Ancient human mysteries bear the powerful teeth

An ancient lineage of man who once had big, strong teeth like large and mighty primates of modern times.

Research led by anthropologist Dr. Adam van Casteren from Washington University in St. Louis (USA) has shattered the theory that humans used to be predators, primarily because of their consumption. Crude plants easily damage small and vulnerable teeth.

New evidence unravels the mystery of austrolopiths , an ancient group of people who proved to be ancestors of many later humans, including our modern Homo sapiens.

Skull austrolopiths - (photo: museum of Australia).

Australopith (or australopithecine, australopithecus, Southern ape) is a branch of the Ancients, evolved in eastern Africa from 4.2 million years ago and became extinct 1.9 million years ago. New evidence suggests that unlike early descendants, early austrolopiths had a large set of jaws, extremely powerful jaw muscles, and large teeth similar to other large species in primates, such as chimpanzees. .

"All these properties show that they have the ability to create a great bite force, so are not restricted to hard foods such as nuts, seeds, hard tubers underground" - PhD Casteren said.

The image of the enamel analysis reveals the details of the powerful teeth of our ancestors - (photo: WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST LOUIS).

Researching on the hardest seed pods that modern humans certainly can't bite, the authors found that it was only enough to create superficial scratches on the surface, not the agents of the posterior apertures. or grooves, cracks in tooth enamel.

This suggests that from very distant ancestors, humans have evolved to adapt to a varied diet, including grains and grains. The ability to eat a variety, not relying solely on meat, is one of the factors that help humans in history to cope with other harsh situations. One of the obvious examples is that our Homo sapiens, humans, can eat almost any kind of food and become the only un extinct species of the genus Man.

The research has just been published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.