title: Evidence for dietary change but not landscape use in South African early hominins.
abstract: The dichotomy between early Homo and Paranthropus is justified partly on morphology. In terms of diet, it has been suggested that early Homo was a generalist but that Paranthropus was a specialist. However, this model is challenged and the issue of the resources used by Australopithecus, the presumed common ancestor, is still unclear. Laser ablation profiles of strontium/calcium, barium/calcium and strontium isotope ratios in tooth enamel are a means to decipher intra-individual diet and habitat changes. Here we show that the home range area was of similar size for species of the three hominin genera but that the dietary breadth was much higher in Australopithecus africanus than in Paranthropus robustus and early Homo. We also confirm that P. robustus relied more on plant-based foodstuffs than early Homo. A South African scenario is emerging in which the broad ecological niche of Australopithecus became split, and was then occupied by Paranthropus and early Homo, both consuming a lower diversity of foods than Australopithecus.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, UMR 5276, CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 15 parvis René Descartes BP 7000, 69342 Lyon Cedex 07, France. Vincent.Balter@ens-lyon.fr
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Balter
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Télouk
authors.forename: J Francis
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Thackeray
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001464:Barium / Q000032:analysis; D002118:Calcium / Q000032:analysis; D060435:Carnivory / Q000502:physiology*; D002417:Cattle; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry; D004032:Diet / Q000266:history*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005580:Fossils; D060434:Herbivory / Q000502:physiology*; D049690:History, Ancient; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013019:South Africa; D013324:Strontium / Q000032:analysis; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001464:Barium; D002118:Calcium; D013324:Strontium