Re: Dissecting the Aquatic Ape: Bipedalism
HARRY R. ERWIN (herwin@mason2.gmu.edu)
31 Jul 1996 16:50:36 GMT
Richard Foy (rfoy@netcom.com) wrote:
: In article <4tnlu6$521@portal.gmu.edu>,
: HARRY R. ERWIN <herwin@mason2.gmu.edu> wrote:
: >
: >: My understanding is that hominid evolution was quite rapid as the
: >: evolution of species go. However, I was unaware that the rapidity of that
: >: change was a possible argument for it being behavorially caused. My
: >: understanding of chimpanzees is that they have the rudiments of a culture
: >: and that the culture can change from group to group. If our distant
: >: ancestors had cultures too, isn't trying to predict the behavorial basis
: >: of their speciation very, very, problematic?
: >
: >Oh yes, except that we have evidence for very slow cultural change until
: >about 110 KYr BP.
: Isn't this evidence related to stone tools?
They've gone quite a bit beyond that. Leslie Aiello (and colleagues) have a
paper coming out soon.
: >
: >Fitness is defined in relative terms. If the interpersonal behavior
: >within a specific group became deadly, the group would disappear.
: Not if the deadlyness only wiped out a subset of the males. Is not
: this the result of the Yanamomo culture. They apparrently have not
: disappeared, and if they do disapper it will not be a result of there
: intraculural behavior but rather from the results of an external
: culture with a greater capacity for violence.
Yes, but fitness is relative, and if there are other groups in the area
that don't lose as many prime males, you're history.
--
Harry Erwin, Internet: herwin@gmu.edu, Web Page: http://osf1.gmu.edu/~herwin
49 year old PhD student in computational neuroscience ("how bats do it" 8)
and lecturer for CS 211 (data structures and advanced C++)
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