Role Of Meat And Protein In Hominin Evolution

Animal meat has all necessary nutrients, especially protein that is necessary for the human body to grow and function properly. Besides, it plays a vital role in brain development. As suggested by Smil (2013), “Killing animals and eating meat have been significant components of human evolution…have inevitably contributed to the evolution of human intelligence…” (p.1). According to the findings of the University of Colorado (2012), anthropologists have excavated a toddler’s “skull fragment” in Tanzania that is the abnormally tiny size of skull, due to a protein deficiency in the diet and led to youth mortality; this condition was very rare in 1.8 million years ago. This indicates that animal meat is a paramount in the human body, without the essential amino acids that exists in animal meats; human evolution cannot happen (p.1).

Nevertheless, it is possible to surmise that modern humans have evolved from the generalized early-human diet (Turner, Bethany, & Thompson, 2013); now the human diet reflects that of a primate omnivore (Ley et al., 2008).

Progressing into the modern era, research has again refocused the academic microscope on the once chastised ‘man the hunter’ theory. Contrasting with earlier scholarship, Michael P. Richards and Erik Trinkhaus (2009) proved Neanderthals and early modern humans relied on meat and hunting for subsistence. They did so through comparative isotopic analysis of nitrogen and carbon isotope values to compare protein consumption between early modern humans, Neanderthals, and local fauna. For example, the Oase 1 (the oldest directly dated modern human in Europe) has a nitrogen level that is 10.8% higher than the ibex and 8.0% higher than the red deer.

Paul Shepard’s “Getting a Genome”, “How We Once Lived”, and “How the Mind Once Lived” in Coming Home to the Pleistocene discusses humankind’s evolutionary history and how we lived before history. “Getting a Genome” explains the key evolutionary developments of pre-humans, which included bipedality, sexual dimorphism, and speech. In relation to nature, this chapter argues that early humans did not slaughter large mammal species and push them into extinction (32). Hunting large mammals into extinction would be both a waste of time and energy, which was valuable to early humans. “How We Once Lived” describes human development and how it would have occurred in the past. The chapter also discusses the ambiguity of our genetic requirements and how

To begin this study, it will be useful to start with a brief discussion of the major differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, because as will be seen, these differences may have a played a key role in their eventual extinction. Neanderthals were not the brutish, ape-like creatures they are often depicted as in popular media, but they did have some noticeable anatomical differences from modern humans. In general they were stockier with shorter, more powerful limbs, but these limbs

The paleo or caveman diet is set on the principle that humans during the Stone Age only ate foods such as meat, berries and nuts, and did not eat whole grains, legumes, potatoes and other foods, not yet introduced into the human diet. A number of experts today feel that many of the modern health problems are because humans are too far removed from eating in the manner that the cavemen did all those years ago. Meat is the foundational food upon which the entire paleo diet is formed around, as it is the main source of protein for those who partake of this diet.

By 0.6 Mya, H. heidelbergensis appeared. Likely an ancestor of our own species, their fossils have been found with the remnants of large, butchered animals and hand axes -- suggesting a good degree of tool usage. It is unknown whether or not they actively hunted the large animals that they hunted, but the prolifacy of these butchering sites would suggest that Heidelbergensis was able to have consistent access to these large carcasses. Examination of fossilized hyoid bones in Heidelbergensis indicates that they were also capable of making the nuanced sounds required for speech (Martínez I, et. al.). Their easy access to food and fire probably came in handy during the Kansan glacial period, which lasted from 0.46 to 0.30 Mya. It was during this icy period that the lineages of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis finally split from that of H. heidelbergensis and begin to truly hunt for their food.

Brahic, Catherine. "Neanderthal Chefs Spiced Up Their Diet." New Scientist 226.3017 (2015): . Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Apr. 2016..

Humans are the most unique species on Earth. We have gained the ability to things never accomplished before on Earth. We can control our environment, domesticate other species, and more importantly, form complex connections and societies with one another. However, it is widely debated about how we evolved from simple ape-like foragers to the meat-eating, community-building species we are today. In this paper, we will be looking at three authors: Richard Wrangham, Pat Shipman, and Frans de Wall. Each of which approach this question from different directions.

Humans are significantly distinct from other animals when it comes to endurance capabilities and effectively dissipating profuse amount of heat when running. The said endurance and running capabilities of humans evolved after the split of the human ancestors from the chimpanzee lineages. Bipedalism is the answer to effective scavenging and to compete against other carnivores in the earliest human ancestors. Competition amongst other carnivores also enabled the early hominids to make use of tools and traps for effective hunting. Open habitats such as short grass savannas and arid deserts paved way for endurance running. This capability has provided humans with an important niche for diurnal scavenging or hunting in acquiring food

development of taphonomic tests should be guided by three premises: 1) taphonomic measures used to

The diets of Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens are very different. The diet of the Homo sapiens shows how they were learning to adapt better to their environment, while the Neanderthals were very set in how they gathered food. Studies of nitrogen preserved in the bones of Neanderthals have shown that they consumed a substantial quantity of meat; “comparable to that eaten by contemporary wolves” (Delson et. al 2006). The current interpretation of the Neanderthal diet is that they “were most likely hunters rather than scavengers” (Delson et. al 2006). It was once thought that the Neanderthal diet was comprised mainly of meat due plant life being seasonal in the cold climate they inhabited. Evidence suggests however that the “Middle East Neanderthals ... living in the relatively warmest climate consume mostly meat” (Sawyer et al. 2007) proving that

They grew bigger and better brains due to the high levels of proteins in fresh meats and although their bodies back then could easily process protein or fat for energy they slowly developed a taste for energy production through sugars and carbohydrates. This spelled the beginning of the end for the hunter gatherer and paved the way for crop cultivation and vegetarian sustenance and our sugar addiction began in earnest.

The history of our diet starts with homo erectus. Over time, homo erectus found a way to extract more energy from their food. According to Dr. Richard Wrangham’s claim, the “custom of cooking our food has not only changed our bodies over the years, giving us smaller mouths and smaller guts, he says it 's given us an evolutionary advantage: bigger brains, more time to use those brains and less time wasting time foraging and chewing all day long”. By using fire to cook, meats could be softened, and more nutrients were digested. This led to the ability of developing a larger brain, an artery that takes a far greater amount of calories to sustain. As the brain size increased, body size decreased, highlighting the main difference between modern humans and our ape ancestors. This resulted in the loss of certain features, since we no longer needed such brawn to search for, eat, and digest food. The opportunity cost of our ancestor’s diet was sustaining a

The first monumental leap in mankind’s journey with energy, was when early hominids mastered fire around 350 000 years ago.[1] The knowledge of fire making largely attributed to the evolution of humans. This is in result of cooking meat with fire. This simple practice had a enormous impact on how some early hominid species evolved into humans. When meat is cooked, it becomes significantly easier to consume, as well as digest. Observations of chimpanzees today, show a common practice among the species in the method in which they consume raw meat. When eating raw meat, chimpanzees will combine portions of meat and tree leaves in their mouths to facilitate chewing and swallowing. The leaves provide traction for the slippery and rubbery raw muscle while chewing. This helps the chimpanzees spend less energy consuming the food, and increases their net caloric intake for the meal. When eating cooked meat, this net caloric intake is much higher than chimpanzees, since chewing the cooked meat alone is even easier than combining it with tree leaves [2]. As well,