Fear of Snakes May Have Driven Pre-Human Evolution

Krishna Dagli writes "An evolutionary arms race between early snakes and mammals triggered the development of improved vision and large brains in primates, a radical new theory suggests. The idea, proposed by Lynne Isbell, an anthropologist at the University of California, Davis, suggests that snakes and primates share a long and intimate history, one that forced both groups to evolve new strategies as each attempted to gain the upper hand. Early primates developed a better eye for color, detail and movement and the ability to see in three dimensions — traits that are important for detecting threats at close range. Humans are descended from those same primates. "

Comments

Re:I knew that already...

[plague3106]

Ugh. No, the people that came up with the stories in the bible had a fear of snakes, likely because this rivalry is still a part of us. Its call instinct, it doesn't mean that there is a god.