The Pleistocene fauna (other than Primates) from Asbole, lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia, and its environmental and biochronological implications

Plio-Pleistocene terrestrial mammal assemblage from Konso, southern Ethiopia

“…In the latter feature, the present material resembles females of K. majus from the Daka Member of the Bouri Formation (ca. 1 Ma; Gilbert 2008) and the site of Asbole (Busidima Formation, 0.8-0.6 Ma; Geraads et al 2004a), although it differs from males of this species in its slightly more obliquely oriented and less laterally inflated zygomatic arch (see above; Gilbert 2008). By contrast, the angle of the zygomatic arch to the sagittal plane is close to 90°, and the zygomatic knob is usually covered with rugose bone in male specimens of K. afarensis, K. limnetes, and K. olduvaiensis.…”

“…Most, but not all, authors recognize the following species: Kolpochoerus afarensis, K. cookei, K. deheinzelini, K. limnetes (also called K. heseloni following Cooke 1997), K. majus, K. olduvaiensis, K. paiceae, andK. phacochoeroides (White andHarris 1977;Cooke and Wilkinson 1978;Harris and White 1979;Hendey and Cooke 1985;White 1995;Brunet and White 2001;Geraads 2004;Geraads et al 2004a). In addition, Haile-Selassie and Simpson (2013) recently described K. millensis, a putative chronospecies intermediate in morphology and time between K. deheinzelini and K. afarensis.…”

“…0.5 Ma, including the Daka Member of the Bouri Formation and the Upper Bodo beds (Middle Awash), Member L of the Shungura Formation, the Busidima Formation (Asbole), the Melka Kunturé Formation (Garba IV), and the Konso, Olduvai, Kapthurin, Nachukui, Olorgesailie, and Nyabusosi formations (Hopwood 1934;Leakey 1942;Harris and White 1979;Harris et al 1988;Pickford 1994;White 1995;Suwa et al 2003;Geraads et al 2004a, b). Despite this abundance of sites, the evolutionary history of the K. majus lineage has remained largely unknown, owing to a lack of adequate material predating the Pleistocene specimens-although some authors have hypothesized that the species may have evolved from an early form of K. limnetes ~2.5 Ma, before the latter acquired a more complex dental morphology (White 1995;Geraads et al 2004a). …”

Hominins without fellow travellers? First appearances and inferred dispersals of Afro-Eurasian large-mammals in the Plio-Pleistocene

“…The third genus was Equus, the monodactyl horse, which is found throughout Africa from 2.3 Ma onwards (Bobe and Behrensmeyer, 2004). The timings of these dispersals indicates that, with the exception of two possible caprine movements and the now doubtful first appearance of Bos in East Africa (Geraads et al, 2004), all arrivals of Eurasian fauna into Africa predated 1.3 Ma.…”

Fossil cercopithecidae from the Middle Pleistocene Dawaitoli formation, Middle Awash valley, Afar region, Ethiopia

“…Daka, at 1.0 Ma, is older than the Dawaitoli Fomation, whereas Andalee is significantly younger, though no absolute dates are known (Kalb et al, 1982a,b;Asfaw et al, 2002). Asbole may be approximately contemporary (Geraads et al, 2004). Cercopithecids are relatively rare in the Dawaitoli fauna, and in this respect it is similar to Daka Gilbert, 2003), but distinct from both Andalee and Asbole where they are much more abundant (Kalb et al, 1982a;Alemseged and Geraads, 2000;Frost, 2001;Frost and Alemseged, in press).…”