Summary: Researchers have found animal bones in Kenya which provide evidence that human ancestors living in East Africa 2 million years ago may have eaten brains of small animals. Joseph Ferraro, an anthropologist, says that eating brains could have provided the energy needed to support larger bodies. Brains helped add a side of fatty, nutrient-rich tissue to a meal. Researchers believe the gazelles they found were killed by humans because there were no other animal bites or marks.
Themes from Nature of Science:
Science is based on evidence because this is based on fossils that they found.
Role of chance - The researchers may not have been looking specifically for these types of fossils.
Role of motivation and curiosity - This topic is interesting and might lead scientists to become more curious and try to find more fossils.
Katherine Gao Hour 1 Gabel
What an interesting diet! Here is another great article on the diets of ancient African populations:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120627132047.htm
It talks about an ancient homonid called A. sediba that lived over 2 million years ago. It had huge molars and teeth, and actually concentrated on eating hard objects like nuts and bark, but also bone. This ancient species could well be the ancestors of the Kenyan brain eaters found in this study!
Wow this is really interesting I never would have known that people in Kenya used to eat brain. The link below is an article about other countries and culture who used to or currently eat brain, and what type of animal brains they eat.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_(food)