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Science 10 November 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5801, p. 889
DOI: 10.1126/science.314.5801.889c
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The diets of early human ancestors have been difficult to determine. Our closest common ancestor, the chimpanzee, forages primarily on fruits and nuts that come from plants that use the C3 photosynthetic pathway. Later hominins, of the genus Homo clearly had a diverse diet that included animals feeding on grasses (which use the C4 pathway). It has been thought that the development of tools by Homo allowed this diversification in diet. Sponheimer et al. (p. 980; see the Perspective by Ambrose) studied the carbon isotope signature of enamel layers from teeth of Paranthropus robustus. This early hominin switched from a diet rich in C3 plants to one with a C4 source seasonally. Thus, the extinction of P. robustus, who apparently did not use tools, cannot be explained by a restricted diet.




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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)