What is "anthropogeny"

Anthropogeny \An`thro*pog"e*ny\, n. [Gr. ? man + ? birth.] The science or study of human generation, or the origin and development of man.

1833, from anthropo- + geny.

n. The study of human origins, human generation, or the origin and development of man.

n. the evolution or genesis of the human race [syn: anthropogenesis]

Anthropogeny is the study of human origins. It is not simply a synonym for human evolution by natural selection, which is only a part of the processes involved in human origins. Many other factors besides biological evolution were involved, ranging over climatic, geographic, ecological, social, and cultural ones. Anthropogenesis, meaning the process or point of becoming human, is also called hominization.