Patterns of Growth and Development in the Genus Homo (review)

Patterns of Growth and Development in the Genus Homo marks an early attempt to bring the burgeoning field of "evo-devo" to human evolutionary studies [for a general discussion of evo-devo, see Ridley (2004)]. The chapters in the book represent a compendium of research that was first presented in a symposium at the 2001 meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Along with an earlier book having a similar focus (Minugh-Purvis and McNamara 2002), the current volume grapples with the problem that virtually all morphological change in lineages reflects some modification of developmental processes. Whereas Human Evolution Through Developmental Change (Minugh-Purvis and McNamara 2002) examined the developmental pattern of heterochrony, Patterns of Growth and Development in the Genus Homo is, for the most part, more descriptive than interpretative of the actual mechanisms involved. The editors' expressed purpose for this book is to determine when and how the modern human pattern of growth and development appeared.

Because the pattern of evolutionary development is a reflection of both phylogenic history and perhaps alterations in growth and development patterning within species, including but not exclusive to adaptation related to functional complexes, understanding the nature of the evolution of growth is guaranteed to be contentious. Thus the topic of development is a difficult and challenging one, even when data sets are much more complete than those represented by the hominid fossil record. It is therefore no surprise that the book attempts but fails to come to a consensus on the identification of specific areas of developmental process and change. The task is daunting, especially in light of the "developmental stage" of this part of the subdiscipline of human evolutionary studies. The chapters represent the infancy of studies of growth and development in the past and the growing pains that are associated with this process. The highlights of the book are the synthetic articles presented by the editors, who attempt at each junction in the volume to synthesize the materials for the reader. Thus key articles, all jointly written and presented, appear after each of the three sections.

The volume is divided into three main parts: "Part I. Setting The Stage: What Do We Know About Human and Growth and Development"; "Part II. The First Steps: From Australopithecines to Middle Pleistocene Homo"; and "Part III. The Last Steps: The Approach to Modern Humans." The book rightly begins with an attempt to understand the nature and structure of human variation and, to a more limited extent, the nature of chimpanzee-human differences. Ultimately, we are all forced at some point to compare fossil species to some living forms in order to better comprehend at least the meaning or even existence of this developmental diversity. Bogin provides a summary of his work on the unique features of human growth and development by arguing for the interspersal of a substantive period of childhood and of an adolescent stage within human growth. This contribution is followed by a discussion of the development of facial architecture (B. McBratney-Owen and D. E. Lieberman; and U. Strand Vidarsdóttir and P. O'Higgens), dentition (H. Liversridge), and the postcranial skeleton (L. T. Humphrey). Except for Liversridge's contribution, the comparative data sets on humans (and secondarily on chimpanzees) are surprisingly small. More important, it is difficult to understand why certain samples were chosen over others for analysis.

Parts II and III concentrate on the hominid fossil record with a functional division made between pre–middle Pleistocene Homo and later members of the genus Homo. Research in Part II centers on the earlier phases of hominid evolution and includes three articles: K. L. Kuykendall addresses cranial and dental issues associated with australopithecine growth and development; S. C. Antón and S. R. Leigh consider life history in Homo erectus using the Modjokerto specimen from Indonesia; and J. M. Bermúdez De...