东图尔卡纳上新世人类与半干旱盆地中湿润的环境有关。

Pliocene hominins from East Turkana were associated with mesic environments in a semiarid basin.

机构信息

Department of Anthropology, The University of Arkansas, 330 Old Main, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA.

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Division of Biology and Paleo Environment, Palisades, NY, 10964, USA.

出版信息

J Hum Evol. 2023 Jul;180:103385. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103385. Epub 2023 May 23.

Abstract

During the middle Pliocene (∼3.8-3.2 Ma), both Australopithecus afarensis and Kenyanthropus platyops are known from the Turkana Basin, but between 3.60 and 3.44 Ma, most hominin fossils are found on the west side of Lake Turkana. Here, we describe a new hominin locality (ET03-166/168, Area 129) from the east side of the lake, in the Lokochot Member of the Koobi Fora Formation (3.60-3.44 Ma). To reconstruct the paleoecology of the locality and its surroundings, we combine information from sedimentology, the relative abundance of associated mammalian fauna, phytoliths, and stable isotopes from plant wax biomarkers, pedogenic carbonates, and fossil tooth enamel. The combined evidence provides a detailed view of the local paleoenvironment occupied by these Pliocene hominins, where a biodiverse community of primates, including hominins, and other mammals inhabited humid, grassy woodlands in a fluvial floodplain setting. Between <3.596 and 3.44 Ma, increases in woody vegetation were, at times, associated with increases in arid-adapted grasses. This suggests that Pliocene vegetation included woody species that were resilient to periods of prolonged aridity, resembling vegetation structure in the Turkana Basin today, where arid-adapted woody plants are a significant component of the ecosystem. Pedogenic carbonates indicate more woody vegetation than other vegetation proxies, possibly due to differences in temporospatial scale and ecological biases in preservation that should be accounted for in future studies. These new hominin fossils and associated multiproxy paleoenvironmental indicators from a single locale through time suggest that early hominin species occupied a wide range of habitats, possibly including wetlands within semiarid landscapes. Local-scale paleoecological evidence from East Turkana supports regional evidence that middle Pliocene eastern Africa may have experienced large-scale, climate-driven periods of aridity. This information extends our understanding of hominin environments beyond the limits of simple wooded, grassy, or mosaic environmental descriptions.

摘要

在中上新世(约 380-320 万年前),阿法南方古猿和肯尼亚平脸人都在图尔卡纳盆地被发现,但在 3600 万至 3440 万年前,大多数人类化石都在图尔卡纳湖南侧被发现。在这里,我们描述了一个来自湖南侧的新的人类居住地(ET03-166/168,129 区),位于图尔卡纳湖东侧,位于库比福拉地层的洛科乔特组(3600-3440 万年前)。为了重建该地点及其周围的古生态,我们结合了沉积学、相关哺乳动物群的相对丰度、植硅石、植物蜡生物标志物、成土碳酸盐和化石牙齿珐琅质的稳定同位素的信息。综合证据提供了一个详细的视图,了解这些上新世人类居住的当地古环境,在那里,一个生物多样性的灵长类动物社区,包括人类和其他哺乳动物,栖息在潮湿的、草木茂盛的林地,位于河流泛滥平原的环境中。在 3596 万年至 3440 万年之间,木本植被的增加有时与耐旱草的增加有关。这表明上新世的植被包括对长时间干旱具有弹性的木本物种,类似于今天图尔卡纳盆地的植被结构,那里耐旱的木本植物是生态系统的重要组成部分。成土碳酸盐表明有更多的木本植被,而不是其他植被指标,这可能是由于时间和空间尺度的差异以及保存方面的生态偏见,在未来的研究中应该考虑到这些因素。这些来自单一地点的新的人类化石和相关的多指标古环境指标表明,早期人类物种占据了广泛的栖息地,可能包括半干旱景观中的湿地。东图尔卡纳的局部古生态证据支持了中上新世东非可能经历了大规模、气候驱动的干旱期的区域证据。这一信息扩展了我们对人类环境的理解,超越了简单的林地、草地或镶嵌环境描述的限制。

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