Tina Lüdecke
Main Focus
I investigate early hominin diets and their ecological context, with a focus on the onset and evolution of meat consumption and the position of Plio-Pleistocene hominins in African paleo–food webs, using stable isotopes in tooth enamel. I also reconstruct Neogene paleolandscapes inhabited by early hominins, examining C4 grassland expansion in relation to changes in seasonality, precipitation, temperature, atmospheric pCO₂, and tree cover.
My work combines extensive field research with geochemical approaches — stable isotopes of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and zinc, clumped isotopes, and multi-element analyses — applied to fossil tooth enamel, pedogenic carbonates, and other proxy materials. My research areas span the Miocene to Pleistocene in eastern and southern Africa, including early hominin sites of the Afar Depression (Ethiopia), Manyara Basin (Tanzania), Karonga Basin (Malawi), Urema Basin (Mozambique), and the Cradle of Humankind (South Africa). I also work on younger, out-of-Africa localities including Oman, Indonesia, Mexico, and Turkey.
My goal is to link early hominin dietary adaptations to ecosystem change, assess the significance of animal resource consumption, and evaluate the role of dietary flexibility in extinction and adaptive radiation.
Recently, my colleagues and I adapted the oxidation–denitrification method for measuring nitrogen isotopes in ~5 mg samples of modern and fossil tooth enamel. We demonstrated that enamel nitrogen reliably preserves dietary isotopic signatures in both feeding experiments (Leichliter et al., 2021) and natural ecosystems (Lüdecke& Leichliter et al., 2022), establishing it as a powerful new paleodietary proxy (Leichliter & Lüdecke et al., 2023). Applying this method to early hominin enamel for the first time, we found that Australopithecus from Sterkfontein (South Africa) did not consume significant amounts of mammalian meat (Lüdecke et al., 2025).
Curriculum Vitae
Employment
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2021 – present |
Junior group leader of the Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption (HoMeCo) at the Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany DFG Emmy Noether Fellowship (LU 2199/2): The Onset and Evolution of Early Hominin Meat Consumption (HoMeCo) – The position of Plio-Pleistocene hominins in African paleo-food webs based on nitrogen isotopes in tooth enamel |
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2021 |
Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Climate Geochemistry Department, Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany (head: Prof. G. Haug) |
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2017 – 2020 |
Post-Doctoral Researcher at Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt, Germany. Group Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironmental Dynamics (head: Prof. A. Mulch) DFG-ICDP-Project personal grant (LU 2199/1 and /1-2): Early Hominin Adaptation in the Southern East African Rift – Plio-Pleistocene African temperature, ecosystem and early hominin diet patterns across a woodland-grassland savanna boundary |
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2016 – 2017 |
Post-Doctoral Researcher, Biomaterials and Biomimetics, College of Dentistry, New York University, New York City, USA (head: Prof. T. Bromage) |
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2011 – 2016 |
PhD candidate, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt, Germany. Stable isotope-based reconstruction of Neogene terrestrial archives. Magna cum laude (supervisors: Prof. A. Mulch & Prof. F. Schrenk) |
Invited Positions
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2024 – present |
Honorary Research Fellow, Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa (director: Prof. M. Bamford) |
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2022 – present |
Junior faculty member, Max Planck Graduate Center (MPGC), Germany |
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2022 – present |
Guest researcher at the National Museums of Kenya, Kenya. Department of Earth Sciences, Paleontology Section (head: Dr. E.K. Ndiema). |
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2021 – present |
Guest researcher, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Germany. Paleoclimate & Paleoenvironmental Dynamics (head: Prof. A. Mulch) |
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2016 – present |
Geochemist, Paleo-Primate-Project Gorongosa, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique (PIs: Prof. S. Carvalho & Prof. R. Bobe) |
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2017 – 2023 |
Research Associate, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, England (host: Prof. S. Carvalho) |
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2019 – 2020 |
Guest researcher, Department of Climate Geochemistry, Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany (head: Prof. G. Haug) |
Education
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PhD |
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University |
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, in cooperation with Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre |
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Title |
Stable isotope-based reconstruction of Neogene terrestrial archives |
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Defense |
4th May 2016, Dr. rer. nat., magna cum laude |
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Visiting PhD |
School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Science, Stanford University, CA, USA, duration: 2 months (October & November 2014) |
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Summer School |
Darwin Summer School on Biogeosciences “Perturbation of the global carbon cycle” in Utrecht and Texel, Netherlands, with the visit to NIOZ, duration: 2 weeks (July 2011) |
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Diploma (M.S.c.) |
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University |
Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-University-Hannover, Germany |
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Title |
Late Cenozoic Paleoenvironmental signatures of the Central Anatolian Plateau – Stable isotope geochemistry and Sedimentology of Lacustrine Sediments and Carbonate Paleosols. |
Awarded Grants (Total: ca. 2,768,000 €)
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2023 |
The International Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Research Grant, 1,050,000 US$ (Co-PI; RGP019/2023) |
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2021 |
German Science Foundation (DFG) Emmy Noether Program, Junior Research Group, 1,357,000 € (PI; LU 2199/2) |
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2019 |
DFG – ICDP Priority Program, personal grant including “Eigene Stelle”, 137,000 € (PI; LU 2199/1-2) |
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2018 |
National Geographic Explorer Grant, 18,000 US$ (PI; NGS-51478R-18) |
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2017 |
DFG – ICDP Priority Program, personal grant including “Eigene Stelle”, 208,000 € (PI; LU 2199/1) |
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2011, ‘12 |
Hermann-Willkomm-Stiftung, two travel grants, 1,500 € total |
Teaching
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2023, ‘24, ‘25 |
Lecture at the Department of Ancient Studies, Gutenberg University, Mainz (Germany): “Stabilisotopenanalyse in der Archäologie”. 2 hours/week. |
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2025 |
Lecture at the CNRS-Africa Residential Research School "PreBioME" – Quaternary Prehistory, biodiversity and environments in Morocco. 3-week block course (host: E. Stoetzel). |
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2024 |
