DOCSLIB.ORG

The Energetic Paradox of Human Running and Hominid Evolution'

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Energetic Paradox of Human Running and Hominid Evolution' CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY Vol. 25, No. 4, August-October1984 K 1984 by The Wenner-GrenFoundation for Anthropological Research, all rightsreserved 0011-3204/84/2504-0005$2 00 The EnergeticParadox of Human Runningand HominidEvolution' byDavid R. Carrier THE FEATURE THAT DIFFERENTIATES HOMINIDS fromother mal thesize of man shouldconsume roughly 0.10 ml of oxygen primatesis notlarge brain size, but theset ofcharacters associ- per grambody mass per kilometertraveled (Taylor, Schmidt- ated witherect bipedal postureand a stridinggait. Long before Nielsen, and Raab 1970), but the measuredvalue forman is the rapid increasein relativebrain size thattook place during over twice this amount (0.212 ml). A recentanalysis of 64 thePleistocene, early australopithecines possessed the postcra- speciesof runningbirds and mammals(Taylor, Heglund, and nial morphologyof an erect,striding biped (Lovejoy, Heiple, Maloiy 1982) confirmsthe initialobservations that the cost of and Burstein 1973). Evidence for the bipedal gait of early transportis relativelyhigh for human runners. hominidsis provided by the morphologyof the 3.5-million- It is somewhatsurprising, therefore, that among cursorial year-oldpostcranial material from the Hadar Formationof mammalsman is one ofthe best distance runners. While game Ethiopia (Johanson, Taieb, and Coppens 1982, Lovejoy, animalsare fasterover short distances, they generally have less Johanson,and Coppens 1982), earlyPleistocene material from endurancethan man. Aside frompublished accounts of endur- eastern and southern Africa (Preuschoft1971), and the ance performancein thedomestic horse and camel,which have Pliocenetrackways (3.6 to 3.8 millionyears old) discoveredat been bredfor endurance racing, very little is knownabout the Laetoli in northernTanzania (Leakey and Hay 1979, White stamina of mammals. What littleinformation is available is 1980). Together these suggest that early australopithecines usuallytaken fromanecdotal accounts of animals performing were relativelysmall-brained creatures, possessing structural in a varietyof climatic and topographicenvironments (see adaptationsfor upright walking and runningthat in a broad Howell 1965), and consequentlyinterspecific comparisons are sense are remarkablysimilar to those of modernman. The hazardous.Comparisons between man and a numberof curso- aspects of locomotionthat unite the hominidsas a groupare rial species can be made, however,in the contextof a contest also uniquelyhominid in characterand distinctlypeculiar for betweenpredator and prey. mammals. Consequently,the studyof human locomotion,in Huntersof a numberof differentcultures are knownto run additionto explainingmuch of the biologyof the one remain- down prey by dogged pursuitoften lasting one or two days inghominid, may proveto be one of themore powerful induc- (Krantz 1968, Watanabe 1971). Bushmenare reportedto run tive approachesto the studyof hominidevolution. down duicker,steenbok, and gemsbokduring the rainy season The energeticcost of transport (oxygen consumption per unit and wildebeestand zebra duringthe hot dryseason (Schapera body mass per unit distancetraveled) for running humans is 1930). TarahumaraIndians chase deer throughthe mountains relativelyhigh in comparisonwith that for other mammals and of northernMexico untilthe animalscollapse from exhaustion runningbirds. Early comparativestudies showed that a mam- and thenthrottle them by hand (Bennettand Zingg 1935,Pen- nington1963). Paiutes and Navajo of theAmerican Southwest are reportedto have huntedpronghorn antelope (one of the 1 This contributionarose out of conversationswith D. M. Bramble fastestof all mammals)with this same technique(Lowie 1924; and S. C. Carrier.Further development resulted from discussions with Foster 1830, citedby Lopez 1981:111).Furthermore, Aborigi- C. Gans and M. H. Wolpoff.For criticalreview and additionalim- nes of northwesternAustralia are known to hunt kangaroo provementof this manuscript,I am gratefulto S. L. Beck, D. M. Bramble,S. B. Emerson,J. R. Fetcho, D. B. Jenkins,R. G. North- successfullyin thisway (Sollas 1924,McCarthy 1957). In these cutt,P. A. Pridmore,and R. 