Re: Hominid Altitudinal-Latitudinal Adaptations
John Waters (jdwaters@dircon.co.uk)
25 Oct 1996 02:18:35 GMT
Dan Barnes <dbarnes@liv.ac.uk> wrote in article
<DzqMJ7.M4G@liverpool.ac.uk>...
> In article <01bbbe9f$a94a0aa0$5c2770c2@default>,
jdwaters@dircon.co.uk
> says...
>
> >1. Was H. archaic a cold temperate climatic adaptation?
>
> I'm not too sure about who you're talking about here.
Archaic H.s. were
> widespread throughtout a variety of climatic areas
(although I don't agree with
> the name).
JW: Thank you Dan. I'm sure you are just the man I need to
sort this out.
If H. erectus was a warm temperate adaptation, and H.
neanderthal was a tundra adaptation, was there a cold
temperate adapted hominid? And if so, what is its modern
name?
>
> >2. Was H. neanderthal a tundra climatic adaptation?
>
> Yes.
JW: In view of what Anton Uriarte has said concerning uvb
radiation, do you think that the H. neanderthal followed
the usual altitudinal-latitudinal route from the equatorial
tundra altitudes to the tundra latitudes? Or do you think
H. neanderthal's adaptation was a purely regional
adaptation?
>
> >4. Was H. sapiens a behavioral adaptation to a tundra
habitat?
> >Is there any evidence
> >that it was contemporary with H. neanderthal?
>
> H.s. also adapted to the tundra environment in his limb
lenghts (Ruff, 1994 -
> below). He was a contemporary for 70 ka in the Levant but
Europe is still being
> argued over (it may be at least 5 ka).
JW: Do you think this would have to be a behavioural
adaptation?
>
> >5. Likewise, is there any evidence that H.ss was
contemporary
> >with H. archaic?
>
> No. Except possibly in Java (and perhaps China?).
JW: Does this mean that H.ss was a temperate adaptation,
behavioural or otherwise?
>
> >6. In view of the evidence of habitat destruction by
H.ss, could
> >this behaviour have
> >started at the inception of the specie?
> >
> If you mean the chopping down of the rainforests, etc.
then there is an
> arguement that he was responsible for megafauna
extinction in the Americas
> and Australia. I'm not too sure about the link with
seasonal burning that the
> indigenous peoples did to regulate the plant growth.
>
> I've tried to keep this brief to start with. Any points
can be expanded later.
>
> Dan
JW: I'm thinking here of H.ss elimination of competing
predators, which is well documented in the historical
record. If this started as a behavioural adaptation at the
inception of H.ss evolution, the resulting expansion of
prey animals could have severely disrupted the floral
ecologies -- with a consequential impact on contemporary
hominid specie.
Am I right in thinking that many competing predators became
extinct during the first 100 kyrs of H.ss existence?
John.
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