Persistence Hunting Hypothesis

CORE DEFINITION

The persistence hunting hypothesis holds that human endurance adaptations, particularly dense sweat glands and a bipedal gait that allows sustained running in heat, evolved partly to chase prey until it overheated and collapsed. Unlike most mammals, humans can cool themselves by sweating while running, so a hunter can maintain pursuit through the hottest part of the day. Ethnographic accounts document the practice among some groups in southern Africa and Mexico. Key qualification: the hypothesis explains one selection pressure among several, and debate continues about how central persistence hunting was to human diets.