0. Whitten. examplesthe staminaof preyanimals generallyconsidered to be specializedfor running and presumablyputting forth their best effortproves to be less than thatof man. Energeticallyinefficient transport and endurancerunning DAVID R. CARRIER is a doctoralcandidate in zoologyat the Uni- would seem to be incompatible.The combinationof thesetwo versityof Michigan (c/o Division of BiologicalSciences, University of Michigan,Ann Arbor,Mich. 48109, U.S.A.). Born in 1955, he attributespresents obvious morphologicaland physiological was educatedat the Universityof Utah (B.S., geology,1980; B.S., problems.For instance,there must be a way ofdissipating the biology,1980; M.S., biology,1982). He views himselfas a func- highlevels of metabolicheat producedduring long-term mus- tionaland evolutionarymorphologist and is particularlyinterested cle action. In addition,extended periods of high energyde- in vertebratelocomotion and the ontogenyof the musculo-skeletal mand requirelarge body stores of glycogenand fattyacids and system.His publicationsinclude "Postnatal Ontogeny of the Mus- an effectivemeans of mobilizingthese stores.It is clear that culo-SkeletalSystem in theBlack-tailed Jack Rabbit (Lepus califor- nicus)" (Journalof Zoology [London] 201:27-55) and, withD. M. duringthe sequence of evolutionarysteps that led frompre- Bramble, "Running and Breathing in Mammals" (Science hominidsto Homo sapiens these problemshave been over- 219:251-56). The presentpaper was submittedin finalform 9 I 84. come. How this was accomplishedand what factorsmight Vol. 25 No. 4 August-October1984 483 This content downloaded from 155.97.178.73 on Fri, 27 Nov 2015 17:24:13 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions have initiatedthis sequence of specializationis the subject of ward flow of heat fromthe hot environmentthan sweating the presentanalysis. animals.Taylor and Rowntree(1974) have shownthat in a hot environment(47?C) heat flowsinto sweating animals at about twicethe rate thatit flowsinto panting animals. For the same DISSIPATION OF METABOLIC HEAT reason,when environmental temperature is low thecooler skin temperaturein sweatinganimals resultsin a smallergradient The normal core body temperatureof eutherianmammals fornonevaporative heat loss (heat loss by radiationwhen skin ranges from36?C to 38?C (Morrisonand Ryser 1952). The temperatureexceeds ambient temperature).Thus, sweating lethalcore temperatureof thesemammals is only6?C higher, animalsgain moreheat froma hot environmentand are capa- rangingfrom 42?C to 44?C (Adolph 1947). Using empirical ble of losingless heat by nonevaporativemeans than panting measuresof the cost of transport,Taylor (1974) has calculated ones. that the maximal exerciseheat loads generatedby medium- 2. Because pantingrestricts evaporation to the nasal, buc- sized and large animals (greaterthan 10 kg body mass) are cal, and pharyngealcavities, pantinganimals lose littlesalt. nearlyan order of magnitudegreater than the maximal en- Sweatinganimals, on theother hand, mustdeal withlarge salt vironmentalheat thatthey are likelyto encounterin nature.If losses (Schmidt-Nielsen1980). metabolicheat is produced more rapidlythan it can be dis- 3. Pantingprovides forced convection across the evapora- sipated,body temperature rises. Thus, adequate thermalregu- tivesurfaces, whereas sweating requires animals to relyon free lationis criticalfor animals that run for extended periods. For convectionor wind. (This should not be a problemfor a run- example,cheetahs sprint at speeds exceeding100 km/hr,and ninganimal, particularlyif it lacks hair.) extrapolationof measurementsmade at lowerspeeds suggests Evaporative coolingfrom the skin offersthe followingad- thatat 100 km/hrheat production would be morethan 60 times vantages: greaterthan at rest(Taylor and Rowntree1973a). The cheetah 1. Sweating provides an additional evaporative surface. storesmost of thisheat, and thereforeas it runsits bodytem- Taylor and Rowntree(1974) measuredthe maximumrates of peraturerises. Once the rectaltemperature reaches 40.5?C the evaporativeheat loss froma groupof pantingand a groupof animal refusesto run. Taylor and Rowntreeestimate that if a sweatinganimals in responseto exercise.They foundthat the cheetahterminated a sprintonce its bodytemperature reached ratesof evaporation from the respiratory surfaces were similar, 40.5?C, it could run for only 1 km. This approximatesthe but the sweatinganimals had much highermaximal rates of actual distancethat cheetahs pursue their prey in the wild. It evaporationbecause of the evaporationthat occurredat the seems that the durationof the cheetah'ssprint may be deter- skin surface. mined not by fatiguebut by the amountof heat it can store 2. Sweating is independentof the respiratorycycle. As a beforeit reachesa limitingbody temperature. runninganimal increasesspeed, its oxygenconsumption in- Mammals dissipateheat by evaporativeor nonevaporative creasesin a linearfashion (Taylor, Schmidt-Nielsen, and Raab means. The Africanhunting dog is exceptionalin that it ap- 1970). However, as runningspeed changesit is unlikelythat pears to dissipatelarge exerciseheat loads, forextended pe- therespiratory air flowrequired for metabolism will matchthe riods, throughnonevaporative means (Taylor et al. 1971). flowneeded forheat loss, since the rate at whichheat can be Most medium-sizedto large mammals rely on evaporative dissipatedwill vary
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Evolution of Marathon Running: Capabilities in Humans
    The Evolution of Marathon Running: Capabilities in Humans The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Lieberman, Daniel E., and Dennis M. Bramble. 2007. The evolution of marathon running: Capabilities in humans. Sports Medicine 37(4-5): 288-290. Published Version doi:10.2165/00007256-200737040-00004 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3716644 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Sports Med 2007; 37 (4.6): 288-290 CONFERENCE PAPER 0112-1642/07/0004<l2a8/S44.'J5/0 e 2007 Adis Data Intormatian BV. All rights reserved. The Evolution of Marathon Running Capabilities in Humans Daniel E. Lieberman^ and Dennis M. Bramble^ 1 Departments of Anthropology and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 2 Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA AbStrOCt Humans have exceptional capabilities to run long distances in hot, arid conditions. These abilities, unique among primates and rare among mammals, derive from a suite of specialised features that permit running humans to store and release energy effectively in the lower limb, help keep the body's center of mass stable and overcome the thermoregulatory challenges of long distance running. Human endurance running perfonnance capabilities compare favourably with those of other mammals and probably emerged sometime around 2 million years ago in order to help meat-eating hominids compete with other carnivores.
    [Show full text]
  • Lack of Water and Endurance Running Could Have Caused the Exponential Growth in Human Brain “Point of No Return” Model
    Lack of water and endurance running could have caused the exponential growth in human brain “Point of no return” model Konrad R. Fialkowski University of Warsaw, Poland; An den Langen Luessen 9/1/3; 1190 Vienna, Austria; e-mail: [email protected] Growth in brain volume is one of the most spectacular changes in the hominid lineage. The anthropological community agrees on that point. No consensus, however, has been reached on selection pressures contributing to that growth. In that respect Martin (1984) can be invoked. In his review of size relationships among primates he stated that despite the relationship between brain size, body size and feeding behavior no single interpretation could be provided that revealed the causality of such relationship. This paper deals with one specific aspect of hominid brain growth: the fact that for most of the hominid period, growth in brain volume was exponential in character. To the author’s knowledge, no attempt has been made to identify a selection mechanism that can facilitate just the exponential features of that growth (as distinct from any of its other characteristics). It is broadly accepted that the dynamics of this growth were peculiar. Growth was very fast, or even rapid in the evolutionary scale of time. The most profound evidence of that opinion was expressed by Haldane (quoted after Mayr 1970: 384): “J. B. S. Haldane liked to emphasize that this dramatic increase in brain size was the most rapid evolutionary change known to him”. EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF HOMINID BRAIN VOLUME In mathematical terms the exponential function is the very fast growing function.
