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Choice of Hunting Method Influenced Human‐Carnivore Competition in Late Pleistocene Southeast Asia
Author(s) -
Zachwieja Alexandra J,
Bacon Anne-Marie,
Nguyen Thi Mai Huong,
Nguyen Anh Tuan,
Sichanthongtip Phonephanh,
Sayavongkhamdy Thongsa,
Demeter Fabrice,
Shackelford Laura L
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.01875
Subject(s) - carnivore , guild , biological dispersal , competition (biology) , ecology , predation , geography , leopard , niche , biology , demography , habitat , population , sociology
Competition has been investigated as a source of dispersal pressure in animal species both past and present. Particularly in Southeast Asia, where the Pleistocene carnivore guild remains largely intact to this day, there is a unique opportunity to assess the effects of competition on both dietary and spatial (dispersal) niche partitioning behavior in humans. Here, we investigate the relationship of early modern humans to local carnivores during their likely period of dispersal through Laos and Vietnam (~80‐50ka) to – for the first time – assess humans as a member of a local carnivore guild. By using the Competition Index (CI), a method which has shown success in predicting competitive pressure in island Southeast Asian paleontological communities on a scale of 0 (no competition) to 1 (full prey overlap, maximum competition). We approach this research with a purposeful desire to remove the “bias of human exceptionalism” from our analysis, treating humans as another medium size animal. We find that humans definitively were subject to competitive pressure from concurrent carnivores, particularly medium‐size prey specialists like hyenas, dholes, and leopards (Max CI: 0.6, 0.5, 0.66 respectively). Additionally, we find that the estimated competitive pressure on humans changes accounting for hunting method (solo ambush vs. group hunting), with group hunting practices reducing competitive pressure for medium‐size prey, particularly from leopards. We suggest that hunting behavior may have been used along with dietary and spatial partitioning as a strategy to reduce competitive pressure during initial human dispersal in Southeast Asia and that biotic interactions should not be overlooked in studies of human dispersal in this region. Support or Funding Information Funding for this work was provided by: National Geographic Early Career Grant #EC‐378R‐18, Wenner‐Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, UIUC Anthropology Department, UIUC Graduate College, The Explorer’s Club Exploration Fund, and the Beckman Institute CS/AI Award.