New evidence on the diet of the `Homo antecessor` from Atapuerca
(PHYSorg.com Archaeology & Fossils)

The Homo antecessor, a hominin species that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula around 800,000 years ago, had a mechanically more demanding diet than other hominin species in Europe and the African continent. This unique pattern, characterized by the consumption of hard and abrasive foods, may be explained by the differences in food processing in a very demanding environment with fluctuations in climate and food resources, according to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports and led by a team from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona, the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) and the University of Alicante.