TY - JOUR
T1 - New modern and Pleistocene fossil micromammal assemblages from Swartkrans, South Africa
T2 - Paleobiodiversity, taphonomic, and environmental context
AU - Linchamps, Pierre
AU - Stoetzel, Emmanuelle
AU - Amberny, Laurie
AU - Steininger, Christine
AU - Clarke, Ronald J.
AU - Caruana, Matthew V.
AU - Kuman, Kathleen
AU - Pickering, Travis Rayne
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - The oldest deposit at the hominin-bearing cave of Swartkrans, South Africa, is the Lower Bank of Member 1, dated to ca. 2.2 million years ago. Excavations of this unit have produced a diverse and extensive mammalian fossil record, including Paranthropus robustus and early Homo fossils, along with numerous Oldowan stone tools. The present study focuses on the taxonomic analysis of the micromammalian fossil assemblage obtained from recent excavations of the Lower Bank, conducted between 2005 and 2010, as part of the Swartkrans Paleoanthropological Research Project. The taxonomic composition of this assemblage is dominated by Mystromys, a rodent indicative of grassland environments. Taphonomic analysis indicates an accumulation of prey by Tyto alba (Barn owl) or a related species. Environments inferred from this evidence reflect an open landscape primarily covered by grassland vegetation, but they also feature components of wooded areas, rocky outcrops, and the proximity of a river. The Swartkrans fossil assemblage is compared with Cooper's D (dated to ca. 1.4 Ma) and a modern coprocoenosis of Bubo africanus (spotted eagle-owl) collected within the Swartkrans cave for taxonomic, taphonomic, and paleoecological perspectives. Contrasting fossil and modern micromammalian data provide a better understanding of accumulation processes and facilitate a diachronic reconstruction of changes in climate and landscape evolution. Issues regarding paleoenvironmental reconstruction methodologies based on micromammals are also discussed.
AB - The oldest deposit at the hominin-bearing cave of Swartkrans, South Africa, is the Lower Bank of Member 1, dated to ca. 2.2 million years ago. Excavations of this unit have produced a diverse and extensive mammalian fossil record, including Paranthropus robustus and early Homo fossils, along with numerous Oldowan stone tools. The present study focuses on the taxonomic analysis of the micromammalian fossil assemblage obtained from recent excavations of the Lower Bank, conducted between 2005 and 2010, as part of the Swartkrans Paleoanthropological Research Project. The taxonomic composition of this assemblage is dominated by Mystromys, a rodent indicative of grassland environments. Taphonomic analysis indicates an accumulation of prey by Tyto alba (Barn owl) or a related species. Environments inferred from this evidence reflect an open landscape primarily covered by grassland vegetation, but they also feature components of wooded areas, rocky outcrops, and the proximity of a river. The Swartkrans fossil assemblage is compared with Cooper's D (dated to ca. 1.4 Ma) and a modern coprocoenosis of Bubo africanus (spotted eagle-owl) collected within the Swartkrans cave for taxonomic, taphonomic, and paleoecological perspectives. Contrasting fossil and modern micromammalian data provide a better understanding of accumulation processes and facilitate a diachronic reconstruction of changes in climate and landscape evolution. Issues regarding paleoenvironmental reconstruction methodologies based on micromammals are also discussed.
KW - Cradle of Humankind
KW - Early Pleistocene
KW - Micromammals
KW - Neotaphonomy
KW - Paleoenvironments
KW - Taphonomy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85215616673&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103636
DO - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103636
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85215616673
SN - 0047-2484
VL - 200
JO - Journal of Human Evolution
JF - Journal of Human Evolution
M1 - 103636
ER -