2014
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0853
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Hunter–gatherers have less famine than agriculturalists

Abstract: The idea that hunter-gatherer societies experience more frequent famine than societies with other modes of subsistence is pervasive in the literature on human evolution. This idea underpins, for example, the 'thrifty genotype hypothesis'. This hypothesis proposes that our hunter-gatherer ancestors were adapted to frequent famines, and that these once adaptive 'thrifty genotypes' are now responsible for the current obesity epidemic. The suggestion that hunter-gatherers are more prone to famine also underlies th… Show more

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Cited by 62 publications
(29 citation statements)
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“…In addition, it has been suggested that traditional agricultural groups are often less well‐nourished and can experience more frequent famine than traditional hunter‐gatherers (Bentley et al, ; Berbesque, Marlowe, Shaw, & Thompson, ; Meiklejohn, Schentag, Venema, & Key, ; Nickens, ). According to the findings of the present study, this instability in agricultural food supply would suggest that even in agricultural groups where women freely exercised their own mating preferences, they would tend to prefer relatively masculine and competitive male partners who should be more capable of monopolizing constrained resources.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In addition, it has been suggested that traditional agricultural groups are often less well‐nourished and can experience more frequent famine than traditional hunter‐gatherers (Bentley et al, ; Berbesque, Marlowe, Shaw, & Thompson, ; Meiklejohn, Schentag, Venema, & Key, ; Nickens, ). According to the findings of the present study, this instability in agricultural food supply would suggest that even in agricultural groups where women freely exercised their own mating preferences, they would tend to prefer relatively masculine and competitive male partners who should be more capable of monopolizing constrained resources.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Those with greater metabolic thrift would be more likely to transmit genes to the next generation. This premise, however, can be disputed: cross cultural examinations of food quantity, extent and frequency of food shortages suggests no differences exist among agriculturalists and hunter‐gatherers , even when controlling for habitat quality . Opponents of the thrifty genotype hypothesis note several other flaws in the argument.…”
Section: In Pursuit Of Thriftmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Although famines may have occurred infrequently over our species' history , bouts of severe nutritional deficiency may also have driven evolution by inducing change at the genetic and epigenetic levels. In a recent investigation of methylation patterns among individuals exposed to famine during the Dutch Hunger Winter, Tobi and colleagues observed differentially methylated regions associated with prenatal malnutrition, mapping to genes associated with growth and development.…”
Section: To Be Thrifty or Not To Be Thrifty? Obesity And The Epigenomementioning
confidence: 99%
“…Human populations in undeveloped countries continue to experience intermittent food shortages, with starvation occurring in some instances (Haile, 2005). Interestingly, hunter-gatherers experience less famine than agriculturalists (Berbesque et al, 2014) which may be explained, in part, by their greater experience with and knowledge of their environment and its complement of food sources. Indeed, the human populations that suffer the most from famine nowadays are those in sub-Saharan Africa that are reliant on agriculture (Haile, 2005).…”
Section: Evolutionary Perspective: Why ‘Hunger Games’ Bolster Brainpowermentioning
confidence: 99%