Upright: The Evolutionary Key to Becoming Human

by Craig Stanford

Book Overview

What, in evolutionary terms, propelled us to become human? The answer lies not in our forebears' big brains or their facility with language but in their ability to walk on two feet. That remarkable... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618302476
• ISBN13: 9780618302475
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Foot fetish

Craig Stanford has studied chimpanzees for many years. He's seen them in groups and as individuals. He's watched them parading along tree limbs seeking fruit, or reaching up to pull branches close for harvest. He once saw one enter, then leave, a stream, "looking for all the world like a swimmer emerging from the surf". These studies have given him some insights to how our ancestors likely went from a four-legged posture to a bipedal lifestyle. It was a step of profound legacy for us. Bipedalism ultimately allowed humans to traverse the planet. Stanford's studies have resulted in a work that relies strongly on changes in hominin anatomy. Bipedalism requires immense changes in skeletal structure, muscle placement and use, the formation of the pelvis, and, of course, the formation of the foot. These changes must be incremental, he reminds us. Bipedal walking wasn't an overnight transition. It took a great deal of experimentation by natural selection to achieve it. The question of balance loomed large throughout the process. Our modern bodies have a centre of gravity straight up from between our feet - the chimpanzee's is well forward in its midsection. It took many evolutionary trade-offs to change from one type of body structure to another. As the modifications occurred over many generations, the creature carrying them must survive and reproduce to pass these traits on. Was each step suitably sufficient in its own right? In answering that question, Stanford takes us not only through the likely progression, but also reviews the scholarship attempting to explain them. He presents the views and counter arguments of the major thinkers explaining the human lineage. He makes clear that it took many years of study to recognise that bipedalism was the key to becoming human. To infer what slow, gradual steps were required to bring us upright from the paucity of fossils imparting information leaves many points unresolved. That gives researchers a broad spectrum of interpretations to offer, but few absolute answers. Stanford picks through the evidence and the viewpoints, then pronounces his verdict on the most viable scenario. He's clear on what he favours and why. Some of his judgments are severe, and no few of them are open to question. Although he offers little of the early hominin social scene, he's quick to dispose of those who have. His assessment of Owen Lovejoy's scenario of sex playing a major role in leading us to an upright stance is grossly misleading. He accuses Lovejoy of positing a single cause for this change, when Lovejoy's analysis is anything but limited in scope. One can almost sense Adrienne Zihlman at his shoulder as he wrote the passage. Zihlman, a fanatical opponent of "women's roles" in paleoanthropology, is also a sharp critic of Lovejoy. Among chimpanzees, the gift of love is meat. Although Stanford recognises the role of meat protein in aiding in the building of brains, it most certainly played a gr

An interesting, thoughtful review

Craig Stanford's "Upright: The Evolutionary Key to Becoming Human" is a brief, easy and informative read. I've enjoyed Stanford's previous efforts, and this volume was no disappointment. He approaches the subject of human evolution from the perspective of a researcher studying living great apes, particularly chimpanzees. As such, he takes a distinctly different tack than students of bones and artifacts might. Stanford's discussions of anatomy involve comparisons of the differences between ape and human anatomy, followed by brief presentations of how the hominid fossil record tracks these shifts. His presentation is relaxed but thorough, and his data are quite up-to-date. But it's his deep knowledge of chimpanzee and bonobo behavior, and the application of this information to ancient human ancestry, where this book shines. I was intrigued by Stanford's surmise that the initial impetus towards full erect bipedality may have been simply standing erect for brief moments while feeding and foraging. This seems awfully simplistic, yet not remotely inconceivable. (Leave it to evolution to take the boring way to get somewhere ...) Readers may wish to compare this view with that presented by Jonathan Kingdon in his book "Lowly Origin". I would observe, however, that Stanford's insistence that behavioral change precedes and drives anatomical change seems to leave the whole concept of mutations out of the loop. What follows is a minor point, but I must confess to having been annoyed by the occasional obvious mistakes encountered throughout portions of the book. Whether these can be placed on Stanford's own doorstep, or that of his editor(s), remains to be determined. But to encounter so many simple errors -- not only typos, but actual factual mistakes -- does make one wonder whether there are other errata that one might be missing. In any event, these mistakes led me to conclude that this book was generated somewhat hastily; that's unfortunate. [For the record: it's Giganotosaurus, not "Gigantosaurus" (p. 64); it's Hadrosaurus, not "Hadrosaurs" (p. 64); the hind limbs of Eudibarmus are longer than the animal's forelimbs, not shorter (p. 65); the first species of paranthropine (= "robust" australopithecine) discovered was Paranthropus robustus, not "Zinj" (p. 74); people were living in Siberia very near Alaska by ~19,000 years ago (the book states that this was not true until 16,000 years after 25,000 years ago, or 9,000 years ago) (p. 170).] Be that as it may, the book remains thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. One could wish for a little more editorial time and care to have been taken, and perhaps for a few more pictures of actual fossils. But these are minor quibbles. Students of human evolution will have much to look forward to from this volume.

Standing led the way

Anthropologist and co-director of the Jane Goodall Primate Research Center, Craig Stanford argues that the first step in the march to humanity was upright posture. Apes stand when it's advantageous, Stanford points out, taking examples from his field experience. They stand on branches as well as on the ground, the better to reach fruit in the trees. For our earliest ancestors, living in areas of mixed trees and grass, shuffling between trees would have been more efficient than dropping to all fours. Stanford reminds us that evolution is not a straightforward progression towards something better, but rather a natural product of what works best for the animal's ability to reproduce. Where upright posture favored feeding and energy conservation, it persisted, with a gradual shift to greater bipedalism. Bipedalism led to everything else. He theorizes that walking, by increasing efficiency over distance and freeing the hands, created better hunters, and the high caloric, protein diet helped fuel the expansion of the brain. He outlines the hunting strategies of the modern ape and how these may have evolved in early hominids.Again and again he returns to the modern ape to compare behavior and anatomy, similarity and divergence, throughout the hominid fossil record. Bipedalism is an anatomical trade off. Our broad pelvis, backbone shape and large gluteal muscles give us stability and forward efficiency, and free the lungs from coordination with stride (eventually permitting speech), but decrease climbing ability, make childbirth difficult, and deliver a baggage of back problems.The history of hominid research is one of many stories and few bones. Stanford traces this history, showing how new finds give rise to new, frequently opposing, theories, how the same scrap of bone can be described in starkly different terms by equally eminent and adamant scientists, how psychology, imagination, ambition, and graduate schools have as much (or more) to do with evolutionary views as hard evidence does. Stanford also looks at bipedalism in the big picture - dinosaurs - which had a wide range of bipedal habits without developing speech or big brains.The writing is clear and well organized. Stanford ("Significant Others," "The Hunting Apes") paints a picture of an Africa teeming with variously bipedal hominids, most of which went extinct comparatively quickly. Others, made powerful by their two sturdy legs, spread out into the world, leaving fossilized remains to prove it. Then there's us, the last wave out of Africa, and the only ones left (according to mitochondrial DNA evidence). Are we the best? Or just the last ones left standing? A fascinating, concise and intelligent book.