Human endurance hunting succeeds only by tracking, not sheer stamina

Evidence

Supplied with water, any good marathoner probably has the endurance to chase down a zebra, antelope, or steenbok. However, there’s more to persistence hunting than endurance, a lot more. Endurance hunters need to be able to recognize specific target prey and then track that specific individual over long distances. Almost any animal we might want to pursue is much faster than we are in a sprint and will immediately disappear into the distance. To exploit our endurance edge, we need to be able to track a specific individual for several hours, by identifying and reading their spoor and anticipating their actions. The ability to distinguish the target, say a zebra, from other zebras is crucial since many herd animals have a defensive strategy in which they circle back to their herd and try to disappear by blending back into the group. If you can’t selectively target the one you’ve been chasing—the tired one—then you could end up chasing a fresh zebra (a disaster). Thus, persistence hunters must be able to track and identify individuals. … Many four-legged animals are saddled with a design disadvantage. Game animals thermoregulate by panting, like a dog. If they need to release more heat, they pant faster. This works fine unless they are running. When they run, the impact of their forelimbs compresses their chest cavities in a manner that makes breathing during compressions inefficient. This means that, ignoring oxygen and thermoregulation requirements, running quadrupeds should breathe only once per locomotor cycle. But since the need for oxygen goes up linearly with speed, they will be breathing too frequently at some speeds and not frequently enough at other speeds. Consequently, a running quadruped must pick a speed that (1) demands only one breath per cycle but (2) supplies enough oxygen for his muscle-speed demands (lest fatigue set in), and (3) delivers enough panting to prevent a meltdown (heat stroke), which depends on factors unrelated to speed, such as the temperature and breeze. The outcome of these constraints is that quadrupeds have a discrete set of optimal—or preferred—speed settings (like the gears on a stick-shift car) for different styles of locomotion (e.g., walking, trotting, and galloping). If they deviate from these preferred settings, they operate less efficiently. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 258

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Success in hunting depends on matching the animal’s timing judgment — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac: With Other…, 206; Caribou hunting rewards randomization because prey learn to avoid previously successful hunting spots. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 344

Broader Connections

• Success in hunting depends on matching the animal’s timing judgment #expands (0.82) — Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, 206
• Caribou hunting rewards randomization because prey learn to avoid previously successful hunting spots. #qualifies (0.75) — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 344