Diet of Theropithecus from 4 to 1 Ma in Kenya

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2013-06, Vol.110 (26), p.10507-10512
• Main Authors: Cerling, Thure E., Chritz, Kendra L., Jablonski, Nina G., Leakey, Meave G., Manthi, Fredrick Kyalo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Africa, Eastern; Animal behavior; Animals; Baboons; Biological Evolution; Biological Sciences; C4 plants; Carbon Isotopes - analysis; Dental Enamel - chemistry; Diet; Diet - history; Forest resources; Fossils; Grasses; History, Ancient; Hominids; Isotopes; Kenya; Papio - metabolism; Physical Sciences; Plants, Edible - chemistry; Plants, Edible - metabolism; Primates; South Africa; Teeth; Theropithecus - growth & development; Theropithecus - metabolism; Tooth enamel
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1222571110

Theropithecus was a common large-bodied primate that co-occurred with hominins in many Plio-Pleistocene deposits in East and South Africa. Stable isotope analyses of tooth enamel from T. brumpti (4.0–2.5 Ma) and T. oswaldi (2.0–1.0 Ma) in Kenya show that the earliest Theropithecus at 4 Ma had a diet dominated by C ₄ resources. Progressively, this genus increased the proportion of C ₄-derived resources in its diet and by 1.0 Ma, had a diet that was nearly 100% C ₄-derived. It is likely that this diet was comprised of grasses or sedges; stable isotopes cannot, by themselves, give an indication of the relative importance of leaves, seeds, or underground storage organs to the diet of this primate. Theropithecus throughout the 4- to 1-Ma time range has a diet that is more C ₄-based than contemporaneous hominins of the genera Australopithecus , Kenyanthropus , and Homo ; however, Theropithecus and Paranthropus have similar proportions of C ₄-based resources in their respective diets.