Schwartz, Jeffrey : Columbia University

Ian Tattersall is Chairman and Curator, Department of Anthropology, at the American Museum of Natural History and adjunct professor of anthropology at Columbia University. His books include The Last Neanderthal, Becoming Human, and The Myths of Human Evolution (with Niles Eldredge).

Tattersall, Ian : University of Pittsburgh

Jeffrey Schwartz is professor of physical anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh and a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History. He is the author of The Red Ape, What Bones Tell Us, and Skeleton Keys.

"Extinct Humans is a fascinating review that is expressed in clear and simple language that yet does not compromise scientific accuracy. What distinguishes this book from many others is that the ideas it portrays are built on firm historical foundations. Tattersall and Schwartz make an overwhelming case for a bush-like evolutionary process operating for human evolution. Many species are now well known in the human fossil record, and most of them cannot be considered ancestral to recent humans. This is a lesson some anthropologists are still unwilling to learn, but this book should go a long way in setting the record straight."

--Peter Andrews, professor of anthropology, University of London, and researcher, Department of Anthropology, Natural History Museum, London

"Tattersall and Schwartz have collected up-to-date data of 'Extinct Humans' from fossil sites and laboratories around the world. With this evidence they have succeeded in clearly illuminating the five million-year-old story of human evolution. In this fantastic book we learn the where, when, and why so many other human species have disappeared and only we have fortunately survived until now."

--Hisao Baba, Head and Curator, Department of Anthropology, National Science Museum, Tokyo

"This excellent illustrated volume on human origins is a masterful combination of good science and narrative writing, equally appealing for students and general readers. The decided splitter`s perspective is provoking and will certainly intensify the ongoing debate in paleoanthropology."

--Winfried Henke, Institut fur Anthropologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz

"A timely and original framework for professionals and an updated synthesis for students and the public, this masterly work leads us on an intellectual itinerary from early hominid diversity to modern human variability. The authors locate ancient hominids in a modern evolutionary scenario, shedding new light on old problems like the origin of language, symbolic thought, and consciousness. The reasons why we lost so many other human species along the pathways of our evolution will remain for long a matter of debate, yet the theory put forward in this skillfully written book will be the entry for many heuristic reflections."

--Silvana M. Borgognini Tarli, Professor, Department of Ethnology, Ecology, and Evolution, Division of Anthropology, University of Pisa, Italy

"Tattersall and Schwartz have produced a masterpiece that combines historical thought processes on man's place in nature and prehistoric fossil reality in a highly entertaining and informative style. The authors have travelled world-wide to examine the fossils they discuss and have written an inspiring and thought-provoking book."

--R. J. Clarke, Director of Research, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt

"Tattersall and Schwartz demolish the popular notion that human evolution involved a simple, unilineal progression towards ever less hairy, more upright, and bigger brained creatures, and they show that the actual pattern was far more complex and far more interesting. If you want a lucid, authoritative, up-to-date introduction to the evolution of our species and you have time for only one book, choose this one."

--Richard G. Klein, professor of anthropology, Stanford University

"This is the story of our origins and of our closest biological kin delightfully told by two of the leading scientists in the field. It gives an up-to-date and firsthand look at what we know and do not know about our family's deep history."

--Henry M. McHenry, professor of anthropology, University of California-Davis

"The task of the paleoanthropologist is never an easy one because, even under the best circumstances, the fossil record is by definition incomplete and fraught with uncertainties about specific details of the evolutionary sequence. The issues of the origin and diversification of our own genus are further complicated by alternate models of how evolution proceeds. Tattersall and Schwartz-extant humans studying fossil humans-have entered a spaceship, and 'flown' into the evolutionary scenario of Homo, viewing our past as hypothetical extraterrestrials might. Despite the clouds, their journey was successful, and its chronicle fascinating."

--Roberto Macchiarelli, Professor, Section of Anthropology, National Prehistorich Ethnographic Museum "L. Pigorini", Rome

"Extinct Humans is the thrilling saga of the discoveries that have revolutionized our understanding of human evolution. Although modern humans are the only survivors of a complex family, once we were not alone on this planet. But thanks to Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz, who have studied the remains of almost all of them, we can now meet our extinct cousins."

--Jean-Jacques Hublin, Director of Research, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Paris, France

"Extinct Humans is very impressive and a great contribution to the understanding of our species Homo sapiens, and our interaction with other species and nature. Fortunately I have survived extinction, read Extinct Humans, and was able to learn the why and how of my survival."

--Fachroel Aziz, Senior Researcher and Curator of Vertebrate/Human Paleontology, Geological Research and Development Centre, Indonesia

Westview Press Web Site, January, 2002

Scientists have long envisioned the human "family tree" as a straight-line progression from the apelike australopithecines to the enigmatic Homo habilis to the famous Neanderthals, culminating in us, Homo sapiens. But this model is unlike the evolutionary patterns known for all other vertebrates�patterns that typically reveal multiple branchings and extinctions. In Extinct Humans, Ian Tattersall and Jeffrey Schwartz present convincing evidence that many distinct species of humans have existed during the history of the hominid family, often simultaneously. Furthermore, these species may have contributed to one another's extinction. Who were these different human species? Which are direct ancestors to us? And, the most profound question of all, why is there only a single human species alive on Earth now?