Revisiting Basal Anthropology: A Developmental Approach to Human Evolution and Sociality

Kurismaa, Andres

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-67810-4_6

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The mosaic of developmental features that characterize human infants is not well described by the commonly used term "secondary altriciality" (Trevathan & Rosenberg 2016b). In coining the term "secondary altriciality," Portmann (1990) clearly distinguished the human condition from one of altriciality, writing that "[o]ur insight will continue to be sharply restricted if persist in the opinion that we are only dealing with a meagerly developed altricial infant," and yet the term secondary altriciality or even altriciality continues to be applied to humans without caveat (Kurismaa 2021, Kurismaa & Jaroš 2021. The precocial legacy that our species inherited as primates sets us up for a uniquely human constellation of features.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Evolution of Human Infancy: Why It Helps to Be Helpless

Rosenberg

2021

Annu. Rev. Anthropol.

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Humans have a prolonged childhood, which begins with an immature developmental state at birth. We take care of these helpless infants through a variety of cultural adaptations, including material culture, provisioning of food, and shared child care. Our species has long been characterized as having secondary altriciality, but an examination of human life history shows that we are fundamentally precocial, despite seeming helpless at birth. Human babies are also relatively large and overall require substantial attention and energy from caregivers. Previous work has focused on how culture permits us to give birth to helpless young and how our cultural adaptation solves problems stemming from encephalization. The birth of these dependent, costly creatures poses challenges but also creates opportunities by enhancing the development of social and emotional relationships with caregivers as well as language acquisition and enculturation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%