“Tooth enamel is the hardest tissue of the mammalian body and can protect the isotopic finger print of an animal’s diet plan for countless years,”stated Dr. Tina Lüdecke, a geochemist at the University of the Witwatersrand.

“When animals absorb food, biochemical responses prefer the light isotope of nitrogen (¹⁴N).”

“Consequently, the deterioration items that are produced in their body consist of high percentages of ¹⁴N.”

“The excretion of these light nitrogen substances in urine, feces, or sweat increases the ratio of heavy nitrogen (¹⁵N) to this light nitrogen the body in contrast to the food it consumes.”

“This suggests that herbivores have a greater nitrogen isotope ratio than the plants they take in, while predators in turn have a greater nitrogen isotope ratio than their victim.”

“Therefore, the greater the ¹⁵N to ¹⁴N ratio in a tissue sample, the greater is the trophic position of the organism in the food web.”

Nitrogen isotope ratios have actually long been utilized to study the diet plans of modern-day animals and human beings in hair, claws, bones and lots of other natural products.

In fossil product, these measurements have actually formerly been restricted to samples that are just a couple of 10s of thousands of years old due to the destruction of natural product over time

In the brand-new research study, Dr. Lüdecke and associates utilized an unique strategy to determine nitrogen isotopes ratios in fossilized tooth enamel that is countless years of ages.

They discovered that the nitrogen isotope ratios in the tooth enamel of Australopithecus different, however were regularly low, comparable to those of herbivores, and much lower than those of modern predators.

They conclude that the diet plan of these hominins varied however consisted mostly or solely of plant-based food.

Australopithecus did sporadically hunt big mammals like, for instance, Neanderthals did a couple of million years later on.

While the scientists can not entirely dismiss the possibility of periodic intake of animal protein sources like eggs or termites, the proof suggests a diet plan that was mainly vegetarian.

“Our approach opens amazing possibilities for comprehending human advancement, and it has the possible to address sixty-four-thousand-dollar questions, for instance, when did our forefathers start to integrate meat in their diet plan? And was the start of meat usage connected to a boost in brain volume?” stated Dr. Alfredo Martínez-García, a scientist at limit Planck institute for Chemistry.

“This work represents a big action in extending our capability to much better comprehend diet plans and trophic level of all animals back into the scale of countless years.”

“The research study offers clear proof that its diet plan did not include substantial quantities of meat.”

“We are honored that the pioneering application of this brand-new technique was led at Sterkfontein, a website that continues to make essential contributions to science even 89 years after the very first hominin fossils were found there by Robert Broom,” stated Professor Dominic Stratford, Director of Research at the Sterkfontein Caves.

The research study was released in the journal Science

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Tina Lüdecke et al2025. Australopithecus at Sterkfontein did not take in considerable mammalian meat. Science 387 (6731 ): 309-314; doi: 10.1126/ science.adq7315