Re: lions & savannah

"Will in New Haven" <bill.reich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1164660197.888874.245890@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

What is the problem here? I come at this from the outside, from the
study of predators and their prey. Lions would kill early hominids.
Nothing that has been postulated would prevent some of this killing.
Hyenas would also kill savanna hominids. Leopards and wild dogs also,
to some extent. The earlier poster who mentioned "saber-toothed lions"
was somewhat confused. Saber tooth cats were not lions or lion
ancestors and would not have been as much of a problem as actual
social-hunting lions. It is the social nature of lions that renders
them more dangerous than tigers, for instance. And tigers kill people
even today.

None of this has ever caused a prey population to become extinct. Where
are you going to find desirable places to live WITHOUT dangerous
predators? Why this is an issue is a puzzle to me.

It's because you aren't thinking. (Nothing new
in this subject, btw.) There are SOME places
where the density of lions, and other predators,
is far too high for hominid survival. Remember
that hominid infants and young are _exceedingly_
vulnerable. They can't run nor defend themselves
in any way. While you might say that they'd be
watched over by a crowd of large adults at all
times. you'd be wrong. Firstly, adults simply don't
have that kind of time. Secondly, you are forgetting
that 12 hours out of the 24 are night, and large cats
hunt in the dark.

Thirdly, your belief that 'prey animals survive their
predation' ignores the fact that the prey _must_
have some means of self-protection, and live in a
habitat where they can employ it. Burrowing small
mammals must be able to burrow, goats must have
hilly ground, many animals must have good cover
in which they can hide, many must have trees to
which they can flee, and so on and on.

The task is to _identify_how_ hominids coped
with predation. Your line of " . . they survived, so
we don't have to think about it at all . . . " is, in fact,
the standard PA line -- but it is a profoundly
ignorant one. It completely misses the point.


Paul.



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: When Burial Begins
    ... having out-competed the lions and hyenas. ... The equilibrium is between prey and predators. ... At some stage hominids began to sleep on ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: A More Reasonable Interpretation of the Evidence
    ... or pull its teeth into vulnerable parts of its prey like large blood ... Lions are adapted to large prey, ... them, and scimitar-tooth cats, which probably didn't very much. ... predators in time to scramble to the trees would encourage bipedalism. ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: lions & savannah
    ... study of predators and their prey. ... Lions would kill early hominids. ... Hyenas would also kill savanna hominids. ... None of this has ever caused a prey population to become extinct. ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: A More Reasonable Interpretation of the Evidence
    ... or pull its teeth into vulnerable parts of its prey like large blood ... Lions are adapted to large prey, ... them, and scimitar-tooth cats, which probably didn't very much. ... predators in time to scramble to the trees would encourage bipedalism. ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: New Savanna Man from China 2 mya
    ... predators are generally also free of large-bodied hominoids. ... Every viable population of every species ... the predators from seeing them as prey. ... I believe that hominids could keep their ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)