Comments | anthropologist: Climate Change Fueled Human Evolution?

sugarimp in anthropologist

Climate Change Fueled Human Evolution?

Aug 19, 2005 17:54

Aug. 18, 2005 - Climate changes that affected Africa over a million years ago may have profoundly influenced human evolution, according to a new study published in this week's Science.Overall, the findings support the "variability hypothesis" of human evolution, which holds that alternating humid and dry periods provided the stresses essential for ( Read more... )

prehistory, africa, evolution, environment

Comments 6

planetsalign August 19 2005, 20:41:46 UTC

Wow, you really do know how to pick the best articles.

sugarimp August 20 2005, 10:59:22 UTC

Um, thanks :).

caatinga August 20 2005, 06:49:27 UTC

Hmmmmmm I like the idea, but this is such a rough sketch...how exactly did these variances in humidity cause change? What would the mechanism be, EXACTLY? You know? What was it about expansion and contraction of lakes that selected for shortened toes, fully opposed thumbs and larger brains? This looks like good science, but a vast nebula of intersecting conditions that MAY have contributed to evolution...it's so vague! Rargh...where's my aquatic ape theory?

(Great article, by the way...I'm just venting?)

sugarimp August 20 2005, 10:58:19 UTC

From what I understand, the diatoms indicate a fluctuation in humidity. The fluctuation in humidity implies climatic change, which means early human would have had to migrate according to these fluctions. It's the stress of migrations- looking for new food sources/dwellings etc, that would have caused the spurts in evolution. I think.

caatinga August 20 2005, 20:38:31 UTC

Ohhhh OK, so we're just talking about contextualizing the spurts in development in weather/condition variations. Not sure why I couldn't see that myself. Thank yew.

sugarimp August 20 2005, 10:59:02 UTC

Excuse the bad typing. My brain's forgotten english today.