Fun fact: the guy who first proposed this "running man" hypothesis about persistence hunting in the late 1960s (Grover Krantz) was better known as a staunch advocate for the existence of Bigfoot. Personally, I can't believe that anybody could still believe in Bigfoot - it's so obviously just a Yeti in a gorilla suit.
For some weird reason, Krantz's skeleton and that of his favorite dog are on display at the Smithsonian.
We are the snail
isnt this a diprotodon, which is the largest marsupial in australia, in the vombatiforms.
For some reason I read that as vomitiform (I bet I know how they fought)
It just means wombat-shaped, the w was changed to v in a half-arsed effort to Latinise it (despite -form coming from Greek anyway).
Pursuit predation/persistence hunting has to be one of the most metal characteristics about humans.
What I never got about this theory is, fine, you run after the Ptadgedrwgydon for 87kms, when it gives up due to exhaustion and you kill it with a stone. What now? You're 87kms away with a carcass that weighs 500kg, how do you get back the food to the tribe?
This is how we learned to be nomads. Kill big thing, bring camp to big thing, hang out until big thing is all eaten.
This is how Komodo Dragons hunt, too.
That would be a terrifying way to die.
Wasn't that the premise of the Slenderman video game?
https://ourworldindata.org/quaternary-megafauna-extinction
The timing of megafauna extinctions was not consistent across the world; instead, the timing of their demise coincided closely with the arrival of humans on each continent.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
You're missing a \.
There have been many extinction events in Earth’s history. There have been five big mass extinction events and several smaller ones.
There have now been many studies focused on the question of whether humans were a key driver of the QME. Many suggest that the answer is yes. Climatic changes might have driven an initial decline in large mammal populations — small population crashes — but human pressures are likely to have thwarted their recovery. Large mammals survived previous periods of climatic change, but the arrival of humans put pressure on already-depleted populations.
Imagine being hunted and killed by a team of power walkers.
The predators:
You know, this is actually the type of fear that the zombie horror genre really reverses back on us. Classic zombies are not fast. They're not smart. They can't run, climb, or plan elaborate traps. They have no sharp claws or terrifyingly large teeth. You can outrun them at a brisk walk.
But what makes them so dangerous is that they're relentless. If they get your scent, they'll follow you and keep following you. Blow their legs off and they'll crawl towards you. Remove all their limbs and they'll slither like a snake towards you. Only destroying their brain can stop them.
If you're on foot, it is virtually impossible to escape them, as they'll just keep on coming. And while you need to sleep, they don't. They can just keep right on shuffling towards you 24/7. If on foot being chased by a zombie, your best bet is probably to find a river you can swim across that will sweep them away. Oh, and of course, they are rarely alone.
Zombies are predators that turn our species's natural hunting strategy back upon us.
Humans' ability to sweat is something outstanding.
That what I keep saying, but people still seem thoroughly unimpressed by my ability to sweat profusely the moment I get a little hot!
Interviewer: What would you say is your biggest strength?
Me:
It's just that we're so powerful, we need the extra cooling!
The other advantage we have while running is that we're not constantly slamming our intestines into our other vital organs and lungs because we're upright.
Humans can out-distance a horse. A fucking HORSE. Incredible animal the oul' human.
