Publications by authors named "Nikolaas J van der Merwe"
Article Synopsis
- The stable carbon isotope ratios in fossil tooth enamel indicate the types of plants that formed the base of an animal's diet, with C(4) plants like grasses having distinct carbon signatures.
- A carbon isotope analysis of ten Australopithecus africanus specimens from Sterkfontein reveals significant engagement with the savanna food chain and greater dietary variation among individuals compared to other early hominins.
- The study concludes that Australopithecus africanus exhibited high adaptability and opportunism in its feeding habits, disputing claims of multiple species within this taxon.
Excavation in the previously little-explored western portion of Olduvai Gorge indicates that hominid land use of the eastern paleobasin extended at least episodically to the west. Finds included a dentally complete Homo maxilla (OH 65) with lower face, Oldowan stone artifacts, and butchery-marked bones dated to be between 1.84 and 1.
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