Nina Jablonski

The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World (Wattis Symposium Series in Anthropology)
$35.00
"The First Americans: The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World" is a scholarly work that is eminently readable both to the professional and the layman. It contains articles on various subjects by a number of scholars, and contains some of the most recent research into the Paleoindians and their predecessors, the Pre-Clovis people. The articles cover such diverse subjects as environmental conditions, how new settlers adapt to new places, seafaring capabilities, human fossils, bioarchaeology, South American viewpoints, plant foods, languages, DNA, and the Solutrean theory of a crossing from the Iberian peninsula to the eastern coast of North America. This volume will be cited by professional archaeologists for many years to come, and will be enjoyed as a fascinating book to read by the educated public.

The Natural History of the Doucs and Snub-Nosed Monkeys (Recent Advances in Human Biology, Vol 4)
$101.00
The Natural History of the Doucs and Snub-nosed Monkeys provides a comprehensive introduction to the biology of some of the rarest and least-known nonhuman primates. Virtually unstudied and unknown until 20 years ago, the doucs and snub-nosed monkeys occupy some of the most remote habitats of eastern Asia and exhibit some of the most unusual adaptations of any nonhuman primates. The volume provides detailed information on these rare Asian primates that will be useful to practitioners of evolutionary biology, field and laboratory primatology, systematics, field ecology, and conservation biology.

Theropithecus: The Rise and Fall of a Primate Genus
$95.00
This unique volume provides a comprehensive and up-to-date examination of all aspects of the biology of the Old World monkey genus, Theropithecus, which evolved alongside our human ancestors. This genus is represented today by only one rare species. The authors explore the fossil history and evolution of the genus, its biogeography, comparative evolutionary biology and anatomy, and the behavior and socioecology of the living and extinct representatives of the genus. The parallels between the evolution of Theropithecus and early hominids are discussed. There are also two chapters of particular significance that describe how an innovative and exciting approach to the modeling of the causes of species extinction can be used with great success. This highly multidisciplinary approach provides a rare and insightful account of the evolutionary biology of this fascinating and once highly successful group of primates.

Shaping Primate Evolution: Form, Function, and Behavior (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology)
$158.00
This is an edited collection of state of the art papers on the description of biological form in primates and the implications of this form on function and behavior. The analysis of the form-function-behavior triad is presented in each chapter as an interesting and most importantly, understandable narrative. Most other works of this nature are highly specialized, applicable to only a few scientists capable of understanding what is essentially a very complex subject. This book is unique in that it covers a diversity of topics on a wide range of levels, from cellular morphometrics to the evolution of primate functional morphology. Even though the reader may have a primary interest in only one or two chapters, it follows that the other chapters will be read, thereby expanding the views of the reader.

The book is essentially a "Festschrift" to Charles E. Oxnard, who is a pioneer on metric and analytic techniques which have been combined with his meticulous comparative functional analysis of primate anatomy. Each contributor in this book, "Shaping Primate Evolution", has in some way been influenced by Professor Oxnard's work and this is expressed by the remarkable diversity of topics. The editors, Fred Anapol, Rebecca Z. German, and Nina G. Jabolinski, themsenves highly regarded scholars, have done an excellent job in bringing together the work of a number of internationally recognized scientists in a single volume. A dedication, in the form of this work, is appropriate in light of the remarkable achievements of Professor Oxnard over roughly fifty years. In much of what is written, he has managed to express algebraic complexity in words, which for "mere mortals" is a relief and makes what is ordinarily meant for a selsct few, an enjoyable reading experience for most. In particular, three works by Oxnard worth getting (these have become quite scarce), are; "Form and pattern in human evolution - some mathematical, physical and engineering approaches" (1973), "Uniqueness and diversity in human evolution - morphometric studies of Australopithecines" (1975) and "The Order of Man" (1983).

For those interested in primate form, function and evolution, this reference work is a must!