Homo canis

This chapter examines what it means to be human, a member of the biological species Homo sapiens . Comparing humans to a wide range of primates, it shows that no other species has a similar social structure, with social groups of varying sizes built around nuclear families. Moreover, it explores how...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS ONE
Main Authors: Pierotti, Raymond, Fogg, Brandy R.
Format: Book Part
Language:unknown
Published: Yale University Press 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300226164.003.0004
Description
Summary:This chapter examines what it means to be human, a member of the biological species Homo sapiens . Comparing humans to a wide range of primates, it shows that no other species has a similar social structure, with social groups of varying sizes built around nuclear families. Moreover, it explores how these traits may have been shaped by humans' shared experience with Canis lupus . Humans are indeed unique, but their adaptations emerge from a set of unusual events, and a considerable amount of the history of modern human evolution seems to be influenced by their association with wolves and their dog descendants. The chapter then demonstrates how modern attitudes toward predators result from religious traditions rather than scientific understanding.