Re: endurance running



http://tinyurl.com/dcxyw




Marc Verhaegen wrote:
> Stephen Munro wrote:
>
> I've recently reread the ER paper. I agree, it is very short on evidence,
> mainly comparing human walking with human running, and looking at Homo
> erectus as opposed to earlier australopiths.
> Some major limitations of the paper IMO are:
> The paper assumes walking and endurance running were the only types of
> locomotion and therefore makes assumptions such as: "a few derived features
> of Homo that improve ER capabilities (notably forearm shortening and
> decoupling of the head and pectoral girdle) are unrelated to walking, but
> would have hindered arboreal locomotor capabilities."
> The paper also unquestionably accepts the prevailing paradigm of the "open,
> semi-arid environments apparently inhabited by early Homo." In fact,
> according to a very limited study I conducted for my Honours thesis last
> year, Homo remains are found in areas that could have been within the
> vicinity of open, arid habitats (Camels, Gazella sp. and Oryx sp.), but
> there are of course also many taxa indicating large, permanent water bodies
> (fish, hippos, bivalves etc.). In other words, this assumption of open
> habitats is at best, IMO, based on ambiguous evidence, but very difficult to
> prove that open, arid areas didn't exist (camels?).
> The authors admit that ".humans are mediocre runners in several respects."
> "Even elite human sprinters are comparatively slow." ".running is more
> costly for humans than for most mammals." ".human runners are less
> manoeuvrable and lack many structural modifications characteristic of most
> quadrupedal cursors such as elongate digitigrade feet and short proximal
> limb segments."
> The methodology of the paper is limited because the authors compare early
> Homo only to Homo sapiens and not to other animals. They naturally conclude,
> therefore, that since Homo sapiens can endurance run, early Homo, with many
> similar features, must have been an endurance runner too (the same, of
> course, AFAICS, could be said about swimming and diving).
> The authors ask "whether, when and why long-distance running may have
> played a role in human evolution."
> They also ask "whether long-distance running was an important behaviour in
> human evolution or merely the by-product of enhanced walking capabilities."
> They might have also asked if it was a by-product of long distance swimming
> (stamina) IMO.
> They ask "Why would early Homo run long distances when walking is easier,
> safer and less costly?" They could just as well have asked: Why would early
> Homo travel long distances?
> In fact they admit that "ER is not common among modern hunter-gatherers."
> They also admit that endurance running based hunting, although occasionally
> seen in modern humans, might have been "too energetically expensive and
> low-yield for the benefits to have outweighed the costs."
> They conclude by speculating: "If early hominids were regularly scavenging
> marrow, brain and other tissues from carcasses, then ER would have helped
> hominids to compete more effectively for these scattered and ephemeral
> resources."
> And they say: "ER may have made possible a diet rich in fats and proteins
> thought to account for the unique human combination of large bodies, small
> guts, big brains and small teeth"
> They fail to explain, however, why we lost our olfactory skills, and why we
> evolved smaller teeth (hyaenas and dogs have large teeth). Moreover, there
> is no evidence that the human gut is fundamentally different to any of the
> other great apes AFAIK. Hyaenas aren't large bodied and nor are human
> marathon runners (Homo erectus had denser bones than Homo sapiens making it
> heavier). Hyaenas and dogs do not have very large brains, like humans.
> Furthermore, if this "diet rich in fats and proteins" could only be procured
> through endurance running, are we therefore to assume that not only did they
> run long distances to gain first use of scavenged carcasses, but that they
> then had to transport it equally long distances to feed the infants, elderly
> and frail who would certainly not have been capable of long distance
> endurance running?
>
>
> :-)
>
> Marc Verhaegen
>
> http://www.onelist.com/community/AAT

.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: endurance running
    ... >> evidence, mainly comparing human walking with human running, and looking ... >> Homo erectus as opposed to earlier australopiths. ... The paper assumes walking and endurance running were ... Why would early Homo travel long distances? ...
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