Endurance runningย is not just a hobby forย modern marathonersย or for posting on social media. A new look into the anthropological history of endurance runningย when hunting for gameย shows that it may be just as efficient as other more traditional hunting methods likeย foraging. The findings are described in aย study published May 13 in the journalย Nature Human Behaviourย and supports an idea called theย endurance pursuit hypothesis.
โPeople who frequently practice running will know that when practiced on a regular basis, running becomes relatively easy,โ study co-authors and evolutionary anthropologistsย Eugรจne Morinย of Trent University in Canada andย Bruce Winterhalderย from the University of California, Davis tellย PopSci. โFrom this, it is easy to envision how it could have conferred a selective advantage in hunting.โ
Initially, some anthropologists believed that running long distances in pursuit of game would have been taxing to the human body and not worth the trouble. A more slow paced pursuit was believed to be the better method to both get food whileย preserving strength.
Endurance pursuit hypothesisย posits that the human ability to run long distances is an adaptation that began roughly two million years ago.
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โWe were able to show that running or a mix of running and walking can be efficient, and it was a global practice by foragers prior to the modern era,โ Morin and Winterhalder say. โIn short, endurance pursuits would have provided hominins with an evolutionary advantage while competing with carnivores for game.โ
