Roberts Patrick, Stewart Brian A
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
Museum of Anthropological Archaeology and Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Nat Hum Behav. 2018 Aug;2(8):542-550. doi: 10.1038/s41562-018-0394-4. Epub 2018 Jul 30.
Definitions of our species as unique within the hominin clade have tended to focus on differences in capacities for symbolism, language, social networking, technological competence and cognitive development. More recently, however, attention has been turned towards humans' unique ecological plasticity. Here, we critically review the growing archaeological and palaeoenvironmental datasets relating to the Middle-Late Pleistocene (300-12 thousand years ago) dispersal of our species within and beyond Africa. We argue, based on comparison with the available information for other members of the genus Homo, that our species developed a new ecological niche, that of the 'generalist specialist'. Not only did it occupy and utilize a diversity of environments, but it also specialized in its adaptation to some of these environmental extremes. Understanding this ecological niche provides a framework for discussing what it means to be human and how our species became the last surviving hominin on the planet.
将我们这个物种定义为人类进化支系中独一无二的存在，往往侧重于象征能力、语言、社交网络、技术能力和认知发展等方面的差异。然而，最近人们的注意力转向了人类独特的生态可塑性。在此，我们批判性地审视了越来越多与中晚更新世（30万至1.2万年前）我们这个物种在非洲内外扩散相关的考古学和古环境数据集。基于与同属人属其他成员的现有信息进行比较，我们认为我们这个物种发展出了一种新的生态位，即“通才专家”生态位。它不仅占据并利用了多样的环境，还专门适应了其中一些极端环境。理解这种生态位为讨论成为人类意味着什么以及我们这个物种如何成为地球上最后幸存的人类进化支系提供了一个框架。
