Prey preferences of modern human hunter-gatherers

dc.contributor.authorBugir, Cassandra K.
dc.contributor.authorPeres, Carlos A.
dc.contributor.authorWhite, Kevin S.
dc.contributor.authorMontgomery, Robert A.
dc.contributor.authorGriffin, Andrea S.
dc.contributor.authorRippon, Paul
dc.contributor.authorClulow, John
dc.contributor.authorHayward, Matt W.
dc.date.accessioned2021-04-16T11:13:40Z
dc.date.issued2021-03
dc.description.abstractUnderstanding traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyles in our modern world is fundamental to our understanding of their viability, as well as the role of humans as predators in structuring ecosystems. Here, we examine the factors that drive prey preferences of modern hunter-gatherer people by reviewing 85 published studies from 161 tropical, temperate and boreal sites across five continents. From these studies, we estimated Jacobs' selectivity index values (D) for 2243 species/spatiotemporal records representing 504 species from 42 vertebrate orders based on a sample size of 799,072 kill records (median = 259). Hunter-gatherers preferentially hunted 11 large-bodied, riskier species, and were capable of capturing species ranging from 0.6 to 535.3 kg, but avoided those smaller than 2.5 kg. Human prey preferences were driven by whether prey were arboreal or terrestrial, the threats the prey afforded hunters, and prey body mass. Variation in the size of prey species pursued by hunter-gatherers across each continent is a reflection of the local size spectrum of available prey, and historical or prehistorical prey depletion during the Holocene. The nature of human subsistence hunting reflects the ability to use a range of weapons and techniques to capture food, and the prey deficient wildlands where people living traditional lifestyles persist.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Instituteen_ZA
dc.description.embargo2021-12-07
dc.description.librarianhj2021en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe University of Newcastle - Australiaen_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.journals.elsevier.com/food-websen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBugir, C.K., Peres, C.A., White, K.S. et al. 2021, 'Prey preferences of modern human hunter-gatherers', Food Webs, vol. 26, art. e00183, pp. 1-12.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2352-2496 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1016/j.fooweb.2020.e00183
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/79473
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherElsevieren_ZA
dc.rights© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Notice : this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Food Webs. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. A definitive version was subsequently published in Food Webs, vol. 26, art. e00183, pp. 1-12, 2021. doi : 10.1016/j.fooweb.2020.e00183.en_ZA
dc.subjectPrey preferencesen_ZA
dc.subjectHuman subsistenceen_ZA
dc.subjectGroup huntersen_ZA
dc.subjectForagingen_ZA
dc.subjectHunter-gatherersen_ZA
dc.subjectPredator-prey interactionsen_ZA
dc.subjectHominiden_ZA
dc.subjectHuman ecologyen_ZA
dc.subjectHuman evolutionen_ZA
dc.titlePrey preferences of modern human hunter-gatherersen_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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