title: Diet of Paranthropus boisei in the early Pleistocene of East Africa.
abstract: The East African hominin Paranthropus boisei was characterized by a suite of craniodental features that have been widely interpreted as adaptations to a diet that consisted of hard objects that required powerful peak masticatory loads. These morphological adaptations represent the culmination of an evolutionary trend that began in earlier taxa such as Australopithecus afarensis, and presumably facilitated utilization of open habitats in the Plio-Pleistocene. Here, we use stable isotopes to show that P. boisei had a diet that was dominated by C(4) biomass such as grasses or sedges. Its diet included more C(4) biomass than any other hominin studied to date, including its congener Paranthropus robustus from South Africa. These results, coupled with recent evidence from dental microwear, may indicate that the remarkable craniodental morphology of this taxon represents an adaptation for processing large quantities of low-quality vegetation rather than hard objects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0111, USA.
authors.forename: Thure E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Cerling
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mbua
authors.forename: Francis M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Kirera
authors.forename: Fredrick Kyalo
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Manthi
authors.forename: Frederick E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Grine
authors.forename: Meave G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Leakey
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sponheimer
authors.forename: Kevin T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Uno
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D029786:Cyperus; D004032:Diet; D005518:Food Preferences; D005580:Fossils; D015186:Hominidae; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D006109:Poaceae; D055110:Radiometric Dating / Q000379:methods; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes