Ape-like or hominid-like? The positional behavior of Oreopithecus bambolii reconsidered

Comparative morphological and functional analyses of the skeletal remains of Oreopithecus bambolii, a hominoid from the Miocene Mediterranean island of Tuscany–Sardinia (Italy), provides evidence that bipedal activities made up a significant part of the positional behavior of this primate. The mosaic pattern of its postcranial morphology is to some degree convergent with that of Australopithecus and functionally intermediate between apes and early hominids. Some unique traits could have been selected only under insular conditions where the absence of predators and the limitation of trophic resources play a crucial role in mammalian evolution.

Evidence of termite foraging by Swartkrans early hominids

Previous studies have suggested that modified bones from the Lower Paleolithic sites of Swartkrans and Sterkfontein in South Africa represent the oldest known bone tools and that they were used by Australopithecus robustus to dig up tubers. Macroscopic and microscopic analysis of the wear patterns on the purported bone tools, pseudo bone tools produced naturally by known taphonomic processes, and experimentally used bone tools confirm the anthropic origin of the modifications. However, our analysis suggests that these tools were used to dig into termite mounds, rather than to dig for tubers. This result indicates that early hominids from southern Africa maintained a behavioral pattern involving a bone tool material culture that may have persisted for a long period and strongly supports the role of insectivory in the early hominid diet.