Re: Silly AAT arguments

On Mar 30, 2:10 pm, Marc Verhaegen <m_verhae...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The only arguments I could find so far pro the savanna idea are these:

http://www.physanth.org/annmeet/aapa2008/AAPA2008abstracts.pdf

"Has the sun set on the savanna? Environmental determinants and the
evolution of
bipedality.
C.J. Campisano, K.E. Reed. Institute of Human Origins, School of
Human
Evolution
and Social Change, Arizona State University.
The development of the savanna biome and its influence on hominin
evolution has
been a theme in the scientific community since the time of Darwin.
While simple
cause and effect stories have long fallen by the wayside,
environmental change and
variability, particularly an increase in open habitats, still plays a
pivotal role
in paleoanthropological theories. In this presentation we revisit the
plausibility
that the spread of the savanna was related to the origin of and
developments in
bipedalism. The savanna biome is one where trees and grasses
interact,
often
forming a dynamic ecotone between woodlands or forests and
grasslands.
Variations within the savanna biome typically reflect the influence
and interaction
of climate (rainfall and seasonality), soil type, and disturbance,
which are equally
dynamic across the African continent. While the savanna hypothesis of
the past may
no longer have two legs to stand on, savanna biomes did exist in the
vicinity of
early hominin localities in the late Miocene and early Pliocene, and
the extent to
which these habitats might have played a role in their life ways
cannot be
overlooked.
In contrast, there is no a priori reason to assume that the origins
of
bipedalism
must be a result of environmental determinism. Although still
speculative, the
origins
of the Homo ergaster/erectus lineage - with its fully humanlike
bipedal locomotion -
and its geographic dispersal out of Africa in the early Pleistocene
likely relates to
a significant increase in arid conditions and grassland biomes in
regions of Africa
and Asia."


Dennell 2003
"The earliest Eurasians preferentially occupied grasslands and open
scrub- and wood-lands, as in East Africa. Homo ergaster/erectus in
East Africa after 1.7 Ma is associated with hot and dry conditions,
and open grasslands; its post-cranial anatomy, with its long limbs
was
geared to long-distance walking across open ground, and to heat
dispersal through upright posture."

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: savanna theory
    ... and bipedalism to reduce ... Real PAs did use "savanna theory". ... distinguished between Africa and Asia, and neither should we, he ... about the origins of bipedalism, which, according to the ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: Bone density in mustelids
    ... Origins of bipedalism have nothing to do with ... and endurant bipedalism on the savanna. ... Do they think lions made the tools on the savanna? ... "AAT is about what made Homo special & different from Pan, ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: savanna theory
    ... John Roth wrote: ... and bipedalism to reduce ... I used "savanna theory/theorists". ... distinguished between Africa and Asia, and neither should we, he ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: savanna facts:
    ... Institute of Human Origins, School of Human ... The development of the savanna biome and its influence on hominin ... bipedalism. ... and its geographic dispersal out of Africa in the early Pleistocene ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: savanna theory
    ... and bipedalism to reduce ... I used "savanna theory/theorists". ... See:OUT OF ASIA New Scientist 01 July 2006 Marek Kohn ... distinguished between Africa and Asia, and neither should we, he ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)