Nut‐like oil seeds
Food for monkeys, chimpanzees, humans, and probably ape‐men
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8319286 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Charles R Peters (University of Georgia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1987 |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 333-363 |
| Publication date | 1987-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ajpa.1330730306 |
| PMID | 3113265 |
| OpenAlex | W2104852470 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 62 |
| References cited | 77 |
The hypothetical hyperrobust australopithecine gnathic nutcracker adaptation is reexamined in light of ecobotanical information on edible wild nuts provided by the flora of tropical and subtropical Africa. The nut producing species are tree‐forms. Those of the forest region do not as a rule produce fruits with edible mesocarps. In contrast, the woodland savanna species (particularly in the Zambezian region) characteristically provide an important whole fruit, i.e., a nutritious mesocarp in addition to edible oil‐rich nut seeds. These fruits drop from the tree before they are fully mature and go through the final ripening phase on the ground. They are important seasonal foods for a variety of vertebrates, including primates, elephants, and antelope. Altogether the nuts exhibit a broad range of toughness values, measured here as strength under compression. The woodland nuts are not as tough (177–934 kg force, breaking load) as those of the tropical forest (192–1,673 kg force). The seed‐predators of the woodland species include squirrels, baboons, warthogs, and parrots. Paleoecological analyses indicate that it was the woodland nuts that were probably available to Australopithecus boisei and A. robustus. Preliminary estimates of adult male gnathic nut‐cracking capabilities suggest that A. boisei could have orally cracked a significant portion of the woodland nuts. In spite of this, ecobotanical data indicate that we can probably reject the hypothesis that these hominids were year‐round gnathic nut‐cracking specialists. Both the indirect and direct evidence support this conclusion
Biology · Frugivore · Habitat · Nut · Predation · Woodland · Ecology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Palaeoecological reconstruction and hominid land use of the Lake Natron basin during the Early Pleistocene
Grandmothering and the evolution ofHomo erectus
Vegetation and plant food reconstruction of lowermost Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, using modern analogs
Craniodental biomechanics and dietary toughness in the genus
A proper study for mankind
The correspondence between diet and masticatory morphology in a range of extant primates
The Diets of Non-human Primates
Gut Morphology and the Avoidance of Carrion among Chimpanzees, Baboons, and Early Hominids
The use of bone surface modificationsto model hominid lifeways during the Oldowan
The Phylogenetic Relationships of Robust Australopiths
Baboons and the Paleobiology of Paranthropus
Dental Functional Morphology
The feeding biomechanics and dietary ecology of Australopithecus africanus
Mechanical Properties of Plant Underground Storage Organs and Implications for Dietary Models of Early Hominins
Hard-Object Feeding in Sooty Mangabeys (Cercocebus atys) and Interpretation of Early Hominin Feeding Ecology
Excavation of a Chimpanzee Stone Tool Site in the African Rainforest
Ethnopharmacology
Use-wear and residue analysis of pounding tools used by wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) from Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brazil)
Experimental protocols for the study of battered stone anvils from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania)
Flaked stones and old bones
Adult and juvenile bearded capuchin monkeys handle stone hammers differently during nut‐cracking
Physical properties of palm fruits processed with tools by wild bearded capuchins ( Cebus libidinosus )
Tooth use and the physical properties of food
Hominization in the rainforest
Hunter–Gatherer Land Use Patterns in Later Stone Age East Africa
Problems with Paranthropus
Why Don't Chimpanzees in Gabon Crack Nuts
Shell strength and primate seed predation of nontoxic species in eastern and southern Africa
Wild capuchin monkeys spontaneously adjust actions when using hammer stones of different mass to crack nuts of different resistance
Shallow‐water habitats as sources of fallback foods for hominins
Technical intelligence and culture
Seasonal or ecological differences in diet and molar microwear in Cebus nigrivittatus
Kinematics and energetics of nut‐cracking in wild capuchin monkeys ( Cebus libidinosus ) in Piauí, Brazil
Viewpoints
Unexpected hard‐object feeding in Western lowland gorillas
