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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Study of ancient predators sheds light on how humans did -- or didn't -   
   - find food    
      
     Date:   
         May 3, 2022   
     Source:   
         Rice University   
     Summary:   
         A new analysis of the remains of ancient predators reveals new   
         information about how prehistoric humans did -- or didn't --   
         find their food.   
      
      
      
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   A new Rice University-led analysis of the remains of ancient predators   
   reveals new information about how prehistoric humans did -- or didn't --   
   find their food.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   "Sabertooth carcass consumption behavior and the dynamics of Pleistocene   
   large carnivoran guilds" was published today in the Nature Scientific   
   Reports.   
      
   For more than three decades, archaeologists thought that one potential   
   source of meat -- crucial for the development of the early human brain --   
   was the flesh abandoned from sabertooth cat kills. Until very recently,   
   researchers thought that prehistoric humans stripped flesh from abandoned   
   animal carcasses to consume, but these ancient remains suggest that   
   was not the case. The new research, conducted on fossil remains from   
   1.5 million years ago, reveals that sabertooth cats fully devoured the   
   flesh of their prey and even consumed some bones.   
      
   These iconic predators, named for their enormous upper canines, roamed   
   the landscapes of Africa, Eurasia and the Americas from the Miocene to the   
   late Pleistocene. Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, a visiting professor of   
   anthropology at Rice and the study's first author, was able to determine   
   together with his colleagues the eating habits of these prehistoric cats   
   based on their skeletons and those of their prey.   
      
   The finding is important, Domínguez-Rodrigo said, because it   
   means that early humans relied on different ways of finding sources of   
   protein. It provides more support to the idea that early humans were   
   already successful hunters.   
      
   Domínguez-Rodrigo said the research helps further this area of   
   study as it eliminates a source of this important type of food for   
   ancient humans.   
      
   However, he said, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about   
   how prehistoric humans hunted and gathered food, and these topics will   
   be the focus of future work.   
      
   Co-authors of the study included Charles Egeland from the University of   
   North Carolina at Greensboro; Lucía Cobo-Sánchez from Ko"ln   
   University in Germany; Enrique Baquedano from Museo Arqueológico   
   Regional de Alcalá de Henares in Madrid, Spain; and Richard Hulbert   
   from the Florida Museum of Natural History.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Rice_University. Original written   
   by Amy McCaig. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Manuel Domi'nguez-Rodrigo, Charles P. Egeland, Luci'a Cobo-Sa'nchez,   
         Enrique Baquedano, Richard C. Hulbert. Sabertooth carcass   
         consumption behavior and the dynamics of Pleistocene large   
         carnivoran guilds.   
      
         Scientific Reports, 2022; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09480-7   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220503190203.htm   
      
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