Barium distributions in teeth reveal early-life dietary transitions in primates

Austin, C; Smith, TM; Bradman, A; Hinde, K; Joannes-Boyau, R; Bishop, D; Hare, DJ; Doble, P; Eskenazi, B; Arora, M

Barium distributions in teeth reveal early-life dietary transitions in primates

Austin, C Smith, TM Bradman, A Hinde, K Joannes-Boyau, R Bishop, D

Hare, DJ

Doble, P

Eskenazi, B Arora, M

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Nature, 2013, 498 (7453), pp. 216 - 219
Issue Date:: 2013-05-24

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Austin, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Smith, TM	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Bradman, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hinde, K	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Joannes-Boyau, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Bishop, D https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6533-4410	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Hare, DJ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5922-7643	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Doble, P https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8472-1301	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Eskenazi, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Arora, M	en_US
dc.date.available	2013-04-08	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-05-24	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Nature, 2013, 498 (7453), pp. 216 - 219	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0028-0836	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/22790
dc.description.abstract	Early-life dietary transitions reflect fundamental aspects of primate evolution and are important determinants of health in contemporary human populations. Weaning is critical to developmental and reproductive rates; early weaning can have detrimental health effects but enables shorter inter-birth intervals, which influences population growth. Uncovering early-life dietary history in fossils is hampered by the absence of prospectively validated biomarkers that are not modified during fossilization. Here we show that large dietary shifts in early life manifest as compositional variations in dental tissues. Teeth from human children and captive macaques, with prospectively recorded diet histories, demonstrate that barium (Ba) distributions accurately reflect dietary transitions from the introduction of mother's milk through the weaning process. We also document dietary transitions in a Middle Palaeolithic juvenile Neanderthal, which shows a pattern of exclusive breastfeeding for seven months, followed by seven months of supplementation. After this point, Ba levels in enamel returned to baseline prenatal levels, indicating an abrupt cessation of breastfeeding at 1.2 years of age. Integration of Ba spatial distributions and histological mapping of tooth formation enables novel studies of the evolution of human life history, dietary ontogeny in wild primates, and human health investigations through accurate reconstructions of breastfeeding history. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP100200254R2
dc.relation.ispartof	Nature	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1038/nature12169	en_US
dc.subject.classification	General Science & Technology	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Tooth	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Animals	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Macaca	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Barium	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Calcium	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Diet	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Reproducibility of Results	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Breast Feeding	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Weaning	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Fossils	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	History, Ancient	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adult	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Child, Preschool	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Infant	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Female	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Neanderthals	en_US
dc.title	Barium distributions in teeth reveal early-life dietary transitions in primates	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	7453	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	498	en_US
utslib.for	0301 Analytical Chemistry	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CFS - Centre for Forensic Science
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	7453	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	498	en_US

Abstract:

Early-life dietary transitions reflect fundamental aspects of primate evolution and are important determinants of health in contemporary human populations. Weaning is critical to developmental and reproductive rates; early weaning can have detrimental health effects but enables shorter inter-birth intervals, which influences population growth. Uncovering early-life dietary history in fossils is hampered by the absence of prospectively validated biomarkers that are not modified during fossilization. Here we show that large dietary shifts in early life manifest as compositional variations in dental tissues. Teeth from human children and captive macaques, with prospectively recorded diet histories, demonstrate that barium (Ba) distributions accurately reflect dietary transitions from the introduction of mother's milk through the weaning process. We also document dietary transitions in a Middle Palaeolithic juvenile Neanderthal, which shows a pattern of exclusive breastfeeding for seven months, followed by seven months of supplementation. After this point, Ba levels in enamel returned to baseline prenatal levels, indicating an abrupt cessation of breastfeeding at 1.2 years of age. Integration of Ba spatial distributions and histological mapping of tooth formation enables novel studies of the evolution of human life history, dietary ontogeny in wild primates, and human health investigations through accurate reconstructions of breastfeeding history. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/22790