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"Part Sherlock Holmes, part Indiana Jones, Ancient Bones is an entertaining and provocative retelling of the human evolutionary story."-Jeremy DeSilva, author of First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human

Fans of Sapiens will love this "fascinating forensic inquiry into human origins" (Kirkus), where a renowned paleontologist takes readers behind the scenes of one of the most groundbreaking investigations into the origins of humankind.

Africa has long been considered the cradle of life-where life and humans evolved-but somewhere west of Munich, Germany, paleoclimatologist and paleontologist Madelaine Boehme and her team make a discovery that is beyond anything they ever imagined: the twelve-million-year-old bones of an ancient ape-Danuvius guggenmos-whichmakes headlines around the world and defies prevailing theories of human history and where human life began.

Ancient Bones takes readers behind the scenes of this incredible discovery, and invites readers to explore theories concerning early hominins to prehistoric humans, how climate and the environment were driving forces behind evolution, and how pivotal evolutionary steps-from our ability to communicate using complex speech to walking upright and using our hands to create-were necessary for humans to evolve and live on this planet. Blending science, history and mystery, Ancient Bones explores a fascinating new chapter in the origins of humanity and, above all, brings clarity to what makes humans human.

With prose that read like a thrilling detective story, and pages that feature more than 50 images of fossils, maps, and illustrations and diagrams, this exciting exploration of humanity will prove an indispensable read for those who are endlessly curious about who we are, how we got here, and what comes next.

Praise for Ancient Bones:

"Readable and thought-provoking. Madelaine Boehme is an iconoclast whose fossil discoveries have challenged long-standing ideas on the origins of the ancestors of apes and humans."-Steve Brusatte, New York Times-bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

"An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, and exceptionally thought-provoking read."-Midwest Book Review

"An impressive introduction to the burgeoning recalibration of paleoanthropology."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "[A]ncient mysteries, serendipitous discoveries, feuding experts, and scientific breakthroughs, all unfolding like a richly detailed detective story..."
-Booklist, starred review

"In this exciting investigation into the long and ancient path of humans, the authors explore the connections among evolution, climate, and environment... An impressive introduction to the burgeoning recalibration of paleoanthropology."
-Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Bohme and her colleagues are wonderful storytellers. They present a complex tale that features a daunting number of moving parts with all the local colour, humour and narrative pace of a well-written mystery novel."
-Vancouver Sun

"An inherently fascinating, impressively informative, and exceptionally thought-provoking read...Ancient Bones is expertly written, organized and presented, making it a critically important and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and college/university library."
-Midwestern Book Review

"As outspoken as it is readable."
-NHBS

"Part Sherlock Holmes, part Indiana Jones, Ancient Bones is an entertaining and provocative retelling of the human evolutionary story. Boehme's hypotheses-written with enthusiasm and clarity-will be scientifically scrutinized for decades to come."
-Jeremy DeSilva, author of First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human

"Madelaine Bohme is an iconoclast, and her fossil discoveries have challenged long-standing ideas on the origins of the ancestors of apes and humans. She lays it all out in this readable and thought-provoking book, which goes to show that new fossil clues always have the potential to generate new ideas."
-Steve Brusatte, University of Edinburgh paleontologist and New York Times-bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

"In pursuit of an intriguing if controversial theory of distant human origins, Madelaine Boehme and her colleagues very readably unearth some fascinating history and evoke all the excitement that is inherent in modern paleoanthropological research."
-Ian Tattersall, co-author of The Accidental Homo sapiens: Genetics, Behavior, and Free Will.

"An enthralling journey through time and around the world to untangle the complexities of ape and human evolution. Prof. Boehme skilfully intertwines scientific description with the history of fossil discovery and investigation to explain the evolution and biology of our closest relatives. Sometimes controversial but always exciting and engaging, this book is essential reading for those who want to explore alternative perspectives on our origins."
-Sarah Elton, Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology, Durham University

"This book expresses perfectly the excitement of discovering ancestral lineages in our genus. It is a colorful, personal account of research into one of the most basic interests of our species-our origins and our close extinct relatives."
-Dr. Robert DeSalle, principal investigator, Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics

Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human