Diets of mammalian fossil fauna from Kanapoi, northwestern Kenya.

Carbon isotope ratios of mammalian teeth from the Kanapoi site in northern Kenya are interpreted in the context of C and C derived resources to investigate the paleoecology of Australopithecus anamensis. δC values of large mammals, when compared at the taxon level, show an ecosystem that is strongly biased towards mixed feeders and browsers. However, sufficient C resources were present such that some C dominated grazers were also present in the large mammal fauna. Analyses of micromammals shows that their diets were C dominated or C-C mixed. Carbon isotope studies of primates shows that the major primate tribes-Colobini, Papioini, Hominini-all made some use of C resources in their respective diets; the Hominini had a higher fraction of C diet resources than the other primate tribes represented in the fossil record.