University of Glasgow, UK.
J Hum Evol. 2011 Aug;61(2):169-75. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.02.012. Epub 2011 Apr 12.
Thermoregulation is often cited as a potentially important influence on the evolution of hominins, thanks to a highly influential series of papers in the Journal of Human Evolution in the 1980s and 1990s by Peter Wheeler. These papers developed quantitative modeling of heat balance between different potential hominins and their environment. Here, we return to these models, update them in line with new developments and measurements in animal thermal biology, and modify them to represent a running hominin rather than the stationary form considered previously. In particular, we use our modified Wheeler model to investigate thermoregulatory aspects of the evolution of endurance running ability. Our model suggests that for endurance running to be possible, a hominin would need locomotive efficiency, sweating rates, and areas of hairless skin similar to modern humans. We argue that these restrictions suggest that endurance running may have been possible (from a thermoregulatory viewpoint) for Homo erectus, but is unlikely for any earlier hominins.
体温调节常被认为是对人类进化有重要影响的一个因素，这要归功于彼得·惠勒（Peter Wheeler）在 20 世纪 80 年代和 90 年代在《人类进化杂志》（Journal of Human Evolution）上发表的一系列极具影响力的论文。这些论文对不同潜在人类及其环境之间的热量平衡进行了定量建模。在这里，我们重新研究这些模型，根据动物热生物学的新发展和测量结果对其进行更新，并修改它们以代表一个正在奔跑的人类，而不是之前考虑的静止形式。特别是，我们使用改进后的惠勒模型来研究耐力跑步能力进化的体温调节方面。我们的模型表明，为了能够进行耐力跑步，人类需要类似于现代人的运动效率、出汗率和无毛皮肤面积。我们认为，这些限制表明，耐力跑步可能在（从体温调节的角度来看）直立人是可行的，但对于任何更早的人类来说都不太可能。
