Is eating like our ancestors good for us?_美文

Is eating like our ancestors good for us?

Anthropologists say the teeth came from Australopithecus sediba or A. sediba. It is one of several hominins, or ape-like species, that no longer exist. They are believed to be relatives -- but not direct ancestors -- of homo sapiens, or modern humans.

The small A. sediba walked upright, just like a homo sapien. But it had a face, a small brain and long arms more like a chimpanzee. A study of material found in its fossilized teeth showed the creature ate a very chimp-like diet of bark, twigs, nuts and berries.

Darryl de Ruiter is an associate professor of anthropology at Texas A&M University. He was part of the team that first dug up and examined the remains. He says anthropologists looked closely at the sticky plaque still on the creature's teeth.

"It's that stuff -- that plaque -- that builds up on your teeth if you don't brush them regularly. And since these Australopiths did not brush their teeth, we have a fairly good record of preserved plant parts that were stuck in their teeth, that actually told us in very clear terms what they actually, physically put in their mouth and chewed on."

Professor de Ruiter says documented diets of other Australopiths that lived on grasslands show they had some form of protein or meat in their diets. He says it appears A. sediba is the first hominid to survive almost completely on a forest-based diet. He says this suggests it lived in a more wooded environment than scientists thought.