Extinct ancestor wasn’t so finicky
By Bruce Bower
Many anthropologists assume that from around 3 million to 1 million years ago, the human evolutionary family consisted of two sharply contrasting lineages. The genus Homo adapted flexibly to new environments and ate a variety of foods, heralding the rise of people. In contrast, a big-jawed and relatively small-brained hominid known as Paranthropus consumed mainly nuts and other hard foods, causing it to die out as these resources became scarce in African habitats.
Paranthropus exhibited at least as much dietary and behavioral flexibility as ancient Homo did, contend Bernard Wood of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and David Strait of New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury. Both lineages ate from a broad menu, but Paranthropus added more hard foods to its diet over time, while Homo acquired a stronger taste for meat, the scientists propose in the February Journal of Human Evolution.