Question

Write the probable differences in the eating habits of Homo habilis and Homo erectus.

Answer 1

Homo habilis was similar to the earlier australopithecines. They had a modern head and bigger brain capacity. They are also called a handyman. Homo erectus had a bigger brain and had made more advanced tools for hunting, cutting, etc.

Complete answer:
The diet of Homo habilis included largely meat. This led to their bigger brain capacity. The reason behind this hypothesis is that meat allowed the large gut of the ape to decrease in size and the energy which remained was used up by the brain to develop. They also ate underground vegetables. They used to share food among men and women. They were capable of traveling large distances in the search of food as the evidence shows that they had modern human-like legs which helped them in traveling. They had large incisors which indicate that they used incisors more while eating. There is evidence which indicates that they used tools to break the tough food. They didn’t hunt and were scavengers. They used to steal from the jackals and cheetahs. Fruits were part of their regular diet. We can conclude that they had an omnivorous diet.
Homo erectus too had larger brain capacity. They also were the meat-eaters. They were the first to use the hunting and gathering instruments made by them. They used tools as a strategy of food collecting in response to the increasing dependence of the meat. They divided work among themselves, did food sharing, hunting, and gathering. They used to preserve food. Their large part of the diet was meat. But their diet varied upon the locations they lived in. in some locations it was found that they used to roast the fruits and vegetables to make it edible and in other parts it was noticed that they used to gather fishes for eating. They didn’t have versatile jaws as they had started using tools to cut the hard fruits. This affected their dietary flexibility.

Note: Homo habilis had a mixed diet of meat and fruits, whereas, Homo erectus diet consisted of major meat. H. habilis didn’t use tools whereas, H. erectus used tools for hunting and gathering. They were the first ones to use tools. H. habilis were scavengers whereas H. erectus wasn’t.