Abstract
How can we explain the extraordinary destiny of the hominins ? Man's close kinship with the African great apes is now firmly established, but our species is distinguished from them by an accumulation of highly original adaptive traits - with regard to locomotion, feeding and reproduction - which have enabled its unparalleled expansion among vertebrates. The ever-increasing encephalization of hominins made possible an ever-increasing technical and social complexity, which in turn directly influenced their biological evolution. Understanding human evolution means understanding the ongoing interaction between the biological and the cultural.
