New Article by Hanon, R., Fourvel, J.-B., Sambo, R., Maringa, N., Steininger, C., Zipfel, B., & Braga, J., in Quaternary Science Reviews.

Kromdraai is a Plio-Pleistocene site located in the Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng Province, South Africa). It has produced diverse and abundant faunal assemblages and key hominin specimens like the holotype of Paranthropus robustus and early Homo. We provide the first taxonomic study of the Bovidae Family from the hominin-bearing Unit P at Kromdraai and discuss its potential to unravel its paleoecological context. We describe the presence of an unknown medium-sized buffalo (Syncerus sp.) that could be closely related to S. acoelotus. The bovid assemblage from Kromdraai Unit P combines older Plio-Pleistocene (Gazella graciliorMakapania broomi, Numidocapra cf. porrocornutus) and younger Pleistocene taxa (Tragelaphus strepsicerosOreotragus oreotragusRaphicerus campestrisDamaliscus lunatus). Overall, these bovid species indicate a grassland-dominated environment for Unit P. Comparisons with other Plio-Pleistocene South African sites indicate that Australopithecus was associated with woodland and closed-wet environment-adapted taxa, whereas Homo was found in association with bovid species adapted to open and dry environments. In contrast, the assemblages associated with Paranthropus show an extensive range of environmental adaptation among the bovids. The biochronology indicates that Kromdraai Unit P accumulated between 2.9 and 1.8 Ma. If Kromdraai Unit P were to be confirmed to date to the older end of this scale, it would provide the earliest appearance of Paranthropus robustusNumidocapra, and Damaliscus in southern Africa.

More info: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108621


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