Homo naledi is the most interesting new human like primate. They are from South Africa, little people. walked upright, but primates walking upright goes way back.
They had hands just like modern humans but longish arms and powerful shoulders ... so they could probably zip up a tree.
They have small brains half modern size. This has made people astonished that they may have had fire.
I'm glad I'll never meet one, a smart little firebug with powerful arms sounds terrifying. 1/
Personally I think it's really unnatural how humans react to fire. Most people are attracted to it and want to play with it. What's more typical in large mammals is fear.
Of course there are beetles that are attracted to fire (but don't play with it, sadly)
But I do think there is something very very old and strange about the way people relate to fire. It's such a blockbuster tool.
@futurebird I wonder if it's partly just wired into us. Like literally our digestive systems are so dependent on fire that we literally can't eat most food without it
@futurebird there are 3 species of birds, the black kite (Milvus migrans), whistling kite (Haliastur sphenurus), and the brown falcon (Falco berigora), which are known to deliberately pick up burning branches, fly some distance, and spread them about to start new fires:
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