LIGHTHOUSE HYPOTHESIS
1. The first interactions between hominins and vultures were related to food.
2. Early Homo used circling vultures to locate carcasses (food resources) on the landscape.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Early Homo would have observed vultures in the sky and use them as part of their food acquisition strategies.
2. When carcass was less than 5km, running may have helped early Homo outcompete other scavengers.
3. When early Homo had to compete with others carnivores they were able to employ power-scavenging to obtain carcasses.
4. Intensity of interspecies interactions (Homo-vultures-carnivores) changed over time.
5. Observing of the vultures was not a principal hunting strategy.
AUTHORS
Federico Morelli, Anna Maria Kubicka (@akuksu), Piotr Tryjanowski (@GreatGreyTryjan), Emma Nelson (@emmanelson67)
DOI
10.1080/08927936.2015.1052279
