Human fossils tell a fish tale.As Europe's Stone Age (jargon) Stone Age - In computer folklore, an ill-defined period from ENIAC (ca. 1943) to the mid-1950s; the great age of electromechanical dinosaurs. Sometimes used for the entire period up to 1960-61 (see Iron Age); however, it is more descriptive to characterise the latter period in terms of a "Bronze Age" era of transistor-logic, pre-ferrite core memory machines with drum or CRT mass storage (as opposed to just mercury delay lines and/or relays). began to wind down 30,000 years ago, Homo sapiens developed a taste for fish and waterfowl waterfowl, common term for members of the order Anseriformes, wild, aquatic, typically freshwater birds including ducks, geese, and screamers. In Great Britain the term is also used to designate species kept for ornamental purposes on private lakes or ponds, while in North America it is used for quarry species and is sometimes extended to refer to wading birds of the order Charadriiformes, such as plovers and sandpipers, as well as to other edible water birds. that Neandertals apparently couldn't fathom. The move to such nouveau cuisine helped seal the evolutionary fates of these two groups, according to a report in the May 22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. An analysis of fossil bones shows that early humans, who at that time were making rapid cultural advances, ate aquatic as well as land animals. In contrast, Neandertals, who died out in that period, were largely red-meat eaters. The researchers, led by anthropologist Michael P. Richards of the University of Bradford in England, measured the concentrations of certain forms of carbon and nitrogen in fossils. The team studied nine H. sapiens individuals who lived in Europe between 28,000 and 20,000 years ago and five European Neandertals ranging in age from more than 100,000 years to 28,000 years. The chemical data reflect the amount of protein an individual consumed from distinct habitats, such as freshwater wetlands and dry, inland areas. Related evidence indicates that Stone Age humans, unlike Neandertals, pursued small game that maintained their numbers in the face of intensive hunting (SN: 2/5/00, p. 85). A varied diet gave H. sapiens an evolutionary advantage over Neandertals, especially as European populations expanded in the late Stone Age, the scientists conclude. |
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