A team of Spanish paleoanthropologists has reconstructed the diet of Australopithecus anamensis, a hominid that lived in the east of the African continent more than 4 million years ago.
An artist’s reconstruction of Australopithecus anamensis, left, and an
image of traces on fossil tooth of Australopithecus anamensis, scale bar
is 100 µm (Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt / Ferran Estebaranz et
al.)
A. anamensis is a fossil hominid species described in 1995 and considered to be the direct ancestor of A. afarensis,
known as Lucy, which lived in the same region half a million years
later. The paleoecological reconstructions of the sites with A. anamensis fossil remains are quite similar to those of A. afarensis,
and suggest a scene with different habitats, from open forests to thick
plant formations, with herbaceous strata and gallery forests.
Traditionally, the reconstruction of the diet of A. anamensis
was carried out by means of indirect evidence – specifically, studies
of microstructure and enamel thickness, and the dental size and
morphology.
In the new study, published in the Journal of Anthropological Sciences,
the team analyzed the pattern of microstriation of the post-canine
dentition, from microscopic traces that some structural components of
plants and other external elements leave in the dental enamel during the
chewing of food. It is, therefore, a direct analysis of the result of
the diet’s interaction with the teeth.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.