SURVIVAL OF THE FATTEST
The Key to Human Brain Evolution
by Stephen Cunnane (Canada Research Chair in Brain Metabolism,
Research Center on Aging, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada)
Pub. Date: Scheduled Summer 2005
Pages: 500pp (approx.)
ISBN: 981-256-191-9 (Hardcover) / 981-256-318-0(pbk) (Softcover)
URL: http://www.worldscibooks.com/lifesci/5769.html
How did humans evolve larger and more sophisticated brains?
In general, evolution depends on a special combination of
circumstances: part genetics, part time, and part environment. In the case
of human brain evolution, the main environmental influence was adaptation to
a 'shore-based' diet, which provided the world's richest source of
nutrition, as well as a sedentary lifestyle that promoted fat deposition.
Such a diet included shellfish, fish, marsh plants, frogs, bird's eggs, etc.
Humans and, and more importantly, hominid babies started to get fat, a
crucial distinction that led to the development of larger brains and to the
evolution of modern humans. A larger brain is expensive to maintain and this
increasing demand for energy results in, succinctly, survival of the
fattest.
Contents
a.. Human Evolution: An Overview
b.. Uniqueness of the Human Brain
c.. Fetal Fat - The Other Unique Human Attribute
d.. The Basics - Operating a Big Brain
e.. Insurance
f.. How Did We Get Fat Babies?
g.. Darwin - Evolution as Opportunity
h.. Survival Isn't Good Enough
i.. The Shore-Based Scenario
j.. Where's the Evidence?