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Bears do it. Bats do it. Even European hedgehogs do it. And now it turns out that early human beings may also have been at it. They hibernated, according to fossil experts.
[...] [S]cientists argue that lesions and other signs of damage in fossilised bones of early humans are the same as those left in the bones of other animals that hibernate. These suggest that our predecessors coped with the ferocious winters at that time by slowing down their metabolisms and sleeping for months.
[...] In a paper published in the journal L'Anthropologie, Juan-Luis Arsuaga – who led the team that first excavated at the site – and Antonis Bartsiokas, of Democritus University of Thrace in Greece, [suggest that] these early humans found themselves "in metabolic states that helped them to survive for long periods of time in frigid conditions with limited supplies of food and enough stores of body fat".
[...] The researchers admit the notion "may sound like science fiction" but point out that many mammals including primates such as bushbabies and lemurs do this. "This suggests that the genetic basis and physiology for such a hypometabolism could be preserved in many mammalian species including humans," state Arsuaga and Bartsiokas.
The pattern of lesions found in the human bones at the Sima cave are consistent with lesions found in bones of hibernating mammals, including cave bears. "A strategy of hibernation would have been the only solution for them to survive having to spend months in a cave due to the frigid conditions," the authors state.
Journal Reference:
Antonis Bartsiokas, Juan-Luis Arsuaga, Hibernation in hominins from Atapuerca, Spain half a million years ago, L'Anthropologie (DOI: 10.1016/j.anthro.2020.102797)
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 03 2021, @05:18AM (8 children)
Yes, we pay in old age for the excessively enthusiastic wanking back in the day! But, we make up for it by watching Fox News, with extra blonde bimbos, and then voting Republican! That's the ticket! OK, Boomer Hemocyanist!!
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Sunday January 03 2021, @05:31AM (7 children)
Sorry -- Gen X, and I prefer brunettes.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 03 2021, @06:15AM (6 children)
Sorry to mis-generation you, but you did not specify pro-noughies. Burning out early, eh? So sad to see someone lose it so badly at such an early age!
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by hemocyanin on Sunday January 03 2021, @07:19AM (5 children)
Well, at least when I injured my elbow I was doing something deeply rewarding. Some things require a blood sacrifice and that's just the way it is.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 03 2021, @07:23AM (2 children)
You injured your elbow when you were whacking off.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by hemocyanin on Sunday January 03 2021, @09:27AM (1 child)
No -- I hurt my right elbow, not my left. My left hand is just fine.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday January 04 2021, @04:30AM
🤡
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 03 2021, @07:53AM (1 child)
Nice story [soylentnews.org] you just submitted to the queue. I suppose that was also deeply rewarding.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Sunday January 03 2021, @09:25AM
I read the first couple lines and scrolled to the end. I hope it's just a copypasta search and replace thing. Otherwise, I'd be humbled by the effort, though not quite enough to read it through.