Evolution theory is food for thought

AS I eye the copious vittles being prepared for Christmas, I remember reading that our jaw muscles are much weaker than those of our ancestors.

The next time I go to the circus I will worry about the girl hanging from the flying trapeze by her teeth. While our jaw muscles extend only to our ears — one can feel them, by clenching and unclenching one’s teeth — those of the apes, our cousins, run to the tops of their heads.

One theory holds that this has happened because, after harnessing fire, we began to cook our food rather than eating it raw. Fire was, no doubt, utilised by early man. It could be captured from trees struck by lightning, from volcanic vents or from grassland set on fire by the sun’s heat magnified by shards of glass-like obsidian. Also, early man might have come upon hot springs and tossed in the carcass of an animal by way of experiment.