I'm An Apeman... But Not This One

I just read an article from Live Science (through MSNBC) titled, "Early pre-humans enjoyed extensive diet," and subtitled, "Ancestors ate fruit, leaves, grasses and grazing animals, researchers say."


The article is about a species of "apeman" called, Paranthropus robustus. Upon reading I discovered that there is mention that Paranthropus became extinct about a million years ago, but the title is misleading. The creature was NOT an ancestor of humans, but a dead link. The reason for the article is clear (although not explained), that scientists have long thought that the reason for the extinction of Paranthropus was due to a specialist diet which did not change with the environmental shifts of the animal's era. Early human ancestors, such as Homo habilis, were thought to have survived due to an ability to adapt around changing food sources because of an ability to take nutrition from a variety of sources. Study of the teeth shows that the diet may not have been so limited, which creates questions about why Paranthropus went buh-bye.

I find that the title is misleading and irresponsible for a science news report.

What? You were expecting me to write something about the recent elections? I'm too mellow, man. I can finally concentrate on higher thinking!