On Fri, 23 Oct 1998, Ray Audette wrote:

> Hominids have been found in a wider geographic range than any other
> Primate for several million years.

Perhaps, but during most of that time that range was still
confined to Africa.  Hominids were not found in cooler places,
such as China and Europe, until about a half million years ago,
still well before the last glaciation.  Even then, the weight of
evidence suggests that they subsisted on small animals and
vegetation (i.e., the mounds of gathered hackberry seeds found
with the remains of Peking Man).

> Modern Man is a vestage of the
> pleistocene mega-fauna that flourished during the waxing and waning of
> the ice sheets during this era.

The evidence suggests that some groups of humans survived the
colder period, many did not, and some didn't have to because they
stayed or retreated to where it was warmer.

> To survive the long winters, grass
> eaters on the temperate savannahs would have to have large fat stores
> comparable to artic mammals or domestic cattle in which this trait has
> been selectivly bred for.

Exactly how cold was it on the temperate savannahs?  You're not
suggesting, I hope, that conditions were arctic.  Animals such as
deer and elk can and do survive rather cold winters without
developing large fat stores comparable to arctic mammals.  Deer
still eat grass in the winter, as well as chewing the bark off of
saplings, etc.  Humans have only inhabited the arctic for about
20,000 years -- not much longer than the existence of
agriculture.

> As to the N6/N3
> fat ratios of these extinct animals, I won't hazard a guess but any
> shortfall may be corrected with fatty fish or other sources.

You recognize that fatty fish were not an option for most of the
paleolithic period.  Many are allergic to fish and seafoods,
probably for that reason.  Others are concerned about the toxins
that accumulate in fish oils.  What other sources did you have in
mind?

> Eating a largly vegetarian diet is very difficult to do year-round even
> for most arboreal primates.

This seems correct to me.

Todd Moody
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