Did humans evolve to eat meat?
Before trying to understand what a study of the fossil record can tell us about evolution, it will be helpful to understand what we mean by evolution in the first place. Humans have not evolved to do anything. That is, the theory of evolution describes what we can observe as having already happened; it predicts what will most likely happen next and it explains how both those things come to be. But the theory of evolution does not suggest that there is some goal to the process or that any living thing is evolving to be or to do anything at all. In other words, evolution describes how things are, not why they are. For instance, sharks have been sharks for a long, long time. Sharks have all the brain size, eyesight, sense of smell, ability to move and all the other qualities of being that they need to live quite well as sharks. Evolution is not thinking about making them move up the food chain, or pushing them toward some progressive goal. Sharks are highly suited to their environment. Th
