Walker A
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1981 May 8;292(1057):57-64. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1981.0013.
Hypotheses concerning the diet of early hominids have played an important role in discussions on human evolution. Three investigations have helped define the extent to which dietary hypotheses may be taken and still be testable. Comparative anatomy is a fairly coarse approach, which despite convergences allows only the most specialized diets to be ruled out. A biomechanical analysis makes it clear that the changes in jaw and tooth form are subtle and outside the resolution given by present understanding of cranial function. Analysis of the microscopic tooth wear of extant species has been carried out. Major dietary types can be distinguished by their microwear. The microwear on fossil hominids appears to rule out certain diets that have been proposed for them.
关于早期原始人类饮食的假说在人类进化的讨论中发挥了重要作用。三项研究有助于确定饮食假说在何种程度上是可以接受且仍能进行检验的。比较解剖学是一种相当粗略的方法，尽管存在趋同现象，但它只能排除最特殊的饮食类型。生物力学分析表明，颌骨和牙齿形态的变化很细微，超出了目前对颅骨功能理解所能给出的分辨率范围。已对现存物种的牙齿微观磨损进行了分析。主要的饮食类型可以通过它们的微观磨损来区分。化石原始人类的微观磨损似乎排除了一些为它们所提出的特定饮食。
