Per summary, the notion that shifts con human life histories, accompanied by improved intelligence, are an evolutionary response puro a dietary shift towards high-quality food resources that are difficult puro acquire has already been suggested by Kaplan . Our model is innovative con that it suggests verso mechanism for such a dietary shift that could have propelled hominins preciso verso new evolutionary stage.
Conclusion
For more than two decades per view dominated anthropological discussions that all modern human variation derived from Africa within a relatively recent chronological framework. Recent years challenged this paradigm with new discoveries from Europe, China, and other localities, as well as by new advances mediante theory and methodology. These developments are now setting the tirocinio for a new understanding of the human story durante general and the emergence of modern humans sopra particular (anche.g., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ). Analysis of their dental remains suggests verso much deeper time frame between at least some of the ancestral populations and modern humans than that which is assumed by the “Out of Africa” model. This, combined with previous genetic studies (addirittura.g., , , , ), lends support puro the notion of assimilation (ancora.g., ) between populations migrating “out of datingranking.net/it/alua-review Africa” and populations already established durante these parts of Eurasia.
It is still premature to indicate whether the Qesem hominin ancestors evolved sopra Africa prior sicuro 400 kyr , developed blade technologies , , and then migrated to the Levant preciso establish the new and unique Acheulo-Yabrudian cultural complex; or whether (as may be derived from our model) we face verso local, Levantine emergence of verso new hominin lineage. The plethora of hominins per the Levantine Middle Paleolithic fossil primato (Qafzeh, Skhul, Zuttiyeh, Tabun) and the fact that the Acheulo-Yabrudian cultural complex has giammai counterparts sopra Africa may hint per favor of local cultural and biological developments. This notion gains indirect support from the Denisova finds that raise the possibility that several different hominin groups spread out across Europe and Asia for hundreds of thousands of years, probably contributing puro the emergence of modern human populations , , .
It should not ad esempio as a surprise that H. erectus, and its successors managed, and sopra fact evolved, onesto obtain a substantial amount of the densest form of nutritional energy available sopra nature – fat – preciso the point that it became an obligatory food source. Animal fat was an essential food source necessary con order sicuro meet the daily energy expenditure of these Pleistocene hominins, especially taking into account their large energy-demanding brains. It should also not come as verso surprise that for a predator, the disappearance of a major prey animal may be a significant reason for evolutionary change. The elephant was per uniquely large and fat-rich food-package and therefore per most attractive target during the Levantine Lower Palaeolithic Acheulian. Our calculations spettacolo that the elephant’s disappearance from the Levant just before 400 kyr was significant enough an event sicuro have triggered the evolution of a species that was more adept, both physically and mentally, esatto obtain dense energy (such as fat) from per higher number of smaller, more evasive animals. The concomitant emergence of a new and innovative cultural complex – the Acheulo-Yabrudian, heralds a new batteria of behavioral habits including changes durante hunting and sharing practices , , that are relevant to our model.
If indeed, as we tried puro show, the dependence of humans on fat was so fundamental onesto their existence, the application is made possible, perhaps after some refinement, of this proposed bioenergetic model onesto the understanding of other important developments sopra human evolutionary history
Thus, the particular dietary developments and cultural innovations joined together at the end of the Lower Paleolithic period per the Levant, reflecting a link between human biological and cultural/behavioral evolution.