Calcium isotopic ecology of Turkana Basin hominins

Jeremy E. Martin (), Théo Tacail, José Braga, Thure E. Cerling and Vincent Balter
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Jeremy E. Martin: CNRS, ENSL, LGL-TPE, Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1
Théo Tacail: University of Bristol
José Braga: University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits
Thure E. Cerling: University of Utah
Vincent Balter: CNRS, ENSL, LGL-TPE, Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Diet is a major driver of hominin evolution, but most of the geochemical evidence relies on carbon isotopes (δ13C). Here, we report enamel stable calcium isotope (δ44/42Ca) values against δ13C values for several hominins and co-existing primates in the Turkana Basin area, circa 4 to 2 Ma. Australopithecus anamensis clusters with mammal browsers, Kenyanthropus platyops is distinct from A. anamensis in foraging into more open environments and the coexisting Theropithecus brumpti encompasses both the grazer and omnivore/carnivore domains. Early Homo is remarkable for its wide distribution in δ44/42Ca values, possibly reflecting omnivorous and opportunistic preferences. Paranthropus boisei is uniquely distributed in the δ13C versus δ44/42Ca iso-space being distinct from all other hominins from the Turkana Basin area as well as from the co-existing Theropithecus oswaldi. Several hypotheses are explored to discuss the unique δ44/42Ca values of Paranthropus boisei including significant differences observed with δ44/42Ca values recently reported for P. robustus from South Africa, questioning the monophyly of this genus.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17427-7

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