Woody cover and hominin environments in the past 6 million years

Thure E. Cerling (), Jonathan G. Wynn, Samuel A. Andanje, Michael I. Bird, David Kimutai Korir, Naomi E. Levin, William Mace, Anthony N. Macharia, Jay Quade and Christopher H. Remien
Additional contact information
Thure E. Cerling: University of Utah
Jonathan G. Wynn: University of South Florida
Samuel A. Andanje: Kenya Wildlife Service, PO Box 40241-00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Michael I. Bird: James Cook University
David Kimutai Korir: Kenya Wildlife Service, PO Box 40241-00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Naomi E. Levin: Johns Hopkins University
William Mace: University of Utah
Anthony N. Macharia: University of Utah
Jay Quade: University of Arizona
Christopher H. Remien: University of Utah

Nature, 2011, vol. 476, issue 7358, 51-56

Abstract: Abstract The role of African savannahs in the evolution of early hominins has been debated for nearly a century. Resolution of this issue has been hindered by difficulty in quantifying the fraction of woody cover in the fossil record. Here we show that the fraction of woody cover in tropical ecosystems can be quantified using stable carbon isotopes in soils. Furthermore, we use fossil soils from hominin sites in the Awash and Omo-Turkana basins in eastern Africa to reconstruct the fraction of woody cover since the Late Miocene epoch (about 7 million years ago). 13C/12C ratio data from 1,300 palaeosols at or adjacent to hominin sites dating to at least 6 million years ago show that woody cover was predominantly less than ∼40% at most sites. These data point to the prevalence of open environments at the majority of hominin fossil sites in eastern Africa over the past 6 million years.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10306

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