When it came to eating, an upright, 2-million-year-old African
hominid had a diet unlike virtually all other known human
ancestors, says a study led by the Max Planck Institute of
Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and involving the
University of Colorado Boulder. The study indicated that
Australopithecus sediba -- a short, gangly hominid that lived in
South Africa -- ate harder foods than other early hominids,
targeting trees, bushes and fruits. In contrast, virtually all
other ancient human ancestors tested from Africa -- including
Paranthropus boisei, dubbed "Nutcracker Man" because of its
massive jaws and teeth -- focused more on grasses and sedges,
said CU-Boulder doctoral student Paul Sandberg, a co-author on
the new study. The A. sediba diet was analyzed using a technique
that involved zapping fossilized teeth with a laser, said
Sandberg. The laser frees telltale carbon from the enamel of
teeth, allowing scientists to pinpoint the types of plants that
were consumed and the environments in wh