Hominid evolution in perspective

The evolution of the Hominidae takes place over some five million years. It involves perhaps as many as a dozen species of hominid, and is in itself a major development by any standards. However, that same period also witnesses a complete revolution in the larger mammal fauna during a time of massive climatic changes, and it is important that our investigations of the Hominidae take sufficient account of the wider perspective. Without such a framework of understanding we risk interpreting every feature of hominid evolution as a special event, separated from the development of life on earth, whereas rates of macro- and micro-evolution among the Hominidae, including speciation, extinction, patterns of dispersion and within-species changes, are better understood as part of that larger whole. This paper gives some examples of evolutionary changes and developments across a range of other mammalian families and attempts to place hominid evolution in a clearer perspective.