Persistence hunting

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Persistence hunting, also known as endurance hunting or long-distance hunting, is a variant of pursuit predation in which a predator will bring down a prey item via indirect means, such as exhaustion, heat illness or injury. [1] [2] Hunters of this type will typically display adaptions for distance running, such as longer legs, [3] temperature regulation, [4] and specialized cardiovascular systems. [5]

Contents

Some endurance hunters may prefer to injure prey in an ambush before the hunt and rely on tracking to find their quarry. Hadza hunter-gatherers do not persistence hunt, but they do run in short bursts while hunting small game.

Hadza hunting party Hunting call.JPG
Hadza hunting party

Humans and ancestors

Humans are some of the best long distance runners in the animal kingdom; [6] some hunter gatherer tribes practice this form of hunting into the modern era. [7] [8] [9] Homo sapiens have the proportionally longest legs of all known human species, [3] [10] [11] but all members of genus Homo have cursorial (limbs adapted for running) adaptions not seen in more arboreal hominids such as chimpanzees and orangutans.

Persistence hunting can be done by walking, but with a 30 to 74% lower rate of success than by running or intermittent running. Furthermore, while needing 10 to 30% less energy, it takes twice as long. Walking down prey, however, might have arisen in Homo erectus , preceding endurance running. [12] Homo erectus may have lost its hair to enhance heat dissipation during persistence hunting, which would explain the origin of a characteristic feature of the genus Homo. [13]

Other mammals

Wolf pack hunting a bull elk Wolves and elk (cropped).jpg
Wolf pack hunting a bull elk

Wolves, [14] [15] dingoes, [16] and painted dogs are known for running large prey down over long distances. All three species will inflict bites in order to further weaken the animal over the course of the hunt. Canids will also pant when hot. This has the double effect of cooling the animal via the evaporation of saliva while also increasing the amount of oxygen absorbed by the lungs. Despite their similar body shape, other canids are opportunistic generalists that can be broadly categorized as pursuit predators.

Wolves may have been initially domesticated due to their similar hunting techniques to humans. [17] [18] Several breeds of domestic dog have been bred with endurance in mind, such as the malamute, husky and Eskimo dog.[ citation needed ]

Spotted hyenas utilize a variety of hunting techniques depending on their chosen prey. They will occasionally use a similar strategy to canid endurance hunters, though their proportionally shorter legs makes this less effective.

Reptiles

Komodo dragon eating a water buffalo. Persistence predators can hunt prey many times their size. Komodo Dragon Eating Rinca.jpg
Komodo dragon eating a water buffalo. Persistence predators can hunt prey many times their size.

No extant members of Archelosauria are known to be long-distance hunters, though various bird species may employ speedy pursuit predation. Living crocodilians and carnivorous turtles are specialized ambush predators and rarely if ever chase prey over great distances.

Within Squamata, varanid lizards possess a well developed ventricular septum that completely separates the pulmonary and systemic sides of the circulatory system during systole [5] —this unique heart structure allows varanids to run faster over longer distances than other lizards. [5] They also utilize a forked tongue to track injured prey over large distances after a failed ambush. Several monitor lizard species such as Komodo dragons also utilize venom to ensure the death of their prey. [19] [20]

Extinct species

Sprawling and erect hip joints - horizontal Sprawling and erect hip joints - horizontal.svg
Sprawling and erect hip joints - horizontal

Little evidence exists for endurance hunting in extinct species, though potential candidates include the dire wolf Aenocyon dirus due to its similar body shape to modern grey wolves.

Non-avian theropod dinosaurs such as derived tyrannosauroids and troodontids display cursorial adaptions [21] which may have allowed for long-distance running. Derived theropods may have also had an avian style flow-through lung, allowing for highly efficient oxygen exchange.

Some non-mammalian theriodonts may have been capable of running relatively long distances due to their limbs having an erect stance as opposed to the sprawling stance of contemporary synapsids and reptiles.

See also

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References

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  3. 1 2 Carretero, José-Miguel; Rodríguez, Laura; García-González, Rebeca; Arsuaga, Juan-Luis; Gómez-Olivencia, Asier; Lorenzo, Carlos; Bonmatí, Alejandro; Gracia, Ana; Martínez, Ignacio; Quam, Rolf (February 2012). "Stature estimation from complete long bones in the Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sima de los Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain)" (PDF). Journal of Human Evolution. 62 (2): 242–255. Bibcode:2012JHumE..62..242C. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.11.004. PMID   22196156. Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  4. ↑ The evolution of sweat glands. Folk & Semken Jr. 1991. p. 181.
  5. 1 2 3 Wang, Tobias; Altimiras, Jordi; Klein, Wilfried; Axelsson, Michael (December 2003). "Ventricular haemodynamics in Python molurus : separation of pulmonary and systemic pressures". Journal of Experimental Biology. 206 (23): 4241–4245. doi: 10.1242/jeb.00681 . PMID   14581594. S2CID   25934805.
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  8. ↑ Lieberman, Daniel E.; Mahaffey, Mickey; Cubesare Quimare, Silvino; Holowka, Nicholas B.; Wallace, Ian J.; Baggish, Aaron L. (1 June 2020). "Running in Tarahumara (Rarámuri) Culture: Persistence Hunting, Footracing, Dancing, Work, and the Fallacy of the Athletic Savage". Current Anthropology. 61 (3): 356–379. doi: 10.1086/708810 . S2CID   219067151.
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  12. ↑ Hora, Martin; Pontzer, Herman; Struška, Michal; Entin, Pauline; Sládek, Vladimír (2022). "Comparing walking and running in persistence hunting". Journal of Human Evolution. 172: 103247. Bibcode:2022JHumE.17203247H. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103247. ISSN   0047-2484. PMID   36152433. S2CID   252445717.
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  14. ↑ Mech; Smith; MacNulty (2015). Wolves on the Hunt: The Behavior of Wolves Hunting Wild Prey. University of Chicago Press. pp. 82–89. ISBN   978-0-226-25514-9.
  15. ↑ Thurber, J. M.; Peterson, R. O. (30 November 1993). "Effects of Population Density and Pack Size on the Foraging Ecology of Gray Wolves". Journal of Mammalogy. 74 (4): 879–889. doi:10.2307/1382426. JSTOR   1382426.
  16. ↑ Corbett, L. K. (2001). The Dingo in Australia and Asia. J. B. Books. pp. 102–123. ISBN   978-1-876622-30-5.
  17. ↑ Larson, Greger; Bradley, Daniel G. (16 January 2014). "How Much Is That in Dog Years? The Advent of Canine Population Genomics". PLOS Genetics. 10 (1): e1004093. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004093 . ISSN   1553-7390. PMC   3894154 . PMID   24453989.
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