Mutualistic Hunting

Abstract

Abstract The problems involved with living in complex social groups have emerged as important prime movers for hominid adaptation. In H. sapiens, social complexity is associated with a number of interesting traits. One of the more interesting is the cooperative large-game acquisition and the distribution of the meat resource. Sometime during the last 5 million or so years, hominids went from a chimpanzee-like subsistence pattern to one where meat was a substantial proportion of the diet. In fact, the proportion of meat in the diet is one characteristic that sets humans apart from other primates.