On Fri, 13 Oct 2000, Ray Audette wrote:

> I quote Cordain from the paleodiet list:
>
> Human's living at northern latitudes preferentially hunted megafauna
> because these beasts contained both absolutely and relatively more fat.
> Hence, at northern latitudes wherein carbohydrate (plant food) sources are
> seasonally restricted, the fat obtained from larger mammals was sufficient
> to dilute the lean protein from muscle tissues.  The fossil record shows
> that the worldwide extinction of animals that took place at the end of the
> Pleistocene occurred primarily in animals over 100 kg (220 lbs) (5).

First thing to note here is that this took place at the *end* of
the Pleistocene, the "late" or "upper" paleolithic period.  It is
not representative of the paleolithic period as a whole.  It is
also worth pointing out that opinion is still sharply divided as
to whether hunting was the cause, or even an important factor, in
the extintion of the megafauna.  One of the main problems is that
estimates of human population density do not support the
hypothesis.  But the jury is still out on that.

For our purposes, however, the main point is that human beings
achieved their current form long before this late paleolithic
hunting spree.

Todd Moody
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