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Azzarà B, Cherin M, Adams J, Boschian G, Crotti M, Denys C, Fressoia L, Kimambo JS, Kwekason A, Iurino DA, Manzi G, Masao FT, Melaku S, Menconero S, Mori E, Zipfel B. The Thorny Issue of African Porcupines: a New Mandible of Hystrix makapanensis from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) and Rediagnosis of the Species. J MAMM EVOL 2022; 29:447-474. [PMID: 35079214 PMCID: PMC8776392 DOI: 10.1007/s10914-021-09588-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Several porcupine taxa are reported from the middle Miocene to the early Holocene in the Old World. Among these, five species of the subfamily Hystricinae occurred in Africa approximately in the last 6 Ma: the extinct Hystrix makapanensis, Hystrix leakeyi, and Xenohystrix crassidens and the still living Hystrix africaeaustralis and Hystrix cristata. The large-sized H. makapanensis is reported from numerous sites in East and South Africa between the early Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. In this paper, we describe a new mandible of H. makapanensis from the world-renowned Tanzanian paleontological and archeological site of Olduvai Gorge (HWK West; lowermost Bed II; ca. 1.8-1.7 Ma). The discovery of the new mandible triggered a comprehensive review of the entire African record of H. makapanensis. In particular, we describe or re-analyze the samples from South Africa (Makapansgat Limeworks, Gondolin, Kromdraai, Swartkrans, and Sterkfontein), Tanzania (Olduvai and Laetoli), Ethiopia (Omo Shungura and Hadar), and Kenya (Chemeron), enriching the quantity of specimens confidently referable to this species and above all improving the information on its craniodental anatomy. On this basis, we: (1) propose an emended diagnosis of H. makapanensis; (2) point out the morphological and biometric differences between H. makapanensis and other African Hystricinae (also in terms of body mass); and (3) broaden the knowledge on the geographical and chronological distribution of this extinct species. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10914-021-09588-z.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatrice Azzarà
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli, Perugia, 06123 Italy
| | - Marco Cherin
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli, Perugia, 06123 Italy
| | - Justin Adams
- Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, 3800 Australia
- Museums Victoria, Melbourne, 3053 Australia
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2006 South Africa
| | - Giovanni Boschian
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2006 South Africa
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, Via Derna, Pisa, 56126 Italy
| | - Marco Crotti
- Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health & Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ UK
| | - Christiane Denys
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université Des Antilles, CP 51, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Lorenzo Fressoia
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli, Perugia, 06123 Italy
| | - Jackson S. Kimambo
- Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via A. Pascoli, Perugia, 06123 Italy
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Amandus Kwekason
- National Museum of Tanzania, Shaban Robert Street, P.O. Box 511, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Dawid A. Iurino
- PaleoFactory, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale A. Moro 5, Roma, 00185 Italy
| | - Giorgio Manzi
- Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale A. Moro 5, Roma, 00185 Italy
| | - Fidelis T. Masao
- Department of Archaeology & Heritage, College of Humanities, University of Dar Es Salaam, P.O. Box 35050, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Sahleselasie Melaku
- Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Sofia Menconero
- Dipartimento di Storia, Disegno e Restauro dell’Architettura, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazza Borghese 9, Roma, 00186 Italy
| | - Emiliano Mori
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri, Via Madonna del Piano 10, Sesto Fiorentino (Florence), 50019 Italy
| | - Bernhard Zipfel
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Lombard M, Malmström H, Schlebusch C, Svensson EM, Günther T, Munters AR, Coutinho A, Edlund H, Zipfel B, Jakobsson M. Genetic data and radiocarbon dating question Plovers Lake as a Middle Stone Age hominin-bearing site. J Hum Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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U-Pb-dated flowstones restrict South African early hominin record to dry climate phases. Nature 2018; 565:226-229. [PMID: 30464348 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0711-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The Cradle of Humankind (Cradle) in South Africa preserves a rich collection of fossil hominins representing Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Homo1. The ages of these fossils are contentious2-4 and have compromised the degree to which the South African hominin record can be used to test hypotheses of human evolution. However, uranium-lead (U-Pb) analyses of horizontally bedded layers of calcium carbonate (flowstone) provide a potential opportunity to obtain a robust chronology5. Flowstones are ubiquitous cave features and provide a palaeoclimatic context, because they grow only during phases of increased effective precipitation6,7, ideally in closed caves. Here we show that flowstones from eight Cradle caves date to six narrow time intervals between 3.2 and 1.3 million years ago. We use a kernel density estimate to combine 29 U-Pb ages into a single record of flowstone growth intervals. We interpret these as major wet phases, when an increased water supply, more extensive vegetation cover and at least partially closed caves allowed for undisturbed, semi-continuous growth of the flowstones. The intervening times represent substantially drier phases, during which fossils of hominins and other fossils accumulated in open caves. Fossil preservation, restricted to drier intervals, thus biases the view of hominin evolutionary history and behaviour, and places the hominins in a community of comparatively dry-adapted fauna. Although the periods of cave closure leave temporal gaps in the South African fossil record, the flowstones themselves provide valuable insights into both local and pan-African climate variability.
