it's not clear that the food provider role of males was actually widely present in prehistoric people
I don't see support of this statement in your linked text (which, by the way, dips into politically correct idiocy a bit too often for my liking).
Not sure what causes your amusement.
I'm easily amused :-P
Isn't there still the possibility that this is memetics rather than genetics?
What exactly is "this"? Are you saying that there is no genetic basis for males to be attached to their offspring and any attachment one might observe is entirely cultural?
Here is the part I'm referring to: "Nor does the ethnographic record support the idea of sedentary women staying home with the kids and waiting for food to show up with the hubby. We know that women hunt in many cultures, and even if the division of labor means that they are the plant gatherers, they work hard and move around; note this picture (Zihlman 1981:92) of a !Kung woman on a gathering trip from camp, carrying the child and the bag of plants obtained and seven months pregnant! She is averaging many km per day in obtaining the needed resources....
If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.
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