Survival of the Fattest: The Key to Human Brain Evolution (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9789812561916)

How did humans evolve larger and more sophisticated brains?In general, evolution depends on a special combination of circumstances: part genetics, part time, and part environment. In the case of human brain evolution, the main environmental influence was adaptation to a 'shore-based' diet, which provided the world's richest source of nutrition, as well as a sedentary lifestyle that promoted fat deposition. Such a diet included shellfish, fish, marsh plants, frogs, bird's eggs, etc. Humans and, and more importantly, hominid babies started to get fat, a crucial distinction that led to the development of larger brains and to the evolution of modern humans. A larger brain is expensive to maintain and this increasing demand for energy results in, succinctly, survival of the fattest.

Author: Stephan Cosgrave Cunnane
ISBN-10: 9812561919
ISBN-13: 9789812561916
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company
Language: English
Published: 05/25/2005
Pages: 368
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.43lbs
Size: 9.08h x 6.32w x 0.98d

Review Citation(s):
Science Books & Films 01/01/2006 pg. 22