The large body and large brain of H. erectus needed more energy, and thus food, than previous hominins.
The large body and large brain of H. erectus needed more energy, and thus food, than previous hominins. Larger biological structures, particularly energy-intensive ones like muscles and brains, require greater energy inputs to maintain. Thus, H. erectus is often reconstructed as occupying an intensified ecological niche (Leonard & Robertson 1997).