    [Show full text]
  • An Anthropological Assessment of Neanderthal Behavioural Energetics
    DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY, CLASSICS & EGYPTOLOGY An Anthropological Assessment of Neanderthal Behavioural Energetics. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Andrew Shuttleworth. April, 2013. TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………………..i LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………v LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………..vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS…………………………………………………………………...vii ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................1 1.1. Introduction..............................................................................................................1 1.2. Aims and Objectives................................................................................................2 1.3. Thesis Format...........................................................................................................3 2. THE NEANDERTHAL AND OXYEGN ISOTOPE STAGE-3.................................6 2.1. Discovery, Geographic Range & Origins..............................................................7 2.1.1. Discovery........................................................................................................7 2.1.2. Neanderthal Chronology................................................................................10 2.2. Morphology.............................................................................................................11
    [Show full text]
  • The Relevance of Persistence Hunting to Human Evolution
    This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier’s archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright Author's personal copy Journal of Human Evolution 55 (2008) 1156–1159 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Human Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol News and Views The relevance of persistence hunting to human evolution Louis Liebenberg Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA article info of ER in early Homo. In addition, sophisticated PH may have contributed to the evolution of modern human intellectual abilities. Article history: Received 9 February 2008 Accepted 7 July 2008 Context of recent observations Keywords: The statement that ‘‘over the course of 20 years, only two of the Endurance running Foragers ER hunts observed by Liebenberg were spontaneous’’ (Pickering Homo and Bunn, 2007: 436) is misleading. Firstly, I should clarify the Hunter-gatherers context within which I conducted my field research over the course Persistence hunting of 20 years. As an independent researcher (with no funding), I Tracking would have liked to have witnessed more hunts, but I simply did not have the financial means to do so.
    [Show full text]
  • Language Evolution to Revolution
    Research Ideas and Outcomes 5: e38546 doi: 10.3897/rio.5.e38546 Research Article Language evolution to revolution: the leap from rich-vocabulary non-recursive communication system to recursive language 70,000 years ago was associated with acquisition of a novel component of imagination, called Prefrontal Synthesis, enabled by a mutation that slowed down the prefrontal cortex maturation simultaneously in two or more children – the Romulus and Remus hypothesis Andrey Vyshedskiy ‡ ‡ Boston University, Boston, United States of America Corresponding author: Andrey Vyshedskiy ([email protected]) Reviewable v1 Received: 25 Jul 2019 | Published: 29 Jul 2019 Citation: Vyshedskiy A (2019) Language evolution to revolution: the leap from rich-vocabulary non-recursive communication system to recursive language 70,000 years ago was associated with acquisition of a novel component of imagination, called Prefrontal Synthesis, enabled by a mutation that slowed down the prefrontal cortex maturation simultaneously in two or more children – the Romulus and Remus hypothesis. Research Ideas and Outcomes 5: e38546. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.5.e38546 Abstract There is an overwhelming archeological and genetic evidence that modern speech apparatus was acquired by hominins by 600,000 years ago. On the other hand, artifacts signifying modern imagination, such as (1) composite figurative arts, (2) bone needles with an eye, (3) construction of dwellings, and (4) elaborate burials arose not earlier than © Vyshedskiy A. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
    [Show full text]
  • Run for Your Life Humans Evolved to Run
    COMMENT ILLUSTRATION BY PHIL DISLEY BY ILLUSTRATION Run for your life Humans evolved to run. This helps to explain our athletic capacity and our susceptibility to modern diseases, argue Timothy Noakes and Michael Spedding. he forthcoming Olympics in London Charlie, holds the English marathon record regularly to chase down meat. For many, will celebrate the performance capac- and won Olympic bronze in 1984 by ignor- exercise is no longer an integral part of daily ity of humans and our remarkable ing drink stations at crucial stages in the Los life, leading to a host of modern ailments. Tability to prepare our bodies and minds for Angeles marathon. We began exchanging In short, we think specific tasks. But, at the same time as we e-mails. Eventually, that correspondence “Most humans that exercise is not just are pushing our bodies to new limits in ath- coalesced into the theory we outline here. today do not important for general leticism, we are experiencing unprecedented Over millions of years, humans evolved live in an health — it is essen- levels of relatively modern diseases such as from tree-dwelling apes to become Homo environment tial to the molecular obesity, diabetes and psychiatric and neuro- sapiens, capable of elite athleticism1. Simply where they memory of who we degenerative disorders. put, we evolved to run. While early homi- must chase are. Without it, we are We, the authors, were both considering nins were undergoing intense skeletal and down meat.” at risk of being obese the modern paradox of elite athleticism and metabolic changes, major changes also and diabetic, and of growing susceptibility to disease when we occurred in their brains2.
