The Ape in the Tree An Intellectual and Natural History of Proconsul

By: Alan Walker and Pat Shipman

288 pages, 12 col illus, 3 maps, 1 tab, col & b/w line illus

Publisher: Harvard University Press

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ISBN: 9780674016750 Hardback May 2005 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 1 week
£35.95
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About this book

This book offers a unique insider's perspective on the unfolding discovery of a crucial link in our evolution: Proconsul, a fossil ape named after a performing chimpanzee called Consul. The book is written in the voice of Alan Walker, whose involvement with Proconsul began when his graduate supervisor analyzed the tree climbing adaptations in the arm and hand of this extinct creature. Today Proconsul is the best known fossil ape in the world. The history of ideas is set against the vivid adventures of Walker's fossil hunting expeditions in remote regions of Africa. Analysis of the thousands of new Proconsul specimens they recovered provides revealing glimpses of the life of this last common ancestor between apes and humans.

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By: Alan Walker and Pat Shipman

288 pages, 12 col illus, 3 maps, 1 tab, col & b/w line illus

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Media reviews

The authors' enthusiasm for the topic is contagious, and their ability to transform often-dry paleontological analysis into a potential screenplay for CSI: Kenya is admirable.--George M. Eberhart "C&RL News "

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