[extropy-chat] HISTORY: Solved & Unsolved Riddles

[Don Dartfield]

On Wed, 12 Nov 2003, John K Clark wrote:

> If you can see a predator better by standing up above the grass it also
> means the predator can see you better, and that's bad news if you're
> slow as molasses and if you walk on 2 legs you are. Better to just
> briefly come up on 2 legs as many animals do and take a peek and then
> come back down on 4, or just develop a long neck. I would think coming
> out of the trees and into the open savannah would increase the trend
> toward 4 leg locomotion, but that 's not what happened and I've yet to
> hear a convincing theory that explained why.

I read an evolutionary biology book that claimed we started standing erect
mainly to help keep our expanding brains cool, via increased exposure to
air currents and decreased sun exposure.  I'm not sure how well-researched
and/or documented this claim was, though -- I was only 12 when I read the
book, and I was a vehement creationist at the time, so I didn't really pay
close attention to it or even read much of it at all.  Now I should go
back to the library and try to find that book again...