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For a vast amount of human history food has been much harder to obtain and less calorie-dense than it is today, so evolution has optimized for energy efficiency
by thenewnewguy 7y ago
For a vast amount of human history food has been much harder to obtain and less calorie-dense than it is today, so evolution has optimized for energy efficiency rather than raw power.
- nmfisher 7y agoDo chimps/apes have a greater muscular power-density than humans?
- dodobirdlord 7y agoSignificantly, and a large part of the reason why is energy efficiency. Humans have large brains that take a lot of calories to sustain, and because of their large brains didn't have nearly as strong evolutionary pressure to maintain musculature.
- barry-cotter 7y agoProbably the wrong way to look at it. They can exert greater force for shorter periods but the great apes have far worse endurance than humans. A chimp is about a third stronger than a human of equivalent weight but we can run marathons and they can’t. We have a higher proportion of slow twitch muscle fibres compared to fast twitch than the great apes.