Dinner with Lucy: what does Paranthropus boisei bring to the table?

Overview & Synopsis

Recent findings have transformed our thinking about early hominin diets. Most notably, evidence from dental microwear, carbon isotopes, and dental chipping has challenged notions of hard object feeding in “Nutcracker Man”, Paranthropus boisei Leakey, 1959. Less attention has been paid to its likely ancestor, Australopithecus afarensis Johanson, White & Coppens, 1978. Yet, there are reasons to suspect that disruptive ideas about P. boisei diet are highly relevant for Lucy and her kin. These reasons include: 1) the dental microwear of Au. afarensis and P. boisei is virtually identical, and shows no evidence of variation linked to habitat change; 2) the carbon isotope ratios of Au. afarensis are similar to those of early Paranthropus Broom, 1938 in the Omo; and 3) Au. afarensis manifests an early stage of a masticatory trend that reaches its quintessence in P. boisei, making it reasonable to argue that these taxa experienced similar selective pressures regarding diet. In this paper, we discuss the dietary ecology of Au. afarensis in light of lessons gleaned from its highly derived and enigmatic descendant P. boisei.