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. 2000 Dec 5;97(25):13506-11.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.260368897.

Diet and the evolution of the earliest human ancestors

M F Teaford  1 , P S Ungar
Affiliations

Diet and the evolution of the earliest human ancestors

M F Teaford et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Over the past decade, discussions of the evolution of the earliest human ancestors have focused on the locomotion of the australopithecines. Recent discoveries in a broad range of disciplines have raised important questions about the influence of ecological factors in early human evolution. Here we trace the cranial and dental traits of the early australopithecines through time, to show that between 4.4 million and 2.3 million years ago, the dietary capabilities of the earliest hominids changed dramatically, leaving them well suited for life in a variety of habitats and able to cope with significant changes in resource availability associated with long-term and short-term climatic fluctuations.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Relative maxillary first incisor sizes in catarrhines. MD, mesiodistal. Dashed lines indicate 95% confidence limits of the least-squares regression plot (data from refs. and –20).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summed mandibular postcanine tooth areas (P4–M3) in Miocene apes, early hominids, and extant apes (data from refs. , –, and –37).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Megadontia quotients for early hominids and extant primates (data from refs. , , , , and 38).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Ratios of M1 to M3 areas, defined as the products of maximal mesiodistal and buccolingual diameters (data from refs. , –, and –37).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mandibular corpus shape (data from refs. , , and and M. Leakey, personal communication).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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