Scientists have unraveled the mystery 2 million years ago, finding the portrait of the creature at the top of the food chain in the jungles and savannahs full of beasts: they are of human blood.
Rather, they are “transitional” species, which are gradually shedding the appearance and nature of hominids in favor of a true human. Said to be the most developed at that time, Homo erectus – the upright man – knew how to make and use tools, but still had a small brain and a body with many hominid features.
Dietary change, transitioning from the predominantly beastly meal of the early species to the more vegetable-rich meal of the later species. This change is mainly due to adaptation to the living environment – Photo: American Journal of Physical Anthropology
This species and its cousins from 2.5 to 2 million years ago had a diet rich in… mammoths and other beasts, the group of creatures at the top of the ancient food chain, according to research from Tel Aviv University in Israel and Minho University in Portugal.
They were nothing like our previous image of the ancient hunter-gatherers. Different from the more peaceful hunter-gatherer group later, when humans really possessed the shape and properties asymptotically modern.
Fossil skull from an early human – Photo: Nature
According to Dr. Miki Ben-Dor from Tel Aviv University, a member of the research team, this can be explained simply: later hunter-gatherer groups, such as our ancestors Homo sapiens, could not continue. close to a world filled with monsters like in ancient times, so they did not develop towards the top of the food chain, having a more gentle diet. The first Homo sapiens still hunted and ate beasts, but much less often.
As for the group of humans 2.5 to 2 million years ago, almost exclusively eating beasts. Because they lived in a world dominated by the last “great ice age,” leaving Europe and North America today always buried by thick glaciers, according to Science Alert.
Ecosystems around the globe are filled with roaming large animals, such as mammoths, mastodons, giant sloths weighing tons… Researchers used chemical analysis of bones and tooth enamel. to find local examples of their diets and claim the point.
It is this amazing hunting ability that has helped humans “shift the time” to feed their brains that are always hungry for energy, making an important contribution to brain development.
Of course this does not mean that – we – modern humans should eat more meat, because humanity has evolved very far and each species of the genus Human, each stage that species develops, the body has changed. change to adapt to the diet suitable for the living environment while still ensuring health.
The study has just been published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
Source: bianvn.com
