Evolution: Origin(s) of Modern Humans

Homo heterogenus: Variability in early Pleistocene Homo environments

To understand the ecological dominance of Homo sapiens, we need to investigate the origins of the plasticity that has enabled our colonization of the planet. We can approach this by exploring the variability of habitats to which different hominin populations have adapted over time. In this article, we draw upon and synthesize the current research on habitats of genus Homo during the early Pleistocene. We examined 121 published environmental reconstructions from 74 early Pleistocene sites or site phases to assess the balance of arguments in the research community. We found that, while grasslands and savannahs were prominent features of Homo habitats in the early Pleistocene, current research does not place early Pleistocene Homo, in any single environmental type, but in a wide variety of environments, ranging from open grasslands to forests. Our analysis also suggests that the first known dispersal of Homo out of Africa was accompanied by niche expansion.

Reconsidering the goals of evolution education: defining evolution and evolutionary literacy

In this paper, I argue that for both theoretical and practical purposes, it is useful for science education to clearly distinguish between science content knowledge and skills on the one hand, and the competencies related to their application in everyday life. This can be based on a distinction made by Douglas Roberts between two visions of literacy, and it can be effectively reconceptualized as the distinction between two types of literacy relevant to science: Science literacy, which is literacy relevant to the processes and products of science, related to the content of science taught in classrooms (literacy about issues within science); and Scientific literacy, which is literacy relevant to questions that students may encounter as citizens and to the socio-ethical implications of scientific knowledge (literacy about the implications of science for society). Based on this, we can in turn distinguish between two types of literacy related to evolution: Evolution literacy, which is literacy relevant to the evolution content taught in classrooms; and Evolutionary literacy, which is literacy relevant to questions that students may encounter as citizens and to the socio-ethical implications of scientific knowledge. In this article I argue that whereas a lot of attention has been given to evolution literacy as a learning goal, there has been less reflection and discussion about evolutionary literacy-and it is exactly the distinction between these two types of literacy that helps one realize this. Teaching for evolutionary literacy requires specific skills from teachers, which go beyond their ability to teach concepts and explanations. My aim is to initiate a discussion about how to set evolutionary literacy as a learning objective at schools along evolution literacy. A key issue in such a case is how we could prepare teachers who would be capable, and confident, to address issues going beyond the typical science content, and which are often related to worldviews, in the classroom.

Ecology of a widespread large omnivore, Homo sapiens, and its impacts on ecosystem processes

Discussions of defaunation and taxon substitution have concentrated on megafaunal herbivores and carnivores, but mainly overlooked the particular ecological importance of megafaunal omnivores. In particular, the Homo spp. have been almost completely ignored in this context, despite the extinction of all but one hominin species present since the Plio-Pleistocene. Large omnivores have a particular set of ecological functions reflecting their foraging flexibility and the varied disturbances they create, functions that may maintain ecosystem stability and resilience. Here, we put the ecology of Homo sapiens in the context of comparative interspecific ecological roles and impacts, focusing on the large omnivore guild, as well as comparative intraspecific variation, focusing on hunter-gatherers.We provide an overview of the functional traits of H. sapiens, which can be used to spontaneously provide the functions for currently ecologically extinct or endangered ecosystem processes. We consider the negative impacts of variations in H. sapiens phenotypic strategies, its possible status as an invasive species, and the potential to take advantage of its learning capacities to decouple negative and positive impacts.We provide examples of how practices related to foraging, transhumance, and hunting could contribute to rewilding-inspired programs either drawing on hunter-gatherer baselines of H. sapiens, or as proxies for extinct or threatened large omnivores. We propose that a greater focus on intraspecific ecological variation and interspecific comparative ecology of H. sapiens can provide new avenues for conservation and ecological research.