Ancient humans in the Sahara ate fish before the lakes dried up

By Jason Arunn Murugesu

Savino di Lernia, 2020

The Sahara desert was once home to several species of fish, including tilapia and catfish, which were hunted by animals and humans alike. The fossil record shows that these populations dwindled as a changing climate dried up the lakes and swamps they inhabited, which may have forced the people and animals who relied on them to change their diets.

Between 2003 and 2006, Savino di Lernia at Sapienza University of Rome and his colleagues analysed fossils from a …