| Kim P. Deckers |
period, early Homo species, such as Homo habilis
and Homo ergaster
in brain and body size compared to the earlier
Australopithecines (Antón et al. 2014, 3). Larger
brain sizes require more energy to maintain and thus
more nutrient-dense food packages (Antón et al.
2014, 8; Pontzer, 2012, 347), which were probably
attained by an increase in meat-eating (Kaplan et
al. 2000, 156). The endurance running hypothesis
proposes that long distance running and persistence
hunting strategies were adopted by hominins to
allow them to compete for meat with other African
carnivores. Persistence hunting requires knowledge
of animal behaviour, the ability to track, and the
necessity of sharing with peers (Pickering and
Bunn, 2007, 436) in order to hunt successfully. If
the endurance-hunting hypothesis can be proven to
be true, this will further our understanding of when
increased cognitive and social skills evolved in the
hominin lineage.
In 2004, the seminal paper by Bramble and
Lieberman summarising the anatomical traits
necessary for endurance running concluded that
the capability to run over long distances and the
associated hunting strategies did not evolve until
the appearance of Homo erectus at 1.8 million years
ago. The authors hypothesised that the ability to
role in the dispersal of these creatures into Eurasia
(Bramble and Lieberman 2004, 350). However, the
validity of the endurance running hypothesis has
been questioned by scholars that were unconvinced
that the skeletal markers described by Lieberman
and Bramble were indicative of increased running
(Steudel-Numbers 2006, 451; Steudel-Numbers and
remains for many early Homo fossils also made it
were present. It has been over 10 years since the
Bramble and Lieberman paper was published. Since
Australopithecus afarensis
(Haile-Selassie et al. 2010, 12121; Ward et al. 2012,
2), Australopithecus sediba (Zipfel et al. 2011,
1417), Homo georgicus/erectus (Lordkipanidze et
al. 2007, 305)
(Jungers et al.
2009, 539) and Homo naledi (Berger et al. 2015, 5)
further evidence in support or against the endurance
running hypothesis. This paper aims to re-assess the
validity of the endurance running hypothesis in light
of these new discoveries.
p. 8 | VOL III | INTER-SECTION | 2017
Feature First seen
Narrow pelvis* Homo
Enlarged illiac pillar Homo
erectus
Stabilised sacroiliac joint* Homo
erectus
Expanded surface area
for mm. erector spinae origin* Homo
erectus
Expanded surface area
for m. gluteus maximus origin* Homo
erectus
Long legs Homo
erectus
Expanded hindlimb joint
surface area/robusticity Homo
erectus
Shorter femo ral neck Homo
sapiens
Plantar/Longitudinal arch* Homo
Close-packed calcaneocuboid
joint/cuboid flange Homo habilis
Enla rged tuber calcaneus* Homo
Permanently adducted hallux Homo habilis
Short toes Homo habilis
* argued to be beneficial for running efficiency alone
Table 1. Lower limb anatomical features related to
endurance running (After Bramble and Lieberman 2004,
348).
Methodology
on the lower limb (tab. 1). This study focuses on
several features in the lower limb. The reason for
this limitation was threefold: 1) the lower limb
is the only part of the body that makes contact
with the substrate during locomotion. This makes
the lower limb the most likely location where
in the morphology of skeletal elements; 2) many
of the species under study have associated lower
limb skeletal elements; 3) detailed descriptions
of lower limb bone morphology and measurable
data have been reported in the literature for these
skeletal elements. While the pelvis is also involved
in locomotion, this bone was excluded from this
analysis due to the fact that its morphology is also
growth and development within early Homo species
(Rosenberg and Trevathan 2005, 164). A subset of
the lower limb features described by Bramble and
Lieberman (2004, 348) was analysed in this study
(tab. 2), as these features were most commonly
reported in the literature.