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Matthews GJ, Brophy JK, Luetkemeier M, Gu H, Thiruvathukal GK. A comparison of machine learning techniques for taxonomic classification of teeth from the Family Bovidae. J Appl Stat 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/02664763.2018.1441381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gregory J. Matthews
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Juliet K. Brophy
- Department of Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| | - Maxwell Luetkemeier
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Hongie Gu
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - George K. Thiruvathukal
- Department of Computer Science, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
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Matthews GJ, Thiruvathukal GK, Luetkemeier MP, Brophy JK. Examining the use of Amazon's Mechanical Turk for edge extraction of the occlusal surface of fossilized bovid teeth. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0179757. [PMID: 28704414 PMCID: PMC5509114 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2016] [Accepted: 06/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In order to reconstruct environments associated with Plio-Pleistocene hominins in southern Africa, researchers frequently rely upon the animals associated with the hominins, in particular, animals in the Family Bovidae. Bovids in southern Africa are typically identified by their teeth. However, identifying the taxon of a bovid tooth is challenging due to various biasing factors. Furthermore, inaccurate identification of fossil bovids can have significant consequences on the reconstructed paleoenvironment. Recent research on the classification of bovid fossil teeth has relied on using elliptical Fourier analysis to summarize the shape of the outline of the occlusal surface of the tooth and the resulting harmonic amplitudes. Currently, an expert in the field must manually place landmarks around the edges of each tooth which is slow and time consuming. This study tests whether it is possible to crowdsource this task, while maintaining the necessary level of quality needed to perform a statistical analysis on each tooth. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers place landmarks on the edge of the tooth which is compared to the performance of an expert in the field. The results suggest that crowdsourcing the digitization process is reliable and replicable. With the technical aspects of digitization managed, researchers can concentrate on analyzing and interpreting the data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory J. Matthews
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - George K. Thiruvathukal
- Department of Computer Science, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Maxwell P. Luetkemeier
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America
| | - Juliet K. Brophy
- Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, United States of America
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Herries AIR. A chronological perspective on the acheulian and its transition to the middle stone age in southern Africa: the question of the fauresmith. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY 2011; 2011:961401. [PMID: 21785711 PMCID: PMC3139141 DOI: 10.4061/2011/961401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2010] [Revised: 01/25/2011] [Accepted: 03/27/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
An understanding of the age of the Acheulian and the transition to the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa has been hampered by a lack of reliable dates for key sequences in the region. A number of researchers have hypothesised that the Acheulian first occurred simultaneously in southern and eastern Africa at around 1.7-1.6 Ma. A chronological evaluation of the southern African sites suggests that there is currently little firm evidence for the Acheulian occurring before 1.4 Ma in southern Africa. Many researchers have also suggested the occurrence of a transitional industry, the Fauresmith, covering the transition from the Early to Middle Stone Age, but again, the Fauresmith has been poorly defined, documented, and dated. Despite the occurrence of large cutting tools in these Fauresmith assemblages, they appear to include all the technological components characteristic of the MSA. New data from stratified Fauresmith bearing sites in southern Africa suggest this transitional industry maybe as old as 511-435 ka and should represent the beginning of the MSA as a broad entity rather than the terminal phase of the Acheulian. The MSA in this form is a technology associated with archaic H. sapiens and early modern humans in Africa with a trend of greater complexity through time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy I R Herries
- Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, School of Historical and European Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia
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