HUMAN EVOLUTION Vol.13 - N. 3-4 (229-234) - 1998 M. Henneberg, Department of Anatomical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia V. Sarafis Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia K. Mathers Department of Anthropology University of California, Berkeley, 94720 USA Human adaptations to meat eating It is argued that Homo sapiens is a habitual rather than a facultative meat eater. Quantitative similarity of human gut morphology to guts of carnivorous mammals, preferential absorption of haem rather than iron of plant origin, and the exclusive use of humans as the definitive host by Taenia saginata and the almost complete human specificity of T. solium are used to support the argument. Keywords: australopithecinae, Tacniods, parasites, hominids Introduction Currently meat of various animals forms a substantial component of the human diet. The origin and role of meat eating in hominid evolution have been widely debated. There is, however, no consensus yet in the palaeoanthropological literature On when habitual meat eating originated nor whether it started as hunting or scavenging (Rose and Marshall 1996 and following commentary). Gut macro- and microscopic morphology has been seen as reflecting diet in mammals (Chivers and Hladik 1980). Alas, guts do not fossilise and therefore any direct evidence for their evolution in hominids is not available. Indirectly, however, it can be deduced from reconstructions of the skeleton that abdominal contents of australopithecines were larger, in proportion to their body size, than those of early and modern humans (Aiello and Dean 1990, Aiello and Wheeler 1995). Inference of meat eating from the Plio/Pleistocene archaeological record is difficult and results are open to debate. Hominid dentition does not provide clear indication as to meat eating (Lucas et al. 1985). Trace element (Sillen 1986, 1992) and isotope analyses (Lee-Thorp 1989, Lee-Thorp and Van der Merwe 1993) were used to determine diet of hominids directly from the fossils. Results may be interpreted as indicating substantial amounts of animal protein in Plio/ Pleistocene hominid diet, but they do not agree well with accepted interpretation of dietary differences between robust australopithecines and early hominines. Chemical changes taking place in a fossil (diagenesis) also create some problems (Sillen 1992). Comparative studies of living humans and animals together with their intestinal parasites seem to be an appropriate avenue to gain insight into human biological adaptation to meat eating.