I have come across concept this persistence hunting concept in various anthropology podcasts, and when I came acroos this article, I decided to write a little post. Despite the linked article, I am just writing from my general memory and not the article itself. This is my unscientific and very sketchy memory speaking. :)
Furred animals don’t deal with heat as well as our furless species. This was very true in the African heat of ancestral times. It's hard for furry bodies to dissipate the heat. They largely adapt by laying low during the highest heat. Our ancestors, however, lost their fur and were able to cool themselves by sweating, and so they could actually be active during the day.
Our forebears also became bipedal which is a very effective way of getting around. Bipedalism plus the ability to sweat and cool themselves enabled early hominids to become good at travelling distances. They were built more for distance endurance rather speed.
The belief is that they learned that they could chase a potential prey over a long distance as the prey, say a gazelle, would have to keep resting to not be overcome by heat.
When our ancestors eventually caught up with the exhausted animal, they had their primitive tools to complete their mission. I have seen persistence hunting re-enacted in a modern video in which, as far as I know, they did not actually dispatch a critter.
Well, that is my very unsophisticated description and explanation from what I recall. Please do not forward this to anyone who can explain this in proper scientific terms :)
However, I will leave you with a substantiating quote from the article.
The San people of southern Africa still show how persistence hunting works: up to this day, they run under the scorching heat of the sun, sweating consistently to cool off, and tracking the footprints of their prey, until they find them collapse from heat stress.
These types of hunts are not about speed; they are not sprints but more like a marathon. It is a battle of endurance, stamina, and internal temperature control, which our species has millions of experience in.
Years and years of persistence hunting likely further developed some traits that predate it, like bipedalism. By using their two legs more, our ancestors were able to unlock the ability to cover more ground with each step, withstand the repetitive stress and impact of running, and have a larger, more efficient lung capacity, which allows more intake of oxygen.
https://webpreneurships.com/before-fire-or-tools-humans-outran-their-prey-to-stay-alive-a-survival-skill-known-as-persistence-hunting
I knew this only because I recall reading stories [probably fiction] of hunters doing exactly that outrunning with endurance their prey.
ReplyDeleteI've been at 50 k runs and assisted with water stops. Human endurance is amazing.
Beautiful blog
ReplyDeletePlease read my post
ReplyDeleteThere must be some truth when my wife says I am de-evolving. Although furless, I lay low during the heat of the day to avoid sweating and things like sunburns. As a result, my hair has been migrating from the top of my head to my torso, much like a fur coat.
ReplyDeleteAs you age, your bodily hair will begin to vanish. It's all but gone from my arms and legs, and I was fairly hairy there once upon a time.
DeleteWell...faced with the specter of 'persistence hunting', I would have been the hairless sweaty person saying, 'this carrot looks very nice...'
ReplyDeleteWe certainly don't enjoy seating in this culture, but is you were running around naked you might feel different. I don't know this -- just speculating. 😎
DeleteThat's pretty interesting. It always amazes me that Lizzie, who's a pretty hairy girl, manages to find any sun puddle available on the hottest of days, seeks it out when the rest of us are looking for shade.
ReplyDeleteLizzie may not be known for her intelligence. 😁
DeleteI never knew about this, so thanks for sharing! I don't like the heat so would have to adapt to a vegetarian diet. :)
ReplyDeleteI learned something new! Thanks, AC!
ReplyDeleteWhile there are many interesting, though-provoking, and potentially valid ideas in this theoretical idea of the “persistence hypothesis” the quoted passage of the author of the article who compiled information unfortunately has a couple of common misconceptions (these misconceptions DO NOT negate the possibilities of the theory, however):
ReplyDeleteTHE QUOTE...... “bipedalism. By using their two legs more, our ancestors were able to unlock the ability to cover more ground with each step, withstand the repetitive stress and impact of running, and have a larger, more efficient lung capacity, which allows more intake of oxygen.”
1. We unfortunately do NOT have “larger lung capacity” and in fact, compared to similarly sized quadrapeds, we have LESS lung capacity….. HOWEVER we have evolved a more efficient red blood cell SHAPE to compensate for our lower lung capacity on a gram-per-gram basis (our RBCs are biconcave shaped due to anucleation of these cells in development). It is this different RBC shape that has increased our oxygen carrying capacity... for our smaller lung volume (but overall, on a gram-per-gram basis our oxygen capacity is not significantly beyond a typical quadraped).
2. Bipedalism does NOT allow us to “cover more ground” than a quadruped…. but it DOES let us utilize fewer muscular actions to do so. But, bipedalism incurs GREAT costs as well…. bipedalism is more taxing (in terms of stress) on the body with each and every step compared to a quadruped, which is partially why we are slower. We evolved to have arches of the feet to compensate for the greater weight bearing load stresses per limb in our bipedalism (this is not needed by quadrapeds).
3. But the item (not mentioned in the article) that is more valuable for us is our (relatively rare in other animals) ability to SHAPE the relative percentages of our slow twitch muscle fibers more so than most quadrapeds. This allows us to DEVELOP the ENDURANCE that is the primary thrust of the theory. A chicken for example, has slow twitch muscle fiber as the major constituent of its legs (the drumsticks) and has non-enduring fast twitch muscle fiber in its wing muscles (it is a poor flyer). A duck, by contrast is reversed.... lots of slow twitch in its wing muscles and little in its drumsticks.
Again, I am not negating the theory in any way….it is an interesting, creative theory….. I was just pointing out out a couple of misconceptions the author had as he/she wrote his/her interpretation of the scientific literature. They are easy misconceptions to have, but when you look beyond these common misconceptions….. it actually makes the theory even more compelling…. for other reasons.
Thank you for highlighting such a fun theory, AC!!!!
PipeTobacco
Super comment and clarification by an expert! 👌
DeleteBTW, I have seen material that bipedalism was in a sense helpful in hot climates by likely reducing the area of our bodies affected by the sun compared to a quadruped. At the very least, the angle of the rays should be more oblique.
DeleteVery interesting information. I appreciate you sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved running, this was fun to read. Although I can't imagine the killing part!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. I learned something new.
ReplyDeletePersistence...resilience...grit....essential life skills whether hunting or not. Another thing to thank our African ancestors for.
ReplyDeleteI have hard enough time keeping up with grandchildren, let lone chasing game.
ReplyDeleteI read the anthropology explanations and try to retain the data, but the vocabulary is beyond me. Interesting stuff, however. My grandkid is running half marathons presently. Clothed, but not by much.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fascinating read. I'm going to bookmark this so that I can come back and read it again.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I'd not herd of this.
ReplyDeleteI never knew about this concept, but it makes sense.
ReplyDelete