The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans

This is a very good book - one of the very best. Simply stated definitely read this book if you are a serious student of human origins. I think you should consider buying the book; it's a good value and is a good summary reference book.But - contrary to other reviewers - I don't think it's a good introductory text. it's basically well written and minimizes technical jargon, but if you are not familiar with the field you would get more from it and appreciate it even more from reading an introductory book(s) first. (E.g. a true introductory text like Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins by Carl Zimmer or slightly more advanced books by Chris Stringer or Ian Tattersall)One reviewer called it A Hominid Family Photo Album - which is very apt - as it' subtitle says "A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans". It's mostly presentations of the collective species - not about individual fossils but a generalization of the species as a whole.The best part are the reconstructions - IMHO - the best out there. They are artistically and realistically portrayed - but most importantly, they don't over-humanize the soft features of the species before homo-erectus (a problem with other recent artistic representations). The author's credit Ian Tattersall with guiding their reconstructions, and it shows. They also include some interesting information about their reconstruction process and the history of representations of hominids. The reader should be aware that each of these reconstructions are based on the best current information possible, but still involve inferences and speculation. And the earliest species are very speculative (and the book should really make this point more apparent).The book has a brief summary of basic facts about the species. The descriptions of the scientific data available on the different species was a good synopsis of the species bones, age, environment, possible diet and anything else that might be known.But for me the greatest and under appreciated aspect of the book is that it gives a fairly objective evaluation of species and fossils status and what can reliably inferred from fossils and other evidence - and where some scientists are making weakly substantiated inferences or outright speculations. I don't think it's possible to find a better summary and it will give a serious student insight to the field. This book is full of such gems.Creationist might jump at this because it exposes the uncertainty in the field, but the truth is - the field is far from set. It's in the process of unfolding - true of most sciences, but especially true of human origins which has only recently been able to locate and focus on the right locations of fossils in the right time periods. It's better that this information has been made accessible to us so we have a true picture of this interesting field.You will find very little about evolutionary processes, genetics, determining age or related information and nothing about the field processes or fossil analysis but this doesn't appear to be the intent of the book - and a reader would benefit from other books more focused on those areas.There is almost nothing about individual fossils or details about the collecting areas - beyond what is summarized for the species as a whole. But given the summary intent of the book, I am not certain this is necessary. Readers should just be aware that they will have to find that information elsewhere.To the authors - Very good job. But as good as it is, the book can be significantly improved. Ralph D. Hermansen's review makes several valuable suggestion which I heartly endorse. In addition I would note that the book shows very few fossils - 15 total, mostly skulls and only one skeleton and could benefit from more. There is little about potential lineages and very little on interspecies comparisons and about the development of bipedalism and its relationship to the evolution of Hominids. Also I would have liked to know which specific fossils the reconstruction are based on and what assumptions and deductions/inductions did they make to develop the reconstructions. All of this would support the central purpose of the book, and I believe make it more beneficial.Finally I join other reviewers who are not that enthusiastic about the little vignettes at the first of each chapter. Intriguing idea to give the reader insight into the lives of the hominids, but in executing them - less fantasy and more science might be better.

_The Last Human_ is somewhat of a misnomer, as the focus isn't so much on us "humans" as it is on our distant (and now extinct) ancestors. An argument could be made, I suppose, that those in the genera "Homo" count as human, but even then Sawyer et al discuss Ardipithocences, Australopithicences and Paranthropecenes as well. Hair-splitting aside, this is a tremendous resource, and while a bit technical, certainly accessable to lay readers who have a passing familiarity with paleoanthropology.In seven broad chapters, human evoluton is traced from ca. 7 million y/a (Sahalenthropus tchadensis) to H. sapiens (about 200,000 y/a). Each chapter includes several species, described in great detail: skull, teeth and diet; skeleton, gait and posture; fossil sites and possible range; age (of when these species lived); tools; gender differences; animals and habitats (the flora and fauna common to the time and geographic location); climate; classification (details of how the species is similar to or different from other species) and historical notes.Each chapter begins with a narrative of one of the species discussed in the chapter, which initally I didn't care for (I prefer my non-fiction to focus on exclusively the facts). However, after reading several chapters and thinking on it, these brief narratives work: they give context to these distant ancestors and help provide some understanding of their world, their social interactions and a little of what they may have thought. In this respect, it is very reminiscent of The Seven Daughters of Eve and it works for similar reasons.The anthropological details of species identification were of less interest to me than the inferences about diet, range and historical notes. While there remains much work to be done in this field (it is much more wide open than I had previously imagined), it is remarkable at how well supported the theories and ideas about our distant ancestors are scientifically. Special kudos are in order for the frequency and balance given opposing ideas about classification. In this regard, the historical notes were particularly fascinating. The science behind the book notwithstanding, the artistic reconstruction of these now extinct species is also remarkable. How these reconstructions are created are discussed in the appendix, which in and of itself is interesting.While this is a realtively specialized book, the technical jargon isn't obtuse, and the explanations behind the science are clear. It was a captivating read. Recommended.

Ideally I'd give it 3.5 stars - 4 for the scientific descriptions, 3 for the 'stories'What did I like - the descriptions of the scientific data available on the different species was great - very interesting and provided a synopsis on the bones, environment, possible diet and anything else that might be known. Included interesting comments on how controversies and how clear the different designations are (some seem solid, some based on very minimal evidence to say the least)What was interesting - closes with a chapter on how early hominids are 'visualized', including the efforts of the authors. This is something you don't read everywhere and quite unique. The art in the books shows how the authors have constructed them.What I didn't really like - each chapter starts with a short story about the species in question. Based on some of them, I gather they are meant to be stories that are trying to tell the tales of the actual bones found. Which I can understand, but... they are rather gruesome! (As are many of the captions to the art). Since they read like fiction (and I felt were mostly fiction), I wondered why every pre-homo sapien had to have such a miserable life? Every character seemed to get eaten or fall in a hole or be murdered. And perhaps those were the most likely demises of many hominids, but for a three page story, I wouldn't have minded not knowing how all of them were killed off.