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The evolution of early hominin food production and sharing

Author

Listed:
  • Ingela Alger
  • Slimane Dridi

    (Unknown)

  • Jonathan Stieglitz

    (IAST - Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse)

  • Michael Wilson

    (Unknown)

Abstract
How did humans evolve from individualistic foraging to collective foraging with sex differences in food production and widespread sharing of plant and animal foods? While current models of food sharing focus on meat or cooking, considerations of the economics of foraging for extracted plant foods (e.g., roots, tubers), inferred to be important for earlier hominins (∼ 6–2.5 mya), suggest that hominins shared such foods. Here we present a conceptual and mathematical model of early hominin food production and sharing, prior to the emergence of frequent scavenging, hunting and cooking. We hypothesize that extracted plant foods were vulnerable to theft, and that male mate-guarding protected females from food theft. We identify conditions favoring plant food production and sharing across mating systems (i.e., monogamy, polygyny, promiscuity), and we assess which mating system maximizes female fitness with changes in the energetic profitability of extractive foraging. Females extract foods and share them with males only when: i) extracting rather than collecting plant foods pays off energetically; and ii) males guard females.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingela Alger & Slimane Dridi & Jonathan Stieglitz & Michael Wilson, 2022. "The evolution of early hominin food production and sharing," Working Papers hal-03681083, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03681083
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03681083
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alger, Ingela, 2021. "On the evolution of male competitiveness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 228-254.
    2. Maxime Derex & Jean-François Bonnefon & Robert Boyd & Alex Mesoudi, 2019. "Causal understanding is not necessary for the improvement of culturally evolving technology," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(5), pages 446-452, May.
    3. Ingela Alger & Paul L. Hooper & Donald Cox & Jonathan Stieglitz & Hillard S. Kaplan, 2020. "Paternal provisioning results from ecological change," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(20), pages 10746-10754, May.
    4. Julie A. Teichroeb & Eva C. Wikberg & Iulia Bădescu & Lisa J. Macdonald & Pascale Sicotte, 2012. "Infanticide risk and male quality influence optimal group composition for Colobus vellerosus," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 23(6), pages 1348-1359.
    5. Fabio Dercole & Sergio Rinaldi, 2008. "Introduction to Analysis of Evolutionary Processes: The Adaptive Dynamics Approach and Its Applications," Introductory Chapters, in: Analysis of Evolutionary Processes: The Adaptive Dynamics Approach and Its Applications, Princeton University Press.
    6. Thomas S. Kraft & Vivek Venkataraman & Ian J. Wallace & Alyssa Crittenden & Nicholas B Holowka & Jonathan Stieglitz & Jacob Harris Patton & David Raichlen & Brian Wood & Michael Gurven & Herman Pontze, 2021. "The energetics of uniquely human subsistence strategies," Post-Print hal-03509770, HAL.
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