The human brain grew as a result of the extinction of large animals: new paper
I am convinced that a lot of human traits could be explained if, at a critical point in our evolutional history, our ancestors spend a lot of time wading in shallow water -- not unlike those Japanese macaques who keep warm at winter by dipping in hot springs. [0]<p>Bipedalism, body hair patterns subcutaneous fat, large brain (and, very much related to it, difficult birth), even language -- all these features make a lot of sense if you spend a lot of time in the water, leaving it occasionally to forage.<p>Unfortunately, I am aware of very little research in that direction, and many attempts have been shot down because of the bad reputation of the original &quot;aquatic ape hypothesis&quot; [1].<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nationalgeographic.com&#x2F;animals&#x2F;article&#x2F;japanese-snow-monkey-macaques-bath-stress-spd" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nationalgeographic.com&#x2F;animals&#x2F;article&#x2F;japanese-...</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Aquatic_ape_hypothesis" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Aquatic_ape_hypothesis</a>