FAQ: Feeding Evolution of Homo

5 facts about the causes of the transition from herbivorous diet to the carnivorous and competition between Neanderthals and Homo.

Trying to recreate the processes that led to the emergence of species Homo sapiens, - a traditional topic for anthropology and paleoanthropology. There are many areas (traditional morphological) that allow us to measure, describe the shape of the skeletal remains and make judgments about what they were created, and there is a more modern direction. Of course, the leader in them is paleogenetics. But there is also the direction of paleo-ecological that tries to recreate the way of life and the natural environment fossils of ancient humans.

• 1.Causes of evolutionary processes

The Paleoecological direction, in my opinion, can allow to find the mechanisms that trigger some evolutionary processes, as is not always obvious, and therefore developed those or other changes. We all know that the central process in anthropology - it encephalization, ie an increase in brain volume. This process begins in ancient times, before the advent of direct human ancestors. That is, the ancestors of Australopithecus are already beginning to show characteristics that allow us to assume that the process will soon be launched. Perhaps one of the triggers was the set of bipedal locomotion, which resulted in increasing the size of the pelvis. And that in itself is a trigger, as it allows to increase the size of the newborn creature's head. There are many such automated processes, which should be monitored by us. And in this very diverse paleoecological direction have an interesting theme - ecology nutrition human ancestors.

• 2.Role of Encephalization in the Evolution

Species within the genus of Homo, fossil, apparently, were varied in the choice of food types. Initially, all primates, especially larger primates tropical - this being advantageously herbivorous, unlike small primates that may be carnivorous and omnivorous. Still, large primates chimpanzees type gorillas prefer vegetarian food. Go to the strategy carnivorous food - a cornerstone event, because it is very seldom that mostly vegetarians become so carnivorous. And, oddly enough, this transition is associated not only with a change in lifestyle but also with encephalization because only high-protein diet allows for a very rapid development of the person and it is the brain structures. To improve brains – buy Cogitum, Phenylpiracetam, Piracetam, Picamilon, Cortexin, Cerebrolysin.

• 3.Formation of a new type of feeding

Brain is very energetically expensive structure and unfavorable; when one works intelligently, it consumes enormous amounts of energy. Therefore, only very secured energy body can afford to have such a large brain. Moreover, intense brain growth occurs in infants and children up to three years. Thus, the order of a million years ago, in the world there is a new predator, it is not similar to what it was before. And the formation of a carnivorous diet, this predatory lifestyle coincides with the first large-scale human migrations out of Africa.

Drinking large amounts of protein and fat helped to intensify the process of building a variety of fabrics, and similar processes we can find in the evolution of different predators. That is the evolutionary race begins: Who will take the place in this competition between large predators - and the race begins first and foremost in size: who is more and who is stronger. And apparently, people in this area very quickly evolved. Curiosity and diversity of activities primates leads to the fact that they are developing very rapidly in different directions. And apparently, already erectus stage a person begins to cook.

Thus, from one to two million years ago formed the complex features of this carnivorous substance, and people continued to remain within these limits during the extended period. In fact, it is best to date from fossils studied Neanderthals. This is a later form, which coexisted with sapiens.

• 4.Tools of research in the study of feeding of fossil forms

This study of the state of the surface of teeth: how they are worn out exactly how they are worn. There are analytical techniques to study the composition of bone tissue and dental tissues, and especially the study of the isotopic composition, which allows us to reconstruct what these creatures ate, whether it was a vegetable food, which. All can be reconstructed based on the isotopic data of some chemical elements - is primarily carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and others. And with regard to the Neanderthals, while in the coordinates of the concept of "trophic pyramid", "trophic chain", you can really tell that the man - the king of nature, in the sense that he crowned this pyramid. We were repeatedly set very high levels of the trophic position of the Neanderthals. In the early 90s the first generalizing works have been published by the French Bioarchaeology that go to school under the direction of Herve Boucher - it is very productive and now continues to operate. Thus, the concept hyper-carnivores Neanderthals was confirmed.

• 5.Research of Homo sapiens

As for sapiens, it is an interesting question, because the type of food - it is not only the physiology and morphology, and behavior. For collective hunt it involves a very high level of communication and promotes mutual understanding.

In recent decades, there is already research sapiens. This is primarily the European sites. And it turned out that they have much more variety in the types of food, and above all in the food resources than in Neanderthals. Neanderthals were clearly focused on a specific production - very large herbivorous mammals, though, when sapiens lived in similar ecological conditions, they too chose this strategy. Thus, the king of nature, which was announced in the form of a Neanderthal, repeated to a certain extent and sapiens. Of course, in situations where communities of these two forms appeared nearby, they competed, and the similarity of food policies could not be the reason for this. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the displacement of the Neanderthals from the evolutionary scene. But in order to verify this hypothesis or reject it, we need to continue isotope studies in situations where representatives of sapiens and Neanderthals are as close as possible.