Hot topics close

Ethnography and ethnohistory support the efficiency of hunting through endurance running in humans

Ethnography and ethnohistory support the efficiency of hunting through 
endurance running in humans
Using foraging theory and ethnohistoric data, the authors’ analysis supports the hypothesis that the human ability to sweat while running long distances evolved in the context of persistent, endurance-based pursuits of game.
  • Bramble, D. M. & Lieberman, D. E. Endurance running and the evolution of Homo. Nature 432, 345–352 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pontzer, H. Economy and endurance in human evolution. Curr. Biol. 27, R613–R621 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D. E. Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding (Pantheon Books, 2020).

  • Carrier, D. R. The energetic paradox of human running and hominid evolution. Curr. Anthropol. 25, 483–495 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogdanis, G. C., Nevill, M., Lakomy, H. & Boobis, L. Power output and muscle metabolism during and following recovery from 10 and 20s of maximal sprint exercise in humans. Acta Physiol. Scand. 163, 261–272 (1998).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Calbet, J. A. L. et al. Limitations to oxygen transport and utilization during sprint exercise in humans: evidence for a functional reserve in muscle O2 diffusing capacity. J. Physiol. 593, 4649–4664 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, N. C. C. Timed running speed of a cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). J. Zool. 241, 493–494 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill, M. C., Umberger, B. R., Holowka, N. B., Larson, S. G. & Reiser, P. J. Chimpanzee super strength and human skeletal muscle evolution. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, 7343–7348 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Queeno, S. R. et al. Human and African ape myosin heavy chain content and the evolution of hominin skeletal muscle. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. A https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.111415 (2023).

  • Baker, J. S., McCormick, M. C. & Robergs, R. A. Interaction among skeletal muscle metabolic energy systems during intense exercise. J. Nutr. Metab. 2010, 905612 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mukund, K. & Subramaniam, S. Skeletal muscle: a review of molecular structure and function, in health and disease. Syst. Biol. Med. 12, e1462 (2020).

    Google Scholar 

  • Best, A. W. Why does strength training improve endurance performance? Am. J. Hum. Biol. 33, e23526 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt-Nielsen, K. Desert Animals: Physiological Problems of Heat and Water (Clarendon Press, 1964).

  • Speakman, J. R. & Król, E. Maximal heat dissipation capacity and hyperthermia risk: neglected key factors in the ecology of endotherms. J. Anim. Ecol. 79, 726–746 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kamberov, Y. G. et al. Comparative evidence for the independent evolution of hair and sweat gland traits in primates. J. Hum. Evol. 125, 99–105 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Saris, W. H. M. The role of sports foods in physical performance. in International Food Safety Handbook: Science, International Regulation, and Control (eds van der Heijden, K., Younes, M., Fishbein, L. & Miller, S.) Ch. 13 (CRC Press, 1999).

  • Newman, R. W. Why man is such a sweaty and thirsty naked animal: a speculative review. Hum. Biol. 42, 12–27 (1970).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aldea, D. et al. Repeated mutation of a developmental enhancer contributed to human thermoregulatory evolution. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 118, e2021722118 (2021).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kamberov, Y. G. et al. A genetic basis of variation in eccrine sweat gland and hair follicle density. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, 9932–9937 (2015).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Godfrey, R. W. et al. Evaluating the impact of breed, pregnancy, and hair coat on body temperature and sweating rate of hair sheep ewes in the tropics. J. Anim. Sci. 95, 2936–2942 (2017).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Asres, A. & Amha, N. Physiological adaptation of animals to the change of environment: a review. J. Biol. Agric. Healthc. 4, 146–151 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hora, M., Pontzer, H., Struška, M., Entin, P. & Sládek, V. Comparing walking and running in persistence hunting. J. Hum. Evol. 172, 103247 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Montagu, A. Natural selection and man’s relative hairlessness. JAMA 187, 356–357 (1964).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krantz, G. S. Brain size and hunting ability in earliest man. Curr. Anthropol. 9, 450–451 (1968).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watanabe, H. Running, creeping and climbing: a new ecological and evolutionary perspective on human locomotion. Mankind 8, 1–13 (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bortz, W. M. Physical exercise as an evolutionary force. J. Hum. Evol. 14, 145–155 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur, R. H. & Pianka, E. R. On optimal use of a patchy environment. Am. Nat. 100, 603–609 (1966).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bramble, D. M. & Carrier, D. R. Running and breathing in mammals. Science 219, 251–256 (1983).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D. E., Bramble, D. M., Raichlen, D. A. & Shea, J. J. in The First Humans - Origin and Early Evolution of the Genus Homo (eds Grine, F. E. et al.) 77–92 (Springer, 2009).

