Re: Why did the Australopithacines evolve if they were an advanced society?

This is a bit of an ambiguous question, so I'll try to answer it in two 
ways. Hopefully, your answer will be there!

First, though; I'm not sure about the 'Australopithecines were an advanced 
society' statement. For a start, descriptions of societies as Advanced or 
otherwise ('Backward'? 'Primitive'?) are rather loaded - as if evolution 
were advancing towards a goal of modern (Western?) civilisation. Anyway, 
I'm not sure that there is much evidence to say that Australopithecine 
society was particularly complex or similar to that of modern H. sapiens.

Be that as it may; One question that you might be asking is 'Why did 
Australopithecines, having developed a complex society, continue to evolve 
into new species of Australopithecine?' Well, yes, I suppose that if you 
look at today's standards of nutrition and healthcare in richer countries 
then there is little evidence of the pressures that lead to evolution; 
survival of only a few offspring in each generation and competition for 
essential resources. I don't think anyone would claim these standards of 
social care for Australopithecines! Evolution would still be driven by the 
same nasty, brutish means that is has done for all but one species and for 
all but the last century or so.

The other question that you might be asking is: 'Why did 
Australopithecines evolve their complex society?' I would have to say - 
why shouldn't they? After all, humans have evolved a complex society, so 
why should other species not have done the same, given that they could 
also evolve the necessary characteristics? Chimp society is not so simple, 
and animals like bees, ants and naked mole rats have extremely complex 
societies, although rather alien to our notions of civilisation.

What are the 'necessary characteristics' of a society like ours? It's 
difficult to pin down, but language and social skills should be in there 
somewhere. Many would point to the long time human children are dependent 
on their parents as being another factor.

I'd be interested to know if this has covered your question 
satisfactorily, or if there are other points you'd like to make. I 
think my e-mail will be posted with this answer, but if not it's
e.mclaughlin@swancoll.ac.uk

Ewen McLaughlin