#blogtour: Natural Selection by Jacqui Murray

Posted on by Liz Gauffreau

Welcome, Jacqui!

Today, I am delighted to host accomplished writer and educator Jacqui Murray to help launch the third book of her Dawn of Humanity trilogy: Natural Selection. The book has been getting a fantastic response so far, so let’s keep the momentum going!

Jacqui has written the following article to discuss the cognitive abilities her prehistoric characters would have had. I found the information fascinating–and a real eye-opener!

How Smart was Early Man 2 Million Years Ago?

Compared to other animals 2 million years ago, Lucy and her tribe were very smart! Scientists know from preserved skulls that Lucy’s brain was considerably larger than any other mammal, especially in the frontal lobes–the part of the brain responsible for complex cognitive tasks. And from stone tools found near her homebase and hunting areas, they know Lucy’s kind changed the natural shape of stones to add sharp cutting edges and chopping surfaces. This showed she had the ability to “pursue a chain of related activities over a prolonged period of time while maintaining an overview of the whole process.” What that means is when Lucy’s kind reworked natural stones, it was with the intent of creating a tool they could use for cutting meat from bone, chopping plants, or cracking bones to reach the marrow.

This toolmaking method, called Oldowan, was far superior to earlier iterations of man, but inferior to the knapping skill of Lucy’s Homo erectus group member, Xha. His tool making skill, called Acheulian, required sophisticated eye-hand coordination as well as a precision grip. When a paleoanthropologist (a scientist who studies early man) tried to reproduce these tools, it took him over a month of practice to accomplish. The why of that comes from a 2017 study that mapped the brains of students as they recreated Homo erectus’ stone tools. The experimenters found that it required higher-level motor skills and the ability to ‘hold in mind’ information in much the way modern man does to plan and complete complex tasks. This meant Lucy and Xha’s brains required up to 20% of the calories they took in, close to modern man’s 25%. Chimps, our closest primate relatives, require only 9%. That means the Homo brain is constantly burning calories while other mammals like chimps and probably your dog rest between flurries of activity.

The conclusion? Lucy’s brain was larger and worked harder. Such exercise might have contributed to its ongoing increase in size.

Summary:

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!

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

One Pack Ends, Another Begins

Africa  

The Canis’ packmates were all dead, each crumpled in a smeared puddle of blood, Upright killing sticks embedded where they should never be. His body shook, but he remembered his training. The killers’ scent filled the air. If they saw him—heard him—they would come for him, too, and he must survive. He was the last of his pack.

He padded quietly through the bodies, paused at his mate, broken, eyes open, tongue out, pup under her chest, his head crushed. A moan slipped from his muzzle and spread around him. He swallowed what remained in his mouth. Without a pack, silence was his only protection. He knew to be quiet, but today, now, failed.

To his horror, a departing Upright looked back, face covered in Canis blood, meaty shreds dripping from his mouth, the body of a dead pup slung over his shoulder. The Canis sank into the brittle grass and froze. The Upright scanned the massacre, saw the Canis’ lifeless body, thought him dead like the rest of the decimated pack. Satisfied, he turned away and rushed after his departing tribe. The Canis waited until the Upright was out of sight before cautiously rising and backing away from the onslaught, eyes on the vanished predators in case they changed their minds.

And fell.

He had planned to descend into the gully behind him. Sun’s shadows were already covering it in darkness which would hide him for the night, but he had gauged his position wrong. Suddenly, earth disappeared beneath his huge paws. He tried to scrabble to solid ground, but his weight and size worked against him and he tumbled down the steep slope. The loose gravel made gripping impossible, but he dug his claws in anyway, whining once when his shoulder slammed into a rock, and again when his head bounced off a tree stump. Pain tore through his ear as flesh ripped, dangling in shreds as it slapped the ground. He kept his legs as close as possible to his body and head tucked, thankful this hill ended in a flat field, not a river.

Or a cliff.

When it finally leveled out, he scrambled to his paws, managed to ignore the white-hot spikes shrieking through his head as he spread his legs wide. Blood wafted across his muzzle. He didn’t realize it was his until the tart globs dripped down his face and plopped to the ground beneath his quaking chest. The injured animal odor, raw flesh and fresh blood, drew predators. In a pack, his mate would purge it by licking the wound. She would pronounce him Ragged-ear, the survivor.

