April 1, 2014

1 min read

Google Logo Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm

Hunting Was a Driving Force in Human Evolution

By Kate Wong

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

Just how significant a role did hunting play in human evolution? It’s a question researchers have grappled with for decades. In an article in the April Scientific American I explore some of the latest findings that bear on how our ancestors became such successful predators and how their shift toward meat-eating itself fostered change in our lineage. For more on meat-eating, hunting and the evolution of our genus, Homo, check out the links below.
 
The First Butchers
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-first-butchers/
 
First of Our Kind: Could Australopithecus sediba Be Our Long-Lost Ancestor?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/first-of-our-kind/
 
The Food-Sharing Behavior of Protohuman Hominids
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-food-sharing-behavior-of-protoh/
 
Scavenging and Human Evolution
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scavenging-and-human-evolution/
 
Baseball Players Reveal How Humans Evolved to Throw So Well
https://www.nature.com/news/baseball-players-reveal-how-humans-evolved-to-throw-so-well-1.13281
 
The Naked Truth: Why Humans Have No Fur
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-naked-truth-why-humans-have-no-fur/
 
The Hard Stuff of Culture: Archaeology at Kanjera South, Kenya
http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/june-2012/article/the-hard-stuff-of-culture-oldowan-archaeology-at-kanjera-south-kenya
 
Rough and Tumble: Aggression, Hunting and Human Evolution
http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520274006
 
Case for (Very) Early Cooking Heats Up
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/case-for-very-early-cooking-heats-up/
 
The Origin of Human Creativity Was Surprisingly Complex
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-origin-human-creativity-suprisingly-complex/
 
Rise of Humans 2 Million Years Ago Doomed Large Carnivores
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/04/25/rise-of-humans-two-million-years-ago-doomed-large-carnivores/
 
Stranger in a New Land
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stranger-in-a-new-land-2006-06/
 
Human Ancestors Made Deadly Stone-Tipped Spears 500,000 Years Ago
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/11/15/human-ancestors-made-deadly-stone-tipped-spears-500000-years-ago/
 
Oldest Arrowheads Hint at How Modern Humans Overtook Neandertals
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/11/07/oldest-arrowheads-hint-at-how-modern-humans-overtook-neandertals/  

Kate Wong is an award-winning science writer and senior editor for features at Scientific American, where she has focused on evolution, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, paleontology and animal behavior. She is fascinated by human origins, which she has covered for nearly 30 years. Recently she has become obsessed with birds. Her reporting has taken her to caves in France and Croatia that Neandertals once called home to the shores of Kenya’s Lake Turkana in search of the oldest stone tools in the world, as well as to Madagascar on an expedition to unearth ancient mammals and dinosaurs, the icy waters of Antarctica, where humpback whales feast on krill, and a “Big Day” race around the state of Connecticut to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. Wong is co-author, with Donald Johanson, of Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins. She holds a bachelor of science degree in biological anthropology and zoology from the University of Michigan. Follow her on Bluesky @katewong.bsky.social

More by Kate Wong
Scientific American Magazine Vol 310 Issue 4This article was published with the title “Hunting Was a Driving Force in Human Evolution” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 310 No. 4 ()
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican042014-3JB161nXDWwcd5h5DPIwn4
View This Issue

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American

Subscribe