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

The Asbole area in the Lower Awash Valley yielded a diverse fauna of large and small mammals, associated with an Acheulean industry. The most notable forms are a potentially new species of herpestid, a large collection of Kolpochoerus majus, and the earliest known Bos in Africa. Biochronologically, this fauna belongs to the earliest Middle Pleistocene, and is roughly contemporaneous with the Bodo site further south. Paleoenvironmentally, the fauna suggests a mosaic of landscapes among which humid environments, grasslands and forests, are predominant.     

Re-Appraisal of <Emphasis Type="Italic">‘Felis’ pamiri</Emphasis> Ozansoy, 1959 (Carnivora,Felidae) from the Upper Miocene of Turkey: the Earliest Pantherin Cat?

Although the divergence of the Panthera clade from other Felidae might be as old as the earliest middle Miocene, its fossil record before the Pliocene is virtually non-existent. Here we reassess the affinities of a felid from the early upper Miocene of Turkey, known by well-preserved associated upper and lower dentitions. We conclude that it belongs to the same genus (Miopanthera Kretzoi, 1938) as the middle Miocene ‘Styriofelis’ lorteti (Gaillard, 1899), and that this genus is close to, if not part of, the Panthera clade.     

On some spiral-horned antelopes (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Bovidae) from the Late Miocene of Turkey, with remarks on their distribution

Examination of some collections from several late Miocene Turkish localities allows us to describe and definitely identify for the first time several species of spiral-horned antelopes in this country:Palaeoreas lindermayeri, Protragelaphus skouzesi, Prostrepsiceros zitteli andNisidorcas sp. During the first part of the late Miocene, several endemic species are restricted to central Anatolia, while more widespread taxa appear in the later part of this period, suggesting a decrease in provinciality of this area.     

Discovery of an Upper Miocene Vertebrate fauna near Tizi N’Tadderht,Skoura, Ouarzazate Basin (Central High Atlas,Morocco)

The discovery of Upper Miocene vertebrates at Tizi N’Tadderht in the Ouarzazate basin (Morocco) helps to fill a gap in our knowledge of Neogene faunas in North Africa. The new fauna includes an ostrich cf. Struthio sp, a turtle cf. Centrochelys sp., Crocodylus cf. niloticus, and a relatively diverse fauna of large mammals. The mammal assemblage probably includes three hipparion species, including a very small form not previously reported from Africa, aff. Cremohipparion periafricanum, two species of rhinoceros cf. Ceratotherium sp. and aff. Chilotherium sp., a Proboscidean cf. Tetralophodon sp., a large member of the Giraffidae similar to “Palaeotragus” germaini and two bovids of which one is likely related to Prostrepsiceros, while the other is a new medium-sized antelope with spiral horns, certainly a representative of the Caprinae, a group that is rare in Africa. A late Miocene age, corresponding to the European Turolian Mammal age, is most likely for this fauna.     

Biochronologie mammalienne du Quaternaire du Maroc atlantique, dans son cadre régional

Recent researches conducted in Morocco in the frame of the “Programme Casablanca” provide a firm ground to set up a biochronology of the Pliocene and Pleistocene based upon the succession of Mammalian faunas, thanks to the occurrence of well-dated landmarks, and despite very scarce absolute datations. The site of Lissasfa, dated to the Miocene-Pliocene boundary by rodents, testifies to important exchanges with Europe. That of Ahl al Oughlam yielded more than 100 vertebrate species. The evolutionary stages of its rodents, carnivores, bovids, Kolpochoerus, as well as the absence of Equus, allow us to refer it to the late Pliocene, at ca. 2.5 Ma. The Thomas and Oulad Hamida quarries in Casablanca cut through a unique succession of marine and continental levels going back to the lower Pleistocene, yielding the earliest evidence of human presence in Morocco. Later stages of this human occupation are documented by the Middle Pleistocene levels of these quarries, and by several other sites, most of which are also located in the Rabat-Casablanca region, thus confirming the importance of this coastal area in human history. However, the first chapter of this history in North-western Africa, at present illustrated by the sites of Aïn Hanech and Mansourah in Algeria, remains poorly documented in Morocco.     

Pleistocene Hominins as a Resource for Carnivores: A c. 500,000-Year-Old Human Femur Bearing Tooth-Marks in North Africa (Thomas Quarry I,Morocco)

In many Middle Pleistocene sites, the co-occurrence of hominins with carnivores, who both contributed to faunal accumulations, suggests competition for resources as well as for living spaces. Despite this, there is very little evidence of direct interaction between them to-date. Recently, a human femoral diaphysis has been recognized in South-West of Casablanca (Morocco), in the locality called Thomas Quarry I. This site is famous for its Middle Pleistocene fossil hominins considered representatives of Homo rhodesiensis. The bone was discovered in Unit 4 of the Grotte à Hominidés (GH), dated to c. 500 ky and was associated with Acheulean artefacts and a rich mammalian fauna. Anatomically, it fits well within the group of known early Middle Pleistocene Homo, but its chief point of interest is that the diaphyseal ends display numerous tooth marks showing that it had been consumed shortly after death by a large carnivore, probably a hyena. This bone represents the first evidence of consumption of human remains by carnivores in the cave. Whether predated or scavenged, this chewed femur indicates that humans were a resource for carnivores, underlining their close relationships during the Middle Pleistocene in Atlantic Morocco.     

Evidence for a Late Pliocene faunal transition based on a new rodent assemblage from Oldowan locality Hadar A.L. 894, Afar Region, Ethiopia

The time interval between 3 Ma and 2 Ma marks several important transitions in human evolution, including the extinction of Australopithecus afarensis, the origin of the genus Homo, and the appearance of concentrated stone tool assemblages forming recognizable archaeological sites. The period also marks important changes in Earth’s climatic history, with the onset of northern hemisphere glaciation starting sometime between 2.8 Ma and 2.5 Ma, and it remains an unresolved question in paleoanthropology whether or not the global climatic events influenced in whole or in part, local terrestrial paleoenvironments in Africa and, through this, the course of human evolution.Changes in the terrestrial mammalian faunas of East Africa during this time interval are an important source of data about terrestrial paleoenvironments, and it has been argued that during this time period the mammalian faunas of Africa experienced a sudden pulse in the extinction and origination of taxa. The data corroborating this Turnover Pulse Hypothesis derive from both large mammal and micromammal data, though the fossil record of the former is much more abundant in this interval. New micromammal fossils recovered from ca. 2.4 Ma deposits at locality A.L. 894, low in the Busidima Formation in the Hadar study area of the Afar region, Ethiopia, reveal a significant faunal turnover when compared with previously published material from older 3.2 Ma micromammal assemblages from the Hadar Formation deposits. The results support the hypothesis of a major faunal transition, but larger sample sizes and more extensive temporal sampling are needed to refine the time and rate of change within this interval at Hadar.