The feeding biomechanics and dietary ecology of Australopithecus africanus
نویسندگان
چکیده
منابع مشابه
The feeding biomechanics and dietary ecology of Australopithecus africanus.
The African Plio-Pleistocene hominins known as australopiths evolved a distinctive craniofacial morphology that traditionally has been viewed as a dietary adaptation for feeding on either small, hard objects or on large volumes of food. A historically influential interpretation of this morphology hypothesizes that loads applied to the premolars during feeding had a profound influence on the evo...
متن کاملThe structural rigidity of the cranium of Australopithecus africanus: implications for diet, dietary adaptations, and the allometry of feeding biomechanics.
Australopithecus africanus is an early hominin (i.e., human relative) believed to exhibit stress-reducing adaptations in its craniofacial skeleton that may be related to the consumption of resistant food items using its premolar teeth. Finite element analyses simulating molar and premolar biting were used to test the hypothesis that the cranium of A. africanus is structurally more rigid than th...
متن کاملMicrowear, mechanics and the feeding adaptations of Australopithecus africanus.
Recent studies of dental microwear and craniofacial mechanics have yielded contradictory interpretations regarding the feeding ecology and adaptations of Australopithecus africanus. As part of this debate, the methods used in the mechanical studies have been criticized. In particular, it has been claimed that finite element analysis has been poorly applied to this research question. This paper ...
متن کاملMetacarpal proportions in Australopithecus africanus.
Recent work has shown that, despite being craniodentally more derived, Australopithecus africanus had more apelike limb-size proportions than A. afarensis. Here, we test whether the A. africanus hand, as judged by metacarpal shaft and articular proportions, was similarly apelike. More specifically, did A. africanus have a short and narrow first metacarpal (MC1) relative to the other metacarpals...
متن کاملThe carbon isotope ecology and diet of Australopithecus africanus at Sterkfontein, South Africa.
The stable carbon isotope ratio of fossil tooth enamel carbonate is determined by the photosynthetic systems of plants at the base of the animal's foodweb. In subtropical Africa, grasses and many sedges have C(4)photosynthesis and transmit their characteristically enriched 13C/(12)C ratios (more positive delta13C values) along the foodchain to consumers. We report here a carbon isotope study of...
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ژورنال
عنوان ژورنال: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
سال: 2009
ISSN: 0027-8424,1091-6490
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0808730106