For the vast legal age of human history , we have been at the mercy of surviving off of the landed estate , run beast and scrounge for plants . The availability of solid food change with the seasons and when time were lean , it force our ancestors to turn to insects for their nutritionary needs . New inquiry from the University of Washington in St. Louis propose that the need to scrounge for hidden insects may have prompted our big brains and critical thought skills . The squad ’s newspaper was published in theJournal of Human Evolution .
" Challenges consort with receive food have long been recognized as important in shape evolution of the brain and cognition in primates , including humans , " lead generator Amanda Melin said in apress handout .
" Our work suggests that digging for insects when food was scarce may have contributed to hominid cognitive organic evolution and define the stage for advanced dick use . ”
This hypothesis was set forth after studying the conduct of wild capuchin monkeys over a period of five years . As the monkeys ’ solid food accessibility shifted with the seasons , the investigator noted that the their scrounge patterns changed and were more likely to hunt for insects when other resources were low . The rascal are dear models for study , as their brain is quite large , proportional to their body sizing .
" We happen that capuchin monkeys eat embedded insects year - rotund but intensify their alimentation seasonally , during the sentence that their preferred food — ripe yield — is less abundant , " Melin sum up . " These resolution suggest embedded insect are an of import pullout solid food . ”
Fallback solid food has beensuggestedto play a considerable role in the evolutionary winner of primates . receive a broad dieting influenced the morphology of tooth and jaw , as well as the adaptation of a digestive organization that can extract nutrient from so many sources . Melin ’s team discover that primates that evolved in region that had seasonal food availability were more likely to use insects as fallback food sources and the areas of the head associated with the forage were more pronounced than in primates with a more static food supplying .
" Accessing out of sight and well - protect insects live in Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree branches and under barque is a cognitively demand task , ” Melin continued , “ but provides a eminent - quality advantage : adipose tissue and protein , which is needed to fire bighearted brain . ”
Some of the project associated with finding implant insects includes a high level of sleight , use of tools , and critical thinking for puzzle out problem and polish off roadblock standing in the way of a meal . In the face of starvation , soul who are more gifted in these arena will have a high academic degree of fitness , while those who are find wanting are more likely to starve and be selected against .
While the fossil record is n’t extensive in this regard , there is evidence of hominid eating insects throughout history . Additionally , many human universe keep toeat insectsas a more nutritionally - obtuse andenvironmentally - friendlyoption compared to meat .