Lecture at the Department of Ancient Studies, Gutenberg University, Mainz (Germany): “Bioarcheology”. 2 hours/week. |
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2021, ‘22, ‘23, ’24, ‘25 |
Invited guest lecture at the Department of Geosciences, Gutenberg University, Mainz (Germany): “M.Sc. Paleoclimate” (host: D. Scholz). |
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2022 |
Invited guest lecture at the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz (USA): Evolution of Human Diet (host: V. Oelze). Invited guest lecture at the Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Graz (Austria): Continental paleoenvironmental reconstructions (host: M. Meijers). |
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2019, ‘20 |
Lecture at the Goethe University, Frankfurt (Germany): “Paleoenvironmental reconstructions in continental settings”. 2 hours/week. |
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2018, ‘19, ‘22 |
Oxford-Gorongosa Paleo-Primate Field School, Sofala (Mozambique). |
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2016 |
Seminar in “Evolutionsbiologie der Säugetiere und Paläoanthropologie”, Senckenberg, Frankfurt (Germany). |
Supervision of Graduate Students and postdoctoral fellows
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2024 – present |
Dr. Jana Storsberg, Postdoctoral fellow, HoMeCo, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany (first supervisor) |
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2023 – present |
Marissa Vink, PhD student, HoMeCo, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz (first supervisor) |
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2023 – present |
Miguel A. Soares Remiseiro, PhD student, ICArEHB, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal (co-supervisor) |
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2022 – present |
Sven Brömme, PhD student, HoMeCo, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz (first supervisor) |
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2021 – present |
Dr. Jennifer Leichliter, Postdoctoral fellow, HoMeCo, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemistry, Mainz (first supervisor) |
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2024 |
Danae Guiserix, PhD student, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, France (Examinatrice) |
Invited Presentations
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2025 |
Ecology and Evolution Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Laboratory of Geology, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Archaeological Sciences and Human Evolution, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany |
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2024 |
Ditsong, National Museums of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany |
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2023 |
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Department of Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA |
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2022 |
Science Division, Gorongosa National Park, Chitengo, Mozambique Rheinische Naturforschende Gesellschaft e.V., Mainz, Germany |
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2021 |
Department for Geosciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany |
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Climate Geochemistry Department, Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany |
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2020 |
School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, Oxford University, Oxford, UK |
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2019 |
Vortragsreihe Forschungsreisen, Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, Germany |
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2018 |
Department of Anthropology, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile |
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2017 |
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, NY, USA |
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2016 |
Department of Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany |
Media Exposure
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2025 |
Multiple news outlets covered Lüdecke et al., 2025 (Science): · Selected Newsprint: Science News, Reuters, tageschau.de · Selected Radio reports/podcasts: NPR, Science Podcast, BBC, CBC · Selected TV feature: SWR (German only) ARTE TV-show “Stimmt es, dass der Mensch schon immer Fleisch gegessen hat“ (German and French). “Besuch bei…” im Magazin Max-Planck Forschung (German only) |
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2024 |
News report on German TV (tagesschau.de and SWR): “Human evolution: Was eating meat important?” (German only) |
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2021 |
Radio interview at Südwestrundfunk (SWR1 Rheinland Pfalz), aired July 1st 2021 Reports on new Emmy Noether Junior Research Group. Press releases from MPIC and Gorongosa National Park |
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2020 |
Guest in Neil deGrasse Tyson’s podcast Star Talk Radio, episode “Climate and Diet of Early Humans”; also available on YouTube and Spotify |
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2019 |
Research highlight “Hominins had flexible diets” by Nature Human Behavior Behind the paper: „Hominin adaptation in diverse savanna ecosystems” in Nature Ecology and Evolution Public lecture “Zähne der Zeit” on YouTube (German only) Newspaper article “Die Zahnfee von Senckenberg“ in Bild (German only) |
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2018 |
Several newspaper articles covering Lüdecke et al., 2018 (PNAS). Press release |
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2017 |
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2016 |
Several newspaper articles covering Lüdecke et al., 2016 (JHE). Press release |
Invited Presentations
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2025 |
Ecology and Evolution Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia Laboratory of Geology, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic Archaeological Sciences and Human Evolution, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany |
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2024 |
Ditsong, National Museums of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany |
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2023 |
Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Department of Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA |
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2022 |
Science Division, Gorongosa National Park, Chitengo, Mozambique Rheinische Naturforschende Gesellschaft e.V., Mainz, Germany |
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2021 |
Department for Geosciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany |
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Climate Geochemistry Department, Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany |
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2020 |
School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, Oxford University, Oxford, UK |
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2019 |
Vortragsreihe Forschungsreisen, Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, Germany |
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2018 |
Department of Anthropology, University of Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile |
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2017 |
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, NY, USA |
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2016 |
Department of Archaeology, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany |