This seems to support the theory that it was cooking of foods which led to speciation for early hominids. Cooking releases many more nutrients and calories, or makes inedible foods edible, like bone marrow and root vegetables. More caloric content means less time foraging and eating, and more energy for creativity.
fossilesque in anthropology
How humans evolved to be 'energetically unique'
https://phys.org/news/2024-11-humans-evolved-energetically-unique.htmlThis seems to support the theory that it was cooking of foods which led to speciation for early hominids. Cooking releases many more nutrients and calories, or makes inedible foods edible, like bone marrow and root vegetables. More caloric content means less time foraging and eating, and more energy for creativity.