Isotopic evidence for the diet of an early hominid, Australopithecus africanus

Current consensus holds that the 3-million-year-old hominid Australopithecu s africanus subsisted on fruits and Leaves, much as the modern chimpanzee d oes. Stable carbon isotope analysis of A. africanus from Makapansgat Limewo rks, South Africa, demonstrates that this early hominid ate not only fruits and Leaves but also Large quantities of carbon-13-enriched foods such as g rasses and sedges or animals that ate these plants, or both. The results su ggest that early hominids regularly exploited relatively open environments such as woodlands or grasslands for food. They may also suggest that homini ds consumed high-quality animal foods before the development of stone tools and the origin of the genus Homo.