    [Show full text]
  • The Endurance Running Hypothesis and Hunting and Scavenging in Savanna-Woodlands
    Journal of Human Evolution 53 (2007) 434e438 News and Views The endurance running hypothesis and hunting and scavenging in savanna-woodlands Travis Rayne Pickering a,b,*, Henry T. Bunn a a Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, 5240 Social Science Building, Madison, Wisconsin 57306, USA b Institute for Human Evolution, University of the Witwatersrand, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa Received 15 June 2006; accepted 3 January 2007 Keywords: Carcass foraging; Early Homo; Tracking; Zooarchaeology Introduction However, as with any provocative idea, there are several as- pects of the ER hypothesis pertaining to carcass acquisition Recently, Bramble and Lieberman (2004: 345) provided that warrant deeper examination. We believe that even within a review of morphological evidence suggesting to them the ‘‘limitations of the archaeological and ethnographic re- ‘‘that endurance running is a derived capability of the genus cords’’ there are data available to test the hypothesis that hunt- Homo, originating about 2 million years [Myr] ago, and may ing and scavenging selected for ER in early Homo. Here, we have been instrumental in the evolution of the human body focus on paleohabitat and paleoecology as factors that, when form.’’ The authors went on to hypothesize that long-distance considered in combination with the realities of pursuit- endurance running (ER) may have been critical to encephal- foraging, diminish the plausibility of early Homo using ER ized early Homo in gaining access to high-quality food re- in hunting and scavenging. sources, including especially meat, marrow, and brains. They The ca. 2.3e1.5-Myr-old African environments of H.
    [Show full text]
  • 4-Bunn-Gurtov-Hunting.Pdf
    Quaternary International 322-323 (2014) 44e53 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint Prey mortality profiles indicate that Early Pleistocene Homo at Olduvai was an ambush predator Henry T. Bunn*, Alia N. Gurtov University of WisconsineMadison, Department of Anthropology, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, United States article info abstract Article history: The prime-adult-dominated mortality profile of large bovids in the 1.8 Ma FLK Zinj assemblage, Olduvai Available online 23 November 2013 Gorge, Tanzania, was recently attributed to ambush hunting by early Homo (Bunn, H.T., Pickering, T.R. 2010. Quat. Res. 74, 395e404). We now investigate a logical follow-up question: is enough known about the causes and pervasiveness of prime-adult-dominated mortality profiles (defined as >70% prime adults) from modern ecosystems and from archaeological sites to warrant their attribution solely to hominin hunting? Besides hominin hunting, three methods of scavenging could have provided the large bovids butchered at FLK Zinj: first-access scavenging from non-predator-related accidents; late-access passive scavenging from lion (or other) kills; early-access aggressive scavenging from lion (or other) kills. We present new data on hunted prey from Hadza bow hunting (e.g., N ¼ 50 impala; N ¼ 18 greater kudu) near Lake Eyasi, Tanzania, and from San bow hunting (N ¼ 13 gemsbok) in the Kalahari Desert, Botswana, documenting non-selective, living-structure profiles. We present new data on drowned wildebeest (N ¼ 175) from Lake Masek, in the Serengeti, documenting many prime adults but also a significantly high percentage of old adults, unlike the profile at FLK Zinj.
    [Show full text]
  • Bovid Mortality Profiles in Paleoecological Context Falsify
    Quaternary Research 74 (2010) 395–404 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/yqres Bovid mortality profiles in paleoecological context falsify hypotheses of endurance running–hunting and passive scavenging by early Pleistocene hominins Henry T. Bunn a,⁎, Travis Rayne Pickering a,b a Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 Observatory Drive, 5240 Social Science Building, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA b Institute for Human Evolution, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, WITS 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa article info abstract Article history: The world’s first archaeological traces from 2.6 million years ago (Ma) at Gona, in Ethiopia, include sharp- Received 21 February 2010 edged cutting tools and cut-marked animal bones, which indicate consumption of skeletal muscle by early hominin butchers. From that point, evidence of hominin meat-eating becomes increasingly more common Keywords: throughout the Pleistocene archaeological record. Thus, the substantive debate about hominin meat-eating Uniformitarianism now centers on mode(s) of carcass resource acquisition. Two prominent hypotheses suggest, alternatively, Bovid mortality profiles (1) that early Homo hunted ungulate prey by running them to physiological failure and then dispatching Carcass foraging Early Homo them, or (2) that early Homo was relegated to passively scavenging carcass residues abandoned by carnivore FLK 22 Zinjanthropus predators. Various paleontologically testable predictions can be formulated for both hypotheses. Here we test four predictions concerning age-frequency distributions for bovids that contributed carcass remains to the 1.8 Ma. old FLK 22 Zinjanthropus (FLK Zinj, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) fauna, which zooarchaeological and taphonomic data indicate was formed predominantly by early Homo.
