Seasonal resource availability and dietary selection in baboons: Implications for early hominin dietary inference

Selective pressures related to resource availability, nutritional constraints, and foraging costs have played an important role in shaping primate and early hominin dietary strategies. To distinguish between ecological and technological drivers of dietary evolution, this study examines baboon ( Papio cynocephalus ) foraging as a comparative model for non-technological foraging systems. Literature based ecological, behavioral, and nutritional datasets were integrated to reconstruct the baboon resource space and to quantify selection differences between resource availability and observed consumption. Isotopic modelling and macronutrient calculations further reveal the consequences of dietary selection. The results show that baboon diets are availability-constrained but selectively adjusted within the seasonal resource space. These selection differences have biochemical consequences. CI-based δ¹³C estimates show greater seasonal variability and more closely approximated regional enamel apatite isotope values than AI-based estimates. CI-based macronutrient calculations also show trends toward higher protein and fat values. Combining resource-space modelling with isotopic and nutritional analyses provides a framework for disentangling the respective influences of environmental availability, actual resource use, and technological innovations on hominin dietary evolution.