I agree with your point, but I would expand on it to say that defense could have even more important implications for scavenging than for surviving predation.

I agree with your point, but I would expand on it to say that defense could have even more important implications for scavenging than for surviving predation. Being able to scare predators off a kill [1] makes scavenging a lot easier. And then you can apply the same means to hunting, which is also more fruitful because you can hold your own kills. You wouldn't even need to be strong enough for lions to start with; every step up the pecking order would be an advantage. I don't envy paleontologists and archaeologists trying to make a case for "why" an adaptation emerged when it has so many plausible advantages, especially when cultural developments might have happened too fast or at too great a distance in the past for us to have an accurate idea of their timing. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBpu4DAvwI8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBpu4DAvwI8