prehistoric fiction – Roaming About

It is my pleasure to feature my friend, fellow blogger, dedicated tech teacher, and accomplished author Jacqui Murray on Roaming About today. Jacqui is a huge supporter of indie authors, an Amazon Vine Voice Reviewer, and a Jill of many trades. Ever since I started following her blog WordDreams many years ago, I have been in awe of her writing, her research skills, her dedication and passion for the writing and teaching craft, her genre choice of prehistoric fiction, and her publishing achievements. She is a busy bee and I have often wondered if – somehow – her days are longer than 24 hours.

To support and celebrate Jacqui’s release of Natural Selection, the third and last book in her Dawn of Humanity trilogy (which is part of a grander series called Man Vs. Nature, a collection of trilogies, each dealing with a seminal point in man’s evolution when we could have–probably should have–become extinct), I invited her over to talk about the origins of “wanderlust,” a topic close to my heart. On more than one occasion, Jacqui has pointed out similarities between “her people” in the books and our unsettled lifestyle.

Did Wanderlust Drive Man to All Corners of the Earth? Science Thinks So.

GUEST ARTICLE BY JACQUI MURRAY

Few animals leave their original habitat for a new one without being forced. Sometimes, as in the case of crocodiles who have survived over 200 million years, their habitat moves so they go with it. Man is the exception. In the trilogy, Dawn of Humanity, Lucy’s tribe of early humans journeyed from the North end of Africa to the South in a hunt for better living conditions. In the Crossroads trilogy (the sequel to Dawn of Humanity), our kind migrated from the eastern shore of Asia to a frozen England (via the land bridge that once connected it to the continent).

Why?

It’s unclear. These unusual migrations transcend all theories, most revolving around the availability of food, the threat of deadly predators, the danger from domination by other human species, dramatic changes in the climate, and migration of herds. That the available facts don’t fit nicely into a clean puzzle has caused scientists to rethink what they thought they understood. One alternative theory claimed that this unforced travel was motivated by simple curiosity and boredom, what is often called wanderlust. Some scientists credit it to a variation in the human DNA (DRD4-7R) now dubbed the “wanderlust gene”. Present in about 20% of the population, it impacts dopamine levels, increasing the person’s tolerance for risk taking.

If you’d rather climb a mountain than lie on the beach or are inclined to follow whims rather than rules, you may have this gene variation.

Over time, man–from Homo habilis to Homo erectus to modern Homo sapiens–has evolved a highly adaptable culture that allowed our genus to wander over a wide range of climates and habitats. Our ancestors hunted meat in ever-expanding territories, greater than the usual twelve kilometers of Lucy’s tribe and much more than other primates. The most mobile of our genus, Homo erectus, left Africa multiple times, spread throughout the known world (predominantly Eurasia), again and then again for no particular reason. Once we conquered fire, clothing, and shelter, we found we could go anywhere.

Whatever the reason, for about 99% of human evolution, we have moved around. As a result, until about 50,000 years ago, there were many species of our genus, Homo, wandering the planet. Even today, a percentage of us is ready to move on, explore the world beyond the hill, search out greener pastures, something we are better at than any other life form.

Summary of Natural Selection

In this conclusion to Lucy’s journey, she and her tribe leave their good home to rescue former tribemembers captured by the enemy. Lucy’s tribe includes a mix of species–a Canis, a Homotherium, and different iterations of early man. In this book, more join and some die, but that is the nature of prehistoric life, where survival depends on a combination of our developing intellect and our inexhaustible will to live. Each species brings unique skills to this task. Based on true events.

Set 1.8 million years ago in Africa, Lucy and her tribe struggle against the harsh reality of a world ruled by nature, where predators stalk them and a violent new species of man threatens to destroy their world. Only by changing can they prevail. If you ever wondered how earliest man survived, but couldn’t get through the academic discussions, this book is for you. Prepare to see this violent and beautiful world in a way you never imagined.

A perfect book for fans of Jean Auel and the Gears!

Book Information:

Title and author: Natural Selection by Jacqui Murray

Series: Book 3 in the Dawn of Humanity series

Genre: Prehistoric fiction

Editor: Anneli Purchase

Available print or digital) at: http://a-fwd.com/asin=B0B9KPM5BW

Author Bio:

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature, which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice, a columnist for NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics.