The Fossil-Record Evidence about Human Diet

Comparative Anatomy and Physiology Brought Up to Date

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S F O R

PART 3
The Fossil-Record Evidence
about Human Diet

Introduction
- Meat a part of human diet for ~2.5 million years
- Early hominid diet was mixed, not exclusive
- "Natural" behavior a function of evolution
Examining the rationalizations and denials of the fossil-record evidence of human diet
- Claim: What about the time before humans? Aren't there tooth-wear studies that prove Australopithecus was a fruitarian?
- Claim: Our prehistoric ancestors could not eat meat prior to the advent of tools.
- Claim: Eating meat is a perversion and UNnatural, but it does not affect reproduction. Hence, eating meat does not affect evolutionary selection.
Diet, evolution, and culture
- Feedback loop between evolution and culture
- Diet and early social organization
  - Did the human brain give rise to culture and tool use, or vice versa?
- Evidence of dietary culture in non-human primates
Fruitarian extremists retreat into creationism
Adaptation in action: fruitarian reaction to new information
- Ironic, contradictory views of "nature's laws"

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SEE TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR:
PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9