The New York Times article by Boyce Rensberger ("Teeth show fruit was the
staple," 5/15/79 edition) reporting on the preliminary studies of Alan
Walker's teeth microwear investigations that indicated australopithecus and
homo habilis were frugivorous, which T.C. Fry and Victoria Bidwell of
Natural Hygiene fame quoted in support of their views, and which in turn
seem to have been the basis for subsequent vegetarian claims about
frugivorism, has since been eclipsed. Even in this preliminary study,
however, it was mentioned fruit was not necessarily defined the way we
think of it today as all soft, sweet, pulpy fruits.

Walker himself was cautious about the early preliminary studies (as quoted
in the N.Y. Times article by Rensberger) and mentions the updated evidence
in his 1996 book "Wisdom of the Bones." The newer microwear studies apply
to australopithecus. I am not sure if additional ones have been done on
homo habilis, but given that homo habilis succeeded australopithecus and
was followed by homo erectus (where microwear studies show increased
meat-eating over australopithecus), plus has been shown through
bone-remains studies to have butchered animal carcasses, that homo habilis
ate some meat in it's largely frugivorous diet like australopithecus did is
also no longer in question [Walker 1996; Blumenschine 1992; Sillen 1992].

--Ward Nicholson <[log in to unmask]> Wichita, KS