Posted on 11/18/2004 7:32:47 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Running 'key to human evolution'
People run to keep fit today but our ancestors ran for different reasons
Long-distance running may have been a driving force behind evolution of the modern human body, scientists say. American researchers said humans began endurance running about 2 million years ago to help hunt for prey, influencing the development of the human body.
Previous studies have suggested running was purely a by-product of walking.
But the study, published in Nature, said humans evolved big buttocks, a balanced head and longer legs to help gather food.
Professor Dennis Bramble, of the University of Utah, and Professor Daniel Lieberman, of Harvard University, reported that early human beings may have needed to run long distances to help hunt prey or scavenge animal carcasses on the African savannah.
Without the development from running, humans would be much more like apes with shorter legs, smaller heads and a hunched posture, the scientists said.
While human are poor sprinters in comparison with many animals, they perform well when it comes to long-distance running.
After examining 26 human body features essential for endurance running, the pair concluded humans may have evolved as they did from their ape-like ancestors because they could run long-distances.
Important attributes for endurance running include skull structure to prevent over-heating, ligaments to give spring, long legs to increase stride length and independent head and shoulder movement to aid balance.
The scientists said because of natural selection, our ape-like ancestors known as Australophithecus, who were good at running, survived, while shorter-legged ancestors died out.
Professor Bramble said: "Today endurance running is primarily a form of exercise and recreation but its roots may be as ancient as the origin of the human genus and its demands a major contributing factor to the human body form.
"Running may have helped hunters get close enough to throw projectiles or perhaps even to run some mammals to exhaustion in the heat."
Professor Chris Stringer, head of human origins at the Natural History Museum in London, said the findings were "plausible" and provided a "valuable fresh look at our anatomy and some of its special features".
"Although it will require much more complete evidence for the evolution of the skeleton of early humans below the neck to test their ideas properly."
Evolution hoax and conspiracy to destroy running
Berlin : Paul Tergat first man ever to run the marathon under 2:05
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/990921/posts
Fur also makes cooling down more difficult. Our ancestors seem to have evolved in Africa where less fur would have been an advantage when it came to regulating our body heat.
Also, what is the basis of balding.
Balding occurs, generally speaking, in older men. Humans did not used to live very long in pre-historic times- around 30 or so was typical. So, there was no evolutionary disadvantage to carrying a balding gene (if there is such a thing) since you would be dead before the negative effects of such a gene effected you.
"...we evolved in an aquatic environment, probably along some ancient sea shores which are
now long lost to geologic change."
I've wondered about this possible aquatic period in regards to our hair...ever notice how long hair on a woman floats near the surface in the water...it certainly would allow babies and tots to hold tight and it also would explain the relative lack of hair on the lower body if we spent much time treading water and paddling about to evade predators. It was probably easier to kill a tiger or lion when it was in the water too.
They're not. However, mutations that are beneficial for a certain population in a certain location tend to survive in that population group.
Very few animals harry their prey like humans (and wolves) do. Most predators either rely on ambushes (like aligators) or quick sprints (like most big cats).
Name one.
Cheetahs are sprinters. Their legs are built quite differently from ours. Our bodies are built to chase prey over long distances.
That logic does not fly. Boar, elephants, rhinos, etc. have very little hair, but yaks, gnus, bison, etc. have a lot of hair. All of these move during the day...during the hat of the day.
This is the logic of evolution knows the outcome.
I didn't say fur was a negative thing. It depends what niche the animal is filling. Lack of fur makes it easier to cool down which means you can run for longer periods of time without collapsing. The average human can keep walking/running a lot further than the average gorilla.
Combine the ability to run for long distances with the ability to remain cool while doing so and you end up with a very deadly predator.
Also, to my best recollection, "prehistoric" fossils are few and far between. It cannot be stated on such a small sample size how old they were typically when they died.
Even if we did not have lots of fossils from pre-historic times, we have plenty of skeletons of people who have died in historic times. Up until very recently, life expectancies for a human anywhere in the world were quite short. It's only since the rise of modern medicine that living past even the age of 40 can be taken for granted.
Then what about camels, horses and in general all beast of burden? ALL are covered in fur and all are capable of extreme work in extreme weather. Mules in the south are capable of extraordinary work.
It just comes down to, for me, that I do not believe that evolution is all the folks think it is. I think it has its specific place but I see it more from the intelligent design perspective. It is a little too much like the universe knew life was coming so it prepared for it.
Best example, last month's Scientific American talked about the human eye. The article screams out about how the eye new it's purpose before it even evolved. One of the parts that was so astounding is how the lens forms. The cells start dying and somehow know when to stop and stop at the perfect point so the cells become transparent.
Camels are a special case- they've evolved a way to store water in their humps. That helps them stay cool. However, camels are not long-distance runners. They're walkers. Outside of the very extreme ecological niche that camels inhabit, humans have them beat hands down when it comes to endurance. Probably part of the reason camels have not lost their fur is because nights in the desert can be deadly cold. A naked animal can die of exposure.
Over the long-run, a man can outrun and hunt down a horse. Same thing with a mule. There are very few animals on the planet with more endurance than a human.
Humans have more endurance than all other mammals. If you could track a deer closely enough, it would drop of exhaustion before you.
The African Bushmen shoot an animal with a poison dart and track it for days until it dies.
Maybe so, but we sure forgot to evolve the knees for it.
My name's Forest, Forest Gump.
Sure, it happens occasionally (i knew a guy who was about 20), but the average age for reproduction, historically (and, more specifically, prehistorically), was certainly well below the late 20s.
Intersting and now I know how the pickup evolved. After running 10 miles to kill the meat, there had to be some way to get it back to the hootch and since humans have poor back design not meant to carry loads, Ford mutated.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.