On Tuesday, November 4, 2003, at 05:55  AM, Jane Warner wrote:
>
> I do wonder what the implications of this are for our Paleo
> forebearers.  For the times that they were the prey, their telomeres
> must
> have been shorter, and got longer as their predators died out.


We haven't been a prey species for a long long time, at least since the
Homo Erectus days, maybe even before. The occasional lion or tiger will
eat humans, but it usually seems to be a chance encounter. The "man
eating lion" that makes a habit of hunting humans is a freak. PLenty of
time for telomeres to lengthen.