My professor once told us that we were thinking of Australopithecines, a recent hominid, all wrong. While we thought of early human ancestors as less intellige

My professor once told us that we were thinking of Australopithecines, a recent hominid, all wrong. While we thought of early human ancestors as less intelligent versions of ourselves, the correct analogy was to a modern Velociraptor: fast to the point of running animals to death, fiercely intelligent, and with unparalleled group coordination. Arguably the last of the giant dinosaurs was the Moa, a bird with claws that could eviscerate a human with a single swipe, and our species wiped them out as a prey animal. We are a terrifyingly effective species.