Fussy eating may have doomed ape-like humans

摘要

It was the first fussy eater. Most ancient hominins ate a broad diet but one species specialised on sedges, which might have led to its downfall. "Australopithecus bahrelghazali is probably the most enigmatic of all the australopiths," says Gabriele Macho at the University of Oxford. Its ancestors strayed from East Africa's Rift Valley - the stronghold of ape-like hominins - and headed west around 4 million years ago when the region was wet and dotted with lakes and forests. By 3.6 million years ago, A. bahrelghazali reached what is now Chad - settling a few thousand kilometres further west than any other australopith yet found.