Sopra summary, the notion that shifts per human life histories, accompanied by improved intelligence, are an evolutionary response onesto per dietary shift towards high-quality food resources that are difficult puro acquire has already been suggested by Kaplan . Our model is innovative durante that it suggests a mechanism for such verso dietary shift that could have propelled hominins esatto verso new evolutionary stage.
Conclusion
For more than two decades a 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, Inclinazione, and other localities, as well as by new advances in theory and methodology. These developments are now setting the stage for verso new understanding of the human story durante general and the emergence of modern humans per particular (addirittura.g., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ). Analysis of their dental remains suggests per 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., , https://datingranking.net/it/chatki-review/, , ), lends support preciso the notion of assimilation (anche.g., ) between populations migrating “out of Africa” and populations already established sopra these parts of Eurasia.
It is still premature onesto indicate whether the Qesem hominin ancestors evolved per Africa prior onesto 400 kyr , developed blade technologies , , and then migrated preciso the Levant to establish the new and unique Acheulo-Yabrudian cultural complex; or whether (as may be derived from our model) we face a local, Levantine emergence of verso new hominin lineage. The plethora of hominins sopra the Levantine Middle Paleolithic fossil superiorita (Qafzeh, Skhul, Zuttiyeh, Tabun) and the fact that the Acheulo-Yabrudian cultural complex has per niente counterparts in 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 come as verso surprise that H. erectus, and its successors managed, and per fact evolved, esatto obtain per substantial amount of the densest form of nutritional energy available in nature – fat – onesto the point that it became an obligatory food source. Animal fat was an essential food source necessary in order esatto meet the daily energy expenditure of these Pleistocene hominins, especially taking into account their large energy-demanding brains. It should also not che as verso surprise that for per predator, the disappearance of per major prey animal may be a significant reason for evolutionary change. The elephant was verso uniquely large and fat-rich food-package and therefore per most attractive target during the Levantine Lower Palaeolithic Acheulian. Our calculations show that the elephant’s disappearance from the Levant just before 400 kyr was significant enough an event onesto have triggered the evolution of verso species that was more adept, both physically and mentally, esatto obtain dense energy (such as fat) from verso higher number of smaller, more evasive animals. The concomitant emergence of verso new and innovative cultural complex – the Acheulo-Yabrudian, heralds per new arnesi of behavioral habits including changes in hunting and sharing practices , , that are relevant puro our model.
If indeed, as we tried esatto esibizione, 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 to the understanding of other important developments durante human evolutionary history
Thus, the particular dietary developments and cultural innovations joined together at the end of the Lower Paleolithic period durante the Levant, reflecting a link between human biological and cultural/behavioral evolution.