African Paleoecology and Human Evolution

Description

Humans evolved in the dynamic landscapes of Africa under conditions of pronounced climatic, geological and environmental change during the past 7 million years. This book brings together detailed records of the paleontological and archaeological sites in Africa that provide the basic evidence for understanding the environments in which we evolved. Chapters cover specific sites, with comprehensive accounts of their geology, paleontology, paleobotany, and their ecological significance for our evolution. Other chapters provide important regional syntheses of past ecological conditions. This book is unique in merging a broad geographic scope (all of Africa) and deep time framework (the past 7 million years) in discussing the geological context and paleontological records of our evolution and that of organisms that evolved alongside our ancestors. It will offer important insights to anyone interested in human evolution, including researchers and graduate students in paleontology, archaeology, anthropology and geology. Copyright_page Dedication Contents Contributors Acknowledgments Part I Modern Africa and Overview of Late Cenozoic Paleoenvironments 1 Introduction: African Paleoecology and Human Evolution 2 Approaches to the Study of Past Environments 3 Environmental and Stratigraphic Bias in the Hominin Fossil Record 4 Late Miocene and Earliest Pliocene Paleoecology of Africa 5 The Middle Pleistocene Through the Holocene of Africa: A Synthesis Part II Southern Africa 6 The Southern African Sites 7 Geology, Fauna, and Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions of the Makapansgat Limeworks Australopithecus africanus-Bearing Paleo-Cave 8 Paleoenvironments and the Context of Plio-Pleistocene Hominins at Kromdraai, South Africa 9 Using the Faunal Community to Determine the Local Ecology for Early Hominins at Cooper’s Cave at 1.5 Ma 10 The Paleoenvironments of Sterkfontein 11 Swartkrans 12 Cornelia-Uitzoek: Paleoecology, Archeology and Geochronology 13 The Paleoecology of the Australopithecus africanus Type Site at Taung, South Africa 14 Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province Part III Eastern and Central Africa 15 Hominid Paleoenvironments in Tropical Africa from the Late Miocene to the Early Pleistocene 16 Mammal Paleoecology from the Late Early Pleistocene Sites of the Dandiero Basin (Eritrea), With Emphasis on the Suid Record 17 The 6-Million-Year Record of Ecological and Environmental Change at Gona, Afar Region, Ethiopia 18 The Hadar Formation, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia: Geology, Fauna, and Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions 19 Fossil Vertebrates and Paleoenvironments of the Pliocene Hadar Formation at Dikika, Ethiopia 20 Miocene to Pliocene Stratigraphy and Paleoecology of Galili, Ethiopia 21 Melka Kunture, Ethiopia 22 Early Pleistocene Fauna and Paleoenvironments at Konso, Ethiopia 23 Paleontology and Geology of the Mursi Formation 24 Mammalian Diversity Patterns and Paleoecology in the Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia 25 Paleoecology and Paleoenvironments of Early Quaternary Faunal Assemblages from the Nachukui Formation in Kenya 26 Early Hominins and Paleoecology of the Koobi Fora Formation, Lake Turkana Basin, Kenya 27 Early Pliocene Faunal Assemblages from the Tugen Hills, Kenya 28 The Southern Chemeron Formation, Tugen Hills, Kenya 29 Fauna and Paleoenvironments of the Homa Peninsula, Western Kenya 30 Mammalian Fauna of the Olorgesailie Basin and Southern Kenya Rift Context and Environments of the Lower Pleistocene Hominins of Peninj, Tanzania 32 Paleoecology and Vertebrate Taphonomy of DK Site (Bed I), Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania 33 Lower Bed II Olduvai Basin, Tanzania 34 Paleoecology of Laetoli, Tanzania 35 The Paleoenvironment of the Plio-Pleistocene Chiwondo Beds of Northern Malawi Part IV Northern Africa 36 The Northern African Sites 37 Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco 38 Tighennif (Ternifine), Algeria 39 Early Homo on the Atlantic Shore Volume References Index Plate_Section