Landscape scale heterogeneity in the east Turkana ecosystem during the okote member (1.56 - 1.38 Ma)
Author
dc.contributor.author
Patterson, D. B.
Author
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Braun, D. R.
Author
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Behrensmeyer, Anna K.
Author
dc.contributor.author
Lehmann, S. B.
Author
dc.contributor.author
Merritt, S. R.
Author
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Reeves, J. S.
Author
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Wood, B. A.
Author
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Bobe, René
Admission date
dc.date.accessioned
2018-06-12T22:40:49Z
Available date
dc.date.available
2018-06-12T22:40:49Z
Publication date
dc.date.issued
2017
Cita de ítem
dc.identifier.citation
Journal of Human Evolution 112 (2017) 148-161
es_ES
Identifier
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.06.007
Identifier
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https://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/148825
Abstract
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Placing the biological adaptations of Pleistocene hominins within a well-resolved ecological framework
has been a longstanding goal of paleoanthropology. This effort, however, has been challenging due to the
discontinuous nature of paleoecological data spanning many important periods in hominin evolution.
Sediments from the Upper Burgi (1.98e1.87 Ma), KBS (1.87e1.56 Ma) and Okote (1.56e1.38 Ma) members
of the Koobi Fora Formation at East Turkana in northern Kenya document an important time interval
in the evolutionary history of the hominin genera Homo and Paranthropus. Although much attention has
been paid to Upper Burgi and KBS member deposits, far less is known regarding the East Turkana
paleoecosystem during Okote Member times. This study pairs spatially-resolved faunal abundance data
with stable isotope geochemistry from mammalian enamel to investigate landscape-scale ecosystem
variability during Okote Member times. We find that during this period 1) taxa within the East Turkana
large mammal community were distributed heterogeneously across space, 2) the abundance of C3 and C4
vegetation varied between East Turkana subregions, and 3) the Karari subregion, an area with abundant
evidence of hominin stone tool manufacture, had significantly more C3 vegetation than regions closer to
the central axis of the Turkana Basin (i.e., Ileret and Koobi Fora). These findings indicate that the East
Turkana paleoecosystem during the Okote Member was highly variable across space and provided a
complex adaptive landscape for Pleistocene hominins.
es_ES
Patrocinador
dc.description.sponsorship
National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research
Improvement grant (1424203) and Wenner-Gren Foundation
Dissertation Fieldwork Grant to DBP. This project was also supported
by the GWSignature Program, the NSF-IGERT Program, NSFBCS
0924476, NSF-IRES grants 1358178 and 1358200.