• BACKGROUND INFORMATION provides context for the material covered in the chapter and helps students apply what they learn.
• OBJECTIVES clearly state what students are expected to know by the end of the chapter.
• “HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED” represent the types of questions that nonspecialists typically ask about each topic.  Answers are provided during the course of the chapter.
• Extensive use of FULL-COLOR ART and PHOTOGRAPHY provides students with excellent visual references as they work through the exercises.  This should be of particular benefit when access to a complete set of specimens is not available.
• CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING questions are provided for students to complete prior to beginning the lab exercises to help ensure they understand the lab material.
• The HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES are designed to illustrate the concepts presented in the readings. The exercises allow students to experience physical anthropology through use of the same methods used by researchers, with an emphasis on the scientific method. Apart from skeletal and fossil specimens, few laboratory supplies are needed. Many of the experiments and exercises utilize common, everyday materials.
• MATERIALS LISTS are provided to ensure students have what they need prior to beginning the lab.
• Clearly-written, numbered PROCEDURES help students successfully complete each exercise.
• Adequate space is provided in the DATA SHEETS for students to sketch and record their answers to questions.

A significant amount of new material has been added to this edition, including:

• Significant additions to the following chapters:
  • Chapter 7, Forensic Anthropology
  • Chapter 8, Modern Human Biological Variation
  • Chapter 9, Classification and Primates
  • Chapter 10, The Living Primates
  • Chapter 13, Early Members of the Human Lineage
  • Chapter 14, The Genus Homo
• The addition of descriptions of nine newly discovered extinct species of early primates and
  members of the human lineage.
• Nine new lab exercises have been added, and numerous new questions/activities are incorporated
  into existing lab exercises.
• Data sets of measurements are provided for some lab exercises in case of the absence of specimens
  for students to measure.
• New and improved and added images throughout. The photographs provided to substitute for or
  supplement lab collections are easy to locate, but are now placed at the end of each relevant lab
  exercise to encourage students’ use of actual specimens if available.
• Online references to websites for primate observation as well as fossil and skeletal images that can
  be rotated for 3-D viewing are provided.

Chapter-by-Chapter Changes and Additions include:

