Teeth and diet at Higher Level: The same statement as SL. HL questions ask you to deduce the diet of a hominin from its skull and to explain how such deductions are made.
Practise this as you read
- Deduce diet from skull features.
- Explain how theories allow deductions about extinct species.
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The big idea: Teeth reveal diet. By comparing the skulls of living and extinct members of the Hominidae, we can deduce whether each was an omnivore or a herbivore.
The points to remember
- Herbivore features: large, flat premolars and molars, thick enamel, big jaw, a sagittal crest for large chewing muscles.
- Omnivore features: smaller molars and a mix of tooth types for plants and meat.
- Paranthropus robustus: herbivore. Homo sapiens and Homo floresiensis: omnivores.
- Theories from living mammals let us deduce the diet of extinct species.
Remember it as: Big flat grinders = plants; smaller mixed teeth = mixed diet.
Real example: Homo floresiensis. Homo floresiensis, a human species about 1 m tall, was found in Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, in 2003; its small teeth fit a mixed diet like other members of Homo.
Trap: Name the feature and link it to what it does with the food: 'large molars' alone is not enough; 'large, flat molars that grind tough plants' is.
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How it is asked: Expect skull or teeth features to interpret, a comparison of an omnivore and a herbivore, or how the diet of an extinct species can be deduced.
A fossil hominin skull has very large, flat molars with thick enamel, a heavy jaw and a sagittal crest. Deduce its diet, giving reasons.
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