The theory that the ancestors of humans fell into hibernation in order to be able to withstand the harsh winters and the cold, comes to strengthen evidence from a study done in northern Spain. In particular, the new study was published in the scientific journal L'Anthropologie and was based on excavations carried out in a cave called "Sima de los Huesos" in the Atapuerca region of northern Spain.
Theories about "human hibernation" stem from 400,000-year-old fossils discovered in Spanish caves, with scientists noting that the remains of ancient primates buried there showed signs of disease that could have been caused by "bad hibernation in a dark cave ». "The hibernation hypothesis is consistent with genetic evidence and the fact that the species of SH hominins lived during an extreme ice age," said study authors Antonis Bartsiokas and Juan-Luis Arzuaga.
According to the researchers, among the diseases suffered by the early primates in the cave "Sima de los Huesos", are among others fibrotic osteitis, brown tumors, dorsal osteoplasias and many others. According to the research, with the onset of harsh winters the first hominids found themselves "in metabolic states that helped them survive for a long time in cold conditions with a limited food supply and large amounts of body fat".
Without dismissing healthy skepticism about their findings, the researchers admit that the study may sound like "science fiction," but it describes hibernation as something that many mammals do. "It's a very interesting argument and will certainly encourage discussion," said forensic anthropologist Patrick Randolph-Kineney of Northumbria University in Newcastle, according to "The Guardian" newspaper.
"However, there are other explanations for the variations seen in the bones found in Sima Cave and these need to be fully appreciated before we can draw realistic conclusions. This has not been done yet, I believe," he noted. Animals that hibernate in winter include bees, hedgehogs, squirrels, turtles, lemurs, bats and more.
SOURCE:SPUTNIK