Maternal secrets of our early ancestors were unlocked – ScienceDaily

Tooth badysis of over two million years from Australopithecus africanus Fossils found in South Africa revealed that infants were badfed continuously from birth to about a year. Nursing seems to continue cyclically in the early years in infants; Seasonal changes and food shortages led the mother to supplement the meal with bad milk. An international research team led by Dr. Renaud Joannes-Boyau of Southern Cross University, as well as Dr. Luca Fiorenza and Dr. Justin W. Adams of Monash University, has published details of their research on the subject. species in Nature aujourd & # 39; hui.

"For the first time, we gained new insights into how our ancestors raised their young and how mothers supplemented solid foods with bad milk when resources were scarce," said Dr. Joannes. Boyau, geochemist at the Research Group on Geoarchaeology and Archeometry (GARG) at Southern Cross University.

"These findings suggest for the first time the existence of a long-lasting relationship between mother and baby in Australopithecus, which forces us to rethink the social organizations of our oldest ancestors," said the Dr. Fiorenza, expert in the evolution of human beings. diet at the Monash Biomedicine Institute of Discovery (BDI).

"Basically, our discovery of a dependency by Australopithecus africanus Mothers will provide nutritional supplementation to their offspring and the use of relief resources highlights the survival issues that ancient ancestor populations have faced in the past environments of South Africa "said Dr. Adams, an expert in homino palaeoecology and South African sites at Monash BDI.

For decades, there has been speculation about how early ancestors raised their children. With this study, the research team has opened a new window on our enigmatic evolutionary history.

Australopithecus africanus lived about two to three million years ago during a period of great climatic and ecological changes in South Africa, and the species was characterized by a combination of human-like and conserved traits. While the earliest Australopithecine fossils were discovered nearly a century ago, scientists are only able to uncover the secrets of how they raised their youngsters by using Specialized laser sampling techniques to vaporize microscopic parts on the surface of the tooth. The gas containing the sample is then badyzed with the aid of a mbad spectrometer in search of chemical signatures, allowing researchers to develop microscopic geochemical maps that can tell the story. of the diet and health of an individual. Dr. Joannes-Boyau led the badyzes at the Southern Geology and Archeometry Research Group at Southern Cross University in Lismore NSW and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

The teeth grow in the same way as the trees. they form by adding layer after layer of enamel and dentin tissue each day. Thus, teeth are particularly useful for reconstructing biological events occurring during the early years of an individual's life, simply because they preserve accurate temporal changes and chemical records of key elements embedded in foods that we let's eat.

By developing micro-geochemical maps, we are able to "read" successive bands of daily signals in the teeth, which provide insights into food consumption and life stages. Previously, the team had revealed the nursing behavior of our next-of-kin, the Neanderthals. With this latest study, the international team badyzed teeth ten times older than those of Neanderthals.

"The repetitive bands appearing as tooth development indicates that the recovery food was high in lithium, which would be a mechanism to reduce protein deficiency in infants more prone to adverse effects during pregnancy. periods of growth, "said Dr. Joannes Dit Boyau.

"This probably reduced the potential number of offspring, because of the length of time infants were dependent on a supply of bad milk.The close relationship between the mother and the offspring for a number of years has implications for group dynamics, the social structure of the species, the between the mother and the child and the priority to be given to maintaining access to reliable food supplies, "he said.

"This discovery highlights the diversity, variability and flexibility of habitats and adaptation strategies used by these Australopithes to feed, avoid predators and rear their offspring," said Dr. Adams.

"This is the first direct evidence of the maternal role of one of our oldest ancestors and contributes to our understanding of the history of family dynamics and childhood," concluded Dr. Fiorenza.

The team will now work on the species that have evolved since then to form the first complete record of how babies have been raised throughout history.

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