A team of researchers has found that early hominids living in what is now northern Kenya ate a wider variety of foods than previously thought. Rich in protein and nutrients, these foods may have played a key role in the development of a larger, more human-like brain in our early forebears.

Audio Transcript:

Hippo (Sound effect: hippo sound) It's what's for Dinner.

I'm Bob Karson with the discovery files -- new advances in science and engineering from the National Science Foundation.

(Sound effect: marsh sounds) Suppose you're an early hominid living 2 million years ago in, say, lush marshes in what is now Northern Kenya. You're most likely not thinking about the benefits of the right nutrition. Most days are spent looking for food, and trying not to become a meal yourself. But our early ancestors' choices of available food could actually have helped them develop larger more human-like brains.

That's one of the conclusions of a study led by an international team of researchers who excavated the site, and found a large variety of animal bones along with evidence of primitive butchering. Fish, turtles, crocodiles, antelopes even hippos were consumed. More of a variety of foods than previously thought. These pre-humans were eating foods high in protein that would help them develop bigger brains. Although it was a plant-rich environment, folks seemingly love their meat, fowl and fish most likely raw, the team theorizes.

The primitive stone butchering tools, bones and plant fossils paint a very clear picture of this early world because they were remarkably preserved in the ideal conditions. So it seems that even way, way back our resourceful relatives knew that fish really is brain food and so is crocodile, antelope, and hippopotamus.

A little "food for thought."

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