by Rob Dunn
5. Though it is interesting to note that humans (and perhaps some other mammals) have the ability to learn to like some bitter and sour tastes, as is the case with coffee. Just how such preferences are learned is not yet clear.
6. This is not to say that thirst or hunger in our modern environments are entirely rational either. To the extent that our hunger has an equilibrium, it tends to be about 3,000 calories in men and 2,000 in women. With that many calories, we tend to be, on average, full. But the fact that our bodies are full after 2,000 or 3,000 calories evolved in a context when we searched for and chased down our food. We do not move as much anymore, but our hunger system remains unchanged, irrational but the same. Interestingly, exercise is a way of reenacting our former activity levels, both to use our muscles in ways similar to those in which they evolved and to burn the number of calories for which our bodies ask. Some academics have gone so far as to argue it is to remedy the discrepancy between who we were and who we are that we began to exercise in the first place.
7. DeLoache, J. S., and LoBlue, V. 2009. The Narrow Fellow in the Grass: Human Infants Associate Snakes. Developmental Science 12: 201–207 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467–7687.2008.00753.
8. Morris, J. S.; Öhman, A.; and Dolan, R. J. 1999. A Subcortical Pathway to the Right Amygdala Mediating “Unseen” Fear. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96: 1680–1685.
13: How Lice and Ticks (and Their Pathogens) Made Us Naked and Gave Us Skin Cancer
1. Weiss, R. A. 2009. Apes, Lice and Prehistory. Journal of Biology 8:20.
2. Kushlan, J. A. 1980. The Evolution of Hairlessness in Man. American Naturalist 116: 727–729.
3. Malaria means bad (mala) air (aria), though given the dependence of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes on pools of stagnant water, malaqua might have been more apt. P. falciparum is, in fact, just one of several malarias.
4. This story is even more complicated and wonderful than I have space to discuss. For additional information please read . . . DOI: 10.1126/science.1063292. Luzzatto, L., and Notaro, R. 2001. Protecting Against Bad Air. Science 293: 442–443.
14: How the Pathogens That Made Us Naked Also Made Us Xenophobic, Collectivist, and Disgusted
1. Thornhill, R., and Alcock, J. 1983. The Evolution of Insect Mating Systems. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
2. Thornhill, R., and Palmer, C. T. 2000. A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
3. The term “behavioral immune system” would not be coined until later, by Mark Schaller, but the idea was already present, albeit vaguely.
4. For a nice, if somewhat dated, review of the responses of animals to parasites and diseases see Hart, B. L. 1992. Behavioral Adaptations to Parasites: An Ethological Approach. Journal of Parasitology 78: 256–265.
5. Fincher, C. L.; Thornhill, R.; Murray, D. R.; and Schaller, M. 2008. Pathogen Prevalence Predicts Human Cross-cultural Variability in Individualism/Collectivism. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275: 1279–1285.
6. Schaller, M., and Murray, D. 2008. Pathogens, Personality and Culture: Disease Prevalence Predicts Worldwide Variability in Sociosexuality, Extraversion, and Openness to Experience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 95: 212–221.
7. Schaller, M.; Miller, G. E.; Gervais, W. M.; Yager, S.; and Chen, E. 2010. Mere Visual Perception of Other People’s Disease Symptoms Facilitates a More Aggressive Immune Response. Psychological Science 21: 649–652.
8. Duncan, L. A., and Schaller, M. 2009. Prejudicial Attitudes toward Older Adults May Be Exaggerated When People Feel Vulnerable to Infectious Disease: Evidence and Implications. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 9: 97–115.
15: The Reluctant Revolutionary of Hope
1. Unlike the worms being used to treat diseases associated with our immune systems, Trichinella did not evolve to live in humans. It is a pig worm, and we only encounter it when we eat pigs. Once inside our body, it is not sure what to do. Lost, it gets up to trouble, which is what makes us sick, though we tend to fare better than it does. Inside a human, it always dies, whereas with Trichinella inside us we only sometimes do.
2. http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_133/greenroofsaregrowig.html.
