3.1 The Mutation 16.3.2 Genetic Drift 16.3.3 Migration 16.3.4 Selective Mating 16.3.5 Natural Selection 16.4 The Biological Effects of Human Culture 16.5 Natural Selection Today 16.5.1 Purifying Selection 16.5.2 Positive Selection 16.5.3 Sexual Selection in Humans 16.6 Action of Genome Editing and Transhumanism 16.7 What, Then, Is the Genetic and Evolutionary Future of Humankind? 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