(2) Thermoregulatory factors: Heat dissipation is considered a central
issue in brain evolution in Homo, because the human brain
is extremely sensitive to changes in body temperature. Thus, it
is possible that large brains could suffer important damages
from heat stroke events, mainly during active hunting in hot environments
(Carrier, 1984). In line with this, several adaptations
for efficient heat dissipation appear to have co-evolved with
brain enlargement in the lineage leading to and including
Homo. Some of these adaptations include (i) the replacing of a
body hair covering by a layer of fat that permits an efficient
heat loss by sweating, and that can be “by-passed” during heat
stress through vasodilatation of the capillaries in the skin
(Wheeler, 1984); (ii) the retention of hair on the head, which
protects the surface of the body most exposed to solar radiation
at midday and reduces the amount of heat reaching the brain
by conductivity from the cranium (Wheeler, 1984), and (iii) the
presence of complex anatomical modifications in blood circulation
pattern that permit rapid heat dissipation from the brain to
the rest of the body (i.e., the “radiator” hypothesis; Falk, 1990).
Again, bipedalism is at the base of several of these changes,
since it is considered a pre-requisite for the adaptive loss of
body hair. The reason for this is that bipedalism allowed a noticeable
reduction in the area of the body that is exposed to the incoming
rays of the sun, and also because it increases the height
of the body over the floor level, increasing the amount of heat
that can be dissipated by convective process (Wheeler, 1984). Finally,
as thermoregulatory factors are fundamental “prime
releasers” for both active hunting and brain enlargement, they
are tightly linked with many energetic and behavioral factors.