A million years ago, our evolutionary ancestors (Homo erectus) were hunting, scavenging, and gathering to keep their bellies full. They shared their environment with many dangerous large predators. Some scientists hypothesize early humans obtained some portion of their caloric intake from scavenging large mammals killed by saber-toothed tigers and other big cats. Two species of saber-toothed cats roamed across Eurasia then including Megantereon whitei and Homotherium latidens. Panthera gombaszoegensis (formerly thought to be a species of jaguar but now thought to be more closely related to tigers) also provided meat for scavengers. These species likely ate the organs and softer parts of the carcass and left a considerable part of the coarser flesh and bones behind. Scientists believe scavenging from big cats helped H. erectus expand out of Africa and into Eurasia. They likely competed with the giant hyena (Pachycrocuta brevirostis) for this valuable source of food. A new study used computer simulations to determine the optimal size of a human group that could drive off a giant hyena. The scientists used 6 simulations, and each simulation was repeated 70 times. The data fed into the simulations included different numbers of people, large predator density, weight of the prey, intervals between kills, caloric return, and energy consumption. Scientists didn’t factor in canids, such as species related to African hunting dogs and early wolves, because packs of those species usually consumed the entire carcass.
Chart from the below study showing some of the data fed into the computer simulations. (Rodriguez 2023).
Mauricio Anton’s illustration of Homo erectus competing with Megantereon for food.
The giant hyena. Scientists don’t know whether it was a solitary or group animal. It had a smaller brain than spotted hyenas, a species that eventually replaced giant hyenas.
It’s not known for sure if the giant hyena was solitary or lived in packs, but they did have smaller brains than extant, modern, spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). There is some archaeological evidence of humans competing with giant hyenas for an elephant carcass at the Fuente Nueve-3 site in southeastern Spain. Humans did break the bones for marrow, and there are cut marks on the bones, but there are also gnaw marks from hyenas on the elephant bones. A group of humans making noise and throwing projectiles could hypothetically chase away a large predator. Modern chimpanzees occasionally use sticks and stones to take prey away from leopards.
The authors of the below referenced study estimated it would have taken at least 5 humans to drive off a giant hyena. The optimal size of a group of humans to drive away a hyena was 13. A larger group of humans than this wouldn’t be able to get enough meat to make the effort worthwhile. Two simulations showed giant hyenas outcompeted humans when ecosystem productivity was low. Early humans required rich environments with large populations of apex predators to thrive.
Table showing the results of the below referenced study’s computer simulations. (Rodriguez 2023)
Giant hyenas became extinct following the extinction of Megantereon. I suspect humans drove Megantereon to extinction in Africa and Eurasia. Sometime during human evolution, we evolved the teamwork necessary to take on saber-tooths directly. Homotherium latidens became rare in Eurasia during the late Pleistocene, but saber-toothed cats survived in the Americas until humans started arriving there in significant numbers.
Note: This study is highly speculative. I always think studies that use extensive amounts of statistics are not much different than wild guessing. Statistics can be manipulated to show anything.
References:
Palmqvist, P. et. al.
“Deja vu: On the use of Meat Resources by Sabretoothed Cats, Hominins, and Hyenas in the early Pleistocene Site of Fuente Nuevo-3 (Gaudix-Baza Depression, SE Spain)”
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 15 2023
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-022-01712-1
Rodriguez, J. et. al.
“Computer Simulation of Scavenging by Hominins and Giant Hyenas in the Late Early Pleistocene”
Scientific Papers 13 September 2023
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