We celebrate the centenary of Nature’s announcement of the discovery of the Taung child, Australopithecus africanus, a discovery that confirmed Africa as humanity’s cradle and revolutionised ...

But scientists have struggled to determine when meat consumption began and who did it. New research provides the first direct evidence that Australopithecus, an important early human ancestor that ...

Scientists suggest meat consumption was pivotal to humans’ development of larger brains, but the transition probably didn’t start with Australopithecus, according to a new study Margherita ...

Nitrogen isotope analysis of tooth enamel reveals no evidence of meat consumption in Australopithecus. New research published in the journal Science suggests that early human ancestors, such as ...

But evidence of when prehistoric people started eating meat has been difficult to find. Australopithecus was a hominin—a human-like mammal—that walked on two legs but had smaller brains than ...

The most famous Australopithecus fossil is the one nicknamed Lucy The incorporation of meat into the diet was a milestone for the human evolutionary lineage, a potential catalyst for advances such ...

New research provides the first direct evidence of whether Australopithecus, an important early human ancestor, consumed meat or plant-based diet. A new study published in the American Journal of ...

Australopithecus had a variable but plant-based diet, according to an analysis of stable isotope data from seven hominin specimens dating back 3.5 million years from Sterkfontein in South Africa.

Human ancestors like Australopithecus -- which lived around 3.5 million years ago in southern Africa -- ate very little to no meat, according to new research. This conclusion comes from an ...

By comparing these isotopic signatures to those of coexisting animals – including herbivores like antelopes and monkeys, as well as carnivores such as hyenas and big cats – the scientists established ...

A composite skeleton and an array of other bones belonging to multiple members of a previously unknown hominin species(Courtesy John Hawks/Wits University) When ...