And protein made homo sapiens what they evolved to be, bigger brains and top of the food chainMaybe. But there is an interesting theory that DHA from seafood, not protein, is what increased our brain size. Check out Old Mike's research paper on Paleo and my response to it. I really recommend Elaine Morgan's book as a good, fun read.
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2415608Old Mike's paper said...
Modern humans have evolved with a staple source of preformed docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the diet. An important turning point in human evolution was the discovery of high-quality, easily digested nutrients from coastal seafood and inland freshwater sources. Multi-generational exploitation of seafood by shore-based dwellers coincided with the rapid expansion of grey matter in the cerebral cortex, which characterizes the modern human brain.
IamCurious said...
This dovetails beautifully with a book I read 40 years ago submitting an alternative trajectory of evolution. The Descent of Woman by Elaine Morgan proposes that humans evolved on beaches. Don't laugh, it makes some very good points. It is called the Aquatic Ape Theory and is still considered outside of the mainstream. But recently they have found archeological evidence near the southern tip of Africa and some respected scientists have finally begun to take it seriously. Decide for yourself, it is a fun read.
I thought this book was far superior to the other popular anthropological book at the time, The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris. As a side note it also tries to explain how and why human males and females look at sex so differently.