Elemental signatures of Australopithecus africanus teeth reveal seasonal dietary stress.

ABSTRACT: Reconstructing the detailed dietary behaviour of extinct hominins is challenging¹-particularly for a species such as Australopithecus africanus, which has a highly variable dental morphology that suggests a broad diet^2,3. The dietary responses of extinct hominins to seasonal fluctuations in food availability are poorly understood, and nursing behaviours even less so; most of the direct information currently available has been obtained from high-resolution trace-element geochemical analysis of Homo sapiens (both modern and fossil), Homo neanderthalensis⁴ and living apes⁵. Here we apply high-resolution trace-element analysis to two A. africanus specimens from Sterkfontein Member 4 (South Africa), dated to 2.6-2.1 million years ago. Elemental signal

SUBMITTER: Joannes-Boyau R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7359858 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature