Here is a concise summary of the text:
**Title:** The Risky Diets of Our Ancestors
**Summary:**
* The fossil of a 1.6 million-year-old Homo erectus (KNM-ER 1808) found in Kenya shows signs of a painful death likely caused by vitamin A toxicity from eating carnivore livers.
* This case illustrates the risks and experimentation that came with the evolution of human diets.
* Early humans (genus Homo) transitioned from primarily plant-based diets to incorporating more meat, marrow, and other "high-quality" foods, which provided essential calories and nutrients but also posed risks (e.g., hunting injuries, food poisoning).
* Evidence from various sites in Africa (e.g., Gona, Kanjera South, Swartkrans) suggests that early humans ate a varied diet, including:
+ Meat (from hunting and scavenging, with associated risks)
+ Fish and seafood (with risks like crocodile attacks)
+ Plants (with potential toxins, mitigated by eating a variety)
+ Insects and honey (with some risks, like venomous stings)
* This willingness to take risks for food is a hallmark of human evolution, with no single "paleodiet" but rather adaptation to available resources.
* This pattern of adventurous eating continues to the present day, with examples of toxic food consumption found in recent history (e.g., toxic cod fish in ancient Norway).
Here are the key facts extracted from the text, each with a number and in short sentence form, excluding opinions:
**Fossil Discovery & Homo erectus**
1. In 1973, a fossil hunter discovered a partial skeleton of a female Homo erectus in Kenya's Koobi Fora formation.
2. The specimen, KNM-ER 1808, dates back to 1.6 million years ago.
3. The skeleton included parts of her skull, limbs, and pelvis.
**Diet-related Health Issues**
4. KNM-ER 1808's bones showed signs of disrupted bone cell functioning, indicating a painful and fatal condition.
5. Researchers suggested the condition might have been caused by an overdose of vitamin A.
6. High doses of vitamin A can cause toxicity, leading to symptoms like peeling skin, gastrointestinal problems, and bone pain.
**Early Human Diet & Meat Consumption**
7. The earliest widely-accepted evidence of meat-eating dates back to approximately 2.5 million years ago, found at the site of Gona, Ethiopia.
8. Hominins at Gona could break down animal carcasses, but it's unclear how often they ate meat.
9. The Kanjera South site in Kenya (circa 2 million years ago) shows evidence of early Homo species regularly consuming meat and marrow.
10. Meat consumption carried risks, including injury during hunts and energy expenditure.
**Fish & Seafood Consumption**
11. A site in Kenya's Koobi Fora formation (circa 1.95 million years ago) revealed hominins ate seafood, including catfish and turtles.
12. Fossils of crocodiles were also found at this site, indicating a hazard for hominins foraging for fish or turtles.
**Plant-based Diet & Toxins**
13. Many plants, like unripe tomatoes, contain toxins that can be harmful if consumed in large quantities.
14. Early Homo species ate a varied diet, including plants like leafy bushes, trees, grasses, and sedges.
15. Eating a variety of plants helped early humans avoid poisoning from consuming too much of the same plant.
**Insect Consumption**
16. Some modern hunter-gatherer groups eat insects, which are a good source of protein, fat, and micronutrients.
17. Analysis of bone tools from the Swartkrans site in South Africa (circa 1.8 million years ago) suggests they might have been used to dig into termite mounds.
18. Fossils of animals that eat termites, as well as termite damage on animal fossils, were found at the Swartkrans site.
**General Human Diet & Evolution**
19. Human diets have varied globally based on availability and cultural differences.
20. Humans have consistently been willing to take risks to consume new or potentially hazardous foods.
21. A study of Norwegian sites (circa 6300-3800 years ago) found that people ate cod fish despite high levels of toxic metals.