"Others stood hesitantly around the corpse — the future of a world waiting upon their decision. It was a surprisingly long time before one of the nursing females began to lick the gory stone she was holding in her paws…and before Moon-Watcher really understood that he need never be hungry again."
January 1, 1970
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/2001%3A_A_Space_Odyssey_(novel)