The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as the saying goes. And it seems that could be true of Homo sapiens as a whole. Just as our activities today drive other animals to extinction, so too, new research suggests, did those of human ancestors millions of years ago.
By examining the fossil record in East Africa, biologists have been able to trace a decline in carnivores that correlates with an increase in hominin brain size and vegetation changes – but not with climate or weather changes, as is commonly found.
This, the researchers say, can be interpreted as a connection between hominin activity and carnivore extinctions.
(Mauricio Antón)
“Our analyses show that the best explanation for the extinction of carnivores in East Africa is … that they are caused by direct competition for food with our extinct ancestors,” said computational biologist Daniele…
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Exposing the Big Game 