A research team lead by Southern Cross University’s Dr Renaud Joannes-Boyau has revealed for the first time the parenting habits of one of our earliest extinct ancestors.A paper published in Nature today details analysis of more than two-million-year-old teeth from Australopithecus africanus fossils found in South Africa that show infants were breastfed continuously from birth to about one year of age. Nursing appears to have continued in a cyclical pattern in the early years for infants as seasonal changes and food shortages caused the mother to supplement gathered foods with breastmilk. “For the first time, we gained new insight into the way our ancestors raised their young, and how mothers had to supplement solid food intake with breastmilk when resources were scarce,” said geochemist Dr Joannes-Boyau from the Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group (GARG) at SCU’s Lismore campus.Team member Dr Luca Fiorenza from Monash University said it was the first direct proof of the maternal roles of one of our earliest ancestors and contributed to our understanding of the history of family dynamics and childhood.“These finds suggest for the first time the existence of a long-lasting mother-infant bond in Australopithecus,” said Dr Fiorenza, who is an expert in the evolution of human diet at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI).“This makes us to rethink on the social organisations among our earliest ancestors.”An Australopithecus africanus skull. PHOTO: Supplied.Australopithecus africanus lived from about two to three million years ago during a period of major climatic and ecological change in South Africa, and the species was characterised by a combination of human-like and retained ape-like traits. While the first fossils of Australopithecus were found almost a century ago, scientists have only now been able to unlock the secrets of how they raised their young, using specialised laser sampling techniques to vaporise microscopic portions on the surface of the tooth. The gas containing the sample is then analysed for chemical signatures with a mass spectrometer– enabling researchers to develop microscopic geochemical maps which can tell the story of the diet and health of an individual over time. Dr Joannes-Boyau conducted the analyses at the Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group at Southern Cross University in Lismore NSW and at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.The team will now work on species that have evolved since, to develop the first comprehensive record of how infants were raised throughout history.

New figures show the Lismore local government area’s population has declined for the 5th year in a row and been overtaken by Ballina’s.There are now fewer people living in Lismore than there were 10 years ago in 2009.The 2017-18 Regional Population Growth figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Wednesday indicate that Lismore’s population fell by 87 people (-0.2 per cent) in the year to June 30, 2018, to 43,843.Only four other local government areas had a higher net decrease in population - Broken Hill, Walgett, Kyogle and Moree Plains.Meanwhile, Ballina’s population increased by 728 (1.7 per cent) to 44,208, Byron’s increased by 563 (1.7 per cent) to 34,574, Tweed’s by 1,199 (1.3 per cent) to 96,108 and Richmond Valley’s by 68 (0.3 per cent) to 23,399.Kyogle’s population fell by 112 (1.2 per cent) to 8,870.Lismore Mayor Isaac Smith said he believed the main contributing factor was a lack of new housing development.“Lismore is not growing as strongly as it should and one thing that council we've been trying to do is improve housing,” Cr Smith said. “We currently have more DAs [development applications] and land available than ever before and we're really hoping that developers can act on that.”Cr Smith said that as the amount of available land on the coast reduced, developers would increasingly look inland and he expected Lismore's population figures to begin to rise in coming years.He added that a stagnating population was not a problem if solutions were in place.“Unfortunately, with things like population, you're talking about pipelines that take four, six, eight years to put in place,” he said.“There's things that we did as a council last term that are only just starting to come into effect now.“The North Lismore Plateau housing development is a great example of that. There's going to be something like a 4,000 people living on the plateau hopefully in the next 10 to 15 years and that's coming online this year so that's a good thing.”There was nothing more that the local, state and federal governments could do to make Lismore more appealing to new residents, he said.“I think we're working well with all levels of government and I think our residents know that this is a great community to be in,” he said.“We don't have a beach, but I'll tell you what, we have everything else and that's going to hold us in good stead when the beaches start to look a bit wet and windy.”Lismore Chamber of Commerce and Industry co-president Sarah Smith said Lismore’s lack of population growth was a concern.“It's scary from a business point of view because at the end of the day, the population is basically what drives the economy,” Ms Smith said.“If we don't have growth, we're not having people come in to the area to take up jobs and to spend back into the area.”The chamber was focused on finding ways to make Lismore a more attractive place to live especially in terms of employment and recreational options and particularly for people in their 20s and 30s, she said.Ms Smith said she would like to see the Lismore Shopping Square expansion go ahead to provide more shopping options and the CBD “rebranded” into a “foodie” hub with more restaurants and a reinvigorated nightlife scene.An increase in the number of residential dwellings downtown would help, she said.“If we had people living in the CBD, there would be a lot more life, movement and vibrancy,” she said.Janelle Saffin, who is expected to be confirmed as Lismore’s new MP for Lismore next week, said she found the figures concerning.“A whole lot of government services are determined on population and not just population as it is but population growth in terms of planning,” Ms Saffin said.“So if they see a continuing trend going downwards then it does have a negative impact.”She said there should be a continuing conversation between local, state and federal governments.“What governments can do is provide infrastructure and I'm not surprised to see after the floods of 2017 in particular with Lismore to read these figures. A lot more could have been done then.”Regional Development Australia Northern Rivers director Tim Williamson said that a decreasing population wasn’t all bad.“The decrease in population can release pressure on housing and other services,” Mr Williamson said.“The growth of Ballina is symptomatic of the sea-change that is a common trend across Australia, plus it is one of the more affordable areas to purchase a house.“It would be interesting to gauge how many people have moved from Lismore to Ballina.”Mr Williamson said while infrastructure spending typically followed the growth of population, it was important to ensure that transport services could connect populations from across the region to the main centres.“With a 1 per cent annual decline in Lismore I certainly wouldn’t expect any loss of services or infrastructure in the short term,” he said.Page Federal MP Kevin Hogan did not respond to a request for comment.