Ragged-ear is a strong name. A good one.

He panted, tail sweeping side to side, and his indomitable spirit re-emerged.

I live.

But no one else in his pack did.

Except, maybe, the female called White-streak. She often traveled alone, even when told not to. If she was away during the raid, she may have escaped. He would find her. Together, they would start over.

Ragged-ear shook, dislodging the grit and twigs from his now-grungy fur. That done, he sniffed out White-streak’s odor, discovered she had also descended here. His injuries forced him to limp and blood dripping from his tattered ear obstructed his sight. He stumbled trying to leap over a crack and fell into the fissure. Fire shot through his shoulder, exploded up his neck and down his chest. Normally, that jump was easy. He clambered up its crumbling far wall, breaking several of his yellowed claws.

All of that he ignored because it didn’t matter to his goal.

Daylight came and went as he followed White-streak, out of a forest onto dry savannah that was nothing like his homeland.

Why did she go here?

He embraced the tenderness that pulsed throughout his usually-limber body. It kept him angry and that made him vicious. He picked his way across streams stepping carefully on smooth stones, their damp surfaces slippery from the recent heavy rain, ignoring whoever hammered with a sharp rock inside his head. His thinking was fuzzy, but he didn’t slow. Survival was more important than comfort, or rest.

Ragged-ear stopped abruptly, nose up, sniffing. What had alerted him? Chest pounding, breathing shallow, he studied the forest that blocked his path, seeking anything that shouldn’t be there.

But the throbbing in his head made him miss Megantereon.

Ragged-ear padded forward, slowly, toward the first tree, leaving only the lightest of trails, the voice of Mother in his head.

Yes, your fur color matches the dry stalks, but the grass sways when you move. That gives away your location so always pay attention.

His hackles stiffened and he snarled, out of instinct, not because he saw Megantereon. Its shadowy hiding place was too dark for Ragged-ear’s still-fuzzy thinking. The She-cat should have waited for Ragged-ear to come closer, but she was hungry, or eager, or some other reason, and sprang. Her distance gave the Canis time to back pedal, protecting his soft underbelly from her attack. Ragged-ear was expert at escaping, but his stomach spasmed and he lurched to a stop with a yowl of pain. Megantereon’s next leap would land her on Ragged-ear, but to the Canis’ surprise, the She-cat staggered to a stop, and then howled.

While she had been stalking Ragged-ear, a giant Snake had been stalking her. When she prepared her death leap, Snake dropped to her back and began to wrap itself around her chest. With massive coils the size of Megantereon’s leg, trying to squirm away did no good.

Ragged-ear tried to run, but his legs buckled. Megantereon didn’t care because she now fought a rival that always won. The She-cat’s wails grew softer and then silent. Ragged-ear tasted her death as he dragged himself into a hole at the base of an old tree, as far as possible from scavengers who would be drawn to the feast.

He awoke with Sun’s light, tried to stand, but his legs again folded. Ragged-ear remained in the hole, eyes closed, curled around himself to protect his vulnerable stomach, his tail tickling his nose, comforting.

He survived the Upright’s assault because they deemed him dead. He would not allow them to be right.

Sun came and went. Ragged-ear consumed anything he could find, even eggs, offal, and long-dead carcasses his pack normally avoided. His legs improved until he could chase rats, fat round ground birds, and moles, a welcome addition to his diet. Sometimes, he vomited what he ate and swallowed it again. The day came he once again set out after what remained of his pack, his pace more sluggish than prior to the attack, but quick enough for safety.

Ragged-ear picked up the female’s scent again and tracked her to another den. He slept there for the night and repeated his hunt the next day and the next. When he couldn’t find her trace, instinct drove him and memories of the dying howls of his pack, from the adults who trusted their Alpha Ragged-ear to protect them to the whelps who didn’t understand the presence of evil in their bright world.

Everywhere he traveled, when he crossed paths with an Upright, it was their final battle.

Trailer:

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.

