"So you want to eat what your ancestors ate? Are you sure?"

[Korn]

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/fe...nterpret_f4_fs

Hunger and Fear
By Rick Gore
Senior Assistant Editor of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine


“You want to eat what your ancestors ate?” Lee Berger is driving across the veld, or grasslands, of South Africa when he stops to ask this question. The ancestors he is talking about did not live last century, nor even within modern memory. They are early hominids.

Without waiting for an answer, Berger opens his door and heads for a cluster of reddish brown termite mounds. A jackal howls in the distance, while zebras nearby snort at our intrusion. Berger licks a long blade of grass and pokes it in one of the larger mounds. He pulls the blade out, laden with termites, and pops a few in his mouth.

“Mmmm, like herbs,” he says, smiling. “They’re good when you’re really hot. They have all this acid in them, and it makes your mouth water. Try one.”


I do. A crunch between the front teeth, a squirt, and an aftertaste I find more astringent than mmmm.

“Our ancestors would have eaten them, just as chimpanzees and some hunter-gatherers still do,” he says. “They’re pretty high in protein.”

His eyes scan the grasslands around us.

“Do you realize how much food is out here—if you aren’t picky?” he says, catching a grasshopper. “Have him. A bit gritty, but chockablock in nutrients.” He rolls over a rock and grimaces at a centipede. “Don’t eat that. It’ll sting the heck out of you,” he cautions before looking under another rock.

“If you really want to understand your ancestors, you’ve got to come to environments like this,” he continues. “Just walking on the veld, they would have encountered all kinds of nutritious things—a field mouse or a bird’s eggs or flying ants. And some of the roots and tubers out here make terrific food.”...




Even in times of plenty, survival for any early hominid was no small challenge. Big cats probably posed the greatest threat, but Berger and a colleague of his at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Ron Clarke, recently identified another predator and in the process may have solved a long-standing murder mystery: the death of the Taung child.

More here: Hunger and Fear

[cedarblue]

interesting, thanks.

[Korn]

Here's another, short quote for people who assume that all humans ancestors always have been eating meat, and that humans only recently has started to explore living on a meat free diet):

"I skate to where the puck is going, not to where it's been".
Wayne Gretzky

[Korn]

The problem with wanting to eating what our ancestors ate is of course that one could pick any preferred segment of the evolution that lead to development of humans as we look, live and behave today, and claim that this random group of living beings living in one specific period are 'our ancestors'.

A group of scientists have now claimed to have found 'the link', and the findings will be presented this month/year on various magazines, books (the first will be released tomorrow) and TV stations.

So - what did 'Ida' (Darwinius masillae) eat?

A body weight of 650–900 g lies above Kay's threshold separating insectivorous primates from those gaining their protein from leaves [58]. Study of the contents of the digestive tract of Darwinius masillae recovered from plate B has shown the presence of leaves and a fruit in the digestive tract, while remains of insects are missing [24].

From today's press release from National History Museum, The University of Oslo:

"The fossil also features the complete soft body outline as well as the gut contents; a
herbivore, Ida feasted on fruits, seeds and leaves before she died."

David Attenborough on Ida:
http://www.revealingthelink.com/the-implications/

[Cherry]

Thanks for that!

[Korn]

You're welcome!

I'm sure there will be lots of discussions about the significance of Ida - including discussions about whether Ida is "the missing ink", how many missing links there are, and of course about whether there are links missing at all. At least they have found a 47 million year old, almost complete fossil of what seems to be an herbivorous specimen and also one of the ancestors of the human race, so this news story may certainly serve as a comment about the very vague term "our ancestors" and what they ate.

The fossil's name (Ida) has been given to this fossil not by those who found it but buy those who bought it and later studied it. (Ida is the name of dr. Hurum's daughter). Dr. Hurum is the same researcher who presented the findings of the giant arctic 'sea monster' a few months ago - the biggest sea reptile is on record.

I haven't seen any DNA references (is that even possible with a 47 million year old fossil?), and I'm not sure how much this finding actually proves, but Ida has nails (unlike lemurs), opposable thumbs and forward-facing eyes, so a link to current humans is at least very likely.

I'll try to see the BBC documentary soon (in UK it's next Tuesday, 9 pm on BBC 1) and check how David Attenborough will present this finding. He seems to think that this is the link that's no longer missing.

[1gentlemaorispirit]

I've just been reading about 'Ida' in the news. Interesting! I'll await to see what unfolds for 'her'.

Thanks for the article!

[Cherry]

I love David Attenborough. (Sorry, that was a bit random!)

I was always frustrated by people talking about 'the missing link'. It's not as if you're going to find every single step of human evolution in the fossil record - there must be millions of missing links.

[Veggie671]

I always think it's funny that people have the vision of our ancestors as being cavemen/women who ate big hunks of meat off of the bone always use the argument that our ancestors ate meat. Why is it that nobody seems interested in doing other things our ancestors used to? Should we also go back to living in homes without electricity or plumbing, or walking everywhere because our ancestors used to? Why are people so intent on progressing with the times in everything except their food? Wait, I forgot, they have progressed from fresh food to prepackaged and chemical laden crap, guess I was wrong.

[DavidT]

Here's another, short quote for people who assume that all humans ancestors always have been eating meat, and that humans only recently has started to explore living on a meat free):

"I skate to where the puck is going, not to where it's been".
Wayne Gretzky

Or:

Throughout your life,
Whatever your goal,
Watch the doughnut,
Not the hole.

[Roxy]

No, I don't want to eat what my ancestors ate, but I do really like that quote and I'm going to use it. Thanks Korn!

"I skate to where the puck is going, not to where it's been".
Wayne Gretzky

[Korn]

Don't watch this clip, unless you are an occasional visitor who thinks that humans should eat what our ancestors are, which, as we know, included earthworms, larvae, beetles, mealworms etc. Actually, you probably don't want to watch the clip at all.




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...eendoffood.htm

By most accounts, that narrative started about three million years ago, with Australopithecus, a diminutive ancestor who lived in the prehistoric African forest and ate mainly what could be found there-fruits, leaves, larvae, and bugs. Australopithecus surely ate some meat (probably scavenged from carcasses, as he was too small to do much hunting), but most of his calories came from plants, and this herbivorous strategy was reflected in every element of Australopithecus's being.