3. Ryerson University. 2009. Report on the Environmental Benefits and Costs of Green Roof Technology for the City of Toronto. http://www.toronto.ca/greenroofs/findings.htm.
4. Skyfarming. New York Magazine http://nymag.com/newsfeatures/30020/#ixzz0aUH4bkTj.
5. Larson, D. W.; Matthes, U.; Gerrath, J. A.; Larson, N. W. K.; Gerrath, J. M.; Nekola, J. C.; Walker, G. L.; Porembski, S.; and Charlton, A. 2000. Evidence for the Wide-spread Occurrence of Ancient Forests on Cliffs. Journal of Biogeography 27: 319–331.
6. Larson, D. W.; Matthes, U.; and Kelley, P. E. 2000. Cliff Ecology. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
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Index
acacia plants, 87
adrenaline, 155–56
adrenal system, 145, 152, 153, 161, 162
Afar desert, Ethiopia, fossils in, 3–5
Africa, cultural diversity in, 137
age, signs of, 228
Aglietti, Garin, 57
agriculture, 111–12
choices in, 187–88, 196
and civilization, 114–16
and crop domestication, 131
and disease, 117
effects of, 114, 115–16, 135, 136, 214
and evolution, 138
and food supplies, 116, 117–18, 124, 130
and genes, 119, 127, 133
hydroponics, 243, 246–47
and life expectancy, 115
origins of, 116–18, 126
and processing foods, 185–86
and survival, 116, 118, 121, 124
vertical gardens, 245–46, 248, 250–51, 257
Alcock, John, 217–18
Amazon:
early settlements of, 112–15, 117
peanuts and yucca in, 118
amygdala, 145, 146, 153, 161, 193
amylase, 36, 127, 132–33
Amytis of Media, 240
anemia, 215
anger, 161, 162
animals:
in cold places, 134
domestication of, 111–12, 120–21, 124, 153–54
fight-or-flight response in, 145–46, 152–53, 154, 162
germ-free, 68–76, 78–81
hair/fur of, 203–14
marine, 205
tongues of, 30
unborn, microbe-free, 70
in zoos, 162–63
antelopes, dental combs of, 220
antibiotics, 62–63, 64, 65, 81, 82, 84
antibiotic wipes, 82–83
antibodies:
in the appendix, 97, 99, 104
and bacteria, 99
function of, 99–100
IgA, 100–103, 108
antimicrobial agents, 62
ants:
and acacia plants, 87
bacteria of, 89
fire (Solenopsis invicta), 82
leaf-cutter, 87–90, 102, 106–7, 245, 246
minim, 88
queen, 88
in tree canopies, 208
undertaker, 221
anxiety, 161, 162
apes, swimming, 205
appendix, 64, 258
antibodies in, 97, 99, 104
bacteria in, 97–104
biofilm in, 103, 104
description of, 93
evolution of, 94, 107–8
function of, 93–96, 98, 104–5
and immune system, 96, 97, 104
lymphatic tissue in, 96
of monkeys, 95
as peaceful alley, 98
removal on ship, 91–94, 96–97, 105
Aramis, Ethiopia:
ancient li
fe in, 13–14
fossil discovery in, 4–5
Ardi (Ardipithecus ramidus), 157, 252
analysis of findings about, 10
circumstances of discovery, 9
discovery of, 3–10
importance of discovery, 6
lifestyle assumed about, 13–14, 83, 111
published papers on discovery of, 5, 8–9, 10
asthma, Lawrence case, 48–49, 53
Audubon, John James, 26
aurochs (Bos primigenius), 119–20, 121–25
Australia, human arrival in, 12
avocados, 29
Babel, 85
babies, growth charts for, 131
baboons:
houses of, 150–51
predators of, 149
Babylon, hanging gardens of, 240
bacteria:
and antibodies, 99
in appendix, 97–104
Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, 80
cold-tolerant, 20–21, 22
drug-resistant, 248
in hair, 210
in our guts, 63, 64, 67, 73, 105, 249–50
on plant roots, 102
removal of, 62, 68
