Dental Microwear and Diets of Plio-Pleistocene Hominids

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Knowledge of the diets of our fossil ancestors can tell us much about their biology and ecology, and the sorts of foods modern humans are adapted to eat. Recent studies of living primates have shown relationships between diet and patterns of microscopic wear on teeth, and that dental microwear can help reconstruct the diets of fossil species. This study will involve a comprehensive analysis of dental microwear in our hominid forebearers dated to between 4.1 and 1.5 million years ago. Nearly 1200 teeth will be examined and molded at museums in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. These teeth will be examined using a Scanning Electron Microscope. Patterns of microscopic tooth wear will be quantified and compared among the hominids and to a series of living primates to determine the diets of the fossil forms. Results will provide new perspectives on key questions in human origins research. What role did diet play in the origins and early evolution of our family? How did diet change through time in early hominid lineages? Were there geographic differences in diet among the hominids? Did hominid species that lived in the same place in the time period differ in their diets?