Social Media contacts:

Amazon Author Page:           
https://www.amazon.com/Jacqui-Murray/e/B002E78CQQ/
Blog:                                    
https://worddreams.wordpress.com
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jacquimurraywriter/
Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/askatechteacher
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/worddreams
Website:
https://jacquimurray.net

153 thoughts on “#blogtour: Natural Selection by Jacqui Murray”

  1. I did not know my brain consumes so many calories! I have been reading Barry Lopez’s “Horizons.” His essay, “Jackal Camp” has a lot of insight into early humans.

    Liked by 5 people

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  5. Thanks, Liz, for the information, introduction to and excerpt from Natural Selection by Jacqui Murray which provides a fascinating insight. A great post. Another book to add to the list of reads.

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. Hmm. My standard response to people’s bad behavior has always been, what’s wrong with them? Were they raised by wolves? I wonder if the wolves are now saying, what’s wrong with you, Lobo? Were you raised by humans? Much to ponder here . . .

        Liked by 2 people

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  21. I love all the research you do for your books, Jacqui! Not only am I entertained but I learn something along the way. A great series!

    Thanks for hosting, Liz 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. Funny thing is that we don’t have to “like” or “agree” with each incident before beneficial knowledge or awareness happens. Kind of like how flossing your teeth each day isn’t necessarily “enjoyable” but the accumulation of the benefits from having chosen that daily habit are …. Sometimes a focus on the trends rather than individual incidents helps us comprehend things. Narrative forms help our brains compile incidents into trends so that we can “see” them. Kindof like how dentists help us “see” a trend benefit from the incidents of flossing.

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  23. Thanks to Jacqui’s research, we have an insight into the past encased in an entertaining novel that makes us think! Thank you for helping to promote her books, Liz. You’re a good friend.

    Liked by 3 people

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  25. Jacqui, you are one smart woman, discovering ways to integrate technology into education and writing a prehistoric fiction series along with oodles of other books. I see you on many of the sites I visit, and you are the first to get there with a kind, supportive comment. I enjoyed the video, which tempts me to sample a genre I’m not familiar with.

    Thanks, Liz, for featuring this deserving author this week!

    Liked by 3 people

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    2. I think they were the more advanced ones Xha made, but the idea is the same. These stone tools weren’t picking up a rock with a sharp edge and using it. They took planning and thought to create. That is amazing, innit?

      And the next leap from my next group of people–hardening tips on wood spears with fire and creating glue from bitumen to stick stone to shafts–these aren’t intuitive. I am gobsmacked by our creativity with these skills.

      Liked by 2 people

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  34. I’m reading Natural Selection now, and I’m in awe of the research that it must have required. Congratulations, Jacqui. This is a huge accomplishment. Thank you, Liz, for the great post. BTW, the trailer is extraordinary.

    Liked by 2 people

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  37. That was fascinating. I love that researchers actually tried to make the tools. That’s so cool, and what insight into our ancestors’ evolving brains. Once again, your research shines, Jacqui. That’s one of the reasons the books are so good. Thanks for hosting, Liz. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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  38. Liz, it’s lovely to see Jacqui here and you definitely help to maintain the momentum!

    Jacqui, first I read the extract and wow! The writing is brilliant, I was totally hooked and transported into another very different world from so long ago. A powerful third book in the series – well done! It was fascinating to learn about the brains of Lucy et al and about the brain power required to create their tools. When writing this do you have difficulty coming between Lucy’s world and the 21st century? Wishing you a great launch!

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Thank you, Annika! I struggled with the opening for this third book (this is Chapter 1) and then realized the proto-wolves were where the end of the story started. They said it all.

      I actually am comfortable living in Lucy’s world. I read a ton about that time 1.8 mya, and then stopped to research every time something popped into scene that I wasn’t sure about (were cattails around that long ago–oh yes; how about mosquitos–yep!). Soon, everything fell into place.

      Thanks for coming by!

      Liked by 2 people

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  40. Thanks Liz for hosting an exceptional author … I so admire Jacqui – now another subject I know little about … Oldowan, and Acheulean, – I hope I remember these names and the subjects they cover … fascinating to learn about here. Also I note about the calorie percentages for us, Lucy’s people and the chimps … the brains for each of them. Cheers Hilary

    Liked by 2 people

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    2. Oldowan and Acheulean are tool-making strategies, one more advanced than the other. They’re interesting, and then they were replaced by more advanced methods, and then stones were replaced by bronze and other materials. Time rolls on.

      Liked by 2 people

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