NewsLifeEarly human ancestors didnt regularly eat meatA meat-rich diet may have not emerged before the evolution of other groups like Homo Early human ancestors, Australopithecus africanus (illustrated), may have had primarily vegetarian diets, new research suggests.Ral Martn/MSF/Science SourceBy Jake Buehler1 hour agoSome of our species earliest ancestors may have spent a lot more time eating salad than steak.An analysis of the chemical composition of fossilized teeth in Australopithecus africanus an early relative of humans suggests the bipedal primates had primarily vegetarian diets, researchers report in the Jan. 17 Science. The findings provide direct evidence of where one of humanitys earliest ancestors sat in its local food web over 3 million years ago.Diet has been a crucial component of human evolution, says Tina Ldecke, a geochemist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. A switch from a vegetarian diet to the habitual consumption of high-protein foods like meat is hypothesized to have fueled the evolution of humans cognitive superpowers.