• Chapter 1 The Scientific Method and Evolution
  • New photos of physical anthropologists in action and new graphics were added to enhance
    understanding of the scientific method.
  • Enhanced the scientific method information by adding a section on testable vs. untestable hypotheses. The cultural and genetic basis of lactose intolerance is used as an example to illustrate evolution in modern humans.
  • A new example was added to illustrate the process of natural selection based on a long-term ornithological study in the Galapagos.
•  Chapter 2 Cells and DNA
  • A light change in the order of the material presentation was made so it flows better and is more
    intuitive.
  • The graphic depiction of some of the cellular components involved in genetics processes was
    revised.
• Chapter 3 Chromosomes and Cell Division
  • Additional Check Your Understanding questions were added.
  • Actual karyotypes are provided for students to analyze in lab exercise.
• Chapter 4 Inheritance
  • Added new explanatory figures for determining the parental alleles present in sperm and egg cells,
    as well as additional Punnett squares.
  • The pedigree section is reorganized and expanded for clarity and ease of use for conducting
    segregation analyses.
  • Addition of sample segregation analysis for more thorough explanation and preparation for lab
    exercises.
  • Several new pedigree questions were added in Lab Exercise 4.4.
• Chapter 5 Forces of Evolution
  • A new lab exercise on the effect of genetic drift and gene flow, which do not depend upon specific
    knowledge of the Hardy-Weinberg principle, was added.
• Chapter 6 The Bones Within Us
  • A new section on bone remodeling, with corresponding new Check Your Understanding questions was added.
• Chapter 7 Forensic Anthropology
  • The introductory section was expanded, with the inclusion of the terms bioarchaeology and skeletal
    biology.
  • Added new sections on:
    • Distinguishing human from nonhuman skeletal material,
    • Assessing the minimum number of individuals (MNI) for skeletal remains in an assemblage,
      and
    • A discussion of ante-, peri-, and post-mortem trauma to bone.
  • Replacement of the current term determining with the terms estimating and assessing for aging,
    sexing, and determining ancestry for skeletal remains. This offers more accurate representation of
    what forensic anthropologists have to work with and the reality of the uncertainty involved.
  • Additional and/or more detailed images and photographic views, and enhanced labeling of features
    for sexing skeletal material was added.
  • Reorganized and expanded ancestry section to provide:
    • More thorough descriptions of features used to assess ancestry, and
    • Additional photos, views, and labels for skeletal material to better illustrate distinguishing
      features.
  • Addition of figures to illustrate disease observable on bone, organized into tables for each category of disease.
  • Expanded sections on:
    • Cultural and behavioral modification of bone, and
    • Stature reconstruction; formulae added for additional bones.
      • Added Check Your Understanding questions that correspond to all new material.
      • Modifications and additions to lab exercises:
      • Distinguishing between human and nonhuman bone (photos provided in case of limited comparative materials).
  • Newly added sample measurements for cranial metrics and bone lengths so that cranial and facial indices as well as the stature reconstruction portions of lab exercises can be completed even in the absence of skeletal material.
  • New, life-sized photos of humeral and femoral heads are provided to measure for sexing in case these specimens are lacking in the teaching collection.
  • Improved photos for sexing skeletal material and assessing ancestry, and numerous new features were added to the tables for enhanced analysis of ancestry.
  • New images for aging based on epiphyseal union are included.
• Chapter 8 Modern Human Biological Variation
  • Major new section on inter-group variation that discusses adaptation and acclimatization
    responses:
    • Evolution of skin color,
    • Responses to extreme temperatures, Allen’s and Bergmann’s rules, and
    • Responses to altitude.
  • New sections on:
    • Blood groups and natural selection with regard to disease, including COVID-19,
    • The social consequences of past evolutionary processes: racism, and
      o Anthropometry.
    • Expansion of Check Your Understanding questions corresponding to new material.
    • A new lab exercise on the evolution of skin color was added with a link to online video that can be
      accessed in or outside of class, accompanied by a set of newly devised questions.
    • A new lab exercise on modern human adaptations, incorporating images and use of measurements to identify adaptations to various environmental conditions was added.
• Chapter 9 Classification and Primates
  • A new introductory section enhances clarity and offers additional information on classification and systematics.
  • Additional information about Linnaeus and biological classification was added.
  • A substantial new section was added that outlines the history of the vertebrates and major transitions occurring in the evolution of fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, as well as expanded coverage of mammalian classification. This allows students to place primates and primate evolution into a broader context and provides additional examples from which to learn about classification and systematics. This information forms the basis for new lab exercises.
  • An updated and more complete primate classification section was added, with the use of more graphics and tables for convenient access to information.
  • Improved photographs.
  • Expanded Check Your Understanding questions correspond to all newly introduced material.
  • Added a new lab exercise on biological classification, using information on vertebrate groups.
  • Added a new lab exercise on systematic biology that is straightforward yet thorough, allowing for greater familiarity with cladograms.
• Chapter 10 The Living Primates
  •  Expanded the introduction about why physical anthropologists and other scientists study primates.
  • Greatly expanded sections on each major group of primates includes:
    • Information is now provided for Malagasy primates and the loris/potto and galago groups;
      the several groups of New World monkeys; specific information about Old World monkeys,
      including that on colobines and cercopithecines.
    • Additional information on ape behavioral capacities.
      • New sections on:
        • Primate ecology and behavior,
        • Mating systems and how the various categories relate to the opportunity for sexual
          selection to occur and thus to the degree of sexual dimorphism observed, and Primate conservation.
    • Expanded the section on primate behavior to better prepare students for primate study in the lab exercises.
    • Expanded the Check Your Understanding questions corresponding to all of the newly added material.
    • The lab exercise includes more practice identifying primates by features observable in photos.
    • Added a new section in the lab exercise on primate adaptations, diet, and mating systems.
    • Added a new lab exercise on primate conservation, in which students can take action in the real world to raise awareness of or contribute in some way to conservation issues.
    • Added a new lab exercise that prepares students for using the observational techniques.
    • Addition of a list of several websites with webcams or with short videos that are useful for primate observations and allow for practicing data collection methods; particularly useful for those without access to captive primates.
• Chapter 11 Dietary and Locomotor Adaptations
  • Updated and modified the photos for enhanced clarity.
  • More thorough descriptions of anatomy and function now accompany the photos, particularly for
    postcranial skeletal elements.
• Chapter 12 Investigating the Past: Fossil Primates
  • Descriptions were added for seven newly discovered extinct primate species.
  • A new section on primate evolution and fossils from the New World, and discussion of the
    phenomenon of rafting was added.
  • Added a new section of fossil Old World monkeys of the Miocene.
  • Expanded the Check Your Understanding questions corresponding to all of the newly added material.
• Chapter 13 Early Members of the Human Lineage
  • Expanded the section on the introduction to bipedalism, including the idea of facultative versus
    obligate bipeds, and hypotheses about the origins of bipedalism.
  • Revamped the section introducing the hominins, updated classification and clarification of terms.
  • Expanded the section on each hominin species, incorporating newly acquired/discovered information on updates to time ranges or newly accepted information in paleoanthropology.
  • Newly added sections for the fossils “Little Foot” and Australopithecus deyiremeda.
  • Significant expansion of the section on australopiths tool use, including pre-Olduwan tools.
  • Expanded Check Your Understanding questions corresponding to all of the newly added material.
  • Addition of links to 3-dimensional images on several websites for various fossils and early tools, including some interactive websites.
  • Added a new lab exercise on identifying and assessing fossil remains in terms of species as well as form/function relationships; allows students to synthesize information into a more complete picture of hominin evolution.
•  Chapter 14 The Genus Homo
  • Expanded sections on:
    • Tool use in early Homo,
    • Homo erectus, with more information on hunting, tools and use of fire,
    • The Dmanisi fossils,
    • Innovations of “archaic” Homo sapiens: shelters, tools,
    • Neanderthals: cultural innovations, Mousterian tools and their function,
    •  The Denisovans, and
    • Genetic studies of fossil human remains.
  • Added information and newly published dates for Homo naledi.
  • Added a new section on behavioral modernity, anatomically modern human behavior, and more
    information on Upper Paleolithic peoples.
  • Added a new brief lab exercise on tools of later Homo.
  • Expanded Check Your Understanding questions corresponding to all of the newly added material.
    Includes new questions on the inferences we can make about relationships of extinct species based
    on genetic data.
    Online Instructor’s Manual

