Thermoregulation and endurance running in extinct hominins: Wheeler's models revisited

Graeme D. Ruxton, David M. Wilkinson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Thermoregulation is often cited as a potentially important influence on the evolution of hominins, thanks to a highly influential series of papers in the Journal of Human Evolution in the 1980s and 1990s by Peter Wheeler. These papers developed quantitative modeling of heat balance between different potential hominins and their environment. Here, we return to these models, update them in line with new developments and measurements in animal thermal biology, and modify them to represent a running hominin rather than the stationary form considered previously. In particular, we use our modified Wheeler model to investigate thermoregulatory aspects of the evolution of endurance running ability. Our model suggests that for endurance running to be possible, a hominin would need locomotive efficiency, sweating rates, and areas of hairless skin similar to modern humans. We argue that these restrictions suggest that endurance running may have been possible (from a thermoregulatory viewpoint) for Homo erectus, but is unlikely for any earlier hominins. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)169-175
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Human Evolution
Volume61
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2011

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