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Updated: Aug 27, 2025

Asymmetric Walkway: A Novel Behavioral Assay for Studying Asymmetric Locomotion
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Comparing walking and running in persistence hunting.

Martin Hora1, Herman Pontzer2, Michal Struška3

  • 1Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Charles University, Viničná 7, Prague, 12800, Czech Republic; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, 130 Science Drive, Durham, NC, 27708, USA.

Journal of Human Evolution
|September 24, 2022
PubMed
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Persistence hunting by walking could select for locomotor endurance in early humans, even before running evolved. While less successful and more exhausting than running, walking hunts may have contributed to human endurance development.

Area of Science:

  • Human evolution
  • Paleoanthropology
  • Biomechanics

Background:

  • Human exceptional locomotor endurance is linked to foraging in hot climates and persistence hunting.
  • Persistence hunting, particularly by running, is considered instrumental in human evolution.
  • The role of walking in early human endurance evolution remains debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the potential of persistence hunting by walking to select for locomotor endurance.
  • To compare the energetic costs and success rates of persistence hunting by walking versus running.
  • To model the influence of environmental factors and prey characteristics on hunting success.

Main Methods:

  • A validated heat exchange model was used to simulate persistence hunts.
Keywords:
EnduranceHuman evolutionLocomotionThermoregulation

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  • Simulations incorporated variations in hunter velocity, prey size and sweating capacity, temperature, humidity, and start time.
  • Over 6000 unique hunting scenarios were analyzed.

    • Main Results:

    • Persistence hunting by walking was predicted to be successful for smaller, non-sweating prey, especially in hot, humid conditions.
    • Simulated hunts by walking had 30-74% lower success rates compared to running.
    • Walking hunts required less energy but were longer and led to greater hunter exhaustion.

    Conclusions:

    • Walking down prey could have been a viable hunting strategy for early hominins lacking advanced running capabilities.
    • Persistence hunting, whether by walking or running, likely selected for locomotor endurance in human evolution.
    • These findings suggest a more nuanced evolutionary pathway for human endurance than previously proposed.