
Endurance Running Hypothesis - Petiver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_running_hypothesis
======
blatchcorn
Yup - our ability to store large amounts of glycogen, sweat and long legs are
very likely to be evolutionary traits that made it easier to hunt by chasing
after animals without these traits and tiring them out to the point they
cannot escape

~~~
igouy
_fwiw_ "We suggest that increases in eccrine function are not dependent upon
increased physical activity or reduced body hair. Therefore, enhanced sweating
capacity may have evolved in Australopithecus or even earlier hominins, driven
largely by climate. The additional increase in modern human sweating capacity
evolved later, concurrent with long distance walking and running." page 40

"The evolution of eccrine sweat glands in human and nonhuman primates"

[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Best4/publicatio...](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Best4/publication/323399145_The_evolution_of_eccrine_sweat_glands_in_human_and_nonhuman_primates/links/5aa2cca2a6fdccd544b7555c/The-
evolution-of-eccrine-sweat-glands-in-human-and-nonhuman-primates.pdf)

------
mhb
Also see the excellent This American Life podcast: Running After Antelope
Stories of people engaged in a battle with nature — a battle they don't stand
much chance of winning. Most of the show is Scott Carrier's story of trying
for twelve years to chase down and catch an antelope by foot.

[https://www.thisamericanlife.org/80/running-after-
antelope](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/80/running-after-antelope)

------
JPKab
An excellent book on this topic from about 10 years ago: Born to Run

~~~
starpilot
I've inferred the entire contents of the book from the plethora of HN comments
discussing it.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
This was my opinion too until I read it. Definitely well worth a read if
you're at all interested in running, fitness and human evolution. The
autobiographical story parts are great reading, too.

~~~
davidw
I don't care at all for running (I'm a bike guy), but it's still a fun read.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
It's a really fascinating story on top of all of the running stuff.

------
hudibras
Putting a link to the "Lykov Family" Wikipedia page in the middle of this
article is just plain evil; I'm trying to get some work done here!

~~~
gota
I was captured by the same thread; I was particularly looking forward for any
material on how/if their language diverged from the general population's. Over
this long span of time, even in such a small group, do they end up speaking a
dialect?

Couldn't find material on that, still looking

~~~
wbrasky
The Lykov Family have been well-covered. VICE had a decent piece covering the
sole remaining member: Agafia. Their speech did somewhat devolve, and children
born out in the taiga had developed their own cooing pidgin that they spoke to
each other, IIRC.

------
m463
We also have hidden adaptations to water:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_reflex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_reflex)

There is actually a hypothesis related to this called the Aquatic Ape
Hypothesis, but (IMHO) it seems to go too far.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis)

------
Fricken
This video of a San hunter chasing down a Kudu is pretty good:

[https://youtu.be/826HMLoiE_o](https://youtu.be/826HMLoiE_o)

~~~
grecy
I was lucky enough to spend time with the San people, and it was one of the
most moving experiences of my life.

[http://theroadchoseme.com/the-juhoansi-living-san-
museum](http://theroadchoseme.com/the-juhoansi-living-san-museum)

------
igouy
_Hunters or Scavengers?_

"Rewards of Scavenging … I spent about seven months simulating passive
scavenging by waiting until the carnivores had eaten their fill and moved off,
and then documenting how much meat and marrow was left on carcasses. … An
entire zebra carcass could yield almost 15 kilograms of meat in scraps of
various sizes."

"Meat-Eating Among the Earliest Humans" Briana Pobiner, March-April 2016,
Volume 104, Number 2, Page 110.

[https://www.americanscientist.org/article/meat-eating-
among-...](https://www.americanscientist.org/article/meat-eating-among-the-
earliest-humans)

------
HNLurker2
Oh God I should get back on running

~~~
antoineMoPa
Just Do It™

------
michaelterryio
A few years ago some Kenyans chased down a couple cheetahs:

[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-
africa-24953910](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-24953910)

------
accounn
Running bellow 14 km/h is not running.

~~~
michaelt
The fact you had to use the word 'running' to describe the thing you claim is
'not running' makes me skeptical about your claim.

------
ycosynot
What about CMS (electrostimulation with electrodes), can it raise the energy
level and such like raw exercising? I'm becoming very intrigued about CMS, as
a 'low energy individual'.

~~~
AlexTWithBeard
Last time I researched the topic, the conclusion was the level of simulation
was too low in comparison with a real exercise. It still has its use in
physiotherapy and rehabilitation though.

My answer to low energy is coffee. Do stupid things faster (c)!

------
kylek
Made me think of the Tarahumara[0].

>> The Tarahumara word for themselves, Rarámuri, means "runners on foot" or
"those who run fast" in their native tongue according to some early
ethnographers like Norwegian Carl Lumholtz, though this interpretation has not
been fully agreed upon. With widely dispersed settlements, these people
developed a tradition of long-distance running up to 200 miles (320 km) in one
session, over a period of two days through their homeland of rough canyon
country, for inter-village communication, transportation, and hunting.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rar%C3%A1muri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rar%C3%A1muri)

~~~
freddie_mercury
By "made you think" you mean it explicitly mentions them, along with many
other examples. The link you provide is even in the OP.

~~~
kylek
Whoops, you caught me skimming a wikipedia article :)

