Re: Oldovan tools associated with Paranthropus

Pandora wrote:

Op 02-05-2025 om 17:28 schreef erik simpson:
 

Expanded geographic distribution and dietary strategies of the earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus.  (Open access)
>
Abstract
The oldest Oldowan tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago, have previously been confined to Ethiopia’s Afar Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya, dated to 3.032 to 2.581 million years ago and expand this distribution by over 1300 kilometers. Furthermore, we found two hippopotamid butchery sites associated with mosaic vegetation and a C4 grazer–dominated fauna. Tool flaking proficiency was comparable with that of younger Oldowan assemblages, but pounding activities were more common. Tool use-wear and bone damage indicate plant and animal tissue processing. Paranthropus sp. teeth, the first from southwestern Kenya, possessed carbon isotopic values indicative of a diet rich in C4 foods. We argue that the earliest Oldowan was more widespread than previously known, used to process diverse foods including megafauna, and associated with Paranthropus from its onset.

 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo7452
 "Extraoral cutting and pounding with stone tools could have provided access to carcasses and within bone nutrients, and made plant and animal tissue easier to chew and digest, potentially allowing Paranthropus to expand its diet."
 Then why the massive jaws and teeth and cranial superstructures for muscle attachment (cranial cresting) in this taxon?

"Paranthropus sp. teeth, the first from
southwestern Kenya, possessed carbon isotopic
values indicative of a diet rich in C4 foods."
A diet in transition? Not the best source but it'll do
https://www.newhistorian.com/2015/10/11/important-questions-answered-about-evolution-of-hominin-diet/
"The crucial consequence of this difference is that
C4 plants are much more suited to growing in a hot,
dry climate..."
"By expanding their diet to include C4 plants,
hominins may have been able to increase the variety
of environments in which they could survive, or
increase their chances of survival in more
changeable environments. "

See:
https://boneclones.com/images/store-product/product-1575-main-original-1415043811.jpg