@booklet {306900, title = {Understanding Climate{\textquoteright}s Influence on Human Evolution}, year = {2010}, abstract = {

The hominin fossil record documents a history of critical evolutionary events that have ultimately shaped and defined what it means to be human, including the origins of bipedalism; the emergence of our genus Homo; the first use of stone tools; increases in brain size; and the emergence of Homo sapiens, tools, and culture. The Earth{\textquoteright}s geological record suggests that some evolutionary events were coincident with substantial changes in African and Eurasian climate, raising the possibility that critical junctures in human evolution and behavioral development may have been affected by the environmental characteristics of the areas where hominins evolved. Understanding Climate{\textquoteright}s Change on Human Evolution explores the opportunities of using scientific research to improve our understanding of how climate may have helped shape our species.

}, keywords = {Biodiversity, Biology, Climate, Earth Sciences, Human evolution, Weather}, url = {http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12825/understanding-climates-influence-on-human-evolution}, author = {Committee on the Earth System Context for Hominin Evolution and Board on Earth Sciences and Resources and Division on Earth and Life Sciences and National Research Council} }