2 March 2021 - Wits University
High resolution X-ray imaging of Little Foot's skull and dentition shows Little Foot suffered periods of dietary stress and illness when she was a child.
In June 2019, an international team, including researchers from Wits University, took the complete skull of the 3.67-million-year-old âLittle Footâ
Australopithecus skeleton, from South Africa to the UK and achieved unprecedented imaging resolution of its bony structures and dentition in an X-ray synchrotron-based investigation at the UKâs national synchrotron, Diamond Light Source.
The X-ray work is highlighted in a new paper in e-Life, published today (2nd March 2021) focusing on the inner craniodental features of âLittle Footâ. The remarkable completeness and great age of the âLittle Footâ skeleton makes it a crucially important specimen in human origins research and a prime candidate for exploring human evolution through high-resolution virtual analysis.