The Makapansgat australopithecine environment

Rayner, R. J.; Moon, B.P.; Masters, Judith

doi:10.1006/jhev.1993.1016

Cited by 80 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…Secondly, the ca. 25% C 4 contribution occurs in spite of a far more closed, wooded habitat at Makapansgat (Vrba, 1985;Rayner et al, 1993;Reed, 1997;Sponheimer et al, 1999).…”

Section: Stable Carbon Isotopesmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Application to the South African australopithecines suggested that A. africanus ate fleshy fruits and leaves, while the megadont A. robustus ate harder, more fibrous foods (Grine, 1981;Grine & Kay, 1988). These reconstructions seemed reasonable given palaeoenvironmental reconstructions that favour woodland or forest for A. africanus sites while more open country with patches of gallery forest seems to have characterized A. robustus habitats (Vrba, 1985;Cadman & Rayner, 1989;Rayner et al, 1993;Reed, 1997). The drawbacks of microwear analysis include restriction mainly to the consistency of foods, the 'last supper' effect and invisibility of certain foods such as animal flesh and insects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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What do stable isotopes tell us about hominid dietary and ecological niches in the pliocene?

Lee‐Thorp

Sponheimer

Merwe

2003

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…Secondly, the ca. 25% C 4 contribution occurs in spite of a far more closed, wooded habitat at Makapansgat (Vrba, 1985;Rayner et al, 1993;Reed, 1997;Sponheimer et al, 1999).…”

Section: Stable Carbon Isotopesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

What do stable isotopes tell us about hominid dietary and ecological niches in the pliocene?

Lee‐Thorp

Sponheimer

Merwe

2003

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…This hominin exhibits considerable sexual dimorphism, but reconstruction of their social behavior using comparisons with extant primates is problematic (Plavcan and van Schaik, 1997). It has also been suggested that A. africanus also inhabited the forested areas close to the river (Rayner et al, 1993) and, as support for this suggestion, their presence is also rare in these assemblages.…”

Section: Integration Of Community Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 95%

The Use of Paleocommunity and Taphonomic Studies in Reconstructing Primate Behavior

Reed

2002

Reconstructing Behavior in the Primate Fossil Record

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“…A characterisΑc mix of environments is commonly idenΑfied from hominin sites across Africa and through Αme, from the site of Koro Toro, Chad (Brunet et al, 1995) to the latest site of upper Member 4 at Sterkfontein in South Africa (Bamford, 1999;Kuman and Clarke, 2000). Various paleoenvironmental proxies indicate a wide range of vegetaΑon types, ranging from wooded, forested condiΑons to more open, grassland-dominated condiΑons at Australopithecus-bearing Members of Sterkfontein and Makapansgat (e.g., Wells and Cooke, 1956;Vrba, 1982;Cadman and Rayner, 1989;Rayner et al, 1993;Clarke and Tobias, 1995;Reed, 1997;Bamford, 1999;Avery, 2001). High resoluΑon palynological studies from Hadar (Ethiopia) show that Australopithecus afarensis is associated with a range of habitats, including forest and grassland, between 3.4-2.9 million years ago (Bonnefille et al, 2004).…”

Section: Australopithecus Habitats and Dietsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscapes and their relation to hominin habitats: Case studies from Australopithecus sites in eastern and southern Africa

Reynolds

Bailey

King

2011

Journal of Human Evolution

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We examine the links between geomorphological processes, specific landscape features, surface water drainage, and the creaΑon of suitable habitats for hominins. The existence of mosaic (i.e. heterogeneous) habitats within hominin site landscape reconstrucΑons is typically explained using models of the riverine and gallery forest sengs, or the pan or lake seng. We propose a different model: the Tectonic Landscape Model (TLM), where tectonic faulΑng and volcanism disrupts exisΑng pan or river sengs at small scales (~ 10-25 km). Our model encompasses the interpretaΑon of the landscape features, the role of tectonics in creaΑng these landscapes, and the implicaΑons for hominins. In parΑcular, the model explains the underlying mechanism for the creaΑon and maintenance of heterogeneous habitats in regions of acΑve tectonics. We illustrate how areas with faulΑng and disturbed drainage paδerns would have been aδracΑve habitats for hominins, such as Australopithecus, and other fauna. Wetland areas are an important characterisΑc of surface water disturbance by fault acΑvity; therefore we examine the tectonically-controlled Okavango Delta (Botswana) and the Nylsvley wetland (South Africa) as modern examples of how tectonics in a riverine seng significantly enhances the faunal and floral biodiversity. While tectonic landscapes may not have been the only type of aδracΑve habitats to hominins, we propose a suite of landscape, faunal, and floral indicators, which when recovered together suggest that site environments may have been influenced by tectonic and/or volcanic acΑvity while hominins were present. For the fossil sites, we interpret the faulΑng and landscapes around australopithecine-bearing sites of the Middle Awash (Ethiopia) and Makapansgat, Taung, and Sterkfontein (South Africa) to illustrate these relaΑonships between landscape features and surface water bodies. ExploitaΑon of tectonically acΑve landscapes may explain why the paleoenvironmental signals, anatomy, diets, as well as the fauna associated with Australopithecus appear largely heterogeneous through Αme and space. This hypothesis is discussed in light of potenΑal preservaΑon and Αme-averaging effects which may affect paδerns visible in the fossil record. The model, however, offers insight into the landscape processes of how such habitats are formed. The landscape features and range of habitat condiΑons, specifically the weδer, down-dropped plains and drier, upliιed flanks persist in close proximity for as long as the fault moΑon conΑnues. The Tectonic Landscape Model provides an alternaΑve explanaΑon of why mixed habitats may be represented at certain sites over longer Αmescales. KeywordsEthiopia, Tectonism, Volcanism, Taung, Sterkfontein Valley, Makapansgat, Mosaic environments, Hominins k 1 Bailey, G.N., Reynolds S.C.and King, G.C.P. 2011. Landscapes of human evolution: models and methods of tectonic geomorphology and the reconstruction of hominin landscapes. Journal of Human Evolution. 60, p257-280 doi:10.1016Evolution. 60, p257-280 doi:10. ...

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The Makapansgat australopithecine environment

Cited by 80 publications

References 0 publications

What do stable isotopes tell us about hominid dietary and ecological niches in the pliocene?

What do stable isotopes tell us about hominid dietary and ecological niches in the pliocene?

The Use of Paleocommunity and Taphonomic Studies in Reconstructing Primate Behavior

Landscapes and their relation to hominin habitats: Case studies from Australopithecus sites in eastern and southern Africa

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