Early Human Ancestors Had Plant-Primarily based Diets, Analysis Suggests

A big revelation in regards to the dietary habits of early human ancestors suggests a powerful reliance on plant-based meals reasonably than meat consumption. Evidence from fossilised enamel of Australopithecus africanus has offered a clearer image of their dietary preferences. These findings, based mostly on the chemical composition of tooth enamel, point out that this early bipedal species, current over 3 million years in the past, could have subsisted largely on vegetation and probably different non-meat sources of power.

Study Analyses Fossilised Teeth for Clues

According to a examine revealed in Science, researchers analysed nitrogen-bearing natural materials inside the enamel of fossilised enamel from Australopithecus africanus. A complete of 43 specimens from the Sterkfontein caves in South Africa, together with seven people of the species, have been examined. The nitrogen isotopic ratios current within the samples have been in comparison with these of different extinct mammals from the identical web site and to trendy African mammals. These comparisons revealed that the early people’ eating regimen was variable however lacked a major proportion of mammalian meat.

Implications for Early Human Evolution

As defined by Dr Tina Lüdecke, geochemist on the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, to Science News, the findings present insights into the dietary behaviours of early ancestors. The absence of a meat-rich eating regimen means that diversifications reminiscent of bipedalism, shorter snouts, and the flexibility to thrive in savanna ecosystems possible preceded the consumption of high-protein meat. These traits are believed to have performed a task in early human survival and ecological success.

Possible Protein Sources Beyond Meat

Dr Lüdecke additional famous that occasional consumption of meat or energy-rich termites by A. africanus can’t be dominated out. Termites, being a dependable meals supply, may need contributed to their eating regimen with out influencing the nitrogen isotopic markers considerably. Observations of contemporary apes fishing for termites reinforce this chance.

This analysis lays the groundwork for future investigations into dietary transitions amongst later human species, doubtlessly shedding extra gentle on the position of eating regimen in human evolution.