Suzanne E. Walker-Pacheco caught her travel bug as an Air Force brat, having lived as a child in Massachusetts, Southern California, New Mexico, Nebraska, Guam, and Northern California. After completing her undergraduate degree at San Diego State University, she crossed coasts to attend the City University of New York for her doctorate.

Her early studies in field primatology took her to Venezuela, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Sierra Leone. She is currently a professor of anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Missouri State University. Previously, she taught in coastal Humboldt County, California, surrounded by redwoods. Beaches and forests can be convenient locations for unsavory characters to dump bodies, and Suzanne had the opportunity to begin assisting coroners and medical examiners to identify skeletal remains. She continues to do so in Missouri.

Her primary research interests are now medical anthropology, particularly health issues of Latino immigrants to Southwest Missouri, with a focus on diabetes and obesity prevention in Latino children.

The online Instructor’s Manual offers the following:

• A set of high-quality photos that correlate with those in the lab manual for Chapters 6, 7, and 9
  through 14. These may be printed out and used by the instructor for practice sessions, lab
  exercises, or testing purposes.
• Answers to the Check Your Understanding questions and lab exercises.
• Instructor’s “Helpful Hints” section for some chapters.
• Additional Resources for material covered in each chapter.
• Errata.
• Suggested list of minimal collection for a physical anthropology lab class.