Read how human nutrition has changed over the past 200 million years of its existence and what conclusions can be drawn in terms of our health and beauty today.
We climb down from the trees
There have always been times in which sudden and substantial global climate changes occurred. It could be even said that the climate has always been characterized by its continuous changes. In the wake of such a climate change many millions years ago, the African rainforest where our ancestors, the primates, conveniently enjoyed eating fruits high up in the treetops, significantly declined. Grasslands, the so-called savannas, began to spread.
As a result, some primates seemed to have left their habitat trees. They wandered through the savannas in small groups and still ate fruits, however, since those were hardly found, they were increasingly forced to eat food that was growing above and under the ground: roots, nuts, and meat of dead or hunted animals. Walking upright began to become increasingly common.
Our species-specific diet of 2 million years ago: carrion, small animals, fruits, nuts, roots
The Australopithecus was one among various upright-walking primate species that now roamed through the savannas. They were still quite ape-like in appearance, but always walked upright and lived approximately 2 million years ago in Africa. Their brain size was already larger compared to their ancestors and their diet consisted mostly of meat. This tendency was reinforced by their descendants, Homo habilis, who lived approximately 1 million years ago in Africa and may still have been quite similar in appearance.
By coincidence, we know quite well what Homo habilis subsisted on, since a small, isolated population survived on the Indonesian island of Flores until approx. 12,000 years ago. It was initially thought that these remains were from representatives of the younger species Homo erectus. However, investigations of their carpal bones have proven that they had to be representatives of the more primeval species of Homo habilis, who were obviously already able to cross waterways between islands. In any case, they left plentiful remains of their meals behind: They hunted large lizards, stegodons (a type of elephant) as well as rodents and already roasted them over the fire. This small population of Homo habilis is also particularly interesting, since they were characterized by dwarfism. They stood at just 1 meter (3.3 feet) tall and therefore, they are also called the “Hobbits”. A massive volcanic eruption 12,000 years ago brought about the extinction of the tiny humans. Incidentally, the Indonesian population is still telling stories about them and call them “Orang Pendek” or “Ebu Gogo” and believes that they are still roaming through the forests of their islands.
Homo habilis was followed by Homo erectus, who is considered as the first real human. At least 1 million years ago, they already had fire-making skills. They already had a human-like appearance – tall, slim, and a hairless body. They hunted mastodons and forest elephants with wooden spears. They spread as nomadic hunters to most parts of the world. In Asia, they evolved into Peking Man or Java Man, from which the Denisova hominins probably also derived at a later stage, while in Europe they evolved into Homo heidelbergensis, the precursor to the Neanderthals.
Our species-specific diet of 1 million years ago: elephants, big game animals, fruits, nuts
The next blog will tell you how we mated with the Neanderthals and the Golden Age began…
DDr. Heinrich, MD