system of goods and bads, 185
Bakhul, attacked by tiger, 143–45, 146, 152, 154, 155–56
banteng (Bos javanicus), 119
Bass, Rick, 39
bat bugs, 211
bears, giant short-faced (Arctodus simus), 27
beauty, 197
bedbugs, 211, 218, 248
beetles, fungus-farming, 245
Belt, Thomas, The Naturalist in Nicaragua, 206–7
Benin, snakebites in, 178
Bergmann, Karl Georg Lucas Christian, 134
Bering Straits, 219
bikini wax, 208
Binford, Leigh, 116–19, 121, 123, 126
biofilms, 102–4
biological anthropologists, 6–7
biophilia, 249
bird feeders, 251–52
birds:
carrion-eating, 210
in rookeries, 211
births, patterns of, 151–52
bison (Bison bison), 119
bitter taste, 183, 189–90
blindsight, 193–94
blood pressure, 189
Bolivia, 233–36
Bollinger, Randal, 97–99, 103, 104, 105
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 212
Booker, Corey, 250–51
brain:
evolution of, 175–76
and fear response, 153, 195, 250
Brazil, snakebites in, 178
breast milk, 80
bubble boy, 76, 84
buffalo, hunting, 158
Byers, John, 24–28, 30, 31, 39, 67
Byers, Karen, 24–27, 30, 31
calories:
from microbes, 83
sources of, 130
and survival, 132
camels, extinct, 28, 34
cancer, deaths from, 149
CARD15 gene, 19
carnivores, teeth of, 30
carrion, 191, 210
Cassia grandis tree, 29
cats:
saber-toothed, 27, 61
taste buds of, 183
and Toxoplasmosis gondii, 149-50n
cave fish, 94–95, 176
cave lions, giant (Panthera atrox), 27
caves, 210–11, 255, 256
Cavineños, 139
cedars, eastern white (Thuja occidentalis), 254
cellulose, 77, 79
chance:
and germ-free animals, 79, 81
and inheritance, 136
cheese, 126
cheetahs:
American (Miracinonyx trumani), 27–28, 61
giant, 27
cherimoya, 29
chickens, 154n, 209
chimpanzees:
births of, 151
eating monkeys, 174
and human evolution, 7
China, sparrows in, 158-59n
chlamydia, 208
choices, 196–99
cholera, 98–99, 104
circulatory system, evolution of, 188–89
cities:
future of, 234
green rooftops in, 240–42, 251
growing food in, 244, 246
of insects, 245
pest species in, 248
pollution in, 258
public gardens in, 244
restoring nature in, 249
species of, 256
structure of, 233
urban cliffs, 255–57
vertical gardens in, 245–46, 248, 250–51, 257
civilization, and agriculture, 114–16
cliffs, life on, 254–57
Clutton-Brock, Juliet, 120
cockroaches, 248
collectivism, 222, 223, 226–27, 228
colon, biofilm in, 103, 104
Columbus, Christopher, 219
Colwell, Rob, 177
commensals, 68
communication, failure of, 85–86
consciousness, 252–53
Copenhagen, Denmark, 19
Corbett, Jim, 145, 154, 155–56, 158–60
corn syrup, high-fructose, 187
cortisol, 225
Costa Rica, fruit in, 29
cows:
aurochs, 119–20, 121–25
descendants of, 125
digesting milk from, 122–23
domestication of, 123–24, 125, 127, 132, 154, 196
fear response in, 153–54
as food source, 128
grooming of, 220
milking, 120
coyotes, 165
crabs:
evolution of, 179, 196
genital (Pthirus pubis), 207
credibility, 5
Crohn’s disease, 18–23
devising an experiment for, 33–34, 36–39
gene for, 19
incidence of, 19, 31
and intestinal parasites, 22–23, 31–34
and pig nematode experiment, 36–38
refrigerator bacteria and, 20–21, 22
traditional treatments for, 55–56
treatment options for, 57
Wade case, 45–48, 52–55, 56
Croswell, Amy, 65–66, 81–82, 105
Crutsinger, Greg, 177
C-section, babies born by, 80
cultural diversity, 137–38
cultures:
