Geology and palaeontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad

Patrick Vignaud (), Philippe Duringer, Hassane Taïsso Mackaye, Andossa Likius, Cécile Blondel, Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Louis de Bonis, Véra Eisenmann, Marie-Esther Etienne, Denis Geraads, Franck Guy, Thomas Lehmann, Fabrice Lihoreau, Nieves Lopez-Martinez, Cécile Mourer-Chauviré, Olga Otero, Jean-Claude Rage, Mathieu Schuster, Laurent Viriot, Antoine Zazzo and Michel Brunet
Additional contact information
Patrick Vignaud: Université de Poitiers
Philippe Duringer: Centre de Géochimie de la Surface, CNRS UMR 7517, Université Louis Pasteur
Hassane Taïsso Mackaye: Université de N'Djaména
Andossa Likius: Université de Poitiers
Cécile Blondel: Université de Poitiers
Jean-Renaud Boisserie: Université de Poitiers
Louis de Bonis: Université de Poitiers
Véra Eisenmann: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle et CNRS UMR 8569
Marie-Esther Etienne: Université de Poitiers
Denis Geraads: Centre National de Recherche Scientifique UPR 2147
Franck Guy: Université de Poitiers
Thomas Lehmann: Université de Poitiers
Fabrice Lihoreau: Université de Poitiers
Nieves Lopez-Martinez: Universidad Complutense
Cécile Mourer-Chauviré: Centre des Sciences de la Terre, CNRS UMR 5125, Université Claude Bernard
Olga Otero: Université de Poitiers
Jean-Claude Rage: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle et CNRS UMR 8569
Mathieu Schuster: Centre de Géochimie de la Surface, CNRS UMR 7517, Université Louis Pasteur
Laurent Viriot: Université de Poitiers
Antoine Zazzo: Université Pierre et Marie Curie
Michel Brunet: Université de Poitiers

Nature, 2002, vol. 418, issue 6894, 152-155

Abstract: Abstract All six known specimens of the early hominid Sahelanthropus tchadensis come from Toros-Menalla site 266 (TM 266), a single locality in the Djurab Desert, northern Chad, central Africa. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the palaeontological and palaeoecological context of these finds. The rich fauna from TM 266 includes a significant aquatic component such as fish, crocodiles and amphibious mammals, alongside animals associated with gallery forest and savannah, such as primates, rodents, elephants, equids and bovids. The fauna suggests a biochronological age between 6 and 7 million years. Taken together with the sedimentological evidence, the fauna suggests that S. tchadensis lived close to a lake, but not far from a sandy desert, perhaps the oldest record of desert conditions in the Neogene of northern central Africa.

Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1038/nature00880

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