    [Show full text]
  • The Art of Tracking the Origin of Science
    The Art of Tracking Tbe Origin of Science Louis Liebenberg David Philip First published 1990 in southern Africa by David Philip Publishers (Pty) Ltd 208 Werdmuller Centre, Claremont 7700, South Africa text © Louis Liebenherg illustrations © Louis Liebenherg All rights reserved ISBN 0 R6486 131 1 Typesetting hy Desktop Design cc, Shortmarket Street. Cape Town Printed hy Creda Press. Solan Road. Cape Town Contents Introduction . v Part I: The Evolution of Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence 1 1 Hominid Evolution . 3 2 The Evolution of Hominid Subsistence 11 3 The Evolution of Tracking . 29 4 The Origin of Science ,tnd Art 41 Part U: Hunter-Gatherers of the Kalahari ....... -l9 S Hunter-Gatherer Subsi�tence . 51 6 Scientific Knowledge of Spoor and Animal Behaviour 69 .... Non-scientific Aspects of Hunting . 93 Part lli: The Fundamentals of Tracking . 99 8 Principles of Tr.tcking 101 9 Classification of Signs 111 10 Spoor Interpretation 121 11 Scientific Research Programmes 153 References 167 Index . 173 Introduction According to a popular misconception, nature is "like an open book" to the expert tracker and such an expert needs only enough skill to "read everything that is written in the sand". A more appropriate analogy would be that the expert tracker must be able to "read between the lines". Trackers themselves cannot read everything in the sand. Rather, they must be able to read into the sand. To interpret tracks and signs trackers must project themselves into the position of the animal in order to create a hypothetical explanation of what the animal was doing. Tracking is not strictly empirical, since it also involves the tracker's imagination.
    [Show full text]
  • Energy Cost and Return for Hunting in African Wild Dogs and Cheetahs
    ARTICLE Received 24 Jul 2015 | Accepted 12 Feb 2016 | Published 29 Mar 2016 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11034 OPEN Energy cost and return for hunting in African wild dogs and cheetahs Tatjana Y. Hubel1, Julia P. Myatt1,2, Neil R. Jordan3,4,5, Oliver P. Dewhirst1, J. Weldon McNutt3 & Alan M. Wilson1 African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) are reported to hunt with energetically costly long chase distances. We used high-resolution GPS and inertial technology to record 1,119 high-speed chases of all members of a pack of six adult African wild dogs in northern Botswana. Dogs performed multiple short, high-speed, mostly unsuccessful chases to capture prey, while cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) undertook even shorter, higher-speed hunts. We used an energy balance model to show that the energy return from group hunting and feeding substantially outweighs the cost of multiple short chases, which indicates that African wild dogs are more energetically robust than previously believed. Comparison with cheetah illustrates the trade-off between sheer athleticism and high individual kill rate characteristic of cheetahs, and the energetic robustness of frequent opportunistic group hunting and feeding by African wild dogs. 1 Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hatfield AL97TA, UK. 2 School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. 3 Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, Maun, Botswana. 4 Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2015, Australia. 5 Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Applied Eco-Logic Group, Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo, New South Wales 2830, Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • To Run Or to Carry: Derived Traits in Early Members of the Genus Homo
    To Run or to Carry: Derived Traits in Early Members of the Genus Homo Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Webber, James Thomas Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 26/09/2021 13:13:55 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/642005 TO RUN OR TO CARRY: DERIVED TRAITS IN EARLY MEMBERS OF THE GENUS HOMO By James T. Webber Copyright © James T. Webber 2020 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2020 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank the College of School of Behavioral and Social Sciences for the Dissertation Research Grant (award number: 18DRF0885), and the University of Arizona School of Anthropology for the Haury Dissertation Fellowship for supporting this dissertation research. I am thankful for my committee members, Dr. David Raichlen, Dr. Ivy Pike, Dr. Stacey Tecot, and Dr. Steven Kuhn who helped shape and inspire this research through their mentorship, conversations, personal research, and classes taught. I am especially grateful to my chair, Dr. David Raichlen who took a shot on a small-town undergrad interested in barefoot running, for his support, belief, mentorship, and positive outlook on the totality of the grad school experience.
    [Show full text]