  • Liebenberg, L. Persistence hunting by modern hunter‐gatherers. Curr. Anthropol. 47, 1017–1026 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liebenberg, L. The relevance of persistence hunting to human evolution. J. Hum. Evol. 55, 1156–1159 (2008).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hora, M., Pontzer, H., Wall-Scheffler, C. M. & Sládek, V. Dehydration and persistence hunting in Homo erectus. J. Hum. Evol. 138, 102682 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ruxton, G. D. & Wilkinson, D. M. Endurance running and its relevance to scavenging by early hominins. Evolution 67, 861–867 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glaub, M. & Hall, C. A. S. Evolutionary implications of persistence hunting: an examination of energy return on investment for !Kung hunting. Hum. Ecol. 45, 393–401 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vidal-Cordasco, M., Rodriguez, J., Prado-Novoa, O., Zorrilla-Revilla, G. & Mateos, A. Locomotor economy and foraging ecology in hominins. J. Anthropol. Res. 77, 338–361 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D. E., Bramble, D. M., Raichlen, D. A. & Shea, J. J. The evolution of endurance running and the tyranny of ethnography: a reply to Pickering and Bunn (2007). J. Hum. Evol. 53, 439–442 (2007).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marino, F. E., Sibson, B. E. & Lieberman, D. E. The evolution of human fatigue resistance. J. Comp. Physiol. B 192, 411–422 (2022).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Pickering, T. R. & Bunn, H. T. The endurance running hypothesis and hunting and scavenging in savanna-woodlands. J. Hum. Evol. 53, 434–438 (2007).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rathkey, J. K. & Wall‐Scheffler, C. M. People choose to run at their optimal speed. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 163, 85–93 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Steudel-Numbers, K. L. & Wall-Scheffler, C. M. Optimal running speed and the evolution of hominin hunting strategies. J. Hum. Evol. 56, 355–360 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D. E. et al. Running in Tarahumara (Rarámuri) culture: persistence hunting, footracing, dancing, work, and the fallacy of the athletic savage. Curr. Anthropol. 61, 356–379 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morin, E., Bird, D., Winterhalder, B. & Bliege Bird, R. Deconstructing hunting returns: can we reconstruct and predict payoffs from pursuing prey? J. Archaeol. Method Theory 29, 561–623 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoener, T. W. The compression hypothesis and temporal resource partitioning. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 71, 4169–4172 (1974).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ember, C. R. Cross-Cultural Research Methods (AltaMira Press, 2009).

  • Watts, J. et al. Building quantitative cross-cultural databases from ethnographic records: promise, problems and principles. Cross Cult. Res. 56, 62–94 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J. C. et al. Supernatural explanations across 114 societies are more common for natural than social phenomena. Nat. Hum. Behav. 7, 707–717 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baughman, M. In pursuit of an ancient pursuit. Sports Illustrated 48, 45–46 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, K. L. & Robbins, C. T. Thermoregulation in mule deer and elk. Can. J. Zool. 62, 1409–1422 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morin, E., Bird, D., Winterhalder, B. & Bliege Bird, R. Why do humans hunt cooperatively? Ethnohistoric data reveal the contexts, advantages and evolutionary importance of communal hunting. Curr. Anthropol. (in the press).

  • Bunn, H. T. & Pickering, T. R. Bovid mortality profiles in paleoecological context falsify hypotheses of endurance running–hunting and passive scavenging by early Pleistocene hominins. Quat. Res. 74, 395–404 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, C. T. & Winterhalder, B. Sit-and-wait versus active-search hunting: a behavioral ecological model of optimal search mode. J. Theor. Biol. 387, 76–87 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hitchcock, R. K. et al. The ethnoarchaeology of ambush hunting: a case study of ǂGi pan, Western Ngamiland, Botswana. Afr. Archaeol. Rev. 36, 119–144 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cher, P. H., Stewart, I. B. & Worringham, C. J. Minimum cost of transport in human running is not ubiquitous. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 47, 307–314 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Selinger, J. C. et al. Running in the wild: energetics explain ecological running speeds. Curr. Biol. 32, 2309–2315.e3 (2022).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hassmén, P. Perceptual and physiological responses to cycling and running in groups of trained and untrained subjects. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. Occup. Physiol. 60, 445–451 (1990).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connell, J. F., Hawkes, K. & Jones, N. B. Hadza scavenging: implications for Plio/Pleistocene hominid subsistence. Curr. Anthropol. 29, 356–363 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, C. Cooperative hunting roles among Tai chimpanzees. Hum. Nat. 13, 27–46 (2002).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Samuni, L., Wegdell, F. & Surbeck, M. Behavioural diversity of bonobo prey preference as a potential cultural trait. eLife 9, e59191 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Durnin, J. V. G. A. & Passmore, R. Energy, Work and Leisure (Heinemann Educational Books, 1967).

  • McArdle, W. D., Katch, F. I. & Katch, V. L. Exercise Physiology: Nutrition, Energy, and Human Performance 7th edn (Wolters Kluwer, 2010).

  • Mason, M. H. The Arctic Forests (Hodder and Stoughton, 1924).

  • Howley, J. P. The Beothucks or Red Indians: The Aboriginal Inhabitants of Newfoundland (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1915).

  • Cabeza de Vaca, A. N. The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca (The Rio Grande Press, 1964).

  • Kroeber, A. L. Handbook of the Indians of California Bulletin No. 78 (Bureau of American Ethnology, 1925).

  • Cook, W. A. Through the Wildernesses of Brazil by Horse, Canoe and Float (American Tract Society, 1909).

  • Kronenberg, A. & Schütze, F. Teda of Tibesti. in Wiener Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte und Linguistik. HRAF ms: 1, 6, 144, 28 l. [Original: 14, 160, 17 end plates] (Verlag Ferdinand Berger, 1958).

  • St. John, S. Life in the Forests of the Far East; or Travels in Northern Borneo Vol. 2, 2nd edn, Revised (Smith, Elder and Co., 1863).

  • Dutton, C. E. Hawaiian Volcanoes (Government Printing Office, 1883).

  • Similar news
    News Archive
    • Hitler
      Hitler
      Hitler Had a Condition That Made Him Fart a Lot?
      20 Apr 2024
      1
    • Logan Williams
      Logan Williams
      Why Is Fentanyl So Deadly? Logan Williams, 'The Flash' Actor, Died After Taking Opioid
      10 Sep 2021
      7
    • Wideband
      Wideband
      Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Location Tags Market Analysis: Global Industry Trends, Share, Key Players, Size, Forecast to ...
      2 May 2022
      1
    This week's most popular news