We all know that food is central to survival, but have you ever considered how the diversity and abundance of food in our environment may have played an important role in our evolution? A recent study shows that food diversity in steep mountain regions had a significant impact on early human species. The research was conducted by a team from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan ​​National University in South Korea.

The charm of mountain diversity

The research team analyzed a large dataset of hominid fossils, artifacts, high-resolution landscape data, and simulations of Earth’s climate 3 million years ago. The aim was to answer an intriguing question: Why were our evolutionary ancestors more inclined towards mountainous areas than flatlands?

Archaeological evidence shows that the first human settlements, primarily hominids, were often located in or near mountainous regions.

The first people to climb the mountains

Mountains are rich in biodiversity due to climate change caused by elevation fluctuations. Flora and fauna thrive in a variety of environmental conditions, and mountainous regions contain many ecosystems and vegetation types, also known as biomes.

Such ecological prosperity drew our early ancestors to these geographies, providing them with abundant food sources and the means to withstand climate change. This concept forms the basis of the diversity selection hypothesis.

Elke Zeller is a PhD student at the IBS Center for Climate Physics and lead author of the study.

“When we analyzed the environmental factors that influence where people live, we were surprised to see that the steepness of the terrain dominated rather than local climate factors such as temperature and precipitation,” Zeller said. he said.

The balanced equation of mountain diversity

However, living in these steep areas was not that easy. The rugged terrain posed significant challenges, from difficulty navigating the ground to high energy consumption. The researchers evaluated how human adaptation gradually shifted the balance of costs and benefits of living in such harsh conditions over time.

Adaptation to harsh conditions

Human resilience is evident in the adaptive journey of early Homo habilis, Homo ergaster, and Homo erectus, who gradually acclimated to steeper environments around 1 million years ago.

After a brief disappearance, the topographic signal was revived around 700,000 years ago with the emergence of culturally advanced species such as Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis. These groups exhibited a higher tolerance to colder, wetter climates and learned to control fire.

“It remains an open question whether all this is a coincidence or whether increasing glacial climate change contributed to genetic shifts in early humans,” said Axel Timmermann, one of the authors of the study.

The puzzle of human evolution

The debate about human evolution and how we adapt to environmental challenges continues to fuel scientific debate around the world. But the South Korean team’s results shed light on one piece of the human evolution puzzle. The analysis suggests that it was actually advantageous for early human groups to live in mountainous regions, despite the increased energy consumption required to navigate these environments.

“Our results clearly show that hominins adapted to steep terrain over time, and that this trend likely resulted from regional increases in biodiversity,” Zeller said.

Data averaging hundreds of thousands of years, spanning different species and continents, confirm that our ancestors were indeed “climbers.”

Mountain life and social relations

Highlands not only represent diverse food sources but also likely influenced the social structures and innovations of early hominins. The rugged terrain and diverse ecosystems required early humans to develop cooperative strategies for survival; because foraging and hunting in these harsh environments often required group efforts.

This need for cooperation may have facilitated the development of early social bonds and resource sharing, leading to more complex social behavior over time.

Innovation of human vehicle in the mountains

In addition to social adaptation, the harsh environment of the mountainous regions likely encouraged the invention and development of tools. Early hominins in these regions may have relied on primitive tools to navigate the landscape, hunt a variety of prey, and process a variety of plant materials.

These innovations allowed them to exploit a wider variety of food sources and adapt to ever-changing conditions at higher altitudes. These steep and diverse landscapes, pushing hominins toward social and technological adaptation, may have been the driving force behind the earliest forms of human innovation. The study was published in the journal Science Developments.