Brain versus brawn
about 65 million years ago the dinosaurs, at that time the dominant animals, became extinct probably because of the secondary consequences of a meteorite impact suffered by the earth. The mammals, an inconspicuous group of rodent-like creatures, seized the opportunity to diversify into an enormous variety of forms within a relatively short time. Among them were primitive primates the ancestors of modern monkeys, apes and humans. The lineage leading to the orangutan broke away about 14 million years ago, the gorilla lineage branched off seven million years later and the ancestors of humans and chimpanzees went their different ways 4.5 million years ago. This book is about the exciting story of what has happened since then and how it might have happened. It is a marvellous read.
As an introduction to the subject, let me answer a few commonly asked questions. Have humans evolved from monkeys? No, but humans and monkeys have both evolved from a comparatively recent common ancestor. If we wait long enough, will a chimpanzee turn into a human? No. We are on two distinct evolutionary pathways. Has the