Modelling the role of groundwater hydro-refugia in East African hominin evolution and dispersal

M. O. Cuthbert (), T. Gleeson, S. C. Reynolds, M. R. Bennett, A. C. Newton, C. J. McCormack and G. M. Ashley
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M. O. Cuthbert: School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University
T. Gleeson: University of Victoria
S. C. Reynolds: Institute for Studies of Landscape and Human Evolution, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University
M. R. Bennett: Institute for Studies of Landscape and Human Evolution, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University
A. C. Newton: Institute for Studies of Landscape and Human Evolution, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University
C. J. McCormack: School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham
G. M. Ashley: Rutgers University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Water is a fundamental resource, yet its spatiotemporal availability in East Africa is poorly understood. This is the area where most hominin first occurrences are located, and consequently the potential role of water in hominin evolution and dispersal remains unresolved. Here, we show that hundreds of springs currently distributed across East Africa could function as persistent groundwater hydro-refugia through orbital-scale climate cycles. Groundwater buffers climate variability according to spatially variable groundwater response times determined by geology and topography. Using an agent-based model, grounded on the present day landscape, we show that groundwater availability would have been critical to supporting isolated networks of hydro-refugia during dry periods when potable surface water was scarce. This may have facilitated unexpected variations in isolation and dispersal of hominin populations in the past. Our results therefore provide a new environmental framework in which to understand how patterns of taxonomic diversity in hominins may have developed.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15696

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