I had not known of ardipithecus before this documentary, awesome to learn about them! I loved seeing them brought to life like that!
Lol ... Antivegan. Way to politicize. Some people just look for things to be offended by.
It's been a little while since I saw this documentary.
I would say that eating meat in and of itself would not trigger an evolutionary change towards bigger brains. People either don't know or forget that acquired traits are not passed on genetically. Even if eating meat as a child triggered larger brain growth (it doesn't), this would not make that child's offspring more likely to have larger brains. That is akin to saying if you lose a finger, your kids will all be born without that finger.
I would also say that AQUIRING that meat could trigger evolutionary change. Perhaps there was a time (like an ice age) where plant based foods were scarce, and these little omnivores were required to hunt, something their brains were not really wired for. Those who were able to figure it out survived while others did not. As time went by, those who were more efficient hunters would have also been more likely to procreate than others because the opposite sex would have found that attractive. These more intelligent individuals would have also been more likely to live long enough to either plant their seed or gestate to term. Put simply, the more intelligent a potential mate appeared, the sexier they were!
Lol ... Antivegan. Way to politicize. Some people just look for things to be offended by.
It's been a little while since I saw this documentary.
I would say that eating meat in and of itself would not trigger an evolutionary change towards bigger brains. People either don't know or forget that acquired traits are not passed on genetically. Even if eating meat as a child triggered larger brain growth (it doesn't), this would not make that child's offspring more likely to have larger brains. That is akin to saying if you lose a finger, your kids will all be born without that finger.
I would also say that AQUIRING that meat could trigger evolutionary change. Perhaps there was a time (like an ice age) where plant based foods were scarce, and these little omnivores were required to hunt, something their brains were not really wired for. Those who were able to figure it out survived while others did not. As time went by, those who were more efficient hunters would have also been more likely to procreate than others because the opposite sex would have found that attractive. These more intelligent individuals would have also been more likely to live long enough to either plant their seed or gestate to term. Put simply, the more intelligent a potential mate appeared, the sexier they were!