SSS 2008-05-01

（单词翻译）

This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science,I am Karen Hopkin.This'll just take a minute.

Some people lie through their teeth, some lie about their teeth. Our early human cousins seem to have lied with their teeth. Or they at least misled scientists into first thinking that their diet was something other than it was. See one of our east African relatives had chompers that looked so powerful. Scientists nicknamed him “nut-cracker man”. With teeth and jaws¹ so big and strong, everyone assumed that Paranthropus boisei (1959年发现的东非人，即傍人鲍氏种Paranthropus boisei，原称鲍氏东非人) was partial to nuts and seeds and other crunchy fare. But first impressions can be misleading, or so say scientists in the current issue of the Public Library of Science journal PLos One. Using high-powered microscopes, they took a closer look at this homonid’s teeth. And they compared the microscopic  wear-and-tear they saw on its molars with that of living primates². Their conclusion? That Paranthropus was capable of eating harder foods, but generally did not do so. “Looks more like they were eating jellos”, says one of the researchers, “Okay, there was no jello³ two million years ago, but paranthropus, like many apes and monkeys, probably preferred nice soft fruits. When you think about it, any other choice would be nuts.”

Thanks for the minute,for Scientific American's 60-Second Science,I'm Karen Hopkin.