Re: Childish AATers (Re: Tsunami and AAT

"MClark" <men@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:nPadnS3TPuBXGuDbnZ2dnUVZ_hadnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

But "an animal evolving a walking
strategy that was entirely decoupled
from a running strategy" is all that
makes sense. Is anyone seriously
going to claim that the first bipeds ran
before they walked? Do our infants
run before they walk?

No one is seriously claiming such. Your attempts
at creating large groups of straw men noted.

Read my first sentence above (with the
quoted material). Then read the second.
Can you spot the similarity?

Other features the authors list that help us run include the arches in
our feet, which offer spring in our step, and broad surface areas of
our joints, which help distribute the shock of impact from running --
at least enough for ancient man, who didn't run on pavement and who
never lived much longer than 40 years.

There are many tell-tale signs of
evolutionary illiteracy -- invariably
associated with a near-total ignorance
of natural history. This one -- that, in
nature, individuals in wild species never
survive their natural life-span (or,
alternatively, that the natural life-span
'bak den woz real short') -- is a certain
guarantee that everything else the
author states will be the purest
rubbish.

More noise. Are you ever going to say something,
Pauly? Or is this the punishment I get for reading you?

You neither defend nor criticise the
statement of your hero: " . . . at least
enough for ancient man, who didn't
run on pavement and who never lived
much longer than 40 years. . . "

Is it true or false? OK, you can't say.
Your ability to have an opinion on
any such matter was destroyed by
your 'training' as a PA.

The upper body, meanwhile, carries its own made-for-running designs,
including wide shoulders -- good for swinging arms from for balance as
we stride -- and lighter forearms that are easy to move back and
forth.

Yeah -- let's forget the rest of the
species. The only ones that count
are adult males.

You said it again. And again you're wrong --just like last
time.

Actually, once in about five thousand
times, other PA people notice this fact,
and comment upon it. This was one of
them. Naturally, you did not notice.
Here it is again:

" . . . Patricia Kramer of the University of Washington, points out there
may be a small glitch in that theory. According to most research, early
female humans likely did not participate in long hunts, but stayed
behind to care for the young. If this is the case, Kramer asks, why
would women also have evolved to be good long-distance runners?
"If endurance running was a male activity, then why do women have
small waists and hypotrophied gluteus maximae?" she asks . . "

Finally, our ability to sweat is unmatched with our estimated 3
million sweat glands. Couple that with the fact that we aren't very
furry and you have a cool, running machine.

Yep -- and one that needs a constant
supply of fresh water, salt and iodine.

Really? It's nice that you're finally getting around to grasp
the implications of such an anatomy and physiology but you're
a little late. Tell me, oh august learned one, what happens to you
if you don't have "..a constant supply of fresh water, salt and iodine."?
Might this be a limiting factor in some hypothesized population
distribution?

Yep -- And so 'limiting' that such a
population could not have existed,
let alone have ever evolved.

And where does salt and iodine come from when you
can't buy it off the shelf?

Trade (in items like dried fish) has been
an ancient feature of hominid society.


"Being fast would have been a huge premium," said Heinrich. "Vultures
can come in and devour a dead cow in an hour or two. So ideally, the
humans would get there first."

That must also be why humans can
circle for hours at 2,000 feet.

No, Pauly, humans can't fly. But then we don't have to if we can
see the vultures flying. See, they have a habit of being drawn into
and circling a kill site. They do this almost as soon as the carcass
hits the ground and will continue to funnel into the site until there
isn't anything left.

Yep -- the vultures all watch each other, and
as soon as one descends to a kill, the others
follow, and more follow them. Of course,
at some point, the vultures will decide that
so many are already at a kill, that it's not
worth them wasting their time and energy.

Smart humans can see this activity from miles
around

So can all the other predators and scavengers
in the area.

and, since they're great long distance runners, can usually
get there before the kill is gone/rotten.

Rottenness is not a problem here. It's
how long it takes the vultures, etc., to
dispose of the carcase. Unless it's a
rhino or elephant, it will be gone in less
than half-an-hour. How far can a group
of humans run in that time, over rough
ground? Maybe five miles?

So forget "great long distance runners"
-- we are talking of half-hour races.
Can humans compete with vultures
over such distances?

Most kills are at night, when the vultures
would not be a problem. That's when
hyenas, lions, wild dogs and jackals
would be the competitors.

That must be why humans have such
great night-sight, and such powerful
senses of smell and hearing, so that
they can chase, in the dark, to the most
recent kill.

Isn't fantasy PA fun?

Shame that it has no application to the
real world on this planet.


Paul.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Intelligent life form
    ... Many animals kill members of their own species. ... We humans, however, seem particularly adept at it. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Marcos feet
    ... yesterday humans were on trees, the next day they run faster than ... And after all this, the horse WASN'T TIRED AT ALL, ... hyena, but we can endurence run the hyena. ... why not let him do all the work and just run up and take the kill ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: 11 Things I Will Serve My Best Never to Put In A Fantasy/SF Novel..
    ... Virgin Heroines and Slutty Heroes. ... Until the humans come along! ... Kill Miss Calendar and tortured Giles a bit. ... interest seems quite adequately evil to me. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: Some evolution questions
    ... "The savanna has a large range of highly specialized plants and animals. ... Especially when you consider that humans ... a kill is a kill and the various ... and even they give way if a _large_ hyena pack arrives. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Some evolution questions
    ... As omnivores eat a _wide variety_ of foods, ... Especially when you consider that humans ... a kill is a kill and the various ... and even they give way if a _large_ hyena pack arrives. ...
    (talk.origins)