Initial fossil discoveries from Hoogland, a new Pliocene primate-bearing karstic system in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Adams, Justin W.; Herries, Andy I.R.; Hemingway, Jason; Kegley, A.D.T.; Kgasi, Lazarus; Hopley, Philip J.; Reade, Hazel; Potze, Stephany; Thackeray, J. Francis

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.021

Cited by 35 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…As a comprehensive taphonomic analysis of the DMQ assemblage is still ongoing, we will not address the role taphonomic processes had in shaping the faunal presence/absence/abundance with the Main Quarry deposits at this time. We also largely do not consider the more recently described faunal assemblages (e.g., Motsetse ( Berger & Lacruz, 2003 ), Hoogland ( Adams et al, 2010 ), Malapa ( Dirks et al, 2010 ; Kuhn et al, 2012 )) as the faunal data from these localities is based on extremely small sample sizes and generally limited to simple listings without primary descriptions or supporting data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macromammalian faunas, biochronology and palaeoecology of the early Pleistocene Main Quarry hominin-bearing deposits of the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa

Adams

Rovinsky

Herries

et al. 2016

PeerJ

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The Drimolen Palaeocave System Main Quarry deposits (DMQ) are some of the most prolific hominin and primate-bearing deposits in the Fossil Hominids of South Africa UNESCO World Heritage Site. Discovered in the 1990s, excavations into the DMQ have yielded a demographically diverse sample of Paranthropus robustus (including DNH 7, the most complete cranium of the species recovered to date), early Homo, Papio hamadryas robinsoni and Cercopithecoides williamsi. Alongside the hominin and primate sample is a diverse macromammalian assemblage, but prior publications have only provided a provisional species list and an analysis of the carnivores recovered prior to 2008. Here we present the first description and analysis of the non-primate macromammalian faunas from the DMQ, including all 826 taxonomically identifiable specimens catalogued from over two decades of excavation. We also provide a biochronological interpretation of the DMQ deposits and an initial discussion of local palaeoecology based on taxon representation.The current DMQ assemblage consists of the remains of minimally 147 individuals from 9 Orders and 14 Families of mammals. The carnivore assemblage described here is even more diverse than established in prior publications, including the identification of Megantereon whitei, Lycyaenops silberbergi, and first evidence for the occurrence of Dinofelis cf. barlowi and Dinofelis aff. piveteaui within a single South African site deposit. The cetartiodactyl assemblage is dominated by bovids, with the specimen composition unique in the high recovery of horn cores and dominance of Antidorcas recki remains. Other cetartiodactyl and perissodactyl taxa are represented by few specimens, as are Hystrix and Procavia; the latter somewhat surprisingly so given their common occurrence at penecontemporaneous deposits in the region. Equally unusual (particularly given the size of the sample) is the identification of single specimens of giraffoid, elephantid and aardvark (Orycteropus cf. afer) that are rarely recovered from regional site deposits. Despite the diversity within the DMQ macromammalian faunas, there are few habitat- or biochronologically-sensitive species that provide specific ecologic or age boundaries for the deposits. Recovered species can only support the non-specific, mixed open-to-closed palaeohabitats around Drimolen that have been reconstructed for the other penecontemporaneous South African palaeokarst deposits. The identified Equus quagga ssp. specimens recovered from the floor of the current excavation (∾−4.5–5 m below datum) suggests that most, if not all the DMQ specimens, were deposited after 2.33 Ma. Simultaneously, the carnivore specimens (D. cf. barlowi, L. silberbergi) suggest earlier Pleistocene (pre- 2.0–1.8 Ma) to maximally 1.6 Ma deposition (D. aff. piveteaui) for most of the DMQ fossil assemblage.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macromammalian faunas, biochronology and palaeoecology of the early Pleistocene Main Quarry hominin-bearing deposits of the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa

Adams

Rovinsky

Herries

et al. 2016

PeerJ

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“…The Plio-Pleistocene Section of the Department of Vertebrates, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History has granted permission for digitisation of their reposited fossil specimens. The DNMNH Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Section collections include thousands of taxonomically-identifiable fossil mammal specimens [ 1 , 4 – 7 , 70 ]. Here, we have begun our digital archive with all 89 non-hominin holotype, paratype and key mammalian specimens (Orders Primates, Carnivora, Artiodactyla, Eulipotyphla, Hyracoidea, Lagomorpha, Perissodactyla, and Proboscidea) held in the Plio-Pleistocene Section vault (‘Broom Room’; S1 Table ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (DNMNH; the former Transvaal Museum) is one of the primary repositories of Pliocene and Pleistocene fossils in South Africa, including much of the hominin and non-hominin faunas excavated from the paleokarstic deposits at Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, Bolt’s Farm, Gondolin, Luleche, and Hoogland; and parts of the Taung, Cooper’s, Plover’s Lake, and Haasgat sites ( Fig 1 ) [ 1 – 7 ]. Included within these site assemblages are mammal holotype and paratype specimens that have been curated at the Museum since the early paleontological collections by Robert Broom in the 1930s (see [ 8 – 53 ] in S1 Table )[ 1 , 10 , 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface Model and Tomographic Archive of Fossil Primate and Other Mammal Holotype and Paratype Specimens of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria, South Africa

