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Pavia M, Val A, Carrera L, Steininger CM. Fossil birds from Cooper's D aid in reconstructing the Early Pleistocene paleoenvironment in the Cradle of Humankind (Gauteng, South Africa). J Hum Evol 2022; 167:103185. [PMID: 35489251 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2022] [Accepted: 03/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Several large-bodied hominin and nonhuman primates have coexisted in the Cradle of Humankind in South Africa during the Early Pleistocene. Previous paleoenvironmental studies regarding the Plio-Pleistocene of South Africa have focused heavily on mammal assemblages. Here, we conducted a comprehensive taxonomic analysis of the fossil bird remains from Cooper's D, the most fossiliferous locality of the hominin-bearing Cooper's Cave complex in South Africa. Our taxonomic evaluation of 505 remains reveals the presence of 23 bird taxa, two of which are extinct and already reported from the nearby fossil locality of Kromdraai. The taxonomically diverse bird assemblage is dominated by Francolinus sp. and other species associated with open grassland habitats, followed by rock-dwelling species, including Tyto cf. alba and the extinct Corvus bragai, and by woodland species such as Agapornis sp., Accipiter melanoleucos, and the extinct Glaucidium ireneae. The occurrence of these taxa and their respective proportions in the assemblage, in terms of both numbers of bones and individuals, point to the presence of extensive open grassland and/or savannah with rocky outcrops and woodland. These findings corroborate previous analyses of mammals from Cooper's D, with the exception of aquatic species, which are rare in the bird assemblage. Comparison with older deposits from Kromdraai confirms the definitive establishment of open habitats in the Cradle of Humankind during the Early Pleistocene following a transition from woodier habitats during the Late Pliocene. This study constitutes a further step in investigating the fossil bird diversity in the Cradle of Humankind during the Plio-Pleistocene. Our results add to the larger body of work using avian fossils for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in Africa and support the utility of birds as paleoenvironmental proxies. Similar future studies will refine our understanding of the paleoenvironments and landscape transformation during the Plio-Pleistocene, a critical timeframe for hominin evolution in southern Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Pavia
- Museo di Geologia e Paleontologia, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Torino, Via Valperga Caluso 35, I-10125 Torino, Italy; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa.
| | - Aurore Val
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa; Abteilung für Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Lisa Carrera
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali, Università di Bologna, Piazza di Porta San Donato, 1, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Christine M Steininger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
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Prassack KA, Pante MC, Njau JK, de la Torre I. The paleoecology of Pleistocene birds from Middle Bed II, at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, and the environmental context of the Oldowan-Acheulean transition. J Hum Evol 2018; 120:32-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2016] [Revised: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 11/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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de la Torre I, Albert RM, Arroyo A, Macphail R, McHenry LJ, Mora R, Njau JK, Pante MC, Rivera-Rondón CA, Rodríguez-Cintas Á, Stanistreet IG, Stollhofen H, Wehr K. New excavations at the HWK EE site: Archaeology, paleoenvironment and site formation processes during late Oldowan times at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. J Hum Evol 2017; 120:140-202. [PMID: 29153333 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Revised: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This paper reports the results of renewed fieldwork at the HWK EE site (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania). HWK EE is positioned across the boundary between Lower and Middle Bed II, a crucial interval for studying the emergence of the Acheulean at Olduvai Gorge. Our excavations at HWK EE have produced one of the largest collections of fossils and artefacts from any Oldowan site, distributed across several archaeological units and a large excavation surface in four separate trenches that can be stratigraphically correlated. Here we present the main stratigraphic and archaeological units and discuss site formation processes. Results show a great density of fossils and stone tools vertically through two stratigraphic intervals (Lemuta and Lower Augitic Sandstone) and laterally across an area of around 300 m2, and highlight the confluence of biotic and abiotic agents in the formation of the assemblage. The large size and diversity of the assemblage, as well as its good preservation, qualify HWK EE as a reference site for the study of the late Oldowan at Olduvai Gorge and elsewhere in Africa. In addition, the description of the stratigraphic and archaeological sequence of HWK EE presented in this paper constitutes the foundation for further studies on hominin behavior and paleoecology in Lower and Middle Bed II.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio de la Torre
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom.
| | - Rosa M Albert
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain; ERAAUB/Departament de Historia i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre 6-8, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Adrián Arroyo
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Macphail
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom
| | - Lindsay J McHenry
- Department of Geosciences, University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, 3209 N. Maryland Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
| | - Rafael Mora
- Centre D'Estudis Del Patrimoni Arqueologic de La Prehistoria, Facultat de Lletres, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Jackson K Njau
- Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, 1001 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-1405, USA; Stone Age Institute, 1392 W Dittemore Road, Gosport, Indiana 47433, USA
| | - Michael C Pante
- Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, 1787 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Carlos A Rivera-Rondón
- Unidad de Ecología y Sistemática, Departamento de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cra. 7 # 40-82, 110231 Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Ágata Rodríguez-Cintas
- ERAAUB/Departament de Historia i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre 6-8, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ian G Stanistreet
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Street, Liverpool L69 3GP, United Kingdom; Stone Age Institute, 1392 W Dittemore Road, Gosport, Indiana 47433, USA
| | - Harald Stollhofen
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander-University (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schloßgarten 5, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Karol Wehr
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom
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