From spears to baseball: the evolution of throwing. A US-led study has compared modern baseball players with archaeological records to conclude it’s highly likely that humans evolved physical characteristics needed to throw a long distance.
The researchers believe the physical changes match the timing of humans being able to throw weapons such as spears. That proved a major change in human behavior as it allowed people to develop a meat diet (leading to further biological improvements) and allowing them to move to locations that didn’t necessarily have a lot of edible vegetation on hand. The team, led by Neil Roach of George Washington University, explored the way humans generate energy for throwing, noting that leading human athletes can throw objects at more than four time the speed of a chimpanzee.
High Throw. Battle of the Generations: Roald Bradstock vs Matti Mortimore. Sign In. Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing.