L’uomo di Neanderthal non era solo carnivoro, ma consumava anche delle piante, come tuberi, bacche e noci, secondo quanto rivelato dallo studio di escrementi fossilizzati di 50'000 anni fa.
Queste analisi, effettuate al Massachusetts Institute of Technology, rappresentano i primi indizi concreti sulle abitudini onnivore di questo cugino preistorico dell’uomo moderno, la cui alimentazione era fin’ora coperta da mistero.
La ricerca rappresenta anche un nuovo approccio alla questione. I paleontologi normalmente si affidano all’esame dei residui rinvenuti su utensili e altri oggetti.
ATS/sf
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