期刊
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
卷 110, 期 26, 页码 10513-10518出版社
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1222579110
关键词
human evolution; hominid; paleocology
资金
- National Science Foundation
- National Research Foundation (RSA)
- Leakey Foundation
- Wenner-Gren Foundation
- Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University
- GW University Signature Program
- University of Colorado at Boulder (Dean's Fund for Excellence)
- University of Colorado at Boulder (Center to Advance Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences)
- University of Colorado at Boulder (Leadership Education for Advancement and Promotion Associate Professor Growth Grant)
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
- Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci [1064030] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Carbon isotope studies of early hominins from southern Africa showed that their diets differed markedly from the diets of extant apes. Only recently, however, has a major influx of isotopic data from eastern Africa allowed for broad taxonomic, temporal, and regional comparisons among hominins. Before 4 Ma, hominins had diets that were dominated by C-3 resources and were, in that sense, similar to extant chimpanzees. By about 3.5 Ma, multiple hominin taxa began incorporating C-13-enriched [C-4 or crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)] foods in their diets and had highly variable carbon isotope compositions which are atypical for African mammals. By about 2.5 Ma, Paranthropus in eastern Africa diverged toward C-4/CAM specialization and occupied an isotopic niche unknown in catarrhine primates, except in the fossil relations of grass-eating geladas (Theropithecus gelada). At the same time, other taxa (e. g., Australopithecus africanus) continued to have highly mixed and varied C-3/C-4 diets. Overall, there is a trend toward greater consumption of C-13-enriched foods in early hominins over time, although this trend varies by region. Hominin carbon isotope ratios also increase with postcanine tooth area and mandibular cross-sectional area, which could indicate that these foods played a role in the evolution of australopith masticatory robusticity. The C-13-enriched resources that hominins ate remain unknown and must await additional integration of existing paleodietary proxy data and new research on the distribution, abundance, nutrition, and mechanical properties of C-4 (and CAM) plants.
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