This is an important point, but can be stated directly, rather than bringing in the "ancestral environment" thing as justification.

"Status" - or, more concretely, power over others - corresponds a great deal in our (and probably every actualizable) society to wealth. A society with big wealth differentials is going to be one where some members wield great power over others; it's not simply a question of differential consumption rights. I think this is basically motivates people to find wealth differentials unjust: as supporting evidence, consider that people don't consider happiness differentials that can't be translated into power differentials unjust - nobody thinks it unjust that Alice has a better native appreciation for classical music than Bob - and that the people who are most likely to consider huge wealth differentials just, libertarians, are the most likely to narrowly map power differentials to the exercise of physical force.