Thursday 18 October 2012

Earliest Porotic Hyperostosis on a 1.5-Million-Year-Old Hominin, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania.


Domínguez-Rodrigo, M., Pickering, T.R., Diez-Martín, F., Mabulla, A., Musiba, C., Trancho, G., Baquedano, E., Bunn, H.T., Barboni, D., Santonja, M., Uribelarrea, D., Ashley, G.M., Martínez-Ávila, M.d.S., Barba, R., Gidna, A., Yravedra, J., Arriaza, C., 2012. PLoS ONE 7, e46414.  

Fragments of right parietal of a ~2year-old from 1.5mya site at Olduvai shows signs of porotic hyperostosis, which suggests anemia, a condition most common at weaning (although also associated with malaria).  This condition is virtually unknown in chimpanzees.  The authors suggest that this find provides evidence for a substantial meat component to the diet of the hominins this infant represents.





 

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