{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='SOUTH AFRICA: EVOLUTION: BONES USED TO DIG OUT TERMITES' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c384d8eafeecae161db9' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c384d8eafeecae161db9' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nSOUTH AFRICA: EVOLUTION: BONES USED TO DIG OUT TERMITES\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eEnglish/NatIn a finding that could challenge theories about why humans evolved, researchers have found that early South African human ancestors used bone tools to dig out termites for food.Previously, scientists thought that the tiny,...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eEnglish/Nat\u003cbr/\u003eIn a finding that could challenge theories about why humans evolved, researchers have found that early South African human ancestors used bone tools to dig out termites for food.\u003cbr/\u003ePreviously, scientists thought that the tiny, parallel ridges on bone fossils dating from 1 million to 2 million years ago were created when early humans used the bones to dig up tubers and roots.\u003cbr/\u003eBut in a paper published Tuesday, a South African and a French researcher conclude that the scratches were created when the bones were used to penetrate the hard crust of termite mounds.\u003cbr/\u003eThe finding appears to confirm speculation by anthropologist Jane Goodall as early as 1963 that human ancestors probably used tools to capture termites, much like chimpanzees.\u003cbr/\u003eThe paper, written by a doctoral student, Lucinda Backwell, at Johannesburg's University of Witwatersrand and Francesco d'Errico of University of Bordeaux, is published on the website of the Washington-based journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.\u003cbr/\u003eThe bone tools were found in the 1970s and 1980s on three South African sites along with remains of Homo habilis, which later evolved into the modern human, and Australopithecus robustus, an early homid that became extinct 1 million years ago.\u003cbr/\u003eThe tools, believed to be the oldest in the world, provide the earliest direct link to human diet, according to the author of the paper.\u003cbr/\u003eLucinda Backwell says they could mean that the robustus species was not vegetarian, as previously thought.\u003cbr/\u003eSOUNDBITE: (English)\u003cbr/\u003e\"Well the significance is quite great in that for the first time I've been able to prove what people \u003cbr/\u003elike Jane Goodall predicted in the 1960s so long ago that hominids ate termites, but we've never had the proof. So I'm happy to be able to give you that proof now.\"\u003cbr/\u003eSUPERCAPTION: Lucinda Backman, Doctoral student\u003cbr/\u003eStudies of the chemical composition of robustus remains last year indicated that they ate meat, something that puzzled researchers who had looked at the species' teeth and concluded it was vegetarian. \u003cbr/\u003eThese latest findings collaborate with the chemical findings.\u003cbr/\u003eSOUNDBITE: (English)\u003cbr/\u003e\"And perhaps most importantly, if it was the robust apeman that was the maker and user of these tools, well then it changes our textbooks because we know and traditionally its thought number one he was vegetarian which I'm showing he is not and number two he was a tool user. Because traditionally we only ever think homo, our ancestors made tools and that's what peculiar to us being human is tool use and its certainly not.\"\u003cbr/\u003eSUPERCAPTION: Lucinda Backman, Doctoral student\u003cbr/\u003eD'Errico says the findings could challenge the theory that humans evolved because they ate meat because it shows that homo sapiens' ancestors might not have been only the hominid that ate meat.\u003cbr/\u003eResearchers are now working to find out whether Homo habilis or the robustus used the tools, but d'Errico said it would make sense if it was the robustus as all fossils date only from the period that species existed.\u003cbr/\u003eAs part of their research, d'Errico and Backwell used modern bones to dig, bark trees and pulp fruits.\u003cbr/\u003eThey then remembered eating termites during a field trip about five years ago, and the two used bones to dig through the rock-hard crust of termite mounds. \u003cbr/\u003eThe scratches created were identical to those found on the fossils, proving to Backwell and d'Errico that the bones had been used to dig out the nutritious insects.\u003cbr/\u003eTermites, still enjoyed as a delicacy by many Africans, contain 550 calories per 100 grams - almost twice as many as rump-steak.\u003cbr/\u003eBut termites come out of their nests only after rain, meaning they are an unreliable food source unless you can dig them out.\u003cbr/\u003eIf it was the robustus species that used the bone tools, it would indicate it was more intelligent than previously thought, because the tool-users always picked weathered straight splinters between 13 and 19 centimeters (5.1 to 7.5 inches) long, Backwell said.\u003cbr/\u003eBackwell will later this year travel to East Africa to study large bone tools found there.\u003cbr/\u003eFEATURES\t Johannesburg, South Africa - Recent \u003cbr/\u003e1. Various of Johannesburg's University of Witwatersrand\u003cbr/\u003e2. Lucinda Backman walks to a shelf and points to the bone tools\u003cbr/\u003e3. Various of Backman touching bone tools\u003cbr/\u003e4. Pull out from bone tools to termite mound\u003cbr/\u003e5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lucinda Backman, Doctoral student\u003cbr/\u003e6. Cutaway \u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lucinda Backman, Doctoral student\u003cbr/\u003e8. Various of photos of trip\u003cbr/\u003e9. Various of Backman at computer\u003cbr/\u003e10. 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