Toothsome Research: Deducing the Diet of a Prehistoric Hominid (IMAGE)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Toothsome Research: Deducing the Diet of a Prehistoric Hominid

Caption

Finite element model of a cranium of the early hominid Australopithecus africanus based largely on the specimen Sts 5 (background). Color mapping indicates the magnitude of strains associated with biting on a hard object with the premolar teeth. A combination of engineering, experimental, comparative and imaging analyses suggest that premolar loading was an important component of early hominid feeding behavior.

Credit

Credit: Strait, University at Albany, SUNY. Photograph of Sts 5 by Gerhard Weber.

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