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“Landscape” approach to human evolution

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Further to Roll dice twice, see what turns up (One game changer, however, is this: As more is discovered about the past of life on Earth, evolution becomes less a grand theory (cf Darwinism) and more a history (cf World War II)):

Evolution and dispersal of the genus Homo: A landscape approach

Here’s the abstract:

The notion of the physical landscape as an arena of ecological interaction and human evolution is a powerful one, but its implementation at larger geographical and temporal scales is hampered by the challenges of reconstructing physical landscape settings in the geologically active regions where the earliest evidence is concentrated. We argue that the inherently dynamic nature of these unstable landscapes has made them important agents of biological change, creating complex topographies capable of selecting for, stimulating, obstructing or accelerating the latent and emerging properties of the human evolutionary trajectory. We use this approach, drawing on the concepts and methods of active tectonics, to develop a new perspective on the origins and dispersal of the Homo genus. We show how complex topography provides an easy evolutionary pathway to full terrestrialisation in the African context, and would have further equipped members of the genus Homo with a suite of adaptive characteristics that facilitated wide-ranging dispersal across ecological and climatic boundaries into Europe and Asia by following pathways of complex topography. We compare this hypothesis with alternative explanations for hominin dispersal, and evaluate it by mapping the distribution of topographic features at varying scales, and comparing the distribution of early Homo sites with the resulting maps and with other environmental variables. (paywall) – Isabelle C. Winder, Maud H. Deves, Geoffrey C.P. King, Geoffrey N. Bailey, Robyn H. Inglis, Matthew Meredith-Williams Department of Archaeology, University of York, The King’s Manor, York YO1 7EP, UK Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, Univ. Paris Diderot, CNRS, Paris, France

Refreshingly, an interesting interpretation and—one hopes—not just another grand theory.

If so, that’s not good news for the Darwin in the schools lobby or Airhead TV, but good for the rest of us.

The question remains: Humans adapt, due to intelligence; the bonobo is endangered.

A commenter noted recently that the bonobo is endangered because humans poach them and destroy their habitat.

But humans have done that to one another for as long as we have recorded history, and nonetheless there was actually a Population Bomb movement started in the 1970s.

Obviously, something is different.

See also: Climate change shaped “key moments” in human evolution?

and

Talk to the fossils: Let’s see what they say back

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Hat tip: Pos-Darwinista

Comments
podcast - The Long-Necked Giraffe, Pt. 1 Casey Luskin talks with geneticist Dr. Wolf-Ekkehard Lönnig about his book, The Evolution of the Long-Necked Giraffe. For years, Darwinists have presented the giraffe as a textbook example of adaptive morphological change in response to environmental conditions. Tune in as Dr. Lönnig discusses the problems with the idea that millions of years of mutations could create the many differences between a short-necked and a long-necked giraffe. http://www.discovery.org/multimedia/audio/2015/09/pt-1-another-evolutionary-icon-the-long-necked-giraffe/ Pt. 2 Dr. Lönnig gives an account of the rational design of the giraffe’s recurrent laryngeal nerve, a feature that Richard Dawkins and other evolutionists claim can only be explained by Darwinian evolution. http://www.discovery.org/multimedia/audio/2015/09/pt-2-another-evolutionary-icon-the-long-necked-giraffe/ pt. 3 Dr. Lönnig examines the potential of sexual selection as an evolutionary explanation of the long-necked giraffe and considers intelligent design as an alternate explanation. http://www.discovery.org/multimedia/audio/2015/09/pt-3-another-evolutionary-icon-the-long-necked-giraffe/bornagain77
September 23, 2015
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The question remains: Humans adapt, due to intelligence; the bonobo is endangered. A commenter noted recently that the bonobo is endangered because humans poach them and destroy their habitat. But humans have done that to one another for as long as we have recorded history, and nonetheless there was actually a Population Bomb movement started in the 1970s. Obviously, something is different.
Yes, humans and bonobos are obviously different. We are "in charge" at least for the time being, and could eradicate just about any large mammal if we decided to.daveS
September 22, 2015
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So landscapes created creatures who could landscape? 10 Of The Most Amazing Landscaping Designs Ever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxSX1RIXsf4 What am I missing? Isn't that a bit like cookies taking control of the recipe that made the cookies?bornagain77
September 22, 2015
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