Lec. 8 Hunting/ Scavenging

Question 1

What is the evidence that meat consumption by chimpanzees is likely a form of
political currency?

Answer 1

most members of the chimpanzee community do not get to eat it, males strategically let allies eat.

Question 2

What is the biggest difference between chimpanzee prey and prey animals hunted by humans?

Answer 2

Human prey animals include many species much larger than ourselves

Question 3

What is the main predator of chimpanzees?

Answer 3

humans who hunt them for bush meat.

Question 4

How can chimpanzees reduce the threat of leopard predation?

Answer 4

By killing cubs of leopards if they find them.

Question 5

How is reading animal tracks not the same as a dog following the scent of a prey
animal?

Answer 5

The dog’s nose perceives the scent molecules of the animal whereas the human mind infers meaning to the track (interprets past action by the animal or human who made the track in absence of any perceivable molecules from that agent).

Question 6

What could inform a hunter about which of a number of different track belong to
the animal that was hit by his arrow?

Answer 6

An injured animal moves differently, and this can be reflected in the tracks it leaves

Question 7

Did he earliest known cave painting depict mostly prey animals?

Answer 7

No, many animals that were rarely or not hunted are also depicted

Question 8

What would a larger number of prey animals contribute to changed pathogen load?

Answer 8

Each species carries its own collection of microbes, by handling the carcasses of more different species, human ancestors would have samples larger number of pathogens

Question 9

What reliable information indicates the maximum age for fossils and tools found
at Olduvai gorge?

Answer 9

A thick layer of (volcanic) basalt that is 2 million years old, anything above it MUST be younger, unless transported there.

Question 10

What part of butchery would be especially difficult to perform by an ape?

Answer 10

The cutting of the hide to skin the animal and the cutting of flesh using sharp edged stone flakes require strong thumbs

Question 11

What was the first hominid genus that made stone tools?

Answer 11

Australopithecus (because the older stone tools are older than the origin of the genus Homo.

Question 12

How can modern paleontologist share information about their fossils remotely?

Answer 12

They can send each other Scans of their fossils that can be viewed on computers and used to generate 3-D print models.

Question 13

Which three different areas in Africa have evidence for early butchery?

Answer 13

1. East Africa (Olduvai Tanzania, Olrogesailie, Kenya, Afar, Ethiopia),
2. North Africa (Algeria) and
3. South Africa,.

Question 14

What seems to have been done with bones at Qesem Cave as long as 400,000
years ago?

Answer 14

Storage of bone marrow for later use.

Question 15

what would be the advantages of accessing marrow in large bones and brain in
skulls?

Answer 15

Both tissues inside bone are very nutritious and rich in fats, and relatively safe with regards to bacterial contamination

Question 16

What made hominins good at obtaining bone marrow form the long bones of large animals?

Answer 16

Their cooperation in chasing away other predators or scavengers (hyenas and lions) and their use of stone tools to get access to fresh marrow after breaking the bones, and possibly throwing these stone at the other scavengers/predators

Question 17

What can be said about the ancestry of human tape worms?

Answer 17

They come from spotted hyena and lion tape worms.

Question 18

What crucial tool could early humans have made from animal hides?

Answer 18

slings to carry their infants.

Question 19

Which aspect of leopard predation makes their prey much easier to be stolen by hominids??

Answer 19

Leopard cache their kills in trees, away from all the other large predators

Question 20

Why are animal hides usually scraped by humans who harvest them from prey
animals?

Answer 20

to remove the connective tissue and fat, which would make the skins stiff and stinky

Question 21

Which two countries have rapidly growing meat consumption?

Answer 21

China and Brazil.

Question 22

Which is the major concern about bushmeat hunting apart from its devastating
effect on biodiversity?

Answer 22

introduction of novel pathogens , emerging infections (HIV/AIDS, Ebola, monkey pox, Lassa, SARS, MERS etc).

Question 23

Which is one of the biggest differences between the prey hunted by humans and
that hunted by chimpanzees?

Answer 23

Humans hunt prey that includes animal much larger than themselves.

Question 24

Why are projectile weapons so rare in the archeological record?

Answer 24

They were mostly made of wood, which does not preserve well

Question 25

Did Australian aboriginals use bows and arrows to hunt?

Answer 25

No, they mostly used woomeras (spear throwers) and spears or boomerangs.

Question 26

What are the parallels between an enzyme and a basket?

Answer 26

The enzyme consists of a linear polypeptide that folds into a functional (bio)tool,
the basket is made by bending and folding linear plant fibers to make a functional tool.

Question 27

How could throwing weapons have affected the human mind?

Answer 27

Prediction of prey movement and planning of trajectory of the weapon are mental performances as well as physical acts.

Question 28

What is the parallel between a desert kite and a weir?

Answer 28

Both are animals traps.

Question 29

Why are snare traps invisible in the archeological record?

Answer 29

Because snare traps are made of organic materials that are perishable

Question 30

Which continents have people traditionally hunting with blow guns?

Answer 30

South America and Asia.

Question 31

List three example of traditional cultural packages that reflect the environment in which people live.

Answer 31

1. Mbuti: forest hunting and gathering,
2. Khoisan: desert hunting and gathering,
3. Inuit: arctic hunting, almost not gathering.