et al. 2015

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Nearly a century of paleontological excavation and analysis from the cave deposits of the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site in northeastern South Africa underlies much of our understanding of the evolutionary history of hominins, other primates and other mammal lineages in the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene of Africa. As one of few designated fossil repositories, the Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Section of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (DNMNH; the former Transvaal Museum) curates much of the mammalian faunas recovered from the fossil-rich deposits of major South African hominin-bearing localities, including the holotype and paratype specimens of many primate, carnivore, and other mammal species (Orders Primates, Carnivora, Artiodactyla, Eulipotyphla, Hyracoidea, Lagomorpha, Perissodactyla, and Proboscidea). Here we describe an open-access digital archive of high-resolution, full-color three-dimensional (3D) surface meshes of all 89 non-hominin holotype, paratype and significant mammalian specimens curated in the Plio-Pleistocene Section vault. Surface meshes were generated using a commercial surface scanner (Artec Spider, Artec Group, Luxembourg), are provided in formats that can be opened in both open-source and commercial software, and can be readily downloaded either via an online data repository (MorphoSource) or via direct request from the DNMNH. In addition to providing surface meshes for each specimen, we also provide tomographic data (both computerized tomography [CT] and microfocus [microCT]) for a subset of these fossil specimens. This archive of the DNMNH Plio-Pleistocene collections represents the first research-quality 3D datasets of African mammal fossils to be made openly available. This simultaneously provides the paleontological community with essential baseline information (e.g., updated listing and 3D record of specimens in their current state of preservation) and serves as a single resource of high-resolution digital data that improves collections accessibility, reduces unnecessary duplication of efforts by researchers, and encourages ongoing imaging-based paleobiological research across a range of South African non-hominin fossil faunas. Because the types, paratypes, and key specimens include globally-distributed mammal taxa, this digital archive not only provides 3D morphological data on taxa fundamental to Neogene and Quaternary South African palaeontology, but also lineages critical to research on African, other Old World, and New World paleocommunities. With such a broader impact of the DNMNH 3D data, we hope that establishing open access to this digital archive will encourage other researchers and institutions to provide similar resources that increase accessibility to paleontological collections and support advanced paleobiological analyses.

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“…This material was subsequently washed down into a lateral cavern that extended back into the current hillside. At the base of the Hoogland sequence is a ~2m thick sequence of speleothems and siltstones (the 'Basal Speleothem'; Adams et al, 2010), the focus of this study, which is overlain by laminations of siltstone and gravel, representing periodic flooding events that washed material down from the talus cone. This overlying siltstone and gravel deposit is divided into separate accumulation units by flowstone layers ('Flowstone Bounded Units' (FBUs), as at…”

Section: Site Chronologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The lower layers of the speleothem have reversed and normal polarities and are late Messinian (Late Miocene) in age (C3r Chron;Ogg et al, 2012) under all plausible dating scenarios. Stratigraphic terminology fromAdams et al (2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Speleothem evidence for C3 dominated vegetation during the Late Miocene (Messinian) of South Africa

Hopley

Reade

Parrish

et al. 2019

Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology

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During the Late Miocene, Africa experienced a number of ecological transitions including the spread of C4 grasslands, the expansion of the Sahara Desert, the Messinian Salinity Crisis and a number of mammalian migrations and expansions, including the origin of the hominin clade. A detailed understanding of the relationship between environmental change and hominin evolution is hampered by the paucity of data available from terrestrial localities, especially in southern Africa. Here, we present a stable isotope and trace element record from a speleothem from the South African cave site of Hoogland. Uranium-lead dating and magnetostratigraphy places the speleothem within the Messinian Age (7.25 Ma -5.33 Ma) of the Late Miocene, making it the oldest known cave deposit from the region near the UNESCO Fossil Hominids of South Africa World Heritage Site (locally known as the 'Cradle of Humankind'). Low carbon isotope values indicate a predominantly C3 vegetation in the vicinity of the cave throughout the period of speleothem growth. It is not possible to determine if this represents a C3 grassland or a C3 woodland, but it is clear that an equivalent C3 -rich environment has yet to be found during the Messinian of east Africa. We conclude that the C4 grass expansion occurred millions of years later in South Africa than it did in eastern Africa, and that this vegetation shift should be considered when comparing African vegetation change with the late Miocene hominin fossil record.

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Initial fossil discoveries from Hoogland, a new Pliocene primate-bearing karstic system in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Cited by 35 publications

References 15 publications

Macromammalian faunas, biochronology and palaeoecology of the early Pleistocene Main Quarry hominin-bearing deposits of the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa

Macromammalian faunas, biochronology and palaeoecology of the early Pleistocene Main Quarry hominin-bearing deposits of the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa

Surface Model and Tomographic Archive of Fossil Primate and Other Mammal Holotype and Paratype Specimens of the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria, South Africa

Speleothem evidence for C3 dominated vegetation during the Late Miocene (Messinian) of South Africa

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