An alphabetical reference for students and researchers in physical anthropology and neighboring fields. Entries define terms drawn from human anatomy and osteology, genetics and cell biology, primate behavior and taxonomy, evolutionary theory, and the archaeology of early stone tool industries.

Coverage runs from named fossil specimens and extinct primate genera to competing models of how Neandertals and anatomically modern populations overlapped in Europe, and to congenital and infectious conditions that mark bone and so concern paleopathologists. Cross-references connect related entries, flag obsolete or alternative usages, and point to an appendix for the placement of fossil species.