Underdown then described a model he designed to test the effect of a disease like kuru on Neanderthal population numbers, which he estimated to be in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 individuals at any one time. The results of his “Kuru Model” suggested that deaths from a kurulike TSE “could reduce the population to non-viable levels within the space of 250 years.”
To be clear, Underdown wasn’t claiming that kuru was the sole reason that the Neanderthals disappeared. If one imagined, though, that a kurulike disease arose on multiple occasions within small populations, the effect would have been more localized, “a drip, drip effect” rather than a massive extinction event. Perhaps the invasion of the Neanderthal homeland by modern humans served as the coup de grace to a species whose cannibalistic habits had already brought them to the brink of extinction.
Of course, any future outbreaks of kuru would occur in a world that has seen tremendous advances in many fields of medicine. But on the other side of the ledger, one need only look at the massive death toll from recent Ebola epidemics to realize that cannibalism-related outbreaks of kuru could have a devastating effect on local populations. The debate over what causes kuru and other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies is still ongoing within the scientific community. Are TSEs caused by a virus or by prions? The argument would certainly go public if desertification and global climate change (or perhaps another environmental disaster) led to outbreaks of cannibalism and the associated neurological diseases. With two Nobel Prizes already awarded for research into TSEs, in all likelihood someone would win another for finally figuring it all out. And what would they call this new cannibalism-related nightmare? Mad cow disease and the laughing death are already taken. The new strain, with its potential for killing on a scale unprecedented for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, would need its own name—something lurid. And the only certainty is that someone will come up with one.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my agent Gillian MacKenzie for her hard work, great advice, and perseverance in getting my book off the ground. Thanks also to Kirsten Wolff and Allison Devereux of the Gillian MacKenzie Agency for their assistance, especially during the bumpy stretches.
I also offer my sincere thanks to Amy Gash, my incredibly talented editor at Algonquin. Thanks also go out to the entire production and marketing teams at Algonquin Books, especially my copy editor, Marina Lowry.
I was very lucky to have worked with or received assistance from a long list of experts who were extremely generous with their time. Thanks and gratitude go out to: Cristo Adonis, Stephen Amstrup, William Arens, Ronald Chase, Ken Dunn, Rainer Foelix, Laurel Fox, John Grebenkemper (and his dog Kayle), Kristin Johnson (Donner Party expert extraordinaire), Mary Knight, Walter Koenig, Mark Kristal, Nick Levis, Shirley Lindenbaum, John Lurie, Laura Manuelidis, Ryan Martin, Mark Norell, David and Karin Pfennig, Clair and William Rembis (and the 11 “Rembi”), Raymond Rogers, Antonio Serrato, Stephen Simpson, Ian Tattersall, Simon Underdown, Marvalee Wake, Jerome Whitfield, and Mark Wilkinson.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my friends and colleagues in the bat research community and at my favorite place in the world, the American Museum of Natural History. They include Ricky Adams, Wieslaw Bogdanowicz, Frank Bonaccorso, Mark Brigham, Patricia Brunauer (RIP), Deanna Byrnes, Catherine Doyle-Capitman, Betsy Dumont, Neil Duncan, Nicole Edmison, Arthur Greenhall (RIP), “Uncle” Roy Horst, Tigga Kingston, Mary Knight (who told me to blame it on the Greeks), Karl Koopman (RIP), Tom Kunz, Gary Kwiecinski, Ross MacPhee, Eva Meade and Rob Mies (Organization for Bat Conservation), Shahroukh Mistry, Maceo Mitchell, Mike Novacek, Ruth O’Leary, Stuart Parsons, Scott Pedersen, Nancy Simmons (it’s good to know the Queen), Elizabeth Sweeny, Ian Tattersall, Merlin Tuttle, Rob Voss, John Walhert, and Eileen Westwig.
I’ve been fortunate to have had several incredible mentors, none more important than John W. Hermanson (Cornell University, Field of Zoology). John took a chance on me in 1990 by taking me on as his first Ph.D. student. Among other things, he taught me to think like a scientist, as well as the value of figuring things out for myself. “Here’s to you, Chief.”
A very special thanks to my great friend, confidant, and coconspirator, Leslie Nesbitt Sittlow, with whom I spent many hours discussing the pros and cons of cannibalism (among other things).
My dear friends Darrin Lunde and Patricia J. Wynne were instrumental in helping me develop this project from a vague idea into a finished work. A millions thanks also to Patricia for all of the amazing figures. I can’t wait for our next project.
A special thank you goes out to my teachers, readers, and supporters at the Southampton College Summer Writers Conference, especially Bob Reeves, Bharati Mukherjee, and Clark Blaise.