Calcium isotopic ecology of Turkana Basin hominins

Abstract

Diet is a major driver of hominin evolution, but most of the geochemical evidence relies on carbon isotopes (δ13C). Here, we report enamel stable calcium isotope (δ44/42Ca) values against δ13C values for several hominins and co-existing primates in the Turkana Basin area, circa 4 to 2 Ma. Australopithecus anamensis clusters with mammal browsers, Kenyanthropus platyops is distinct from A. anamensis in foraging into more open environments and the coexisting Theropithecus brumpti encompasses both the grazer and omnivore/carnivore domains. Early Homo is remarkable for its wide distribution in δ44/42Ca values, possibly reflecting omnivorous and opportunistic preferences. Paranthropus boisei is uniquely distributed in the δ13C versus δ44/42Ca iso-space being distinct from all other hominins from the Turkana Basin area as well as from the co-existing Theropithecus oswaldi. Several hypotheses are explored to discuss the unique δ44/42Ca values of Paranthropus boisei including significant differences observed with δ44/42Ca values recently reported for P. robustus from South Africa, questioning the monophyly of this genus.