Ancient Ancestor of Modern Humans Were Consumed by Carnivores

In a dark Moroccan cave, 500,000 years ago, an ancient ancestor of modern humans was set upon by large carnivores, most likely hyenas, and consumed. This is one of a few examples that prove hominins were consumed by carnivores.

During the Middle Pleistocene period, it is likely that early humans and large carnivores would have occupied many of the same areas. Therefore, they would have had to compete for that space and its resources. Knowing this, there has been very little evidence showing direct interaction between them.

Camille Daujeard from the Muséum National D’Histoire Naturelle, France, and led author, said in a statement:

“Although encounters and confrontations between archaic humans and large predators of this time period in North Africa must have been common, the discovery … is one of the few examples where hominin consumption by carnivores is proven.”

However, the femur bone of a hominin bared tooth-marks, indicating that it was consumed by large carnivores. According to the study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, the researchers had examined the shaft of the 500,000-year-old hominin femur.

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