Thread by @weatherindia

Our Human Ancestors Were Apex Predators that Mostly Ate Meat for 2 Million Years: Study

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In a world far older than our tame streets lined with fast-food joints, cafes and global supermarkets, a stone-age man stalked his large prey to attack it at the right moment with the most advanced stone tools available to him.

#Discovery #evolution

Researchers at Tel Aviv University reconstructed their nutritional intake, only to find that humans were apex predators for about two million years!

#Discovery #evolution

The popular belief until now has been that humans were able to survive due to their dietary flexibility, which allowed them to combine the hunting of animals with vegetable foods.

#Discovery #evolution

Researchers explain that at the end of the stone age, the combination of extinction of large animals, otherwise known as megafauna, with the decline of animal food sources led to an increase in vegetable intake in human diets.

#Discovery #evolution

"Archaeological evidence does not overlook the fact that stone-age humans also consumed plants," explained Dr Miki Ben-Dor of the American Physical Anthropology Association. "But according to this study, plants only became a major component of the human diet toward the end."

While the entire #ecosystem has changed drastically from the stone age, the researchers identified evidence by examining the memory preserved in current human bodies in the form of metabolism, genetics, and physical build.

#Discovery #evolution

One prominent piece of evidence came to light by studying the acid content of the human stomach. In comparison to other omnivores, and some predators, acidity in the human stomach is much higher.

#Discovery #evolution

Its existence provides support to the hypothesis of meat consumption, as prehistoric humans would require high levels of acidity to protect their digestive system from large amounts of bacteria present in old animal meat.

#Discovery #evolution

While the findings of this study address various claims regarding the biological and cultural evolution of humans, it also provokes a great non-scientific controversy.

#Discovery #evolution