Paleoanthropology. Late Pliocene fossiliferous sedimentary record and the environmental context of early Homo from Afar, Ethiopia.
Sedimentary basins in eastern Africa preserve a record of continental rifting and contain important fossil assemblages for interpreting hominin evolution. However, the record of hominin evolution between 3 and 2.5 million years ago (Ma) is poorly documented in surface outcrops, particularly in Afar, Ethiopia. Here we present the discovery of a 2.84- to 2.58-million-year-old fossil and hominin-bearing sediments in the Ledi-Geraru research area of Afar, Ethiopia, that have produced the earliest record of the genus Homo. Vertebrate fossils record a faunal turnover indicative of more open and probably arid habitats than those reconstructed earlier in this region, which is in broad agreement with hypotheses addressing the role of environmental forcing in hominin evolution at this time. Geological analyses constrain depositional and structural models of Afar and date the LD 350-1 Homo mandible to 2.80 to 2.75 Ma.
Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. dimaggio@psu.edu kreed@asu.edu.
Erin N
EN
DiMaggio
Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Christopher J
CJ
Campisano
Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
John
J
Rowan
CNRS Géosciences Rennes, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes, France.
Guillaume
G
Dupont-Nivet
Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
Alan L
AL
Deino
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
Faysal
F
Bibi
Biology Program, Stockton University, 101 Vera King Farris Drive, Galloway, NJ 08205, USA.
Margaret E
ME
Lewis
Human Evolution Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3160, USA.
Antoine
A
Souron
School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Dominique
D
Garello
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Department of Palaeobiology, Box 50007, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden.
Lars
L
Werdelin
Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
Kaye E
KE
Reed
School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
J Ramón
JR
Arrowsmith
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D005002:Ethiopia; D005580:Fossils; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D015186:Hominidae