Indentation as a technique to assess the mechanical properties of fallback foods
Seed‐breaking forces exerted by orang‐utans with their teeth in captivity and a new technique for estimating forces produced in the Wild
Technical note
Hardness as a basis of fruit choice in two sympatric primates
Cooking increases net energy gain from a lipid‐rich food
Viewpoints
Sex and age differences in the diet and ingestive behaviors of sooty mangabeys ( Cercocebus atys ) in the Tai forest, Ivory coast
Percussion tools in Olduvai Beds I and II (Tanzania)
Africa's wild C4 plant foods and possible early hominid diets
Strontium-calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) of Australopithecus robustus and associated fauna from Swartkrans
Functional ecology and evolution of hominoid molar enamel thickness
Taphonomic perspectives on hominid site use and foraging strategies during Bed II times at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
Habitats of three groups of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in western Tanzania compared
Archaeological predictions for hominid land use in the paleo-Olduvai Basin, Tanzania, during lowermost Bed II times
Bite force, diet, and cranial morphology of fossil hominids
Linking primatology and archaeology
Primate dietary ecology in the context of food mechanical properties
Chewing efficiency and occlusal functional morphology in modern humans
Old stones' song
Pounding tools in HWK EE and EF-HR (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)
The game of models
Food mechanical properties, feeding ecology, and the mandibular morphology of wild orangutans
Seasonal and habitat effects on the nutritional properties of savanna vegetation
Dental chipping supports lack of hard-object feeding in Paranthropus boisei
Enamel chipping and its ecological correlates in African papionins
Correlates of Vocal Tract Evolution in Late Pliocene and Pleistocene Hominins
Philopatry at the frontier
The useful plants of west tropical Africa.
Human origins
Chimpanzees of Sapo Forest, Liberia
Distribution of the primates on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika
The chimpanzee of Filabanga, western Tanzania
Contribution to the study of alimentation of lowland gorillas in the natural state, in Río Muni, republic of equatorial guinea (West Africa)
Feeding Behaviour of Chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania
The behaviour and ecology of wild orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus)
Concluding Remarks
The Behaviour of Free-living Chimpanzees in the Gombe Stream Reserve
Diet and teeth
Incisor Size and Diet in Anthropoids with Special Reference to Cercopithecidae
An ecological study of chimpanzees in a savanna woodland
The functional significance of primate mandibular form
Optimisation of Nut-Cracking With Natural Hammers By Wild Chimpanzees
The Australopithecine Face
The Seed-Eaters
Dietary Adaptations of Australopithecus and Early Homo
Fossils in the Making
The !Kung of Nyae Nyae
Olduvai Gorge
Bears, pigs, and Plio-Pleistocene hominids
Sivapithecus simonsi, a new species of miocene hominoid, with comments on the phylogenetic status of the ramapithecinae
Dental microwear and diet
Quantitative differences in dental microwear between primate species with different diets and a comment on the presumed diet of Sivapithecus
Primate communities
Note on the Phalaborwa and Their Morula Complex
Mongongo
Catalogue of Fossil Hominids. Part I
Electron‐optical microscopic study of incipient dental microdamage from experimental seed and bone crushing
Early hominid body weight and encephalization
Variations in enamel thickness and structure in East African hominids
Early hominid feeding mechanisms
Sagittal cresting in the South African australopithecines
Playing 'possum
The nut‐crackers – a new theory of the adaptations of the Ramapithecinae
Cranial morphology of Australopithecus afarensis
Relative cheek‐tooth size in Australopithecus
New estimates of early hominid body size
Multivariate discriminant analysis of dental data bearing on early hominid affinities
The Early Hominid Plant-Food Niche
Sex differences in the use of natural hammers by wild chimpanzees
Wild plant foods of the Makapansgat area
Plant types and seasonality of wild-plant foods, Tanzania to Southwestern Africa
Ceboid models for the evolution of hominoid dentition
Hunting-Scavenging Protohominids
The Seed-Eaters
Toward an Ecological Model of African Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Adaptations
Ecology and the Protohominids
On Hominid Diet before Fire
| Unique citing works | 62 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,63 |
| Citation span | 1988 - 2026 (39) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 57 |