Some of these functions are still highly speculative. The great thing about using GIS, though, is that the computer handles all the data, so you have greater freedom to speculate and to explore relationships that interact in more complicated ways. In the case of fossil teeth, Ungar supplements the GIS information by running each specimen through a scanning electron microscope. He can then call up magnified images on his computer screen, using software called MicroWare, which Ungar himself designed. At 1500x magnification, the microscope makes pits and scratches clearly visible, and the software calculates the number of these imperfections while simultaneously measuring them.
Pits indicate consumption of a hard, brittle food such as nuts or beetles.
One of the closest links we have to our human ancestry is modern-day primates. Therefore, Ungar uses the behavior of monkeys and apes as a model for how early hominids might have collected and consumed their food. In areas of Costa Rica, Sumatra, Indonesia, Venezuela and Botswana, Ungar and his research team have been spying on primate diet. Crouched in the jungle, they record every item of food consumed. Additionally, each year, the researchers tranquilize the monkeys and make molds of their teeth.