Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 7, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10596
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Funding
- NSF [BCS 0725219, 0725183, 0725147, 0725141, 0725136, 0725126, 0725122, 0725078, NSF DBI 0743460]
- EU [MRTN-CT-2005-019564]
- South African Department of Science and Technology
- African Origins Platform
- South African National Research Foundation
- Evolutionary Studies Institute
- Palaeontological Scientific Trust
- Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
- United States Diplomatic Mission to South Africa
- National Geographic Society
- A.H. Schultz Foundation
- Oppenheimer and Ackerman families
- Program to Enhance Scholarly and Creative Activities
- International Research Travel Award Grant of Texas AM University
- ESRF
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Australopithecus sediba has been hypothesized to be a close relative of the genus Homo. Here we show that MH1, the type specimen of A. sediba, was not optimized to produce high molar bite force and appears to have been limited in its ability to consume foods that were mechanically challenging to eat. Dental microwear data have previously been interpreted as indicating that A. sediba consumed hard foods, so our findings illustrate that mechanical data are essential if one aims to reconstruct a relatively complete picture of feeding adaptations in extinct hominins. An implication of our study is that the key to understanding the origin of Homo lies in understanding how environmental changes disrupted gracile australopith niches. Resulting selection pressures led to changes in diet and dietary adaption that set the stage for the emergence of our genus.
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