Cenozoic Mammals of Africa

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PHYSICAL AND TEMPORAL SETTING

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CHAP TER ONE

Tectonics and Geomorphology of Africa during the Phanerozoic T. C. PARTRIDGE

Plate Tectonic Setting The Cenozoic evolution of Africa cannot be comprehended satisfactorily without reference to the early history of the Gondwana supercontinent and the events that occurred during and following its fragmentation. Gondwana first formed during the Neoproterozoic Pan-African–Brazilian orogeny (720–580 Ma [million years ago]; see Unrug, 1996; Caby, 2003). The closing of the Palaeotethys gulf during the collision of Laurasia with Gondwana in the late Palaeozoic completed the growth phase (figure 1.1). The northern margin of Africa was first created from late Permian times onward by the opening of the Neotethys seaway. At much the same time, compression along the southern margin of the supercontinent initiated the rise of the Cape Fold Mountains. However, complete isolation of the African continent occurred only during the Cretaceous. Along the east coast of southern Africa, rifting, driven by mantle-plume activity, began as early as 183 Ma and was followed by fissure volcanism. The separation of Africa from Antarctica followed in the interval between 157 and 153 Ma. Along the west coast of southern Africa, dykes dated to 132 Ma marked the start of the Etendeka volcanism of Namibia that preceded the first divergence at around 123 Ma in the Neocomian. Hot-spot activity continued in the area under the influence of the Tristan da Cunha mantle plume and generated the important oceanic highs of the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise. Detachment along the west African coast was, however, diachronous; thus, transcurrent shearing west of the Gulf of Guinea began only in Aptian times (~100 Ma). The volcanism that preceded rifting along both coasts of southern Africa had one particularly important consequence: a combination of thermal effects and magmatic underplating created a high “rim bulge” that resulted in the presence of significant coastal escarpments when separation occurred. High postrifting coastal hinterlands coincided largely with the area occupied by the African Superswell that, as will be discussed later, gave rise to “High Africa” in the south and east of the continent (in contrast to the less prominent hypsography of “Low Africa” to the north and west). Although evidence now points to the development (or perhaps

rejuvenation) of the superswell during the Neogene, it is significant that more than 100 million years of erosion was unable to reduce totally the high relief—and vestiges of the associated drainage—that came into being just before Africa became isolated from the remainder of Gondwanaland. In contrast to these areas of early volcanism, the margins formed by shearing did not experience uplift prior to continental separation (e.g., that of West Africa). The tectonic history of Africa during Cretaceous and Cenozoic times is characterized by long periods of extensional stress as the other Gondwana continents drifted away from it. These periods were punctuated by relatively short intervals in which a compressive stress regime was (at least locally) dominant. It was during these periods of crustal shortening that the major structural features of the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic were superimposed on the Gondwana mosaic of stable cratons and intervening Pan-African orogenic belts (discussed later). Figure 1.2 indicates the principal elements of this tectonic framework. During the early part of this period, prior to 85 Ma, the motion of Africa relative to the Earth’s axis of rotation took the form of a slow clockwise rotation around a pole located in the mid-Atlantic (Burke, 1996) and an equally gradual northward drift; indeed, during the entire postCretaceous period, this northward movement amounted to no more than about 14° of latitude. The short intervals of crustal compression afford good illustrations of the influence of global events on Africa’s tectonic history. In North Africa, the period of mid-Cretaceous quiescence that saw major marine transgressions both from the Neotethys and the Atlantic came to an end at about 85 Ma in the Santonian (i.e., just before the time of marine magnetic anomaly 34). This anomaly marks a significant change in the poles of rotation and a slowing in the rate of seafloor spreading in the Atlantic, and it is also correlated with the opening of the North Atlantic and the reactivation of far-field push from oceanic ridges. At much the same time, India and Madagascar separated from the east coast of Africa, the Mascarene Basin of the Indian Ocean began to open, and the Alpine chain of Europe was first uplifted (Guiraud and Bosworth, 1997). Although not all of these events were directly related, the analogy of a tectonic domino effect may

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LA U R

A SI A

PALEOTE Y TH

S

ND W A N A GO

ND W A N A GO

B 400 Ma Early Devonian

A 445 Ma Latest Ordovician L AUR

ASI A

NE

OT

ET

HY

S

GON

DW

AN

A

C 220 Ma Late Triassic

D 115 Ma Late Aptian

E 46 Ma Middle Eocene

F 0 Ma

FIGURE 1.1 Paleogeographic-paleotectonic reconstructions showing Gondwana breakup. A) Reconstruction at ~445 Ma (latest Ordovician); black star shows the South Pole position; after Konate et al., 2003. B) Reconstruction at ~400 Ma (Early Devonian); wavy line is the Acadian collision. C) Reconstruction at ~220 Ma (Late Triassic); dotted lines correspond to major Karoo rifts in Africa-Arabia. D) reconstruction at ~115 Ma (late Aptian); dotted line represents major Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous rifts and fault zones in Africa-Arabia. E) Reconstruction at ~46 Ma (Lutetian), with major late Senonian to early Eocene rifts in Africa-Arabia. F) Present day, with major Oligocene to Recent rifts and fault zones in Africa; wavy line is the Alpine fold-thrust belt. After Guiraud et al., 2005.

not be inappropriate. This global plate reorganization led to collision between the African-Arabian and Eurasian plates; its association with the Cretaceous Normal Magnetic Quiet zone indicates an origin in the Earth’s lower mantle and core (Guiraud and Bosworth, 1997). The results in North Africa were crustal shortening, accompanied by dextral transpression, basin inversion, the creation of narrow fold-related relief, the uplift of extensive areas accompanied by renewed rifting, and volcanism in the intercratonic Pan-African belts.

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One of these rift features was the northwest/southeast trenching series of basins extending from Sudan to the Lamu Embayment of Kenya, which is now crossed by the line of the later East African Rift System. Important is the fact that the Santonian rifting was passive in nature; that is, it was driven by plate boundary forces and not associated with local mantle plumes. Between the Santonian event and the end of the Cretaceous, there was a return to an extensional stress regime, but

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20˚

ics Bet 0˚

10˚

10˚

20˚

30˚

40˚

Tell

Rif

Madeira

MEDITERRANEAN

30˚

ALGERIA

Canary Is. F

50˚

60˚

SYRIA IRAQ P Euphrates

Sirie

Zagros

IRAN 30˚

Tindouf

EGYPT

LIBYA

Murzuk Basin

Reguibat Shield

Persian Gulf

Kufrah Basin Tib

Hoggar

Taoudenni Basin

OMAN

U A

MALI NIGER

RED SEA

SUDAN

Te

CHAD

D

B

Soc Gulf of Adan

Ebumean Shield

we n

Bo

NIGERIA

B.B

CAMEROON Mb

C.A.R.

Dj

ain O

SENEGAL

10˚

ARABIA

Nubia

Me Ogaden

Mu

SOMALIA

Ch

20˚

Tano Keta Gulf of Guinea

E.G GABON

0˚

KENYA ng

Co

Congo Basin

za

6

n wa oK

SOUTH ATLANTI C OCEAN

7

Pe TANZANIA

Seychelles Amirante

Ma

10˚ Comores

Mascarene Basin

Davie R.

4

ra ma Da

MADAGASCAR

ha ri

3

la

Mozambique Basin

Ka

1,000 km Karoo

Orange

10˚

0˚

10˚

Réunion Is.

Mozambique Ridge

1

20˚

MOZAMBIQUE

2

FIGURE 1.2

Somali Basin

Z

ANGOLA

5

20˚

0˚

INDIAN OCEAN

30˚

O.B. 20˚

30˚

40˚

50˚

60˚

Major tectonic localities of Africa and Arabia.

1 = Archean cratonic area; 2 = Proterozoic belt (mainly Pan African); 3 = Phanerozoic rift; 4 = Karoo rift; 5 = Mesozoic and/or Cenozoic rift; 6 = Mesozoic or Cenozoic magmatism; 7 = Phanerozoic fold belt; 8 = Alpine thrust front; 9 = major fault zone; A = Abyad; B = Bornu; B-B = Birao-Bagarra; Bo = Bongor; C.A.R. = Central African Republic; C.V.I. = Cape Verde Islands; D = Darfur; Dj = Djerem; E.G. = Equatorial Guinea; F = Fuerteventura; Iv.C. = Ivory Coast; M = Massirah Island; Ma = Mafia Island; Mb = Mbere; O.B. = Outeniqua Basin; P. = Palmyrides; Pe = Pemba Island; Soc. = Socotra Island; Tib. = Tibesti; U. = Uweinat; Z = Zanzibar. After Guiraud and Bosworth, 1997.

ABBREVIATIONS

from that time onward, all blocks within the African Plate assumed a counterclockwise rotation. All of the major basins of northern Africa subsided, and the Kalahari Basin began to form. There was also a resurgence of magmatic activity and volcanism in northern Africa. This period of quiescence ended around the terminal Cretaceous when a brief compressional event accentuated a number of the Santonian structures and generated uplift of as much as 400 m in the Kenya Dome. The second major compressional event to be felt across the face of Africa dates to the late Eocene (about 37 Ma) and corresponds with the onset of collision between the African/ Arabian Plate and Eurasia. This event caused Africa to come almost completely to rest with respect to the underlying

mantle-plume system and other thermal anomalies in the mantle, and it initiated a wholly new stress regime across the continent. As is discussed later, this led to a new style of active rifting in North Africa that was directly associated with plume activity. These events in the north were accompanied by a continent-wide rejuvenation of the Pan-African basin-and-swell structure. With the impending collision of North Africa with the Iberian margin of Europe, the African Plate became directly involved in the Alpine orogeny; this marked the beginning of the Atlas Event in which crustal shortening of about 25 km continued until the mid-Miocene and created the Atlas and Tell ranges of Morocco and Algeria.

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It was at about this time that the African Plate began to suffer the first major disruption since its isolation in the course of Gondwana rifting. This was associated with the development of the East African Rift System (EARS), beginning around 45 Ma with major flood basalt volcanism in Ethiopia. Rifting began in the north and extended southward, and it has remained active to the present day; the EARS now extends over more than 3,200 km from the Afar triple junction, formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, to the lower Zambezi Valley of southern Africa. South of Lake Turkana in Kenya, the rift bifurcates into eastern (Kenya) and western (Gregory) branches around the Nyanza Craton. Volcanism and rifting along the EARS were, for the most part, diachronous. Major faulting occurred in Ethiopia in the early Neogene; and by 6 Ma, a major set of eastward dipping faults defined a series of half-grabens in Kenya. Conjugate faulting between 5.5 and 3.7 Ma created a full graben morphology in this area. The EARS is of fundamental importance in the Cenozoic evolution of Africa. Its formation divided much of northeastern Africa into two new tectonic plates, the Nubian and the Somalian, as well as giving rise to the smaller Rovuma and Victoria microplates. These divisions were driven by regional asthenospheric upwelling and mantle flow (Calais et al., 2006), but while considerable lithospheric thinning is evident, crustal extension has probably amounted to no more than 20–30 km. The final chapter in this brief chronicle of major platetectonic influence on Africa is the closing of the Neotethys to form the Mediterranean Sea when Arabia and Asia collided between 16.5 and 15 Ma.

Legacy of Early Gondwana Events Africa is overwhelmingly a continent of old landscapes. It may surprise some readers that few of its important landscape features have their origin in the Quaternary—contra the beliefs of many Northern Hemisphere geomorphologists. Some important elements of its architecture in fact predate the Cenozoic. Among these is Africa’s unique basin-and-swell structure, which had its origin in a great tectonothermal event in central Gondwana (the Pan-African–Brazilian orogeny) that dates to between 720 and 580 Ma. During this fundamentally important period, mountain building accompanied by strike-slip faulting occurred over wide areas in zones of lithospheric weakness (Guiraud et al., 2005). Subsequent erosion erased the Pan-African relief, but the underlying structural welts, separating rigid cratonic blocks, remained subject to renewed faulting and provided loci for magmatic activity (in North Africa) and widespread preferential uplift. The reactivation of these Pan-African zones throughout Phanerozoic times is manifested today in the broad basinand-swell structure that characterizes the modern face of Africa (figure 1.3). Another important legacy from prerifting times was the rise of the Cape Fold Mountains that later came to flank the southern margin of the African continent. The shelf sediments of the Cape Supergroup were deposited off the passive margin of the Kalahari Craton in the early Paleozoic. As shorelines migrated northward, an active margin developed in the south leading to a rise of parallel ranges of resistant sandstone and quartzite around the end of the Permian (de Wit and Ransome, 1992). Although subsequently unconformably overlain in places by softer sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup, these mountains have been reexposed in

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FIGURE 1.3

The “basin-and-swell” structure of Africa. After Holmes,

1944.

subsequent cycles of erosion and form an important physiographic province (and a major center of biodiversity) at the southern extremity of Africa. Major elements of the drainage of the continent also owe their origin to events that predated or accompanied the onset of rifting. In southern Africa, continental breakup was preceded by the rise of two mantle plumes. The associated surface doming exerted an important (although not exclusive) influence on the predominantly centripetal drainage that characterized this portion of Gondwana (Moore and Blenkinsop, 2002). The Karoo Plume, probably centered beneath the east coast at about present latitude 22°S, was the earlier, resulting in widespread outpourings of basalt with an age of around 183 Ma. While most drainage lines in the hinterland transgress the supposed zone of influence of the plume and follow preexisting structural features, the dome associated with the 40–50 Ma younger Parana Plume was located a little farther to the north and clearly exerted a more profound influence. Evidence of both radial and dome-flank components can be seen in the drainage net reconstructed for the Early Cretaceous around this feature—the former in the headwaters of the Congo (Zaire), upper Zambezi, Cuando, and Okavango rivers; and the latter in the inferred courses of the Kalahari and Karoo rivers (Moore and Blenkinsop, 2002; de Wit, 1999). The dominant influence of the doming associated with the Parana Plume provides a ready explanation for the preponderance of eastward-flowing rivers across a wide belt south of the Congo Basin. In West Africa, structures created during continental rifting exerted a similarly important control over major elements of the drainage (Potter and Hamblin, 2006). The Benue River occupies a Cretaceous failed rift (aulacogen) that is the inland arm of a triple junction created during the separation of Africa from South America. The Niger, directed inland from its source by the rift-margin bulge of the Fouta Djallon Highlands (Sierra Leone), was subsequently captured by a coastal river occupying another aulacogen (the Bida Rift) to create the unusual, arc-shaped river system that now crosses several West African countries.


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Early History of the Continent and Its Shelves Several events that followed the separation of Africa from the remainder of Gondwana must be mentioned briefly because of their important influence on the structural and geomorphological history of the Cenozoic. There is little doubt that, resulting from the uplifts associated with the mantle plumes discussed in the foregoing section, elevations along the newly formed coasts of southern Africa must have been relatively high (Partridge and Maud [1987] have estimated hinterland elevations of 1,800–2,400 m). This helps to explain the ensuing massive influx of Cretaceous sediment onto the surrounding submarine shelves; this terrigenous input peaked in Albian to Turonian times (~110–90 Ma) and was replaced by slow carbonate deposition only after the end of the Cretaceous. As noted earlier, this early offshore loading would have generated a response in the form of further uplift of the hinterland, although recent models suggest that this would not have been of great magnitude (Séranne and Anka, 2005). This prolonged period of denudation removed up to 3 km of sediment from the coastal hinterland of southern Africa, in the process driving back the marginal, rift- generated escarpment by up to 200 km in the eastern hinterland and about 50 km inland of the west coast. In the interior, valley-flank recession reduced most areas susceptible to erosion to a gently undulating plain by the end of the Cretaceous (Partridge and Maud, 1987). North of the Walvis Ridge off Namibia, and along the coasts of West and northeastern Africa, the offshore evidence paints a very different picture. Along the equatorial western margin, the early Cretaceous was characterized by evaporite and carbonate deposition on a shallow, slowly subsiding shelf, which was progressively replaced by terrigenous sediments from late Turonian times onward. But by the end of the Cretaceous, this input had dropped significantly and did not resume until the beginning of the Neogene, after which massive fans grew at an increasing rate off the mouths of all major rivers. An analogous sequence of events can be reconstructed for the coastal Lamu and Tana basins and the adjacent Kenya shelf, where a long period of postrifting carbonate sedimentation gave way to rapid terrigenous accumulation in response to the increase in local relief along the rising flanks of the EARS from Eocene times onward. The early history of the coast of North Africa followed yet another pattern. Here large continental basins developed during and after rifting and became hosts to deep sequences of terrigenous sediment; during Cenomanian times, the sea invaded the northern African platform and led to the accumulation of evaporite and neritic carbonate sequences on these earlier deposits (Guiraud et al., 2005). Although uplift and basin inversion occurred during the Santonian tectonic event, large areas of North Africa continued to be covered by shallow seas. It was only after the uplifts caused by the late Eocene compressional event that the sea receded and fluviatile-lacustrine sedimentation resumed in a series of smaller inland basins. The rate of sedimentation in these depositories tended to increase from Miocene times onward in response to regional-scale uplifts associated with a resurgence in Neogene magmatic activity and uplift within the Pan-African swells. This brief review of offshore deposition around the margin of Africa highlights major regional differences in the early geomorphic evolution of the continent. In southern Africa, where prerifting elevations were high as a result of uplifts generated by the Parana and Karoo plumes, rapid scarp recession occurred

during the Cretaceous, and concomitant loading of the offshore shelves resulted in further modest uplifts within the coastal hinterlands. In the equatorial and northern parts of the continent, by contrast, smaller rim bulges and generally lower inland relief led to terrigenous sedimentary outputs that were several orders of magnitude lower. The end result in both areas was, however, the same: the creation by the end of the Cretaceous of a low-relief landscape of coalescing plains occasionally punctuated by high-lying residual massifs. This surface was the product of prolonged erosion in the course of which fluvial activity was accentuated by several discrete periods of regional uplift (e.g., during periods of kimberlite emplacement and alkali volcanism around 120, 90, and 67 Ma, as well as the continentally important Santonian Event of 85 Ma). By the beginning of the Cenozoic, large-scale erosion had ceased in most areas, which then underwent deeply penetrative weathering under the influence of the torrid, late Mesozoic climate. The resulting thick kaolinitic regolith (with bauxite development in places) was invariably capped by duricrusts ranging from silcrete in southwestern Africa, the Sahara, and parts of East Africa to laterite in the equatorial belt and the hinterland of West Africa. The coupling of deep weathering and mature duricrusts high in the landscape is diagnostic of this Mesozoic–early Cenozoic land surface.

Cenozoic Tectonic Evolution The Paleocene and early Eocene were, for the most part, periods of tectonic quiescence throughout Africa, except in the northeast of the continent. In the Sirt and El Gindi basins of northern Egypt, renewed rifting disrupted the shallow marine platforms that characterized the early Palaeocene; in the process, several ridges were uplifted and appeared as islands (Guiraud and Bosworth, 1999). These events were accompanied by alkaline magmatic activity that persisted until the middle Eocene. At the same time, a major volcanic province developed in Ethiopia during the interval 45–33 Ma; this magmatic activity was a precursor to the first major faulting that began at the northern end of the EARS around 20 Ma (Ebinger et al., 2000). In North Africa, a major compressive event (the PyreneanAtlas event) occurred in the late Eocene at about 37 Ma. An important result of the ongoing collision between the African and Eurasian plates, this event was driven by changes in the rates of opening of various sectors of the Atlantic Ocean. Among the consequences were the initiation of subduction of the Maghrebian Tethys beneath the Iberian Balearic margin (Frizon de Lamotte et al., 2000), major folding in the Saharan Atlas, and thrusting in the Tellian domain of the northwest African hinterland (Guiraud et al., 2005). In adjoining areas of the plate, fault zones were rejuvenated as strike-slip structures, and a new stress regime was imposed across the African plate. From late Eocene times onward, the northeastern areas of Africa were dominated by the opening of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, as well as the development of the EARS. By the late Oligocene (~25 Ma), rifting had outlined the entire Red Sea and had spread to the Afar. Only by 12 Ma had faulting extended as far south as the Kenya Rift. The most important consequence of Africa’s collision with Eurasia from the Eocene onward was the slowing of movement of the African Plate with respect to the underlying mantle. Since that time, most perturbations have been from below (i.e., expressed in vertical uplift) because the lithosphere has remained all but stationary in relation to the various mantle plumes (Burke, 1996). This contrasts with the earlier evolution

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-2 0

0

-20

-40 -60 -80

-40

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ETHIOPIAN DOME

-40

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-8

1,350 m

0

KENYAN DOME

1,500 m 00

-1

0 -1

40

–60

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-12

–120

–180 -100

–240

750 m

Bouguer gravity map of Africa showing typical late Neogene uplifts associated with principal negative gravity anomalies. After Sletlene et al., 1973, and Partridge et al., 1996.

FIGURE 1.4

of the continent during which influences along the plate margins (e.g., ridge push) dominated tectonic events. The relatively large magmatic provinces that developed in response to this change were the foci of extensive domal uplifts that reduced the size of basins and caused several to become terrestrial rather than marine depositories. While magmatic and tectonic activity in several of these areas has spanned the entire Eocene–Recent interval, the greatest activity was in the early Miocene (Guiraud et al., 2005). Burke (1996) draws attention to the fact that most of the plumes have been associated with the Pan-African welts where the lithospheric mantle is sufficiently thin to be penetrated. Uplifts have involved partial melting of the mantle and are associated with notable density deficiencies (figure 1.4). Of significance is the fact that volcanic activity has been restricted to only a few of the lowdensity anomalies (e.g., in the environs of the EARS); the largest of these anomalies occur in the southern part of Africa where no Cenozoic magmatic provinces are located. The large South and East African density anomalies coincide closely with the African Superswell of Nyblade and Robinson (1994) (figure 1.5). As has been mentioned previously, the area of the superswell defines “High Africa,” with its elevated plateaus and prominent escarpments, as distinct from “Low Africa” to the north, where the regional relief seldom exceeds 500 m. The most significant feature of the Paleogene is, however, the presence of a widespread Oligocene offshore unconformity that persists around the entire African margin. This hiatus coincides with the first appearance of ice on Antarctica, which led to a 30- to 90-m drop in sea level and accelerated current erosion in some areas. Off equatorial West Africa,

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up to 500 m of sediment was removed during this period (Séranne and Anka, 2005). Of importance is the fact that, contra Burke (1996), the Oligocene in central and southern Africa was not characterized by significant tectonism: recent evidence is consistent in referring widespread renewed uplift to the early Neogene. The evidence for Miocene tectonism on a subcontinental to regional scale is persuasive. Potter and Hamblin (2006) have, indeed, argued for a worldwide tectonic interval during the Miocene. Lunde et al. (1992) and Hudec and Jackson (2004) document early Miocene uplift, accompanied by the erosion of 1,000–2,000 m from parts of the hinterland, from the marine succession in the Kwanza Basin off the coast of Angola; while Lavier et al. (2000, 2001) conclude that the northern Angola and Congo margins were uplifted in the Burdigalian (~18 Ma) and, to a somewhat lesser extent, in the Tortonian (11–7 Ma). Thermochronological studies (fluid inclusion and apatite fission track analyses) confirm the occurrence of about 500 m of Miocene uplift in the coastal basin of Gabon and Angola (Walgenwitz et al., 1990, 1992). Off the Limpopo and Tugela rivers of southeastern Africa, which today carry about one-third of the sediment load from that area, Neogene terrigenous sediments were redistributed under the influence of the vigorous Agulhas Current; there is nonetheless abundant evidence for increased sediment inputs during Mio-Pliocene times (Dingle et al., 1983). In the coastal hinterland of the Algoa Basin along the same coast late Miocene marine sediments have been elevated to 400 m AMSL along the flanks of a coastal monocline extending as far north as Swaziland (Partridge, 1998). Deformation of the


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Canary Islands

s la At

ts M

A´ Hoggar

Tibesti

N20

B´

B Darfur

Cape Verde Rise

Adamawa

ise aR e in Gu

Mauritiu s les Pla tea u

Latitude

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East African Plateau

e Ris

h el yc Se

e Leon Siera

Southern Plateau

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v

is

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dg Ri

e

oz a la mb te iqu au e

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Madagascar Plateau

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ise eR Agulhas p Plateau Ca

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>2,000 m

>2,000 m

A

A´

1,500 1,000 500 0 –500 –1,000 0

10

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50E

Longitude >2,000 m

>2,000 m

2,000

B´

Anomalous Elevation (m)

B 1,500 1,000 500 0 –500 –1,000

40W

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0 Longitude

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FIGURE 1.5 The African Superswell (upper diagram, outlined by bold dashed line). A-A’ and B-B’ (lower two diagrams) are cross sections along the two transects. After Nyblade and Robinson, 1994.

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late Mesozoic/early Cenozoic surface, with its deep kaolinization and diagnostic duricrusts, is another indicator: divergence between this datum and the mid-Miocene surface reaches about 250 m near the axis of maximum monoclinal uplift, indicating a moderate tectonic pulse in the early Miocene. The mid-Miocene surface, with its patches of marine sediment up to 20 km inland of the present coastline, has, in turn, been upwarped by between 600 and 900 m along the crest of much the same axis. The extent of the Mio-Pliocene uplift within the southeastern hinterland of South Africa has been questioned by Burke (1996) on the grounds that such major deformations seldom occur within so short a time frame. It must be noted, however, that Pliocene upwarping along the flanks of the EARS in Kenya has been estimated at 1,500 m (Baker et al., 1972), and it has recently been shown, on the basis of dated markers, that 1,170 m of that movement occurred over an interval of 600 kyr between 3.21 and 2.65 Ma (Veldkamp et al., 2007). In other areas of Africa, the Miocene disturbances were associated with the reactivation of old structures such as the Benue, Luangwa, and Zambezi rifts (Burke, 1996). In coastal areas of the Congo, uplift began in the mid-Miocene (~16 Ma) and increased until about 11 Ma; after a short interval, uplift was resumed in the late Miocene and reached a maximum by the start of the Pliocene (Lavier et al., 2001), mirroring the twofold movements that occurred along the southeastern coast of South Africa. A similar sequence of events along the Angolan margin further elevated marine shelves first exposed above sea level during the OligoceneMiocene interval. All of the foregoing evidence confirms that multiphase uplifts of considerable magnitude occurred in southern Africa, East Africa, and some magmatic provinces of North Africa during the Miocene, and continued into the early Pliocene in some areas. Those in South and East Africa gave rise to the African Superswell, which is higher than the normal elevation of Africa and the surrounding continental shelves by an average of 500 m and exceeds 1,000 m over large areas (Nyblade and Robinson, 1994). These elevated areas are associated with an anomalously hot (and thus lower-density) mantle at depth (Hartley et al., 1996; Lithgow-Bertelloni and Silver, 1998). As will be discussed later, the diachronous nature of these Miocene movements was expressed in the generation of discrete scarps separating areas of partial planation. These, together with yet higher-lying remnants of the end-Cretaceous surface, give to Africa the unique multistoried morphology and the anomalous hypsography that characterize large areas of the continent. Before concluding our discussion of Africa’s tectonic history, mention must be made of late-phase events along its northern coast. A change in plate motion during the Tortonian (~8.5 Ma) generated dextral transpression along the Africa-Arabian plate margin (Guiraud and Bellion, 1995), resulting in renewed thrusting along the southern front of the Maghrebian Alpine Belt and the rejuvenation of intraplate fracture zones in Hoggar, Egypt, and Sudan. The Tethys, which was closed off by collision between Arabia and Eurasia between 16.5 and 15 Ma to form the Mediterranean, narrowed further during Messinian times (5.6–4.8 Ma) converting the Mediterranean into an enclosed inland basin (Ruddiman et al., 1989). Ensuing evaporation lowered its surface level by some 2,500 m, creating huge evaporite deposits and initiating the cutting of major canyons in the North African hinterland.

10

Werdelin_ch1.indd 10

The East African Rift System The East African Rift System (EARS) extends for more than 3,200 km from the Afar triple junction (which marks its convergence with rift arms occupied by the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden) to the lower Zambezi Valley in southern Africa. In the north, the rift crosses the Ethiopian Plateau, whose high elevations reflect the combined effects of Eocene plumedriven volcanism and uplift. South of the Turkana depression in Kenya, the rift bifurcates into eastern (Kenya) and western (Gregory) branches around the Nyanza Craton, which coincides in part with the East African Plateau; the latter was uplifted by more than 400 m in the Late Cretaceous (Foster and Gleadow, 1996). This early broad doming was probably occasioned by the development of deep-seated thermal anomalies in the mantle and may represent an early stage in the formation of the African Superswell. Throughout most of their length, the rifts are fairly narrow (10 million years) with no North African fossil mammal sites (cf. Seiffert, this volume, chap. 2). The three sites mentioned are of similar age and share some large mammal species, such as “Gomphotherium” pygmaeus, Brachypotherium snowi, and Afromeryx africanus. Gebel Zelten also has a substantial micromammal fauna (Wessels et al., 2003). The site was originally thought to extend over only a relatively short span of time, but recent studies on the microfauna (Wessels et al., 2003) suggest that at least three time periods are represented at the locality, the oldest dating to 19–18 Ma and the youngest to 15–14 Mathat is, extending into the Langhian (lower middle Miocene). The implications of this for the dating of Siwa and Wadi Moghara are not entirely clear, though the latter is still likely

27


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7.25

Djebel Irhoud Grotte des Félins

Tighenif Oulad Hamida 1 Thomas Quarry 1, A, B, C, E, G

Menacer Ain Guettara

Messinian

Lissasfa

5.33

Aïn Jourdel Aïn Boucherit Aïn Hanech

Zanclean

5

Azaghar Afoud Wanou Argoub Kemellal 1 As Sahabi Wadi Natrun

Calabrian 1.81 Gelasian 2.59 Piacenzian 3.6

Thomas Quarry 1, L Aïn Maarouf

Stage L. Pleist. M. Pleist.

Aïn Brimba Garaet Ichkeul Djebel Mellah Ahl al Oughlam

Pliocene

Pleistocene

Epoch

Age 0

Tortonian

Oued Mya 1 Oued Zra Oued Tabia Oued Athmenia Sheikh Abdallah

10

15

Kabylie

Serravallian 13.65 Langhian

20 20.43

Gebel Zelten

Burdigalian

Wadi Moghara Siwa

15.97

Beni Mellal Azdal Beglia Fm.

Miocene

11.61

Aquitanian 23.03 FIGURE 3.1 Approximate correlation of North African terrestrial mammal localities to the global timescale (timescale based on Gradstein et al., 2004). For information about dating methods, see the text.

to be correlated with the oldest time period of Gebel Zelten. The age of Siwa is more problematic as it is a small fauna composed entirely of very large mammals, but an early Miocene date seems implied. The middle Miocene of North Africa is also poor in mammal faunas. The first discovered of these may have been the poorly known site of Kabylie, Algeria, where “Gomphotherium” pygmaeus was first found (Depéret, 1897). The site is correlated with the middle Miocene (ca. 13 Ma) site of Ngenyin, Kenya (Pickford, 2004). The best-known middle Miocene locality, and the one with the largest fauna, however, is Beni Mellal, Morocco (Lavocat, 1961). Lavocat dated Beni Mellal on the basis of rodent biostratigraphy to ca. 14 Ma (i.e., latest Langhian), but the carnivorans described by Ginsburg (1977) suggest an age no greater than MN 8 (i.e., Serravallian). This

28


discrepancy will surely be resolved through renewed analysis of this fauna, not least because some of the carnivorans suggest unique connections with Europe. For example, if the identification is correct, Beni Mellal has the only African record of Mustela or at least a musteline mustelid. A third middle Miocene fauna is the micromammal locality of Azdal, Morocco, in the Aït Kandoula Basin. Benammi et al. (1996) date the locality on the basis of rodent biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy to 14–13 Ma—that is, probably lowermost Serravallian, and broadly coeval with Beni Mellal, a date that is underscored by the presence at both of Mellalomys punicus. The late Miocene of North Africa is richer in mammal faunas, including both Vallesian (~lower Tortonian) and Turolian (~upper Tortonian–Messinian) localities. The oldest and perhaps richest of these is the Beglia Formation, Tunisia, which includes


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both middle Miocene (Serravallian) and late Miocene levels. This formation is poorly constrained temporally, and parts are likely to be as old as upper Langhian (Mahjoub and Khessibi, 1988), though the bulk of the vertebrate faunas are close to the middle-late Miocene boundary (e.g., Pickford, 1990, 2000). The Beglia Formation includes a broad range of vertebrates, including fish (Greenwood, 1972), crocodiles (Linas Agrasar, 2003), birds (Vickers-Rich, 1972), and mammals (e.g., Black, 1972; Robinson, 1972; Kurtén, 1976). Another poorly time-constrained large mammal fauna from North Africa is Oued Mya 1, Algeria (Sudre and Hartenberger, 1992). This site is dominated by Hipparion and Aceratherium and includes the aberrant amphicyonid Myacyon dojambir (Werdelin and Peigné, this volume, chap. 32). Another rich Vallesian site is Bou Hanifia (Oued el Hamman, Algeria), which includes substantial faunas of both large and small mammals (Arambourg, 1968; Ameur, 1984). Other Vallesian localities (e.g., Oued Zra, Oued Tabia, both in Morocco, and Oued Athmenia in Algeria) mainly include rodents. The most interesting of these micromammal faunas may be Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt, which includes specimens referred to a galagid primate (Pickford et al., 2006; see also Harrison, this volume, chap. 201). The Turolian of North Africa is relatively rich in mammal localities, though few of these include large mammals. The best known are probably the youngest, As-Sahabi, Libya (Heinzelin and El-Arnauti, 1987) and Wadi Natrun, Egypt (Stromer, 1911). Both of these are late Messinian in age and may include early Pliocene elements. Sahabi is notable for including a number of typically Eurasian “Pikermian” faunal elements such as the hyenid Adcrocuta eximia (Howell, 1987; Lihoreau et al. 2006). Another Turolian large mammal site is Menacer (formerly Marceau), Algeria (Thomas and Petter, 1986), which has been dated by correlation with nearby marine sediments to foraminifer stage N17 (upper Tortonian/ lower Messinian). In addition to these sites, there are a number of micromammal sites in the North African Turolian. These are mostly dated on the basis of rodent biostratigraphy and correlation with Europe, and they include sites such as Afoud 1, 2, and 5, Wanou, Azaghar, and Argoub Kemellal 2, in the Aït Kandoula Basin, Morocco (Benammi et al. 1996), and Aïn Guettara, also in Morocco (Brandy and Jaeger, 1980). All of these sites are Messinian in age and include elements that can be correlated with the European rodent stratigraphy. PLIO-PLEISTOCENE

The North African Pliocene, especially the early part, is relatively poorly represented compared to the late Miocene and Pleistocene. Site dating is complicated by the referral of many sites to the “Villafranchian” (e.g., Fournet, 1971; Arambourg, 1979), although the correlation with the European Villafranchian is far from clear. Only a few sites with good mammal faunas are known, and the majority of these are poorly dated. A possible early Pliocene micromammal site is Lissasfa, Morocco, though the dating is uncertain (Geraads, 1998), and the site may be latest Miocene. Another site of similar or slightly younger age is Garaet (Lac) Ichkeul, Morocco (Arambourg, 1979; Benammi et al., 1996). A classic “Villafranchian” locality in North Africa is Aïn Brimba, Tunisia, which has yielded a substantial fauna of large mammals, including both ungulates and carnivores (Arambourg, 1979). The locality is of somewhat uncertain absolute age but is probably somewhere around 3 Ma—that is, older than Ahl al Oughlam (discussed later) and thus well

below the Plio-Pleistocene boundary. A site of similar though slightly younger age is Djebel Mellah, Tunisia (Fournet, 1971). However, the richest and most important Pliocene site in North Africa is Ahl al Oughlam, which has yielded the largest Neogene fauna in North Africa, with about 55 species of mammals, as well as birds and reptiles (Geraads, 2006). The site includes representatives of nearly every major African mammal group and is especially rich in carnivorans (including the only African record of a walrus; see Werdelin and Peigné, this volume, chap. 32) and murid rodents (Geraads, 1995, 1997). The locality is biostratigraphically dated to the late Pliocene (i.e., 2.5 Ma). Interestingly, despite the extensive fauna, there is no record of a hominin from Ahl al Oughlam, providing strong evidence that our ancestors had not reached northern (or at least northwestern) Africa at this time. North Africa has far too many Pleistocene localities to mention here, so only a handful of especially interesting ones will be highlighted. Several of these are of particular importance as recording the first appearance of various hominins in North Africa. Two of the oldest Pleistocene sites are Aïn Jourdel and Aïn Boucherit, Algeria, which on biochronological grounds must be younger than Ahl al Oughlam (Geraads et al., 2004c), though by how much is debatable. An age of between 2.3 and 2 Ma seems reasonable. The most important early Pleistocene site in North Africa may, however, be Aïn Hanech, Algeria (near Aïn Boucherit). This site includes stone tools, making it possibly the oldest archeological site in North Africa. Unfortunately, there is considerable disagreement over the age of Aïn Hanech (as well as Aïn Boucherit), which is variously dated to the Olduvai subchron (1.97–1.78 Ma) or to ca. 1.2 Ma (for discussion, see Sahnouni and de Heinzelin, 1998; Geraads 2002; Geraads et al., 2002; Sahnouni et al., 2002, 2004). Another site that may be only slightly younger at ca. 1 Ma is Thomas Quarry 1, level L, Morocco (Geraads, 2002), which includes some large mammals and an important though small micromammal fauna. Important middle Pleistocene sites in North Africa include the hominin sites of Aïn Maarouf and Tighenif (⫽ Ternifine ⫽ Palikao), both in Morocco, dating to 0.8–0.6 Ma, with Aïn Maarouf being slightly the younger. Other sites of similar or somewhat younger age include Thomas Quarry 1, Levels A, B, C, E, and G and Oulad Hamida 1 (Homo erectus cave [⫽ Thomas III] and rhino cave), Morocco. Several of these sites include records of the giant gelada baboon, Theropithecus oswaldi. A somewhat younger site, probably datable to the boundary between the middle and upper Pleistocene, is the Jebel Irhoud hominin site, Morocco (Amani, 1991; Amani and Geraads, 1993; Geraads and Amani, 1998). Finally, late Pleistocene sites in North Africa are numerous. Many include hominin remains and/or tools, and some also include immigrants from Europe, such as brown bear, Ursus arctos (Hamdine et al., 1996). A recently described site of particular interest is Grotte des Félins, near Dar Bouazza, Morocco (Raynal et al., 2008).

Southern African Localities (Figure 3.2) MIOCENE

With the exception of the rich site of Arrisdrift, Namibia (Hendey, 1978; Pickford et al., 1996), the Miocene is poorly represented in southern Africa. Most of what we know comes from the pioneering surveys of the Namib Desert and coastal Namaqualand by Pickford, Senut, and colleagues (e.g., Pickford

THREE: CHRONOLOGY OF NEOGENE MAMMAL LOCALITIES


29

1/13/10 10:24:43 PM

Epoch

Zanclean

5

5.33

Messinian 7.25

Tortonian 10

Taung

Pliocene

3.6

Bolt’s Farm Schurveburg

2.59

Piacenzian

Buffalo Cave Tierfontein Ysterfontein Eland’s Bay Cave Hoedjiespunt Die Kelders Cave of Hearths Klasies River Pinnacle Point

1.81

Gelasian

Hondeklip Bay Groenrivier Swartlintjies Langklip Harasib Langebaanweg Jägersquelle Nosib Makapansgat Sterkfontein

Calabrian

Kromdraai Swartkrans Drimolen Gondolin Coopers Gladysvale Elandsfontein

Age


Pleistocene

0

Serravallian Bosluis Pan Berg Aukas Otavi, Block 1

Miocene

11.61

13.65

Langhian

15

Ryskop Arrisdrift

15.97

20 20.43

Aquitanian

Elisabethfeld Grillental Fiskus Langental

Burdigalian

23.03 Approximate correlation of southern African terrestrial mammal localities to the global timescale (timescale based on Gradstein et al., 2004). For information about dating methods, see the text.

FIGURE 3.2

and Senut, 1997). Most of these faunas are relatively limited in extent and difficult to date, but they provide a series of windows into mammal evolution in southern Africa that has the potential to change our view of the pattern of mammalian evolution on the continent of Africa as a whole (Pickford, 2004), although it would be desirable to test these hypotheses against Miocene faunas from sites in the eastern part of southern Africa (e.g., Mozambique, Zimbabwe). The oldest Miocene sites in southern Africa are probably a series of sites in the Sperrgebiet, Namibia, including Elisabethfeld, Grillental, Fiskus, and Langental, all dated biostratigraphically to Pickford’s (1981) Faunal Set I, currently approximately

30


dated 20–19 Ma (i.e., middle Burdigalian). These, along with Ryskop, which has yielded the earliest record of a pinniped in Africa (Pickford and Senut, 2000), are the only localities in southern Africa that with some certainty can be dated to the lower Miocene. The middle Miocene is better represented in terms of fauna, if not in terms of the number of localities, due to the dominating influence of Arrisdrift. This site can be biostratigraphically dated to ca. 17.5–17 Ma (i.e., the upper Burdigalian; Pickford and Senut, 2003). The fauna from this site is extensive, including pedetids (Senut, 1997), tragulids (Morales et al., 2003), and pikas (Mein and Pickford, 2003), as well as numerous carnivores


1/18/10 11:12:29 PM

(Morales et al. 1998, 2003). Another middle Miocene site is Bosluis Pan, South Africa, which can be dated to ca. 13 Ma based on the presence of “Gomphotherium” pygmaeus (Pickford, 2005). Other sites that include middle Miocene faunal elements are parts of longer sequences, or series of faunas. Such is the case with Berg Aukas (Pickford et al. 1994), which includes middle Miocene to (probably) Pliocene faunas. Perhaps the most important and interesting such locality, however, is Otavi, Namibia, which includes a series of faunal blocks with dates from the lower to middle Serravallian to the Holocene. The hominoid Otavipithecus namibiensis was recovered from Block 1, dated to the later Serravallian (ca. 13–12 Ma). PLIO-PLEISTOCENE

In the southern African Plio-Pleistocene, we encounter some of the most intractable dating problems in all of African paleontology, the South African hominin cave sites including Makapansgat, Limpopo Province, and the many sites in the Sterkfontein Valley, “Cradle of Humankind” World Heritage Site, Gauteng Province. In the following, I shall not attempt to recapitulate the convoluted history of the dating of these sites or, for the most part, the current controversies surrounding this topic (and especially Sterkfontein). This would be the topic of a separate chapter. I shall simply try to provide some reasonable estimates of the dating of the major faunas and members of these sites, based on the latest analyses, noting at the same time that the dates given here are likely to change as new data are gathered and new dating techniques developed. Before discussing the hominin-bearing localities, there are a few early Pliocene ones that, while not necessarily better dated, have not generated the same degree of controversy, presumably because they do not include any hominin fossils. These include Jäersquelle and Nosib in the Otavi Mountains of Namibia (Senut et al. 1992) but, more importantly, the earliest Pliocene (ca 5.2–5.0 Ma on the basis of marine-terrestrial correlation) locality of Langebaanweg in the Cape Province of South Africa (cf. various contributions in African Natural History 2:173–202). This is probably the richest fossil vertebrate site in Africa and one of the richest in the world, with hundreds of thousands of fossils recovered, representing more than 200 species including over 80 species of mammals. The hominin-bearing localities can conveniently be separated into two groups, those that on present data are mainly Pliocene in age (Makapansgat, Sterkfontein, Schurveburg, Bolt’s Farm) and those that are wholly or to a large extent Pleistocene in age (Taung, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, Coopers, Gladysvale, Drimolen, Gondolin). Among the former group, Schurveberg and Bolt’s Farm are very poorly dated, and their placement in this group is mainly by biostratigraphic comparison with the other two localities. Many attempts have been made to date both Makapansgat and Sterkfontein. Of the two, Makapansgat seems more securely dated by magnetostratigraphy, which indicates dates of >3.5 Ma for Mb. 1, 3.5–3.2 Ma for Mb. 2, 3.2–3.1 Ma for Mb. 3, and 2.5 Ma. However, Berger et al. (2002) challenged this interpretation and suggested that what Partridge et al. took to be the Gauss/Gilbert boundary is, in fact, the Gauss/Kaena boundary (about 0.5 Ma younger). This changes the remainder of the interpretation as well, such that what was taken to be the Mammoth and Kaena subchrons are instead two reversed intervals of the Matuyama chron separated by the Réunion normal subchron. Under this interpretation, Mb. 2 would be dated 20 Ma, though demonstrating isotopic

10

Miocene

11.61 Serravallian

15

13.65 Langhian

Bukwa

15.97

20 20.43

Aquitanian

Napak Moroto

Burdigalian

23.03 Approximate correlation of Ugandan and central African terrestrial mammal localities to the global timescale (timescale based on Gradstein et al., 2004). For information about dating methods, see the text.

FIGURE 3.4

THREE: CHRONOLOGY OF NEOGENE MAMMAL LOCALITIES


35

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disturbance (Gebo et al., 1997). Thus, on present evidence, Moroto could be older than the localities in the Songhor area placed within Pickford’s (1981) Faunal Set I. Another early Miocene site in Uganda is Bukwa. This locality has been thought to be as much as 22 Ma, but more recent biostratigraphic correlation suggests it to be similar in age to Rusinga or slightly younger, at ca. 17.5 Ma (Pickford, 2002). In addition to these localities, there are numerous fossiliferous localities in the Ugandan part of the Albertine Rift Valley, as summarized by Pickford et al. (1993). The stratigraphy and dating of these localities is discussed in Pickford et al. (1993) but is still poorly known and at times inconsistent. The following is a brief summary of the current state of knowledge. Pickford et al. (1993) distinguish three fossiliferous areas. The first of these is the Kisegi-Nyabusosi area in the southern Albertine Rift. The lowermost formation in this area is the probably middle Miocene Kisegi Formation, from which few fossils have been found. The likewise poorly collected Kakara Formation is next. This formation is probably of Tortonian age, though more exact dates are not available. The overlying Oluka Formation is richer in fossils. This formation is likely to be Messinian in age. The oldest Pliocene formation in the area is the Nyaburogo Formation, with a date of about 5–3.5 Ma. Overlying this is the Nyakabingo Formation, which has yielded too few fossils for dating. However, the Nyabusosi Formation overlying it has been assigned an age of ca. 1.5 Ma. The Rwebishengo Beds, finally, are of late Pleistocene age. The second area is that surrounding Lake Edward. In this area there is only one currently datable unit, the Kazinga Beds. This unit has yielded a small fauna, including Ugandax and Hippopotamus, and may be of lower Pliocene (middle Zanclean) age. The third and final area in the Ugandan part of the Albertine Rift is the Nkondo-Kaiso area. This area has yielded the richest fossil assemblages in the western rift. The lowermost beds in this area belong to the Nkondo Formation, divided into the Nkondo and Nyaweiga Mbs. The former has yielded a rich mammal fauna that may be correlated with the Lukeino Formation in Kenya—to the middle Messinian, ca. 6 Ma. The overlying Nyaweiga Mb. is similar but clearly younger and may be dated to the lower Zanclean, ca. 5–4.5 Ma. The Warwire Formation is relatively poorly dated, but most of the fossils come from beds underlying the Warwire Tuff, thought by correlation with the Lomogol Tuff to be about 3.6 Ma old, so the fossils may be up to 4 Ma in age. The next formation, the Kyeoro, includes few mammals but has been suggested to be ca. 3 Ma. The overlying Kaiso Village Formation, on the other hand, is rich in mammal fossils. It has been suggested (Gentry and Gentry, 1978a, 1978b) to be similar in age to the Shungura Formation, Mb. F of the Omo Group—ca. 2.35 Ma. The Museta Beds, finally, have an age similar to that of the Nyabusosi Formation—ca. 1.5 Ma. TANZANIA (FIGURE 3.5)

There are fewer well dated sites with mammal faunas in Tanzania than in Kenya and Uganda, but the country does include two of the most important Plio-Pleistocene localities in all of Africa: Laetoli and Olduvai. Laetoli consists of a series of beds, none of which are precisely dated. The three main fossiliferous beds are the Lower and Upper Laetolil Beds, and the Upper Ndolanya Beds. The Lower Laetolil Beds are of uncertain age, but a maximum age of

36


ca. 4.3 Ma and a minimum age of 3.8 Ma (base of the Upper Laetolil Beds) have been suggested (Drake and Curtis, 1987). The Upper Laetolil Beds are somewhat better constrained, with a minimum age of ca. 3.4 Ma to go with the maximum age of 3.8 Ma. The Upper Ndolanya Beds are dated to ca. 2.7–2.6 Ma, though these dates are not tightly constrained (Drake and Curtis, 1987). Olduvai has been extensively studied for its archeological contexts and less so for its paleontology. The locality is subdivided into Beds I–IV and the Masek Beds (Hay, 1976; Potts, 1988). The beds are overall not particularly well dated, but the following dates are currently more or less accepted: Bed I is between 1.87 and 1.7 Ma; Bed II, 1.7–1.2 Ma; Bed III, 1.2– ca. 0.8 Ma; Bed IV, ca. 0.8 Ma–ca 0.6 Ma; and the Masek Beds, ca. 0.6 Ma–0.4 Ma. A third important sedimentary sequence in Tanzania is the deposits of the Manonga Valley (Harrison, 1997). These comprise the Wembere-Manonga Formation, with three members, none of which is firmly dated. The Ibole Mb. is ca. 5.5–5 Ma in age, the Tinde Mb. 5–4.5 Ma, and the Kiloleli Mb. ca. 4.5–4 Ma (Harrison and Baker, 1997). There are, of course many other localities, especially archeological ones, in Tanzania. I will mention only two here. Peninj is well known for the presence of Paranthropus boisei. This was found in outcrops of the Humbu Formation, dated to ca. 2–1.3 Ma on the basis of magneto- and biostratigraphy. The Basal Sandy Clay, from which the hominin remains derive, are no younger than 1.6 Ma (Domínguez-Rodrigo, 1996). The much younger archeological site of Isimila has been dated through uranium series dating of bone to ca. 250,000 years (Howell et al., 1972). MALAWI (FIGURE 3.5)

Malawi has not been as well studied as other Rift Valley countries. However, fossiliferous exposures have been found at Chiwondo. These consist of several levels and are subdivided into the northern Karonga and southern Uraha localities. The units within them are dated on biostratigraphy, where unit 2 (lower) is dated ca. 4 Ma, while unit 3A has faunas dated to ca. 3.8–2 Ma and younger and to 1.6 Ma and younger (Bromage et al., 1995). CENTRAL AFRICA (FIGURE 3.4)

Central Africa (broadly speaking) has a small but growing number of fossil mammal localities, some of which are among the most important in their time periods. The localities that have garnered the most attention in recent years are those from Chad. The oldest of these is Toros-Menalla, a collection of sites from the late Miocene that include, among a very diverse mammal fauna, specimens of Sahelanthropus tchadensis. Dating of these sites has been controversial and mainly based on biostratigraphic correlation with East African sites (Vignaud et al., 2002). Recently, an attempt to date these sites using cosmigenic nuclides of 10Be/9Be resulted in dates of 7.2–6.8 Ma (Lebatard et al., 2008), which is roughly in line with the biostratigraphic data. A somewhat younger locality is Kossom-Bougoudi, which is dated biostratigraphically to the uppermost Messinian. The site is older than Kollé (discussed later) and younger than Sahabi (Brunet et al., 2000; Brunet, 2001). The Kollé site, on the other hand, is biostratigraphically dated to the lower Zanclean, ca. 5–4 Ma (Brunet et al., 1998). Finally, the youngest site in the Chad sequence is Koro-Toro, source of


1/13/10 10:24:44 PM

Messinian

Peninj

Olduvai, Bed III Olduvai, Bed IV Olduvai, Masek Beds

Isimila Rawi Fm. Kanjera south Kanjera north Chesowanja Olorgesailie

Chiwondo, Unit 2 Chiwondo, Unit 3A

Miocene

5.33

Tinde Mb. Kiloleli Fm.

Zanclean

Olduvai, Bed I Olduvai, Bed II

Piacenzian 3.6

Lower Laetolil Beds

Calabrian 1.81 Gelasian 2.59

Ibole Mb.

5


Upper Laetolil Beds Upper Ndolanya Beds

Epoch

Age

Pliocene

Pleistocene

0

7.25 FIGURE 3.5 Approximate correlation of Tanzanian and Malawian terrestrial mammal localities to the global timescale (timescale based on Gradstein et al., 2004). For information about dating methods, see the text.

Australopithecus bahrelghazali. This locality has been biostratigraphically dated to 3.5–3 Ma and recently by 10Be/9Be to 3.58 ± 0.27 Ma (Brunet et al., 1997; Lebatard et al., 2008). A final Chadian site is Agranga, which has a date similar to Toros-Menalla at 7–6 Ma (Lihoreau, 2003). A second important sequence of localities in Central Africa is the Western Rift of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Like its counterpart in Uganda, this sequence is poorly dated. Boaz (1994) divides it into two main regions, the lower Semliki near Lake Albert and the upper Semliki near Lake Edward. The lower Semliki sediments include a sequence of beds, from the Edo Beds (oldest), over the Mohari Beds, Kabuga Beds, Sinda Beds, Ndirra Beds, and Katomba Beds (youngest except for overlying, unnamed late Pleistocene/Holocene sediments). Of these only the Sinda Beds have a date: ca. 4.1 Ma, based on a tuff that can be correlated with the Moiti Tuff at Koobi Fora (Boaz, 1994). Boaz (1994) considers the majority of the Sinda Beds to overlie this tuff. On the other hand, Makinouchi et al. (1992) place the largest part of the Sinda Beds in the Miocene, but it appears that their Sinda Beds lower member is the equivalent of the Edo Beds of Boaz (1994) and their middle member equivalent to the Mohari Beds, so the discrepancy may be minor. The upper Semliki sediments are divided into the Lusso Beds, the Semliki Beds, late Pleistocene/Holocene terraces, and Katwe Ash (Boaz, 1994). The Lusso Beds are suggested on biostratigraphy to be 2.3–2 Ma (i.e., lower Pleistocene), while the Semliki Beds are suggested to possibly be of middle Pleistocene age. A few other central African localities may be mentioned. The Ongoliba Beds in the Democratic Republic of Congo are suggested by Pickford to be Messinian in age. Wadi Medani in the Sudan is a late Pleistocene locality including a skull of Colobus (Simons, 1967; Jablonski and Frost, this volume, chap. 23). Finally, Malembe, in the Cabinda Province, Angola, is a very interesting late Oligocene/early Miocene site with a diverse fauna (Hooijer, 1963; Pickford, 1986b; Seiffert, this volume, chap. 2). HORN OF AFRICA (FIGURE 3.6)

This region includes many important mammal localities, mainly from the late Miocene onward. Much of the work is ongoing, and dates and stratigraphy are not always published.

The following discussion represents a more or less current state of affairs and is very far from complete or definitive. Hadar is one of the best-known localities in the region. The Hadar Formation includes three major units. The Sidi Hakoma Mb. lies between the Sidi Hakoma Tuff (3.4 Ma) and Triple Tuff 4 (3.22 Ma), the Denen Dora Mb. lies between Triple Tuff 4 and the Kada Hadar Tuff (3.18 Ma), and the Kada Hadar Mb. lies between the Kada Hadar Tuff and tuff BKT-3 (ca 2.9 Ma) (Walter, 1994). Fejej is one of the few lower Miocene sites in the region and has a date from a capping lava of 16.18 ± 0.05 Ma (Richmond et al., 1998). Gona, a study area south of Hadar, includes sediments that extend from the late Miocene to the late Pleistocene. Best known are horizons with the earliest stone tools, dated to ca. 2.6 Ma. The chronology of the late Miocene Adu-Asa Formation at Gona has recently been published (Kleinsasser et al., 2008). The archeological site of Melka Kunturé includes several fossiliferous levels, of which the richest is Garba-IV, dated lithoand biostratigraphically to between 1.0 and 0.8 Ma (Geraads et al., 2004b; Raynal et al., 2004). Somewhat younger is Asbole, a site in the lower Awash Valley with an extensive mammal fauna. The fossil levels lie between a conglomerate and the Bironita Tuff, which is probably correlated with a Middle Awash tuff dated between 0.74 and 0.55 Ma, while the conglomerate is unlikely to be older than 1 Ma. Geraads et al. (2004a) suggest an age of between 0.8 and 0.6 Ma for the fauna. Dikika, where recently a juvenile hominin was found, spans the Hadar (ca 3.8–2.9 Ma) and Busidima Formations (2.7–10°C) are recorded in benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotopes during the early Eocene climatic optimum (54–50 Ma; figure 4.1). Although temperatures had risen, pCO2 levels had dropped down to 700–900 ppm from their Paleocene high of ⬎2,000 ppm. Early estimates of tropical temperatures based on foraminiferal oxygen isotopes suggested unexpectedly cool temperatures (15°–23°C), resulting in meridional temperature gradients that could not be reconciled with known dynamical mechanisms (Zachos et al., 1994). Cool tropical temperature estimates may have been biased by diagenesis or winter foraminifera growth, and recently revised tropical SST estimates (⬎28°C) are consistent with dynamic predictions based on high-latitude warming (Kobashi et al., 2001; Pearson et al., 2001). African continental environments appear to have been warm and wet during the Eocene. Bauxite, iron, and lateritic deposits at paleolatitude 5°–15°N indicate a humid Eocene climate (Guiraud, 1978). Paleobotanical remains from a middle Eocene crater lake in Tanzania (12°S) suggest high rainfall (640–780 mm per year) and woodland vegetation (Jacobs and Herendeen, 2004). A generally warm and wet African climate during the Eocene is consistent with a strong moisture source to the atmosphere provided by warm SSTs.

plants indicate the earliest C3 grasslands in Africa at Fort Ternan, Kenya, ca. 14 Ma (Retallack, 1992). Isotopic studies confirm that mid-Miocene grasslands were C3 (Cerling et al., 1997a; Feakins et al., 2005; see figure 4.4). Wet rain forest survived in many areas, including in northwestern Ethiopia (8 Ma; Yemane et al., 1987) and in the Tugen Hills, Kenya (8–6 Ma; Kingston et al., 2002) indicating mixed savannah and forest habitats across East Africa. C4 grasses appear in East Africa in the mid-late Miocene (Cerling et al., 1997b). C4 grasses replace C3 plants as the most significant dietary component of northeast African grazing mammals between 8 and 6 Ma (Cerling et al., 1997b). Faunal assemblages at Lothagam, in the western Turkana Basin, also support a transition from C3 forest to a mixed C3 and C4 savanna mosaic between 8 and 4 Ma (Leakey et al., 1996). However, soil carbonate and leaf wax biomarker isotopic data indicate that C3 vegetation remained a significant component of regional vegetation during the Pliocene (Wynn, 2004; Feakins et al., 2005; figure 4.4). These vegetation reconstructions indicate that C4 plants may only have expanded to become a dominant component of the landscape in the late Pliocene and Pleistocene, much later than they appeared as a significant component of the diets of certain grazing mammals.

Site 231 biomarker d13C (‰) –30 0.06 Ma

1.40 Ma

1.66 Ma

Significant southern African climate change at the EoceneOligocene boundary is indicated by seismic evidence from the Zaire (Congo) deep-sea fan. Marine sediments indicate a shift from pelagic sedimentation during Eocene greenhouse conditions to dramatically increased continental erosion associated with uplift in southern Africa and Oligocene global cooling (Anka and Séranne, 2004). The growth of the first permanent Antarctic ice sheet (35–26 Ma; figure 4.1) led to the development of the cold Benguela Current and associated increase in southern African aridity. Productivity proxies indicate that Benguela coastal upwelling intensified in the mid-Miocene with the second phase of Antarctic ice sheet growth (DiesterHaass et al., 1990; Robert et al., 2005). Dust records indicate that southwest African aridity increased after 9.6 Ma, and between 8.9 and 6.9 Ma, with significant variability after 6.5 Ma closely associated with the intensity of Benguela upwelling and ultimately the history of Antarctic glaciation (Robert et al., 2005). These marine records indicate that southwest African aridity developed in the Oligocene and Miocene, closely related to the intensity of the Benguela upwelling, which strengthened at times of increased equator-to-pole temperature gradients.

2.40 Ma

The significant climate events that affected East Africa in the mid-Miocene are relatively well documented compared to earlier ones. Forested conditions in the early Miocene gave way to mixed grassland and forest in the mid-Miocene. Fossil

–26

–24

–22

–20

20 ka Unnamed

OLIGOCENE ANTARCTIC GLACIATION AND SOUTHERN AFRICAN CLIMATE

MID -MIOCENE CLIMATE CHANGE IN E AST AFRICA

–28

Unnamed

Kokiselei 2.74 Ma 3.20 Ma

Unnamed

3.40 Ma

β-Tulu Bor

3.80 Ma

Wargolo

9.40 Ma C3 Vegetation

C4 Grasses

FIGURE 4.4 Carbon isotopic values of C30 n-alkanoic acids from DSDP Site 231 for nine 20- to 100-kyr time intervals spanning the late Neogene (near 9.4, 3.8, 3.4, 3.2, 2.7, 2.4, 1.7, 1.4, and 0.1 Ma; from Feakins et al., 2005). Mean δ13C and 1σ analytical errors are shown. Vegetation changes are inferred based on δ13C values of these C30 n-alkanoic acids, which have been identified as having a terrestrial vegetation source. Tephra age constraints are shown with dashed lines (Feakins et al., 2007). Foraminiferal δ18O suggests interglacial timing of the upper interval rather than the glacial age (0.06 Ma) indicated by the interpolated age model.

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It has been suggested that the mid-Miocene appearance of the C4 photosynthetic pathway may be linked to declining pCO2 levels (Cerling et al., 1997b). However, alkenone-based pCO2 reconstructions do not support this explanation and instead indicate that pCO2 levels rose from a low of 180 ppm at 15 Ma, to 260–300 ppm between 8 and 6 Ma (Pagani et al., 1999). Alternatively, uplift of the Himalayas and resultant intensification of the Indian Monsoon (9–6 Ma; Molnar et al., 1993) may have altered the seasonality of precipitation in the region with increased aridity driving a shift to almost exclusively C4 vegetation in the summer precipitation regime in Pakistan (Quade and Cerling, 1995), and a mixed C3 and C4 vegetation in East Africa (Cerling et al., 1997b; Feakins et al., 2005; figure 4.4). Elsewhere, at Langebaanweg, South Africa, C3 vegetation remained dominant in the diet of grazing mammals at 5 Ma (Franz-Odendaal et al., 2002). Changing precipitation regimes (linked to regional circulation patterns; figure 4.2) would explain why C4 vegetation did not uniformly expand across Africa between 8 and 6 Ma and may also explain the late Pliocene and Pleistocene increase in C4 vegetation in East Africa (figure 4.4). African environments also experienced cyclical precipitation variability during the late Neogene. Organic rich sapropel deposits in the Mediterranean indicate times of high runoff from the Nile catchment (Rossignol-Strick, 1985; Sachs and Repeta, 1999). These sapropel deposits occur at precessional minima indicating northeast African climate sensitivity to orbital variations in the seasonal distribution of insolation (Rossignol-Strick, 1985). Precessional frequency sapropel deposits are reported from at least 10 Ma onward (Hilgen, 1991; Hilgen et al., 1995; Krijgsman et al., 1995). Similarly, precessional cyclicity in terrigenous dust flux to marine sediments off West Africa is reported in the late Miocene indicating dramatic variability in dust availability in the source region or transport efficiency (Tiedemann et al., 1994; deMenocal, 1995; deMenocal and Bloemendal, 1995). These records suggest that precession provided the fundamental pacing of African humid-arid cycles during the Miocene. A WARM AND WET MID -PLIOCENE

Global SST reconstructions indicate that the Pliocene included extended periods both warmer and cooler than today, with low-amplitude orbital frequency variability (Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping Project [PRISM]; Dowsett et al., 1996). Humid conditions leading up to the Pliocene are recorded in central and eastern North Africa during the Zeit Wet Phase (7.5–5.5 Ma) with an expanded Lake Chad and increased Nile runoff (Griffin, 2002). Even during the Messinian salinity crisis (6.7–5.33 Ma), when sea levels in the Mediterranean were minimal or completely dry, conditions in North Africa were wet (deMenocal and Bloemendal, 1995; Hilgen et al., 1995; Griffin, 1999). The mid-Pliocene (4.5–3 Ma) was characterized by warmer conditions (+3°C) on average globally, higher sea levels (+10– 20 m), reduced Antarctic ice cover, and percentage higher pCO2 (Ravelo et al., 2004). The mid-Pliocene appears to have been broadly wetter throughout much of Africa consistent with PRISM model predictions in scenarios with increased meridional circulation and higher pCO2 (Haywood and Valdes, 2004). For example, pollen records indicate that North Africa was wetter in the mid-Pliocene (Dupont and Leroy,

50


1995), and PRISM models predict that North Africa was warmer (by 5°C) and wetter (by 400–1,000 mm per year) relative to today (Haywood et al., 2000). In the equatorial Pacific, the east to west SST gradient resembled a permanent El Niño, in contrast to the mean La Niña state in the modern ocean (Cannariato and Ravelo, 1997; Chaisson and Ravelo, 2000; Wara et al., 2005; Ravelo et al., 2006). Although the atmospheric teleconnection mechanisms associated with a modern El Niño event cannot simply be extrapolated to longer timescales, in many regions Pliocene climate appears to be roughly analogous to that observed in a modern El Niño (Molnar and Cane, 2002). In Africa, modern El Niño conditions are associated with anomalously wet conditions in East Africa and dry conditions in southeast Africa. We do find evidence for wet conditions in East Africa during the Pliocene, although it is hard to separate out the effects of warmer SSTs around Africa and teleconnections from the Pacific. Flora characteristic of the modern West African rain forest are found in East Africa around 3.4 Ma (Bonnefille and Letouzey, 1976; Bonnefille, 1987); soil carbonate records of vegetation in East and Central Africa indicate C3 vegetation and humid conditions (Cerling et al., 1977); lakes freshened in the Afar region of northeast Africa (Gasse, 1990), and Lake Tanganyika in southeast Africa expanded at about 3.6 Ma (Cohen et al., 1997). In southern Africa, there are fewer records, although vegetation appears to be relatively close to modern (Scott, 1995). Most terrestrial records are at too low resolution to identify variability in the Pliocene. Marine records indicate that Pliocene African climate variability was dominated by precessional frequency (19–21 ka) variations in the strength of monsoonal precipitation. Precessional cycles in dust concentration (varying by a factor of 2–5) are seen in marine sediments off West and East Africa between 5 Ma and 2.8 Ma (figure 4.5), indicating dramatic variability in dust availability in the source region or transport efficiency (Tiedemann et al., 1994; deMenocal, 1995; deMenocal and Bloemendal, 1995). Evidence for precessionally driven precipitation changes in the Nile catchment in northeast Africa are seen in the organic-rich sapropel layers of the eastern Mediterranean throughout the Pliocene (Rossignol-Strick, 1983; Hilgen, 1991). Pollen from a terrestrial site at Hadar, Ethiopia, indicates an abrupt change in forest cover ca. 3.3 Ma (Bonnefille et al., 2004) that is consistent with environmental change during part of a precessional cycle identified in sapropel and dust records. Precessional variations in C3/C4 vegetation type are also seen in leaf wax biomarker records from marine sediments off northeast Africa ca. 3.8–3.7 Ma (figure 4.4; Feakins et al., 2005) and off southwest Africa ca. 2.56–2.51 Ma (Denison et al., 2005). These marine records clearly indicate that precession dominated the pacing of precipitation variations across Africa during the Pliocene. PLIO-PLEISTOCENE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

Major global climate events at the end of the Pliocene warm phase were not synchronous and instead occurred in a series of regional events (Ravelo et al., 2004). Tectonic processes caused significant reorganization of tropical ocean circulation during the late Pliocene. The restriction of the Panamanian seaway (4.5–4 Ma) caused changes in Atlantic circulation and an increase in meridional overturning (Haug and Tiedemann, 1998; Haug et al., 2001). The northward migration of New Guinea led to restriction of the Indonesian Seaway (4–3 Ma); models predict that this would likely have


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African Climate Variability

West/East African Eolian Dust (%) 659 0

20

661 60

662/663 0

721/722

664

30

20

d18O (‰) 5.0

40

4.0

3.0

0

100 kyr Onset of 100 kyr cycles

1

1

Age (Ma) 2

2 41 kyr Onset of 41 kyr Glacial cycles

3

3

231

23–19 kyr

4

4 Panama Closure

0

40

80

0

20

40

FIGURE 4.5 Pliocene-Pleistocene records of eolian dust deposition at seven DSDP/ODP sites off western and eastern subtropical Africa, together with summary indication of spectral analysis of those same dust records, and a stacked benthic oxygen isotope record. Reprinted with permission from deMenocal (2004). © 2004 Elsevier.

caused a cooling of Indian Ocean SSTs and a reduction of East African precipitation (Cane and Molnar, 2001). This predicted change in Indian Ocean SSTs is one possible explanation for the C4 vegetation expansion in East Africa after ca. 3.4 Ma seen in the leaf wax biomarker record (figure 4.4). Significant Northern Hemisphere Glaciation began and intensified between 3.2 and 2.6 Ma (figure 4.1; Shackleton, 1995; Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005). Ocean temperatures cooled, and obliquity (41 ka) paced northern hemisphere glacial cycles commenced and intensified between 3.2 and 2.6 Ma (Shackleton, 1995; Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005). As the high latitudes cooled, most records indicate that Hadley circulation strengthened, trade winds intensified, and subtropical regions became more arid and more variable. Aridity and wind strength increased in North Africa at 2.8 ± 0.2 Ma as indicated by pollen (Dupont and Leroy, 1995) and dust records of West and East Africa (figure 4.5; Tiedemann et al., 1994; deMenocal, 1995; deMenocal and Bloemendal, 1995). In southern Africa, SSTs cooled with intensified upwelling, leading to greater aridity (Marlow et al., 2000). In contrast, lake levels in the Baringo-Bogoria Basin, Kenya, and Gadeb, Ethiopia, apparently record a wet interval from 2.7 to 2.5 Ma (Trauth et al., 2005, and references therein) indicating that perhaps not all of Africa experienced increased aridity at this time. The onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation signaled a change in the periodicity of some features of African climate variability. Dust records off West and East Africa document a shift from precession paced humid-arid cycles before 2.8 Ma, to obliquity frequency after ca. 2.8 Ma, suggesting a glacial control on either transport strength or source aridity (figure 4.5;

deMenocal, 1995, 2004). Similarly, leaf wax biomarker records of southwest African vegetation document C3/C4 cycles in tune with obliquity paced Atlantic SST variations in the midPleistocene (Schefuss et al., 2003), suggesting that glacialinterglacial cycles influenced African climate in both the Southern and Northern hemispheres. Not all aspects of African climate were dominated by changes in the high latitudes, however. A second biomarker record from southwest Africa indicates that vegetation changes continued to be dominated by precessional timing shortly after the onset of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation (2.56–2.51 Ma; Denison et al., 2005). Precessional frequency precipitation variations are also recorded in the last 200 ka of the Pleistocene in Tswaing Impact Crater in South Africa (Partridge et al., 1997) and in various East African lakes (Trauth et al., 2001). Finally, sapropel stratigraphy indicates dominantly precessional timing of precipitation variations in northeast Africa throughout the Pliocene and Pleistocene (Rossignol-Strick, 1983; Tuenter et al., 2003). Therefore, despite evidence that Northern Hemisphere glacial cycles led African aridity, there are many counterindications of independent precessional pacing of African climate, particularly in those proxies that directly relate to precipitation. The tropical Pacific was also partially decoupled from highlatitude climate. Despite significant high-latitude changes ca. 2.8 Ma, tropical Pacific SST gradients appeared to have remained largely stable with El Niño–like conditions until ca. 2 Ma (Chaisson and Ravelo, 2000; Wara et al., 2005; Ravelo et al., 2006). The reorganization of the tropical Pacific ca. 2 Ma occurred at a time when high-latitude climate was relatively invariant (Wara et al., 2005). A cooling of eastern Pacific SSTs

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ca. 2 Ma relative to warm SSTs in the western Pacific (La Niña– like conditions) indicates the initiation of Walker circulation and the likely beginning of ENSO variability. This reorganization of the tropical Pacific, from an El Niño–like to a La Niña–like mean state, may have produced climate repercussions with a global signature, since the same mechanisms that generate interannual ENSO variability in modern climates may also produce variability on longer timescales (Cane and Zebiak, 1985; Clement et al., 2001; Molnar and Cane, 2002). Around this time, biostratigraphic events mark the Plio-Pleistocene boundary and local cooling in the Mediterranean (1.77 Ma; Raffi et al., 1993), and an increase in dust flux off Africa records increased aridity (deMenocal, 1995). A C4 expansion is seen in the Turkana Basin, East Africa (2–1.7 Ma; Cerling et al., 1977), and organic carbon concentrations dramatically increase in marine sediments off West Africa (2.45–1.7 Ma; Wagner, 2002). These records appear to indicate an arid shift in North African climate ca. 2 Ma coincident with a major reorganization of the tropical ocean-atmosphere system to a mean La Niña–like mean state. COOL AND DRY CONDITIONS DURING THE LAST GLACIAL MA XIMUM

Most terrestrial paleoclimate research for Africa has focused on the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present, for which the geomorphological evidence is typically best preserved and reconstructions are within the range of radiocarbon and optical dating. Tropical paleoclimate records for the LGM have been reconsidered since CLIMAP concluded that there was minimal cooling (1,000 mm, suggesting an animal comparable to the American mastodon in body size (Tassy and Pickford, 1983; see Christiansen, 2004). Remarks The best represented mammutid in the African fossil record is Eozygodon morotoensis (Pickford and Tassy, 1980; Tassy and Pickford, 1983; Tassy, 1986; Pickford, 2003). Documented from several early Miocene sites (table 15.5), Eozygodon is the oldest recorded elephantoid in that epoch (Tassy, 1986, 1996b). The reported presence of this species at Wadi Moghara, based on an edentulous dentary (Pickford, 2003), cannot be confirmed. Absence or poor development of fourth loph(id)s in M3/m3, small tooth size (figures 15.9A, 15.9B), strong upper molar cingulae, Phiomia-like tusks, and a suite of postcranial features identify this species as the most primitive of the family (Tassy and Pickford, 1983; Tassy, 1986). Molars from Meswa Bridge, Kenya are more primitive than those of Moroto, Uganda in having stronger cingulae, and weaker expression of zygodont

AFROTHERIA

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Aspects of mammutid dental morphology. Anterior is to the left in all specimens. A) Occlusal view, right M3, KNM-LS 18244, Losodokodon losodokius (courtesy of M. Gutiérrez). B) Lateral view, right I2, KNM-ME 7543, Eozygodon morotoensis. C) Medial view, right i2, KNM-ME 7543, E. morotoensis. D) Lateral view, right i2, KNM-ME 7543, E. morotoensis. E) Lateral view, right M3, KNM-ME 7545, E. morotoensis. F) Occlusal view, right M3, KNM-ME 7545, E. morotoensis. G) Occlusal view, right m3, KNM-ME 7547, E. morotoensis. H) Medial view, left M3, DPC 12598, Zygolophodon aegyptensis. I) Occlusal view, left M3, DPC 12598, Zygolophodon aegyptensis. J) Occlusal view, right m3, DPC 9009, Z. aegyptensis (type). K) Medial view, right m3, DPC 9009, Z. aegyptensis (type).

FIGURE 15.10

ABBREVIATIONS: pc, posterior crescentoid; x, anterior or posterior cingulum(id); zc, zygodont crest; 1, 2, 3, . . . , first, second, third, . . . loph(id).

crests and crescentoids. Paleoecological inference suggests that E. morotoensis was an inhabitant of dry, dense forests with open areas nearby (Tassy and Pickford, 1983). Genus ZYGOLOPHODON Vacek, 1877 ZYGOLOPHODON AEGYPTENSIS Sanders and Miller, 2002 Figures 15.9A, 15.9B, and 15.10H–K

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, northern Africa (table 15.5).

Diagnosis Anthony and Friant (1940); Tobien (1975, 1996); Tassy (1977a, 1985); Tassy and Pickford (1983); Sanders and Miller (2002). Mammutid with small molars; third molars narrower than those of confamilials (figures 15.9A, 15.9B). Distinguished from Eozygodon by stronger development of pretrite crescentoids, and greater expression of fourth loph(id)s in M3/m3 (figures 15.10H–15.10K), from other congeners by mesiodistally wider interlophids in m3 and anterior convexity of m3 lophids three and four, and from Mammut by wider median sulci, absence or trace only of cementum, stronger expression of pretrite crescentoids and cingulae(ids), smaller size, and less mediodistally attenuated loph(id) apices. Description Only known from dentition. Unworn halfloph(id)s are formed of large outer conelets and smaller, lower mesoconelets; half-lophs are divided by deep, narrow median longitudinal sulci. Lower third molar with four lophids and low postcingulid, and prominent pretrite crescentoids. Upper third molars of putative males are substantially wider and have broader fourth lophs and blunter crests, crescentoids, and loph apices, than M3 of putative females. Loph(id)s are teat shaped in lateral outline (figure 15.10H). ZYGOLOPHODON TURICENSIS (Schinz, 1824)

Diagnosis Tassy (1985). Molars larger, with more pronounced anterior and posterior pretrite crescentoids than in Z. aegyptensis. The lower third molar may exhibit a fifth lophid.

Description Pickford (2007). Two M2s from the Tugen Hills, Kenya are very large for Z. turicensis but otherwise resemble the molars of the robust morph of this species. They are trilophodont, with apically anteroposteriorly compressed lophs, and with salient pretrite anterior and posterior crescentoids. The posttrite cusps display zygodont crests. Transverse valleys are broad. A low cingulum runs along the lingual margin of the crown in each of these M2s. Remarks The sparse remains of Zygolophodon aegyptensis unequivocally mark the presence of the genus in Africa. Until recently, the occurrence of Zygolophodon in Africa had been hinted at only by a paltry sample of broken teeth, including molar fragments from Gebel Cherichera, Tunisia (Tassy, 1985; Thomas and Petter, 1986), and Gebel Zelten. Of less reliable affinity is a d2 referred to ?Zygolophodon cf. turicensis from the late Miocene site of Menacer (ex-Marceau), Algeria (Thomas and Petter, 1986; see also Arambourg, 1959), alternatively considered a gomphothere tooth, as is a DP4 from Rusinga, which was originally attributed to Zygolophodon (Pickford and Tassy, 1980; Tassy, 1986). A presumed zygolophodont tooth from Khenchella, Tunisia (Gaudry, 1891), may be a moerithere molar (Pickford and Tassy, 1980). More confidence can be given a broken m3 from Daberas Mine, Namibia, which exhibits features typical of Zygolophodon and is the first evidence of the genus in southern Africa (Pickford, 2005b), and the M2s from the Tugen Hills, Kenya attributed to Z. turicensis (Pickford, 2007). In addition, a fragmentary mammutid P4 from the Moruorot Mb. at Lothidok, Kenya, recently placed in Eozygodon (Tassy, 1986; Tobien, 1996; Pickford, 2003), should be returned to its original assignment in Zygolophodon (Madden, 1980). Together, this modest sample indicates a pan-African distribution of the genus by the start of the middle Miocene. Zygolophodon aegyptensis particularly resembles Z. gromovae from the middle Miocene of Ulan Tologoj, Western Mongolian People’s Republic (Dubrovo, 1974). Its presence in North Africa helps document the rich interconnections that existed between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia during the early Miocene. Geological FIF TEEN: PROBOSCIDEA


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T A B L E 15 .5 Major occurrences and ages of Afro-Arabian mammutids and gomphotheriids

? Attribution or occurrence uncertain; alt. Alternatively.

Occurrence (Site, Locality)

Taxon

Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Key References

M A M M U T IDA E , L AT E OLIGOCE N E –? L AT E M IOCE N E

Losodokodon losodokius

Lothidok, Kenya

Eragaleit Beds

Late Oligocene, 27.5–24.0 Ma

Boschetto et al., 1992; Gutierrez and Rasmussen, 2007; Rasmussen and Gutierrez, 2009

Eozygodon morotoensis

Meswa Bridge, Kenya

Muhoroni Agglomerate

23.5–19.6 Ma (probably 23.0– 22.0 Ma)

Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Tassy, 1980; Pickford and Andrews, 1981; Tassy and Pickford, 1983; Tassy, 1986 Pickford, 2003

Elisabethfeld, Namibia Moroto I (type) and II, Uganda

ca. 21 Ma 20.6 Ma (alt. ca. 17.5 Ma)

Pickford and Tassy, 1980; Tassy and Pickford, 1983; Pickford et al., 1986; Gebo et al., 1997; Pickford, 2003, 2007; Pickford et al., 2003; Pickford and Mein, 2006 Pickford, 2003

Auchas, Namibia

Arrisdrift Gravel Fm.

ca. 20–19 Ma

Zygolophodon aegyptensis

Wadi Moghara, Egypt (type)

Moghara Fm.

ca. 18–17 Ma

Miller, 1996, 1999; Sanders and Miller, 2002

Zygolophodon turicensis

Tugen Hills, Kenya

Mb. A, Ngorora Fm.

ca. 13 Ma

Pickford, 2007

Zygolophodon sp. indet.

Lothidok 4, Kenya

Moruorot Mb.

17.9–17.5 Ma

?Rusinga, Kenya

Hiwegi Fm.

17.8 Ma

Tassy, 1986; Boschetto et al., 1992; Tobien, 1996; Pickford, 2003 Pickford and Tassy, 1980; Pickford, 1981, 1986b; Drake et al., 1988 Pickford and Senut, 2000; Pickford, 2005a Savage and Hamilton, 1973; Sanders, 2008a

Daberas Mine, Namibia

Gebel Zelten, Libya

Gebel Cherichera, Tunisia

?Menancer (ex-Marceau), Algeria

188


Qaret Jahanneam Mb., Marada Fm. Beglia Fm.

early or middle Miocene, ca. 17–14 Ma ca. 16.5 Ma

ca. 13–11 Ma (alt. ?early Miocene)

?Late Miocene

Errington de la Croix, 1887; Robinson, 1974; Robinson and Black, 1974; Tassy, 1985; Thomas and Petter, 1986 Arambourg, 1959; Thomas and Petter, 1986; Pickford, 2007

AFROTHERIA

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Taxon


Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Key References

Kappelman et al., 2003; Sanders et al., 2004 Pickford, 2003; Sanders, 2008a

FA M ILY I NCERTA E SEDIS , L AT E OLIGOCE N E

cf. Gomphotherium sp.

Eritreum melakeghebrekris-tosi

Chilga, Ethiopia

Chilga Fm.

28–27 Ma

?Gebel Zelten, Libya

?Marada Fm.

?Late Oligocene or basal early Miocene

Dogali, Eritrea

Dogali Fm.

26.8 Ma

Shoshani et al., 2001b, 2006

GOMPHOT HER IIDA E , E A R LY M IOCE N E – L AT E PLIOCE N E GOM PHOT HER II NA E , E A R LY M IOCE N E – MIDDLE M IOCE N E

“GOM PHOT HER I U M Gomphotherium sp.

AN NECT ENS GROU P,” E A R LY M IOCE N E

Songhor, Kenya

Early Miocene, 19.5 Ma

Mfwangano, Kenya Mwiti, Kenya

“GOM PHOT HER I U M Gomphotherium angustidens libycum

Gomphotherium sp. indet.

Hiwegi Fm. Mwiti 5

ANGUST IDENS GROU P,” E A R LY –? L AT E M IOCE N E

Wadi Moghara, Egypt (type)

Moghara Fm.

ca. 18–17 Ma

Ad Dabtiyah, Saudi Arabia

Dam Fm.

Early middle Miocene (alt. ca. 19–17 Ma)

?Fejej, Ethiopia

Bakate Fm.

16.18 Ma

Gebel Zelten, Libya

Qaret Jahanneam Mb., Marada Fm.

ca. 16.5 Ma

?Al Jadidah, Saudi Arabia

Hofuf Fm.

Gebel Cherichera, Tunisia

Beglia Fm.

Middle Miocene, ca. 14 Ma ca. 13–11 Ma

Gebel el Hendi, Testour, Tunisia As-Sarrar, Saudi Arabia

“‘ PYGM Y ’ Gomphotherium pygmaeus

17.8 Ma ca. 17 Ma

Kabylie, Algeria (type)

Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981; Pickford, 1986b Drake et al., 1988 Drake et al., 1988

Late Miocene Dam Fm.

Early middle Miocene, 17–15 Ma (alt. ca. 19–17 Ma)

Fourtau, 1918; Miller, 1996, 1999; Sanders and Miller, 2003 Gentry, 1987; Whybrow et al., 1987; Whybrow and Clements, 1999; Sanders and Miller, 2002 Tiffney et al., 1994; Richmond et al., 1998 Hormann, 1963; Savage and Hamilton, 1973; Coppens et al., 1978; Pickford, 2003; Sanders, 2008a Whybrow and Clements, 1999 Gaudry, 1891; Robinson, 1974; Robinson and Black, 1974; Pickford, 2003 Robinson and Black, 1973 Thomas et al., 1982; Whybrow and Clements, 1999

GOM PHOT HER I U M GROU P ”

?Middle Miocene

Depéret, 1897; Bergounioux and Crouzel, 1959; Coppens et al., 1978; Pickford, 2004

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T A B L E 15 .5 (CONTINUED)

Taxon


G. pygmaeus continued

Bosluis Pan, South Africa

Gomphotherium sp. indet.

Ngenyin, Tugen Hills, Kenya Ghaba, Oman

Stratigraphic Unit

Mb. A, Ngorora Fm. Dam Fm.

Siwa, Egypt Gebel Zelten, Libya

Qaret Jahanneam Mb., Marada Fm.

Age

Key References

Middle Miocene, ca. 16 Ma ca. 13 Ma

Senut et al., 1996; Pickford, 2005b Pickford, 2004

Latest early Miocene or early middle Miocene Early Miocene

Roger et al., 1994; Pickford, 2003 Hamilton, 1973; Coppens et al., 1978 Arambourg, 1961; Coppens et al., 1978; Gaziry, 1987a; Sanders, 2008a

ca. 16.5 Ma

A M EBELODON T I NA E , E A R LY – L AT E M IOCE N E

Progompho-therium maraisi

cf. Archaeobelodon

Auchas, Namibia (type) ? Moroto II

Arrisdrift Gravel Fm.

?Karangu, Kenya

Karangu Fm.

17.8 Ma

?Legetet, Kenya

Legetet Fm.

Early Miocene, ca. 20 Ma Early Miocene, 19.5 Ma

Wadi Moghara, Egypt

Moghara Fm.

ca. 18–17 Ma

Rusinga, Kenya

Hiwegi Fm.

17.8 Ma

Kulu Fm.; immediately suprajacent to the Hiwegi Fm.

Slightly 830 mm and cross sectional height of 103 mm near its midpoint, although flattened throughout, also retains a distinct longitudinal torque and curves upward at its distal tip. Longitudinal torque is typical of mammoths but not of the other proboscidean taxa found at Langebaanweg (Anancus and Loxodonta); however, the tusk is unusual for an elephant in that it also has lateral sulci that run its length. In the absence of crania, tentative reliance must be placed on these tusks to justify allocating this species to Mammuthus. The m3s of the Langebaanweg mandibular specimen are low crowned (HI 67–69) with nine robustly built plates composed of three to five conelets (figures 15.17U, 15.17V). The anterior and posterior cingulids are prominent. Posterior accessory central conules are limited to the first three plates, and plates are transversely straight with a dominant central conelet. The plates are less pyramidal in cross section than in Primelephas, and the transverse valleys are sub–U shaped. Cementum coats the plates but does not fill the transverse valleys. Several specimens from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia (table 15.6) are morphologically similar, but with one less plate in m3, and greater crown height (m3 HI 76; M3 HI 89). An m3 from the Lukeino Fm., Tugen Hills, Kenya that was originally assigned to P. gomphotheroides (KNM-LU 7597A; Tassy, 1986) has nine plates and a distinctive dominant central conelet in each plate, typical of early mammoths. Morphometrically, though well worn, this molar resembles specimens in the Langebaanweg + Middle Awash sample of M. subplanifrons. Dated between 6.2 and 5.6 Ma (table 15.6), the Lukeino molar may be the oldest known mammoth fossil. Plate formulas: m3 x8x–x9x; M2 x6x; M3 8x–9 (Maglio and Hendey, 1970; Kalb and Mebrate, 1993; Haile-Selassie, 2001). Remarks As traditionally composed, this species is quite heterogeneous morphologically (Maglio, 1973), and likely is a wastebasket taxon. The holotype, a partial m3 from the Vaal River, South Africa (MMK 3920, “Archidiskodon subplanifrons”; Osborn, 1928), and molar specimens of other, synonymized taxa from the Vaal River (“Archidiskodon proplanifrons,” “A. andrewsi”; Dart, 1929; Osborn, 1934; Maglio, 1973) differ in important occlusal details from the Middle Awash Langebaanweg sample and more closely resemble primitive Loxodonta (Sanders, 2006, 2007). At the same time, the Middle Awash Langebaanweg sample cannot be fit into any other existing proboscidean taxon, and anatomically anticipates at least part of the younger M. africanavus hypodigm. For these reasons, the species M. subplanifrons is maintained. In the absence of associated crania, however, there is no certainty that this species is a mammoth. MAMMUTHUS AFRICANAVUS (Arambourg, 1952) Figures 15.17U–15.17X

Partial Synonymy Elephas meridionalis, Pomel, 1895; E. planifrons, Deperet and Mayet, 1923; E. africanavus, Arambourg, 1952, 1970; Loxodonta africanava, Cooke, 1960; L. africanava, Coppens, 1965; Mammuthus africanavus, Maglio, 1973. Age and Occurrence Mid- to late Pliocene, northern and Central Africa (table 15.6). Diagnosis Based in part on Arambourg (1970); Maglio (1973). Primitive species of Mammuthus with a low number of FIF TEEN: PROBOSCIDEA


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third molar plates, occasionally undulating but unfolded, moderately thick enamel, modest plate spacing, and retention in anterior half of molar crowns of accessory central conules. Sides of molars taper strongly toward the apex of the crown (figure 15.17W). Cranium and I2s typical for the genus. Description based in part on Arambourg (1970); Maglio (1973); Coppens et al. (1978). The upper tusks are massive in cross section (Garet et Tir specimen, W 136 mm; H 140 mm), long (L 2,310 mm), and recurved upward and inward distally (Arambourg, 1970). An associated cranium is reportedly morphologically similar to that of M. meridionalis (Maglio, 1973). Isolated molars are difficult to distinguish from those of archaic Elephas. Accessory conules are retained in the anterior portion of the crown and may be particularly prominent posterior to plates. These do not contribute to loxodont sinuses, however. Plates are formed of five to seven conelets, are parallel to one another in lateral view, and are separated by U-shaped transverse valleys that are abundantly filled with cementum (figure 15.17X). In third molars, lamellar frequency varies from 3.0 to 5.2; enamel thickness ranges from 2.6 to 4.3 mm; and crowns are modestly high, reaching hypsodonty indices of 120 (Maglio, 1973). Plate formulas: dp3 x6x; dp4 6–x7x; m1 7–x8x; m2 8–9; m3 10–13; DP2 x5; DP3 5–6; DP4 6; M1 6–7; M2 8–9; M3 9. Remarks The earliest unambiguous evidence of the genus Mammuthus in Africa, the age and morphology of this species are close to those for the oldest European mammoths (M. rumanus, dated to ca. 3.5–2.5 Ma; Lister and van Essen, 2003; Lister et al., 2005). If there is a connection between this species and its putative precursor M. subplanifrons, it might be evidenced by the similarity of specimens such as m3 1950-1:12 from Lac Ichkeul, Tunisia to m3s from early Pliocene Langebaanweg, South Africa, in restriction of accessory conules to the posterior of the first few plates, and relatively rectilinear, simple plates, though with one more plate (10) and higher crowned (figures 15.17U–15.17X). In addition, mammoth dental specimens from Hadar, Ethiopia, of mid-Pliocene age (White et al., 1984) are reportedly morphometrically intermediate between M. subplanifrons and M. africanavus (Beden, 1985). MAMMUTHUS MERIDIONALIS (Nesti, 1825) Figures 15.17Y and 15.17Z

Partial Synonymy Elephas meridionalis, Nesti, 1825; E. planifrons, Doumergue, 1928; Elephas aff. meridionalis, Arambourg, 1952; E. moghrebiensis, Arambourg, 1970; Mammuthus meridionalis, Maglio, 1973; “E. moghrebiensis” E. recki ileretensis, Geraads and Metz-Muller, 1999. Age and Occurrence Early Pleistocene, northern Africa (table 15.6). Diagnosis Based on Maglio (1973). Species with characteristic mammoth cranium showing dorsally expanded occipital and parietals, a strongly anteriorly concave frontoparietal surface that is flat to convex transversely, without parietal crests (figures 15.17Y, 15.17Z). Molars moderately derived for the genus, with hypsodont crowns lacking significant development of accessory conules, and slightly more plates than in M. africanavus. Description Molars of this species from Africa are morphologically similar to those from Europe, but with greater hypsodonty (third molar HI 157–176) and more plates (Arambourg, 1970). In the African specimens, lamellar frequency ranges from 4.0 to 5.0 and enamel thickness from 2.0 to 3.5 mm 232


(Arambourg, 1970). Molars are long but not particularly wide. Greatest width of the crown is located one-third to halfway above the cervix. Enamel may be slightly folded to undulating, and enamel loops are simple and comprised of five to seven conelets. There are no appreciable accessory central conules. Plate formulas (Africa): ?dp4 ?12; m3 16; DP4 9; ?M2 ?15; M3 14–16 (Arambourg, 1970); (Europe): dp2 3–4; dp35-6; dp4 8–9; m1 9–10; m2 8–10; m3 10–14; DP2 3–4; DP3 5–6; DP4 7–8; M1 8–10; M2 9–11; M3 12–14 (Maglio, 1973). Remarks This species is best known from Europe, and only tentatively documented in North Africa. Geraads and MetzMuller (1999) place the specimens from Aïn Hanech, Algeria, in Elephas recki ileretensis, and it is possible that Arambourg’s (1970) “E. moghrebiensis” may not be conspecific with M. meridionalis (G. Markov, pers. comm.). Because the African specimens are more advanced in crown height and plate number, it is possible that they are derived from the European deme of the species, which in turn almost certainly descended from M. rumanus (see Lister and van Essen, 2003; Lister et al., 2005). Nonetheless, the progressive quality of molar morphology and younger geological age of African “M. meridionalis” in comparison to M. africanavus suggest that these species might be useful for future biochronological sequencing of North African sites, especially if considered along with Loxodonta atlantica atlantica, which replaced Mammuthus in North Africa during the middle Pleistocene. Genus ELEPHAS Linnaeus, 1758 Figures 15.17AA–15.17EE Now endangered, in terms of biogeography, longevity, diversity, and impact on faunas, Elephas was the most successful Old World elephant taxon. The genus originated in Africa in the early Pliocene and by the late Pliocene migrated out of the continent into more temperate zones (Maglio, 1973; Todd and Roth, 1996). Once out of Africa, these proboscideans diversified quickly across the Near East, Europe, Asia, and South Asia to become the most speciose of the elephant genera (Coppens et al., 1978). Today, the genus is represented only by the Asian elephant, E. maximus, which is widely distributed across Asia and South Asia, though in increasingly fragmented areas and declining numbers (⬃55,000 individuals; Shoshani and Eisenberg, 1982; Sukumar and Santiapillai, 1996; Fleischer et al., 2001; Blake and Hedges, 2004). The species has been sorted into three subspecies (Shoshani and Eisenberg, 1982; Sukumar and Santiapillai, 1996), with genetic variability evidencing two major clades that appear to have experienced extensive gene flow between populations in the past (Fernando et al., 2000; Fleischer et al., 2001; Vidya et al., 2005). Even primitive species of Elephas are readily recognizable from their cranial morphology, which clearly contrasts with that of Loxodonta, and to a lesser degree with that of Mammuthus: the skull is high and anteroposteriorly compressed; the frontoparietal surface is flat to concave; there are usually distinct parietooccipital bosses; and the upper edges of the temporal fossae are bordered by sharp, prominent ridges (figures 15.17AA, 15.17BB; Maglio, 1973; Coppens et al., 1978). In derived species, the molars are very high crowned, may have a large number of plates, thin, very plicated enamel, thick cementum, and accessory conules are absent or persist only as larger folds in enamel loops (figures 15.17CC, 15.17DD). These features are convergent on molar structure in advanced

AFROTHERIA

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forms of Mammuthus. In more primitive species, the greater expression of accessory conules is shared by a number of elephant genera, and may cause difficulty for identification of isolated specimens. There is no consensus on how to more finely partition the African E. ekorensis–E. recki–E. iolensis lineage (see Maglio, 1973; Beden, 1980; Todd, 2005). Nevertheless, the geographic and temporal extent of this lineage, particularly E. recki, its occurrence in radiometrically well-dated sites, and its progressive morphometric changes over time (figure 15.17EE), make this one of the most useful African mammalian taxa for biochronological correlation. More difficult to understand is the precipitous disappearance of this lineage, after nearly three million years of dominating East African faunas. ELEPHAS EKORENSIS Maglio, 1970

Partial Synonymy Elephas africanavus, Arambourg et al., 1969; primitive E. recki, Howell et al., 1969; Loxodonta adaurora, Coppens and Howell, 1974:2275; E. recki, Coppens and Howell, 1974:2275. Age and Occurrence Early to mid–Pliocene, eastern Africa (table 15.6). Diagnosis Based in part on Maglio (1970b); Beden (1987a). Less pronounced expression of typical “Elephas” features in the cranium than other congeners, with only modest bossing of the parietooccipital region and a flatter forehead without much anterior expansion of the parietals. Prominent, widely separated tusk sockets. Large external nasal opening. Differs from Loxodonta in having a more anteroposteriorly compressed cranium with a flat rather than rounded forehead, and distally less flaring tusk sockets. Description This is a primitive member of the genus, as evidenced by the low number of molar plates, moderate hypsodonty (HI ranges from 100 to 175), intermediate plate spacing (third molar LF 3.8–4.8), and moderately thick, unfolded or coarsely undulating enamel (third molar ET 3.3–4.0 mm; Maglio, 1973). In addition, molar plates retain anterior and larger posterior accessory conules throughout much of the crown. These are apically free though incorporated as mesiodistal median projections in enamel wear figures, but they do not form strong median sinuses as in Loxodonta. Only a small number of conelets (four to six) form each plate, which are broadest near the base of the crown. Third molars are broadest anteriorly, taper drastically posteriorly, and are less massive than in sympatric L. adaurora. In lateral view, plates are parallel-sided and separated by cementum-filled, U-shaped transverse valleys. Plate formulas: m1 8; m2 x9; m3 12; DP2 3x; DP3 6x; DP4 8x; M1 7–7x; M2 9; M3 11–11x (Coppens et al., 1978; Beden, 1980, 1987a). Remarks This is the most ancient unequivocal representative of the genus Elephas. Although an older putative congener, Elephas nawataensis, was named from the Upper Mb. of the Nawata Fm. and Apak Mb. of the Nachukui Fm. at Lothagam, Kenya (Tassy, 2003; see also Tassy and Debruyne, 2001), its holotype is more sensibly synonymized with Primelephas gomphotheroides and the rest of its type series with Stegotetrabelodon orbus (see above; Mundinger and Sanders, 2001; Sanders, 2004). Morphologically, E. ekorensis seems a good ancestral model from which to derive Elephas recki and the first Eurasian representative of the genus, E. planifrons (Maglio, 1970b; Coppens et al., 1978).

ELEPHAS RECKI Dietrich, 1915 Figures 15.17AA–15.17EE

Partial Synonymy See Beden (1983) for a more complete synonymy. Elephas antiquus recki, Dietrich, 1915; E. zulu, Hopwood, 1926; E. recki, Arambourg, 1942; Palaeoloxodon antiquus recki, MacInnes, 1942:42, plate 8, figures 4–5; Palaeoloxodon recki, Osborn, 1942; Omoloxodon, Deraniyagala, 1955; Elephas Palaeoloxodon recki, Beden, 1983. Age and Occurrence Early Pliocene–middle Pleistocene, primarily eastern Africa (rare occurrences in northern, Central, and southern Africa; table 15.6). Diagnosis Based in part on Maglio (1973); Coppens et al. (1978); Beden (1980). Medium-sized elephant with hypsodont molars that in later forms have finely folded, thin enamel, and a greater number of closely spaced plates than in Loxodonta. Unlike Mammuthus, tusks are not spirally twisted, and the forehead is demarcated from the temporal fossae by sharp, acute ridges. Frontoparietal surface more vertical than in E. ekorensis. Description Based in part on Maglio (1973); Coppens et al. (1978); Beden (1980). Cranium raised and anteroposteriorly flat or concave, with a strong frontal crest, large external nasal opening, rectangular prenasal region, deep, wide incisive fossa, nearly parallel, and drawn out zygomatic processes of the frontal; massive incisor alveoli that are closely proximate at their openings; and parietooccipital bosses (which are profound in more advanced subspecies) (figures 15.17AA, 15.17BB). Orbits widely spaced but small. Tusks are gently curved upward in a single plane. Mandible short, massive, very brevirostrine, with a more rocker-shaped ventral corpus than in Loxodonta. The ramus is broad, and the condyles are rounded and set on a short condylar neck. There are no lower tusks. Differences in molar proportions, plate spacing, enamel thickness, hypsodonty indices, enamel folding, and plate number in different stages or subspecies of E. recki are enumerated by Maglio (1973) and Beden (1980, 1983, 1987a). Generally, in earlier forms (e.g., E. r. brumpti) enamel is thicker (M3/m3 2.8–4.0 mm) and unfolded to coarsely folded, hypsodonty is modest (M3/m3 101–116), plates are not particularly closely spaced (M3/m3 LF 4.0–5.5), and accessory central conules may be retained, particularly in the anterior half to two-thirds of the crown, though median sinuses are absent or only weakly developed (figures 15.17CC, 15.17DD). In more advanced subspecies (e.g., E. r. recki), accessory conules are completely absorbed into the plate loops, plate spacing is closer (M3/m3 LF 4.6–6.0), enamel is thinner (M3/m3 1.8–3.0 mm) and well plicated, and molar crowns are relatively higher (M3/m3 HI 161–200)(Beden, 1980). Plate formulas: (E. r. brumpti) dp2 x3x–x4; dp3 6x–x6x; dp4 x7x–9; m3 x11x–14; DP2 4x; DP3 6x; DP4 x7x; (E. r. shungurensis) dp2 x3–x4; dp3 x6–7x; dp4 9–10x; m1 10x; m2 10–x10x; m3 x12x–15; DP2 x4–5; DP3 x5x–x7x; DP4 x9; M1 8x; M2 11x; M3 x12x–15; (E. r. atavus) dp2 4–4x; dp3 6x–x8; dp4 x8x–10; m1 10–11; m2 10–12x; m3 13x–x17; DP2 5–x5; DP3 6x–7x; DP4 9–9x; M1 9–x11x; M2 9–11x; M3 14x–17; (E. r. ileretensis) dp3 7x–8x; m1 x10x; m2 11–11x; m3 x14x; M2 12; M3 x15x–x16; (E. r. recki) dp2 3x–x3x; dp3 7x–8; m2 x12; m3 14x–18x; M2 x10; M3 x13x–19 (Beden, 1980, 1983, 1987a). Remarks A highly successful species of great longevity, Elephas recki was the dominant elephant in East Africa during the late Pliocene-–middle Pleistocene (Beden, 1985) and apparently FIF TEEN: PROBOSCIDEA


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evolved anagenetically for a period of over three million years. Phyletic transformation of the dentition in this species was directional, and involved increases in molar hypsodonty (figure 15.17EE), number of plates, and enamel folding, accompanied by closer spacing of plates, thinner enamel, and complete incorporation of accessory conules into plates (Maglio, 1973; Coppens et al., 1978; Beden, 1980, 1985). Although the species continued to evolve progressively into the late Pleistocene in the form of E. iolensis (see later discussion), by the middle Pleistocene Loxodonta had reappeared in East Africa and begun to replace Elephas there (Beden, 1985). The morphological continuum across successive generations of E. recki resembles that of a ring species rolled out over time, with the end members as distinct from one another as any two living species, but with morphological changes between intervening generations nearly imperceptible. Although overall differences could warrant partitioning the lineage into a number of species (see Todd, 2005), serial phases have been subdivided into time-successive stages (1–4; Maglio, 1970a, 1973; Coppens et al., 1978) or subspecies (E. r. brumpti, shungurensis, atavus, ileretensis, and recki; Beden, 1980), whose divisions are largely governed by chronostratigraphic unit boundaries, most notably in the Omo Shungura Formation (table 15.6; Beden, 1980, 1987a). It has been suggested that temporal overlap of these subspecies (see table 15.6) invalidates the hypothesis of anagenetic change (e.g., Todd, 2005). These taxonomic subdivisions are artificial, however, and the arbitrary partitioning of specimens may have typologically overemphasized subspecific or stage demarcations and downplayed variability. When the names or stages are ignored, the emergent pattern is one of a continuously, directionally evolving lineage with robust variation and substantial morphometric overlap between successive generations. The disappearance of this once widespread, abundant elephant is unlikely to have resulted from direct competition with reemergent loxodonts. There is evidence for the decline of the species toward the end of the Acheulean industrial phase, and absence from subsequent Middle Stone Age faunas, though not necessarily because of overhunting by humans. It is alternatively possible that shifts in temperature and rainfall patterns due to changes in the intensity and periodicity of glacials and interglacials may have upset competitive balances among grazers and given other ungulate taxa an edge over these elephants (Klein, 1988). If the E. recki lineage is considered to have terminated in E. iolensis, then its extinction prior to the late Pleistocene is illusory. ELEPHAS IOLENSIS Pomel, 1895

Partial Synonymy Archidiskodon sheppardi, Dart, 1927; A. transvaalensis, Dart, 1927; A. broomi, Osborn, 1928; A. hanekomi, Dart, 1929; A. yorki, Dart, 1929; Pilgrimia yorki, Dart, 1929; P. wilmani, Dart, 1929; P. kuhni, Dart, 1929; P. archidiskodontoides, Haughton, 1932; P. subantiqua, Haughton, 1932; Elephas pomeli (in part), Arambourg, 1952; E. iolensis, Aramboug, 1960. Age and Occurrence Late Pleistocene, northern, eastern, and southern Africa (table 15.6). Diagnosis Based in part on Maglio (1973); Coppens and Gaudant (1976); Coppens et al. (1978). Medium- to large-sized species, with more hypsodont molars than E. recki, lacking significant development of median loops or sinuses in molar enamel wear figures. Description Based in part on Dart (1929); Maglio (1973); Coppens and Gaudant (1976); Coppens et al. (1978). The skull is 234


unknown. The molars are more hypsodont than those of other African elephants (HI ranges to nearly 300). Despite this advanced condition, molars have only a modest number of plates (m1 8; m2 12; M3 13–14). Sectioned molars show that anterior and posterior accessory central conules are completely “captured” by the enamel loops, producing little anteroposterior midline expansion of the wear figures (see Coppens and Gaudant, 1976: plate 3). Enamel is only moderately thin (third molar ET 2.0– 3.5), and plates are thick in lateral view, yet they are crowded together, yielding lamellar frequencies of 5.0–6.3. Enamel is irregularly but strongly folded. Plate breadth is greatest about midheight and may exceed 100 mm in third molars. Plates are parallel sided in lateral view and separated by very narrow, U-shaped transverse valleys that are abundantly filled with cementum. Remarks Elephas iolensis occurred widely across Africa but is not abundant in the fossil record (Maglio, 1973). Nonetheless, it is temporally well constrained between the close of the middle Pleistocene to nearly the end of the epoch (table 15.6), and it constitutes the closing phase of the E. ekorensis–E. recki lineage (Maglio, 1973). With its demise, Loxodonta africana was left as the lone proboscidean inhabitant of Africa. Presumbably a grazer, E. iolensis might have become extinct for causes ecologically linked with the reasons that the modern African elephant survived as a mixed-feeder/browser.

Summary EVOLUTIONARY PHASES

Due to their robust fossil record, dynamic course of evolution, and ability to traverse great distances, proboscideans are among the most useful of African mammals for correlative dating of fossil sites and refining the chronology and geographic pattern of regional migratory events. There is now considerably more evidence of their phylogeny, from a greater reach of geological history, than there was at the time of the last major review of African proboscideans (in Maglio and Cooke, 1978). Since then, the proboscidean fossil record has been extended back more than 20 million years, to ca. 55 Ma, and has yielded many new taxa (table 15.1). Temporal range distributions of genera indicate that proboscideans underwent at least eight major phylogenetic diversification events (figure 15.19). These may prove useful for subdividing African mammalian faunas into biochronological stages (see Pickford, 1981), but the relationship between these episodes and biotic, physical, and climatic phenomena is still being investigated. The earliest documented phase of African proboscidean evolution occurred at the start of the Eocene and produced the oldest known members of the order, phosphatheres and daouitheres. This phase coincided with the Paleogene thermal maximum, the warmest period of the Cenozoic (Kennett, 1995; Denton, 1999; Feakins and deMenocal, this volume, chap. 4). At this time, Africa and southern Arabia constituted an island continent separated from Eurasia by the Tethys Sea, and its mammalian fauna was strongly endemic (Cooke, 1968; Coryndon and Savage, 1973; Maglio, 1978; Krause and Maas, 1990; Holroyd and Maas, 1994; Gheerbrant, 1998). Regional differences in climate and ecology were far smaller than they are today (Denton, 1999), and forests were probably widespread across the continent. The connection between this climatic event and proboscidean origins is uncertain, as the diversity of these archaic taxa suggests an even older

AFROTHERIA

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PA L E O G E N E EOCENE early

middle

late

NEOGENE MIOCENE

OLIGOCENE early

late

early

middle

late

PLIO. Q. e. l.

Khamsaconus Phosphatherium Daouitherium

1 2

Numidotherium Barytherium Moeritherium Chilgatherium

3

Prodeinotherium Deinotherium Palaeomastodon Phiomia Losodokodon Eozygodon

4

Zygolophodon

5

cf. Gomphotherium (Chilga) Eritreum

6

50

40

30 20 Million years before present (Ma)

Gomphotherium Progomphotherium Archaeobelodon Afromastodon Protanancus 7 Amebelodon Platybelodon Afrochoerodon Choerolophodon Tetralophodon Anancus Stegodon Stegotetrabelodon Primelephas 8 Stegodibelodon Loxodonta Mammuthus Elephas

10

0

Temporal distribution of African proboscidean genera, based on tables 15.2–15.6. Bars represent known chronological ranges of taxa; horizontal dotted lines represent uncertain dates of occurrence. Numbers 1–8 indicate major proboscidean evolutionary episodes.

FIGURE 15.19

divergence from other paenungulates. Subsequent to their first appearance, proboscideans remained indigenous to AfroArabia until the end of the Paleogene (Antoine et al., 2003). It is likely that the predominantly North African distribution of proboscideans from nearshore and shallow water environments during the Eocene is an artefact of poor preservation of Paleogene sub-Saharan sites (Sanders et al., 2004). By the end of the early Eocene (ca. 50 Ma), phosphatheres and daouitheres had been supplanted by numidotheres, of greater body size and more derived skeletal anatomy. The timing of this replacement coincided with the start of a cooling trend, but climate was still quite equable (Denton, 1999; Feakins and deMenocal, this volume, chap. 4), and reasons for the succession are obscure. In the latter half of the Eocene (ca. 40–37 Ma), a greater diversity of proboscidean taxa came to coexist, including more advanced numidotheres, barytheres, and moeritheres. These taxa were considerably larger in body size, with more specialized, outsized anterior dentitions than their predecessors, and with adaptations for a semiaquatic existence. Habitat specializations likely helped to ensure their survival into the Oligocene. Barytheres and moeritheres were joined at the start of the Oligocene by palaeomastodonts, the first of the elephant-like proboscideans, possessing trunks, projecting tusks, and terrestrial graviportal postcranial adaptations. This proboscid-

ean assemblage, along with taxa such as creodonts, early anthropoids, saghatheriid hyraxes, anthracotheriid artiodactyls, and arsinoitheres, comprised the typical mammalian “Fayumian” fauna of the African Oligocene (Simons, 1968; Gagnon, 1997). Although in the early Oligocene the collision of the Indian plate with Asia closed off the eastern Tethys Sea, Africa remained separated from Eurasia by the western Tethys and Paratethys Seas (Rögl, 1998), and its fauna continued to be isolated. Global temperatures also declined precipitously (Denton, 1999), but palaeomastodonts were shielded in low latitudes from the extreme effects of global cooling, and they existed in warm, well-watered forested and woodland conditions (Wight, 1980; Bown et al., 1982; Bown and Kraus, 1988; Jacobs et al., 2005). Distinct global warming trends occurred during the late Oligocene and early Miocene (Miller et al., 1987; Kennett, 1995; Denton, 1999), the former accompanied by the first appearance of elephantoids and chilgatheriine deinotheres, in the Horn of Africa. Palaeomastodonts appear to have been unaffected by these changes, but by the early part of the Miocene and the second warming episode, they and many of the other Fayumian mammals had vanished and the most significant phase of African proboscidean evolution had begun, with the diversification of elephantoids into mammutids, gomphotheriines, amebelodonts,



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and choerolophodonts, and replacement of chilgatheriines by deinotheriines. Distribution of early Miocene proboscidean sites is more extensive throughout Africa than are Paleogene occurrences (tables 15.1–15.5; Pickford, 2003) and shows that some species had epicontinental ranges. During this time, Africa and the Arabian plate rotated northward to contact the Anatolian plate, establishing a land bridge between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia (Rögl, 1999). Gomphotheriines, deinotheres, amebelodontines, and mammutids exploited the new intercontinental connection to immigrate to Eurasia in the 20–18 Ma interval (Tassy, 1989), and made their way even earlier to South Asia (Bernor et al., 1987; Antoine et al., 2003). At the same time, a host of Eurasian mammals (rhinos, fissiped carnivores, suids, insectivores, chalicotheres, rodents) invaded Afro-Arabia (Andrews and Van Couvering, 1975; Bernor et al., 1987; Agustí and Antón, 2002; Guerin and Pickford, 2003). Competition with new herbivorous ungulate taxa may have played an important role in the early Miocene morphological specialization and phyletic diversification of elephantoids, and in the demise of the palaeomastodonts (Sanders et al., 2004). In the early middle Miocene, ca. 16.5–16.0 Ma, at the climax of Neogene warming (Kennett, 1995; Denton, 1999), archaic amebelodonts and choerolophodonts were replaced by more advanced subfamilials, perhaps catalyzed by the immigration into Africa of a second wave of Eurasian mammals (horned bovids, antlered giraffoids, and listriodont suids; Pickford, 1981). There is evidence of continued, progressive evolutionary change, particularly by these taxa, throughout phases of subsequent middle Miocene global cooling in the interval of 15.6–12.5 Ma (Kennett, 1995; Denton, 1999). The most recent major proboscidean evolutionary episode in Africa occurred in the late Miocene. This involved the local extinction of most gomphotheres and mammutids, immigration into the continent of stegodonts, anancine gomphotheres, and tetralophodonts, perhaps made easier by the beginning of the Messinian Crisis, or closing off of the Mediterranean Sea, which enhanced land connections between Africa and Eurasia via the Gibralter Strait and the Gulf of Aden (Rögl, 1999) and the origin of elephants. Around this time, strong uplift of rift shoulders in eastern Africa began to affect local climate, enhancing seasonal temperature variability, and producing more arid conditions through rainshadow effects (Partridge et al., 1995a). Simultaneously, uplift of the Tibetan Plateau changed wind patterns and also contributed to drier conditions, and global decrease in the worldwide CO2 content of the atmosphere favored the spread of C4 plants, including grasses (Cerling et al., 1993; Partridge et al., 1995b). Elephants were among the first African mammals to exploit these new circumstances by evolving craniodental adaptations specialized for grazing. Increased fragmentation and heterogeneity of ecosystems due to climatic deterioration and greater geomorphological relief created conditions favorable to speciation (Partridge et al., 1995a) and may be linked with the initial radiation of archaic elephants ca. 7.0–5.0 Ma. Elephants underwent a series of subsequent diversifications as they continued to refine these adaptations against the pressures of increased competition for C4 resources (see Cerling et al., 2003). The wide distribution of fossil elephants, and rapid pace of progressive alterations of their craniodental grazing adaptations have proven especially useful for biochronological correlation of sites from the late Miocene to the present, and for the study of evolutionary processes (Cooke and Maglio, 1972; Maglio, 1973).

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PHYLOGENY

Most major phylogenetic events in proboscidean evolution occurred in Africa, including the first appearance of the order and the origin of most subsequent major taxa (barytherioids, moeritheres, deinotheres, palaeomastodonts, mammutids, gomphotheres, and elephants). Phylogenetic analyses have now established that moeritheres, barytheres, and deinotheres belong in the Proboscidea (Tassy, 1979b, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1996c; Shoshani et al., 1996; Gheerbrant et al., 2005), linked by a small series of unremarkable traits such as anteroposterior flattening of the femur, loss of the first lower premolar, and hypertrophy of second incisors (Shoshani and Tassy, 1996). Recent discoveries of older, Eocene taxa from North Africa such as Phosphatherium, Daouitherium, and Numidotherium (Mahboubi et al., 1986; Gheerbrant et al., 1996, 2002, 2005; Court, 1995) have more clearly delineated the primitive condition for the order: relatively small animals lacking graviportal adaptations, with low-slung crania, nearly full dentitions, no trunks or projecting tusks, and bilophodont molars. Addition of these taxa to phylogenetic analyses has reconfigured proboscidean relationships (figure 15.20). As a result, moeritheres, once posited as basal proboscideans (Tassy and Shoshani, 1988; Shoshani et al., 1996; Tassy, 1996c), have been replaced in this position by phosphatheres and barytherioids, and they are now hypothesized to be the sister taxon to Deinotheriidae + Elephantiformes (Gheerbrant et al., 2005). Recovery of more ancient moerithere fossils from Algeria (Delmer et al., 2006) suggests that they are descended from lophodont proboscideans, supporting this hypothesis. While their relationships are now clearer and better supported (figure 15.20; Shoshani et al., 2001; Shoshani, 1996; Tassy, 1996c; Sanders, 2004; Gheerbrant et al., 2005), problems remain for the interpretation of African proboscidean phylogeny, partly because of strong tendencies for homoplasy within the order, as illustrated by several notable examples. First, the nature of the connection between palaeomastodonts, mammutids, and gomphotheres requires further investigation. Although cladistic analysis has indicated that Palaeomastodon is the sister taxon to Phiomia Elephantoidea (Tassy, 1988, 1990; Shoshani, 1996), new fossils of late Oligocene palaeomastodonts and mammutids (Sanders et al., 2004; Gutiérrez and Rasmussen, 2007) suggest instead that Palaeomastodon and mammutids have an ancestor-descendant relationship. This would necessitate drastic reclassification of Palaeomastodontidae and Elephantoidea. A second phylogenetic problem concerns stegodont relationships. Stegodon is highly convergent craniodentally on elephants, and has been placed in Elephantidae by some (Arambourg, 1942; Kalb and Mebrate, 1993; Kalb et al., 1996a). Nonetheless, advances in stegodont biogeography and chronostratigraphy show this to be unlikely (Saegusa et al., 2005). Alternatively, stegodonts are often designated as close sister taxa to elephants (e.g., Shoshani, 1996), but new fossil material from Kenya (Tassy, 1995; Tsujikawa, 2005a) indicates a derivation of elephants from Tetralophodon and a more immediate relationship of those taxa. Despite their eventual evolution of elephant-like features, it is possible that stegodontids diverged from other elephantoids as long ago as the early Miocene. If so, they would instead be a sister taxon of Gomphotheriidae (figure 15.20). Third, the relationships of deinotheres remain poorly understood. New fossil finds from Ethiopia (Sanders et al., 2004)

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Khamsaconus Phosphatherium Daouitherium Numidotherium Barytherium Moeritherium Chilgatherium Prodeinotherium

(Coppens et al., 1978). Nonetheless, the taxonomic and temporal continuity of crown elephantines within their own lineages is now much better documented, and for Loxodonta can be traced back nearly continuously from the present to at least 7 Ma (Sanders, 2007). Genetic studies provide support for the division of modern African elephants into distinct forest and savanna species (Roca et al., 2001, 2005; Comstock et al., 2002).

Deinotherium

?

Palaeomastodon

TRENDS

Phiomia

The pattern of African proboscidean evolution is widely branching, as a result of repeated adaptive radiations, with the greatest variety of taxa in the Miocene (Shoshani and Tassy, 1996). From their inception, proboscideans exhibited surprising diversity, with phosphatheres and more advanced daouitheres found together. In the early and middle Miocene, it was not unusual for multiple species of proboscideans to co-occur at the same localities, as for example at Wadi Moghara, where the fauna includes deinotheres, mammutids, gomphotheriines, amebelodontines, and a species of choerolophodont (Sanders and Miller, 2003). Given the impact of Loxodonta africana on modern African ecosystems, it is difficult to imagine the richness of an environment that could support so many megaherbivores, and yet this seems to have been fairly common in Miocene times. As recently as the late Pliocene, multiple species of elephants, stegodonts, deinotheres, and anancine gomphotheres still shared much of the African landscape, but were finally reduced to a single surviving species, largely because of the ecological ascendance of hominids, and increasing competition with other herbivores in the Pleistocene. Throughout most of their existence, proboscideans have been the largest or among the largest animals in African terrestrial faunas, with repeated tendencies for gigantism. Although the earliest known members of the order were small, by the latter part of the early Eocene numidotheres had become pig sized, and soon thereafter barytherioids reached elephantine proportions. Most Miocene proboscideans probably weighed several tons and were at least the size of small elephants, with late Miocene deinotheres being the most immense terrestrial mammals to have inhabited the continent (Christiansen, 2004). The long trunk, tusks, and serially replaced dental battery of 2- to 7-ton modern elephants give them the ability to eat a varied and impressive daily amount of forage, thereby maintaining their large mass, and were likely the key adaptations that also maintained the impressive early–middle Miocene radiation of gomphotheres. Common to such huge animals is a suite of graviportal adaptations such as short, stout feet; pillarlike, elongated long bones (particularly proximal elements) with vertically facing articular surfaces, broad innominates with downward facing acetabulae; and shortened lumbar vertebral regions that bring the thorax in close approximation with the pelvis. These adaptations were present in even the first elephantiforms, by the beginning of the Oligocene. An important factor in the evolution of horizontal, serial emplacement of cheek teeth was loss of teeth, probably associated with timing of tooth development and their rotation into occlusion, so that most lineages of large-bodied proboscideans exhibited a reduced dental formula in comparison with the first members of the order. The first phases of tooth loss in proboscideans, however, appear to have been linked with rostral elongation and/or specialization of

Eozygodon Zygolophodon cf. Gomphotherium sp. nov. Eritreum Stegodon Gomphotherium Progomphotherium Archaeobelodon Afromastodon Protanancus Amebelodon Platybelodon

?

Afrochoerodon Choerolophodon Tetralophodon Anancus Stegotetrabelodon Primelephas Stegodibelodon Loxodonta Mammuthus Elephas

Cladogram of African proboscidean genera, based in part on Shoshani (1996), Tassy (1996c), Sanders (2004), and Gheerbrant et al. (2005). Dotted lines indicate alternative hypotheses about sister group relationships of taxa.

FIGURE 15.20

support an earlier hypothesis of derivation from a moeritherelike ancestor (Harris, 1969, 1975, 1978). Cladistic treatment indicates that while deinotheriines are strongly convergent in cheek tooth morphology with barytheres (Harris, 1978), they are more closely related to Elephantiformes (Gheerbrant et al., 2005). However, recovery of chilgatheriine skulls is critical for more informative testing of these hypotheses. Finally, despite thorough efforts at description and diagnosis (e.g., Maglio, 1973; Maglio and Ricca, 1977; Kalb and Mebrate, 1993; Tassy, 1995; Sanders, 1997, 2007), elephant relationships remain tangled. The traditional separation of Loxodonta from Elephas + Mammuthus (Coppens et al., 1978; Kalb and Mebrate, 1993; Shoshani, 1996; Tassy, 1996c) has been challenged on morphological and molecular grounds (Hagelberg et al., 1994; Noro et al., 1998; Barriel et al., 1999; Thomas et al., 2000; Thomas and Lister, 2001; Debruyne et al., 2003), and proposed ancestral-descendant relationships between late Miocene–early Pliocene archaic genera and these crown elephantines seems more tenuous now (Sanders, 2004) than they were thought to be 30 years ago



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incisors for acquisition of forage, and not with horizontal tooth succession. In these phases, canines and anteriormost premolars were diminished in importance or lost, and some incisors were hypertrophied, while the remaining premolars became more molariform. Starting with a dental formula of I3/2-C1/1-P4/3-M3/3 in Phosphatherium, the tooth complement in the sirenian- and hippolike moeritheres and barytheres was modestly reduced to I3/2-C1/0-P3/3-M3/3 and I2/2-C0/0-P3/3-M3/3, respectively. With the evolution of the first of the elephant-like proboscideans, the palaeomastodonts, the rostrum and symphysis were further elongated, in concert with greater hypertrophy of second incisors, leaving no room or need for additional anterior teeth, and the tooth formula was again reduced, to I1/1-C0/0-P3/2-M3/3. Elephants underwent a secondary reduction of the anterior mandible and lost their lower incisors, as part of a mechanical reorganization of the skull for greater effectiveness of fore-aft mastication, and although more archaic elephant species retained permanent premolars, most crown elephants have a very reduced tooth formula of I1/0-C0/0-P0/0-M3/3, with three deciduous premolars preceding the emergence of molars (Laws, 1966; Sikes, 1967; Roth, 1992). The convergent loss of the lower tusk in choerolophodonts, anancine gomphotheres, and Stegodon suggests that they also could have been lost multiple times among elephantines. The proboscidean tendency for convergent or parallel development of features is best documented in the dentition. The earliest proboscideans, including phosphatheres, daouitheres, and barytherioids, had lophodont cheek teeth with chisellike crests, employed in tapirlike vertical shearing; this masticatory mechanism was evidently separately evolved by deinotheres, and also to some extent by mammutids. Gomphotheres developed a different, rotary grinding and shearing system for chewing that became progressively more effective independently in different lineages through the addition of accessory conules, acquisition of cementum, increase in number of conelets per loph(id), and multiplication of loph(id)s per tooth. Mechanisms to enhance locking precision of molars in occlusion, such as lateral offset of halfloph(id)s, also were developed multiple times by different proboscidean taxa (e.g., choerolophodonts, Protanancus, Anancus). Crown elephant lineages responded to selective pressure for greater efficiency in grazing by independently evolving molars with more plates, greater lamellar frequency, higher crowns, and thicker cementum, perhaps the most compelling example of parallelism in the development of proboscidean dentitions. The temporally coordinated and progressive, directional pattern of this change across multiple lineages during a time of increasingly widespread open conditions suggests that these elephants evolved via anagenesis. EPILOGUE OR EPITAPH?

The surviving African elephant is one of the most recognizable mammals on the continent, sharing with humans the traits of great intelligence and complex social behavior (Sikes, 1971), and is likely the terminal member of an order that dominated Paleogene and Neogene ecosystems. Maintenance of open woodlands and savannas, and associated herbivore assemblages, is critically dependent on the presence of elephants (Eltringham, 1992), whose absence would likely permanently alter the biotic composition of habitats throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Despite their ecological versatility,

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however, there is no guarantee that this representative of one of the most successful orders of African mammals will long survive into the future. Poaching of elephants for ivory has exacted a terrible toll on elephant populations, and the encroachment of human settlements and domestic livestock on their ranges looms as an even greater threat to their survival (Kingdon, 1979; Buss, 1990). Elephants in particular may have helped ensure the initial fortunes of hominids by opening up ecosystems, and it would be tragically ironic if this most African of mammalian orders is brought unnecessarily to extinction, after surviving the rigors of physical, biotic, and climatic upheavals for over 55 million years, by unbounded human fecundity. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank the following individuals and institutions for access to fossil specimens in their care: Jeremy Hooker (The Natural History Museum, London), Meave Leakey and Emma Mbua (Kenya National Museums, Nairobi), Philip Gingerich and Gregg Gunnell (University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor), Pascal Tassy (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris), Graham and Margaret Avery (Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town), Lyndon Murray and Daniel Brinkman (Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven), Mohammed el-Bedawi, Fathi Ibrahim Imbabi, and the late Yusry Attia (Geological Museum, Cairo), Elwyn Simons (Duke University Primate Center), Noel Boaz (International Institute for Human Evolutionary Research, Integrative Centers for Science and Medicine, Ashland, Oregon), Elmar Heizmann (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart), Michael Mbago and Amandus Kweka (Tanzanian National Museums, Dar es Salaam), Ezra Musiime (Ugandan Museum, Kampala), Mohammed Arif (Geological Survey of Pakistan, Islamabad), Muluneh Mariam (National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa), and Bernard Marandat and Jean Jacques Jaeger (Montpellier II University, Montpellier). We are especially grateful to Bonnie Miljour (University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology) for her expert production of the figures. Illustrations of Phosphatherium and Daouitherium were aided by the photographic work of D. Serrette and P. Loubry. Their efforts benefited from collaboration with the Cherifian Office of Phosphates (OCP) and Ministry of Energy and Mines of Morocco. We are appreciative of Martin Pickford’s contribution of proboscidean specimen images and helpful discussion about them. Financial support for this project was generously provided by several Turner Grants from the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan and through grants to Terry Harrison, John Kappelman, and Laura MacLatchy (to W.J.S.), and by the “Fondation des Treilles,” the Sysresource and Synthesys Programs (EU), the Département Histoire de la Terre, USM 203/UMR 5143, Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, Paris, and the “Société des Amis du Muséum” (to C.D.). Finally, we are grateful for many kindnesses and expertise extended by the late Hezy Shoshani, for thorough review of the manuscript by Georgi Markov and Al Roca, and for Lars Werdelin’s editorial guidance.

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CHAP TER SIXTEEN

Paleogene “Insectivores” ERIK R . SEIFFERT

Paleogene Afro-Arabian placentals of “insectivoran” grade— reluctantly referred to here, for sake of brevity and lack of a solid taxonomic framework, simply as Paleogene African “insectivores”—have thus far been placed either in endemic African genera (Chambilestes, Eochrysochloris, Garatherium,1 Jawharia, Todralestes, Widanelfarasia) or in genera that have also been documented in the fossil records of Europe (Aboletylestes, Afrodon) and North America (Cimolestes, Palaeoryctes). Whereas Paleogene insectivores from northern continents are increasingly known from well-preserved cranial remains (e.g., Thewissen and Gingerich, 1989; Asher et al., 2002, 2005; Bloch et al., 2004), the African assemblage is comparatively very limited, being composed of isolated teeth, a few partial maxillae and mandibles, and possibly two distal humeri. These scanty records nevertheless bear directly (though not yet conclusively) on some central outstanding issues in early placental mammalian evolution, such as the time and place of origin of the enigmatic Afrosoricida (the afrotherian clade containing tenrecs [Tenrecoidea] and golden moles [Chrysochloridae]) and the nature of Afro-Arabia’s biogeographic isolation through the Late Cretaceous and early Cenozoic. Interpretation and classification of the Paleogene African “insectivores” has become extremely problematic since the recognition of the endemic Afro-Arabian clade Afrotheria (Seiffert and Simons, 2000; Gheerbrant and Rage, 2006; Asher and Seiffert, this volume, chap. 46), because molecular data suggest a diphyletic origin of Lipotyphla (e.g., Roca et al., 2004), and hence evolution of detailed dental convergences in the Laurasian (eulipotyphlan) and Afro-Arabian (afrosoricid) radiations. Placement of early fossil “insectivores” into either Eulipotyphla or Afrosoricida purely on the basis of geography would be ill advised, but it is not inconceivable that all of the taxa considered in this chapter might be afrotherians aligned with Afrosoricida. For most taxa the evidence is equivocal, but there are a few nonmolar features (discussed further later) shared by Paleocene Todralestes, Eocene Widanelfarasia, and Miocene Protenrec that are interpreted as providing 1 Gheerbrant

and Rage (2006) consider the species identified by Kappelman et al. (1996) as “Herpetotheriinae gen. nov., sp. nov.” from the Kartal Formation, Turkey, to be a possible representative of Garatherium.

limited support for these taxa being consecutive sister taxa of crown Tenrecoidea, while dental features of early Oligocene Eochrysochloris align that genus with golden moles (Seiffert et al., 2007).

Systematic Paleontology Infraclass PLACENTALIA Owen, 1837 Genus “ABOLETYLESTES” Russell, 1964 “?ABOLETYLESTES HYPSELUS” Russell, 1964 Figures 16.1D–16.1F

Age and Occurrence Late Paleocene (late Thanetian), Adrar Mgorn 1 and Ihadjamène, Jbel Guersif Formation, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco. Diagnosis Bases of para- and metacone not fused on M1; small conules and weak or absent postparaconule cristae on M1–3; small parastyle on M1; metastylar lobe decreases in size distally. Description Only upper molars are known (figures 16.1D–16.1F). The parastyle on M1 (IDJ 13) is small but is approximately equal in height to the stylocone on M2–3. The preparacrista is long and meets the stylocone labially. Meta- and paracone are separated at their bases on M1 and become more fused on M2–3. Minute conules are present on M1, lacking on M2–3. Metastylar lobes decrease in size distally. Pre- and postcingula are absent. Remarks African “?A. hypselus” differs from late Paleocene European A. hypselus in having a more narrow M1 with a reduced parastyle and a longer and more buccally oriented preparacrista, and in lacking well-developed conules, internal cristae, cusp “D”, and a deep M2 ectoflexus. Phylogenetic analysis with or without a chronobiogeographic character (see the discussion) aligns “?A. hypselus” with other African taxa to the exclusion of European A. hypselus (see figure 16.4, later). “ABOLETYLESTES” ROBUSTUS Gheerbrant, 1992 Figures 16.1A and 16.1B

Age and Occurrence Late Paleocene (late Thanetian), Adrar Mgorn 1, Jbel Guersif Formation, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco. 253


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Upper molars of late Paleocene “insectivores” from the Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco (Adrar Mgorn 1 and Ihadjamène), based on camera lucida drawings of original specimens. A) THR 184, “Aboletylestes” robustus M2?; B) THR 126, “Aboletylestes” robustus M1?; C) THR 130, “Cimolestes” cuspulus M2?; D) IDJ 13, “?Aboletylestes hypselus” M1?; E) THR 165, “?Aboletylestes hypselus” M2?; F) THR 163, “?Aboletylestes hypselus” M3; G) THR 195, possible afrosoricid (chrysochlorid?) M1 or M2; H) THR 159, “Palaeoryctes” minimus M2?; I) THR 173, “Palaeoryctes” minimus M1?; J) M2 from THR 134, type of Todralestes variabilis; K) M2 from THR 140, also placed in the T. variabilis hypodigm.

FIGURE 16.1

Diagnosis Bases of robust para- and metacone fused; poorly developed parastylar region; long postmetacristae with carnassial notch present on the M2 postmetacrista. Description THR 126 is here considered to be an M1, and THR 184 an M2 (figures 16.1A, 16.1B). The primary cusps are robust, and the bases of the para- and metacones are fused. The parastylar region is poorly developed, but the postmetacrista is long and buccally oriented, with a distinct carnassial notch on M2. A small paraconule is present on the relatively mesially oriented preprotocrista; there are no postparaconule cristae and only a faint metaconule on M2. The postprotocristae are more distally oriented than in contemporaneous African species. Pre- and postcingula are absent. Remarks “A.” robustus is radically different from A. hypselus in the shape and greater development of the stylar region, the relatively long postmetacrista, and the shape of the trigon, and it is certainly not a close relative of the European species. The poorly developed preparacrista and parastylar region, long postmetacrista, and distinct carnassial notch on M2 suggest the possibility of a distant relationship with hyaenodontids. If THR 126 is in fact an M1, then “A.” robustus would also have had a relatively small M1 when compared with M2, also as in hyaenodontids. “A.” robustus could lend additional support to the African origin of Hyaenodontidae proposed by Gheerbrant et al. (2006). Genus “CIMOLESTES” Marsh, 1889i “CIMOLESTES” CUSPULUS Gheerbrant, 1992 Figure 16.1C

Age and Occurrence Late Paleocene (late Thanetian), Adrar Mgorn 1, Jbel Guersif Formation, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco. 254


Diagnosis Accessory conules present along molar pre- and postprotocristae (figure 16.1C); metastylar cusp and cusp “D” present; preparacrista courses mesially toward the parastyle; carnassial notch on the M3 preparacrista. Description Accessory conules along molar pre- and postprotocristae lack internal cristae. Paracone is slightly taller than the metacone and the bases of the cusps are partially fused. A deep ectoflexus, distinct metastylar lobe, metastylar cusp, and cusp “D” are present. The preparacrista is oriented mesially toward the parastyle. Pre- and postcingula are absent. An isolated m3 has robust protoconid and metaconid cusps, the latter of which is placed slightly distal to the former. The cristid obliqua meets the distal face of the trigonid midway between the proto- and metaconid. Remarks “C.” cuspulus does not provide sufficient morphological information to convincingly confirm or refute the placement of this species in the otherwise Late Cretaceous and earliest Paleocene North American genus Cimolestes, which itself is poorly known, differs little from primitive Late Cretaceous placentals, and is not known to occur on landmasses intermediate between Afro-Arabia and North America.2 A more appropriate placement for this species is currently Placentalia incertae sedis. Genus “PALAEORYCTES” Matthew, 1913 “PALAEORYCTES” MINIMUS Gheerbrant, 1992 Figures 16.1G–16.1I

Age and Occurrence Late Paleocene (latest Thanetian), Adrar Mgorn 1, Jbel Guersif Formation, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco. Diagnosis No P4 metacone; small P4 protocone placed far mesial to the apex of the paracone; relatively short P4–M2 pre- and postprotocristae; M1–2 preprotocristae terminate near the base of the paracone; no conules; buccolingually restricted M1–2 trigons; M1–2 metacones placed buccal to paracones; small M1–2 parastylar lobes; deep M1–2 ectoflexi. Description M1–2 (figures 16.1H, 16.1I) are very broad, with an acute angle between pre- and postprotocristae. No conules are present. The ectoflexus is deep on ?M2 (THR 159) but relatively small on ?M1 (THR 173), and the stylar area is enclosed by tall prepara- and postmetacrista on ?M2 (the preparacrista is not well developed on ?M1). Parastyles are weak; on ?M2 the parastyle and stylocone are present, but the former is much lower than the latter. Buccal cusps are extensively fused and the metacone is buccally placed, forming a continuous shearing surface. Pre- and postcingula are absent. P4 shows no clear development of a parastyle; the paracone is tall and has a long, buccally curving postparacrista. The P4 protocone is small, situated close to the base of the paracone, and supports small para- and metaconules. Distinct precingulids are present on lower molars. Molar metaconids are approximately equal in height to the protoconids, and paraconids are relatively small. The cristid obliqua and preentocristids of the talonid basin are tall and oriented at a sharp angle relative to the distal face of the trigonid; the talonid is open lingually and the basin is strongly canted lingually. The cristid obliqua meets the distal face of the metaconid. There is no clear development of an entoconid and the hypoconulid and hypoconid meet to form a tall crest enclosing the buccal aspect of the basin. A larger tooth from Adrar Mgorn 1 (THR 217) was described 2 Gheerbrant (1992) notes that Didelphodus cf. absarokae (Godinot, 1981) from Rians, France, might represent Cimolestes.

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by Gheerbrant (1992) as “Palaeoryctes cf. minimus”; it has a larger, more mesially oriented paraconid and less specialized talonid basin morphology/orientation than the other “P.” minimus lower molars. Remarks “P.” minimus bears only a superficial resemblance to Holarctic palaeoryctids, and Fox (2004) has argued that its placement in Palaeoryctidae “is almost certainly erroneous” (p. 612). “P.” minimus is more derived toward zalambdodonty than any other African species known from before the early Miocene, and could be a stem afrosoricid. If zalambdodonty evolved convergently in tenrecs and golden moles (Seiffert et al., 2007), “P.” minimus could be nested within Afrosoricida, possibly as a stem chrysochlorid (though the limited phylogenetic analysis presented here places the species outside crown Afrosoricida; see figure 16.4, later). The larger unnamed taxon represented by THR 195 (figure 16.1G) might also be a primitive chrysochlorid. Genus AFRODON Gheerbrant, 1988 AFRODON CHLEUHI Gheerbrant, 1988

Age and Occurrence Late Paleocene (late Thanetian), Adrar Mgorn 1 and Ihadjamène, Jbel Guersif Formation, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco. Diagnosis Stylar shelves broad; small ectoflexi; long and buccally oriented preparacristae; no pre- or postcingula; linear centrocristae; para- and metaconules with weak internal cristae. On m1–2, paraconid is relatively small and the metaconid is placed distal to the protoconid. Description M1 (THR 168) is longer and narrower than M2, and it has a poorly developed parastylar region, much as in “?A. hypselus”. M2 is also similar to that of “?A. hypselus” in having a reduced metastylar lobe and a long preparacrista that meets the stylocone. Metaconules are relatively well developed. Pre- and postcingula are absent. The p4 has a small paraconid and a larger metaconid that is about half the height of the protoconid. A crest runs lingually from the p4 hypoconid to connect with the postmetacristid. Lower molar metaconids are well developed and slightly lower than the protoconids; paraconids are relatively small. The cristid obliqua meets the trigonid midway between the proto- and metaconid and delimits well-developed hypoflexids. The hypoconulid varies from being centrally placed to slightly more lingual, and entoconids vary from being cuspidate to crestiform. Remarks Gheerbrant (1995) suggested that A. chleuhi is the sister group of all other known adapisoriculids. Phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters alone supports this hypothesis (figure 16.4A, later) and implies an African origin for Adapisoriculidae, but analysis following inclusion of a chronobiogeographic character aligns A. chleuhi with other African taxa to the exclusion of undoubted European adapisoriculids (figure 16.4B). A. chleuhi is here left outside Adapisoriculidae and treated as Placentalia incertae sedis. Storch (2008) recently argued that isolated humeri and femora from the late Paleocene of Walbeck (Germany) belong to either Afrodon germanicus or Bustylus cf. cernaysi, two undoubted adapisoriculids that occur at that site. The humeroulnar articulations of the specimens from Walbeck bear at least a superficial resemblance to those of THR 364 and 365, two distal humeri from Adrar Mgorn 1 that Gheerbrant (1994) preliminarily assigned to Todralestes variabilis. If these specimens belong to the slightly larger A. chleuhi, they could reasonably be interpreted as providing additional support for that

species’ alleged adapisoriculid affinities. Storch (2008) argued that the specimens from Walbeck support plesiadapiform affinities for Adapisoriculidae, but the teeth of these taxa bear no special resemblance to either plesiadapiforms or crown primates. AFRODON TAGOURTENSIS Gheerbrant, 1993

Age and Occurrence Middle early Eocene (middle Ypresian), N’Tagourt 2, Aït Ouarithane Formation, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco. Diagnosis M1 relatively long and narrow, with distinct para- and metaconule; paraconule relatively lingually situated with respect to the metaconule; narrow stylar region without distinct stylar cusps; m1 relatively small in comparison to m2. Distinct p4 entoconid, with no cristid obliqua. Description Two probable M1s are known (NTG 2-18 and 2-23) and are more similar to those of European adapisoriculids than to that of A. chleuhi in having relatively elongate stylar regions. Unlike European species, the parastyle and stylocone are very small or absent, and there is no development of other stylar cusps. A. tagourtensis is also more similar to European taxa such as Adapisoriculus minimus in having a paraconule that is relatively lingual in position with respect to the metaconule. The preparacrista is short and buccally oriented and meets the stylocone, the ectoflexus is very faint or absent, and there are no pre- or postcingula. As in A. chleuhi, the molar metaconids are placed distal to the protoconids and the cristid obliqua meets the trigonid midway between the proto- and metaconid; the angle between the cristid obliqua and hypocristid is acute on m2. The p4 talonid is bicuspid, with a distinct entoconid and hypoconid, but no cristid obliqua is present. Remarks Phylogenetic analysis of morphological features alone places A. tagourtensis as the sister taxon of European adapisoriculids (figure 16.4A, later), while inclusion of a chronobiogeographic character places the species as the sister taxon of A. chleuhi, with no special relationship to European taxa (figure 16.4B). Genus GARATHERIUM CROCHET, 1984 GARATHERIUM MAHBOUBII Crochet, 1984

Age and Occurrence Middle early Eocene (middle Ypresian), El Kohol, Algeria. Diagnosis Dilambdodont arrangement of buccal crests; stylar cusps well developed, including mesostyle and cusp “D”; preparacrista meets the stylocone; small conules present, with internal cristae. Description Only a single upper molar of G. mahboubii is known, possibly an M1 on the basis of the mesiodistally elongate stylar region. The buccal crests are W shaped, with preparacrista meeting the stylocone and postpara- and premetacristae meeting the mesostyle. Cusp “D” is present just mesial to the buccal terminus of the postmetacrista. Conules are small and have internal cristae, with paraconule situated mesial (rather than lingual) to the metaconule. Preand postcingula are absent. Remarks G. mahboubii was originally described as a peradectine marsupial (Crochet, 1984); adapisoriculid affinities were later suggested by Gheerbrant (Gheerbrant, 1991, 1995). More recently McKenna and Bell (1997) placed Garatherium among didelphimorph herpetotheriine (⫽ herpethotheriid) marsupials. Garatherium is here considered to be a SIXTEEN: PALEOGENE “INSECTIVORES”


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placental; the genus is very poorly known but interestingly shares a number of M1 features with latest Eocene Widanelfarasia (most notably a dilambdodont arrangement of the buccal cusps). If tenrecoid zalambdodonty evolved from dilambdodonty (Seiffert et al., 2007), then Garatherium could be a stem tenrecoid. ?GARATHERIUM TODRAE Gheerbrant, 1998

Age and Occurrence Late Paleocene (latest Thanetian), Adrar Mgorn 1 and Ihadjamène, Jbel Guersif Formation, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco. Diagnosis Slightly larger than G. mahboubii. Description The figured holotype of ?G. todrae (Gheerbrant et al., 1998) is likely to be an M2, but it is very similar in morphology to the probable M1 of G. mahboubii in having a dilambdodont arrangement of the buccal crests and a distinct stylocone, mesostyle, and cusp D. Gheerbrant et al. (1998) describe an M3 with a straight centrocrista (THR-MFSP 35) as possibly belonging to ?G. todrae, but the postparacrista and premetacrista are buccally oriented on another probable M3 that was placed in the ?G. todrae hypodigm (THR 273; see Gheerbrant, 1995). Family CHAMBILESTIDAE Gheerbrant and Hartenberger, 1999 Genus CHAMBILESTES Gheerbrant and Hartenberger, 1999 CHAMBILESTES FOUSSANENSIS Gheerbrant and Hartenberger, 1999

Age and Occurrence Early or early middle Eocene ( Ypresian or early Lutetian), Chambi, Kasserine Plateau, Tunisia. Diagnosis Differs from other Paleogene African species in combining the following features: pre- and postcingula present and distinct; linear centrocrista; para- and metacone separated at their bases; conules and internal cristae are present; stylar shelves relatively narrow. P4 with well-developed protocone and paraconule, without postprotocrista. Description The type and only specimen is a maxilla with P4-M3. The molars are narrow and broad, without welldeveloped stylar shelves. Para- and metaconules are present and bear internal cristae. Pre- and postcingula are present on M1–2, with small hypocones present on M1–2. The P4 has a well-developed, mesially situated protocone that lacks a postprotocrista but has a small paraconule on the preprotocrista. P4 has a small parastyle and distinct buccal cingulum. Remarks Gheerbrant and Hartenberger (1999) suggested that Chambilestes might have affinities with Laurasian “erinaceomorphs,” particularly Scenopagus, but their phylogenetic analyses did not support such a relationship. The phylogenetic analyses presented here (figure 16.4, later) place Chambilestes in either a very basal position (when morphological characters alone are considered), or as the sister taxon of Todralestes (when a chronobiogeographic character is included).

Diagnosis Differs from other African species in combing the following features: low and lingually situated P4 protocone; M1–2 with pre- and postcingula, small hypocones, narrow stylar shelves, and small para- and metaconules; p4 paraconid almost as tall as metaconid; molar talonids only slightly narrower than trigonids. Description There is a considerable amount of variation within the T. variabilis hypodigm, and at least one specimen (THR 140; figure 16.1K) is arguably different enough from the holotype (figure 16.1J) to warrant generic distinction. In the type and similar material, P3 is two rooted, and the distal alveolus is placed mesial to the lingual root of P4, as in Protenrec and Widanelfarasia (Seiffert et al., 2007). The P4 paracone is tall and robust, and the protocone is low, close to the base of the paracone. Upper molar stylar shelves are relatively narrow, paracones are taller than metacones, conules are poorly developed, and weak pre- and postcingula are present. THR 151 and THR 349 demonstrate that T. variabilis had a two-rooted p2 but no p1. The p3 is simple, with a dominant, mesially oriented protoconid, while the p4 has a small metaconid and paraconid and a deep hypoflexid defined by a crest that links the hypoconid to the postvallid. Lower molars are similar in having low talonids that are narrower than the tall trigonids, with shallow hypoflexids. Two distal humeri have been referred to Todralestes, and both have globular capitula with short tails, entepicondylar foramina, and dorsoepitrochlear fossae; however, as noted earlier, these specimens might belong to the slightly larger species Afrodon chleuhi. See Gheerbrant (1994) for a detailed treatment of this material. Remarks The molar morphology of Todralestes is quite primitive (figure 16.2), but the robust P4 paracone, two-rooted and “inset” P3, and presumably stepped transition from P4 to P3 are apomorphic features shared with Protenrec and Widanelfarasia. Todralestes also shares with these and other afrosoricids the apomorphic loss of p1. Todralestes could be a stem or crown afrosoricid (Seiffert, 2003; Seiffert et al., 2007). TODRALESTES BUTLERI Gheerbrant, 1993

Age and Occurrence Middle early Eocene (middle Ypresian), N’Tagourt 2, Aït Ouarithane Formation, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco.

Cohort ?AFROTHERIA Stanhope et al., 1998 Order ?AFROSORICIDA Stanhope et al., 1998 Family TODRALESTIDAE Gheerbrant, 1991 Genus TODRALESTES Gheerbrant, 1991 TODRALESTES VARIABILIS Gheerbrant, 1991 Figures 16.1J, 16.1K, and 16.2

Age and Occurrence Late Paleocene (Thanetian), Adrar Mgorn 1, Ihadjamène, Ilimzi, and Timadriouine, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco. 256


FIGURE 16.2 Upper and lower dentition of late Paleocene Todralestes variabilis. A) THR 134, holotype right maxilla with P4-M3; B) THR 90, right mandible with p3-m3. From Gheerbrant, 1991.

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Diagnosis Differs from T. variabilis in having relatively large conules with postparaconule and premetaconule cristae. Description On M1, metacone is smaller than the paracone, and the two cusps show some basal fusion. Conules are relatively well developed and have internal cristae. Pre- and postcingula are present and distinct; on one specimen (NTG 2-16), a complete lingual cingulum is present. The stylar shelf is narrow, without a clear ectoflexus. P4 paracone is tall, with a small style on the buccally curving postparacrista; buccal cingulum is incomplete. Remarks The features that distinguish T. butleri from T. variabilis are shared with Chambilestes, and the former might be a member of Chambilestidae rather than Todralestidae.

deep hypoflexid on the talonid basin. The lower molars have tall trigonids and low talonids, and protocristids are transversely oriented; molar hypoflexids are deep, increasing in depth distally. Remarks Nonmolar features align Widanelfarasia with tenrecs via early Miocene Protenrec (Seiffert et al., 2007); the latter also shares numerous derived features with the extant Malagasy genus Geogale, and more material of Protenrec is needed to test its placement as either a stem tenrecoid or a nested member of the Malagasy tenrecid clade. Regardless, Widanelfarasia’s well-developed metacones are almost certainly plesiomorphic features that exclude the genus from crown Tenrecoidea. Widanelfarasia provides evidence for an intermediate stage between moderate dilambdodonty and zalambdodonty.

Order AFROSORICIDA Stanhope et al., 1998 ?Suborder TENRECOMORPHA Butler, 1972 Genus WIDANELFARASIA Seiffert and Simons, 2000 WIDANELFARASIA BOWNI Seiffert and Simons, 2000 Figure 16.3

WIDANELFARASIA RASMUSSENI Seiffert and Simons, 2000

Age and Occurrence Late Eocene (latest Priabonian), Quarry L-41, lower sequence of Jebel Qatrani Formation, northern Egypt. Diagnosis Differs from other African species in combining the following features: in the upper dentition, P4 has a robust paracone, low protocone, and ectocrista; buccal cusps of M1–2 are situated internally, and preparacristae are long and buccally oriented; buccal crests on M1 arranged in the dilambdodont pattern; pre- and postcingula are absent; conules are minute or absent. In the lower dentition, p1 is absent; p4 talonid is bicuspid, with a crest linking the hypoconid to the lingual part of the postvallid; molar trigonids are tall, talonids are relatively narrow, with deep hypoflexids. Description In the upper dentition (figure 16.3A), P2–3 are two rooted, and P3 is inset. The P4 has a robust paracone with a buccal ectocrista that delimits an ectofossa, and a low protocone situated close to the base of the paracone. Upper molars have broad stylar shelves and long, buccally oriented preparacristae, and minute conules. M1 is dilambdodont, whereas M2 is quasi-zalambdodont. In the lower dentition (figure 16.3B), i2 is enlarged and bears a distal basal cusp. The canine is large and single-rooted. The p2–3 are double-rooted with mesially inclined protoconids. The p4 has a low paraconid and a larger metaconid; there is a

FIGURE 16.3 Upper and lower dentition of late Eocene Widanelfarasia bowni. A) DPC 21845, a right maxilla with P2-M3; B) teeth of holotype (CGM 83698), right mandible with p2-m3.

Age and Occurrence Late Eocene (latest Priabonian), Quarry L-41, lower sequence of Jebel Qatrani Formation, northern Egypt. Diagnosis Differs from W. bowni in its smaller size and in having relatively narrow talonids. Description Morphology of the lower p4–m3 is very similar to that of W. bowni; upper dentition is not known. Genus JAWHARIA Seiffert et al., 2007 JAWHARIA TENRECOIDES Seiffert et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene (early Rupelian), Quarry E, lower sequence of Jebel Qatrani Formation, northern Egypt. Diagnosis Differs from Widanelfarasia in having a relatively narrow m3 talonid, deeper hypoflexids on m2–3, and a faint ectocristid on m2. Description Only known from a single jaw with m3 and part of m2. Morphology of m3 is similar to that of Widanelfarasia, but the talonid is relatively narrow. The m2 hypoconid is placed buccally but bears a faint ectocristid on its buccal face that defines the distal wall of a well-developed hypoflexid. The m2 cristid obliqua is concave. Suborder CHRYSOCHLOROIDEA Broom, 1915 Genus EOCHRYSOCHLORIS Seiffert et al., 2007 EOCHRYSOCHLORIS TRIBOSPHENUS Seiffert et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene (early Rupelian), Quarry E, lower sequence of Jebel Qatrani Formation, northern Egypt. Diagnosis Differs from other Paleogene African taxa in having a one-rooted p3 with a cingular talonid, p4 with tall metaconid and paraconid, a relatively narrow m2 talonid with low talonid cusp relief and a more mesially oriented cristid obliqua, and molar trigonids that are strongly canted lingually with respect to the dorsoventral axis of the mandibular corpus. Description The p3 is single rooted and has a distal cingulum, as in the Miocene chrysochlorid Prochrysochloris. The p4 is molariform, with a large paraconid and metaconid and a well-developed talonid basin. The only known lower molar (m2) has a tall trigonid, narrow trigonid, and, when compared with Widanelfarasia or Protenrec, a relatively shallow hypoflexid and mesially oriented cristid obliqua. The molar trigonid is canted strongly lingually. Remarks The occlusal surface of Eochrysochloris’s only known molar talonid differs in detail from those of Widanelfarasia SIXTEEN: PALEOGENE “INSECTIVORES”


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and Jawharia in having a relatively poorly developed hypoconid and shallow hypoflexid, suggesting a different arrangement of the occluding upper molar cusps and crests.

Discussion Paleontologists have often assumed that Africa served as something of a biogeographic cul-de-sac and not a major center of origin for placental clades; as such, new discoveries from Africa have generally been interpreted within the context of the much more complete Laurasian record of placental evolution. Perhaps not surprisingly, most of the late Paleocene and early Eocene African “insectivores” have, at one time or another, been closely aligned with species, genera, or families documented on northern continents, and published taxonomies and phylogenetic interpretations imply at least seven Paleocene or Eocene exchanges of “insectivore” taxa between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia (Gheerbrant and Rage, 2006). There is no evidence for a land bridge connecting Afro-Arabia to Eurasia in the latest Cretaceous or early Paleogene, however, and if the taxa considered here are nonaquatic and nonvolant, such exchanges would have been chance events involving overwater dispersal and/or

island hopping. Morphological evidence for phylogenetic hypotheses that imply such widespread dispersal is, however, very weak—largely being based on a few highly homoplasious or plesiomorphic dental characters. Figure 16.4 presents the results of phylogenetic analyses of the more complete fossil taxa considered in this chapter (i.e., those that could be scored for at least 50% of the morphological characters sampled), alongside members of the European adapisoriculid radiation that have been identified as close relatives of early African taxa such as Afrodon (Gheerbrant, 1995; Gheerbrant and Rage, 2006). The matrix includes 57 morphological characters, primarily from the dentition. A molecular scaffold constraining the monophyly of crown Tenrecoidea and of Malagasy Tenrecidae (cf. Asher and Hofreiter, 2006) was enforced by scoring 10 additional characters as either “0” or “1,” first scoring only crown tenrecoids as “1” for characters 59–63, and then scoring only Malagasy tenrecids as “1” for characters 64–67; stem placentals and other extant taxa were scored as “0” for all of these characters. Analysis of morphological characters alone places African members of the genus Afrodon as consecutive sister taxa of European adapisoriculids (figure 16.4A), but most other

A

B

crown Afrotheria?

Prokennalestes trofimovi

Prokennalestes trofimovi

Kennalestes gobiensis

Kennalestes gobiensis

Aboletylestes hypselus

Asioryctes nemegetensis

Asioryctes nemegetensis

Aboletylestes hypselus

Chambilestes foussanensis

Afrodon germanicus

Afrodon chleuhi

Bustylus cernaysi

crown Afrotheria?

Afrodon tagourtensis

Bustylus marandati

Afrodon germanicus

Chambilestes foussanensi

Bustylus cernaysi

Todralestes variabilis

Bustylus marandati

Afrodon chleuhi

"Palaeoryctes" minimus


Todralestes variabilis

"Palaeoryctes" minimus

"?Aboletylestes hypselus"

"?Aboletylestes hypselus"

Widanelfarasia bowni

Widanelfarasia bowni

Chrysochloris asiatica

Chrysochloris asiatica

Prochrysochloris miocaenicus

Prochrysochloris miocaeni

Micropotamogale lamottei crown Afrotheria?

Asia

Potamogale velox

Micropotamogale lamottei crown Afrotheria?

Potamogale velox

Setifer setosus

Setifer setosus

Microgale talazaci

Microgale talazaci

Geogale aurita

Geogale aurita

Protenrec tricuspis

Protenrec tricuspis

Afro-Arabia

Europe

Madagascar

Strict consensus trees derived from parsimony analysis of 57 morphological characters without (A) and with (B) a chronobiogeographic character. Crown Tenrecoidea and the Malagasy tenrecid clade were constrained to be monophyletic (see text), but fossil taxa were free to fall inside or outside those clades. All multistate characters treated as ordered were scaled, and polymorphisms were scored as an intermediate state. See Rossie and Seiffert (2006) for methodological details of chronobiogeographic analysis. Character matrix is available on request from the author. Tree in (A) has a length (TL) of 162.22 steps, a consistency index (CI) of 0.42, a retention index (RI) of 0.62, and a rescaled consistency index (RCI) of 0.261. The tree in (B) was recovered by fi rst searching (in PAUP 4.0b10) for morphological trees that were equal to or shorter than the shortest tree recovered by heuristic search (in Mesquite v. 2.5) of the matrix that included the chronobiogeographic character (essentially the “debt ceiling” method employed in stratocladistic analysis). The >10,000,000 trees recovered in PAUP that satisfied this criterion were then fi ltered (using the “Filter trees from other source” command in Mesquite) to determine if any of the trees had a shorter overall length when the chronobiogeographic character was included. Of the >10,000,000 trees, only a single most parsimonious tree was found (that figured in [B]), which was of length 168.33.

FIGURE 16.4

258


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African taxa aside from Chambilestes, including “?Aboletylestes hypselus” are more closely aligned with afrosoricids; early Miocene Protenrec is nested within the Malagasy tenrec radiation as the sister taxon of extant Geogale, implying a dispersal back across the Mozambique Channel to account for its presence in Africa (cf. Asher and Hofreiter, 2006). A more rigorous test of the dispersals implied by this cladogram is made possible by adding a chronobiogeographic character for which each taxon is assigned a “time/space” state, and which conservatively adds a single step to tree length for each overwater dispersal required by the cladogram (using a step matrix that takes into account reconstructed paleogeography at each “time slice” represented). A complete description of this methodology is beyond the scope of this chapter, but the approach is described in detail in Rossie and Seiffert (2006). The shortest trees recovered by parsimony analysis following inclusion of the chronobiogeographic character reveal that the morphological evidence supporting overwater dispersal is weak, for Afrodon is placed as the sister group of all other Afro-Malagasy taxa. Protenrec is still placed as the sister taxon of Geogale, but a back-migration would not be required by the cladogram in figure 16.4B. Todralestes and Chambilestes are placed as sister taxa. It is important to note that in both of these trees it is not

known where Afrosoricida would join other afrotherians, and so it is not clear that taxa placed outside crown Afrosoricida on these trees are stem afrosoricids, stem members of Afroinsectivora (Afrosoricida ⫹ Macroscelidea), or stem afrotherians. This analysis incorporates too few characters and taxa to be seen as anything other than a very preliminary assessment of the relationships among Paleogene Afro-Arabian “insectivores.” However, based on these results and other direct observations on taxa not included in the phylogenetic analysis, a number of testable hypotheses can be proposed: (1) “Aboletylestes” robustus is aligned with the endemic Afro-Arabian placental radiation that gave rise to Hyaenodontidae; (2) “?Aboletylestes hypselus” (Gheerbrant, 1992) is not a close relative of European Aboletylestes and is aligned with other African taxa, possibly as a stem or crown afrosoricid; (3) Afrodon, Garatherium, “Palaeoryctes” minimus, Todralestes, Widanelfarasia, and possibly Chambilestes are stem or crown afrosoricids. “Cimolestes” cuspulus is too poorly known to be considered anything other than Placentalia incertae sedis. As with so many other early Paleogene placentals, the superordinal (e.g., afrotherian vs. laurasiatherian) affinities of most early African “insectivores” in fact remain very much open to debate and can only be convincingly tested with much more complete material (see also table 16.1).

ta b l e 16 .1 Occurrences of Paleogene Afro-Arabian “insectivores”

Taxon

“?Aboletylestes hypselus” “Aboletylestes” robustus “Adapisoriculidae gen. et sp. indet.” Afrodon chleuhi

Occurrence (Site, Locality) Adrar Mgorn 1, Ihadjamène (Morocco) Adrar Mgorn 1 N’Tagourt 2 (Morocco)


Adrar Mgorn 1, Ihadjamène Adrar Mgorn 1bis (Morocco) N’Tagourt 2

Afrodon sp. Chambilestes foussanensis

Ihadjamène Chambi (Tunisia)

“Cimolestes” cuspulus “Cimolestes” cf. incisus “Didelphodontinae, gen. et sp. nov.” “Didelphodontinae, gen. et sp. indet. 1” “Didelphodontinae, gen. et sp. indet. 2”1

Adrar Mgorn 1 Adrar Mgorn 1 N’Tagourt 2

Afrodon cf. chleuhi

Adrar Mgorn 1 Adrar Mgorn 1, N’Tagourt 2

Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Key References

Jbel Guersif Fm.

Late Paleocene

Gheerbrant, 1992

Jbel Guersif Fm. Aït Ouarithane Formation Jbel Guersif Fm.

Late Paleocene Early Eocene

Gheerbrant, 1992 Gheerbrant et al., 1998

Late Paleocene

Gheerbrant, 1988, 1995

Jbel Guersif Fm.

Late Paleocene

Gheerbrant, 1995

Aït Ouarithane Formation Jbel Guersif Fm.

Early Eocene

Gheerbrant, 1993; Gheerbrant et al., 1998 Gheerbrant, 1995 Gheerbrant and Hartenberger, 1999 Gheerbrant, 1992 Gheerbrant, 1992 Gheerbrant, 1993; Gheerbrant et al., 1998 Gheerbrant, 1992

Jbel Guersif Fm. Jbel Guersif Fm. Aït Ouarithane Formation Jbel Guersif Fm.

Late Paleocene Early or middle Eocene Late Paleocene Late Paleocene Early Eocene Late Paleocene

Jbel Guersif and Aït Ouarithane Formation Fms. Jebel Qatrani Fm. Jbel Guersif Fm. El Kohol Fm.

Late Paleocene and early Eocene Early Oligocene Late Paleocene Early Eocene

Gheerbrant, 1992; Gheerbrant et al., 1998

Eochrysochloris tribosphenus “?Garatherium n. sp.” Garatherium mahboubii

Quarry E (Egypt) Adrar Mgorn 1 El Kohol (Algeria)

?Garatherium todrae

Adrar Mgorn 1, Ihadjamène Taqah (Oman)

Jbel Guersif Fm.

Late Paleocene

Seiffert et al., 2007 Gheerbrant, 1995 Crochet, 1984; Mahboubi et al., 1986 Gheerbrant et al., 1998

Ashawq Fm.

Early Oligocene

Thomas et al., 1999

Quarry E El Kohol Adrar Mgorn 1

Jebel Qatrani Fm. El Kohol Fm. Jbel Guersif Fm.

Early Oligocene Early Eocene Late Paleocene

Seiffert et al., 2007 Mahboubi et al., 1986 Gheerbrant, 1992

“Insectivora, at least four species” Jawharia tenrecoides “Lipotyphla indet.” “Proteutheria or Lipotyphla indet. 1, 2, 3”

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ta b l e 16 .1 (c o n t i n u e d)

Taxon


“Nyctitheriidae gen. et sp. indet.” “Soricomorpha gen. et sp. indet.” Todralestes variabilis

Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Key References

Aznag (Morocco)

Jbel Tagount Fm.

Middle Eocene

Tabuce et al., 2005

Aznag

Jbel Tagount Fm.

Middle Eocene

Tabuce et al., 2005

Jbel Guersif Fm.

Late Paleocene

Gheerbrant, 1992

Todralestes butleri

Adrar Mgorn 1, Ihadjamène N’Tagourt 2

Early Eocene

Gheerbrant, 1993

Widanelfarasia bowni Widanelfarasia rasmusseni

Quarry L-41 (Egypt) Quarry L-41

Aït Ouarithane Formation Jebel Qatrani Fm. Jebel Qatrani Fm.

Late Eocene Late Eocene

Seiffert and Simons, 2000 Seiffert and Simons, 2000

1“Didelphodontinae,

gen. et sp. indet. 3” in Gheerbrant, 1992.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

E. Gheerbrant, B. Marandat, and R. Tabuce provided access to fossils and casts, and L. Gordon and P. Jenkins provided access to osteological material. This research was funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Leakey Foundation.

Literature Cited Asher, R. J., and M. Hofreiter. 2006. Tenrec phylogeny and the noninvasive extraction of nuclear DNA. Systematic Biology 55:181–194. Asher, R. J., R. J. Emry, and M. C. McKenna. 2005. New material of Centetodon (Mammalia, Lipotyphla) and the importance of (missing) DNA sequences in systematic paleontology. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25:911–923. Asher, R. J., M. C. McKenna, R. J. Emry, A. R. Tabrum, and D. G. Kron. 2002. Morphology and relationships of Apternodus and other extinct, zalambdodont, placental mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 273:1–117. Bloch, J. I., R. Secord, and P. D. Gingerich. 2004. Systematics and phylogeny of late Paleocene and early Eocene Palaeoryctinae (Mammalia, Insectivora) from the Clarks Fork and Bighorn Basins, Wyoming. Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology (University of Michigan) 31:119–154. Crochet, J.-Y. 1984. Garatherium mahboubii nov. gen., nov. sp., marsupial de l’Eocène inférieur d’El Kohol (Sud Oranais, Algérie). Annales de Paléontologie 70:275–294. Fox, R. C. 2004. A new palaeoryctid (Insectivora: Mammalia) from the Late Paleocene of Alberta, Canada. Journal of Paleontology 78:612–616. Gheerbrant, E. 1988. Afrodon chleuhi nov. gen., nov. sp., “insectivore” (Mammalia, Eutheria) lipotyphlé (?) du Paléocène marocain: Données préliminaires. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, Série II, 307:1303–1309. . 1991. Bustylus (Eutheria, Adapisoriculidae) and the absence of ascertained marsupials in the Palaeocene of Europe. Terra Nova 3:586–592. . 1992. Les mammifères paléocenes du Bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc): I. Introduction général et palaeoryctidae. Palaeontographica, Abt. A 224:67–132. . 1993. Premières données sur les mammifères “insectivores” de l’Yprésien du Bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc: site de N’Tagourt 2). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 187:225–242. . 1994. Les mammifères paléocènes du Bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc): II. Todralestidae (Proteutheria, Eutheria). Palaeontographica, Abt. A 231:133–188. . 1995. Les mammifères paléocènes du Bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc): III. Adapisoriculidae et autres mammifères (Carnivora, ?Creodonta, Condylarthra, ?Ungulata et incertae sedis). Palaeontographica, Abt. A 237:39–132. Gheerbrant, E., and J.-L. Hartenberger. 1999. Nouveau mammifère insectivore (?Lipotyphla, ?Erinaceomorpha) de l’Eocène

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inférieur de Chambi (Tunisie). Paläontologisches Zeitschrift 73:143–156. Gheerbrant, E., M. Iarochène, M. Amaghzaz, and B. Bouya. 2006. Early African hyaenodontid mammals and their bearing on the origin of the Creodonta. Geological Magazine 143:475–489. Gheerbrant, E., and J. C. Rage. 2006. Paleobiogeography of Africa: How distinct from Gondwana and Laurasia? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 241:224–246. Gheerbrant, E., J. Sudre, S. Sen, C. Abrial, B. Marandat, B. Sigé, and M. Vianey-Liaud. 1998. Nouvelles données sur les mammifères du Thanétien et de l’Yprésian du Bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc) et leur contexte stratigraphique. Palaeovertebrata 27:155–202. Kappelman, J., M. C. Maas, S. Sen, B. Alpagut, M. Fortelius, and J.-P. Lunkka. 1996. A new early Tertiary mammalian fauna from Turkey and its paleobiogeographic significance. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16:592–595. Mahboubi, M., R. Ameur, J.-Y. Crochet, and J.-J. Jaeger. 1986. El Kohol (Saharan Atlas, Algeria): A new Eocene mammal locality in northwestern Africa. Palaeontographica, Abt. A 192:15–49. McKenna, M. C., and S. K. Bell. 1997. Classification of Mammals above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. Roca, A. L., G. K. Bar-Gal, E. Eizirik, K. M. Helgen, R. Maria, M. S. Springer, S. J. O’Brien, and W. J. Murphy. 2004. Mesozoic origin for West Indian insectivores. Nature 429:649–651. Rossie, J. B., and E. R. Seiffert. 2006. Continental paleobiogeography as phylogenetic evidence; pp. 461–514 in J. G. Fleagle and S. Lehman (eds.), Primate Biogeography. Plenum, New York. Seiffert, E. R. 2003. A phylogenetic analysis of living and extinct Afrotherian placentals. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Duke University, Durham, N.C., 239 pp. Seiffert, E. R., and E. L. Simons. 2000. Widanelfarasia, a diminutive placental from the late Eocene of Egypt. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 97:2646–2651. Seiffert, E. R., E. L. Simons, T. M. Ryan, T. M. Bown, and Y. Attia. 2007. New remains of Eocene and Oligocene Afrosoricida (Afrotheria) from Egypt, with implications for the origin(s) of afrosoricid zalambdodonty. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27:963–972. Storch, G. 2008. Skeletal remains of a diminutive primate from the Paleocene of Germany. Naturwissenschaften 95:927–930. Tabuce, R., S. Adnet, H. Cappetta, A. Noubhani, and F. Quillevere. 2005. Aznag (bassin d’Ouarzazate, Maroc), nouvelle localité à sélaciens et mammifères de l’Eocène moyen (Lutétien) d’Afrique. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 176:381–400. Thewissen, J. G. M., and P. D. Gingerich. 1989. Skull and endocranial cast of Eoryctes melanus, a new palaeoryctid (Mammalia: Insectivora) from the early Eocene of western North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 9:459–470. Thomas, H., J. Roger, S. Sen, M. Pickford, E. Gheerbrant, Z. Al-Sulaimani, and S. Al-Busaidi. 1999. Oligocene and Miocene terrestrial vertebrates in the southern Arabian peninsula (Sultanate of Oman) and their geodynamic and palaeogeographic settings; pp. 430–442 in P. J. Whybrow and A. Hill (eds.), Fossil Vertebrates of Arabia. Yale University Press, New Haven.

AFROTHERIA

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PART THREE

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CHAP TER SEVENTEEN

Fossil Rodents of Africa ALISA J. WINKLER , CHRISTIANE DENYS, AND D. MARGARE T AVERY

Carleton and Musser (2005:745) state, “Rodentia is the largest order of living Mammalia, encompassing 2,277 species . . . or approximately 42% of worldwide mammalian biodiversity.” The extant African rodent fauna is tremendously diverse, reflecting the wide variety of habitats present on the continent, from desert to tropical rain forest. It is likely that such an extensive fauna was also present in the past. Certainly our understanding of past diversity has expanded greatly since Lavocat’s summary of the African Rodentia in 1973. Lavocat recorded a minimum of 54 genera (excluding extant murines) dating from the Oligocene through the Pleistocene. In this contribution we record about 133 named genera (again excluding extant murines and many genera reported as new, but not yet named); recording individual species would turn this chapter into a book. Unfortunately, the number of fossil rodent specimens far outweighs the number of specialists who study these animals, so past rodent diversity is likely to be underestimated. This chapter will begin by summarizing the distribution and ecology of the extant families of African rodents. It will then focus on the fossil record, including discussion of systematics, biochronology, and paleobiogeography. Most discussion will of necessity be at the family level; notable exceptions include the subfamilies of the extremely diverse Nesomyidae and Muridae. Summary sections will focus on general geographic regions: northern Africa (countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and including Chad), eastern Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo [= Zaire; although situated in Central Africa], and Malawi), and southern and south-central Africa (figure 17.1; Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, and countries farther south). Concluding statements follow the chronologic history of African rodents, from the earliest records in the early to middle Eocene to the latest Pleistocene.

Methods The provisional systematic classification followed here (table 17.1) primarily follows specific accounts for extant rodents (with some discussion of fossil forms) in Wilson and Reeder (2005). This is supplemented by a classification of fossil forms by McKenna and Bell (1997).

Za

As

Zi Bo

Nn

21° S

Sn Ns Sc

Sw

Ss 12° E

33° S 24° E

36° E

Southern and south-central African regions used in the text to describe the distribution of fossil rodents.

FIGURE 17.1

ABBREVIATIONS FOR REGIONS:

As, Angola, southern; Bo, Botswana; Nn, Namibia, northern; Ns, Namibia, southern; Sc, South Africa, central; Sn, South Africa, northern; Sw, South Africa, western; Za, Zambia; Zi, Zimbabwe.

Rodents are often classified into higher-level groups based on skull or jaw structure related to mastication. Sciurognathy and hystricognathy refer to the orientation of the angle (angular process) of the mandible relative to the horizontal process of the mandible (see discussion in Korth, 1994). In the sciurognathous condition (e.g., in the sciurid, Xerus), the angle is in the same plane as the horizontal process. In the hystricognathous condition (e.g., in the mole rat, Bathyergus), the angle is not in the same plane as the horizontal process. Sciuromorphy, hystricomorphy, and myomorphy refer to the main types of zygomasseteric structure observed in rodents. The following definitions are extremely superficial, but a more thorough discussion is given in Korth (1994). In sciuromorphy (e.g., in the sciurid, Xerus), the masseter medialis does not pass through the infraorbital foramen, which is small. In hystricomorphy (e.g., in the cane rat, Thryonomys), the masseter medialis is expanded and passes through an enlarged infraorbital foramen. In myomorphy (e.g., in the

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ta b l e 1 7.1 Provisional classification of African fossil and extant Rodentia

Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rodentia Bowdich, 1821 Suborder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sciuromorpha Brandt, 1855 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Sciuridae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Gliridae Muirhead, 1819 Suborder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myomorpha Brandt, 1855 Superfamily . . . . . . . . . Dipodoidea Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Dipodidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Superfamily . . . . . . . . . Muroidea Illiger, 1811 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Spalacidae Gray, 1821 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Nesomyidae Forsyth Major, 1897 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Cricetidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Muridae Illiger, 1811 Suborder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anomaluromorpha Bugge, 1974 Superfamily . . . . . . . . . Anomaluroidea Gervais, 1849 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . Zegdoumyidae Vianey-Liaud et al., 1994 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . Anomaluridae Gervais, 1849 Superfamily . . . . . . . . . Pedetoidea Gray, 1825 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Pedetidae Gray, 1825 Suborder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hystricomorpha Brandt, 1855 Infraorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ctenodactylomorpha Chaline and Mein, 1979 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . Ctenodactylidae Gervais, 1853 Infraorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hystricognathi Brandt, 1855 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Bathyergidae Waterhouse, 1841 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Hystricidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Myophiomyidae Lavocat, 1973 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Phiomyidae Wood, 1955 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Kenyamyidae Lavocat, 1973 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . Petromuridae Wood, 1955 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . Thryonomyidae Pocock, 1922 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . incertae sedis Subfamily . . . . . . . Phiocricetomyinae Lavocat, 1973 Family. . . . . . . . . . . . incertae sedis Subfamily . . . . . . . nov. of Holroyd, 1994 SOURCE: Adapted from Holroyd (1994), McKenna and Bell (1997), Carleton and Musser (2005), and Woods and Kilpatrick (2005).

root rat, Tachyoryctes), the masseter medialis passes through the infraorbital foramen, which is not as large as it is in the hystricomorphous condition, and is usually placed more dorsally: often the infraorbital foramen is shaped like a “keyhole.” As much as possible, the Paleogene time scale follows Luterbacher et al. (2004), the Neogene time scale Lourens et al. (2004), and the Pleistocene time scale Gibbard and Kolfschoten (2004). Note, however, that the “cutoff dates” for these time scales have changed with different authors, and the geologic age of taxa/ localities used here may not match those given in the original publications. Complicating the chronology, age assignments for many faunas are based on biostratigraphy (often based on rodents), which may add yet another layer of imprecision when those relative ages are converted to an “absolute” age. Table 17.1 gives a provisional classification of African fossil and extant Rodentia to the family level. Tables 17.2–17.4 provide a list of the temporal and geographic (mainly by country) occurrence of fossil African rodent genera from their earliest record in the early to middle Eocene through the late Pleistocene. The tables are separated into general geographic areas: table 17.2 for northern Africa (including Chad), table 17.3 for eastern Africa (including the Democratic Repubic of the Congo), and table 17.4 for southern and south-central Africa. Tables 17.5–17.7 provide the details of rodent collections, such as locality information and references, for all sites that are included in this study. As for the tables, the appendices are separated geographically: table 17.5 for northern Africa (including Chad), table 17.6 for eastern Africa (including the Democratic Repubic of the Congo), and table 17.7 for southern and south-central Africa. ABBREVIATIONS

BUMP, Boston University/Uganda Museum/Makerere University Paleontology Expeditions, Uganda; KNM-TH, National Museums of Kenya, Tugen Hills localities, Kenya; WM, Wembere-Manonga localities, Tanzania.

African Distribution and Ecology of Extant Families The following is a brief summary of the major areas of distribution and the ecology of the 14 families of rodents currently found in Africa. Most of these families, many of the genera, and some of the species are known also from outside Africa. This discussion will, however, cover only their occurrence in Africa. The geographic distribution of extant rodents provided here is based primarily on political boundaries (i.e., countries), following Wilson and Reeder (2005). For distribution based on African biotic zonation, the reader is referred to Denys (1999). For more information on extant African rodents, several summary resources are available, for example, Wilson and Reeder (2005; systematics and distribution), Nowak (1999; overviews), Kingdon (1997; “field guide”), and Happold (in press). More regional coverage, specific to rodents, is provided by Rosevear (1969; western Africa), Kingdon (1974; eastern Africa), De Graaff (1981; southern Africa), and Bronner et al. (2003; southern Africa). Suborder SCIUROMORPHA Brandt, 1855 Family SCIURIDAE Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 All the modern African Sciuridae have been grouped into the Subfamily Xerinae Osborn, 1910, whose monophyly is

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Dipodidae? Spalacidae Gray, 1821

Dipodidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

Gliridae Muirhead, 1819

Sciuridae Hemprich, 1820

Family Atlantoxerus Forsyth Major, 1893 (Heteroxerus Stehin & Schaub, 1951; Getuloxerus Lavocat, 1961) Xerus Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833 Genus undet. Genus undet. Microdyromys de Bruijn, 1966 (Afrodyromys, Jaeger, 1975) Dryomys Thomas, 1906 Eliomys Wagner, 1840 Genus undet. Protalactaga Young, 1927 Jaculus Erxleben, 1777 Heterosminthus Schaub, 1930 (Zapodidae) Genus undet. Prokanisamys de Bruijn, Hussain, & Leinders, 1981 Genus undet.

Xerinae Osborn, 1910

Dipodinae Fisher de Waldheim, 1817 Sicistinae Allen, 1901

Rhizomyinae Winge, 1887

Allactaginae Vinogradov, 1925

?Petauristinae Leithiinae Lydekker, 1896

Genus

Subfamily

—

— — —

— — — —

—

— — —

— — — —

— —

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

Middle to late

Early to middle

Eocene

—

— —

—

—

— —

—

—

— — —

—

—

Late

—

— —

—

—

— —

—

—

— — —

—

—

Early Oligo.

—

— Li

—

—

— —

—

—

— — —

—

—

Early

—

Al —

Li

—

Tu Al Mo

—

—

Mo Al — Mo Al

—

Mo

Middle

Miocene

—

— —

—

—

Al Tu —

—

Eg

Al — Mo Al Tu

Ch

Li Al Mo Tu Eg cf.

Late

Ch

— —

—

—

—

— —

—

—

— —

Al

Mo1 — —

—

— Al —

—

Al

Middle

—

— — —

Ch

Mo1 Al

Early

Pliocene

—

— —

—

Tu

— —

—

—

— — —

—

—

Late

Abbreviations for countries: Al, Algeria; Ch, Chad; Eg, Egypt; Li, Libya; Mo, Morocco; Tu, Tunisia. Names in parentheses are alternative or previous.

ta b l e 1 7. 2 Temporal and geographic occurrence of African rodent genera in northern Africa

—

— —

—

Mo

— —

—

—

— — —

—

Mo

Early

—

— —

—

—

Mo Tu Al — —

—

— — —

—

—

Middle

Pleistocene

—

— —

—

—

— —

—

—

— — —

—

—

Late

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Muridae Illiger, 1815

Cricetidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

Nesomyidae Forsyth Major, 1897

Family

Myocricetodontinae Lavocat, 1961

Lophiomyinae Milne-Edwards, 1867

Mellalomys Lavocat, 1961 (Cricetodon Lartet, 1857) Dakkamys Jaeger, 1977b Aïssamys CoiffaitMartin, 1991 Genus undet.

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Senoussimys Jaeger & AmeurChabbar, 1978 Dendromus A. Smith, 1829 Steatomys Peters, 1846 Gen. nov. CoiffaitMartin, 1991 Ellobius Fischer, 1814 Apocricetus Freudenthal et al., 1998 Cricetus Leske, 1779 Protolophiomys Aguilar & Thaler, 1987 Lophiomys MilneEdwards, 1867 Potwarmus Lindsay, 1988 Myocricetodon Lavocat, 1952 —

—

—

Ternania Tong & Jaeger, 1993

Dendromurinae G. M Allen, 1939

Arvicolinae Gray, 1821 Cricetinae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

—

—

Genus

Middle to late

Eocene Subfamily

Early to middle

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Late

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Early Oligo.

ta b l e 1 7. 2 (c o n t i n u e d)

—

—

—

Li

Li cf.

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Early

Li

Al

Mo Al

Mo Tu Li Al

Mo Al

Li

—

—

—

—

—

Al

—

—

—

—

Middle

Miocene

—

—

—

Li Eg Mo Al Tu —

—

—

—

Mo Eg

Eg

—

—

Al Eg cf. Eg cf.

Al

Eg

Late

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Mo1

—

—

—

Mo1

—

Al

—

Mo1 —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Middle

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Early

Pliocene

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Late

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Early

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Al Mo Tu —

—

—

—

—

—

Middle

Pleistocene

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Tu

—

—

—

—

—

Late



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Murinae Illiger, 1815

Gerbillinae Gray, 1825

Cricetodontinae Schaub, 1925

— — —

— — —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ruscinomys Depért, 1890 Pseudomeriones Schaub, 1934 Protatera Jaeger, 1977b Mascaramys Tong, 1986 Gerbillus Demarest, 1804 Meriones Illiger, 1811 Genus undet. Progonomys Schaub, 1938 Progonomys and/ or Preacomys Karnimata Jacobs, 1978 Castillomys Michaux, 1969 (Occitanomys Michaux, 1969) Stephanomys Schaub, 1938 Saidomys James & Slaughter, 1974 Paraethomys F. Petter, 1968 Apodemus Kaup, 1829 Arvicanthis Lesson, 1842 Pelomys Peters, 1852 Golunda Gray, 1837 Mus Linnaeus, 1758 Praomys Thomas, 1915

—

Zramys Jaeger & Michaux, 1973

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

Al

—

—

—

—

—

Mo Al

Mo Al

Eg

Al

Mo Al

Al

Al Li Mo Al Eg Eg

—

—

—

Al Li

—

Al

Mo Al Tu

Al Tu —

Mo1 Tu Mo1

—

—

—

Al

—

Al Tu

Mo1 Tu Al Mo1

—

—

—

—

—

—

Al Tu —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

Mo1 —

—

—

Mo1 Tu cf. Al

—

—

Mo Al Tu Mo Al Tu

—

—

—

Mo Al Tu —

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

Mo

Tu

—

—

—

—

Tu Mo Al Tu Mo

—

—

Tu

Tu Mo Al —

—

—

—

—

—

Mo —

Mo

Tu Mo

—

—

—

Mo

—

Mo Tu Al Al Mo Tu

—

—

Al

Al Tu Mo —

Mo

—

—

—

—

Al Mo Tu — —

Al Mo Tu

Al

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Tu

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Tu

—

—

—

—

—

—

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Phiomyidae Wood, 1955

Hystricidae Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

Ctenodactylidae Gervais, 1853

Pedetidae Gray, 1825

Anomaluridae Gervais, 1849

Zegdoumyidae Vianey-Liaud et al., 1994

Family

Subfamily

Hystrix Linnaeus, 1758 Protophiomys Jaeger, Denys, & Coiffait, 1985

Genus undet. Zegdoumys Vianey-Liaud et al., 1994 Glibia VianeyLiaud et al., 1994 Glibemys Vianey-Liaud et al., 1994 Nementchamys Jaeger et al., 1985 Megapedetes MacInnes, 1957 Metasayimys Lavocat, 1961 Sayimys Wood, 1937 (Africanomys) Africanomys Lavocat, 1961 Irhoudia Jaeger, 1971 Testouromys Robinson & Black, 1973 Genus undet. Atherurus F. Cuvier, 1817

Genus

Al

— —

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Al

—

—

—

Al

—

—

Al

—

— —

Middle to late

— Al Tu

Early to middle

Eocene

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Late

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Early Oligo.


—

—

— —

—

—

—

Li

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Early

—

—

Al —

Tu

Mo Tu Al —

Li

Mo

Mo

—

—

—

— —

Middle

Miocene

—

Ch Al

Tu Eg

Li Mo Al —

Mo Eg

Li

—

—

—

—

—

Ch —

Late

—

—

— —

—

—

Al —

—

—

Mo1 —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Al —

Middle

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ch —

Early

Pliocene

—

Mo

Al —

—

Mo Tu

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Late

—

—

— —

—

Mo

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Early

—

Mo

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Middle

Pleistocene

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Late



269

1/23/10 11:54:19 AM

1Includes

Phiocricetomyinae Lavocat, 1973

n. gen. Holroyd, 1994 (Phiomys part) Paraphiomys Andrews, 1914 n. gen. Holroyd, 1994 (Paraphiomys in part) n. gen. Wessels et al., 2003 Phiocricetomys Wood, 1968 n. gen. Holroyd, 1994 (Phiomys in part) Gaudeamus Wood, 1968

sites reported as dating close to the Miocene-Pliocene boundary.

Family incertae sedis

Family incertae sedis

Thryonomyidae Pocock, 1922

Diamantomyinae Schaub, 1958

Phiomys Osborn, 1908 Metaphiomys Osborn, 1908

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Eg

Eg

—

—

—

—

Eg

—

Eg

—

—

Eg

—

Eg

—

—

Li Eg

Li Eg

—

—

—

Li

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Mo

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

270


EUARCHON TOGLIRES

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— — — Ug

— — — — —

Jaculus Erxleben, 1777 Pronakalimys Tong & Jaeger, 1993 Nakalimys Flynn & Sabatier, 1984 Tachyoryctes Rüppell, 1835 ?Pseudocricetodon Thaler, 1969

Cricetomyinae Roberts, 1951

Ternania Tong & Jaeger, 1993

— —

— —


—

—

Afrocricetodon Lavocat, 1973 Notocricetodon Lavocat, 1973 Protarsomys Lavocat, 1973 Cricetomys Waterhouse, 1840 Saccostomus Peters, 1846 Genus undet.

—

—

Afrocricetodontinae Lavocat, 1973

—

—

Pseudocricetodontidae Ünay-Bayraktar, 19891 Nesomyidae Forsyth Major, 1897

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

Ke Ug

—

—

Ke Ug

—

—

Ke Ug

—

—

Ke Ug

Early

—

Late Oligocene

Vulcaniscurus Lavocat, 1973 Xerus Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833 (Paraxerus) Kubwaxerus Cifellei et al., 1986 Heliosciurus Trouessart, 1880 Paraxerus Forsyth Major, 1893 Genus undet. Graphiurus Smuts, 1832

Genus

Graphiurinae Winge, 1887 Dipodinae Fisher de Waldheim, 1817 Rhizomyinae Winge, 1887

Xerinae Osborn, 1910

Subfamily

Gliridae Muirhead, 1819 Dipodidae Fisher de Waldheim, 1817 Family Spalacidae Gray, 1821


Family

Ke

Ke

—

—

—

Ke

—

—

—

—

Ke

—

— —

—

—

—

—

Ke

Middle

Miocene

—

—

Ke

—

—

—

—

—

Et

Ke Et

—

—

— —

Ke

—

Ke

Ke Et

—

Late

—

—

—

Ta

Ta2 Ta —

—

—

—

—

—

Et

—

—

—

— —

Et

—

—

Et Ta

—

Middle

—

—

—

—

—

Et

—

—

—

Et —

Ke Ta

Ke

—

Ke Ta

—

Early

Pliocene

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Zr

—

—

Et

— —

Et

—

—

Et

—

Late

—

—

Ke

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ke

— —

—

—

—

—

—

PlioPleist.

—

—

Ta

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— Ta

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ke

Ke

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ta

— Ke

—

—

—

—

—

Middle

Pleistocene Early

Abbreviations for countries: Et, Ethiopia; Ke, Kenya; Ug, Uganda; Ta, Tanzania; Zr, Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Names in parentheses are alternative or previous.

ta b l e 1 7.3 Temporal and geographic occurrence of African rodent genera in eastern Africa

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Et

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—



271

1/23/10 11:54:19 AM


Cricetidae Fisher de Waldheim, 1817



Deomyinae Lyddeker, 1889

Myocricetodontinae Lavocat, 1961 Megacricetodontinae Fahlbusch, 1964 or Myocricetodontinae Lavocat, 1961 Cricetodontinae Schaub, 1925

Lophiomyinae Milne-Edwards, 1867

— — — — — —

—

— — — — — —

Afaromys Geraads, 1998a Democricetodon Fahlbusch, 1964 Genus undet. Preacomys Geraads, 2001 Tectonomys Winkler, 1997 Acomys I. Geoffroy, 1838 (Millardia Thomas, 1911) Abudhabia de Bruijn &Whybrow, 1994 Gerbilliscus Thomas, 1897 (Tatera Lataste, 1897) Gerbillus Demarest, 1804 Progonomys Schaub, 1938 (Karnimata Jacobs, 1978) cf. Parapelomys Jacobs, 1978 aff. Stenocephalemys Frick, 1914 (Stenocephalomys) Lukeinomys Mein & Pickford, 2006 — —

— —

— —

—

— —

— —

— —

—

—

—

Genus undet.

—

—

—

— —

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

Leakeymys Lavocat, 1964 Dakkamys Jaeger, 1977b

Mabokomys Winkler, 1998 Dendromus A. Smith, 1829 (Dendromys) Steatomys Peters, 1846 cf. “Dendromus” gen. nov. (Saccostomus) Lophiomys MilneEdwards, 1867

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ke —

Ke

—

Ke

Ke

Ke

—

— Ke

—

Ke

Ke

Et

Et

Ke

—

Ke Et

Ke

Ke Ug cf.

Et cf.

— Et Ke

—

Et

—

—

—

Et

Ke Et aff. Ke Et

—

—

—

—

—

Ke

Ke Ta Et

—

—

—

—

—

—

Et Ta

—

Et

—

Ke Ta2 Ke Et

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ke Ta —

Ta

—

—

—

—

—

Et

Et

—

Et

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ke

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ta

Ta

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Ta

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ke

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Ke

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

272


EUARCHON TOGLIRES

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Megapedetes MacInnes, 1957 Pedetes Illiger, 1811 Genus undet.


Saidomys James & Slaughter, 1974 Aethomys Thomas, 1915 Arvicanthis Lesson, 1842 Lemniscomys Trouessart, 1881 Pelomys Peters, 1852 (Golunda3 Gray, 1837) Zelotomys Osgood, 1910 Mus Linnaeus, 1758 Oenomys Thomas, 1904 Thallomys Thomas, 1920 Thamnomys Thomas, 1907 (Grammomys) Thamnomys Thomas, 1907 (Grammomys), or Thallomys Mastomys Thomas, 1915 Praomys Thomas, 1915 (Mastomys) Genus undet. Otomys F. Cuvier, 1824

Genus

Paranomalurus Lavocat, 1973 Anomalurus Waterhouse, 1843 Zenkerella Matschie, 1898

Otomyinae Thomas, 1897

Subfamily

Anomaluridae Gervais, 1849

Family

—

— — — —

—

— — — —

Ke Ug — Ke

— — —

Ke Ug

—

—

—

— — — —

— — — —

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ke Ug

— —

— —

—

—

Early

—

Late Oligocene

ta b l e 1 7.3 (c o n t i n u e d)

— Ke

Ke

—

Ke

Ke

— —

—

—

—

—

— — — —

—

—

— —

—

Middle

Miocene

— Ke

—

—

—

—

Ke —

—

Ke

—

—

— — — —

—

Ke Et

Ke Ke

Ke

Late

— —

Ta

—

—

—

— —

—

Ke Ta

Ke

—

— Ke — Ta

Et

Ke Et

Ta —

—

—

—

—

— —

Et

—

—

—

— Et Et Et Ta

Et

Et

— Et Ta

Et

Ke Ta2 Ke Ug

Middle

Early

Pliocene

— —

—

—

—

—

— Zr

Et

Ta

—

—

— Et Et Et

Et

Et

Et Et

Et

Late

— —

—

—

—

—

— —

Ke

—

—

—

— Ke — Ke

—

—

Ke Ke

—

PlioPleist.

— —

—

—

—

—

— —

Ta

—

—

Ta

Ta Ta Ta Ta

—

—

Ta Ta

—

Early

Ke —

—

—

—

—

— Ke

Ke

—

—

Ke

— Ke Ke —

—

—

Ke Ug Ke

—

Middle

Pleistocene

— —

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

— — — —

—

—

— —

—



273

1/23/10 11:54:19 AM

Petromuridae Tullberg, 1899 Thryonomyidae Pocock, 1922

Kenyamyidae Lavocat, 1973

Phiomyidae Wood, 1955

Myophiomyidae Lavocat, 1973


Bathyergidae Waterhouse, 1841


Myophiomyinae Lavocat, 1973

Heterocephalinae Landry, 1957

Bathyerginae Waterhouse, 1841

Paraphiomys Andrews, 1914 Epiphiomys Lavocat, 1973

Atherurus F. Cuvier, 1829 Genus undet. Myophiomys Lavocat, 1973 Elmerimys Lavocat, 1973 Andrewsimys Lavocat, 1973 Ugandamys Winkler et al., 2005 Metaphiomys Osborn, 1908 Diamantomys Stromer, 1922 Kenyamys Lavocat, 1973 Simonimys Lavocat, 1973 Petromus A. Smith, 1831 Apodecter Hopwood, 1929

Bathyergoides Stromer, 1924 Geofossor Mein & Pickford, 2003 Richardus Lavocat, 1988 Proheliophobius Lavocat, 1973 Heliophobius or Cryptomys Heterocephalus Rüppell, 1842 Genus undet. Xenohystrix Greenwood, 1955 Hystrix Linnaeus, 1758

Ke Ug Ke Ug

—

Ug

— —

—

Ke Ug

— —

Ke

Ke Ug

Ke —

—

Ta

Ug

—

Ke

— Ke Ug

— Ke Ug

— —

—

—

—

— —

— —

—

—

— —

— Ke

— —

—

Ug

—

—

Ke Ug

—

—

Ke

Ke

—

—

—

Ke

—

—

—

Ke

— —

—

—

Ke —

—

—

Ke —

—

—

—

Ke Et

Ke

Ke

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Ke Et

Ke Et

— Ke Et

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Ke Ta Et Et

— Ta Et

Ta

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

Et Ta

— Et

Ta

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

Et Ke

— —

Et

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Ke —

—

Ke

— —

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

—

— —

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

Ug Ke

— —

—

Ke

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

—

Et

— —

—

—

— —

—

—

274


EUARCHON TOGLIRES

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— — — Ke

— — Ta —

—

Ke —

—

Ke

Middle

—

— —

Ke Et

Ke Et

Late

—

Et Ta

Ta2 Ke Et — — —

— —

—

Middle

—

Early

Pliocene

—

— —

Zr Et

—

Late

—

— —

Ke

—

PlioPleist.

—

— —

—

—

Early

—

— —

Ug Ke

—

Middle

Pleistocene

(1987) suggested assigning Golunda gurai from the Hadar Fm (Sabatier, 1982) and Omo Valley, Ethiopia (Wesselman, 1984), to Pelomys. Golunda from Aramis (WoldeGabriel et al., 1994) is here referred to Pelomys.

3Musser

tentative record is not discussed in the main text.

—

Early

—

Late Oligocene

Mananga Valley sites, Tanzania, are of late Miocene (based on overall fauna) to early Pliocene age (based on rodents).

Paraulacodus Hinton, 1933 Thryonomys Fitzinger, 1867 Genus undet. Kahawamys Stevens et al. In press Lavocatomys Holroyd & Stevens, In press (Phiomys)

Genus

2 The

Subfamily

Miocene

1This

Incertae sedis

Family


—

— —

—

—



275

1/23/10 11:54:19 AM

Subfamily Xerinae Osborn, 1910

Graphiurinae Winge, 1887

Rhizomyinae Winge, 1887

Afrocricetodontinae Lavocat, 1973


Gliridae Muirhead, 1819

Family Spalacidae Gray, 1821

Nesomyidae Forsyth Major, 1897

Mystromyinae Vorontsov, 1966


Cricetomyinae Roberts, 1951 Otavimyinae Mein et al., 2004

Subfamily

Family

—

—

Steatomys Peters, 1846 Proodontomys Pocock, 1987 (Mystromys)

—

—

—

Nn cf.

—

— —

—

—

Nn Ns —

Boltimys Sénégas & Michaux, 2000 Dendromus A. Smith, 1829 (Dendromys J. B. Fischer, 1830) Malacothrix Wagner, 1843

—

Otavimys Mein et al., 2004

—

—

Nn

—

—

— —

—

Graphiurus Smuts, 1832

Protarsomys Lavocat, 1973 Saccostomus Peters, 1846

— Ns —

— — —

—

—

—

Nakalimys Flynn & Sabatier, 1984 Harasibomys Mein et al., 2000a (cf. Brachyuromys Major, 1896) Notocricetodon Lavocat, 1973

—

—

Heteroxerus Stehlin & Schaub, 1951 (Vulcanisciurus Lavocat, 1973) Xerus Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833 Paraxerus Forsyth Major, 1893 Genus undet. Otaviglis Mein et al., 2000a —

Middle

Early

Genus

Miocene

—

Nn

—

Nn

—

Nn

Nn Nn cf.

—

Nn

Nn

—

Nn — Nn

—

Nn

Late

Sn

Ss Sn

Sn

Ss Sn

Sn

—

— —

—

—

—

—

— — —

—

—

Early

Sn

Nn Sn

Nn Sn

Nn Sn

—

—

— Nn

—

—

—

Sn Nn

— — —

—

—

Late

Pliocene

Abbreviations for regions: As, Angola, southern; Bo, Botswana; Nn, Namibia, northern; Ns, Namibia, southern; Sc, South Africa, central; Sn, South Africa, northern; Sw, South Africa, western; Za, Zambia; Zi, Zimbabwe. Names in parentheses are alternative or previous.

ta b l e 1 7. 4 Temporal and geographic occurrence of African rodent genera from the Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene in southern and south-central Africa

—

As

Bo

AS Bo

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

— — —

—

—

Plio-Pleist.1

Nn Sc Sn Nn Sn Za Sc

Nn Sc Sn

—

— Nn Sn Za —

—

—

—

Nn Sn

— — —

—

—

Early

—

Sc Za

Sc

Sc Za

—

—

— Sc Za

—

—

—

Za

— — —

—

—

Middle

Pleistocene

Sn Sw Za Bo —

Sn Ss Sw Za Bo Sn Sw

—

— Sn Sw Za —

—

—

Sn Ss Za —

Sw — —

Sc

—

Late

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EUARCHON TOGLIRES

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Family



Namibimyinae Mein et al., 2000b Deomyinae Lyddeker, 1889

Cricetodontinae Schaub, 1925

Myocricetodontinae Lavocat, 1961

Petromyscinae Roberts, 1951

Subfamily

— Nn

— —

— — — —

— —

— — — — —

— —

Preacomys Geraads, 2001 Acomys I. Geoffroy, 1838 (Millardia Thomas, 1911) Uranomys Dollman, 1909 Desmodillus Thomas & Schwann, 1904 Gerbillurus Shortridge, 1942 (Gerbillus Damarest, 1804, ?Taterillus Thomas, 1910) Desmodillus / Gerbillurus Gerbilliscus Thomas, 1897 (Tatera Lataste, 1882)

— —

— — —

Lemniscomys Trouessart, 1881

—

—

—

Aethomys Thomas, 1915 (Aethomys [Micaelamys]) Micaelamys Ellerman, 1941 (Aethomys) Arvicanthis Lesson, 1842

—

—

Nn cf.

—

—

—

—

Nn —

—

—

— —

—

—

Middle

—

—

Early

Miocene

Democricetodon Fahlbusch, 1964 Namibimys Mein et al., 2000b

Dakkamyoides Lindsay, 1988 Mioharimys Mein et al., 2000b (cf. Mystromys) ?Afaromys Geraads, 1998a

Stenodontomys Pocock, 1987 (Mystromys) Harimyscus Mein et al., 2000b (Petromyscus) Petromyscus Thomas, 1926 Myocricetodon Lavocat, 1952

Mystromys Wagner, 1841

Genus


—

—

Nn

Nn

— —

—

— —

—

Nn

Nn

—

Nn

Nn Nn

— Nn

Nn

Nn

—

Late

Sn

—

Sn

Ss Sn

Ss Ss Sn

Sn

— Ss Sn?

Ss Sn

—

—

—

—

— —

Ss —

—

Ss

Ss Sn

Early

Sn

—

Nn

Nn Sn

— Nn Sn

Nn Sn

— Nn

Nn Sn

—

—

—

—

— —

— —

—

Nn

Nn Sn

Late

Pliocene

—

—

—

As

— As Bo

Bo

As —

As Bo

—

—

—

—

— —

— —

—

—

—

Plio-Pleist.1

Sn Za? Nn Sn Za

Nn Sn Za Nn Sn

— Nn Sc Sn Za

Nn Sc Sn — Nn Sc Sn Nn

—

—

—

—

— —

Nn —

—

Nn Sc Sn Nn

Early

Sc Za

Za

Sc Za Ss Sc

— Sc Za Ss

Sc Ss Za

Sc Za Ss — Sc

—

—

—

—

— —

Sc —

—

—

Sc Ss

Middle

Pleistocene

Sw

Za

— Sn Ss Sw Za Bo Sn Sw Za Ss Sw

Ns Ss Za Bo

— —

Ss Za

—

—

—

—

— —

— —

—

Sn Ss Sw Bo —

Late



277

1/23/10 11:54:19 AM

Bathyergidae Waterhouse, 1841


Bathyerginae Waterhouse, 1841

Otomyinae Thomas, 1897

— — —

— — — —

Malacomys Milne-Edwards, 1877 Mus Linnaeus, 1758 (Leggada Gray, 1837) Grammomys Thomas, 1915 (Thamnomys Thomas, 1907) Thallomys Thomas, 1920

— —

— —

— Ns

—

— Ns

Gypsorhychus Broom, 1934 Geofossor Mein & Pickford, 2003 (Paracryptomys Lavocat, 1973) Proheliophobius Lavocat, 1973, or Richardus Lavocat, 1988 Bathyergus Illiger, 1811 Georychus Illiger, 1811

— Ns

—

— Ns

—

—

Genus indet. Bathyergoides Stromer, 1924

—

—

— Nn Ns —

—

—

— Ns Ns cf. —

— —

—

— — —

—

—

—

Parotomys Thomas, 1918 Parapedetes Stromer, 1924 Megapedetes MacInnes, 1957 Pedetes Illiger, 1811

Mastomys Thomas, 1915 (Myomys, Praomys, Rattus) Myomyscus Shortridge, 1942 (Myomys, Rattus, Praomys) Euryotomys Pocock, 1976 Palaeotomys Broom, 1937 (Otomys) Prootomys Broom, 1948 (Myotomys) Myotomys Thomas, 1918 (Otomys) Otomys F. Cuvier, 1824 (Myotomys)

—

—

Dasymys Peters, 1875

—

—

Zelotomys Osgood, 1910

— —

— —

Pelomys Peters, 1852 Rhabdomys Thomas, 1916

— —

Nn

— —

Nn —

— — — —

—

—

—

— —

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

— —

Nn

Sn

Nn Sn

—

Nn Sn

Nn Sn

— Nn Sn

Ss —

—

Sn —

— —

— — — Sn

Sn

Sn

Sn

Ss Sn Sn

Sn

— —

—

— —

— —

— — — Sn

Nn Sn

Sn

—

— Sn

Sn

Sn Ss? Nn Sn

Sn cf

Sn

Ss Sn

—

Sn

Sn?

Sn Ss Sn

— Bo

—

— —

— —

— — — Bo

As Bo

—

Bo

— Bo

—

As

As

As

As Bo

As

As

As Bo

As Bo —

— Sn

—

Sc Sn —

— —

— — — Sc Sn

Nn Sc Sn Za

Nn Sc Sn Sn

— Sc Sn

Nn Sc Sn Za Nn Sc Sn Za Sn

Nn Sc Sn Za Sn

—

Sc Sn

Sn Za Nn Sc Sn Nn Sn

Ss Ss

—

— —

— —

Ss — — Sc

Sc Ss Za

Sc Ss

—

— Sn

Ss

Sc Za

Sc Za

—

Sc Za

Sc Ss Za —

Sc Za Ss

Za Sc Ss

Ss Sn Ss

—

— —

Sn Ss Sw Za Bo Ns — — Sc Zi Bo — —

Sn Ss

—

— —

Sn Ss Za Sn Sw Za Ss

Sn Ss Sw Za Ss Sw

Sn Ss Sw Za —

Sw Za Sn Ss Sw Za Sn Za?

278


EUARCHON TOGLIRES

1/23/10 11:54:20 AM

1The


Myophiomyinae Lavocat, 1973

Subfamily

Petromus A. Smith, 1831 (Petromys Smith, 1834) Apodecter Hopwood, 1929a (Paraphiomys) Paraphiomys Andrews, 1914 (Apodecter part) Neosciuromys Stromer, 1922 Phthinylla Hopwood, 1929a Paraulacodus Hinton, 1933 Thryonomys Fitzinger, 1867

— — Sn Ns — — — —

Ns — Ns Ns — —

Ns

—

—

—

—

—

Middle

Miocene

—

Ns

Ns

Pomonomys Stromer, 1922 Diamantomys Stromer, 1922

Ns

—

Hystrix Linnaeus, 1758

Phiomyoides Stromer, 1926

—

—

Early

Xenohystrix Greenwood, 1955

Cryptomys Gray, 1864

Genus

samples from Botswana and Angola have not yet been dated more precisely.

Petromuridae Tullberg, 1899 Thryonomyidae Pocock, 1922

Myophiomyidae Lavocat, 1973 Phiomyidae Wood, 1955


Family


— — Nn —

—

Nn

—

—

—

—

—

—

—

Late

— — — —

—

—

Sn

—

—

—

Ss Sn

Sn

Ss Sn

Early

— — — —

—

—

—

—

—

—

Sn

—

Nn Sn

Late

Pliocene

— — — —

—

—

—

—

—

—

As Bo

—

As

Plio-Pleist.1

— — — —

—

—

Sc Sn

—

—

—

Sc Sn

Nn Sc Sn —

Early

— — — —

—

—

—

—

—

—

Sc Ss

Sc Ss Za —

Middle

Pleistocene

— — — Za Zi

—

—

Ns

—

—

Sn Ss Sw Za Zi —

Sn Ss Sw Za —

Late

supported by molecular and morphologic studies (Mercer and Roth, 2003; Steppan et al., 2004; Denys et al., 2003). In northern Africa, they are represented by Atlantoxerus, while tropical Africa hosts Xerus, Epixerus, Funisciurus, Heliosciurus, Myosciurus, Paraxerus, and Protoxerus. African squirrels inhabit tropical forest to Sudanian zones along the margins of the Sahara. Only Atlantoxerus and Xerus (both in the tribe Xerini) are ground-dwelling forms; the other African squirrels (tribe Protoxerini) are arboreal. Family GLIRIDAE Muirhead, 1819 Representatives of two subfamilies of glirids are found currently in Africa: Graphiurinae (Graphiurus) and Leithiinae (Eliomys). Graphiurus, with 14 species, is restricted to subSaharan Africa (Holden, 2005) in forests or in rocky areas in dry tableland, often along waterways (Nowak, 1999). The genus is arboreal, but often found on the ground. Two species of Eliomys are known currently from northern Africa (Holden, 2005). In its African and non-African distribution, Eliomys may be found in a variety of habitats including extensive forests, swamps, rocky areas, cultivated fields, steppe deserts, and mountains (Nowak, 1999). Suborder MYOMORPHA Brandt, 1855 Superfamily DIPODOIDEA Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family DIPODIDAE Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Two subfamilies of dipodids are found currently in Africa: Dipodinae (Jaculus) and Allactaginae (Allactaga). Jaculus (two species) and Allactaga (one species) are known from desert and semidesert areas of northern Africa (Nowak, 1999). Jaculus is reported from Senegal, northeastern Nigeria, Niger, southern Mauritania to Morocco, then east to Somalia (Holden and Musser, 2005). It lives in sandy and saline deserts, rocky valleys, and meadows (Nowak, 1999). Allactaga is found on coastal gravel plains in Egypt and eastern Libya (Holden and Musser, 2005). Superfamily MUROIDEA Illiger, 1811 Family SPALACIDAE Gray, 1821 Only the subfamilies Spalacinae and Tachyoryctinae are found in Africa. Extant spalacids are highly specialized fossorial and subterranean muroids. The spalacines are represented exclusively by Spalax ehrenbergi, whose primarily Middle Eastern range also includes the Mediterranean coastal areas of Libya and Egypt (Musser and Carleton, 2005). Spalax ehrenbergi is found in deep sandy or loamy soils in a variety of habitats (Nowak, 1999). Musser and Carleton (2005) recognize 13 species of the exclusively African genus Tachyoryctes, which is the only extant member of the Tachyoryctinae. Tachyoryctes is found in eastern Africa, with most species occurring at high altitude in the East African Rift mountains, generally in areas with >500 mm annual rainfall (Nowak, 1999). It is most common in wet uplands. Preferred habitats include open grassland, thinly treed savanna, moorland, and cultivated areas (Nowak, 1999). Family NESOMYIDAE Forsyth Major, 1897 Composition of the Nesomyidae as used here follows Musser and Carleton (2005:930), who include the subfamilies Cricetomyinae, Delanymyinae, Dendromurinae, Mystromyinae, Nesomyinae, and Petromyscinae. Representatives of all these subfamilies are currently found only in Africa

(Nesomyinae only in Madagascar). The Delanymyinae and Nesomyinae are unknown from the fossil record. The Cricetomyinae include three extant genera: Beamys, Cricetomys, and Saccostomus. Cricetomyines are found in savanna to forest habitats in sub-Saharan Africa (Nowak, 1999). Extant dendromurines are found also in sub-Saharan Africa (Nowak, 1999). The monophyly of Dendromurinae was established based on molecular evidence; they include the genera Dendromus, Megadendromus, Malacothrix, Dendroprionomys, Prionomys, and Steatomys (Musser and Carleton, 2005). Dendromus and Steatomys are widely distributed. Dendromus is found in a wide range of habitats from sea level to 4,300 m. Steatomys occurs in dry savanna and subtropical-tropical dry lowland grasslands. Megadendromus is restricted to the Ethiopian highlands. Dendroprionomys and Prionomys are endemic to central African forest blocks, while Malacothrix is found only in dry areas of southern Africa (ecology of dendromurine genera from, e.g., Nowak, 1999, and Musser and Carleton, 2005). Two genera originally considered to belong to the Dendromurinae, Deomys and Leimacomys, have been transferred to Muridae (Deomyinae and Leimacomyinae). Phylogenetic allocation of the monotypic Mystromyinae has been controversial (see discussion in Musser and Carleton, 2005), but recent phylogenetic analysis of two nuclear protein-coding genes allies Mystromys with the Nesomyinae, Cricetomyinae, and Dendromurinae (Michaux et al., 2001). Mystromys is found currently in South Africa, Lesotho, and south Swaziland (Musser and Carleton, 2005), where it inhabits the Fynbos, Succulent Karoo, Nama Karoo, Grassland, Arid Savanna, and Savanna Woodland Biomes (Mugo et al. in Musser and Carleton, 2005). The Petromyscinae include only the genus Petromyscus, which inhabits Namibia, Angola, and South Africa. Petromyscus lives in rocky habitats in dry barren mountains (Nowak, 1999). Family CRICETIDAE Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Musser and Carleton (2005:955) briefly summarize the history of the “cricetid-murid question,” as to the correct familial assignment for the different subfamilies of muroids that have been variously assigned to the Cricetidae or the Muridae. Musser and Carleton’s proposal, which they note is provisional and which we follow here, finds general support for a monophyletic Cricetidae clade based on phylogenetic evaluation of genetic sequence data (Musser and Carleton, 2005:955). Diagnostic morphological characters for the Cricetidae are often ambiguous because of the large size and heterogeneity of the group, and because of parallel evolution of derived characters within the Cricetidae and among the Muroidea. Even so, Musser and Carleton (2005:956) list several characters shared by all or many cricetids (those most relevant to fossils are given in the diagnosis for the family in the Systematic Paleontology section). Musser and Carleton (2005) recognize six subfamilies of cricetids from around the world, of which only the Lophiomyinae are currently found in Africa. The subfamily Arvicolinae, tribe Ellobiusini, is known from Africa as fossils but is absent from the modern fauna. The Lophiomyinae includes one genus and species, Lophiomys imhausi, the maned rat. Lophiomys is known from eastern Sudan to Somalia, northeastern Uganda, Kenya, and western Tanzania (Musser and Carleton, 2005). It is generally believed to inhabit dense montane forests, but appears to be tolerant of a wide range of habitats (Nowak, 1999).



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ta b l e 1 7.5 Details of fossil rodent collections from northern Africa Abbreviations for countries: Al, Algeria; Ch, Chad; Eg, Egypt; Li, Libya; Mo, Morocco; Tu, Tunisia.

Epoch

Region

Early to middle Eocene

Locality

Level/Subunit

Al Tu Al Eg

Gour Lazib (Glib Zegdou) Chambi Bir El Ater (= Nementcha) Fayum Depression

Li Li Li

Dor el Talh (Dur et Tallah) Zallah Oasis (Zella) Jebel Zelten

Tu Mo Mo Li

Testour Beni Mellal Azdal Jebel Zelten

Mo Al Mo Al Mo Eg

Jebel Rhassoul Numerous sites1 Pataniak 6 Bou Hanifia Oued Tabia Sheikh Abdallah (Farafra)

Eg Ch

Gabal et Muluk, Wadi el Natrun Tm 266, Toros-Menalla

Mo

Afoud, Aït Kandoula Bassin

anthracotherid unit —

Li Al Mo Tu Al

Sahabi Amama 2 Numerous sites2 Numerous sites3 Numerous sites4

Sahabi Fm — — — —

Early Pliocene (late Miocene-early Pliocene)5

Mo Mo Ch

Aïn Guettara Lissasfa Kossom, Bougoudi

Early Pliocene

Mo Mo Tu Al Al Al Tu Mo Al Tu Al Mo Mo Tu

Aghouri Saïz6 Lac Ichkeul (= Garaet Ichkeul) Amama 36 Oued Athmenia 1 Oued Smendou Djebel Mellah6 Ahl al Oughlam Argoub Kemellal 2 Aïn Brimbo6 & Bulla Regia I6 Aïn Rouina6 Sidi Abdallah6 Thomas Quarry Djebel Ressas

— — Lower & upper green sandstones — — — — — — — — — — — — Level L —

Mo

Jebel Irhoud

Middle to late Eocene Late Eocene to early Oligocene

Early Oligocene Early Miocene

Middle Miocene

Late Miocene

Middle Pliocene

Late Pliocene

Early Pleistocene

Early to late Pleistocene Early to middle Pleistocene

280


— — Qasr el Sagha and Jebel Qatrani fms — — Lowermost fossiliferous units (A, B) — — — Measured Section 2; Wadi Atírát — — Bou Hanifia Fm — — Stromer’s Profi le C

—

References Vianey-Liaud et al., 1994 Vianey-Liaud et al., 1994 Jaeger et al., 1985 Wood, 1968; Holroyd, 1994

Holroyd, 1994 Fejfar, 1987 Wessels et al., 2003; Savage, 1990

Robinson & Black, 1973 Lavocat, 1961; Jaeger, 1977a Benammi et al., 1995 Wessels et al., 2003; Savage, 1990 Benammi, 1997a Coiffait-Martin, 1991 Jaeger, 1977b Ameur, 1976, 1984 Benammi et al., 1995 Heissig, 1982; Coiffait-Martin, 1991; Pickford et al., 2008 James & Slaughter, 1974; Slaughter & James, 1979 Vignaud et al., 2002 Benammi, 1997b, 2001; Benammi et al., 1995; Remy & Benammi, 2006 Munthe, 1987; Agusti et al, 2004 Jaeger, 1977b Jaeger, 1977b Jaeger, 1977b; Robinson et al., 1982 Arambourg, 1959; Ameur-Chabbar, 1988; Coiffait-Martin, 1991 Brandy & Jaeger, 1980 Geraads, 1998b Brunet et al., 2000; Denys et al., 2003 Benammi et al., 1995 Jaeger, 1975 Jaeger, 1971b Jaeger, 1975 Coiffait-Martin, 1991 Coiffait-Martin, 1991 Jaeger, 1975 Geraads, 1995, 2006 Coiffait-Martin, 1991 Jaeger, 1975; Mein & Pickford, 1992 Jaeger, 1975 Jaeger, 1975 Geraads, 2002 Mein & Pickford, 1992 Jaeger, 1970, 1971a, 1971b

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Epoch Middle Pleistocene

Region

Locality

Level/Subunit

Al Mo

Tighenif (Ternifine) Grotte des Rhinocéros, Oulad Hamida I Thomas Quarry Aïn Mefta,6 Tadjera,6 & Jebel Filfi la6 Sidi Abderrahman6 & Salé6 Bulla Regia II6

— —

Mo Al Mo Tu 1Middle

Th1-G, Th1-ABCE — — —

References Jaeger, 1969; Tong, 1986 Geraads, 1994 Geraads, 2002 Jaeger, 1975 Jaeger, 1975 Jaeger, 1975

Miocene of Algeria: Chouf Aissa, Fedj el Besbes, Oued Metlili, Polygone 1 & 2, Sidi Messaoud.

2Late

Miocene of Morocco: Amama 1 & 2, Asif Assermo, Khendek-el-Ouaich, Oued Zra.

3Late

Miocene of Tunisia: Araguib Kammra C, Jebel Semmene, Sidi Ounis-MDM.

4Late

Miocene of Algeria: Argoub Kemellal 1, Bab el Ahmar, Beni Mrahim, Bou Adjeb, Dra Temedlet, El Allaiga, El Hiout, Guergour Ferroudi, Maatgua, Mekhancha, Ouled el Arbi, Smendou 6, Zighout Youcef, Fedj el Attauch (⫽ Koudiet et Tine or Oued el Atteuch), Sidi Salem, Menacer (= Marceau).

5Fauna

from these sites, dated at or near the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, are listed as early Pliocene in table 17.2.

6Epoch

subdesignation approximate.

ta b l e 1 7. 6 Details of fossil rodent collections from eastern Africa Abbreviations for countries: Et, Ethiopia; Ke, Kenya; Ug, Uganda; Ta, Tanzania; Zr, Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

Epoch

Country

Locality

Level/Subunit

Late Oligocene

Tn

Mbeya Region

Early Miocene

Ke Ug Ke

Ug

Losodok Bukwa Meswa Bridge, Songhor, Koru, Rusinga, Mfwangano, Karunga Napak

Ug Ke Ke

Moroto II Kalakol (Kalodirr) Fort Ternan

Kagole Beds — —

Ke Ke Ke Ke Ke Et

Kipsaramon Maboko Kabarsero Nakali Samburu Hills Chorora

Muruyur Beds — Ngorora Fm — Namurunule Fm Chorora Fm

Ug Ke

NY 45 Lothagam

Ke Ke

Aragai, Kapcheberek, Kapsomin Lemudong’o 1, Lemudong’o

Kakara Fm Lower Mb, Nawata Fm Lukeino Fm

Et

Middle Awash localities

Ke

Lothagam

Late Miocene to early Pliocene1

Ta

Inolelo 1, Shoshamagai 2, Manonga Valley

Early Pliocene

Et

Middle Awash localities (e.g., Aramis)

Upper Mb, Nawata Fm Ibole Mb, Wembere Manonga Fm Haradaso Mb, Sagantole Fm

Ke

Kanapoi

Kanapoi Fm

Middle Miocene

Late Miocene

TZ-01; Red Sandstone Group Eragaleit beds Green clay unit Various

—

Speckled Tuff (primarily) Adu-Asa Fm

References Stevens et al., 2004, 2006; Stevens et al., in press Rasmussen & Gutiérrez, in press Winkler et al., 2005 Lavocat, 1973; Odhiambo Nengo & Rae, 1992; Holroyd and Stevens, in press Bishop, 1962; Lavocat, 1973; Pickford et al., 1986; MacLatchy et al., 2007 Pickford & Mein, 2006 Leakey & Leakey, 1986 Lavocat, 1964, 1988, 1989 ; Denys & Jaeger, 1992 Pickford, 1988; Winkler, 1992 Winkler, 1998 Winkler, 2002 Flynn & Sabatier, 1984 Kawamura & Nakaya, 1984 Jaeger et al., 1980; Geraads, 1998a, 2001 Mein, 1994 Cifelli et al., 1986; Winkler, 2003 Winkler, 2002; Mein & Pickford, 2006 Ambrose et al., 2003; Hlusko, 2007; Manthi, 2007 Haile-Salassie et al., 2004; Wesselman et al., 2008 Winkler, 2003 Winkler, 1997

WoldeGabriel et al., 1994; Haile-Salassie et al., 2004; Wesselman et al., 2008 Harris et al., 2003; Manthi, 2006



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Epoch

Country

Locality

Ke Ta Ug Ta

Tabarin Laetoli Kazinga Channel Lothagam

Ta

Laetoli

Middle Pliocene

Et

Hadar

Middle to late Pliocene Late Pliocene Middle to late Pliocene

Et Zr Ta

Omo Valley Semliki Valley Laetoli

Late Pliocene & Plio-Pleistocene Plio-Pleistocene (late Pliocene to early Pleistocene)

Ke

Early Pleistocene

Early to middle Pliocene

Middle Pleistocene

Late Pleistocene

Level/Subunit

References Winkler, 2002 Denys, 1990c Mein, 1994 Winkler, 2003

West Lake Turkana

Chemeron Fm Kakesio Beds Kazinga Beds Kaiyumung Mb, Nachukui Fm Upper Laetolil Beds Sidi Hakoma, Denen-Dora, Kada Hadar mbs, Hadar Fm Shungura Fm Lusso Beds Upper Ndolanya Beds Nachukui Fm

Ke

East Lake Turkana

Koobi Fora Fm

Black & Krishtalka, 1986; Denys, 1999

Ta Ta

West Natron (Peninj) Olduvai Gorge

Bed I

Ta Ke

Olduvai Gorge Tugen Hills

Et

Asbole, lower Awash Valley

Ke Et Et

Isenya Melka Kunture Porc-Epic Cave

—

Masek Beds “Hominid level” Kapthurin Fm Awash Group — — —

Denys, 1985, 1987a; Davies, 1987 Sabatier, 1978, 1979, 1982

Wesselman, 1984 Boaz et al., 1992 Denys, 1987a; Ndessokia, 1989 Harris et al., 1988

Denys, 1987b Jaeger, 1976; Denys, 1989a–d, 1990b, 1992 Jaeger, 1979 McBrearty, 1999; Denys, 1999 Alemseged & Geraads, 2000; Geraads et al., 2004 Brugal & Denys, 1989 Sabatier, 1979 Assefa, 2006

1The Manonga Valley sites are of late Miocene (based on overall fauna) to early Pliocene age (based on rodents); they are recorded as early Pliocene in table 17.3.

Family MURIDAE Illiger, 1811 Composition of the Muridae as used here follows Musser and Carleton (2005:901), who include the subfamilies Leimacomyinae, Deomyinae, Gerbillinae, Murinae, and Otomyinae. Representatives of all these Subfamilies are found currently in Africa. Musser and Carleton (2005) note that phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear genetic sequences support the monophyly of various subsets of these subfamilies. The enigmatic Leimacomys, sole member of the Leimacomyinae and known from only two museum specimens, is unknown from the fossil record. There is a complicated history of phylogenetic assignments/proposed relationships of members of the Deomyinae, summarized by Musser and Carleton (2005). Members of the Deomyinae range in their distribution and ecology from a widespread geographic distribution in mainly arid habitats (Acomys), to savannas (Uranomys), to a more restricted distribution in tropical forests from equatorial Guinea to Uganda (Deomys and Lophuromys)(Nowak, 1999; Musser and Carleton, 2005). The Gerbillinae are defined clearly by both morphological and molecular attributes (Musser and Carleton, 2005). Fourteen genera are currently found in Africa. Based on anatomi-

282


cal study, Musser and Carleton (2005) split the genus Tatera and include in this genus only the Indian T. indica. All the African representatives are transferred to Gerbilliscus, which becomes a sub-Saharan African endemic genus. Gerbils are found in almost all of Africa, generally in deserts and semideserts (Tong, 1989) and never in tropical forests. As defined by Carleton and Musser (1984), the Murinae can be characterized by a cluster of external, cranial, postcranial, dental, reproductive, and arterial characteristics, and, in particular, by a derived molar morphology. Extant African murines represent more than 25% of worldwide murine diversity with 32 endemic genera (Musser and Carleton, 2005). They are found throughout the continent in a wide variety of habitats. Recent molecular work confirms some morphological divisions defined previously by Misonne (1969), such as the Arvicanthine, Rattus, Praomys, and Mus divisions. Lecompte et al. (2005) identified three distinct groups of African murines: the Arvicanthini (sensu Ducroz et al., 2001) and a Praomys group (sensu Lecompte et al., 2002), with Malacomys isolated in its own “group.” Lecompte et al. (2005) also added the Mus (Nannomys) clade. Lecompte et al.’s (2008) analysis of one mitochondrial and two nuclear gene sequences lead them to propose dividing all murines into 10 formal tribes. The endemic African murines would include members

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ta b l e 1 7.7 Details of rodent collections from southern and south-central Africa Abbreviations for regions: As, Angola, southern; Bo, Botswana; Nn, Namibia, northern; Ns, Namibia, southern; Sc, South Africa, central; Sn, South Africa, northern; Sw, South Africa, western; Za, Zambia; Zi, Zimbabwe.

Epoch

Region

Locality

Level/Subunit

References

—

Hopwood, 1929b; Lavocat, 1973; Hamilton & Van Couvering, 1977; Stromer, 1924, 1926; Mein & Pickford, 2003; Mein & Senut, 2003 Hendey, 1978; Mein & Pickford, 2003; Mein & Senut, 2003 Conroy et al., 1992; Pickford et al., 1994; Senut et al., 1992 Conroy et al., 1992; Senut et al.; 1992; Mein et al., 2000a, b, 2004 Senut et al., 1992; Mein et al. 2000a, b, 2004 Cooke, 1963; Sénégas & Avery, 1998; Sénégas & Michaux, 2000; Sénégas, 2004 Cooke, 1963; De Graaff, 1960; Denys, 1999; Lavocat, 1956, 1957, 1978; Pocock, 1987; Turner et al., 1999, Sénégas 2000 Denys, 1990a, b, d, 1991, 1994a, c, 1998; Hendey, 1976, 1981, 1984; Pocock, 1976 Denys, 1999; Senut et al., 1992; Turner et al., 1999 Denys, 1999; Senut et al., 1992; Turner et al., 1999

Early Miocene

Ns

Diamond Fields (various); Auchas

Early to basal middle Miocene1 Middle Miocene

Ns

Arrisdrift

Pit2/AD 8

Nn

Berg Aukas

Late Miocene

Nn

Berg Aukas

Nn

Harasib 3a

Blocks BA1, BA47 & BA63 Blocks BA31 & BA90 Block ARI

Sn

Bolt’s Farm

Waypoint 160, unspecified

Sn

Makapansgat

Ss

Langebaanweg

Dumps, EXQRM, MLWD/III, MRCIS, Rodent Cave, unspecified QSM, PPM, unspecified

Nn

Jägersquelle

Nn

Nosib

Sn

Sterkfontein

Sn

Drimolen

As

Humpata

Bo

NW Botswana (Ngamiland: Gcwihaba & Nqumtsa)

Nn

Aigamas

Nn

Berg Aukas

Blocks AIG1 & AIG2 Blocks BA8 & BA54

Nn Nn Sc

Friesenberg Uisib Taung

— Block UIS —

Sn Sn

Gladysvale Kromdraai

— A, B, unspecified

Sn Sn Sn

Plover’s Lake Schurveberg Sterkfontein

Early Pliocene

Late Pliocene

Plio-Pleistocene

Early Pleistocene

— Blocks NOS1 & NOS2, unspecified Sts/Dumps 1, 2 & 8; Stw/H2; Mb 2 & 4, Type Site, Ext, M4 Cave, lower level Dl, upper level Du 2, unspecified —

— — M5E

Avery, 2000a, 2001; Cooke, 1963; Denys, 1999; Pocock, 1987; Turner et al., 1999 Sénégas et al. 1999

Denys, 1999; Pickford et al., 1990, 1992, 1994; Turner et al., 1999 Denys, 1999; Pickford, 1990; Pickford & Mein, 1988; Pickford et al., 1994; Turner et al., 1999 Senut et al., 1992 Conroy et al., 1992; Senut et al., 1992 Sénégas, 1996 Senut et al., 1992 Broom, 1934, 1939, 1948a, b; Broom & Schepers, 1946; Cooke, 1963, 1990; Denys, 1999; Lavocat, 1967, 1978; Turner et al., 1999 Avery, 1995a; Cooke, 1963 Cooke, 1963; De Graaff, 1961; Denys, 1999; Pocock, 1985, 1987; Turner et al., 1999 Thackeray and Watson, 1994 Broom, 1937a, b Avery, 2000a, 2001



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Epoch

Region

Middle Pleistocene

Late Pleistocene

1Listed

Locality

Sn

Swartkrans

Za

Kabwe

Sc Sn Ss

Wonderwerk Cave of Hearths Duinefontein

Acheulean levels — DFT2

Ss Za

Elandsfontein Mumbwa

Main XIV-VIII

Za Ss

Twin Rivers Hoedjiespunt 1

Ns Sc Sc Sn Ss Ss Ss

Zebrarivier Equus Cave Florisbad Sterkfontein Blombos Boomplaas Byneskranskop

— ROOF & hominid sands MSA levels Pleistocene levels Spring, unspecified M6 MSA levels Levels BRL-LOH Levels 15–19

Ss

Die Kelders

MSA levels

Ss Ss

Elands Bay Cave Klasies River Mouth

Ss

Nelson Bay Cave

Sw Sw Za

Border Cave Umhlatuzana Mumbwa

Pleistocene levels 1 & 1A Pleistocene levels YSL & YGL (LGM levels) Pleistocene levels Layers 5 & 6 VII & III

Zi Zi Bo

Pomongwe Redcliff Drotsky’s Cave

ESA & MSA levels — —

Suborder ANOMALUROMORPHA Bugge, 1974 Superfamily ANOMALUROIDEA Gervais, 1849 Family ANOMALURIDAE Gervais, 1849 This is an exclusively African group. Dieterlen (2005a) divides the anomalurids into two subfamilies, Anomalurinae


Mb 1-3

—

References Avery, 1998, 2001; Brain et al., 1988; Denys, 1999; Turner et al., 1999; Watson, 1993 Avery, 2003; Chubb, 1909; Hopwood, 1929a; Mennell & Chubb, 1907 Avery, 1995b, unpubl.; Klein, 1988 Cooke, 1963; De Graaff, 1960, 1988 Klein, 1976b; Klein et al., 1999; Cruz-Uribe et al., 2003 Klein & Cruz-Uribe, 1991 Avery, 2000b; Klein & Cruz-Uribe, 2000 Avery, 2003 Matthews et al., 2005, 2006 Avery, 1984 Klein et al., 1991 Brink, 1987; Scott & Brink, 1992 Avery, 2000a, 2001 Henshilwood et al., 2001 Avery, 1982b Avery, 1982b; Klein, 1981; Schweitzer & Wilson, 1982 Klein, 1975; Avery, 1982b; Avery et al., 1997; Grine et al., 1991 Klein & Cruz-Uribe, 1987 Avery, 1987; Klein, 1975, 1976a Avery, 1982b; Klein, 1972, 1974 Avery, 1982a, 1992; Klein, 1977 Avery, 1991 Avery, 2000b; Klein & Cruz-Uribe, 2000 Brain, 1981 Klein, 1978 Robbins et al., 1996

as middle Miocene in table 17.4.

of five tribes: Murini, Praomyini, Malacomyini, Otomyini, and Arvicanthini. Musser and Carleton (2005) follow a provisional classification for the Otomyinae that includes the extant genera Myotomys, Otomys, and Parotomys. Recent molecular work confirms that these rodents belong in the Murinae (Lecompte et al., 2008; see previous discussion) and are very close to the Arvicanthini, but we follow the traditional classification of considering them a separate subfamily. The otomyines are indigenous to subSaharan Africa. They often live in grassy areas in the vicinity of water but may also occur in rocky or otherwise more arid habitats, and some species are endemic to cold high altitudes.

284

Level/Subunit

and Zenkerellinae. The Anomalurinae includes the genus Anomalurus, with four species, and the Zenkerellinae includes two genera, Idiurus (two species) and Zenkerella (one species). Schunke (2005) also recognizes seven species, but considers “Anomalurus” beecrofti to be the only representative of the genus Anomalurops. Anomalurids are found in rain forest, montane forests, and gallery forests in an essentially west to east band from Senegal to Tanzania (Schunke, 2005). Excepting Zenkerella, all anomalurids can perform gliding flight (Schunke, 2005). Superfamily PEDETOIDEA Gray, 1825 Family PEDETIDAE Gray, 1825 This exclusively African group includes only the genus Pedetes, which is fossorial and inhabits open semiarid to arid environments. Pedetes capensis occurs in central and southern Africa, while P. surdaster is found in Tanzania and Kenya (Dieterlen, 2005c).

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Suborder HYSTRICOMORPHA Brandt, 1855 Infraorder CTENODACTYLOMORPHI Chaline and Mein, 1979 Family CTENODACTYLIDAE Gervais, 1853 Although known also from the fossil record of Asia, the ctenodactylids are currently restricted to Africa. There are four genera (Ctenodactylus, Felovia, Massoutiera, and Pectinator) and five species, which occur in northern Africa eastward, to Somalia in eastern Africa (Dieterlen, 2005b). Ctenodactylids are found in desert or semidesert habitats (Nowak, 1999). Infraorder HYSTRICOGNATHI Brandt,1855 Family BATHYERGIDAE Waterhouse, 1841 This group is endemic to Africa south of the Sahara. It includes six genera and 17 species (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005; Knock et al., 2006). Both morphological and molecular evidence support division into two subfamilies. The subfamily Heterocephalinae is monogeneric, represented by Heterocephalus from Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The subfamily Bathyerginae includes Bathyergus, Georychus, Cryptomys, Fukomys, and Heliophobius. Bathyergus and Georychus are restricted mainly to southern South Africa, although Bathyergus is known also from southern Namibia and Georychus has relict populations in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga (Nowak, 1999; Friedmann and Daly, 2004). Cryptomys occurs from southern Africa to Sudan and west to Ghana (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005), but this genus is in need of revision. On molecular grounds, Knock et al. (2006) erected a new genus, Fukomys, from the Zambezian savannas. The type species is Cryptomys damarensis, and the genus includes some Georychus and Cryptomys species fround north of Limpopo River, and possibly several undescribed cryptic species (Van Daele et al., 2007). Heliophobius is known from Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique to the Democratic Republic of Congo and east to Kenya and Tanzania (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). Bathyergids are fossorial and usually live in areas of loose sandy soil; some of them are eusocial to varying degrees (Nowak, 1999). Family HYSTRICIDAE Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 African hystricids are represented by two genera and three species. Atherurus africanus is known from the GuineoCongolese forests of west-central Africa to Kenya, Uganda, and southern Sudan, and it can reach elevations of 3,000 m (Nowak, 1999; Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). Hystrix cristata ranges from Morocco to Egypt and from Senegal to Ethiopia and northern Tanzania (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). Hystrix

africaeaustralis occurs from the mouth of the Congo River to Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and into southern Africa (De Graaff, 1981; Woods and Kipatrick, 2005). The two species of Hystrix are sympatric in Central and East Africa (De Graaff, 1981). Hystrix is most commonly found in hilly, rocky habitats but is adaptable to almost any habitat except swampy areas, extensive moist forest, and the most barren deserts (Kingdon, 1974; De Graaff, 1981). Family PETROMURIDAE Wood, 1955 Several authors (although not McKenna and Bell, 1997) group the Petromuridae with the Thryonomyidae into the superfamily Thryonomuroidea (see discussion in Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). Petromurids, both extant and fossil, are known only from southern Africa. This family includes one extant genus and species, Petromus typicus. The dassie rat is known from western South Africa and Namibia to southwestern Angola (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005). It is found in the South West Arid and marginally in the Southern Savanna biotic zones, and lives in narrow rock crevices and among large boulders in rocky hills and mountainous areas (De Graaff, 1981). Family THRYONOMYIDAE Pocock, 1922 The thryonomyids include one genus with two species, Thryonomys gregorianus (lesser cane rat) and T. swinderianus (greater cane rat). Thryonomys gregorianus occurs in subSaharan Africa approximately in a band from Cameroon in the west to Ethiopia in the east, and south to Mozambique. Thryonomys swinderianus is more widely distributed in “Africa, south of the Sahara” (Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005:1545). Although both species are dependent on grass for cover and food, they occupy distinct ecological niches: T. gregorianus is more terrestrial and lives in moist savanna, while T. swinderianus prefers semiaquatic habitats such as marshes and reed beds (Kingdon, 1974).

Systematic Paleontology The diagnoses given here include those characters most applicable to fossil remains: soft tissue and/or molecular characters diagnostic of taxa with extant representatives are not included. The “Geologic Age” of taxa refers only to the African record. Order RODENTIA Bowdich, 1821 Suborder SCIUROMORPHA Brant, 1855 Family SCIURIDAE Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Figure 17.2

FIGURE 17.2 Examples of African Sciuridae. A) Vulcanisciurus, left mandible with p4–m3, uncatalogued specimen, early Miocene, Rusinga, Kenya. B) Subfamily Xerinae, Paraxerus, right m1 or m2, KNM-TH 19473, early Pliocene, Tabarin, Chemeron Formation, Kenya. C) Subfamily Xerinae, Heliosciurus, KNM-TH 19484, early Pliocene, Tabarin, Chemeron Formation, Kenya.



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Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 1-2/1, 3/3; sciurognathus, sciuromorphous: skull usually with well-developed postorbital processes; presence of DP4/P4 (dp4/p4) and in some cases DP3/ P3; molars bunodont, cuspidate with cusps sometimes connected by lophs; lower cheek teeth similar to uppers or basined. Description Fossil African squirrels are generally known from isolated teeth or incomplete dentitions. The most complete material (i.e., partial skeletons) is from the early Pliocene at Kossom Bougoudi, Chad (Denys et al., 2003), and from the late Miocene at Lothagam, Kenya (Cifelli et al., 1986; Winkler, 2003). Geologic Age Early Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Ubiquitous. Remarks The oldest fossil sciurid from Africa is Vulcanisciurus (figure 17.2A), which is reported from the early (ca. 20 Ma; Rusinga, Songhor, and Koru, Kenya, and Napak, Uganda; Lavocat, 1973) middle (14 Ma; Fort Ternan, Kenya; Denys and Jaeger, 1992), and earliest late Miocene (12.5 Ma; Ngorora Formation, Tugen Hills, Kenya; Winkler, 1990, 2002). This is the only described genus from eastern Africa during this time period. From southern Africa, Mein et al. (2000a) describe Heteroxerus (previously listed as Vulcanisciurus; Senut et al., 1992) from Harasib 3a, Namibia (ca. 10 Ma). Mein et al. (2000a) consider the undetermined sciurid from the middle Miocene Muruyur Beds, Kenya (Winkler, 1992), to pertain also to Heteroxerus. Mein et al. (2000a) note that late middle Miocene sciurids from Berg Aukas, Namibia, most closely resemble Vulcanisciurus. Atlantoxerus, which even now is known only from northern Africa, is first reported from the middle Miocene (ca. 15 Ma) at Beni Mellal, Morocco (Jaeger, 1977a), but is better known from younger deposits (e.g., in the late Miocene from Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and tentatively from Egypt). The first occurrences of Xerus are from Chorora, Ethiopia (ca. 11 Ma; Geraads, 2001); Toros-Menalla, Chad (ca. 7–6 Ma; Vignaud et al. 2002); Lemudong’o, Kenya (6 Ma; Manthi, 2007); and the Middle Awash, Ethiopia (5.7 Ma; Wesselman et al., 2008; listed as Paraxerus by Haile-Selassie et al., 2004). The extinct exclusively African squirrel, Kubwaxerus, is known only from the late Miocene (7.4–6.5 Ma), lower Nawata Formation, Lothagam, Kenya: it shares affinities with modern Protoxerus (Cifelli et al. 1986, Winkler, 2003). The earliest occurrences of Paraxerus are from Lemudong’o, Kenya (6 Ma; Manthi, 2007); the Tabarin locality, Chemeron Formation, Kenya (figure 17.2B; 4.5–4.4 Ma; Winkler, 1990, 2002); and the Upper Laetolil Beds, Laetoli, Tanzania (ca. 3.8–3.5 Ma; Denys, 1987a). The earliest record of Heliosciurus is at the Tabarin locality, Chemeron Formation, Kenya (figure 17.2C; 4.5–4.4 Ma; Winkler, 1990, 2002). Family GLIRIDAE Muirhead, 1819

Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3; sciurognathus, myomorphous except Graphiurus, which is hystricomorphous; cheek teeth extremely bunodont, shallowly concave, with transverse (often numerous) crests. Geologic Age Middle Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), eastern (Kenya, Tanzania), and southern (South Africa, Namibia, Zambia) Africa. Remarks The fossil record of glirids in Africa is sparse. The earliest report is of the extinct genus Microdyromys from the middle Miocene of Morocco (Jaeger, 1977a, 1977b), and Algeria (Coiffait-Martin, 1991). Senut et al. (1992) and Mein et al. 286


(2000a; extinct genus Otaviglis) record late Miocene “graphiurines” from South Africa and Namibia. Graphiurus is known from the early Pliocene at Langebaanweg, South Africa (Hendey, 1981; Pocock, 1976); the early Pleistocene at West Natron, Tanzania (Denys, 1987b); and the middle Pleistocene Kapthurin Formation, Kenya (Denys, 1999; McBrearty, 1999). Geraads (1994) reports Eliomys from the middle Pleistocene at Oulad Hamida 1, Morocco. Dobson (1998: in Holden, 2005:832) suggests that Eliomys dispersed to northern Africa at least twice: during the Messinian from Iberia and during the late Pleistocene from the eastern Mediterranean. Suborder MYOMORPHA Brandt, 1855 Superfamily DIPODOIDEA Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Family DIPODIDAE Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 0-1/0, 3/3; sciurognathus, myomorphous; much enlarged infraorbital foramen, masseteric plate reduced and strictly ventral, cheek teeth rooted, generally high crowned, and cuspidate; saltatorial postcranial adaptations. Geologic Age Middle Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Libya) and eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia). Remarks The earliest African records of the Dipodidae are from the middle Miocene. Protalactaga moghrebiensis is reported by Jaeger (1977b) from the middle Miocene of Morocco. Zazhigin and Lopatin (2000), in their review of the Allactaginae, exclude this species from Protalactaga and suggest that it should probably be referred to a new genus. Heterosminthus is known from middle Miocene deposits at Jebel Zelten, Libya (Wessels et al., 2003). The earliest report of the extant genus Jaculus is from the late Pliocene of Tunisia ( Jaeger, 1975). The Dipodidae are first known as fossils in eastern African in the latest Pliocene of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia (Omo Member F, 2.08–1.98 Ma; Wesselman, 1984), and they survive in Kenya and Tanzania, with their last record in Tanzania at 0.6 Ma. The Dipodidae are not currently found in Kenya or Tanzania. Superfamily MUROIDEA Illiger, 1811 Family SPALACIDAE Gray, 1821

Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 0/0, 3/3; sciurognathus, myomorphous; cheek teeth lamelliform, infraorbital foramen high and rather small (from Lavocat, 1978). Geologic Age Late Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern (Libya), eastern (Kenya, Ethiopia, Zaire), and southern Africa (Namibia). Remarks We follow Musser and Carleton (2005) in considering the “Rhizomyidae” one of six subfamilies (including Tachyoryctinae) within the family Spalacidae. The earliest reported rhizomyine is Prokanisamys from the early Miocene at Jebel Zelten, Libya (Wessels et al., 2003). Tong and Jaeger (1993) describe Pronakalimys from the middle Miocene, Fort Ternan, Kenya. Flynn and Sabatier (1984) describe Nakalimys from the late Miocene of Kenya and place it in “Rhizomyidae.” Nakalimys is also reported from Chorora, Ethiopia (ca. 11 Ma; Geraads, 1998a). Mein (2000a:385) allocates Nakalimys and Harasibomys to the “family Rhizomyidae or Spalacidae” and suggests that the early Miocene spalacine Debruijnia from Turkey (ca. 20 Ma) “could represent an ancestral form for the African burrowing rodents.” The oldest record of Tachyoryctes (T. makooka) is from the Adu-Asa and lower Sagantole formations, Middle Awash,

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Ethiopia (at sites dated at 5.7, 5.6, 5.2, 4.85 Ma; Wesselman et al., 2008; as Tachyoryctes sp. in Haile-Selassie et al., 2004). As yet undescribed Tachyoryctes are known from Aramis localities in the lower Sagantole formation (Wesselman et al., 2008). Sabatier (1979) describes T. pliocaenicus from the Pliocene at Hadar (Hadar Formation), Ethiopia. Both HaileSelassie et al. (2004) and Sabatier (1979) suggest their material is most similar to the Asian genus Kanisamys. Tachyoryctes is reported from the late Pliocene Lusso Beds, Zaire (Boaz et al., 1992), and from several Pleistocene localities in eastern Africa, but much of the material is not yet described (Flynn, 1990). Sabatier (1979) studied late Pleistocene Tachyoryctes from Melka Kunture, Ethiopia, and suggests that two species are present, including possibly T. macrocephalus. Family NESOMYIDAE Forsyth Major, 1897 Figures 17.3A, 17.3C, and 17.3D

Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 0/0, 3/3; myomorphous, sciurognathus.

Geologic Age Early Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Afrocricetodontinae:

eastern and southern Africa. Cricetomyinae: eastern and southern Africa. Dendromurinae: northern, eastern, and southern Africa. Otavimyinae, Mystromyinae, and Petromyscinae: southern Africa. Remarks Fossil remains of the Nesomyidae include the subfamilies Afrocricetodontinae (extinct), Cricetomyinae, Otavimyinae (extinct), Dendromurinae, Mystromyinae, and Petromyscinae. Although the Nesomyinae and Delanymyinae are unknown from the fossil record, extinct members of some other subfamilies, such as the Afrocricetodontinae and Petromyscinae (Stenodontomys), may have phylogenetic affinities with the Nesomyinae and Delanymyinae, respectively (e.g., see discussion in Musser and Carleton, 2005).

The Afrocricetodontinae date from the early to middle Miocene of eastern Africa and the middle to late Miocene of Namibia. They include the genera Afrocricetodon, Notocricetodon (figure 17.3A), and Protarsomys. The earliest record of a cricetomyine is an isolated tooth from the middle Miocene Ngorora Formation of Kenya (genus undet.; Winkler, 1990, 2002). Mein et al. (2004) consider the dendromurine described by Geraads (2001; cf. “Dendromus” gen. nov.) from the late Miocene of Ethiopia and by Winkler (1990, 2002) from the middle Miocene of Kenya, to pertain to Saccostomus. Saccostomus is known securely in eastern Africa from the late Miocene (Kenya; Mein and Pickford, 2006) and the late Miocene/early Pliocene (Tanzania; Winkler, 1997). In southern Africa, Saccostomus is identified tentatively from the late Miocene, and confidently from the late Pliocene (both records from northern Namibia; Senut et al., 1992). The only fossil Cricetomys is from the middle Pleistocene of Kenya (Kapthurin Formation; McBrearty, 1999; Denys, 1999). Fossils of Beamys are unknown. The Otavimyinae include two genera, Otavimys and Boltimys. They are known only from Namibia and South Africa, and date from the late Miocene to early Pliocene (Mein et al., 2004). Fossil dendromurines are relatively common and date back to the middle Miocene of Kenya (Ternania from Fort Ternan; Tong and Jaeger, 1993). Ternania is also reported from the late Miocene at Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt (Pickford et al., 2008): this is the only record of this genus other than from its type locality. Senoussimys is known only from the late Miocene of Algeria (Coiffait-Martin, 1991). Some other genera from the middle and late Miocene, assigned originally to the Dendromurinae (e.g., Mabokomys, Dakkamys, cf. “Dendromus” gen. nov., Potwarmus), are considered by other authors to belong in other subfamilies (see discussion in Musser and Carleton, 2005; Mein et al., 2004). The earliest records of the extant genera Dendromus and Steatomys (figure 17.3C) are from the

FIGURE 17.3 Examples of African Nesomyidae. A) Subfamily Afrocricetodontinae, Notocricetodon, left mandible with m1–3, BUMP 1272, early Miocene, Napak, Uganda. B) Subfamily Cricetomyinae, Saccostomus, WM 1343/92, right m1, late Miocene–early Pliocene, Manonga Valley, Tanzania. C) Subfamily Dendromurinae, Steatomys, left m1, KNM-TH 19467, late Miocene, Kapcheberek, Lukeino Formation, Kenya. D) Subfamily Mystromyinae, Mystromys, left mandible with m1–m2, uncatalogued specimen, Drotsky’s Cave, Botswana.



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late Miocene of northern Africa (e.g., Dendromus from Algeria [Coiffait-Martin, 1991], and both genera, tentatively, from Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt [Pickford et al., 2008]) and eastern Africa (Kenya; Mein and Pickford, 2006; Dendromus possibly also from Ethiopia; Geraads, 2001). In southern Africa, Steatomys is reported tentatively from the middle Miocene of Namibia, and Dendromus and Steatomys are known from the late Miocene of Namibia (Mein et al., 2004). Dendromus is reported from the early Pliocene at Langebaanweg, South Africa (Denys, 1994b), while Malacothrix is seen first in the middle Pliocene at Makapansgat, South Africa (Denys, 1999). Fossil mystromyines, like their extant representatives, are exclusively from southern Africa. The earliest record of the subfamily is from the early Pliocene at Langebaanweg (Pocock, 1987). Fossil Mystromyinae include the extant genus Mystromys (figure 17.3D; including three extinct species, M. hausleitneri Broom, 1937b, M. antiquus Cooke, 1963, and M. pocockei Denys, 1991) and the extinct genus Proodontomys from the Plio-Pleistocene of South Africa. Proodontomys is believed to have become extinct ca. 1–0.7 Ma (Avery, 1998). The fossil record of the Petromyscinae is also restricted to southern Africa. The earliest forms are from the late Miocene of Namibia, and include the extinct genera Stenodontomys (Pocock, 1987) and Harimyscus (Mein et al., 2000b). Stenodontomys is also reported from South Africa (Cape and Gauteng Provinces) and is last known in the early Pleistocene. Harimyscus is known only from the single late Miocene report. The extant genus Petromyscus is first known from the early Pliocene of South Africa. Family CRICETIDAE Fischer de Waldheim, 1817

Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 0/0, 3/3; myomorphous, sciurognathus; biserial arrangement of molar cusps with retention of a mure; presence of a discrete anterocone(id) on first molars (from Musser and Carleton, 2005).

Geologic Age Middle Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt) and eastern Africa (Ethiopia). Remarks Only three of the six extant subfamilies of cricetids are represented as fossils in Africa. Although no longer found in Africa, Ellobius (Arvicolinae) is reported from the middle (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria) and late (Tunisia) Pleistocene (Tong, 1986; Jaeger, 1988). The cricetine, Apocricetus, is listed only from Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt (Pickford et al., 2008). The Lophiomyinae are represented by two genera. Protolophiomys (extinct) is reported from the middle Pliocene of Algeria (Coiffait-Martin, 1991) and Morocco (Aguilar and Michaux, 1990) and also from the late Miocene of southern Spain (Aguilar and Thaler, 1987). The extant genus Lophiomys is first reported from Africa in the Middle Awash, Adu-Asa Formation, Ethiopia, at 5.7 Ma (Wesselman et al., 2008). This is the only eastern African record of this genus. Lophiomys is known also from Lissasfa, Morocco (the only northern African record), in the early Pliocene (Miocene-Pliocene boundary; Geraads, 1998b). Family MURIDAE Illiger, 1811 Figure 17.4

Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 0/0, 3/3; myomorphous, sciurognathus; cusps arranged in chevrons in murines and some deomyines. Geologic Age Early Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Ubiquitous. Remarks Three extinct subfamilies of Muridae are known: Myocricetodontinae, Cricetodontinae, and Namibimyinae. Two extinct genera, Leakeymys and Potwarmus, are of uncertain assignment to subfamily. All extant subfamilies of Muridae are known from the fossil record except for the Leimacomyinae. The Myocricetodontinae make their first appearance in the late early Miocene of Libya at Jebel Zelten (Wessels et al., 2003).

FIGURE 17.4 Examples of African Muridae. A) Subfamily Deomyinae, Acomys, right M1, uncatalogued specimen, early Pliocene, Langebaanweg, South Africa. B) Subfamily Gerbillinae, Gerbilliscus, right M1–M2, uncatalogued specimen, Drotsky’s Cave, Botswana. C) Subfamily Murinae, Saidomys, right M1, KNM-TH 18478, early Pliocene, Tabarin, Chemeron Formation, Kenya. D) Subfamily Otomyinae Otomys, left m1–m2, uncatalogued specimen, Drotsky’s Cave, Botswana.

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This group becomes relatively common in northern Africa, especially in the middle and late Miocene. Myocricetodontines are more speciose and abundant in northern (four genera) than in eastern (minimum one genus) or southern (three genera) Africa. The earliest reports of the Cricetodontinae are from the middle Miocene. In northern Africa they are from Algeria and Tunisia (Jaeger, 1977b; Robinson et al., 1982), in eastern Africa from Kenya (Winkler, 2002), and in southern Africa from Namibia (cf. Democricetodon; Pickford et al., 1994). The Cricetodontinae are best known from the late Miocene of northern Africa. The Namibimyinae are known only from the genus Namibimys from the late Miocene of Namibia (Mein et al., 2000b). The enigmatic African endemic genus Leakeymys is described from the middle Miocene Fort Ternan locality, Kenya (Lavocat, 1964; Tong and Jaeger, 1993). Coiffait-Martin (1991) lists Leakeymys from Farafra (= Sheikh Abdallah), Egypt, but Pickford et al. (2008) do not report this genus. Potwarmus is reported only from northern Africa: from the middle Miocene at Jebel Zelten, Libya (Wessels et al., 2003), and, tentatively, from the late Miocene at Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt (Pickford et al., 2008). Extinct fossil genera of Deomyinae date from the late Miocene to early Pliocene (about 11–4 Ma), and have been described from both eastern and southern Africa. They display size and morphological variability and are both speciose and numerically abundant. Preacomys is found at Chorora, Ethiopia (Geraads, 2001) and Harasib, Namibia (Mein et al, 2004) at around 11–9 Ma (possibly Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt [Progonomys and/or Preacomys] Pickford et al., 2008], and later in the late Miocene in the Lukeino Formation, Kenya (Mein and Pickford, 2006). Although Geraads (2001) has reported cf. Tectonomys from Chorora, it is known with certainty only from the early Pliocene sites of Tabarin, Kenya (Winkler, 2002), and the Manonga Valley, Tanzania (Winkler, 1997). Within the Deomyinae, Acomys (figure 17.4A), like Uranomys, is characterized by a distinctive M3 pattern. Preacomys and Tectonomys may be synonymous with Acomys, based on their M3 pattern. The M3 is currently unknown for Preacomys from Chorora and for any sample of Tectonomys, but the M3 of the Harasib Preacomys does display the Acomys pattern. Acomys is the only extant genus of Deomyinae that is well known as a fossil. It is reported from eastern and southern Africa, and is often numerically abundant. Its oldest occurrences are at Lemudong’o, Kenya (late Miocene; Manthi, 2007), Langebaanweg, South Africa (early Pliocene; Denys, 1990d), and, tentatively, at Kakara, Uganda (late Miocene; Mein, 1994). This genus includes some material referred previously to the murine Millardia (Sabatier, 1982; Pickford and Mein, 1988; see discussion in Southern African Rodents, Taxonomic Issues). The extant genus Uranomys is listed from the Plio-Pleistocene of southern Angola (Pickford et al., 1992). The Gerbillinae are generally considered to have evolved from the Myocricetodontinae (Jaeger, 1977b; Tong, 1989; other references in Musser and Carleton, 2005). Extinct genera include Pseudomeriones, Abudhabia, Protatera, and Mascaramys. The only record of Pseudomeriones is from the early Pliocene of Algeria (Jaeger, 1975). The only African records of Abudhabia are from the late Miocene of Kenya (Lothagam: Winkler, 2003; Lukeino Fm.: Mein and Pickford, 2006), although Protatera yardangi from Sahabi, Libya (Munthe, 1987), may be referrable to this genus (see discussion in Flynn et al., 2003). Protatera is named from Amama 2, late Miocene of Algeria (Jaeger, 1977b), and is also reported from the early Pliocene (Miocene-Pliocene boundary) of Morocco (Coiffait-

Martin, 1991; Geraads, 1998b). Mascaramys is from the late Pliocene of Tunisia (Mein and Pickford, 1992) and the middle Pleistocene of Algeria (Tong, 1986). Extant genera are first reported from the late Miocene of Kenya and Ethiopia (Gerbilliscus [formerly Tatera]; figure 17.4B], early Pliocene of Kenya (Gerbillus) and South Africa (Desmodillus, Gerbillurus), and the early Pleistocene of Morocco (Meriones). Tong (1989) provides a thorough study of the origin, evolution, and phylogenetic relationships of northern African gerbils based on examination of Plio-Pleistocene specimens from 15 localities. The earliest records of murines in Africa are in the late Miocene, ca. 11–10 Ma. In northern Africa, Progonomys (extinct) is reported from several sites such as Bou Hanifia, Algeria (Ameur, 1976), Sahabi, Libya (Munthe, 1987), possibly Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt (Progonomys and/or Preacomys: Pickford et al., 2008), and Oued Tabia (Benammi et al., 1995) and Oued Zra, Morocco (Jaeger, 1977b). Several other extinct late Miocene murines are known from northern Africa including Paraethomys, Stephanomys, Karnimata, Castillomys, and Saidomys. The earliest report of murines in eastern Africa is from Chorora, Ethiopia (aff. Stenocephalomys [sic, Stenocephalemys] and cf. Parapelomys; Geraads, 2001; members of the tribes Praomyini and Arvicanthini, respectively). Progonomys, Saidomys, and another extinct murine, Lukeinomys, are also known from the late Miocene of eastern Africa. In southern Africa, the earliest murine is from Harasib, Namibia (Aethomys; Mein et al., 2004; the only southern African respresentative of the Arvicanthini). The high diversity of African Murinae is established early, in the late Miocene to early Pliocene. For example, in northern Africa, there are seven first appearances in the late Miocene and three in the early Pliocene. In eastern Africa, there are nine in the late Miocene and three in the early Pliocene. Only 2 genera are reported in the late Miocene of southern Africa and 10 in the early Pliocene, but this is likely related to the paucity of late Miocene southern African faunas. Throughout Africa, there are relatively fewer first appearances after the early Pliocene. Molecular studies of murines (e.g., Lecompte et al., 2008) suggest that both faunal interchange with Eurasia and in situ diversification played a role in the history of African murines. By and large, conclusions from molecular work agree well with the fossil record. Molecular studies suggest an initial colonization event at around 11 Ma, with subsequent diversification. A second period of diversification (e.g., of modern Arvicanthini + Otomyini and of modern Praomyini) is suggested after about 9–7 Ma. A second period of interchange between Africa and Eurasia is seen about 6.5–5 Ma. Genera involved in this second period of dispersal include, for example, the first occurrences of Mus (of southern Asian origin) in the early Pliocene of northern, eastern, and southern Africa. Another genus, the extinct arvicanthine Saidomys (figure 17.4C), is first known in northern and eastern Africa in the late Miocene (not known from southern Africa). Saidomys is also reported from the early Pliocene of Afghanistan, suggesting dispersal from Africa to southern Asia in this time period (Winkler, 2003). Based on paleontological, anatomical, molecular, and other data, otomyines are considered to have had their origins in African murines, in particular arvicanthine-like forms (e.g., Euryotomys; see discussion in Musser and Carleton, 2005; also Pocock, 1976; Sénégas, 2001). This split was likely to have been around 8.5–7 Ma. Otomyines are absent from northern Africa, present but restricted to the genus Otomys in eastern and central Africa, and taxonomically diverse in southern Africa, which is probably their center of origin. Outside of



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southern Africa, Otomys is first known from the late Pliocene of Zaire (Boaz et al., 1992), and it arrives in the Rift Valley only in the late Pleistocene (Denys, 2003). Six genera of otomyines (Euryotomys, Palaeotomys, Prootomys, Myotomys, Otomys, Parotomys; figure 17.4D illustrates Otomys) are reported from southern Africa, but none from Namibian sites. In southern Africa, otomyines are found exclusively in Cape and Gauteng Province sites, and two of the three modern genera (Otomys and Myotomys) first occur only around 3 Ma, while Parotomys is not recorded until the middle Pleistocene. Suborder ANOMALUROMORPHA Bugge, 1974 Superfamily ANOMALUROIDEA Gervais, 1849 Family ZEGDOUMYIDAE Vianey-Liaud et al., 1994

Diagnosis Original diagnosis, translated from French. 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3; [mandibular and cranial structure unknown]; teeth brachydont with tendency toward lophodonty. Upper molars quadrangular, well developed hypocone at same level as protocone; transverse crests present (at least protoloph and metaloph); longitudinal crest generally not clearly defined. On lower molars, no difference in height between trigonid and talonid; summit of external and internal tubercules [cusps] at about same level: only metaconid slightly more elevated than the others; anterior cingulum well developed transversely and always present: its surface at the same height as end of talonid; mesoconid individualized, clearly separated from protoconid and hypoconid, often elongated by a mesolophid; longitudinal crest generally absent; hypoconulid absent. Enamel pauciserial with tendency to uniserial. Geologic Age Early to middle Eocene. African Distribution Northern Africa (Algeria, Tunisia). Remarks The extinct family Zegdoumyidae was erected on the basis of isolated teeth from Algeria (Zegdoumys, Glibia, Glibemys) and Tunisia (Zegdoumys). Assignment of a few P4/p4 to members of this family suggests there was premolar replacement. Vianey-Liaud et al. (1994) and Vianey-Liaud and Jaeger (1996) consider the Ischyromyidae or Sciuravidae to be the most likely ancestors of the Zegdoumyidae, which in turn are the most likely ancestors of the Anomaluridae and the

Graphiurinae. The position of the Zegdoumyidae as ancestral to the Anomaluridae is questioned by Dawson et al. (2003) and Marivaux et al. (2005). Family ANOMALURIDAE Gervais, 1849 Figure 17.5

Diagnosis Based on Lavocat (1978. 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3; sciurognathus, myomorphous; cheek teeth bunodont with transverse crests; masseter muscle passes through greatly enlarged infraorbital foramen to insert broadly on muzzle; ascending ramus of orbital arch weak; palatine bone contributing noticeably to orbitotemporal floor; pterygoid fossa not open anteriorly; middle ear with globular promontory. Geologic Age Middle to late Eocene; early Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern Africa (Algeria), eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda). Lavocat (1973:196) reports anomalurid remains from the Oligocene of Fayum, Egypt, but this material was never formally described and has not been relocated (P. A. Holroyd, pers. comm.). Remarks Isolated teeth of the middle to late Eocene genus Nementchamys were described by Jaeger et al. (1985) from Bir El Ater (= Nementcha), eastern Algeria. The morphology of these teeth was considered too derived in some respects for this taxon to have been the ancestor of early Miocene and later species. The best known fossil anomalurid is Paranomalurus (including P. bishopi, P. soniae, and P. walkeri; figures 17.5A, 17.5C) from the early Miocene of Kenya and Uganda (Lavocat, 1973). Paranomalurus cf. soniae is known from the middle Miocene Fort Ternan locality, Kenya (Denys and Jaeger, 1992). A single isolated tooth from the middle Miocene Muruyur Beds, Kipsaramon, Kenya, is assigned to Anomalurus parvus (figure 17.5B; Winkler, 1992). Zenkerella wintoni is poorly known from the fossil record. The holotype is a single mandible from the early Miocene of Songhor, Kenya (Lavocat, 1973). Zenkerella is also reported from Moroto, Uganda (Pickford and Mein, 2006). Fossil anomalurids are unknown from southern Africa and from eastern African sites after the middle Miocene.

FIGURE 17.5 Examples of Family Anomaluridae. A) Paranomalurus, skull, BUMP 82, early Miocene, Napak, Uganda. B) Anomalurus, left M3, KNM-TH 19439, middle Miocene, Kipsaraman, Muruyur Beds, Kenya. C) Paranomalurus, right p4–m3, BUMP 82, early Miocene, Napak, Uganda.

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Superfamily PEDETOIDEA Gray, 1825 Family PEDETIDAE Gray, 1825

Synonymy Parapedetidae Stromer, 1926:128, 143. Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3; sciurognathus, sciuromorphous; cheek teeth bunodont (e.g., Megapedetes) to highly hypsodont (e.g., Pedetes; Parapedetes also hypsodont) with simplified bilobate occlusal pattern. Description The cheek teeth of the extant genus, Pedetes, are ever growing, but those of the extinct taxon Megapedetes are rooted as are the deciduous teeth of Parapedetes. Many fossil specimens of pedetids are isolated teeth, which may be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to assign to tooth position. Geologic Age Early Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern Africa (Morocco only), eastern and southern Africa. Remarks The position of the Pedetidae among rodents has been controversial. For example, Huchon et al. (2000) suggest that the Pedetidae form an independent, early diverging lineage. However, Montgelard et al. (2002) confirm that the Anomaluridae is the sister clade to Pedetidae. McKenna and Bell (1997) created the family Parapedetidae, including the monogeneric Parapedetes (early–middle Miocene, Namibia); however, we consider Parapedetes to belong to the Pedetidae. The earliest African records of pedetids are from the early Miocene of Kenya and Uganda (Megapedetes; MacInnes, 1957; Lavocat, 1973) and Namibia (the poorly known genus Parapedetes Stromer, 1926, and an isolated phalanx of Megapedetes from Namibia; Mein and Senut, 2003). Megapedetes is also present in the middle Miocene of Kenya at Fort Ternan (Denys and Jaeger, 1992) and Maboko (Winkler, 1998), and in Namibia (Mein and Senut, 2003). Many eastern African specimens of fossil pedetids have not yet been formally described and there are likely to be new taxa, including a smaller form (Lavocat, 1973; Winkler, 2002; Mein and Pickford, 2006). Megapedetes is found most commonly in eastern Africa. Reports of this genus in Morocco (Beni Mellal, middle Miocene; Lavocat, 1961), Saudi Arabia (early Miocene, date uncertain; Sen in Thomas et al., 1982), Turkey (middle Miocene; Sen, 1977), the Isle of Chios, Greece (middle Miocene; Tobien, 1968), and Israel (late Miocene, but date uncertain; Tchernov et al., 1987; early Miocene; Wood and Goldsmith, 1998), suggest dispersal of Megapedetes from eastern to northern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean region in the early Miocene. The modern genus Pedetes appears for the first time in the Laetolil Beds, Tanzania (3.7 Ma: Davies, 1987). In southern Africa, Pedetes is first known from the early Pliocene. It is found at a number of sites including Taung (early Pleistocene; Broom, 1934) and Florisbad, South Africa (Dreyer and Lyle, 1931), and Drotsky’s Cave, Botswana (late Pleistocene; Robbins et al., 1996). Suborder HYSTRICOMORPHA Brandt, 1855 Infraorder CTENODACTYLOMORPHI Chaline and Mein, 1979 Family CTENODACTYLIDAE Gervais, 1853

Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 1–2/1–2, 3/3; sciurognathus, hystricomorphous; cheek teeth high-crowned, tetralophodont pattern, simplified in extant taxa; P3/p3 may be present. Enlarged infraorbital foramen; masseteric plate reduced and ventral, pterygoid fossa deep but blind; lacrimal large and contacts vertical process of jugal (from Lavocat, 1978).

Geologic Age Early Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern Africa (Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt). Remarks In Africa, fossil ctenodactylids are known exclusively from the north, where five extinct genera are reported (Sayimys, Metasayimys, Africanomys, Irhoudia, and Testouromys). Extant genera are not recorded from the fossil record prior to the Holocene. The earliest record of an African ctenodactylid is Sayimys from the early Miocene of Libya (Jebel Zelten; Wessels et al., 2003); the genus is last reported in the late Miocene. Metasayimys occurs only in the middle Miocene of Morocco (e.g., Beni Mellal; Lavocat, 1961). Africanomys is well-known from the middle to late Miocene: it has been recorded from Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt. Irhoudia is first encountered in the late Miocene of Libya, Morocco, and Algeria, and it is last reported from the early Pleistocene of Morocco (Jebel Irhoud; Jaeger, 1971a). Testouromys has been found only in the middle Miocene of Tunisia. African ctenodactylids likely dispersed from Eurasia to northern Africa in the early Miocene. The group is also known from the late Oligocene to late Miocene of Pakistan (Lindsay et al., 2005), the early Miocene of Turkey and the middle Miocene of Israel (see summary in Wessels et al., 2003), and the middle Miocene of Chios Island, Greece (López-Antoñanzas et al., 2004). Infraorder HYSTRICOGNATHI Brandt, 1855 Family BATHYERGIDAE Waterhouse, 1841

Synonymy Bathyergoididae Lavocat, 1973:109. Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 0/0–2, 3/3; hystricognathus, hystricomorphous; infraorbital foramen primitively large, but may be secondarily reduced (much reduced in extant forms); number of cheek teeth variable in different genera; high-crowned cylindrical molars with simple design (concave dentine base surrounded by wide enamel border) in modern representatives; remains of cusps in early Miocene representatives; most members of family have molars with two sinuses with internal one more distinct, and well-fused roots; incisors with multiserial enamel. Geologic Age Early Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Eastern and southern Africa. Remarks Lavocat (1973) divided the fossil and extant mole rats into two families, the Bathyergoididae and Bathyergidae, within the superfamily Bathyergoidea. His Bathyergoididae, which included only the early Miocene taxon Bathyergoides neotertiarius, was diagnosed as “family of Bathyergoidea in which the structure of the jugal teeth is very conservative” (translated from French; Lavocat, 1973:109). Other bathyergoids (except Paracryptomys [= Geofossor of Mein and Pickford, 2003] from the lower Miocene of Namibia) were assigned to the Bathyergidae, diagnosed as “family of Bathyergoidea in which the structure of jugal teeth is very simplified” (translated from French; Lavocat, 1973:139). Paracryptomys was assigned to “family uncertain.” The fossil record shows that this group was more widely distributed and diversified in the past than it is today, although it has never occurred in northern Africa. The oldest representatives of the group (all extinct genera) are in the early Miocene deposits of Namibia (Bathyergoides and Geofossor; e.g., Stromer, 1924; Mein and Pickford, 2003) and eastern Africa (Bathyergoides, Geofossor, and Proheliophobius; e.g., Lavocat, 1973; Mein and Pickford, 2003). Richardus is present in the middle Miocene of Fort Ternan, Kenya (Lavocat, 1988,



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1989; Denys and Jaeger, 1992). As yet undetermined genera are reported from the middle Miocene at Maboko, and from the Muruyur Beds and Ngorora Formation, Kenya (Winkler, 2002). In the late Miocene, Proheliophobius or Richardus is present at Harasib, Namibia (Mein et al., 2000a). Another extinct genus, Gypsorhychus, is first reported from the early Pliocene at Taung, South Africa (Broom, 1948a). The affinities of this genus are not well known due to its highly derived dental pattern. The first occurrences of modern genera (Bathyergus and Cryptomys) are in the early Pliocene at Langebaanweg, South Africa (ca. 5 Ma; Denys, 1998). In eastern Africa, Heterocephalus makes its first appearance at ca. 4.3 Ma in the Lower Laetolil Beds, Tanzania (Denys, 1987a). The first record of Georychus is in the Plio-Pleistocene at Ngamiland, Botswana (Pickford and Mein, 1988). Heliophobius is not known definitively from the fossil record, but may be present in the middle Pleistocene at Isenya, Kenya (Brugal and Denys, 1989). Family HYSTRICIDAE Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 Figure 17.6

Diagnosis Based on Lavocat (1978); Nowak (1999). 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3: hystricognathus, hystricomorphous; occlusal surface of teeth flat with multiple crests, dP4 replaced by P4, teeth moderately to strongly high crowned; skull strongly domed in Hystrix due to inflation of nasal sinuses; anterior palatine foramina very small. Geologic Age Late Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern, eastern, and southern Africa. Remarks Fossil hystricids are rare from northern Africa, but better known, especially from the Plio-Pleistocene record, from eastern and southern Africa. There are three genera, Atherurus, Hystrix, and Xenohystrix; only the last named is extinct. The oldest African record of Atherurus is ca. 11–10 Ma from Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt (Pickford et al., 2008). The earliest

records from eastern Africa are from 6 Ma at Lemudong’o, Kenya (Hlusko, 2007), and from the Adu-Asa Formation, Middle Awash, Ethiopia (5.7 Ma; Wesselman et al., 2008). Wesselman et al. (2008) also mentions that Atherurus is present (as yet undescribed) from the Pliocene at Aramis, Ethiopia. Atherurus is not known from southern Africa. The earliest occurrences of Hystrix are from several late Miocene localities. Hystrix is known from the late Miocene at Toros-Menalla, Chad (7–6 Ma; Vignaud et al., 2002), and Menacer (= Marceau), Algeria (Arambourg, 1959), although the geologic age of the Algerian material is uncertain. In eastern Africa, Hystrix is recorded from Lothagam (possibly >7.44 Ma; Winkler, 2003) and Lemudong’o (6 Ma; Hlusko, 2007), Kenya, and from the Adu-Asa Formation, Ethiopia (HaileSelassie et al., 2004; Wesselman et al., 2008). The earliest reports of Hystrix from southern Africa are from the early Pliocene at Langebaanweg and Makapansgat, South Africa (De Graaff, 1960; Hendey, 1984). Most fossil Hystrix are not referred to species. Specific identification of isolated teeth (the most common fossil) is difficult because the occlusal pattern changes with wear and tooth size varies with crown height. In fact, Van Weers (2005) considered the morphology of the cheek teeth unusable for the distinction of extant subgenera and species of Hystrix. The oldest records of the large, lower crowned Xenohystrix are from the late Miocene of Lemudong’o (Hlusko, 2007) and from the Adu-Asa and lower Sagantole formations (Haile-Selassie et al., 2004). The earliest report of Xenohystrix from southern Africa is in the early Pliocene at Makapansgat, South Africa (De Graaff, 1960). The earliest known hystricid, Atherurus karnuliensis (allocation by Van Weers, 2005; described originally as Sivacanthion complicatus by Colbert, 1933), is a relatively lower-crowned (primitive) taxon from the middle Miocene of northern India. The oldest known remains of Hystrix are from the Vallesian (early late Miocene) of Hungary, and Hystrix is also known from the late Miocene of China (Van Weers, 2005). Since the earliest African records of hystricids are in the late Miocene, they are likely immigrants, dispersing from Eurasia to Africa in the late Miocene. Family MYOPHIOMYIDAE Lavocat, 1973

Diagnosis From Lavocat (1973, 1978). 1/1, 0/0, 1–2/1–2, 3/3; hystricognathus, hystricomorphous; small size; cheek teeth with relatively prominent cusps and lower crests; dP3 may be replaced by P3 in Myophiomys. Geologic Age Early to middle Miocene. African Distribution Eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda) and southern Africa (Namibia). Remarks Lavocat (1973) erected the family Myophiomyidae to include the genera Phiocricetomys, Myophiomys, Elmerimys, and Phiomyoides. Phiocricetomys is reported only from the Fayum (early Oligocene; Wood, 1968). Myophiomys (early Miocene) and Elmerimys (early to middle Miocene) are known only from eastern Africa, and Phiomyoides is recorded only from the early Miocene of Namibia (Stromer, 1926). Holroyd (1994) removed the extremely bunodont Phiocricetomys (which also has only three cheek teeth per quadrant) from the Myophiomyidae and considered it family incertae sedis. Myophiomyids are relatively uncommon. FIGURE 17.6 Family Hystricidae. Hystrix, left mandible with m1–m3, LAET 1368, early to middle Pliocene, Upper Laetolil Beds, Laetoli, Tanzania.

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Family PHIOMYIDAE Wood, 1955 Figures 17.7A and 17.7B

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Diagnosis From revised diagnosis of Holroyd (1994). 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3; hystricognathus, hystricomorphous. Differs from Thryonomyidae in usually smaller size and dp4 replaced by p4 primitively; DP4 variably replaced by P4; dp4 metaconid less anteriorly placed; relatively stronger hypolophid; and less lingually placed ectolophid. Geologic Age Middle or late Eocene to early middle Miocene. African Distribution Northern Africa (Algeria, Libya, Egypt), eastern Africa (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania), and southern Africa (Namibia). Remarks Composition of the Phiomyidae follows the proposed revision of the family by Holroyd (1994) and includes the genera Protophiomys, Phiomys, Andrewsimys, Ugandamys, and Pomonomys, plus the Diamantomyinae (Metaphiomys, Diamantomys, and a new genus of Holroyd, 1994). The earliest records of the Phiomyidae are isolated teeth of Protophiomys algeriensis from the middle or late Eocene of Algeria (Jaeger et al., 1985). Holroyd (1994) reexamined collections of late Eocene to early Oligocene rodents from the Fayum Province, Egypt, previously studied by Wood (1968) and others. One of the most significant results of her study was the reevaluation of the composition of the genus Phiomys and the suggestion that Miocene material from Kenya attributed to Phiomys likely pertained to other taxa (Holroyd, 1994). This suggestion is formalized in Holroyd and Stevens (in press) where some of these early Miocene specimens of “Phiomys andrewsi” from Kenya are placed in a new genus, Lavocatomys, considered family incertae sedis pending further work on eastern African rodent interrelationships. Holroyd and Stevens (in press) note that Stromer (1926) reported cf. P. andrewsi from the early to middle Miocene of Namibia. They have not examined this material, but suggest it may not be attributable to Phiomys. In northern Africa, Phiomys is known from the late Eocene of Egypt and the early Oligocene of Egypt and Libya (Wood,

1968; Holroyd, 1994; Fejfar, 1987; see discussion in Holroyd and Stevens, in press). Other phiomyids from eastern Africa include Andrewsimys (Lavocat, 1973; Pickford and Mein, 2006) and Ugandamys (figure 17.7A; Winkler et al., 2005). Pomonomys is reported only from the early Miocene of Namibia (Stromer, 1922). Pomonomys was originally considered by several authors (e.g., Lavocat, 1973; but not Holroyd, 1994) to be in the Subfamily Diamantomyinae. The subfamily Diamantomyinae includes the genera Metaphiomys, Diamantomys, and a new genus of Holroyd (1994) from the late Eocene-early Oligocene of the Fayum, reported as Acritophiomys spp. nomina nuda in Lewis and Simons (2007). Metaphiomys has been recovered from the early Oligocene of Egypt and Libya (Wood, 1968; Holroyd, 1994; Fejfar, 1987). It has also been reported from the late Oligocene of Tanzania (Stevens et al., 2006). Diamantomys (figure 17.7B) is a large and often numerically abundant rodent first recovered from the late Oligocene at Losodok, Kenya (Rasmussen and Gutiérrez, in press), and more commonly from the early to middle Miocene. It is now known from several species in eastern (e.g., Lavocat, 1973; Winkler, 1992; Pickford and Mein, 2006) and southern Africa (Mein and Pickford, 2003). Family KENYAMYIDAE Lavocat, 1973

Diagnosis Emended from Lavocat (1978). 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3; hystricognathus, hystricomorphous; relatively small size; short masseteric insertion; four brachydont cheek teeth with long narrow crests, individual cusps indistinct. Replacement of DP4/dp4 by P4/p4 uncertain. Geologic Age Early Miocene. African Distribution Eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda). Remarks This relatively poorly known family, which is not reported from northern or southern Africa, includes only two genera, Kenyamys and Simonimys (Lavocat, 1973). Family PETROMURIDAE Wood, 1955

A) Family Phiomyidae, Ugandamys, right M1 or M2, BUMP 1023, early Miocene, Bukwa IIB, Uganda. B) Family Phiomyidae, subfamily Diamantomyinae, Diamantomys, palate with DP4–M3, BUMP 13, early Miocene, Napak, Uganda. C) Family Thryonomyidae, Thryonomys, left M1 or M2, LU2-24, late Pliocene, Upper Semliki Valley, Zaire. D) Family Thryonomyidae, Paraphiomys, left dp4–m3, uncatalogued specimen, early Miocene, Rusinga, Kenya. FIGURE 17.7



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Diagnosis 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3; hystricognathous, hystricomorphous; cheek teeth rooted and hypsodont with deep infoldings of the enamel on the lingual side of maxillary cheek teeth and labial side of mandibular cheek teeth. Geologic Age Late Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Southern Africa (South Africa, Namibia) and eastern Africa (Kenya). Remarks The earliest record of the only described genus, Petromus, and the only record from outside southern Africa, is from the late Miocene Lukeino Formation, Kenya (P. cf. P. antiquus; Mein and Pickford, 2006). The oldest species from southern Africa is the extinct P. antiquus from the early Pliocene (Waypoint 160; Sénégas, 2004) of northern South Africa. Petromus is also reported from the early Pleistocene of northern and central South Africa (P. minor from Taung; Broom, 1939), and from the late Pleistocene of southern Namibia (Pickford et al., 1994). Holroyd (1994) considers Petromus to belong in the family Thryonomyidae. Family THRYONOMYIDAE Pocock, 1922 Figures 17.7C and 17.7D

Diagnosis Emended from Lavocat (1978). 1/1, 0/0, 1/1, 3/3; hystricognathus, hystricomorphous; muzzle of normal proportions; where known, masseter muscle insertion extending far in front of infraorbital foramen; anterior palatine foramina well developed; semihypsodont molars with well-developed crests, the number of crests reduced in several forms; DP4 and dp4 not replaced. Geologic Age Early Miocene to Recent. African Distribution Northern Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Libya), eastern Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zaire), and southern Africa (Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe). Remarks Today, the thryonomyids are represented by a single genus, Thryonomys, which is found throughout much of Africa and in some areas is relatively abundant. In the past, the thryonomyids were not only numerically abundant but also much more speciose, particularly in eastern and southern Africa. Their record in northern Africa is relatively sparse. Holroyd (1994) reassigned Paraphiomys simonsi Wood, 1968, from the early Oligocene of Egypt to a new, as yet unpublished, genus. Gaudeamus Wood, 1968, from the late Eocene of Egypt (and Oman) was placed in the family Thryonomyidae by Lavocat, 1973, but placed as family incertae sedis by Holroyd (1994). Paraphiomys occidentalis is known from the middle Miocene of Morocco at Beni Mellal (Lavocat, 1961) and Azdal (Benammi et al., 1995). A new, unnamed genus has been reported from the early Miocene at Jebel Zelten, Libya (Wessels et al., 2003). The Libyan material is considered by López Antoñanzas et al. (2004) possibly to pertain to their new species of Paraphiomys from Saudi Arabia. Thryonomyids from eastern and southern Africa are speciose and known from a number of localities. Apodecter is small in size and reported from the early (Hopwood, 1929b) and late Miocene of Namibia (Mein et al., 2000a), the early Miocene of Uganda (Pickford and Mein, 2006), and the middle to late Miocene of Kenya (Mein and Pickford, 2006). Apodecter is reported from the early Pliocene of South Africa (Sénégas, 2000, in Mein and Pickford, 2006), but this is a late record and has not been verified. Paraphiomys (figure 17.7D) is geographically widespread, speciose, and numerically abundant. It was first described as including two species from numerous early Miocene sites in Kenya and Uganda (Lavocat, 1973). Since 1973, the number of species in the genus has expanded, however, the 294


generic assignment of many of these species has been controversial, as has the generic assignment of many other species of Thryonomyidae (see, e.g., Mein and Pickford, 2006; López Antoñanzas et al., 2004). Neosciuromys africanus (reported only from the early Miocene of Namibia [Stromer 1922, 1926]) is similar to Paraphiomys, but Neosciuromys has higher-crowned cheek teeth and a simpler loph pattern on the lower dentition. Neosciuromys was synonymized by Lavocat (1973) with Paraphiomys pigotti but is considered a valid genus by other authors (see discussion in López Antoñanzas et al., 2004). Phthinylla is a very poorly known genus from the early Miocene of Namibia (Hopwood, 1929b). It has been considered a junior synonym of Paraphiomys pigotti and, more likely, of Neosciuromys (López Antoñanzas et al., 2004). The genus Epiphiomys is yet another poorly known thryonomyid, reported only from the early Miocene of Kenya and Uganda (Lavocat, 1973). Paraulacodus is derived (has simplified loph morphology) compared to Paraphiomys. Paraulacodus has been recovered from the middle to late Miocene of eastern Africa (Jaeger et al., 1980; Geraads, 1998a, 2001; Winkler, 2002, 2003), and the late Miocene of southern Africa (Mein et al., 2000a). It is found in Pakistan, where its presence is considered a result of dispersal from eastern Africa about 13 Ma (Flynn and Winkler, 1994). Thryonomys is first reported in eastern Africa at Lemudong’o, Kenya (6 Ma; Manthi, 2007), and the Middle Awash, Adu-Asa Formation, Ethiopia (5.7–5.6 Ma; Wesselman et al., 2008; HaileSelassie et al., 2004). Wesselman et al.’s (2008) new species, T. asakomae, is significant in having a four-lophed dp4 (an apomorphy of Thryonomys; Paraulacodus has three lophs), but upper incisors with two grooves (an apomorphy of Paraulacodus). One specimen of T. asakomae has an incisor with a hint of a third groove (Thryonomys has three grooves). After the late Miocene, Thryonomys (figure 17.7C) is relatively common. Thryonomys has not been reported from northern Africa, and is not known in southern African until the late Pleistocene (e.g., Brain, 1981).

Discussion This overview has necessarily been compiled from the literature, but it has become increasingly clear that many of the collections require reexamination. Accepted taxonomies have changed repeatedly since many of the original descriptions were published, so that it is becoming difficult to update species lists accurately without going back to the original material. Apart from periodic generally accepted changes to synonymies, there are also disagreements between contemporary workers and some controversies between molecular and morphological phylogenies. The situation can be further complicated by a tendency for some names to reappear or to be elevated and demoted cyclically, without reanalysis of the original material. As a result, original lists must be examined in context, and integrated lists require recompilation from original lists in the light of a new taxonomic authority, such as Wilson and Reeder (2005), or the latest results from molecular phylogenetic studies. In the present case, an attempt has been made to reflect differences and changes in generic names (tables 17.2–17.4, names in parentheses), but there are instances where the position is very involved. One such concerns a group of murine rodents, the tribe Praomyini (Lecompte et al., 2008), which includes, in part, Myomyscus, Myomys (synonymized under Mastomys), Mastomys, Praomys, Zelotomys, and Stenocephalemys. Attribution of published fossil records to these genera requires attention to be paid to both the history of the naming of each taxon and its

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distribution before the modern equivalence of original identifications can be assessed. It is, however, very unlikely that one will be able to determine with confidence which genus is represented without reexamining the material. Even then, identification of these genera is very difficult, especially based on dental pattern, because morphological divergence is low, although molecular divergence is high (Lecompte et al., 2005, 2008). The situation is probably less acute at higher taxonomic levels but nevertheless exists and will particularly affect specimens that have not been identified to genus. NORTHERN AFRICAN RODENTS

Taxonomic Issues As discussed in more detail for southern African rodents, it would be interesting to reexamine unusual taxonomic records (see table 17.2). For example, the middle Pleistocene occurrence of Saidomys in Morocco is very late compared to other records of the genus. The only other record of the genus in northern Africa is in the late Miocene of Egypt, and eastern African records range from the late Miocene to late Pliocene. Outside Africa, Saidomys is known from the early Pliocene of Afghanistan (Saidomys from Thailand likely belongs to a different genus; Winkler, 2003). Other rare occurrences in northern Africa (e.g., Paraphiomys, middle Miocene; and Megapedetes, middle Miocene) likely represent range extensions by genera that occur in greater numerical abundance in eastern Africa since the early Miocene. It may also be of interest to reexamine records of the murine Golunda from Africa. At present, Golunda is known only as a single species from southern Asia. It is known also in the fossil record of southern Asia since the early Pliocene (Musser and Carleton, 2005). In Africa, G. jaegeri is reported from three middle Pliocene localities in Algeria (Oued Athmeneia 1, Oued Smendou, Amama 3; Coiffait and Coiffait, 1981; Coiffait-Martin, 1991) and one in the early Pliocene of Morocco (Azid; Benammi et al., 1995). In Ethiopia, Golunda gurai is described from the middle (Hadar; Sabatier, 1979; 1982) and late (Omo; Wesselman, 1984) Pliocene, and is listed from the early Pliocene (Aramis; WoldeGabriel et al., 1994). Musser (1987), using descriptions and illustrations of Golunda gurai from Hadar and Omo, suggested this material was not Golunda but should probably be referred to Pelomys. However, Musser was not able to examine Golunda from northern Africa, Aramis, or Omo. It is noteworthy that G. jaegeri was originally assigned to Pelomys europaeus. The relationship of Golunda to other murines has not been resolved, nor has its biogeographic history (Musser and Carleton, 2005), and a better understanding of the African material referred to this genus may help clarify these issues.

Temporal Distribution Probably the greatest contribution of the northern African faunas to our knowledge of the history of African rodents is that they provide the best sample of Paleogene species: the record from the Fayum, Egypt, is exceptional. Although samples from other localities in northern Africa are still relatively small, there is still more material than from southern Africa, where there are no published records, or from eastern Africa, where only two areas of late Oligocene age (Mbeya Region, Tanzania; and Losodok, northern Kenya) have produced material from the Paleogene. Our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships and early evolutionary history of

several major, almost exclusively African groups (Phiomyidae, Thryonomyidae, Anomaluridae, and Zegdoumyidae) is dependent on continued research in northern Africa. Because of its geographic location, northern Africa seems also to be the theatre of the first murine radiation, and to have been in contact at several times with Eurasia during the Miocene-Pliocene. During the Neogene, some extant families or subfamilies have their African range restricted to only northern Africa, such as the Leithiinae (Gliridae), Allactaginae (Dipodidae), Sicistinae (Dipodidae), Arvicolinae (Cricetidae), Cricetinae (Cricetidae), and Ctenodactylidae. In total, one finds about 38 extinct genera and only 20 extant genera in the fossil (pre-Holocene) record of this region. E ASTERN AFRICAN RODENTS

Taxonomic Issues Again, unexpected taxonomic records (table 17.3), such as a possible pseudocricetodontid from the early Miocene of Uganda (Pickford and Mein, 2006), the only record of this group in Africa, should be reexamined. The earliest and only record of the Dassie rat, Petromus, from outside southern Africa (Lukeino Formation, late Miocene, Kenya; Mein and Pickford, 2006) is also interesting and warrants further investigation. Late Miocene–earliest Pliocene records attributed to the cane rat, Thryonomys, need to be examined in detail, as some support the hypothesis (see discussion in Winkler, 2003) that Paraulacodus is the sister taxon to Thryonomys. Wesselman et al.’s (2008) new species, T. asakomae (Middle Awash, Ethiopia), provides the best evidence so far for this relationship. Thryonomys asakomae has character states apomorphic for both Thryonomys (a four-lophed dp4) and Paraulacodus (an upper incisor with two grooves). There is also one incisor with a hint of a third groove, as seen in Thryonomys. An unnamed small Thryonomys from the late Miocene Upper Nawata Formation, Kenya, also has a four-lophed dp4, but the dP4 is similar morphologically to Paraulacodus. An upper incisor with two grooves, assigned to Paraulacodus (and proportionally smaller than the Upper Nawata specimens), is geologically slightly older (Lower Nawata Formation). Two mandibles of Thryonomys from the late Miocene at Lemudong’o, Kenya (Manthi, 2007), have not yet been studied in detail. An extremely important area for future study are the interrelationships of early eastern African hystricognaths, in particular the phiomyids, with those from the Eocene-Oligocene of northern Africa. This work has begun in conjunction with newly recovered late Oligocene rodents from Tanzania (Holroyd and Stevens, in press; Stevens et al., 2004, 2006, in press) and Kenya (Rasmussen and Gutiérrez, in press). One new genus described recently from the late Oligocene of Tanzania, Kahawamys, has a mixture of characters seen in both northern Paleogene and eastern early Miocene hystricognaths (Stevens et al., in press). Continued study of the Paleogene eastern African material should help to clarify taxonomic relationships among early northern and sub-Saharan African taxa. This will provide clues to the history of small mammal dispersal between these two areas that can be tested by looking at the dispersal history of the large mammals. It is also hoped that these Oligocene eastern African faunas will eventially yield the remains of bathyergids and anomaluroids, groups whose early history is very poorly known and whose taxonomic relationships remain controversial.



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Temporal Distribution Two factors contributing to our understanding of the temporal distribution of many eastern African rodent faunas are of special significance. First, many highly fossiliferous localities are found within the still active East African rift system. As a consequence of a long history of tectonic/volcanic activity, many fossils are not only well preserved but also preserved in radioisotopically datable sediments. This is in contrast to many localities in northern and southern Africa where remains are often found, for example, preserved in infillings in karst deposits. Dating of northern and southern African fossil specimens is thus often dependent on biochronology, though magnetostratigraphic age determination may occasionally be possible. A second factor (dependent in part on the first) is the presence in eastern Africa of a few highly fossiliferous, relatively continuous, well-calibrated (by absolute dates) stratigraphic sections. A prime example is the Tugen Hills sequence, Baringo Basin, Kenya, which includes numerous faunas dating from the early middle Miocene into the Pleistocene. Within this sequence, one can follow evolutionary trends through time that are relatively free of possible geographic biases (e.g., Winkler, 1990, 2002). Eastern Africa is at the crossroads between northern and southern Africa, and it has yielded a remarkable Neogene rodent record with about 78 genera and all extant families represented. There is no endemic family in this region. Eastern Africa is characterized by a diversity of rodents slightly higher during the Neogene than it is today: the Neogene record includes about 42 extinct and 36 extant genera. The highest fossil diversity is observed among the Sciuridae, Murinae, Bathyergidae, Phiomyidae, and Thryonomyidae, which may have diversified in response to formation of the East African Rift Valley. SOUTHERN AFRICAN RODENTS

Taxonomic Issues As is usual, information that is more obviously out of place or unexpected first focuses attention on potential problems. One such example is Millardia (a murine), which has been reported from the Plio-Pleistocene in northwestern Botswana (Pickford and Mein, 1988). This currently Asian genus was first reported from Africa by Sabatier (1982), who named two new species from the Pliocene of Ethiopia. Subsequently, however, Denys (1990d) determined that at least one of these species should be referred to the African genus Acomys (a deomyine), a new species of which she described from the early Pliocene at Langebaanweg, southern South Africa (1990a). Under the circumstances, it seems most likely that the specimens from Botswana should also be referred to Acomys, and this is reflected in table 17.4. Two less obviously unexpected genera are the gerbil (tateril) Taterillus and the naked mole rat Heterocephalus, both of which today are exclusively African genera. At present, they are found only north of the equator. Taterillus has been listed as present at Makapansgat in northern South Africa (Pocock, 1987) and in northwestern Botswana (Pickford and Mein, 1988). While it is not impossible that this genus formerly extended much farther south, it seems far more likely that the genus involved is the southern African genus Gerbillurus or, possibly, Desmodillus. De Graaff (1960, quoting Lavocat, 1957) listed the eastern African bathyergid

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Heterocephalus as present at Makapansgat, but Pocock (1987) did not mention this genus. Lavocat (1957) provided no compelling evidence that the specimens were Heterocephalus, rather than one of the southern African taxa. The presence of deep indentations on worn teeth of the Makapansgat material suggests assignment to Georychus, which has been reported from the Sterkfontein Valley during the early Pleistocene (Avery, 2001). The Sterkfontein record constitutes a northward extension to the current range of Georychus, and it would not be surprising for it to have occurred still further north during the Pliocene. An alternative possibility would be Heliophobius, whose present distribution lies in Zambia and Mozambique (Kingdon, 1997), in which case its occurrence at Makapansgat would constitute a southward range extension. The material assigned to Taterillus and Heterocephalus needs reexamination to resolve this issue in the light of current understandings of these genera.

Temporal Distribution In southern Africa, the distribution of rodent-bearing deposits of different geologic ages is generally mutually exclusive (figure 17.1). Miocene material has been reported only from Namibia, early and middle Miocene samples from southern Namibia, and middle and late Miocene samples from northern Namibia (table 17.4). Pliocene sites occur in a broad band from southern Angola to northern South Africa, with an early Pliocene outlier at Langebaanweg, in southern South Africa. Conversely, and with the exception of Zebrarivier in southern Namibia, Pleistocene sites occur to the south and east of the earlier sites. Thus, apart from the Otavi Mountains in northern Namibia and the Sterkfontein Valley and Makapansgat in northern South Africa (figure 17.1), there is no temporal continuity in any one area. This makes it impossible to follow evolutionary trends that are free of geographic biases in this part of Africa. None of the early Miocene genera and only one of the 12 named middle Miocene genera is extant, but nearly a third of the 23 late Miocene genera are thought to be extant. Whereas many of the extinct genera are from the Suborder Myomorpha, none of these appeared before the middle Miocene. Apart from one member of the Anomaluromorpha, Parapedetes, all the early Miocene rodents are Hystricognathi. From the middle Miocene onward, the Myomorpha assumed numerical dominance, beginning with eight genera in various subfamilies of the Nesomyidae, and continuing with the appearance of many genera in various subfamilies of the Muridae in the early Pliocene. Only two extant genera (the sciurid Paraxerus and the nesomyid Petromyscus) have so far been identified definitively before the Pliocene, although others, notably several dendromurines, have been identified tentatively (Pickford et al., 1994; Senut et al., 1992; see also table 17.4). In more recent times, only three extinct genera (Stenodontomys, Proodontomys, and Gypsorhychus) continued undoubtedly into the early Pleistocene. Two Otomyinae (Palaeotomys and Prototomys) have been reported from the middle Pleistocene (De Graaff, 1960) and early Pleistocene, respectively. Whether these genera are separable from the extant Otomys and Myotomys has not been demonstrated conclusively. Many of the represented genera, such as the murine Aethomys and otomyine Otomys, today have wide distributions and, as such, could be found in fossil form both north and south of the equator. In these cases, differences in distribution

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over time may only be detectable at the species level. In other, presently more restricted genera, range extensions or differences in distribution over time are more likely to be detectable, but problems of identification, such as those mentioned above, need to be solved before these can be determined definitely. Examples of genera that may previously have extended further south than they do today include the tropical murine Malacomys, which has been reported from Humpata in southern Angola (Pickford et al., 1992). If correct, this would constitute a considerable southward extension for this genus, which currently reaches no further south than northeastern Angola (Musser and Carleton, 2005). Identification of this unique record of Malacomys is in doubt because the tooth morphology of this genus is similar to that of Praomys, making generic distinction of fossil remains difficult (see discussion in Wilson and Reeder, 2005). Uranomys is a second genus whose reported occurrence in the Humpata deposits (Pickford et al., 1992) may imply a previously wider distribution than that of the present. However, the recorded distribution of this genus is very disjointed, and Kingdon (1997) notes that the genus is poorly known. Less dramatic is the discovery at Border Cave in western South Africa that the murine Pelomys occurred several degrees south of its present range during the late Pleistocene (Avery, 1982a). Likewise, the presence of a bathyergid in northern South Africa that is apparently not the widespread Cryptomys must constitute a range extension, whichever genus is represented (Friedmann and Daly, 2004). These examples suggest that examination of the geographic distribution patterns of other genera will almost certainly show change through time. In some instances there has possibly been long-term unidirectional change. One such case is the endemic nesomyid Mystromys, which is now listed as endangered in South Africa (Friedmann and Daly, 2004) but was obviously extremely common in the Sterkfontein Valley (northern South Africa) during the late Pliocene and Pleistocene (Avery, 2001). It also occurred in northern Namibia during the late Pliocene and possibly even the late Miocene (Pickford et al., 1992), and in Botswana during the late Pleistocene (Robbins et al., 1996), but is apparently absent from those countries today (Stuart and Stuart, 2001). The only other mystromyine is the extinct Proodontomys, so far known only from northern and central (Taung) South Africa during the Pliocene and early Pleistocene. Southern Africa seems to have acted as the diversification center for the Graphiurinae, Otavimyinae, Mystromyinae, Namibimyinae, Petromyscinae, Otomyinae, and Petromuridae. Nearly all extant African rodent families are represented except the Anomaluridae and Dipodidae. The Rhizomyinae are no longer found in southern Africa. All these pecularities still confirm the relative isolation of southern African rodent faunas during the end of the Miocene.

Asia or the Indian Subcontinent (Holroyd, 1994). Mahboubi et al. (1997), however, suggest that Paleogene rodents and other taxa originated from several Paleogene terrestrial interchanges between Africa and the northern Tethyan regions, since, unlike Holroyd (1994), they did not consider the AfroArabian continent to have been geographically isolated during the Eocene. The Anomaluridae are considered by some authors to be derived from the Zegdoumyidae. To date, there are only two reported sub-Saharan Paleogene rodent faunas, from the Mbeya Region, Tanzania (Stevens et al., 2004, 2006, in press), and Losodok, northern Kenya (Rasmussen and Gutiérrez, in press): both these faunas are still under study. New rodent families and subfamilies are found in the early Miocene. These include the Sciuridae, Spalacidae, Nesomyidae (Afrocricetodontinae), Muridae (Myocricetodontinae), Pedetidae, Ctenodactylidae, Bathyergidae, Myophiomyidae, and Kenyamyidae (found only in the early Miocene). There is also a single tentative record of the family Pseudocricetodontidae in the early Miocene of Uganda (Pickford and Mein, 2006). The Sciuridae likely immigrated from Europe, the Spalacidae from southern Asia, and the Ctenodactylidae, Myocricetodontinae, and Afrocricetodontinae from Eurasia. The Pedetidae, Bathyergidae, Myophiomyidae, and Kenyamyidae are found exclusively, or almost exclusively, in Africa, and they likely evolved within Africa. The sister group relationships of the Pedetidae and Bathyergidae are controversial. The middle Miocene records the first appearance of the Gliridae and Dipodidae. The earliest glirid, Microdyromys, is known from middle Miocene of northern Africa (Algeria, Morocco). It is a likely immigrant from Europe, where it is first known in the late Oligocene (Jaeger, 1977a). “Protalactaga” and Heterosminthus are the earliest African dipodids: they are reported from the middle Miocene of Morocco and Libya. African dipodids are likely immigrants from Asia. In the late Miocene, the Cricetidae, Hystricidae, and Petromuridae first occur. The Cricetidae are likely immigrants from Europe (and have a circum-Mediterranean distribution), the Hystricidae from Eurasia, and the Petromuridae probably evolved within Africa. The late Eocene through early Miocene record is dominated both in number of species and in numerical abundance by the Hystricognathi, particularly the families Phiomyidae and Thryonomyidae. In the early Miocene the Muroidea made their appearance and eventually overshadowed the Hystricognathi. In the early late Miocene, the subfamily Murinae first occurred in Africa. The timing of their appearance is coincident with the dispersal of this group into Europe and northern Asia, after its likely derivation in southern Asia (Jacobs, 1985). In Africa, the murines diversified rapidly beginning in the late Miocene and early Pliocene (likely including additional immigration events), and are currently the most speciose and numerically abundant group of African rodents.

Summary and Conclusions The earliest record of African rodents is in the early to middle Eocene in Algeria and Tunisia. Eocene and Oligocene rodents, from Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, include the families Zegdoumyidae, Phiomyidae, Thryonomyidae, and Anomaluridae. The Zegdoumyidae may be derived from the Ischyromyidae, which had a Holarctic distribution beginning in the early Eocene, or from North American (or possibly Asian) Sciuravidae (also dating from the early Eocene). The Phiomyidae and Thryonomyidae have been described as originating within Africa from a single immigration event, probably from

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank W. J. Sanders and L. Werdelin for the invitation to contribute to this volume. Our chapter benefited from the input and critiques of many individuals, in particular P. Holroyd and an anonymous reviewer. H. Wesselman, T. Rasmussen, M. Pickford, and D. C. D. Happold kindly provided information about newly described faunas and/or access to publications still in press. We appreciate the help of D. Winkler for photographing most of the specimens illustrated in this chapter.



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Winkler, A. J., L. MacLatchy, and M. Mafabi. 2005. Small rodents and a lagomorph from the early Miocene Bukwa locality, Eastern Uganda. Palaeontologia Electronica 8, issue 1, 24A:1–12. WoldeGabriel, G., T. D. White, G Suwa, P. Renne, J. De Heinzelin, W. K. Hart, and G. Heiken. 1994. Ecological and temporal placement of early Pliocene hominids at Aramis, Ethiopia. Nature 371:330–333. Wood, A. E. 1968. Early Cenozoic mammalian faunas, Fayum Providence, Egypt. Part II: The African Oligocene Rodentia. Bulletin Yale Peabody Museum Natural History 28:29–105.

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Wood, A. E., and N. F. Goldsmith. 1998. Early Miocene rodents and lagomorphs from Israel. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18 (suppl. to no. 3):57A. Woods, C. A., and C. W. Kilpatrick. 2005. Infraorder Hystricognathi; pp. 1538–1600 in D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds.), Mammal Species of the World. 3rd ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Zazhigin, V. S., and A. V. Lopatin. 2000. The history of the Dipodoidea (Rodentia, Mammalia) in the Miocene of Asia: 3. Allactaginae. Paleontological Journal 34:553–565 (translated from Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal 5:82–94).

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CHAP TER EIGHTEEN

Fossil Lagomorphs of Africa ALISA J. WINKLER AND D. MARGARE T AVERY

Our knowledge of fossil African lagomorphs has expanded tremendously since Lavocat’s one-paragraph summary of the group in Maglio and Cooke’s (1978) Evolution of African Mammals. With few exceptions, the first sentence of Lavocat’s summary succinctly stated what was known at that time: “There is little to be said about the history of the Lagomorpha” (Lavocat, 1978:84). Although there have been many new discoveries since 1978, the group has still received relatively little attention. In many cases, even with Pleistocene remains (especially see table 18.3 later, occurrences for southern Africa), specimens are not described and are often identified only to higher taxonomic levels (e.g., Leporidae). The earliest records of leporids, in particular, are sparse and greatly need detailed comparative study.

A B

anteroflexid

paraflexus

paraflexid

protoflexid

mesoflexus

hypoflexid

hypoflexus mesoflexid

C

AR

D

EAR

MAR

AIR

Methods Premolar morphology is usually considered the most important criterion for taxonomic assignment of fossil lagomorphs. Thus, dental terminology for p3 and P3 for ochotonids and p3 and P2 for leporids is illustrated in figure 18.1. Tooth terminology is after López-Martínez (1989) for ochotonids and White (1991) and López-Martínez et al. (2007; see their summary of the correspondence in tooth terminology among different authors) for leporids. A phylogenetic analysis of the sister group relationships within the Lagomorpha is outside the scope of this chapter, especially since the relatively poorly studied African fossil lagomorphs can, at this point, add little to prior hypotheses. Systematics of the Lagomorpha is still controversial, and the reader is referred to relationships proposed by other authors, for example, based on morphology (e.g., Hibbard, 1963; Dawson, 1981; Corbet, 1983; Averianov, 1999 [using morphological, one geographic, and one karotypic character]), supertree analysis (Stoner et al., 2003), and molecular supermatrix analysis (Matthee et al., 2004; Robinson and Matthee, 2005). Of special pertinence to African leporids, it is noteworthy that morphological studies support a sister taxon relationship between Pronolagus and Bunolagus (e.g., Corbet, 1983; Averianov, 1999), but supermatrix analysis (Matthee et al., 2004; Robinson and Matthee, 2005) suggests phylogenetic affinities among Poelagus (considered the sister species to Caprolagus by Averianov, 1999) and Pronolagus (and the Asian Nesolagus), with Bunolagus, Oryctolagus, Caprolagus, and Pentalagus the

AER

IAR PIR

PER

Tooth terminology for ochotonids and leporids. A and B) Ochotonid (after López-Martínez, 1989); A, left p3; B, left P3. C and D) Leporid (after White, 1991; Lopez-Martinez et al., 2007); C, left p3; D, right P2.

FIGURE 18.1

ABBREVIATIONS: for P2, EAR, external anterior reentrant (= mesoflexus); IAR, internal anterior reentrant (= hypoflexus); MAR, main anterior reentrant (= paraflexus). For p3, AER, anteroexternal reentrant (= protoflexid); AIR, anterointernal reentrant (= paraflexid); AR, anterior reentrant (= anteroflexid); PER, posteroexternal reentrant (= hypoflexid); PIR, posterointernal reentrant (= mesoflexid).

derived species within a clade also including Brachylagus and Sylvilagus. Supermatrix analysis does not provide support for the Palaeolaginae (sensu Dice, 1929, or Corbet, 1983). As much as possible, the Neogene time scale used here follows Lourens et al. (2004), and the Pleistocene time scale follows Gibbard and Kolfschoten (2004). Note, however, that the “cutoff dates” for these time scales have changed with different authors, and the geologic age of taxa/localities used here may not match those given in the original publications. Tables 18.1–18.3 give the known occurrences of fossil lagomorphs from northern (including Chad), eastern, and southern Africa, respectively.

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ta b l e 1 8 .1 Lagomorpha from northern Africa, Miocene–Pleistocene Abbreviations: AL, Algeria; MO, Morocco; TU, Tunisia. E, early; M, middle; L, late.

Taxon

Synonomy

Locality

Stratigraphic horizon

Age

References

ochotonidae Kenyalagomys mellalensis ?Kenyalagomys sp. Alloptox sp. Ochotonidae, gen. and sp. undet.

Austrolagomys mellalensis Mein and Pickford, 2003 Austrolagomys sp. Mein and Pickford, 2003 Ochotonidae indet. Savage, 1990 —

Beni Mellal, MO

—

ATH7A3, Jebel Zelten, Libya Measured Section 2, Jebel Zelten, Libya Testour, TU

—

M. Miocene, ca. 14 Ma

M. E. Miocene, 19–18 Ma Lower Marádah M. Miocene, Fm 15–14 Ma — M. Miocene, ca. 14 Ma

Janvier and de Muizon, 1976 Wessels et al., 2003 Wessels et al., 2003 Robinson and Black, 1973

prolagidae Prolagus michauxi P. michauxi and P. cf. P. michauxi

— —

Argoub Kemellal 1, AL Afoud, MO

— —

L. Miocene L. Miocene

P. cf. P. michauxi

—

Aghouri, MO

—

Prolagus sardus

—

Lac Ichkeul and Bulla Regia I, TU

—

Prolagus “sardus”

—

Djebel Ressas NE1, 5, 6, 8, TU

—

Prolagus sp.

—

Oued Mellague, TU Ahl al Oughlam, MO

E. Pliocene, ca. 3 Ma Plio-Pleistocene (Lac Ichkeul E. Pliocene; Benammi et al., 1995) E. Pleistocene, ca. 1.6 Ma and < 1.6 Ma L. Miocene L. Pliocene, ca. 2.5 Ma

Kechabla Fm —

Coiffait-Martin, 1991 Benammi, 1997; Benammi et al., 1995 Benammi et al., 1995 Mein and Pickford, 1992

Mein and Pickford, 1992 Robinson et al., 1982 Geraads, 2006

leporidae Serengetilagus — tchadensis Serengetilagus aff. S. — praecapensis Trischizolagus raynali Serengetilagus raynali Geraads, 1994 Serengetilagus or — Trischizolagus group Lepus cf. L. capensis —

— Lepus sp.

—

Lagomorpha indet.

—

—

306


Toros Menalla, Chad

—

L. Miocene

Kossom Bougoudi, Chad

—

Grotte des Rhinocéros, Oulad Hamida I, MO Ahl al Oughlam, MO

—

E. Pliocene, ca. 5 Ma M. Pleistocene

Djebel Ressas, Aïn Bahya, El Mahah, Ternifi ne, TU Grotte des Rhinocéros, Oulad Hamida I, MO Ahl al Oughlam, MO Chouf Aïssa, AL Oued Smendou, AL Polygone 1, AL Gabal el Muluk, Wadi el Natrun, Egypt

—

Lpez-Martínez et al., 2007 Brunet et al. 2000 Geraads, 1994

L. Pliocene, ca. 2.5 Ma Pleistocene, < 1.6 Ma

Mein and Pickford, 1992

—

M. Pleistocene

Geraads, 1994

—

L. Pliocene, ca. 2.5 Ma M. Miocene M. Miocene L. Pliocene L. Miocene

Geraads, 2006

—

— — — Stromer’s Profi le C

Geraads, 2006

Coiffait-Martin, 1991

James and Slaughter, 1974

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ta b l e 1 8 . 2 Lagomorpha from eastern Africa, Miocene–Pleistocene Abbreviations: ET, Ethiopia; KE, Kenya; UG, Uganda; TA, Tanzania. E, early; M, middle; L, late.

Taxon

Synonomy


Locality

Age

References

ochotonidae Kenyalagomys rusingae K. minor

Ochotonidae, gen. and sp. undet.

Austrolagomys rusingae Rusinga, KE Mein and Pickford, 2003 Austrolagomys minor Mein Rusinga, and Pickford, 2003 Mfwangano, Karunga, KE — Kalodirr (West Kalokol), KE — Bukwa, UG

— —

— Green clay unit

E. Miocene, 17.8 Ma E. Miocene, ca. 17.8 Ma

MacInnes, 1953 MacInnes, 1953

E. Miocene, 18–16 Ma E. Miocene, 19.5-19.1 Ma

Leakey and Leakey, 1986 Winkler et al., 2005

L. Miocene, 6.57–6.54 Ma L. Miocene, 6.2–5.6 Ma E. Pliocene, 4.85 Ma Late Miocene, ca. 6.0 Ma Late Miocene, 5.8–5.2 Ma E. Pliocene, 4.22–4.20 Ma M.-L. Pliocene, 3.5–2.4 Ma E.-M. Pliocene, 3.8–3.5 Ma L. Miocene, 6.1–5.8 Ma

Winkler, 2003

leporidae Alilepus sp.

cf. Alilepus sp. Serengetilagus praecapensis

— Leporidae, gen. and sp. nov. Winkler, 2002 ?Alilepus sp. Haile-Salassie et al., 2004 — —

Lothagam, KE Tugen Hills, KE Worku Hassan, ET Lemudong’o, KE

Lower member, Nawata Fm Lukeino Fm Haradaso Member, Sagantole Fm —

—

BIK, Saiture Dora, Alayla, ET Lothagam, KE

Adu-Asa Fm

—

Laetoli, TA

Serengetilagus sp.

—

cf. Serengetilagus sp.

—

Aragai, Kapcheberek, Lukeino Fm Kapsomin, Tugen Hills, KE Kanam West, KE —

Serengetilagus sp. and/or Lepus sp. Lepus capensis

—

Olduvai Gorge, TA

Bed I

E. Pleistocene

—

Omo Valley, ET

Lepus veter

— —

“Lepus” sp.

—

Porc-Epic Cave, ET Chianda-Uyoma and Kanjera, KE Kanapoi, KE

Member E, lower Members F, G; Shungura Fm. — —

—

Laetoli, TA

“?Lepus” sp.

—

Middle Awash, ET

Upper Ndolanya Beds Adu-Asa Fm

Leporidae, gen. and sp. indet. Lagomorpha indet.

—

Tugen Hills, KE

Mpesida Beds

— —

Koobi Fora, KE Natoo Member assemblage, KE

Koobi Fora Fm Natoo Member, Nachukui Fm

L. Pliocene; ca. 2.08– 1.98 Ma L. Pleistocene Upper M. Pleistocene E. Pliocene, 4.17–4.07 Ma M. Pliocene, 2.6 Ma L. Miocene, 5.8–5.2 Ma L. Miocene, 7–6.2 Ma L. Pliocene E. Pleistocene, ca. 1.6–1.33 Ma

Apak Member, Nachukui Fm Upper Ndolanya Beds, Laetolil Beds

Kanapoi Fm

Pliocene

Winkler, 2003 Wesselman, et al., 2008 Darwent, 2007 Wesselman, et al., 2008 Winkler, 2003 Dietrich, 1941, 1942; Erbaeva and Angermann, 1983; Davies, 1987 Mein and Pickford, 2006 Flynn and Bernor, 1987 Leakey, 1965; Leakey, 1971 Wesselman, 1984

Assefa, 2006 MacInnes, 1953 Manthi, 2006 Ndessokia, 1990 Haile-Salassie et al., 2004 Winkler, 2002 Harris, 1978 Harris et al., 1988

EIGHTEEN: LAGOMORPHA


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ta b l e 1 8 .3 Lagomorpha from southern Africa, Miocene–Pleistocene Abbreviations: AN, Angola; BO, Botswana; NA, Namibia; SA, South Africa; ZA, Zambia; ZI, Zimbabwe. E, early; M, middle; L, late.

Synonomy

Taxon


Locality

Age

References

ochotonidae Austrolagomys hendeyi A. inexpectatus

Kenyalagomys sp. nov. Hendey, 1978 A. simpsoni Hopwood, 1929; K. simpsoni Hendey, 1978

Arrisdrift, NA

Pit 2/ AD8 —

Elisabethfeld, Langental, Grillental, NA

M. Miocene, 18–14 Ma E. Miocene

Mein and Pickford, 2003 Stromer 1924, 1926; Hopwood, 1929; Mein and Pickford, 2003

E. and M. Pleistocene

Cooke, 1963

E. Pliocene Pliocene, ca. 3 Ma E. Pleistocene

Hendey, 1981 Pocock, 1987

leporidae Pronolagus cf. P. randensis Pronolagus sp.

—

Serengetilagus sp.

Lepus capensis

— —

Makapansgat, SA Cave of Hearths, SA Langebaanweg, SA Makapansgat, SA

—

Sterkfontein, SA

—

Cangalongue 1, AN

—

Molo, AN

—

Tchiua, AN

pink breccia

Duinefontein 2, SA

Horizon 2

Blombos Cave, SA

Phases 1–3

L. cf. L. capensis Klein, 1976b — — —

L. cf. L. capensis

Border Cave, SA passim Nelson Bay Cave, SA

— ?Lepus crawshayi —

— — — L. cf. L. capensis Cooke, 1963 — L. cf. L. capensis Cooke, 1963 — — —


—

— Lepus sp. Klein, 1972

cf. Lepus

308

STS/Dumps 1, 2 and 8, STW/H2 —

— — Lepus sp. Brink, 1987

—

Gen. et sp. indet.

Varswater Fm EXQRM, MRCIS

Die Kelders Cave, SA MSA levels Klasies River Horizon 14 Mouth 1, SA Boltís Farm, SA — Cave of Hearths, SA — Florisbad, SA Spring, MSA

L. saxatilis L.? saxatilis Lepus sp.

—

Blombos Cave, SA

—

Phases 1–3

Border Cave, SA passim Gcwihaba and — Nqumtsa, BO Rocky II, Kaokoland, — NA Elandsfontein, SA — Kromdraai B, SA Layers 1 and 3 Jägersquelle 1, NA Taung, SA Kromdraai, SA Swartkrans, SA Equus Cave, SA Wonderwerk Cave, SA Mumbwa Caves, ZA

— —

Pocock, 1987

Plio-Pleistocene; Pickford et al., ca. 1.8–1.3 Ma 1992 Plio-Pleistocene Pickford et al., 1992 Plio-Pleistocene Pickford et al., 1992 M. Pleistocene Klein et al., 1999 L. Pleistocene, 10 kg), and many were terrestrial or semiterrestrial. Species of the genus Cercopithecoides were particularly numerous and widespread. They competed favorably with ungulates in woodland-grassland and ecotonal woodland ecosystems through the Plio-Pleistocene, and they only became extinct in these habitats when increased environmental seasonality throughout Africa led to deterioration of food quality and critical shortfalls of food at important milestones in animal life histories. The modern colobine fauna of Africa consists of exclusively arboreal species, and probably includes descendants of some semiterrestrial or terrestrial Plio-Pleistocene forms. Three genera, Parapapio, Theropithecus, and Cercopithecus (sensu lato) dominated cercopithecine evolution in Africa through the Pliocene and Pleistcene. The radiation of Parapapio species is still not well understood because few complete fossils are known, but most species appear to have been macaque-like in size, morphology, and habitus. Regional species or populations of Parapapio were probably the ancestors of Theropithecus and Lophocebus in eastern Africa, and of Papio and Cercocebus in southern Africa; in due course, the taxonomy of the genus may have to be revised to accommodate these cladogenetic events. The evolution of Theropithecus is well documented, with the species T. oswaldi being its most important representative. This widespread and highly adaptable grass eater was the only primate other than early Homo that dispersed out of Africa in the Plio-Pleistocene, and continues to be a well-deserved subject of study. Its extinction occurred later than that of the large-bodied colobines but was probably precipitated by a similar course of events. The evolution of the guenons (Cercopithecus and close relatives) is the least well documented in the African fossil record probably because of taphonomic factors that mostly prevented the preservation of forest-dwellers of smaller body size (5–10 kg). Nonetheless, the group’s radiation rivaled that of papionins with regard to the total number of species produced and the total area of the continent they occupied. The most visible and widespread of the nonhuman primates of Africa today, the baboons of the genus Papio, are relative newcomers whose unquestioned fossil record began only in the middle Pleistocene. These baboons have achieved success because their eclectic, opportunistic foraging strategies made it possible for them to create intensivist niches that were different from those of most of the open-country-dwelling primates who preceded them. In this way, Papio baboons were similar to another remarkable primate lineage, that of Homo sapiens. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Bill Sanders and Lars Werdelin for inviting us to contribute to this volume and for being extremely patient while we prepared this chapter. Discussions with Brenda Benefit, Eric Delson, Todd Disotell, Leslea Hlusko, Cliff Jolly, Meave Leakey, Ellen Miller, and Tony Tosi, especially in the context of the Cercopithecoid Analytical Working Group of the Revealing Hominid Origins Initiative, were useful in helping us organize our thoughts and keeping us current on new fossil discoveries. Eric Delson’s comments on the original version of this chapter greatly improved the text. We are extremely grateful to Brenda Benefit, Gerald Eck, Leonard Freedman, and Leslea Hlusko for providing us with photos

of various fossil monkey species. Bonnie Warren of the Department of Anthropology of the California Academy of Sciences and Tess Wilson of the Department of Anthropology of The Pennsylvania State University prepared the figures for publication. Tess Wilson is thanked for maintaining the bibliographic database and for preparing the final draft for submission.

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CHAPTE R TWE NTY-FOU R

Dendropithecoidea, Proconsuloidea, and Hominoidea (Catarrhini, Primates) TE R RY HAR R ISON

Catarrhine primates of modern aspect closely related to extant hominoids and cercopithecoids originated in AfroArabia during the late Oligocene (Harrison, 1982, 1987, 2002, 2005; Andrews, 1985, 1992b; Fleagle, 1986, 1999; Rasmussen, 2002). These taxa share key derived features with extant catarrhines, such as a tubular ectotympanic and loss of the entepicondylar foramen of the distal humerus (Harrison, 1987). Such features are not found in primitive catarrhines, such as propliopithecids from the early Oligocene of Egypt and Oman (see Seiffert et al. this volume, chapt. 22) or pliopithecids from the Miocene of Eurasia, which primitively retain an annular ectotympanic and an entepicondylar foramen (Harrison, 1987, 2002, 2005; Andrews et al., 1996). Three superfamilies of noncercopithecoid catarrhines are recognized in Africa from the late Oligocene onward: Dendropithecoidea, Proconsuloidea, and Hominoidea (Harrison, 2002; Ward and Duren, 2002; see table 24.1). The Dendropithecoidea contains a single family of three closely related genera, Micropithecus, Dendropithecus, and Simiolus (table 24.1). They are all relatively small catarrhines, with primitive dental and postcranial features that indicate that they are the sister taxon to Proconsuloidea + (Hominoidea + Cercopithecoidea). The Proconsuloidea contains a single family, the Proconsulidae, divided into three subfamilies: Proconsulinae, Afropithecinae, and Nyanzapithecinae (table 24.1). Given the level of taxonomic and adaptive diversity in the Proconsulidae, it may prove desirable at some later date to elevate these subfamilies to family rank. The Proconsulidae are medium- to large-sized catarrhines that are more derived postcranially than dendropithecoids, implying a closer relationship to crown catarrhines. The proconsulids are recognized here as the sister taxon to cercopithecoids + hominoids, based on the retention of a number of primitive cranial and postcranial features that are more derived in extant catarrhines (Harrison, 1987, 1988, 1993, 2002, 2005; Harrison and Gu, 1999; Rossie et al., 2002). However, it should be noted that most scholars prefer to recognize the proconsuloids as stem hominoids (the sister group of Hylobatidae + Hominidae; see, e.g., Rose, 1983, 1992, 1997; Andrews, 1985, 1992b; Andrews and Martin, 1987a; Begun et al., 1997; Kelley, 1997; Rae, 1997, 1999; Ward, 1997; Ward et al., 1997; Fleagle, 1999; Singleton, 2000; Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005) or even stem hominids

(the sister to great apes + humans; see Walker and Teaford, 1989; Walker, 1997). Regardless of their precise phylogenetic affinities, it is evident from the general similarity of their craniodental and postcranial anatomy that the proconsuloids occupy an evolutionary grade that is close to the initial radiation of all recent catarrhines (see Harrison, 1987, 1988, 1993, 2002, 2005). In addition to the species attributed with some confidence to either the Proconsuloidea or Dendropithecoidea, there are several problematic taxa that are difficult to classify, primarily because they are poorly known. Otavipithecus is most likely a proconsulid, possibly with affinities to the afropithecines (Andrews, 1992a, 1992b; Singleton, 2000), but its precise relationships cannot be determined at this time. Kalepithecus, Limnopithecus, Kogolepithecus, Lomorupithecus, and Kamoyapithecus are not well enough known to classify them with any confidence. It is probable, however, that most of these taxa are members of the Proconsuloidea or the Dendropithecoidea. Lomorupithecus has been suggested to be a member of the Pliopithecidae (Rossie and McLatchy, 2006), but the inferred synapomorphies are contradicted by features used to link the Eurasian members of this clade (Andrews et al., 1996; Harrison and Gu, 1999), and it is more likely that Lomorupithecus represents a dendropithecoid. Based on the primitive morphology of the upper molars of Kamoyapithecus, this taxon may be the sister taxon of all other catarrhines from the Miocene and later, including the Proconsuloidea and Dendropithecoidea (Harrison, 2002). Currently, 29 species of stem catarrhines are known from late Oligocene and Miocene localities in East Africa, and they clearly represented a taxonomically and adaptively diverse radiation (tables 24.1 and 24.2). During the early Miocene, the crown catarrhines—hominoids and cercopithecoids—diverged, although the fossil record documenting the earliest representatives of these two groups is rather poorly known. Cercopithecoids are first represented in the fossil record by an isolated tooth from Napak in Uganda dated to ~19 Ma. However, Old World monkeys do not become common until after ~17 Ma, and even then their taxonomic diversity remains low until the late Miocene when they begin a major radiation that continues into the PlioPleistocene (Benefit and McCrossin, 2002; Jablonski, 2002; see Jablonski and Frost, this volume, chap. 23). The hominoid

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ta b l e 24 .1 Classification of Dendropithecoidea, Proconsuloidea and Hominoidea Infraorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Catarrhini E. Geoffroy, 1812 Superfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dendropithecoidea, Harrison, 2002 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dendropithecidae, Harrison, 2002 Genus . . . . . . . . . Dendropithecus Andrews and Simons, 1977 Dendropithecus macinnesi (Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950) Genus . . . . . . . . . Micropithecus Fleagle and Simons, 1978 Micropithecus clarki Fleagle and Simons, 1978 Micropithecus leakeyorum Harrison, 1989 Genus . . . . . . . . . Simiolus Leakey and Leakey, 1987 Simiolus enjiessi Leakey and Leakey, 1987 Simiolus cheptumoae Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005 Simiolus andrewsi sp. nov. Superfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proconsuloidea Leakey, 1963 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proconsulidae Leakey, 1963 Subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . Proconsulinae Leakey, 1963 Genus . . . . . . . . . Proconsul Hopwood, 1933a Proconsul africanus Hopwood, 1933a Proconsul nyanzae Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950 Proconsul major Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950 Proconsul heseloni Walker, Teaford, Martin and Andrews, 1993 Proconsul gitongai (Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005) Subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . Afropithecinae Andrews, 1992a Genus . . . . . . . . . Afropithecus Leakey and Leakey, 1986a Afropithecus turkanensis Leakey and Leakey, 1986a Genus . . . . . . . . . Heliopithecus Andrews and Martin, 1987b Heliopithecus leakeyi Andrews and Martin, 1987b Genus . . . . . . . . . Nacholapithecus Ishida et al., 2004 Nacholapithecus kerioi Ishida et al., 2004 Genus . . . . . . . . . Equatorius S. Ward et al., 1999 Equatorius africanus (Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950) Subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . Nyanzapithecinae, Harrison, 2002 Genus . . . . . . . . . Nyanzapithecus Harrison, 1986 Nyanzapithecus vancouveringorum (Andrews, 1974)

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Nyanzapithecus pickfordi Harrison, 1986 Nyanzapithecus harrisoni Kunimatsu, 1997 Genus . . . . . . . . . Mabokopithecus Von Koenigswald, 1969 Mabokopithecus clarki Von Koenigswald, 1969 Genus . . . . . . . . . Rangwapithecus Andrews, 1974 Rangwapithecus gordoni Andrews, 1974 Genus . . . . . . . . . Turkanapithecus Leakey and Leakey, 1986b Turkanapithecus kalakolensis Leakey and Leakey, 1986b Genus . . . . . . . . . Xenopithecus Hopwood, 1933a Xenopithecus koruensis Hopwood, 1933a Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . incertae sedis Genus . . . . . . . . . .Otavipithecus Conroy, Pickford, Senut and Mein, 1992 Otavipithecus namibiensis Conroy, Pickford, Senut and Mein, 1992 Superfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . incertae sedis Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . incertae sedis Genus . . . . . . . . . Limnopithecus Hopwood, 1933a Limnopithecus legetet Hopwood, 1933a Limnopithecus evansi MacInnes, 1943 Genus . . . . . . . . . Lomorupithecus Rossie and MacLatchy, 2006 Lomorupithecus harrisoni Rossie and MacLatchy, 2006 Genus . . . . . . . . . Kalepithecus Harrison, 1988 Kalepithecus songhorensis (Andrews, 1978) Genus . . . . . . . . . Kamoyapithecus Leakey, Ungar and Walker, 1995 Kamoyapithecus hamiltoni (Madden, 1980a) Genus . . . . . . . . . Kogolepithecus Pickford, Senut, Gommery and Musiime, 2003 Kogolepithecus morotoensis Pickford et al., 2003 Superfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hominoidea Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hylobatidae Gray, 1870 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hominidae Gray, 1825 Subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . Kenyapithecinae Andrews, 1992a Genus . . . . . . . . . Kenyapithecus Leakey, 1962 (Leakey, 1961 reference) Kenyapithecus wickeri Leakey, 1962 (Leakey, 1961 reference) Subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . Ponginae Elliot, 1913 Subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . Homininae Gray, 1825 Tribe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gorillini Frechkop, 1943

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Genus . . . . . . . . . Sahelanthropus Brunet et al., 2002 Subfamily . . . . . . . . . . . . incertae sedis Genus . . . . . . . . . Samburupithecus Ishida and Pickford, 1997 Samburupithecus kiptalami Ishida and Pickford, 1997 Genus . . . . . . . . . Chororapithecus Suwa et al., 2007 Chororapithecus abyssinicus Suwa et al., 2007 Genus . . . . . . . . . Nakalipithecus Kunimatsu et al., 2007 Nakalipithecus nakayamai Kunimatsu et al., 2007

Genus . . . . . . . . . Gorilla Geoffroy, 1852 Gorilla gorilla (Savage and Wyman, 1847) Tribe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hominini Gray, 1825 Subtribe . . . . . . . . . . Panina Delson, 1977 Genus . . . . . . . . . Pan Oken, 1816 Pan troglodytes Gmelin, 1788 Pan paniscus Schwarz, 1929 Subtribe . . . . . . . . . . Hominina Gray, 1825 Genus . . . . . . . . . Australopithecus Dart, 1925 Genus . . . . . . . . . Paranthropus Broom, 1938 Genus . . . . . . . . . Homo Linnaeus, 1758 Subtribe . . . . . . . . . . Hominina? Genus . . . . . . . . . Ardipithecus White et al., 1995 Genus . . . . . . . . . Orrorin Senut et al., 2001 SOU RCE :

Harrison (2002); Andrews and Harrison (2005).

ta b l e 24 . 2 Geographic and temporal distribution of fossil dendropithecoids, proconsuloids, and hominoids from the late Oligocene and Miocene of Africa

Age

Kenya-Ethiopia

Late Miocene (10–5 Ma)

Orrorin tugenensis Ardipithecus kadabba Samburupithecus kiptalami Chororapithecus abyssinicus Nakalipithecus nakayamai

Middle Miocene (16–10 Ma)

Micropithecus leakeyorum Simiolus cheptumoae Simiolus andrewsi Proconsul sp. (Fort Ternan) Proconsul gitongai Nacholapithecus kerioi Equatorius africanus Nyanzapithecus pickfordi Nyanzapithecus harrisoni Mabokopithecus clarki Nyanzapithecinae indet. (Fort Ternan, Kapsibor) Kenyapithecus wickeri

Early Miocene, late (18–16 Ma)

Dendropithecus macinnesi Simiolus enjiessi Proconsul heseloni Proconsul nyanzae Afropithecus turkanensis Nyanzapithecus vancouveringorum Turkanapithecus kalakolensis

Early Miocene, early (23–18 Ma)

Late Oligocene (27–23 Ma)

Dendropithecus macinnesi Micropithecus clarki Proconsul africanus Proconsul major Proconsul sp. (Meswa Bridge) Rangwapithecus gordoni Xenopithecus koruensis Limnopithecus legetet Limnopithecus evansi Kalepithecus songhorensis

Uganda

Southern Africa

Other Regions Sahelanthropus tchadensis [Chad]

Otavipithecus namibiensis [Namibia]

Heliopithecus leakeyi [Saudi Arabia]

Afropithecus turkanensis Nyanzapithecinae indet. (Ryskop) [South Africa] Kogolepithecus morotoensis Micropithecus clarki Proconsul major

Lomorupithecus harrisoni Limnopithecus legetet Limnopithecus evansi

Kamoyapithecus hamiltoni

T WEN T Y-FOUR: DENDROPITHECOIDEA, PROCONSULOIDEA, AND HOMINOIDEA


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fossil record is equally sparse during the early part of the Miocene (if one excludes all of the proconsuloids; Harrison, 2002). Until recently, the best contender for an early hominoid was Morotopithecus, dating to ~21 Ma (Gebo et al., 1997). However, the associated fauna indicates a much younger age, and recent comparisons of Morotopithecus support the contention that it is a junior synonym of Afropithecus (Pickford, 2002; see also Andrews and Martin, 1987b). If Morotopithecus is excluded from the Hominoidea and placed in the Proconsuloidea, then the next oldest contenders for hominoid status are Nacholapithecus, Equatorius, and Otavipithecus from the middle Miocene. However, these taxa have no definitive synapomorphies linking them with extant hominoids, and they seem to have their closest affinities with afropithecine proconsulids (Andrews, 1992b; Singleton, 2000; Kelley et al., 2002; Ward and Duren, 2002). The current evidence indicates that Kenyapithecus wickeri from the middle Miocene (~14 Ma) of Fort Ternan is the earliest African hominoid. This species is known only from a handful of fragmentary fossils from a single locality in western Kenya, but it does appear to be more derived than both Equatorius and Nacholapithecus in aspects of its dentition and facial anatomy (Pickford, 1985, 1986c; Harrison, 1992; S. Ward et al., 1999; Kelley et al., 2002). Although the later Miocene record is quite sparse, the available material demonstrates that Africa supported a relatively high diversity of crown hominoids during this period. Teeth of indeterminate large catarrhines have been reported from the Ngorora Formation in Kenya (~12.0–12.5 Ma; Bishop and Chapman, 1970; Hill and Ward, 1988; Hill, 1999; Hill et al., 2002), and Pickford and Senut (2005a, 2005b) have recently identified isolated teeth of hominoids from the Ngorora Formation (~12.5 Ma) and the Lukeino Formation, Kenya (Kapsomin and Cheboit, ~5.9 Ma) that they claim are related to gorillas and chimpanzees respectively. Unfortunately, the material is not adequate to confirm their relationships, but it does seems likely that they represent several species of hominids, and some may even prove to be stem hominines. Samburupithecus from the late Miocene (~9.5 Ma) of Kenya is probably an early hominine (Ishida and Pickford, 1997; Pickford and Ishida, 1998), but clear-cut evidence linking it to the extant African apes or humans is meager at best. Recently recovered material from Nakali in central Kenya (~9.8–9.9Ma) and from Beticha in the Chorora Formation of Ethiopia (~10.0–10.5 Ma) belong to two new species of hominids that are inferred to be closely related to crown hominines (Nakatsukasa et al., 2006; Kunimatsu et al., 2007; Suwa et al., 2007). Nakalipithecus is most similar to, and probably closely related to, Ouranopithecus from Greece, but it is slightly older and somewhat more primitive dentally (Kunimatsu et al., 2007). Chororapithecus has been suggested to be the sister taxon to Gorilla, based on details of its molar morphology (Suwa et al., 2007), but the paucity of the material and the high probability of functional convergence prevent a definitive assessment of its phylogenetic relationships. Middle to late Pleistocene remains of chimpanzees have been reported from several sites in East Africa, but none is definitively identifiable as belonging to Pan. The proximal femur from Kikorongo Crater in southwestern Uganda (De Silva et al., 2006) and the isolated teeth from the Kapthurin Formation of Kenya (McBrearty and Jablonski, 2005) are possibly attributable to Homo. The specimens previously described as Pan sp. from Mumba Höhle in northern Tanzania (Lehmann, 1957) have been identified as H. sapiens (T. Harrison, unpublished data). While the fossil evidence documenting the

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evolutionary history of the African apes remains scanty, the homininan record is becoming increasingly well documented with major discoveries from the late Miocene (~7–6 Ma) onward (see MacLatchy et al. this volume, chap. 25).

Systematic Paleontology Superfamily DENDROPITHECOIDEA Harrison, 2002 Family DENDROPITHECIDAE Harrison, 2002 Genus DENDROPITHECUS Andrews and Simons, 1977

Included Species D. macinnesi (Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950)(type species). DENDROPITHECUS MACINNESI (Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950) Figure 24.1

Distribution Early Miocene (~17–20 Ma). Rusinga Island (Wayando, Hiwegi, and Kulu formations), Mfangano Island, Angulo (Rangoye Beds), Karungu, Songhor, and Koru (Chamtwara Member) in Kenya (Pickford and Andrews, 1981; Harrison, 1981, 1982, 1988, 2002; Pickford, 1981, 1983, 1986a, 1986b; Pickford et al., 1986b; Drake et al., 1988). Description A small- to medium-sized catarrhine with estimated body weights of ~9 kg and ~5–6 kg in males and females respectively. The main craniodental characteristics are as follows: incisors high crowned and narrow, and small in relation to the size of the molars; i2 asymmetrical in shape, with a convex distal margin; canines strongly sexually dimorphic in size and morphology; canines high crowned and bilaterally compressed in males, lower crowned and less compressed in females; upper canine in males with double mesial groove; upper premolars broad, with paraconid much more elevated than protoconid; p3 sectorial, with a high and bilaterally compressed crown, and a long mesiobuccal honing face; upper molars broad and rectangular, with high and voluminous cusps, well-developed crests, well-defined mesial and distal foveae and trigon basin, and a broad lingual cingulum; M1 < M3 < M2; lower molars long and quite broad, with high conical cusps, sharp occlusal crests, broad and transverse mesial fovea, well-defined and slightly obliquely oriented distal fovea, broad and deep talonid basin, and moderately well-developed buccal cingulum; marked increase in size from m1 to m3; palate long and narrow; large paired incisive foramina; nasal aperture narrow and tapers inferiorly between the roots of the upper central incisors; short subnasal clivus; maxillary sinus extensive; mandibular corpus low and robust; symphysis buttressed by moderately well-developed superior and inferior transverse tori (Le Gros Clark and Thomas, 1951; Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1951; Andrews and Simons, 1977; Andrews, 1978; Harrison, 1981, 1982, 1988, 2002). Dendropithecus macinnesi is known from several partial skeletons from Rusinga Island (Le Gros Clark and Thomas, 1951; Ferembach, 1958; Harrison, 1982; Fleagle, 1983; Rose, 1993). The main features are as follows: long and slender limb bones; proximal humerus lacks torsion; humeral shaft slightly retroflexed; distal humerus with a dorsal epitrochlear fossa, but lacking an entepicondylar foramen; distal articulation of humerus with globular capitulum, spool-shaped trochlea, and low lateral trochlear keel; proximal ulna with well- developed olecranon process; radius with oval head and relatively long neck; tarsals, metapodials, and phalanges generally resemble those of Proconsul. Dendropithecus was an active, arboreal

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FIGURE 24.1 Dendropithecus macinnesi. BM(NH) M 16650 (holotype), left mandibular fragment with p3–p4 and m2–m3: A) lateral view; B) medial view. Scale: 1 cm. Courtesy of P. Andrews.

quadrupedal primate, capable of powerful climbing, and at least some degree of forelimb suspension, most similar in its locomotor capabilities to the larger extant platyrrhines (Le Gros Clark and Thomas, 1951; Harrison, 1982, 2002; Fleagle, 1983; Rose, 1983, 1993; figure 24.1).

Distribution Early Miocene (~19–20 Ma). Napak in Uganda and Koru (Koru Formation, Legetet Formation, and Kapurtay Agglomerates, Chamtwara Member) in Kenya (Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981; Pickford, 1983, 1986a, 1986b; Pickford et al., 1986b; Harrison, 1988, 2002). Description A species distinguished from Mi. leakeyorum by the following features: p3 strongly sectorial, with moderately narrow crown; p4 and lower molars relatively broader, with weaker buccal cingulum and more poorly defined mesial and distal foveae; m3 much smaller than m2, with a marked reduction of the cusps and crests distally; upper molars slightly narrower, with narrower trigon and smaller hypocone; M3 relatively smaller with less well-developed cusps distally; M3 ≤ M1 < M2 (Harrison, 1989; figure 24.2). Postcranials from Koru and Napak provisionally referred to this species are smaller, but morphologically similar to those of D. macinnesi (T. Harrison, 1982, unpublished data). The frontal bone from Napak (UMP 68–25) was originally attributed to a cercopithecid, but subsequent workers have preferred to ascribe the specimen to Micropithecus clarki (Fleagle and Simons, 1978; Harrison, 1982, 1988). However, Rossie and MacLatchy (2006) have recently suggested that the specimen could belong to a cercopithecid after all. Further detailed comparisons are needed to fully resolve this issue, but attribution to Micropithecus clarki still seems the most likely taxonomic assignment for the Napak frontal.

Genus MICROPITHECUS Fleagle and Simons, 1978

Included Species Mi. clarki Fleagle and Simons, 1978 (type species), Mi. leakeyorum Harrison, 1989. Description Small catarrhines with an estimated body weight of ~4.5 kg and ~3 kg in males and females respectively. Key features are I1 broad and relatively high crowned; I2 almost bilaterally symmetrical; incisors large relative to the size of the cheek teeth; canines high crowned, bilaterally compressed, and markedly sexually dimorphic; upper premolars narrow with well-developed transverse crests; p3 sectorial, with long and narrow crown; p4 ovoid to circular, generally longer than broad; upper molars relatively narrow, with hypocone more lingually placed than protocone, trigon slightly broader than long, large distal fovea, and weak to moderately well-developed lingual cingulum; lower molars ovoid, with low rounded crests, and slightly oblique mesial fovea; lower face very short and broad; premaxilla probably did not make contact with the nasals; nasoalveolar clivus short; nasal aperture broad, and narrows inferiorly between the roots of the central incisors; orbits relatively large, and subcircular in outline; inferior orbital margin overlaps with the nasal aperture; broad interorbital region; inferior orbital fissure extensive; no supraorbital torus or glabellar eminence; weakly developed and widely spaced temporal lines; anterior root of the zygomatic arch originates above M2, close to the alveolar margin, and posteriorly placed in relation to the inferior orbital margin; maxillary sinus extensive; palate broad and shallow; large paired incisive foramina; sulcal pattern on endocranial surface of frontal similar to that of Proconsul and extant platyrrhines; mandible high and gracile, with low superior and inferior transverse tori (Pilbeam and Walker, 1968; Fleagle, 1975; Radinsky, 1975; Fleagle and Simons, 1978; Harrison, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1989, 2002). MICROPITHECUS CLARKI Fleagle and Simons, 1978 Figure 24.2

FIGURE 24.2 Micropithecus clarki. A) UMP 64-02 (holotype), palate and lower face, occlusal view. Courtesy of J. G. Fleagle. B) KNM-CA 380, mandible, occlusal view. Scale: 1 cm. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya.



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MICROPITHECUS LEAKEYORUM Harrison, 1989 Figure 24.3

Distribution Middle Miocene (~15–16 Ma). Maboko Island and Majiwa, Kenya (Andrews et al., 1981; Pickford, 1981, 1983, 1986a, 1986b; Feibel and Brown, 1991). Description A species distinguished from Mi. clarki by the following features: p3 more bilaterally compressed, with only moderate development of a honing face mesially; p4 relatively longer and narrower; lower molars relatively narrower, with a more pronounced buccal cingulum and better defined mesial and distal fovea; m3 subequal to or slightly larger in occlusal area than m2, and no indication on m3 of marked reduction of the cusps and occlusal crests distally; upper molars slightly broader, with a shorter and more restricted trigon and a larger hypocone; M3 relatively larger with better-developed cusps distally; M1 < M3 < M2 (Harrison, 1989; figure 24.3). Remarks Based on new finds of Mi. leakeyorum from Maboko, Benefit (1991) and Gitau and Benefit (1995) argue that the taxon should be transferred to the genus Simiolus. Unfortunately, no detailed descriptions of the material from Maboko have yet been published to substantiate this proposal. An undescribed facial fragment of a male individual apparently differs from Micropithecus clarki in having a deeper lower face and a different orientation of the anterior root of the zygomatic arch (Gitau and Benefit, 1995), but these differences could be due to sexual dimorphism. The lower cheek teeth of Mi. leakeyorum and Sim. enjiessi are generally similar, but the proportions and morphology of the upper cheek teeth are strikingly different. The following features distinguish Mi. leakeyorum from Sim. enjiessi: cheek teeth smaller in size; p3 with shorter mesiobuccal face and less obliquely aligned crown; p4 lower crowned; lower molars relatively narrower, with smaller mesial and distal foveae, relatively more elongated

mesial fovea, a more transversely aligned distal fovea, a hypoconid and hypoconulid that are more closely twinned, and a more strongly developed buccal cingulum; m3 subequal in size to m2 or only slightly larger; buccal cusps on m3 linearly arranged, with the hypoconulid placed more buccally; M2 and M3 relatively much broader; size differential between M1 and M2 much less marked, and lacks the peculiar shape difference between M1 and M2 typical of Sim. enjiessi; lingual margin of upper molars more convex, giving the cingulum a C-shaped rather than L-shaped configuration, mesial fovea relatively narrower, crest linking the hypocone and metacone less well developed, lingual cingulum does not continue around the hypocone; superior transverse torus of the mandible may have been more strongly developed than the inferior transverse torus (Harrison, 2002). These differences between Mi. leakeyorum and Sim. enjiessi provide adequate justification to include the two species in separate genera. It is interesting to note, however, that the two newly recognized species of Simiolus (discussed later), with their more elongated m1–m2 and relatively reduced m3, do narrow the morphological gap between Micropithecus and Simiolus, at least in their lower dentitions. Nevertheless, based on the strong morphological similarities between Mi. leakeyorum and Mi. clarki, they are retained here in a single genus. Once the undescribed material from Maboko is fully analyzed, and the relationships between the taxa included in Micropithecus and Simiolus have been carefully and critically reassessed, it may prove necessary to designate a distinct genus for the species from Maboko. Genus SIMIOLUS Leakey and Leakey, 1987

Included Species Sim. enjiessi Leakey and Leakey, 1987 (type species), Sim. cheptumoae Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005, Sim. andrewsi sp. nov. Description Small catarrhine primates with the following combination of features: lower incisors narrow, and small in relation to the size of the molars; upper canine (in females) moderately high crowned and buccolingually compressed; P3 triangular in occlusal outline; upper molars relatively long mesiodistally, with elevated cusps and crests, and a strong transverse crest linking the metacone and hypocone; p3 moderately bilaterally compressed with a long and steep honing face; lower molars relatively long and narrow, ovoid in occlusal outline, with moderately high and sharp cusps and crests, and well-defined basins; the mandible has a high and slender corpus, and well-developed superior and inferior transverse tori. The postcranial remains are comparable in morphology to Dendropithecus, and a similar positional behavior can be inferred (Leakey and Leakey, 1987; Rose et al., 1992; Rose, 1993). SIMIOLUS ENJIESSI Leakey and Leakey, 1987 Figure 24.4

Micropithecus leakeyorum. KNM-MB 14250, right mandibular fragment with m1–m2 (immature). A) Occlusal view; B) lateral view. Scale: 5 mm. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya.

FIGURE 24.3

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Distribution Early Miocene (~16.8–17.5 Ma). Kalodirr and Locherangan, northern Kenya (Leakey and Leakey, 1987; Anyonge, 1991; Boschetto et al., 1992). Description A catarrhine primate with an estimated body weight of ~6 kg and ~4 kg in males and females, respectively (Rose et al., 1992; Harrison, 2002). Characteristic features include face relatively short with orbits positioned far anteriorly; incisive foramen large; mandibular symphysis with superior transverse torus subequal to or larger than the inferior transverse torus; incisors relatively narrow and high crowned;

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canines buccolingually compressed; p3 high crowned and strongly sectorial, with relatively long mesiobuccal homing face; p4 long and narrow; P3 almost triangular in occlusal outline, with a pronounced degree of extension of enamel onto the buccal root; P4 with limited flare of the cusps, and welldeveloped lingual cingulum; molars with elevated cusps and sharp occlusal crests; lower molars relatively long and narrow, with poorly developed buccal cingulum, and well-defined, slightly oblique distal fovea; upper molars with large talon basin and well-developed lingual cingulum that continues around the hypocone; M1 much smaller than M2, and differs in shape, being much shorter and more rectangular; M2 and M3 relatively elongated mesiodistally and subequal in size; M3 relatively large without marked reduction of the distal cusps; upper molars with well-developed crest linking the hypocone and metacone (Leakey and Leakey, 1987; Harrison, 2002; figure 24.4). A number of postcranial specimens of Simiolus are known from Kalodirr (Leakey and Leakey, 1987; Rose et al., 1992; Rose, 1993). The most important features are as follows: humerus with slender and slightly retroflexed shaft, distinct dorsal epitrochlear fossa, no entepicondylar foramen, and distal articulation with modest lateral trochlear keel; femur with relatively small head, high neck angle, distinct tubercle on the neck; talus similar to that of other dendropithecids and to proconsulids; metacarpals and phalanges indicate a narrow hand with good flexion-grasping capabilities (Harrison, 1982;

Rose et al., 1992; Rose, 1993). Simiolus, like Dendropithecus, is inferred to have been an active and agile arboreal quadruped most similar in its positional behavior to the larger extant platyrrhines (Rose et al., 1992; Rose, 1993, 1997). SIMIOLUS CHEPTUMOAE Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005

Distribution Middle Miocene (~14.5 Ma). Kipsaraman Main, Muruyur Formation, Tugen Hills, Kenya (Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005). Description A species that is slightly smaller than the type species, Sim. enjiessi. p4 crown longer than broad, with weak buccal cingulum, and triangular mesial fovea. p4 differs from that of Sim. enjiessi in being relatively broader, the long axis of the crown is more obliquely oriented relative to the mesiodistal axis of the crown, and the mesial fovea is more triangular. P4 relatively broad, with a single transverse crest connecting the protocone and paracone. m1 with marked buccal flare, protoconid more mesially positioned than the metaconid, protocristid obliquely oriented, hypoconulid situated just to the buccal side of the midline of the tooth, postmetacristid bears a well-developed mesostylid (bifid metaconid apex of Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005), buccal cingulum weakly developed and distal fovea small. m3 relatively small (subequal in size to m1), whereas in Sim. enjiessi it is much larger than m1 and m2. Lower molars more elongated than those of Sim. enjiessi (Leakey and Leakey, 1987; Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005).

FIGURE 24.4 Simiolus enjiessi. A) KNM-WK 16960 (holotype), left premaxilla/maxilla with C-P3, lateral view. B) KNM-WK 16960, right C, P4 and M1–M3, and right M1–M3, occlusal view. C) KNM-WK 16960, left mandible with i1–m3, occlusal view. D) KNM-WK 16960, left mandible with i1–m3, lateral view. E) KNM-WK 17009, right distal humerus, anterior view. F) KNM-WK 17009, right distal humerus, posterior view. Scale: 1 cm. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya.



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SIMIOLUS ANDREWSI sp. nov. Figure 24.5

Distribution Middle Miocene (~13.7 Ma)(Pickford et al., 2006). Fort Ternan, Kenya. Holotype Left mandibular corpus with c–m3 (KNM-FT 20), and associated i2 (KNM-FT 25), p4 (KNM-FT 24), m2 (KNM-FT 21), and m3 (KNM-FT 23) from the right side. Two specimens, incorrectly accessioned as having been recovered from Maboko Island (a left i2, KNM-MB 124) and Songhor (a right lower canine, KNM-SO 1102), respectively, are identical in morphology and preservation to KNM-FT 20 and KNM-FT 25, and clearly represent antimeres of the same individual (Andrews and Walker, 1976; Harrison, 1992, 2002; figure 24.5). Referred Specimens KNM-FT 13, edentulous mandibular symphysis of an immature individual; KNM-FT 14, left mandibular corpus of an immature individual with m1 exposed in its crypt; KNM-FT 19, left M3 (Harrison, 1992). Etymology Named after Peter Andrews in recognition of his important contributions to the study of Miocene catarrhines. Diagnosis A species of Simiolus similar in overall dental size to Sim. enjiessi and slightly larger than Sim. cheptumoae. Differs from Sim. enjiessi in the following features: i2 relatively higher crowned and slightly broader, with a more distinctly angular distal margin, and a better-developed lingual pillar; lower canine (comparing those of presumed females) is slightly taller and more slender; p3 not as elongated or as bilaterally compressed, with a shorter honing face; p4 slightly broader, with more widely spaced cusps, more oblique transverse crest linking the main cusps, and less well-developed buccal cingulum; m2 relatively narrower (average breadth-length index is 79.4 in Sim. enjiessi and 75.7 in Sim. andrewsi) with a greater size differential between m1 and m2; m2 with slightly longer mesial fovea, more transversely aligned protocristid, broader distal fovea, somewhat better developed buccal cingulum, and hypoconulid more buccally displaced; m3 smaller than m2,

Simiolus andrewsi. KNM-FT 20 (holotype), left mandibular fragment with c–m3, A) lateral view; B) occlusal view. Scale: 1 cm. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya.

FIGURE 24.5

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with a more transversely oriented protocristid, a better-developed buccal cingulum, a relatively larger entoconid, and a smaller distal fovea; M3 mesiodistally shorter, relatively smaller in size, with more markedly reduced distal cusps (Harrison, 1992, 2002). Differs from Sim. cheptumoae in the following features: dentition slightly larger in size (lower cheek tooth areas average 17.3% larger); p4 relatively broader, with shorter mesial fovea; m1 with less pronounced buccal flare, more strongly developed buccal cingulum, and lacking a mesostylid on the postmetacristid; lower molars not as elongated (average breadth-length indices for m1 and m3 are 73.1 and 74.6 in Sim. cheptumoae and 81.4 and 77.8 in Sim. andrewsi); m3 larger than m1. Description i2 narrow and moderately high crowned, with angular distal margin, rounded lingual cingulum and distinct lingual pillar; lower canine of female individual moderately high crowned and slender, with a short distal heel; p3 is low crowned, mesiodistally elongated and bilaterally compressed, with a relatively short and steeply inclined honing face; p4 is long and narrow, and ovoid in occlusal outline, with a slight trace of a buccal cingulum; lower molars long and narrow, with shallow talonid basin, hypoconulid situated slightly toward the buccal side of the midline of the crown, large and welldefined distal fovea, and well-developed buccal cingulum. m3 slightly smaller than m2, but larger than m1. M3 relatively short and broad, with reduced distal cusps, and a moderately well-developed lingual cingulum (see Andrews and Walker, 1976; Harrison 1982, 1992 for additional illustrations, descriptions, and measurements). Remarks The small catarrhine primates from the middle Miocene of Fort Ternan were first described by Leakey (1968), who provisionally referred them to Limnopithecus sp. Andrews and Walker (1976) presented a more detailed description of the material, and tentatively assigned the specimens to Limnopithecus legetet. Later, Andrews (1980) suggested that the material had its closest affinities with Dendropithecus. Following the description of Simiolus enjiessi, I referred the Fort Ternan material to the latter genus but did not assign it to a species (Harrison, 1992, 2002). Given that that the Fort Ternan material is sufficiently distinct from all other previously described species and that the material is adequate to diagnose a separate taxon, the recognition of a new species appears fully justified. Nevertheless, the question remains whether this species should be attributed to Simiolus. Pickford and Kunimatsu (2005) have recently argued that the Fort Ternan material should not be included Simiolus, based mainly on the morphological differences in the lower dentition that distinguish it from Simiolus cheptumoae from Kipsaraman. However, one could use the same argument to negate the generic attribution of the material from Kipsaraman. The Fort Ternan species and Simiolus enjiessi share high-crowned and slender lower canines, bilaterally compressed p3 with relatively long honing faces, elongated lower molars with high conical cusps arranged peripherally and connected by well-developed crests; and a high and slender mandibular corpus. Among all of the East Africa Miocene catarrhine taxa, the species from Fort Ternan is morphologically closest to Simiolus enjiessi, being remarkably similar in many respects, and it is appropriate to include them together in the same genus. Unfortunately, the upper dentition, which is so distinctive in the type species, is largely unknown from Fort Ternan (and Kipsaraman). Additional finds might eventually necessitate the recognition of more than one genus for these three species, but pending such discoveries, it seems appropriate to retain them in the genus Simiolus.

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Superfamily PROCONSULOIDEA Leakey, 1963 Family PROCONSULIDAE Leakey, 1963 Subfamily PROCONSULINAE Leakey, 1963 Genus PROCONSUL Hopwood, 1933

few wrinkles. Buccal cingulum variably developed. Mesial and distal foveae generally well defined. m1 < m2 < m3 (Andrews, 1978; Walker et al., 1983, 1993; Andrews and Martin, 1991; Walker, 1997; Beynon et al., 1998; Harrison, 2002).

Included Species P. africanus Hopwood, 1933 (type species), P. heseloni Walker, Teaford, Martin and Andrews, 1993, P. nyanzae Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950, P. major Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950, P. gitongai (Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005). Description Medium- to large-sized catarrhines. Lower face moderately short and broad. Incisive fossa with large fenestra. C/ I2 diastema relatively large in males, but small in females. Nasal aperture relatively broad, rhomboidal in shape, tapering inferiorly between the central incisor roots, and widest just below midheight. Subnasal clivus short. Nasal bones long and narrow, and supported laterally by premaxillary alae. Premaxilla makes contact with the nasal bones, thereby excluding the maxilla from the margin of pyriform aperture (contra Andrews, 1978; Rae, 1999). Prominent canine jugum and shallow canine fossa. Single large infraorbital foramen. Palate long, rectangular and shallow. Maxillary sinus extensive. Zygomatic arch originates relatively low on the face. Articular fossa gutterlike, with well-developed eminence and postglenoid process. Short, broad tubelike external auditory meatus. Nuchal plane short and steeply angled, with a strongly developed external occipital protuberance located high on the neurocranium. Large subarcuate fossa. Frontal process of the zygomatic perforated by multiple zygomaticofacial foramina situated slightly above the inferior margin of the orbits. Low indistinct supraorbital costae and a slightly swollen glabellar region with an extensive frontal sinus. Interorbital region relatively broad. Orbits subrectangular, slightly broader than high, with a distinct angulation of the superolateral margin. Lacrimal duct located within the orbit. Neurocranium relatively large, with slight postorbital constriction. Superior temporal lines strongly marked and converge posteriorly, but do not meet to form a sagittal crest, at least in females. Cortical sulcal pattern generally similar to that of extant platyrrhines. Mandibular symphysis with superior transverse torus moderate to well developed, and inferior transverse torus generally weaker or entirely absent. Single mental foramen located below the premolars (Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1951; Napier and Davis, 1959; Davis and Napier, 1963; Corruccini and Henderson, 1978; Whybrow and Andrews, 1978; McHenry et al., 1980; Walker and Pickford, 1983; Falk, 1983; Walker et al., 1983; Walker, 1997; Harrison, 2002; Rossie et al., 2002). Upper incisors slightly procumbent. I1 narrow and high crowned, and much larger than I2. Upper canines relatively stout, moderately bilaterally compressed, with a single mesial groove. Canines strongly sexually dimorphic. Upper premolars mesiodistally short and broad, with a marked height differential between the paracone and protocone, especially on P3, and a weak lingual cingulum variably present on P4. Enamel on molars ranges from thin to thick (Beynon et al., 1998; Smith et al., 2003). Upper molars rectangular to rhomboidal in shape, and buccolingually broader than long. Cusps and crest moderately elevated, and occlusal basins generally well defined. Protoconule usually conspicuous. Lingual cingulum broad, and commonly beaded. Buccal cingulum variably developed. Hypocone large, with poorly developed crests linking it to the protocone or crista obliqua. M3 subequal in size to M2 or slightly larger, with variable regression of the metacone and hypocone. Lower incisors narrow and high crowned. p3 moderately sectorial, with relatively long mesiobuccal face. p4 usually broader than long, with a weak buccal cingulum. Lower molars relatively long and narrow, with simple “crystalline” cusps, and

PROCONSUL AFRICANUS Hopwood, 1933 Figure 24.6

Distribution Early Miocene (~19–20 Ma). Koru (Koru Formation, Legetet Formation, and Chamtwara Member of the Kapurtay Nephelinite Agglomerates), Songhor (Kapurtay Agglomerates), and Mteitei Valley, Kenya (Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981; Pickford, 1981, 1983, 1986a, 1986b; Harrison, 1988, 2002). Description A medium-sized catarrhine, comparable in overall size to P. heseloni (body weight estimates given later), although the teeth tend to be slightly smaller. It differs from P. heseloni in the following respects: lower canines more bilaterally compressed; upper premolars narrower, with greater height differential between the paracone and protocone; cingula and occlusal crests better developed on upper molars; hypocone and protocone subequal in size; M1 relatively narrower; M1< M3 < M2; lower molars with better-developed buccal cingula; m3 hypoconulid and hypoconid subequal in size, entoconid relatively larger and more distally placed relative to the hypoconid, distal fovea broader with better-developed crest linking the entoconid and hypoconulid, broader less triangular talonid with more reduced distal cusps; molar enamel thinner; mandibular symphysis with massive superior transverse torus only; mandibular corpus tends to be deeper, and shallows posteriorly more strongly (Andrews, 1978; Walker et al., 1993; Harrison, 2002; Smith et al., 2003; figure 24.6). PROCONSUL HESELONI Walker et al.,1993 Figure 24.7

Distribution Early Miocene (~17.0–18.5 Ma). Rusinga Island (Wayando, Kiahera, Hiwegi, and Kulu formations) and Mfangano Island (Kiahera, Rusinga Agglomerate, and Hiwegi formations) (Drake et al., 1988).

FIGURE 24.6 Proconsul africanus. BM(NH) M 14084 (holotype), left maxilla with C–M3, A) occlusal view; B) medial view. Scale: 1 cm. Courtesy of P. Andrews.



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Description A medium-sized catarrhine, similar in dental size to P. africanus, with an estimated body weight of ~10 kg and ~20 kg for females and males respectively (Ruff et al., 1989; Rafferty et al., 1995). Proconsul heseloni differs from P. africanus in the following characteristics: lower canines less bilaterally compressed; upper premolars slightly broader, with reduced height differential between the paracone and protocone; cingula and occlusal crests less well developed on upper molars; hypocone smaller than the protocone; M1 relatively broader; M1 < M2 ≤ M3; lower molars with less well-developed buccal cingulum; m3 hypoconulid larger than hypoconid, entoconid relatively smaller and positioned more directly transversely opposite the hypoconid, distal fovea less transversely aligned with weaker crest linking the entoconid and hypoconulid, and narrower and more triangular talonid with well-developed distal cusps; molar enamel intermediate thick; mandibular symphysis with inferior transverse torus subequal to or less pronounced than the supe-

rior transverse torus; mandibular corpus not as deep, and shallows less strongly posteriorly (Andrews, 1978; Walker et al., 1993; Harrison, 2002; Smith et al., 2003). The skull of P. heseloni has been described and analyzed in some detail previously (Le Gros Clark, 1950; Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1951; Napier and Davis, 1959; Davis and Napier, 1963; Corruccini and Henderson, 1978; McHenry et al., 1980; Walker and Pickford, 1983; Walker et al., 1983; Teaford et al., 1988), and it provides the basis for the description presented for the genus above. Walker et al. (1983) have estimated the cranial capacity of the type specimen at 167.3 cm3, suggesting that Proconsul heseloni was more encephalized than extant cercopithecids of comparable body size. However, Manser and Harrison (1999) have predicted a brain size of only 130.3 cm3 based on a regression of foramen magnum area, which suggests that the degree of encephalization in Proconsul was close to the mean for anthropoids (figure 24.7).

FIGURE 24.7 Proconsul heseloni. KNM-RU 7290 (holotype), partial skull: A) cranium, facial view; B) cranium, lateral view; C) cranium, palatal view; D) cranium, oblique superolateral view; E) mandible occlusal view; F) mandible lateral view. Scale: 3 cm—upper bar for A, B, and D; lower bar for C, E, and F. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya.

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The postcranial skeleton of Proconsul heseloni is well-known, being represented by at least nine partial skeletons from Rusinga Island (Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1951; Napier and Davis, 1959; Walker and Pickford, 1983; Walker et al., 1985; Walker and Teaford, 1989). Although the postcranium corresponds closely in almost every respect to the primitive catarrhine morphotype, a few traits have been inferred to be synapomorphies linking Proconsul with extant hominoids (Harrison, 1982, 1987, 1993, 2002; Rose, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1997; Walker and Pickford, 1983; Walker et al., 1993; Walker, 1997; C. Ward et al., 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997; Ward, 1993, 1997, 1998; Kelley, 1997). Thorax relatively long and narrow (Ward, 1993, 1997; Ward et al., 1993). Lumbar vertebrae with centra that are long, with relatively small cranial and caudal surface areas (Sanders and Bodenbender, 1994; Harrison and Sanders, 1999) and moderately well-developed ventral keels. Sacrum relatively narrow, with small sacroiliac joint (Rose, 1993). Based on a purported partial sacrum it has been argued that P. heseloni did not have a tail, but this inference has been contested (Ward et al., 1991; Ward, 1997; Harrison, 1998; C. Ward et al., 1999). Ilium narrow. Ischial tuberosities lacking as in platyrrhines (Rose, 1993; Harrison and Sanders, 1999). Estimated intermembral, brachial and crural indices of 88, 96, and 92 respectively (Walker and Pickford, 1983; Harrison, 2002). Limb bones relatively robust (Ruff et al., 1989). Scapula most similar to those of colobines and platyrrhines (Rose, 1993, 1997). Humerus with posteriorly directed head, retroflexed shaft, no entepicondylar foramen or dorsiepitrochlear fossa, and distal articulation with distinct lateral keel, globular capitulum, and narrow zona conoidea (Harrison, 1982, 1987; Rose, 1993, 1997). Radial head ovoid, with beveled margin. Ulna with well-developed olecranon process and a styloid process that articulates with the carpus (Napier and Davis, 1959; Harrison, 1982, 1987; Beard et al., 1986). Os centrale unfused. Hand relatively long (Walker et al., 1993), with a well-developed thumb and a mobile trapezium–first metacarpal joint (Rafferty, 1990; Rose, 1992, 1993). Femur with high neck angle (Walker, 1997). Distal end of femur relatively broad, with medial condyle slightly larger than lateral condyle. Fibula stout. Foot similar to those of arboreal quadrupedal primates (Harrison, 1982; Langdon, 1986; Rose, 1993; Strasser, 1993). Phalanges quite stout and slightly curved (Begun et al., 1993). Hallux well developed with a powerful grasping capability. The postcranium indicates that P. heseloni was an arboreal, quadrupedal catarrhine, most similar in its locomotor repertoire to extant colobines and larger platyrrhines (Harrison, 1982; Rose, 1983, 1993, 1994; Walker and Pickford, 1983; Walker, 1997; Li et al., 2002).

lower molars relatively broader; greater size differential between m1 and m2; m3 has a larger entoconid connected to the hypoconulid by a well-developed crest; greater size differential between M1 and M2; M1 and M2 relatively narrower, with hypocone subequal in size to metacone, lingual cingulum better developed, and distal transverse crest more pronounced; M3 relatively larger; greater degree of secondary wrinkling on upper and lower molars; slightly thicker molar enamel; no inferior transverse torus on the mandible (Harrison, 2002; Smith et al., 2003). The postcranium of Proconsul nyanzae is represented by a partial skeleton from Mfangano Island (Ward et al., 1993), two partial skeletons from the Kaswanga Primate Site, and a number of associated and isolated postcranial elements from Rusinga Island (Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1951; Le Gros Clark, 1952; Preuschoft, 1973; Harrison, 1982, 2002). Despite the size difference, Proconsul nyanzae is remarkably similar in its postcranial morphology to P. heseloni (figure 24.8). PROCONSUL MAJOR Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950 Figure 24.9

Distribution Early Miocene (~19–20 Ma). Songhor, Mteitei Valley, and Koru (Koru Formation, Legetet Formation, and Kapurtay Agglomerate, Chamtwara Member), Kenya and Napak (I, IV, V, IX, and CC), Uganda (Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981; Pickford, 1981, 1983, 1986a, 1986b; Pickford et al., 1986b; Harrison, 1988, 2002; Senut et al., 2000; MacLatchy and Rossie, 2005). Senut et al. (2000) and Pickford et al. (2003) have referred several isolated teeth and a fragmentary femur from Moroto II (17.0–17.5 Ma) to

PROCONSUL NYANZAE Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1950 Figure 24.8

Distribution Early Miocene (~17.0–18.5 Ma). Rusinga Island (Wayando, Kiahera, Hiwegi and Kulu Formations), Mfangano Island (Kiahera, Rusinga Agglomerate, and Hiwegi Formations), and Karungu, western Kenya (Drake et al., 1988). Description A large catarrhine, intermediate in dental size between P. heseloni and P. major. Estimated body weight range of 20–50 kg (Ruff et al., 1989; Rafferty et al., 1995), with males and females probably averaging ~28 kg and ~40 kg, respectively. Proconsul nyanzae is morphologically very similar to P. heseloni. It differs primarily in its larger size, and the following morphological features: canines less bilaterally compressed; P3 with greater height differential between paracone and protocone;

FIGURE 24.8 Proconsul nyanzae. BM(NH) M 16647 (holotype), lower face and palate: A) lateral view, B) occlusal view. Scale: 2 cm. Courtesy of P. Andrews.



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this taxon, but this attribution is questionable (see also MacLatchy and Rossie, 2005), and the teeth, at least, are consistent in morphology with those of Afropithecus turkanensis (T. Harrison, unpublished data). Description A large catarrhine, similar to or slightly larger in dental size than Pongo pygmaeus, with an estimated body weight of 60–90 kg (Harrison, 1982; Rafferty et al., 1995; Gommery et al., 1998). Proconsul major (along with P. gitongai) is the largest species of Proconsul, with average dental dimensions almost 20% larger than those of P. nyanzae. It is not as wellknown as P. heseloni or P. nyanzae, being represented by a small number of jaw fragments and isolated teeth (Pilbeam, 1969; Andrews, 1978; Martin, 1981). Proconsul major is characterized by the following features: massive superior transverse torus with no inferior torus (as in P. africanus); upper and lower incisors relatively broader; upper canines less bilaterally compressed and more tusklike; canines with distinctive sinusoidal curvature of distal crest and a bladelike tip; upper premolars narrower, with cusps more similar in height; lower molar proportions differ from P. nyanzae in having a less marked size differential between m1 and m2; m3 tends to be larger relative to m2; lower molars have a stronger buccal cingulum than in P. nyanzae and P. heseloni; M3 relatively large as in P. nyanzae (Andrews, 1978; Martin, 1981; Harrison, 2002). Postcranial remains from Koru, Songhor, and Napak include a scapular fragment, humeral shaft fragments, metapodials, phalanges, a navicular, calcanei, tali, several femoral fragments, and a distal tibia (MacInnes, 1943; Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1951; Preuschoft, 1973; Harrison, 1982; Conroy and Rose, 1983; Langdon 1986; Rafferty et al., 1995; Gommery et al., 1998, 2002; Senut et al., 2000). Despite their larger size, they are generally similar to the corresponding elements of P. heseloni and P. nyanzae, but distinctions do indicate differences in locomotor and positional behavior (Harrison, 1982; Senut et al., 2000; Gommery et al., 2002). Nengo and Rae (1992) have described a fragmentary distal ulna of P. major as being much more hominoid-like than that of P. heseloni, but the attribution of this specimen is questionable (Rose, 1997; Walker, 1997; figure 24.9). Remarks Senut et al. (2000) have argued that Proconsul major is distinct enough from other species of Proconsul to merit being placed in its own genus, Ugandapithecus. Justification for this position is provided by its unique combination of morphological features, especially the specializations of the canines and premolars. However, one could argue with equal justification that these are differences that one would typically expect to distinguish species within a genus. In their diagnosis of Ugandapithecus, Senut et al. (2000) include several features of the proximal femur that differentiate it from P. heseloni and P. nyanzae, but unfortunately comparative material of P. africanus is not available. There is no doubt that P. major is closest morphologically to the other species of Proconsul when compared to other Miocene taxa, and together they form a tight-knit clade. However, despite the close similarity of these species, one could argue for a separate genus on phylogenetic grounds if it could be demonstrated that P. major was the sister group to a clade comprising the other species of Proconsul, or that it shared derived features with another taxon. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to establish the relationships among Proconsul species to help resolve this matter. Proconsul heseloni and P. nyanzae are morphologically very similar to each other, and it does seem reasonable to conclude that they are one another’s sister taxa. Proconsul major shares a well-developed

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Proconsul major, KNM-LG 452, partial mandible: A) occlusal view, B) lateral view. Scale: 2 cm. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya.

FIGURE 24.9

superior transverse torus of the mandible with P. africanus, and this specialization may serve to unite these two species as a clade. If this is the case, pairs of sister species of Proconsul would co-occur at Kenyan localities in chronological succession, with P. major + P. africanus at 19–20 Ma, followed by P. heseloni + P. nyanzae at 17–18 Ma (Harrison, 2002; MacLatchy and Rossie, 2005; Harrison and Andrews, in press). If confirmed, it would argue against recognizing P. major as a separate genus. In fact, a much stronger case might be made for separating the two species pairs as different genera, in which case africanus + major would be retained in Proconsul (the type species being P. africanus), and a new genus would have to be recognized for heseloni + nyanzae. As an alternative interpretation, P. major does exhibit a few features that presage the derived morphology seen in Afropithecinae, such as more tusklike canines and narrower upper premolars with cusps more similar in height. This could imply a closer relationship with this latter clade, thereby supporting a generic distinction. However, given the close morphological similarity between species of Proconsul, and our current lack of understanding of the precise relationships among them, it is best to group them together in a single genus, Proconsul. As a result, Ugandapithecus is recognized here as a junior synonym of Proconsul (see also MacLatchy and Rossie, 2005). If these species are included together in Proconsul, then an interesting consequence is that the genus contains taxa with at least a fivefold difference in estimated average body mass. Very few modern genera of mammals have species that encompass such a range of body mass, presumably because the ecological and physiological correlates associated with such differences in body size profoundly influence behavior and morphology, which in turn necessitates recognizing

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different genera. However, exceptions do exist among African large mammals (e.g., Theropithecus and Tragelaphus). Males of Theropithecus spp. (extant and extinct), for example, probably ranged in body mass from about 20 kg to almost 100 kg (Delson et al., 2000). This observation may have implications for interpreting the ecological and behavioral plasticity of Proconsul. PROCONSUL GITONGAI (Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005) Figure 24.10

Distribution Early middle Miocene (~14.5 Ma). Kipsaraman, Muruyur Formation, Tugen Hills, Kenya (Hill et al., 1991; Pickford, 1998; Behrensmeyer et al., 2002; Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005). Description A species of Proconsul similar in size or slightly larger than P. major. It is poorly known, being represented only by two associated upper molars (holotype) and seven isolated teeth (Hill et al., 1991; Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005). The upper molars differs from those of P. major in the following respects: cusps with higher relief and more blocky appearance; trigon basin and distal fovea somewhat deeper; broader lingual cingulum, extending distally onto the mesiolingual aspect of the hypocone, with a tendency to develop an accessory cuspule; and enamel more coarsely wrinkled. An upper canine (female) and a germ of a lower canine (male) are known, and these are comparable in all respects to those of P. major, including the distinctive bladelike tip in the lower canine. m3 has a narrow mesial fovea, postmetacristid bearing a distinct mesostylid, a tendency to develop accessory cuspules between the main cusps, and a narrow and discontinuous buccal cingulum (Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005; figure 24.10). Remarks Pickford and Kunimatsu (2005) included this species in Ugandapithecus, but as discussed earlier, this genus is recognized here as a junior synonym of Proconsul. Moreover, given the paucity of material, the relatively minor distinctions in the upper and lower molars, and the almost complete overlap in size, I am not convinced that P. gitongae is sufficiently different from P. major to merit attribution to a separate species. It is telling that Pickford and Kunimatsu (2005) consider an upper molar from Moroto II, attributed to P. major (Pickford et al., 1999, 2003), as possibly belonging to P. gitongai, based on its very large size (although the specimen is considered here to belong to Afropithecus turkanensis). This implies that size is a key factor in discriminating these species, yet the sample sizes of P. major are not adequate to determine the range of intraspecific variation in this respect. Certainly, similar morphological and metrical distinctions could be used to separate early Miocene samples of P. major (Martin, 1981), and such differences appear to be typical of intraspecific variation between populations of extant species (e.g., Pilbrow, 2006). The overall

Proconsul gitongai. A) Bar 737’02, left M1 (holotype). B) Bar 210’02, left M2. C) Bar 213’02, right m3. Scale: 1 cm. Courtesy of M. Pickford.

FIGURE 24.10

similarity in the molars and the distinctive morphology of the lower canines does suggest that the P. major and P. gitongai samples might be conspecific or at least closely related members of a single evolving lineage. The difference in age between the Kipsaraman sample and the youngest specimens of P. major (more than 4 myrs—less if specimens from Moroto are included in P. major) may have been an important contributing factor in the decision to recognize a new species. A time range of over 5 myrs for a single species of fossil catarrhine would represent a remarkable temporal span, and no other species from the early Miocene of East Africa can be definitively demonstrated to have survived into the middle Miocene. Until larger samples are available to establish its morphological distinctiveness, or until a detailed taxonomic revision of the larger proconsulids is undertaken, Proconsul gitongai is provisionally retained as a separate species. PROCONSUL sp. from Meswa Bridge

Distribution Early Miocene (~22.5 Ma). Meswa Bridge (Locality 36), Muhoroni Agglomerate, Kenya (Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford, 1981, 1986a; Pickford and Andrews, 1981; Harrison and Andrews, in press). Description A species of Proconsul that is intermediate in dental size between P. nyanzae and P. major. It differs from all known species in the following features: incisors relatively low crowned; deciduous canines relatively larger, more robust, and high crowned; molars and deciduous premolars relatively broader and higher crowned, with a more pronounced degree of buccolingual flare, cusps less voluminous and situated farther from the crown margin, and better developed cingula; p4 broader, with better-developed buccal cingulum and smaller distal basin; lower molars less rectangular in occlusal outline, with a longer and narrower mesial fovea, smaller distal fovea, more restricted talonid basin, hypoconid larger than the protoconid, and a tendency for a smaller hypoconulid; size differential among dp4, m1, and m2 not as great; mandibular corpus in infants of comparable dental age relatively more slender with a less prominent development of the superior transverse torus (at least compared with P. major); maxilla robust with larger diastema and better developed canine jugum and canine fossa (Andrews et al., 1981; Harrison and Andrews, in press). Remarks All of the material comes from a single excavation site at Meswa Bridge, and it comprises at least five individuals ranging in age from infant to late juvenile. While acknowledging the distinctiveness of the material, Andrews et al. (1981) deferred naming a new species because the hypodigm consists entirely of immature individuals. However, sufficient examples of the permanent dentition are available to be able to make comparisons with other known species of Proconsul and to distinguish the Meswa Bridge sample as a separate species (Harrison and Andrews, in press). This material represents the oldest known species of Proconsul, and only Kamoyapithecus among fossil catarrhines has greater antiquity in the East African fossil record. Like Kamoyapithecus, Proconsul from Meswa Bridge primitively retains broad molars with marked buccolingual flare and prominent cingula that are reduced in all later proconsulids. It presumably represents the sister taxon of the other five species of Proconsul but is close enough morphologically to be included in the same genus. Subfamily AFROPITHECINAE Andrews, 1992 Genus AFROPITHECUS Leakey and Leakey, 1986



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Distribution Early Miocene (~17–18 Ma). Kalodirr and Moruorot (Lothidok Formation, Kalodirr Member), Buluk (Bakate Formation, Buluk Member), and Locherangan, northern Kenya, and Moroto I and II, eastern Uganda (Leakey and Walker, 1985, 1997; McDougall and Watkins, 1985; Leakey and Leakey, 1986a; Watkins, 1989; Anyonge, 1991; Boschetto et al., 1992). Radiometric dates indicate an age for Moroto of older than 20.6 Ma (Gebo et al., 1997). However, the fauna correlates best with those from late early Miocene or early middle Miocene localities (Pickford et al., 1986a, 1999, 2003), and it seems likely that Moroto is broadly contemporaneous with the Afropithecus localities in northern Kenya. Description A large catarrhine, comparable in dental size to Proconsul major, but possibly smaller in body size, with an estimated body weight of 30–55 kg (Sanders and Bodenbender, 1994; Leakey and Walker, 1997; Gebo et al., 1997; MacLatchy and Pilbeam, 1999). Skull with the following characteristics: long, broad and domed muzzle; palate shallow, long and narrow, with toothrows parallel sided or converging slightly posteriorly; incisive foramen comprising large paired openings; large diastema between C and I2; premaxilla narrow but anteriorly protruding, with contact superiorly with the nasals;

steeply inclined frontal; strong postorbital constriction; temporal lines strongly marked and converge in the midline far anteriorly to form a frontal trigon; frontal sinus present in the glabellar region; supraorbital costae slender; supraorbital notch at the medial angle of the orbital margin; broad interorbital region; nasals long and narrow, with midline keeling and concave contour in lateral view; pyriform aperture only slightly higher than broad, and oval in shape; subnasal clivus relatively short; canine jugum prominent, with shallow canine fossa; distinct maxillary fossa just below and anterior to the orbit; double infraorbital foramina; anterior root of the zygomatic arch deep, superiorly sloping, and attaches relatively low on the face; maxillary sinus extensive; orbit broader than high, and asymmetrical in shape; orbital process of frontal narrow; lacrimal fossa extends onto the face just anterior to the margin of the orbit; mandible with very deep corpus, distinct mandibular fossa, single mental foramen, ramus set at an oblique angle to the corpus, symphysis with strong inferior transverse torus and lacking superior transverse torus, and steeply sloping subincisive planum (Allbrook and Bishop, 1963; Pilbeam, 1969; Andrews, 1978; Leakey and Leakey, 1986a; Leakey et al., 1988a; Leakey and Walker, 1997; Pickford, 2002; figures 24.11 and 24.12). Upper incisors strongly procumbent, and angled obliquely toward the midline; I1 relatively broad, and much larger than I2; lower incisors broad, especially i2; upper canine in males broad and tusklike, with an almost circular basal cross section, a deep mesial groove and a bladelike tip as in P. major;

Afropithecus turkanensis. KNM-WK 16999 (holotype), partial cranium: A) frontal view; B) occlusal view. Scale: 3 cm. Courtesy of the National Museums of Kenya.

FIGURE 24.12 Afropithecus turkanensis, UMP 62-11, palate and lower face: A) facial view; B) palatal view; C) lateral view. Scale: 3 cm. Courtesy of D. Pilbeam and Martin Pickford.

Included Species A. turkanensis Leakey and Leakey, 1986 (type species). AFROPITHECUS TURKANENSIS Leakey and Leakey, 1985 Figures 24.11–24.14

FIGURE 24.11

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lower canine stout, bilaterally compressed and relatively low crowned; strong sexual dimorphism in canine size; P3 larger than P4; upper premolars broad, with only moderate difference in height between paraconid and protoconid, and lacking a lingual cingulum; upper premolars relatively large in relation to M1; p3 relatively large, narrow and sectorial; p4 generally broader than long; upper premolars and molars have marked buccolingual flare; upper molars relatively narrow, with bunodont cusps, wrinkled enamel, small mesial fovea, moderate to weak development of lingual cingulum, and large hypocone (subequal in size to protocone); M1 < M2 ≤ M3; lower molars relatively broad; m1 < m2 < m3; enamel of cheek teeth thick with heavy wrinkling (Leakey and Leakey, 1986a; Leakey et al., 1988a; Leakey and Walker, 1997; Smith et al., 2003). Isolated postcranials of Afropithecus from Kalodirr and Buluk (Leakey and Leakey, 1986a; Leakey et al., 1988a; Leakey and Walker, 1997) are similar in size and morphology to those of P. nyanzae (Leakey et al., 1988a; Rose, 1997; Ward, 1997, 1998). In addition, a small sample of postcranial specimens is known from Moroto. The lumbar vertebrae share some morphological specialization with hominoids, including robust pedicles, lack of anapophyses, reduced ventral keeling, a caudally inclined spinous process, and dorsally oriented transverse process arising from the pedicle (Walker and Rose, 1968; Ward, 1993; Sanders and Bodenbender, 1994; MacLatchy et al., 2000; Nakatsukasa, 2008). The glenoid articular surface of the scapula is rounded and expanded superiorly as in hominoids (MacLatchy and Pilbeam, 1999; MacLatchy et al., 2000), although several authors have argued that this specimen may not belong to a primate (Pickford et al., 1999; Senut et al., 2000; Johnson et al., 2000). The femoral and phalangeal fragments are similar in morphology to those of Proconsul (MacLatchy and Bossert, 1996; Gebo et al.,

1997; MacLatchy and Pilbeam, 1999; Pickford et al., 1999; MacLatchy et al., 2000). Taken together the postcranials indicate an arboreal quadrupedal locomotor pattern similar to Proconsul, but with a greater emphasis on orthograde climbing and clambering (Leakey and Walker, 1997; Ward, 1998; MacLatchy et al., 2000; Nakatsukasa, 2008; figure 24.13). Remarks Leakey and Walker (1985) described a small collection of fossil catarrhines from the locality of Buluk in northern Kenya, and assigned part of the material to Sivapithecus (an attribution questioned by Delson [1985] and Pickford [1986c]). These specimens were later assigned to Afropithecus turkanensis, along with material from Kalodirr, Moruorot, and Locherangan (Leakey and Walker, 1997). Recently, Pickford (in Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005) suggested that the Buluk material might have closer affinities with P. gitongai. In addition to the material from northern Kenya, specimens from Moroto in eastern Uganda, previously assigned to the species Morotopithecus bishopi, are included here in A. turkanensis. A close taxonomic and phylogenetic association between Afropithecus and Morotopithecus has been suggested previously (Andrews and Martin, 1987b; Leakey et al., 1988a; Andrews, 1992b; Leakey and Walker, 1997). However, Pickford’s (2002) revised reconstruction of the Moroto lower face (UMP 62-11) and his critical reassessment of the morphological similarities between the Moroto specimen and the partial cranium of A. turkanensis (KNM-WK 16999) provide convincing evidence that the two should be included together in a single species (figure 24.14). This interpretation is further supported by the recent findings of Patel and Grossman (2006), who, seemingly unaware of Pickford’s (2002) paper, concluded from their comparison of dental metrics that the holotypes of Morotopithecus and Afropithecus are not sufficiently different to justify a taxonomic distinction. Linking the catarrhine faunas from Buluk, Kalodirr, Locherangan and Moroto

Figure 24.13 Afropithecus turkanensis. UMP 67-28, lumbar vertebra A) lateral view; B) caudal view; C) dorsal view; D) cranial view. Scale: 3 cm. MUZM 80, E) right femur; F) left proximal femur. Scale: 5 cm. Courtesy of L. MacLatchy.



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further emphasizes the strong provinciality that distinguishes the late early Miocene faunas from northern East Africa and those from western Kenya (Hill et al., 1991; Harrison, 2005). Previously, Morotopithecus was considered to be an early Miocene hominoid based on the presence of shared derived characteristics of the postcranium linking it with extant apes (Ward, 1993; Sanders and Bodenbender, 1994; Gebo et al., 1997; MacLatchy et al., 2000; Young and MacLatchy, 2004). In fact, the most detailed phylogenetic analysis published to date indicates that Morotopithecus is a stem hominid (Young and MacLatchy, 2004). The best evidence for this comes from lumbar vertebrae from Moroto II, which share derived characteristics with extant hominoids (Walker and Rose, 1968; Ward, 1993; Sanders and Bodenbender, 1994; MacLatchy et al., 2000; Nakatsukasa, 2008). These specializations are functionally and behaviorally associated with a dorsostable lower back and more orthograde postures, similar to the derived positional pattern seen in modern hominoids (Ward, 1993; Sanders and Bodenbender, 1994; MacLatchy et al., 2000). The lumbar morphology of Morotopithecus contrasts with the condition seen in primitive catarrhines, such as Proconsul, which have long and flexible lower backs (Ward, 1993; Sanders and Bodenbender, 1994; Nakatsukasa, 2008). It should be noted, however, that Pickford (2002) prefers to assign these vertebrae to Ugandapithecus. Other postcranials from Moroto indicate a general similarity to Proconsul and to Afropithecus from Kalodirr and imply that it may have retained the primitive catarrhine morphology, at least in its appendicular skeleton (Pickford et al., 1999; MacLatchy et al., 2000). Although

FIGURE 24.14 Comparison of Afropithecus and Morotopithecus. A) Afropithecus turkanensis (holotype) KNM-WK 16999, face in lateral view. B) Morotopithecus bishopi (holotype), UMP 62-11, lower face in lateral view. Scale: 3 cm. Courtesy of M. Pickford.

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I ultimately preferred to recognize Morotopithecus as a stem hominoid (Harrison, 2002, 2005), I kept open the possibility that the dental similarities with afropithecines were valid synapomorphies, and that Morotopithecus was merely a large orthograde proconsulid that developed its own unique adaptations in the vertebral column in parallel with those of extant hominoids (see also Nakatsukasa, 2008). This latter interpretation now seems to be the most likely alternative. As a result, Morotopithecus is considered here to be a junior subjective synonym of Afropithecus (following Pickford, 2002) and is included in the Proconsuloidea rather than the Hominoidea. Genus HELIOPITHECUS Andrews and Martin, 1987

Included Species H. leakeyi Andrews and Martin, 1987 (type species). HELIOPITHECUS LEAKEYI Andrews and Martin, 1987 Figure 24.15

Distribution Early middle Miocene. Dam Formation, Ad Dabtiyah, Saudi Arabia (Andrews et al., 1978; Andrews and Martin, 1987b). Description A large catarrhine intermediate in size between Proconsul heseloni and P. nyanzae, and somewhat smaller than Afropithecus turkanensis (Andrews and Martin, 1987b; Andrews, 1992b). The genus and species is based on a maxillary fragment (the holotype) and four isolated teeth, so knowledge of its anatomy is rather limited (Andrews et al., 1978; Andrews and Martin, 1987b). The main features are as follows: palate relatively shallow and narrow, with parallel tooth rows; large diastema between C and I2 (at least in males); upper premolars large in relation to molars; P3 larger than P4; P3 with marked difference in height between paracone and protocone; P4 with lingual cingulum; upper cheek teeth relatively low crowned with voluminous cusps and relatively thick enamel; upper molars slightly broader than long, with moderate development of the lingual cingulum, and a small buccal cingulum (Andrews et al., 1978; Andrews and Martin, 1987b; figure 24.15). Remarks Heliopithecus differs from Proconsul and resembles Afropithecus (as well as Equatorius) in the following derived characters: upper premolars relatively large, and upper molars narrower with reduced development of the lingual cingulum, more bunodont cusps, and thicker enamel. Several researchers have suggested that Heliopithecus may be congeneric with Afropithecus (which has priority; see Andrews et al., 1987; Andrews and Martin, 1987b; Leakey et al., 1988a). However, Heliopithecus is distinguished from Afropithecus in having relatively broader cheek teeth, greater differential between the heights of

Heliopithecus leakeyi, BM(NH) M 35145 (holotype), left maxilla with P3–M2, occlusal view. Courtesy of P. Andrews.

FIGURE 24.15

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the paracone and protocone on P3, presence of a lingual cingulum on P4, upper molars with relatively smaller hypocone, and better-developed lingual cingulum. These differences indicate that Heliopithecus is more primitive than Afropithecus and should be recognized as a distinct genus. Genus NACHOLAPITHECUS Ishida et al., 2004

Included Species Na. kerioi Ishida et al., 2004 (type species). NACHOLAPITHECUS KERIOI Ishida et al., 2004 Figure 24.16

Distribution Early middle Miocene (~15–16 Ma). Aka Aiteputh Formation, Nachola, Samburu District, Kenya (Pickford et al., 1984a, 1984b; Makinouchi et al., 1984; Itaya and Sawada, 1987; Sawada et al., 1987, 1998). Description Nacholapithecus kerioi is represented by a partial skeleton (KNM-BG 35250), a number of isolated postcranial specimens, and a sizable collection of jaw fragments and teeth (Ishida et al., 1984, 2004; Rose et al., 1996; Nakatsukasa et al., 1998, 2002, 2003a; Kunimatsu et al., 2004). It is a mediumsized catarrhine, with an estimated body mass of 20–22 kg and 10 kg in males and females, respectively (Rose et al., 1996; Nakatsukasa et al., 2003a; Ishida et al., 2004). Key features of the skull are as follows: Face relatively short. Nasal aperture tall and narrow, widest above midheight, and tapering inferiorly. Subnasal clivus moderately low. Premaxilla overlaps slightly

Nacholapithecus kerioi. KNM-BG 14700A, left maxilla with P3-M2. A) occlusal view; B) lateral view; C) medial view. Scale: 2 cm. Courtesy of Y. Kunimatsu.

with the palatine process of maxilla to produce a “stepped” nasal floor and restricted incisive fossa (Ishida et al., 2004; Kunimatsu et al., 2004). Premaxilla slightly protruding, with procumbent upper incisors. Prominent canine jugum bordered posteriorly by a deep canine fossa in males; less well developed in females. Relatively large diastema between I2 and C in male individuals; small in females. Anterior root of zygomatic arch situated low on the face above M1/M2 and laterally projecting. Maxillary sinus not as extensive as in Proconsul, terminating anteriorly at M1, and its floor is level with or slightly lower than the apices of the molar roots. Palate relatively shallow. Mandibular corpus moderately deep, with shallow postcanine fossa on the lateral side. Symphysis steeply inclined, with moderately well-developed inferior transverse torus (Ishida et al., 2004; Kunimatsu et al., 2004; figures 24.16 and 24.17). I1 is narrow, buccolingually stout, with a broad lingual pillar. I2 narrower, with mesiodistal diameter about 75% that of I1. Upper canines in males robust but relatively low crowned. Upper premolars moderately large, and quite broad. P3 with paracone much more elevated than protocone and connected by a pair of transverse crests. P4 ovoid, with paracone and protocone subequal in height. Upper molars rectangular, broader than long, with slightly longer lingual moiety than buccal moiety. Cusps low and voluminous. Large hypocone. Lingual cingulum weakly developed or absent. Upper molars increase in size from M1 to M3. M3 tapers distally, with reduced distal cusps. Lower incisors tall and mesiodistally narrow. Lower canines in males robust, relatively low crowned, with strong bilateral compression. Lower molars rectangular, with moderately low and rounded cusps. Entoconid relatively small. Well-developed transverse crests demarcate the mesial and distal foveae. Buccal cingulum poorly developed. m3 triangular in outline, with reduced entoconid, and large hypoconulid aligned with protoconid and hypoconid. m3 is much larger than m2 (Kunimatsu et al., 2004). The cervical vertebrae are relatively large. It is not possible to determine the number of thoracic vertebrae, but there are six or seven lumbar vertebrae as in Proconsul and in most extant nonhominoid anthropoids (Ward et al., 1993; Nakatsukasa et al., 2007). The lumbar vertebrae have relatively small and elongated centra, transverse processes that originate from the centrum cranially and from the base of the pedicle caudally,

FIGURE 24.16

Nacholapithecus kerioi. KNM-BG 35250 (holotype), mandible with right i1–m3 and left c–m2. Scale: 2 cm. Courtesy of Y. Kunimatsu. FIGURE 24.17



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retention of a small anapophysis on at least one vertebra, and a strong median ventral keel. They differ from Proconsul in having a more caudally positioned lumbar spinous process, suggesting greater stability. The first sacral vertebra indicates that the iliac blades were oriented more parasagittally than in extant hominoids, while the cranial elevation of the centrum relative to the alae and the small size of the lumbosacral joint are more hominoid-like. First coccygeal vertebra indicates loss of external tail (Nakatsukasa et al., 2003b). The vertebral column indicates a long flexible trunk, typical of arboreal palmigrade quadrupeds. Clavicle long and slender, with moderate degree of curvature, possibly implying a dorsally positioned scapula (Senut et al., 2004). Scapula with broad glenoid fossa, and relatively elongated acromion process (Ishida et al., 2004; Senut et al., 2004). Forelimb bones are relatively large compared with those of the hindlimb. Humeral shaft with flat deltoid plane. Distal humerus with well-developed supracondylar crest, massive lateral epicondyle, shallow radial fossa, moderately large and deep coronoid fossa, well-developed medial epicondyle directed posteromedially, deep olecranon fossa, globular capitulum, zona conoidea forming a distinct gutter, and a weakly developed lateral trochlear keel. Proximal ulna with moderately long and nonretroflexed olecranon process, wide and mediolaterally weakly convex trochlear notch, protuberant coronoid process, strong proximolateral extension of the articular surface on the lateral side of the olecranon, small and laterally facing radial notch. Distal radius robust, with a large styloid process, and a straight shaft. Scaphoid with unfused os centrale. Ischium with welldeveloped ischial spine for attachment of the gemelli muscles, as in Proconsul spp. Proximal femur with large globular head, short neck, high neck-shaft angle, and low greater trochanter. Distal femur with square patella groove, and slight asymmetry of the condyles. Patella broad, anteroposteriorly shallow, and almost circular in outline. Tibia with slender shaft, deep fibular notch and prominent medial malleolus. Fibula robust, with large malleolus. Talus with slightly wedged and deeply grooved trochlear surface, lateral trochlear rim more projecting than medial rim, well-developed concavity on the distal margin of the trochlea to receive the anterior margin of the distal tibia, deep malleolar cup, and strong groove for M. flexor hallucis longus. Calcaneus with deep pit for the interosseus talocalcaneal ligament, a moderately broad sustentaculum, contiguous anterior and middle

FIGURE 24.18

talar articular facets, and deep groove for the tendon of M. flexor hallucis longus. Expanded medial process of the heel tuberosity of calcaneus, characteristic of arboreal primates that are adept at pedal grasping (Rose et al., 1996). Medial cuneiform with mediolaterally convex articular facet for the first metatarsal, as in arboreal primates with opposable halluces. Metatarsal I lacking facet for prehallux. Long and well-developed hallux and pollex. Lateral metatarsals and proximal manual and pedal phalanges relatively long and slender, with slight to moderate curvature. Middle phalanges with straight shafts. Terminal phalanges with mediolaterally compressed ungual tufts. Postcranial morphology is generally similar to that of Proconsul, and indicates an arboreal quadruped. However, Nacholapithecus is more derived than Proconsul in having relatively larger forelimb bones, longer clavicle and scapular spine, and longer pedal rays, indicating a greater propensity for vertical climbing, hoisting, quadrumanous clambering and suspension, and bridging behaviors (Rose et al., 1996; Nakatsukasa et al., 1996, 2002, 2003a, 2003b, 2007; Ishida et al., 2004). Similar forelimb dominated behaviors have been inferred for Equatorius (McCrossin et al., 1998; figure 24.18). Remarks The material assigned to this species was originally assigned to Kenyapithecus sp. or Kenyapithecus cf. africanus (Ishida et al., 1984; Rose et al., 1996). Ishida et al. (1999) proposed a new genus and species name, Nacholapithecus kerioi, but the purely descriptive diagnosis does not serve to differentiate the species from other taxa as required by ICZN Article 13.1.1 (i.e., to be available, a new name published after 1930 must be accompanied by a description or definition that states in words characters that are purported to differentiate the taxon; International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999). Technically, the name constituted a nomen nudum until it became available when Ishida et al. (2004) provided craniodental and postcranial features that served to differentiate it from other East African Miocene catarrhines. This means that if Nacholapithecus and Equatorius enter into synonymy, the latter name takes priority. Craniodentally and postcranially, Nacholapithecus is quite similar to Proconsul, but it does appear to be more derived in having reduced molar cingula, low-crowned and robust canines in males, a restricted maxillary sinus, possibly a somewhat restricted incisive fossa, a relatively deeper subnasal clivus, a mandibular symphysis dominated by an inferior

Nacholapithecus kerioi. KNM-BG 35250 (holotype), partial skeleton. Courtesy of M.

Nakatsukasa.

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transverse torus, a forelimb-dominated skeleton, a short femoral neck with a high angle, and absence of a prehallux facet on the first metatarsal (Kunimatsu et al., 2004; Ishida et al., 2004). In these respects Nacholapithecus more closely resembles Equatorius. Kunimatsu et al. (2004) and Ishida et al. (2004) have suggested that the subnasal morphology could represent an incipient development of the more derived morphology seen in extant great apes, in which the subnasal clivus overlaps with the palatal process. However, this anatomical region in Nacholapithecus is somewhat deformed, and the original configuration of the incisive fossa is difficult to interpret. By contrast, the lack of postcranial specializations shared with crown hominoids would suggest that Nacholapithecus is a stem catarrhine or stem hominoid, rather than a hominid. Nacholapithecus has a suite of dental, cranial and postcranial specializations not seen in Proconsul, but none of these represent clear-cut synapomorphies that would definitively link it with crown hominoids, with the possible exception of the purported loss of the external tail (Nakatsukasa et al., 2003b). However, many of the specializations listed here point to closer affinities with Afropithecus and especially Equatorius, and as a consequence Nacholapithecus is considered here to be a specialized member of the Proconsuloidea, and provisionally included in the Afropithecinae. Genus EQUATORIUS S. Ward et al., 1999

Included Species E. africanus S. Ward et al., 1999 (type species) EQUATORIUS AFRICANUS S. Ward et al., 1999 Figure 24.19

Distribution Middle Miocene (~14.5–16.0 Ma). Maboko Island, Majiwa, Kaloma, and Nyakach (Kaimogool North and Chepetet West) in western Kenya (Andrews and Molleson, 1979; Pickford, 1982, 1986a; Feibel and Brown, 1991; Wynn and Retallack, 2001); Muruyur Beds at Kipsaraman and Cheparawa, Tugen Hills, central Kenya (Behrensmeyer et al., 2002; Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005). The holotype (BMNH M16649) was originally reported as coming from Rusinga Island (Le Gros Clark, 1950, 1952), but the preservation of the specimen and the adhering matrix are inconsistent with such a provenance (Andrews and Molleson, 1979). It is almost certain that the type specimen derives from Maboko Island (figure 24.19). Description Medium-sized catarrhine, with an estimated body mass of approximately 20–40 kg, and demonstrating marked sexual dimorphism (McCrossin et al., 1998).

Equatorius africanus. BM(NH) M 16649 (holotype), left maxilla with P3–M1. Scale: 1 cm. Courtesy of P. Andrews.

FIGURE 24.19

Craniodental and postcranial material is well represented by specimens from Maboko Island and Kipsaraman. Maxilla with anterior root of zygomatic arch situated close to the alveolar margin, and maxillary sinus extending anteriorly into the alveolar region of the upper premolars. Mandible with long and strongly proclined symphysis, shelflike inferior transverse torus, weak superior transverse torus, and posteriorly directed genioglossal fossa. The corpus is low and robust. Lower incisors are tall, narrow, buccolingually thick, and strongly procumbent. I1 mesiodistally broad relative to height, with narrow lingual cingulum and small basal lingual tubercle. I1 is much broader than I2. I2 is conical and asymmetrical, with an oblique lingual cingulum. Upper and lower canines of males relatively low crowned and robust. Upper canines with deep mesial groove and weak lingual cingulum. Lower canines with prominent distal heel and moderately developed lingual cingulum. p3 has a tall protoconid, moderately developed mesiobuccal honing face, a mesiolingual beak, a small metaconid, and a vestigial lingual cingulum. p4 broader than long with two main cusps subequal in size, a pair of distal tubercles (variably developed), a large talonid basin, and buccal cingulum vestigial to absent. Upper premolars relatively large compared with size of molars. P3 with protocone moderately lower than the paracone, cusps separated by mesiodistally oriented fissure, no formation of central fovea, and lingual cingula highly reduced to absent. Molars have thick enamel, low occlusal relief, restricted basins, moderate buccolingual flare, cingula absent to reduced, and crenulated enamel. Lower molars rectangular, relatively broad, and they increase in size posteriorly. The hypoconulid is positioned on the buccal side of the midline of the crown. m3 triangular, with crown tapering distally. Upper molars relatively narrow. M1 ≤ M3 < M2. M3 with reduced hypocone and talon basin (McCrossin and Benefit, 1993, 1997; Benefit and McCrossin, 1995; S. Ward et al., 1999; Kelley et al., 2002). A number of postcranial remains are known from Maboko Island (Le Gros Clark and Leakey, 1951; Benefit and McCrossin, 1995; McCrossin and Benefit, 1994, 1997; Rose, 1997; McCrossin et al., 1998). The proximal humerus has a posteriorly directed head, large greater tubercle that projects proximally beyond the level of the humeral head, and a shallow bicipital groove. The shaft is markedly anteriorly flexed, with a strong deltopectoral crest and weakly developed supinator crest. The proximal ulna has a well-developed posteriorly reflected olecranon process. The pisiform retains a distinct articular facet for the styloid process of the ulna, as in cercopithecoids. Metacarpal III exhibits a strong transverse dorsal ridge bordering the distal articulation (Benefit and McCrossin, 1995; McCrossin and Benefit, 1997; Allen and McCrossin, 2007). The phalanges are short, relatively stout, and only slightly curved. The femur is slender and slightly longer than the humerus, with an estimated humerofemoral index of 95 (McCrossin and Benefit, 1997). The proximal femur has a small head, a long neck with a high neck angle, and a distinct posterior tubercle. The distal femur is moderately broad and anteroposteriorly shallow, with a broad and low patellar groove. The patella is relatively broad (McCrossin and Allen, 2007). The distal tibia is anteroposteriorly thick, with a welldeveloped medial keel for articulation with the trochlea of the talus. The talus is comparable to that of Proconsul, with a wedged trochlea and a relatively elevated lateral trochlear keel. The medial cuneiform has a relatively flat distal articular surface for the first metatarsal, and a well-developed peroneal tubercle indicating that the hallux was habitually



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adducted as in semiterrestrial cercopithecids. A prehallux facet is lacking. The first metatarsal is robust (McCrossin and Benefit, 1994, 1997; Benefit and McCrossin, 1995; McCrossin et al., 1998). In addition to the material from Maboko Island, a partial skeleton of Equatorius (KNM-TH 28860) is known from Kipsaraman (S. Ward et al., 1999; Sherwood et al., 2002). The main anatomical features are as follows: scapula with robust acromion process that extends well beyond the margin of the glenoid, and axillary border longer than the vertebral border; clavicle robust and relatively straight; humerus with posteriorly directed head, shaft retroflexed with well-developed deltopectoral crest, sharp lateral supracondylar ridge, small posteromedially directed medial epicondyle, and deep olecranon fossa; ulna with long olecranon process, laterally facing radial notch, and long styloid process that articulates with the carpus; radius straight and slender, with circular head, and a bicipital tuberosity located close to the proximal end; scaphoid robust with free os centrale; hamate with deep pits for hamatotriquetral and hamatocapitate ligaments and a deep and spiraled triquetral groove; metacarpals slender with only slight curvature, broad heads ventrally that narrow dorsally; phalanges only slightly curved; thoracic vertebrae with small heart-shaped centra and strong ventral keel. The postcranial morphology indicates that Equatorius was an agile, semiterrestrial quadruped (McCrossin and Benefit, 1997; Sherwood et al., 2002). Remarks The convokluted taxonomic and nomenclatural history of Equatorius africanus is reviewed by Andrews and Molleson (1979), Madden (1980a), Pickford (1985), and McCrossin and Benefit (1994). Following S. Ward et al. (1999), this species is here considered generically distinct from Kenyapithecus wickeri, although a number of current workers prefer to recognize these taxa as congeneric (e.g., McCrossin and Benefit, 1994; Benefit and McCrossin, 2000; Kunimatsu et al., 2004). Begun (2000, 2002) recognizes Equatorius as a junior synonym of Griphopithecus, a thick-enameled hominoid from broadly contemporary localities in central Europe and Turkey. However, S. Ward et al. (1999) and Kelley et al. (2002), following earlier studies (i.e., Pickford, 1985, 1986c; Harrison, 1992), provide adequate justification to distinguish Equatorius from both Kenyapithecus and Griphopithecus. Equatorius and Nacholapithecus share a suite of specialized features relative to Proconsul that suggest that they are closely related. These include a somewhat more restricted maxillary sinus with an elevated floor in relation to molar root apices; moderately deep subnasal clivus; very well-developed inferior transverse torus of the mandible; mandibular corpus relatively robust; tall and somewhat procumbent incisors; lowcrowned and robust canines; relatively narrow premolars that are large in relation to the molars; cheek teeth with thick enamel, low relief of dentine-enamel junction; low and rounded cusps and crests, and strongly reduced cingula; upper molars relatively narrower. Many of these specializations are also characteristic of Afropithecus and Heliopithecus, and these similarities provide the basis for the inclusion of all four genera in the Afropithecinae. However, Nacholapithecus and Equatorius are more derived than Afropithecus in having a more restricted maxillary sinus, a much more pronounced inferior transverse torus, a more robust mandibular corpus, narrower premolars, and more reduced molar cingula. Although no detailed comparisons of the postcranials of Nacholapithecus and Equatorius have yet been published, the preliminary accounts suggest that they are remarkably similar

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in many respects, further emphasizing their close relationship. Their primitive postcranial morphology also provides further support for their inclusion in the Proconsuloidea rather than Hominoidea. If, as implied in the Introduction, the subfamilies included within Proconsulidae are eventually elevated to family status it might prove worthwhile to include Equatorius and Nacholapithecus in a separate subfamily within the Afropithecidae. Equatorinae, a taxonomic concept proposed by Cameron (2004), would be available. Although Cameron (2004) used an incorrect stem in the formation of his family group name (Equator- rather than Equatori-), Article 29.4 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature, 1999) allows maintenance of the original spelling as correct for family group names proposed after 1999. Subfamily NYANZAPITHECINAE Harrison, 2002 Genus NYANZAPITHECUS Harrison, 1986

Included Species Ny. vancouveringorum (Andrews, 1974) (type species), Ny. pickfordi Harrison, 1986, Ny. harrisoni Kunimatsu, 1997. Description Nyanzapithecus is a small- to medium-sized catarrhine intermediate in size between P. heseloni and D. macinnesi. Judging from the dentition, Ny. vancouveringorum and Ny. pickfordi have estimated body weights of ~11 kg and ~8 kg for males and females, respectively, while Ny. harrisoni was probably slightly smaller. Nyanzapithecus is distinguished from other proconsulids by the following dental features: I1 broad and spatulate, relatively low crowned, and stoutly constructed; I2 broad, moderately low crowned and robust, and approaching I1 in size; lower incisors broad and moderately high crowned; P3 structurally similar to P4; upper premolars ovoid in occlusal outline and relatively long and narrow, with elevated and inflated cusps of similar height, poorly developed occlusal crests, and an inflated lingual cingulum, at least on P4; p3 long and narrow, with only slight extension of enamel onto the buccal aspect of the mesial root; p4 long and narrow with high cusps, and mesial fovea much more elevated than the distal basin; upper molars long and narrow, with low, rounded, and voluminous cusps, buccally displaced protocone, restricted trigon basin and foveae, welldeveloped lingual cingulum, low and rounded occlusal crests; M1 < M2 ⱕ M3; lower molars very long and narrow, with low, rounded, and inflated cusps, short and rounded crests, long and narrow talonid basin, restricted mesial and distal foveae, poorly developed buccal cingulum, and deep lingual notch; m1 < m2 < m3; dP4 longer than broad, with voluminous cusps and relatively restricted occlusal foveae (Harrison, 1986, 2002; Kunimatsu, 1992a, 1992b, 1997). The fragmentary cranial remains of Ny. vancouveringorum and Ny. pickfordi indicate that the genus has a relatively short face, low and broad nasal aperture, and robust premaxilla (Harrison, 1986). A proximal humerus from Maboko has been provisionally attributed to Ny. pickfordi (McCrossin, 1992), and a proximal humerus from Rusinga, previously attributed by Gebo et al. (1988) to Dendropithecus macinnesi or Proconsul heseloni, is best assigned to Ny. vancouveringorum on the basis of size (Harrison, 2002). These two specimens are morphologically similar to of other proconsulids (Gebo et al., 1988; McCrossin, 1992). NYANZAPITHECUS VANCOUVERINGORUM (Andrews, 1974) Figure 24.20

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Distribution Early Miocene (~17.0–18.5 Ma). Rusinga Island and Mfangano Island, Kenya (Drake et al., 1988). Description This species is poorly known, being best represented by a maxilla (holotype) and a mandible from Rusinga. It differs from other species of Nyanzapithecus in the following features: both upper premolars have well-developed lingual cingulum; upper molars and dP4 only slightly longer than broad, and generally rectangular to square in occlusal outline; upper molar with moderately inflated cusps that encroach only partially into the occlusal basin, trigon basin and mesial and distal foveae restricted but well defined, hypocone connected to the protocone by short crest, lingual cingulum well developed, both lingually and mesially; lower molars moderately long and narrow, with reduced mesial and distal foveae, relatively expansive talonid basin, and moderately inflated cusps (Harrison, 1986, 2002; figure 24.20). NYANZAPITHECUS PICKFORDI Harrison, 1986

Distribution Middle Miocene (~15–16 Ma). Maboko Island and Kipsaraman, Kenya (Pickford, 1981, 1983, 1986a, 1986b; Feibel and Brown, 1991; Kelley et al., 2002; Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005). Description A species of Nyanzapithecus distinguished from Ny. vancouveringorum by the following characteristics: P3 lacking a lingual cingulum; upper molars higher crowned, much longer than broad, tending to taper distally and become waisted midway along their length, with inflated cusps that crowd the occlusal basins and restrict the mesial and distal foveae; hypocone connected by a crest to the crista obliqua, but with no direct connection to the protocone; lingual cingulum particularly well developed mesially, but reduced lingually; lower molars longer and narrower with very inflated cusps and extremely restricted occlusal basins (Harrison, 1986). Remarks Renewed excavations at Maboko Island have led to the recovery of a large sample of additional specimens assigned

Nyanzapithecus vancouveringorum. A) KNM-RU 2058 (holotype), left maxilla with P4–M3, occlusal view. B) KNM-RU 1855, mandible with right p4–m3 and left m1–m3. Scale: 1 cm. Courtesy of National Museum of Kenya.

FIGURE 24.20

to this species, including a nearly complete mandible of a subadult female individual (McCrossin, 1992; Benefit and McCrossin, 1997; Gitau et al., 1998), but the specimens have not yet been described. Newly discovered specimens from Kipsaraman, attributed to N. cf. pickfordi by Pickford and Kunimatsu (2005), are morphologically similar to the material from Maboko Island, but the teeth may be slightly larger. NYANZAPITHECUS HARRISONI Kunimatsu, 1997 Figure 24.21

Distribution Middle Miocene (~13–15 Ma). Aka Aiteputh Formation, Nachola, Kenya (Kunimatsu, 1992a, 1992b, 1997). Description A species of Nyanzapithecus somewhat smaller than Ny. vancouveringorum and Ny. pickfordi. It is distinguished from Ny. vancouveringorum in having upper molars higher crowned; molar cusps higher and more inflated; occlusal basins and foveae more restricted; upper molars that tend to taper distally; more distinct lingual cingulum; M3 crown shorter; p4 more elongated; lower molars relatively short (especially m3); mandible more slender (Kunimatsu, 1997). It differs from Ny. pickfordi in having upper and lower molars less elongated; lingual cingulum on upper molars less well developed mesially and better developed lingually; hypocone linked to the protocone directly, rather than to the crista obliqua; less waisted upper molars; p3 with weak but continuous buccal cingulum; hypoconulid on m3 tends to be located more medially (Kunimatsu, 1997; figure 24.21). Remarks Nyanzapithecus clearly forms a well-defined and specialized clade of proconsulids. The three species can be arranged in a phyletic series of increasing specialization from the early Miocene Ny. vancouveringorum through Ny. harrisoni to Ny. pickfordi in the middle Miocene (Harrison, 1986; Kunimatsu, 1997).

FIGURE 24.21 Nyanzapithecus harrisoni. A) KNM-BG 15235, left m2, occlusal view; B) KNM-BG 15227, right m3, occlusal view; C) KNM-BG 15318, left p4, occlusobuccal view; D) KNM-BG 15237 (holotype), right M2, occlusal view; E) KNM-BG 15344, right M3, occlusal view. Scale: 5 mm. Courtesy of Y. Kunimatsu.



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Genus MABOKOPITHECUS Von Koenigswald, 1969

Included Species Ma. clarki Von Koenigswald, 1969 (type species) MABOKOPITHECUS CLARKI Von Koenigswald, 1969

Distribution Middle Miocene (~15–16 Ma). Maboko Island, Kenya (Pickford, 1981, 1986a, 1986b; Feibel and Brown, 1991). Description A small- to medium-sized catarrhine comparable in dental size to Nyanzapithecus pickfordi. Until recently, this species was known only from two isolated m3s (Von Koenigswald, 1969; Harrison, 1986), so comparisons were very limited. The m3 of Mabokopithecus clarki is characterized by the following features: crown long and narrow, with a distinctive curvature; cusps high, conical, and voluminous; protoconid and metaconid large, well-developed and transversely aligned, and separated by a deep median groove that communicates with an elongated mesial fovea; hypoconid lingually displaced, so that the buccal cusps are not aligned, leading to the distinctive concavity along the buccal margin of the crown; low rounded crests descend from the metaconid and protoconid into the talonid basin and converge with a similar crest from the hypoconid at a distinct mesoconid (present in the holotype only); hypoconulid very large; entoconid and hypoconulid linked by a prominent crest, which defines a pitlike distal fovea; subsidiary tubercle located between the metaconid and entoconid; and buccal cingulum narrow and irregular (Harrison, 1986, 2002). Remarks Renewed excavations at Maboko Island have yielded a nearly complete mandible of a female individual containing an m3 that provides a close match with the holotype of Mabokopithecus clarki (Benefit et al., 1998). The rest of the dentition, however, is very similar to Ny. pickfordi, and there can be little doubt that they should be included together in the same genus. Since Mabokopithecus Von Koenigswald, 1969 has priority over Nyanzapithecus Harrison, 1986, all three species of Nyanzapithecus should eventually be transferred to the former genus, as I have suggested (Harrison, 2002). Such a taxonomic move awaits the formal description of the new material from Maboko. However, from my own brief comparisons, I favor including all of the nyanzapithecine specimens from Maboko in a single species, Mabokopithecus clarki. Benefit et al. (1998), on the other hand, consider that Mabokopithecus clarki should be retained as specifically distinct from “Ny.” pickfordi.

premolars and molars narrow and relatively elongated; upper premolars with more ovoid occlusal outline, paracone and protocone more similar in height, and inflated lingual cingulum on both P3 and P4; P3 < P4; molars with low cusps, welldeveloped crests, wrinkled occlusal surface, and marked wear differential; upper molars with strong lingual cingulum, enlarged hypocone, and rhomboidal arrangement of cusps and occlusal outline; M1 < M2 < M3; lower canine high crowned and bilaterally compressed in males; p3 elongated and bilaterally compressed; p4 and lower molars long and narrow; lower molars with buccal cingulum represented by deep foveae between the buccal cusps; m1 < m2 < m3, with marked size increase along the series (Andrews, 1978; Nengo and Rae, 1992). Several mandibular specimens have recently been recovered from Songhor and Lower Kapurtay (Hill and Odhiambo, 1987; Nengo and Rae, 1992; Cote and Nengo, 2007) that document more fully the morphology of the lower jaw and dentition, but these still await detailed description. Cranial and mandibular specimens with the following features: premaxilla relatively short; diastema small; palate long and narrow, and broadens posteriorly; maxillary sinus deeply excavated between the roots of the upper molars; nasal aperture probably relatively broad; anterior root of the zygomatic arch positioned low on the face above M1–M2; mandibular corpus deep with a strongly developed superior transverse torus (Andrews, 1978). Postcranials are generally similar in morphology to those of P. heseloni, and indicate a pronograde arboreal primate (Preuschoft, 1973; Harrison, 1982; Langdon, 1986; Nengo and Rae, 1992). A proximal femur from Songhor has a relatively high femur neck angle compared with Proconsul, being most similar to Pongo and Ateles among living anthropoids, and probably implies a greater degree of specialization for climbing and hindlimb suspension (Harrison, 1982; figure 24.22).

Genus RANGWAPITHECUS Andrews, 1974

Included Species R. gordoni Andrews, 1974 (type species). RANGWAPITHECUS GORDONI Andrews, 1974 Figure 24.22

Distribution Early Miocene (~19–20 Ma). Songhor and Lower Kapurtay, Kenya (Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981; Pickford, 1983, 1986a, 1986b; Harrison, 1988; Cote and Nengo, 2007). Description A medium-sized catarrhine similar in dental size to P. africanus and P. heseloni. It differs from Proconsul in the following respects: upper and lower incisors high crowned and relatively narrow; upper incisors moderately procumbent; canines markedly sexually dimorphic; upper canine strongly bilaterally compressed, with a bladelike distal crest; upper 450


Rangwapithecus gordoni. KNM-RU 700 (holotype), lower face and palate, occlusal view. Courtesy of P. Andrews.

FIGURE 24.22

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Genus TURKANAPITHECUS Leakey and Leakey, 1986

Included Species T. kalakolensis Leakey and Leakey, 1986 (type species) TURKANAPITHECUS KALAKOLENSIS Leakey and Leakey, 1986 Figure 24.23

Distribution Late early Miocene (~17.0–17.5 Ma). Kalodirr (Lothidok Formation, Kalodirr Member), northern Kenya (Boschetto et al., 1992). Possibly represented at Fejej in southern Ethiopia, dated to older than 16.2 Ma (Richmond et al., 1998). Description A medium-sized catarrhine in which male specimens are comparable in cranial and postcranial size to female specimens of P. heseloni, with an average body weight of ~10 kg. The main characteristics of the skull are as follows: face relatively short, with broad and domed snout; large incisive fossa; narrow palate, with tooth rows that converge posteriorly; premaxillary suture makes contact with the nasals; nasals are relatively broad and expand inferiorly and superiorly; nasal aperture broad, ovoid in shape, and narrows between the central incisor roots; very broad interorbital region; orbits subcircular in outline, with shallow supraorbital notch; slightly thickened supraorbital tori, with depressed glabella region; possibly a large frontal sinus; single large infraorbital foramen, located just below the orbital margin; lacrimal fossa located just anterior to the orbital margin; well-developed canine jugum; canine fossa indistinct; extensive maxillary sinus; anterior root of zygomatic arch situated low on the face; zygomatic arches relatively deep and widely flaring, with a slight upward sweep; postorbital constriction marked, with large temporal fossae; multiple zygomatico-facial foramina located above the inferior margin of the orbit; frontal process of the malar mediolaterally narrow, with a rugose anterior face; temporal lines strongly marked and converge posteriorly, possibly resulting in a sagittal crest posteriorly, at least in males; cranial capacity estimated (from the area of the foramen magnum) to be only 84.3 cm3, and much less encephalized than P. heseloni (Manser and Harrison, 1999); inferior orbital fissure large; nuchal plane relatively short, with a heavy nuchal crest; mandibular symphysis with weakly developed superior transverse torus and indistinct inferior transverse torus; corpus shallow and relatively slender, with a constant depth below the molars; ramus anteroposteriorly long, and superoinferiorly low, with its anterior margin sloping posteriorly at an angle of ~120° to the alveolar plane; pronounced inferior expansion of the angular region of the ramus; articular condyle knoblike; multiple mental foramina located below the premolars (Leakey and Leakey, 1986b; Leakey et al., 1988b; Harrison, 2002). Dental characteristics include upper canine large and strongly bilaterally compressed in males, with a deep mesial groove and a flangelike distal margin; upper premolars relatively narrow, with paracone not much more elevated than protocone; lingual cingulum present on both P3 and P4; P4 < P3; upper molars with elongated rhomboidal-shaped crowns that narrow distally; trigon narrow and dominated by a voluminous protocone; hypocone closely appressed to protocone and linked to it (or the crista obliqua) by a distinct crest; buccal cingulum moderately well developed, with variable development of accessory cuspule; M2 and M3 with distinct paraconule at the termination of the preparacrista; lingual cingulum broad, and continues mesially around the protocone to form a distinct mesial ledge; prominent secondary conule on the mesiolingual margin of the cingulum; M1
M2 > M1, and molars are wider than long. These teeth have thick enamel, expanded distal cusps, and are worn flat. When articulated with its mandible, the skull of DNH 7 exhibits a pronounced underbite. Other, less complete female P. robustus cranial specimens include SK 21, SK 821, and SKW 8 (Lockwood et al., 2007). Mandibles of P. robustus are characterized by high, anteroposteriorly extensive rami with prominent coronoid processes, a robustly constructed symphysis with heavy inferior and superior transverse tori (but no simian shelf), and a deep genioglossal pit. The anterior margin of the mandible slopes gently backward inferiorly, and is higher than the posterior region of the corpus on each side. The corpora are well buttressed internally and externally, and they have huge extramolar sulci. As in the upper jaw, the lower cheek teeth are disproportionately larger than the anterior dentition, and molar size progression is m3 > m2 > m1. Although Au. africanus m2 and m3 approach those of P. robustus in size, m1 is generally much larger and molar talonids are relatively expanded in the latter (Suwa et al., 1994). Markings on the mandible for m. masseter, m. temporalis, and the pterygoid muscles are very pronounced. Evidence for substantial sexual dimorphism can be seen in comparison of the mandible from the female skull DNH 7 with male mandibles DNH 8 and SK 12, which have considerably larger dimensions, more massive teeth, and heavier buttressing of tori (Keyser, 2000). Hominin postcranial elements are well represented in the P. robustus sites of Kromdraai and particularly Swartkrans, but specific attribution at the latter site is problematic because of the co-occurrence there of early Homo (Brain, 1976, 1988; Wood and Richmond, 2000). Because of the great numerical disparity between the craniodental remains of hominin taxa at Swartkrans, it has been argued that the overwhelming probability is

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that most postcrania from the site belong to P. robustus (Susman, 1988). Hominin postcranial remains from Swartkrans have been enumerated by Broom and Robinson (1952), Robinson (1970, 1972), Howell (1978), Grine and Susman (1991), McHenry (1994b), Susman et al. (2001), and Susman (1989), and include elements from all regions of the skeleton. The vertebrae are much smaller than those of modern humans and are similar dimensionally to those of Au. africanus. A last lumbar vertebra, SK 3981b, is dorsally wedged, indicative of lumbar lordosis, its pedicles are as robust as those in modern humans, and it has a massive accessory tuberosity on the transverse process for attachment of powerful iliolumbar ligaments, all adaptations to frequent bipedal posture and locomotion (Sanders, 1998). Similarly, configuration of the innominate of P. robustus (e.g., SK 3155b; but see Brain et al., 1974) suggests effectiveness in extending the leg and maintaining balance in upright posture. The iliac blade is broad and low, and reflected posteriorly, providing expanded surface area for gluteal muscles and positioning them for better extensor muscle action, as well as lowering the center of gravity and moving it closer in line with the vertebral column and legs (Robinson, 1972). Differences exist between the innominates of this hominin and modern humans. Some of these differences are likely to be primitive retentions in P. robustus: the acetabulum is deep but relatively small (e.g., SK 50, SK 3155b), as is the auricular surface for the sacrum; the iliac blades flare more laterally; the well-developed anterior superior iliac spine projects more laterally; and the ischial tuberosity projects farther from the acetabular rim (McHenry, 1975, 1994b). Robinson (1972) felt that this last feature correlated with an ape-like, power-oriented propulsive mechanism and incomplete adaptation to striding bipedalism. The hip joint of P. robustus is small, which is an australopith trait, as is the elongation and anteroposterior flattening of the femoral neck (e.g., SK 3121, SKW 19; SK 82, SK 97)(Robinson, 1972; McHenry, 1994b; Susman et al., 2001). In addition, cross-sectional buttressing of P. robustus (and P. boisei) femoral diaphyses is significantly greater mediolaterally relative to the condition in Homo (Ruff et al., 1999). These traits suggest that P. robustus may have differed kinematically or mechanically from modern humans in its bipedality. Support for this notion is found in the morphology of the first metatarsal (e.g., SKX 5017, SK 45690, SK 1813), which is not configured for human-like toe-off (Susman and Brain, 1988; Susman, 1989; Susman and de Ruiter, 2004). Although Susman (1989) generally allocated postcranial fossils from Swartkrans with close similarity to modern humans to Homo, manual fossils with a number of derived, modern human-like features from Member 1 were attributed to P. robustus (Susman, 1988). These include a pollical distal phalanx (SKX 5016) with a broad apical tuft and muscle marking for a large m. flexor pollicis longus, a first metacarpal (SKX 5020) with a modern human–like lateral marginal crest for a strong opponens pollicis muscle, and a manual proximal phalanx (SKX 5018) with modern human–like shaft curvature. Combined with the proportions of digits II–V, these features indicate modern human–like capabilities for precision grip; based on this interpretation, Susman (1988, 1991a) suggested that the Oldowan stone tools and bone and horn implements found in Member 1 (where Homo is very poorly represented) and elsewhere could have been manufactured by Paranthropus. This interpretation has not been embraced without some reservations (e.g., Hamrick and Inouye, 1995; Ohman et al., 1995), and has been rejected by

others as overly reliant on taphonomic, as opposed to morphological, criteria (e.g., Trinkaus and Long, 1990; but see Susman, 1991b, 1995), and remains controversial. It seems illogical to assume that Paranthropus, with its emphasis on craniofacial adaptations to heavy mastication, was the primary maker of stone tools, while Homo exhibited a progressive and probably functionally related association of tooth size diminution and improved stone tool manufacture that continued after the demise of its evolutionary cousins. Remarks The degree of craniodental size differences between females and males suggests gorilla-like levels of sexual dimorphism (Lockwood et al., 2007). Along with the suggestion that older males with higher social rank may have had more exaggerated development of diagnostic features such as anterior pillars, this indicates a social system in which “male reproductive success is concentrated in a period of dominance resulting from intense male-male competition” (Lockwood et al., 2007:1444). Body size in P. robustus has been estimated to have ranged from 37.1 to 57.5 kg, or 42.2 to 88.6 kg, depending on the regression employed (Jungers, 1988), and averages between 40.2–49.8 kg for males and 31.9–40.3 kg for females, again depending on the regression used (McHenry, 1992a, 1992b, 1994a). These contrasts are somewhat less than the dimorphism observed in gorillas, so the issue of body size and social structure in P. robustus requires further study. New studies indicate that the derived masticatory apparatus of P. robustus may not have been correlated with a narrow dietary specialization. Though most paleoenvironments associated with P. robustus are open grasslands, correspondence analysis of faunal assemblages that include this species indicates that it had a woodland habitat preference (de Ruiter et al., 2008). Moreover, carbon isotope analysis of enamel shows that P. robustus had a mixed diet primarily of C3 foods, supplemented by a significant amount of C4 sources, either grasses, sedges, or animals that consume these plants, and that this diet varied interannually and seasonally (Lee-Thorp et al., 1994, 2000; Sponheimer et al., 2005, 2006; van der Merwe et al., 2008). Thus, it appears that P. robustus was a dietary and habitat generalist, perhaps periodically venturing from woodland settings to acquire fallback foods in more open settings, and relying on its powerful occlusal platform to process tough, critical resources. The dietary adaptations and functional anatomy of the southern African Paranthropus, however, are not yet clearly understood. Although bone and horn fragments from Swartkrans have been interpreted as tools for digging up tubers (Brain et al., 1988), subsequent microwear analysis of these tools suggests that they were used to forage for termites (Backwell and d’Errico, 2000). Tooth wear studies do not show microwear features on P. robustus teeth consistent with grazing (Grine, 1981; Grine and Kay, 1988), so it is possible that the source of C4 in these hominins was termites and small vertebrates (Lee-Thorp et al., 2000). The greater incidence of pits, broader wear features, and heterogeneity of scratches observed in dental microwear indicates that P. robustus had a different diet than Au. africanus, primarily of hard food items (Grine, 1986; Kay and Grine, 1988; Scott et al., 2005). Strontium-calcium ratios in P. robustus samples are quite low, however, which is inconsistent with a diet specialized in seeds, roots, and rhizomes. They do fit either with a preference for leaves and shoots of forbs and woody plants, or with omnivory, with substantial intake of animals that graze (Sillen, 1992), including termites, though Sponheimer et al. (2005) have argued that C4 food other than sedges and

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termites might have been important in the diet of P. robustus. Nonetheless, it is difficult to imagine hard food items that P. robustus might have consumed if not seeds and nuts, and processing such food items is consistent with their heavy jaws, postcanine megadonty, and thick enamel (Lee-Thorp et al., 2000; Lucas et al., 2008). The relationship of P. robustus to East African Paranthropus and other australopiths requires further investigation, and it remains possible that that the unique extracranial cresting, dished midfacial configuration, heavy jaws and immense cheek teeth are convergent adaptive responses to similar environmental changes, rather than a shared derived complex (Wood and Constantino, 2007, and references therein); for example, the facial pillars of P. robustus have more in common with Au. africanus cranial morphology than with the East African Paranthropus lineage (if they were not merged into the facial architecture in this group) and could reflect an independent, endemic southern African derivation. Additionally, it has been noted that molar talonid expansion in P. robustus occurred via enlargement of the entoconid, whereas it occurred by enlargement of the hypoconid in P. boisei (Suwa et al., 1994), suggesting convergence rather than synapomorphy for molar size increase. Subtribe HOMININA Gray, 1825 Genus HOMO Linnaeus, 1758 Table 25.2

Partial Synonymy Anthropopithecus, Dubois, 1893; Pithecanthropus, Dubois, 1894; Sinanthropus, Black, 1927; Meganthropus, Weidenreich, 1944; Atlanthropus, Arambourg, 1954; Telanthropus, Broom and Robinson, 1949. Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene to Recent (first appearance, eastern and southern Africa; increasingly cosmopolitan following the late Pliocene; table 25.2). Diagnosis When Leakey et al. (1964) erected the species Homo habilis, they presented a diagnosis of Homo as follows: postcranium adapted to erect posture and bipedal gait; low intermembral index; fully opposable pollex with well-developed precision and power grips; cranial capacity variable but larger on average than those of australopiths and ranging between ~600 and 1,600 cc; temporal lines do not reach to midline; less postorbital constriction than in australopiths; no concavity in facial profile although degree of orthognathism varies; variation in supraorbital torus development and symphyseal contour; dental arcade parabolic and usually lacking diastema; bicuspid p3; smaller and buccolingually narrower molars than in australopiths; small canines relative to most other hominoids. Wood (1992) published an explicitly cladistic list of eight Homo synapomorphies: increased cranial vault thickness; reduced postorbital constriction; increased contribution of the occipital bone to cranial sagittal arc length; increased cranial vault height; more anteriorly positioned foramen magnum; reduced lower face prognathism; buccolingually narrow tooth crowns, especially lower premolars; and shorter molar tooth row. More recently, Wood and Collard (1999; Collard and Wood, 2007) have distilled the criteria for allocation to Homo to distinctive features that are adaptively relevant and reliably inferable from the paleontological record: trend toward absolutely larger body size; relatively longer lower limbs; larger brain size relative to body size; prolonged ontogeny; fully committed terrestrial bipedalism; and more gracile masticatory apparatus relative to body size. In addition, they suggest that to be referred to Homo, species must be shown to be more 508


closely related to the type species, Homo sapiens, than to the type species of any other hominin genus. Referred Species (partial list) Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo floresiensis, Homo sapiens. Remarks See species’ sections. HOMO HABILIS Leakey et al., 1964 Figure 25.14 and Table 25.2

Partial Synonymy Homo ergaster, Groves and Mazak 1975; Homo rudolfensis, Alexeev 1986; Homo microcranous, Ferguson 1995; Australopithecus habilis, Wood and Collard, 1999. Holotype The type specimen OH 7 includes both parietals, partial mandible and hand bones of a juvenile (but see below as to whether the cranial and postcranial remains can be reliably associated). Paratypes referred to H. habilis by Leakey et al. (1964) include OH 4, 6, 8, 13; OH 14 and OH 16 were also referred to the species. For additional Olduvai and Koobi Fora specimens, see Wood (1992), Groves (1989), and Schrenk et al. (2007). Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene to early Pleistocene, East and southern Africa (table 25.2). Diagnosis Of the characters listed by Leakey et al. (1964) in the original diagnosis, the following remain widely supported: mean cranial capacity greater than that of Australopithecus but smaller than H. rudolfensis or H. erectus; smaller maxillae and mandibles than those of Australopithecus, and within the range of Homo erectus; premolars that are buccolingually narrower than those of Australopithecus, and tendency toward buccolingual narrowness and mesiodistal elongation of all teeth, especially lower premolars and molars; reduced subnasal prognathism compared to Australopithecus; and relatively thin molar enamel (see Dunsworth and Walker, 2002; Kimbel et al., 1997). Homo habilis also lacks derived features found in H. erectus including: frontal and sagittal keeling; mediolaterally narrow temporomandibular joint; angled tympanic-petrous; less postorbital constriction; thick cranial vault; and opisthocranion positioned high on the occipital profile (Spoor et al., 2007). Description The time period between about 2.4 and 1.8 Ma shows the earliest evidence of major trends in the Homo

Homo habilis cranium KNM ER 1813. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya.

FIGURE 25.14

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lineages: increase in brain size and decrease in tooth size. However, the non-Paranthropus hominins during this interval have high morphological variability in absolute and relative brain size and postcanine occlusal area, and in cranial and facial architecture. Postcranial morphology is also highly variable and further confounded by lack of associations with craniodental material. Consequently, this period is best viewed as a transitional time with a poor fossil record. Nonetheless, current evidence best supports the presence of more than one species of non-Paranthropus hominin at Koobi Fora, and possibly elsewhere in Africa. The following descriptions apply to those Olduvai and Koobi Fora specimens allocated by Wood (1992) to Homo habilis. Groves’ (1989) allocations coincide with those of Wood, with the exception that the Koobi Fora small forms (KNM-ER 1813, 1805) are considered different from both H. habilis sensu stricto and H. rudolfensis. Some prefer to refer all or most of these specimens to “early Homo” (e.g., Suwa et al., 1996; Asfaw et al., 1999), “habilines” (e.g., Wolpoff, 1999), or species of Australopithecus (e.g., Wood and Collard, 1999; see later discussion). Although 600 cc was the endocranial threshold cited for admittance into Homo by Leakey and colleagues (1964), this was lowered considerably from earlier such “cerebral Rubicons.” It is now apparent that an absolute endocranial threshold is unworkable and biologically irrelevant in the absence of reliable estimates of body size (Wood and Collard, 1999). Furthermore, small Koobi Fora crania have endocranial volumes below 600 cm3 [KNM-ER 1813 = 510 cm3; KNM-ER 1805 = 582 cm3 (Falk, 1987)], although some Olduvai specimens are larger (OH 7 = 674 cm3; OH 13 = 673 cm3; OH 16 = 638 cm3; Tobias, 1971). Attempts to assess relative brain size using postcranial referents (e.g., McHenry, 1994a; but see below regarding postcranial attributions) and cranial proxies such as orbital area (Wood and Collard, 1999) find that H. habilis is only modestly encephalized relative to australopiths. However, although a large brain is correlated with slower maturation, the life history pattern of early Homo may have been like that seen in the australopiths. Dean et al. (2001) have shown that the timing of tooth development events resembles those of modern and fossil African hominoids. Overall, there is reduction in tooth row length, jaw size, and absolute size of the postcanine dentition, but molars fall within the lower range of Australopithecus and the upper range of Homo erectus (Dunsworth and Walker, 2002). A more rectangular tooth shape (i.e., buccolingually narrow and mesiodistally elongated) is a consistent feature of the taxon, as is thinner (compared with Australopithecus and Paranthropus) molar enamel. Supraorbital torus development is variable, but may be described as “incipient” in most specimens. The coronal chord is greater than the sagittal chord in the parietals, upper facial breadth exceeds midface breadth, and the nasal margins are sharp, with an everted nasal sill (Dunsworth and Walker, 2002). The OH 65 specimen is a maxilla thought by Blumenschine et al. (2003) to have affinities with the KNM-ER 1470 H. rudolfensis lectotype, in particular in terms of its broad, flattened naso-alveolar clivus. This is disputed by Spoor et al. (2007), who note similarities between OH 65 and KNM-ER 42703, the youngest known specimen assigned to H. habilis (1.44 Ma). For example, both are of similar size and lack the anteriorly placed and forward-sloping zygomatic process found in KNM-ER 1470.

Southern African specimens that may represent Homo habilis come from Sterkfontein and Swartkrans, the most complete of which are crania Stw 53 and SK 847 (Grine et al., 1993, 1996; Curnoe and Tobias, 2006), although the former has also been attributed to Australopithecus africanus (Kuman and Clarke, 2000) and the latter to H. erectus (Kimbel et al., 1997). These two crania have been found to resemble one another more than East African Homo specimens KNM-ER 1813, 1470, 3733, OH 24, and KNM-WT 15000, raising the possibility that they represent a geographic variant of H. habilis or even a separate species of Homo not sampled in East Africa (Grine et al., 1993, 1996). However, the bony labyrinths of the two crania differ. While the semicircular canals of SK 847 resemble those of Homo sapiens and Homo erectus, suggesting similarity in movement perception to well adapted bipeds, the semicircular canals of Stw 53 were found to have a much less derived configuration (Spoor et al., 1994). Three Homo specimens predating Homo habilis from Olduvai and Koobi Fora are securely dated radiometrically. The oldest is a temporal bone from Lake Baringo, Kenya, dated at 2.4 Ma (Hill et al., 1992). It is attributed to Homo on the basis of plausible synapomorphies absent in Australopithecus and Paranthropus temporal bones (although as noted by Asfaw et al. (1999) and Sherwood et al. (2002), comparisons with penecontemporaneous Au. garhi are not yet possible), including a medially positioned mandibular fossa, a mandibular fossa containing an anteromedial recess and a flange of tegmen tympani, a reduced temporomandibular tubercle and a sharp petrous crest (Hill et al., 1992; Sherwood et al., 2002). However, given the fragmentary nature of the specimen, it was not assigned to a particular species of Homo. A second Homo specimen is AL 666-1, a well-preserved maxilla with right P3–M1 crowns and left I2–M2 dated at 2.33 Ma (Kimbel et al., 1996). It has been referred to Homo on the basis of 10 characters including relatively broad palate, reduced subnasal prognathism, flat nasoalveolar clivus sharply angled to the floor of nasal cavity, and to a male of H. habilis on the basis of dental size and morphology, overall phenetic similarity, large size and lack of derived features found in H. erectus (e.g., inclined nasoalveolar clivus) or H. rudolfensis (e.g., remodeled subnasal region)(Kimbel et al., 1997). The third specimen is an isolated lower molar of a juvenile from the Nachukui Formation, West Turkana, which was found just above a tuff dated at 2.34 Ma (Prat et al., 2005). The only postcranial specimens securely associated with early Homo craniodental material are OH 62 and KNM-ER 3735, dated to ~1.8 Ma and 1.9, respectively (Häusler and McHenry, 2004). OH 62 has been assigned to H. habilis by most workers, but KNM-ER 3735 is referred to Homo sp. Remains for OH 62 include maxillary, mandibular, radial, ulnar, humeral, tibial, and femoral fragments, while KNM-ER 3735 is represented by temporal and zygomatic, distal humerus, proximal radius, femoral, tibial and sacral fragments. Although initially thought to possess more primitive limb proportions than A.L. 288-1 (Johanson et al., 1982), it has since been emphasized that femur length cannot be reliably estimated for OH 62 (Asfaw et al., 1999; Dunsworth and Walker, 2002; Reno et al., 2005). Moreover, Häusler and McHenry (2004) have claimed that the OH 62 femur is overall more similar in proportion to an Olduvai specimen (OH 34)(of uncertain age [either Bed II or Bed III] and taxonomic assignment [Homo sp.]) than to australopith femora, although the OH 62 femur is small, with a reconstructed body mass of 33 kg (McHenry, 1992a). This finding would be



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significant as it would undermine reconstructions of Homo habilis as being more primitive in limb proportions, and smaller and more dimorphic than later Homo erectus samples, but Ruff (2008) has since provided further evidence that the morphology of OH 62 is not consistent with it being an obligate biped. At present, there is a substantial range of morphology represented in hominin postcranial remains recovered from 1.9 to 1.5 Ma. In the Lake Turkana Basin, H. erectus (1.9–1.5 Ma), H. habilis (1.9–1.44), H. rudolfensis (1.9 Ma), and P. boisei (2–1.39 Ma) co-occur. Large, derived postcrania such as the innominate KNM-ER 3228, femora KNM-ER 1481A and 1472 and talus KNM-ER 813 could plausibly belong to any of these taxa. Thus the nature of the transition from an Australopithecus-like postcranial grade to the tall, long-legged, and large hindlimb jointed morph (exemplified by the aforementioned postcrania and by H. erectus partial skeletons KNM-ER 1808 and KNM-WT 15000) cannot be reliably reconstructed. The OH 7 hand, OH 35 tibia, and fibula and OH 8 foot, all from Bed I, may represent Homo habilis or P. boisei (e.g., Gebo and Schwartz, 2006; Susman, 2008; Moyà-Solà et al., 2008). The hand bones are of a juvenile and previous researchers have noted the following: robust, but otherwise humanlike distal phalanges, robust, slightly curved middle and proximal phalanges and a broad, flattened carpometacarpal (CM) joint on the trapezium (Susman and Stern, 1982). These features are compatible with strong grasping, a powerful, mobile thumb, and powerful fingertips. However, Robinson (1972), Dunsworth and Walker (2002) and Moyà-Solà et al. (2008) all doubt whether the hand elements can be reliably associated with the cranial remains, the main grouping argument being the juvenile status of all specimens. The OH 35 tibia has an articular surface that faces inferiorly and limited ability for either dorsiflexion or plantarflexion (Susman and Stern, 1982; DeSilva, 2009). The OH 8 foot has several derived attributes, including a human-like pattern of metatarsal robusticity (i.e., a robust fifth metatarsal, indicating the lateral to medial weight transfer that occurs in modern humans), a lack of abductory capabilities in the hallux and a stiff lateral column, suggestive of a longitudinal arch (Susman and Stern, 1982; DeSilva, 2009). Crocodile and leopard bite marks are present on both the OH 8 talus, and the OH 35 tibia (Njau and Blumenschine, 2007). Citing a “perfect” fit between the OH 8 talus and the OH 35 tibia, Stern and Susman (1982) argued that these bones are not only both from H. habilis but possibly from the same individual. Their recovery in different geological horizons makes this hypothesis unlikely (Hay, 1976). Nevertheless, the association of OH 8 and OH 35 was tested by examining the congruence of the talar and tibial articular surfaces of associated human and ape skeletons using a 3-D laser scanner (Aiello et al., 1998; Wood et al., 1998). The results suggested that the articular surfaces of OH 8 and OH 35 were incongruent, and perhaps not only from different individuals but from different species as well (Aiello et al., 1998; Wood et al., 1998). Susman (2008) has recently reiterated the claim (Susman and Stern, 1982) that the OH 8 foot and the OH 7 type mandible belonged to the same, adolescent individual. However, the arthritic lateral metatarsals, and the obliterated epiphyseal line on the base of the first metatarsal indicate an older age for the OH 8 individual than the OH 7 H. habilis individual (DeSilva, 2008). Body weight estimates are 32 kg for the tibia and ~31 kg for the talus (McHenry, 1992a). Body weight estimates from orbital area of Homo habilis are comparable, ca. 30–35 kg (Aiello and Wood, 1994; Kappelman, 1996).

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Remarks Homo habilis has been a controversial taxon since its inception—first, either because inclusion of relatively smallbrained specimens into the genus (e.g., OH 7) was thought to be unjustifiable (e.g., Holloway, 1965) or because specimens were thought to be subsumable within Homo erectus (e.g., Brace et al., 1973). Later, controversy centered on whether H. habilis represented either one, highly variable, or two species (see Wood, 1992), with many researchers finding the degree and pattern of variation in H. habilis sensu lato to be unlike intraspecific variation found in extant Homo, Pan or Gorilla (Wood, 1991). Troubling to many was the co-occurrence of KNM-ER 1813 and KNM-ER 1470 at 1.9 Ma at Koobi Fora (e.g., Wood, 1985; Lieberman et al., 1988): the former has a small endocranial volume, a small face and teeth, and incipient browridges, while the latter has a larger endocranial volume but a larger facial skeletal, and presumably, dentition, and a transversely flat facile profile. However, an endocranial volume range of 510–750 cc does not exceed the level of variation found in dimorphic extant primates (Miller, 1991), and early Homo crania from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia (~1.77 Ma) have endocranial capacities with almost as wide a range (from 600 to 775 cc)(Gabunia et al., 2000, 2002; Vekua et al., 2002). Gathogo and Brown (2006) have recently suggested a new age for KNM-ER 1813 of 1.65 Ma, and proposed that this may remove some objections about whether the Koobi Fora sample can be accommodated within one pre-erectus Homo taxon (i.e., Homo habilis sensu lato). However, the stratigraphic revision on which the new age is based is disputed by Feibel et al. (2007) and is not widely accepted. While it is very possible that more than one early Homo taxon is represented in the Turkana Basin, the same cannot be said for Olduvai, where there is general agreement that only Homo habilis has been sampled. The most significant development in the interpretation of early Homo in the last decade is the proposal by Wood and Collard (1999) that inclusion of Homo habilis and H. rudolfensis in Homo produces such poor adaptive coherence that they should be removed, and transferred to genus Australopithecus. These authors made the case that the hypodigms for these taxa correspond to an ecological niche or adaptive grade that, overall, more closely resembles those of taxa belonging to Australopithecus than to Homo (see also Collard and Wood, 2007), but demonstration that these taxa are more closely related to Australopithecus than to H. sapiens is more equivocal (e.g., Strait et al., 1997; Strait and Grine, 2004). An alternative to placing H. habilis and H. rudolfensis in Homo (which would expand the definition of the genus beyond acceptable limits for many) or Australopithecus (already paraphyletic) would be to transfer these taxa to a different genus, or genera (Collard and Wood, 2007). Strait and Grine (2004) advocate leaving these taxa in Homo, as they believe the genus retains monophyly with their inclusion, and cladistic arguments should take precedence over gradistic arguments. However, gradistic arguments to remove H. habilis and H. rudolfensis from Homo can still be made, provided the evidence for niche separation is compelling and provided the remaining members retained in Homo constitute a monophyletic and holophyletic group. If H. habilis and H. rudolfensis are shown to be sister taxa (e.g., as in Wood, 1992, Box 4) they could be placed in the same genus. If they are not sister taxa but represent two divergence events that predate the divergence of Homo erectus (e.g., as in Strait and Grine, 2004: figures 4 and 5), then they could be removed from Homo, but two new genus names would have to be implemented. It has been suggested

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that facial similarities between Kenyanthropus and KNM-ER 1470 could reflect a close phylogenetic relationship (Leakey at el., 2001). If future finds bear this out, Homo rudolfensis may be transferred to Kenyanthropus rudolfensis. Given the lack of data to resolve phylogenetic issues, and the likelihood that the degree of niche separation to be inferred from even expanded hypodigms may remain low, many authors prefer to retain H. habilis and H. rudolfensis within Homo, at least for the time being. Egeland et al. (2007) provide a recent overview of Olduvai Basin Bed I paleoecology. The landscape was dominated by a saline, alkaline paleolake with fluctuating levels; streams drained from volcanoes to the south and east, and the east contained an alluvial fan and plain (Hay, 1976). Paleosol carbonates from trenches in Upper Bed I, between ~1.845 and 1.785 Ma indicate that C4 plants were a major component of the vegetation, perhaps 40–60% (Sikes and Ashley, 2007). Wooded grasslands/grassy woodlands dominated the edges of the paleolake, and prior to 1.76 Ma, the Olduvai Basin is reconstructed as supporting mixed habitats. Significant aridification takes place between 1.76 and 1.75 ma (Sikes and Ashley, 2007; Egeland et al., 2007). The Omo Group Plio-Pleistocene deposits of the Turkana Basin are exposed in East and West Lake Turkana, Kenya and Omo Valley, Ethiopia (Feibel et al., 1989; Bobe and Behrensmeyer, 2004). Sediments were deposited by fluvial, lacustrine, and deltaic activity, and the landscape was variously dominated by a large paleolake (between 4 and 2 Ma) or the Omo River. Faunal records of the Turkana Basin indicate that species with adaptations for a continuum of habitats from closed to open persisted between 4.0 and 1.0 Ma (Behrensmeyer et al., 1997) but periods of high faunal turnover occur in intervals from 3.4–3.2, 2.8–2.6, 2.4–2.2, and 2.0–1.8 Ma (Bobe and Behrensmeyer, 2004). Bobe and Behrensmeyer (2004) demonstrate that large cyclical shifts in the fauna begin at 2.5 Ma in the Turkana Basin, at about the presumed time of the origin of Homo, and attempt to link it with environmental change. They note: “The fundamental importance of grasslands [for hominin evolution] may lie in the complexity and heterogeneity they added to the range of habitats available to the early species of the genus Homo” (399). Indeed, one of the most seductive environmental scenarios in paleoanthropology has been the idea that increasing seasonality and aridification associated with the late Pliocene was a potent selective force in hominin evolution, linked not just to the origins of genus Homo but to encephalization, stone tool manufacture, and a concomitant increase in manual dexterity, and greater commitment to terrestrial bipedality. For example, Vrba’s (1985) documentation of a turnover in bovid taxa between 2.7 and 2.5 Ma was thought to occur in synchrony with environmentally driven extinction (Au. africanus) and speciation (P. robustus and H. habilis) among hominins in southern Africa. Support for a pan-African biotic turnover event has not materialized, however (Behrensmeyer et al., 1997), although Reed (1997) has shown that in East Africa, as in the south, Homo co-occurs with taxa adapted to more open, arid environments than do australopiths (Reed, 1997). Against this backdrop of evidence for increasingly frequent associations between hominins and more open environments over time, is the recognition that persistent heterogeneity and, particularly, instability (albeit cyclical) in habitat due to factors such as short-term orbitally forced wet/dry oscillations may be a more dominant selective force in hominin evolution (Potts, 1998; Kingston et al., 2007; Kingston, 2007).

The technical skills associated with tool making were long thought to be linked with brain expansion; however, this picture has been complicated by provisional evidence for tool use and manufacture among small-brained australopiths such as Au. garhi and P. robustus. The oldest Oldowan stone tools from Gona, Ethiopia (2.6 Ma), are not associated with hominin remains and slightly predate the earliest record of Homo (table 25.2). Nonetheless, early Homo and all subsequent members of the genus are consistently associated with stone tools. Oldowan stone tool manufacture and animal butchery reflect a significant shift in hominin foraging patterns (see Plummer [2004] for a review of the Oldowan sites) and signal the dawn of an ever-increasing dependence on culture as an adaptive strategy. Although an increased dependence on processing animal and possibly plant tissue with stone tools plays a role in the transition from the Australopithecus to the Homo grade, the nature of this dietary change as inferred from the anatomical, biomechanical, microwear, and isotopic evidence remains ambiguous (Ungar et al., 2006). HOMO RUDOLFENSIS Alexeev, 1986 Figure 25.15 and Table 25.2

Lectotype This taxon was not formally diagnosed by Alexeev (1986) or later by Groves (1989) and no holotype was assigned, but KNM-ER 1470, an edentulous adult cranium is the lectotype (Wood 1992). Crania KNM-ER 1590 and 3732 and mandibles 1802 and UR 501 are included by some researchers, as are 1.9 Ma large-sized, derived postcrania from Koobi Fora such as KNM-ER 3228 and KNM-ER 1481 (Groves, 1989; Wood, 1992; Dunsworth and Walker, 2002; Schrenk et al., 2007, but see Wood and Richmond, 2000:41). Partial Synonymy Pithecanthropus rudolfensis, Alexeev 1986; Homo habilis, Leakey et al., 1964; Homo ergaster, Groves and Mazak 1975; Australopithecus rudolfensis, Wood and Collard, 1999. Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene to early Pleistocene, eastern and southern Africa (table 25.2). Diagnosis Larger endocranial volume (752 cc for KNM-ER 1470 [Wood, 1991], but see the suggestion in Bromage et al. 2008 that the endocranial volume may be smaller than the estimate given here) than Australopithecus, Paranthropus, and the mean for H. habilis; very weak supraorbital tori; moderate

FIGURE 25.15 Homo rudolfensis cranium KNM ER 1470. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya.



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postorbital constriction; midface broad relative to upper face; prognathic overall but with an orthognathic lower face; relatively broad, short palate compared to H. habilis; anteriorly placed and forward sloping zygomatic process; superior surface of posterior zygoma flat; less everted nasal margins than H. habilis; no nasal sill; rounded mandibular symphysis with no internal buttressing; anterior and posterior dentition inferred to be large; more complex premolar root system. Can be distinguished from H. erectus by a larger face and dentition and lack of well-developed supraorbital tori (Wood, 1992; Groves, 1989; Dunsworth and Walker, 2002). Description KNM-ER 1470 was initially referred to Homo sp. indet. by Leakey (1973). Although the endocranial capacity clearly aligned it with Homo, the face was noted to have similarities with Australopithecus and even Paranthropus (e.g., Leakey, 1973; Walker, 1976; Wood, 1991); moreover, the orientation of the face was recognized to be uncertain because of expanding matrix distortion of the frontal base (Leakey, 1973; Bromage, 2008). In addition to the features detailed in the diagnosis here, KNM-ER 1470 exhibits anteriorly positioned glenoid fossae and external auditory meati, and weakly developed muscle markings on the occipital and temporal bones (Leakey, 1973). Orbital area and orbital height have been used to reconstruct a body mass of ca. 49 kg (Kappelman, 1996) and 53 kg (Aiello and Wood, 1994) respectively. Wood (1991) recognized that early Homo mandibles from Koobi Fora sort into two types. Those attributed to H. rudolfensis (KNM-ER 1482, 1483, 1801, 1802) are noted for their robust corpi, large postcanine crown areas, broad postcanine teeth, p3 molarization including developed talonids, and roots of p3 and p4 that are plate-like (Bromage et al., 1995b). Wood (1992) tentatively allocated large-sized (and derived) postcrania from Koobi Fora to H. rudolfensis but later noted that no postcranial fossils can be reliably linked to H. rudolfensis (Wood and Collard, 1999; Wood and Richmond, 2000). KNM-ER 1470 is not directly associated with any postcrania; however, higher in the stratigraphic section in “area 131” where KNM-ER 1470 was found, three separate femora were recovered (KNM-ER 1472, 1475, 1481), one of which (1481) is associated with a tibia and fibula. All four specimens come from below the KBS tuff and are considered to be 1.89 ± 0.05 Ma (Feibel et al., 1989). KNM-ER 1475 is quite fragmentary, but 1472 and 1481 are well preserved. KNM-ER 1481 has some features that resemble australopith femora; for example, its neck is relatively long, and its shaft is anteroposteriorly flattened. However, it is much longer and has an absolutely large femoral head diameter (body weight based on head size is estimated to be 57 kg; McHenry, 1992b), and a similar distribution of femoral subchondral bone as modern humans (MacLatchy, 1996). KNM-ER 1481 may also be from H. erectus (Kennedy, 1983), though others find it more likely that this femur is from early Homo (i.e., H. habilis sensu lato)(Trinkaus, 1984a). KNM-ER 3228 is 1.95 ± 0.05 Ma (Feibel et al., 1989) and as such is the oldest well-dated postcranial fragment whose size (i.e., body mass based on acetabulum size is estimated to be 62 kg; McHenry, 1992b), and morphology resemble those of Homo sapiens. Based on its size, it has been argued that KNMER-3228 may represent early H. erectus (Antón, 2003), but the only purported H. erectus specimen of this antiquity is the occipital fragment KNM-ER 2598 (discussed later) that is contemporaneous with KNM-ER 1470. The enlarged acetabulum on KNM-ER 3228 suggests high joint reaction forces at the hip perhaps as a result of large body mass. There is also a prominent iliac pillar reinforcing the bone and resisting the bending

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forces that would be imposed on the laterally flaring ilium during bipedal locomotion, and in this way it is similar to the H. erectus OH 28 pelvis (Rose, 1984; Aiello and Dean, 1990). Remarks Other than the Koobi Fora material, the only relatively complete specimens that have been referred to Homo rudolfensis by at least some authors are two mandibles: Omo 75-14 from Ethiopia and UR 501 from Malawi. In addition to the mandible, the Omo collection includes upward of 20 isolated teeth of Homo affinity (Suwa et al., 1996). Suwa and colleagues have noted that the sizes of the teeth tend to fall above the mean for H. habilis sensu stricto and correspond in some respects (e.g., p3 molarization) to the H. rudolfensis morphological pattern laid out by Wood (1991, 1992). However, these authors posit that the more robust dentition of H. rudolfensis may represent the primitive condition for Homo, with rapid gracilization occurring within this lineage (during Upper Burgi Member time), to yield H. habilis sensu stricto. Under this model of anagenetic change, the hypodigms of the two early Homo taxa would be subsumed into H. habilis. However, it has also been suggested that the H. habilis morphotype may represent the primitive condition for Homo (Kimbel et al., 1997). The Malawi mandible is of biogeographic significance in that it is associated with a mostly East African endemic fauna, rather than South African (Bromage et al., 1995b). Schrenk et al. (2002) report a faunal age of 2.5–2.3 Ma for UR 501, largely on the basis that the form of the suid Notochoerus scotti from Uraha is reportedly more advanced than those from Member C of the Shungura Formation, which is dated at ca. 2.8 Ma (Feibel et al., 1989) but less advanced than those from Member G, below the KBS tuff at ca. 2.0 Ma (Feibel et al., 1989). Given the ~2,500 km separating Omo and Uraha, a less precise faunal age for the mandible is probably warranted, in the range of 2.7–2.0 Ma. Hill (1995) has also suggested caution in attaching too narrow a faunally based date to this specimen. HOMO ERECTUS (Dubois, 1893), Weidenreich, 1940 Figure 25.16 and Table 25.2

Partial Synonymy Anthropopithecus erectus, Dubois, 1892; Pithecanthropus erectus, Dubois, 1894; Sinanthropus pekinensis, Black, 1927; Homo (Javanthropus) soloensis, Oppenoorth, 1932; Homo primigenius asiaticus, Weidenreich, 1933; Homo neanderthalensis soloensis, von Koenigswald, 1934; Homo soloensis, Dubois, 1936; Homo erectus javensis, Weidenreich, 1940; Homo erectus pekinensis, Weidenreich, 1940; Pithecanthropus robustus, Weidenreich, 1945; Meganthropus palaeojavanicus, Weidenreich, 1945; Pithecanthropus pekinensis, Boule and Vallois, 1946; Telanthropus capensis, Broom and Robinson, 1949; Pithecanthropus modjokertensis, von Koenigswald, 1950; Paranthropus palaeojavanicus, Robinson, 1954; Atlanthropus mauritanicus, Arambourg, 1954; Australopithecus capensis, Oakley, 1954; Pithecanthropus capensis, Simonetta, 1957; Pithecanthropus palaeojavanicus, Piveteau, 1957; Pithecanthropus sinensis, Piveteau, 1957; Homo leakeyi, Heberer, 1963; Homo sapiens soloensis, Campbell, 1964; Sinanthropus lantianensis, Woo, 1964; Tchadanthropus uxoris, Coppens, 1966; Homo ergaster, Groves and Mazák, 1975; Homo modjokertensis, von Koenigswald, 1975; Pithecanthropus soloensis, Jacob, 1978; Homo erectus trinilensis, Sartono, 1982; Homo palaeojavanicus sangiranensis, Sartono, 1982; Homo palaeojavanicus mojokertensis, Sartono, 1982; Homo palaeojavanicus robustus, Sartono, 1982; Homo erectus ngandongensis, Sartono, 1982; Homo georgicus, Gabounia et al., 2002. Holotype Trinil 2. Calotte discovered along the Solo River, Java in 1891.

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A A) Homo erectus partial skeleton KNM WT 15000. Courtesy of National Museums of Kenya. B) Homo erectus calvaria BOU-VP-2/66. Courtesy of Tim White.

FIGURE 25.16

Age and Occurrence Early to middle Pleistocene Africa, Asia, Europe. Perhaps into later Pleistocene in sites in China and Indonesia (table 25.2). Diagnosis The Trinil calvaria was the first fossil to demonstrate the existence of a small-brained hominin in the human fossil record. Compared to H. sapiens, the type specimen has a smaller cranial capacity (~850 cc); a low, sloping frontal bone with a thick, continuous supraorbital torus; moderate postorbital constriction; a midline keel; a strongly angled occipital with a thick transverse occipital torus; and less flexed basicranium. Fossils from Swartkrans, South Africa (Broom and Robinson, 1949), Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania (Heberer, 1963), Lake Turkana, Kenya (Leakey and Walker, 1976; Walker and Leakey, 1993), and Middle Awash, Ethiopia (Asfaw et al., 2002; Gilbert and Asfaw, 2008), have greatly expanded

our knowledge of H. erectus. Compared to H. sapiens, H. erectus has a wider face; moderate subnasal prognathism; does not possess a mental eminence though the mandibular corpus is more robust, the ramus is mediolaterally wide, and the bicondylar breadth large; and a relatively larger third molar. Postcranially, H. erectus had six lumbar vertebrae; a longer femoral neck with associated broader pelvis; and thicker cortical bone in long bone midshafts. Compared to Australopithecus and earlier Homo, H. erectus has a larger average cranial capacity; vertically oriented parietals; thicker supraorbitals; overall thicker cranial bones especially in inner and outer tables; a strongly angled occipital region; reduced temporal fossa; a narrow but deep temporomandibular fossa; smaller postcanine teeth (especially M3) relative to body size; mesiodistally reduced upper M3; more platymeric femora; thicker cortical bone in lower limbs; more modern human–like intermembral index; and an overall larger body height and weight. Description Homo erectus crania tend to be quite broad relative to their height, with parallel-sided parietals when viewed posteriorly, a robustly built occipital region often with an occipital torus, and a supraorbital torus that varies in projection and thickness, perhaps as a function of sexual dimorphism. Above the supraorbital torus is often a shelflike supratoral sulcus. The crania are typically thick and possess keeling along the midline and often a postbregmatic eminence. There is usually a degree of subnasal prognathism. The robusticity of the occipital and supraorbital region of the cranium may scale allometrically (Spoor et al., 2007). The thickened cranial vaults, expanded nuchal plane, and prominent supraorbitals may be a suite of characters functionally related to the increased anterior loading of the skull during mastication (Wolpoff, 1999). Homo



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erectus is more modern human–like in craniodental morphology and postcranial anatomy than earlier Homo or australopiths. The average cranial capacity in eight African fossils assigned to H. erectus is 870 cm3 ± 129 cm3 (range 691 cm3–1067 cm3; Holloway et al., 2004). These fossils include the relatively complete crania KNM-ER 3733, KNM-ER 3883, KNM-WT 15000, KNM-ER 42700, OH 9, UA 31 (Buia), BOU-VP-2/66 (Daka), and OH 12. Perhaps the earliest evidence for cranial expansion is the 1.9 Ma KNM-ER 2598 occipital fragment, which has a wide posterior cranial fossa, an angled occipital with a transverse occipital torus, but some claim this fossil may not be 1.9 Ma, and instead may have weathered from more recent deposits (White, 1995). Homo erectus has midfacial anatomy different from earlier hominins, including the presence of larger orbits and larger nasal regions. The large nasal regions may have been selected to increase the volume of air, and to retain water during expiration (Franciscus and Trinkaus, 1988). Other important craniodental fossils of H. erectus include KNM-ER 730, an associated mandible, frontal, and occipital of an older adult female. Consistent with other presumed female H. erectus fossils, the supraorbital is not markedly tall, and there is a weak nuchal torus. Craniodental remains of H. erectus may also be present in the later Sterkfontein cave deposits (SE 1508 and SE 1937) and at Swarkrans cave (SK 15 mandible and SK 847 partial cranium preserving part of the face)(Clarke, 1994a; Curnoe and Tobias, 2006). The craniodental remains of H. erectus show a substantial range of variation, perhaps related to a persistence of Australopithecus-like levels of sexual dimorphism. A roughly 950,000-year-old frontal and temporal fossil (KNM-OL 45500) from the archaeologically rich site of Olorgesailie is quite gracile (Potts et al., 2004). Though the glabella region is prominent, the frontal breadth is reduced and the supraorbital thinner than all known H. erectus specimens except perhaps OH 12 (Potts et al., 2004). Recently described fossils from Ileret, Kenya, are consistent with the hypothesis that H. erectus displayed marked sexual dimorphism (Spoor et al., 2007). The 1.55 Ma calvarium KNM-ER 42700 has the smallest cranial capacity (691 cm3) of any definitive H. erectus from Africa, and like in KNM-OL 45500, the supraorbitals are thin. The cranial vault is thinner than most H. erectus fossils, and the occipital not as strongly angled and lacks a strong occipital torus. A recent morphometric study of KNM-ER 42700 found it to be quite distinct from known H. erectus crania and perhaps not attributable to that species (Baab, 2008a; but see reply in Spoor et al., 2008). Despite this substantial range of variation in cranial morphology, Suwa et al. (2007) have found morphological continuity in the dental remains of H. erectus from 1.65 to 1.0 Ma, with a slight tendency toward dental gracility after 1.4 Ma. This may be correlated with the appearance of Acheulean tool technology, first preserved in 1.4 Ma deposits at the H. erectus site of Konso-Gardula (Asfaw et al., 1992). The postcranial anatomy of H. erectus is known primarily from the remarkably complete skeleton of the young male from Nariokotome, KNM-WT 15000 (Brown et al., 1985; Walker and Leakey, 1993). Most of the skeleton is preserved; the specimen lacks some of the cervical and thoracic vertebrae, the left humerus, both radii, and hand and foot bones. Readers are referred to the Nariokotome volume (Walker and Leakey, 1993) for a detailed treatment of this specimen. The morphology of the ribs suggests that H. erectus was as barrel chested as modern humans (Jellema et al., 1993). The femora and tibiae are elongated, the proximal femur has a long femoral neck and the ilia flare laterally, though the ilia are poorly preserved in this specimen. Latimer and Ward (1993) believe that the vertebrae and

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sacrum have relatively small, australopith-like centra (but see Sanders, 1998), a modern human–like lumbar lordosis, and by inference strong erector spinae. The shoulder of the Nariokotome Boy possesses a combination of derived morphologies, including a modern human–like scapula, with a less cranially oriented glenoid than those found in apes and australopiths; primitive morphologies including a short clavicle and humerus with reduced torsion (Larson et al., 2007). Brown et al. (1985) estimate that KNM-WT 15000 was roughly 12 years old at death, but others use perikymata to suggest that he was only 8 years old (Dean et al., 2001). Nevertheless, at the age of 8–12, he already had a thicker supraorbital torus and more robust facial morphology than the adult KNM-ER 3733. He was also already 1.66 m and roughly 48 kg (Ruff and Walker, 1993). Dean et al. (2001) have suggested that if this young H. erectus male had already attained this size within only 8 years, then H. erectus may have had an accelerated life history relative to modern humans, including an earlier weaning age, a rapid period of growth, and an earlier age of first reproduction. Other possible postcranial remains from H. erectus have been described from Koobi Fora, Olduvai Gorge, and from sites in southern Africa. These include KNM-ER 1808, a pathological skeleton of a tall female H. erectus. Walker et al. (1982) found that the pattern of bone formation on the KNM-ER 1808 skeleton was similar to skeletal material from individuals who had consumed large quantities of raw liver, and in consequence had suffered from an overdose of vitamin A. The authors concluded that the morphology of the KNM-ER 1808 skeleton was evidence not only for the consumption of meat in H. erectus, but for conspecific care, as well (Walker and Shipman, 1996). Skinner (1991) argued that hypervitaminosis A could also result from eating too much honey, and Rothschild et al. (1995) most recently argued that the 1808 skeleton is more consistent with this individual suffering from yaws, not from hypervitaminosis A. Nevertheless, both KNM-ER 1808 and KNM-WT 15000 display modern human body proportions. This differs from earlier australopiths, which tend to have a relatively higher intermembral index (Aiello and Dean, 1990). Another specimen, KNMER 803 preserves parts of both upper and lower limb morphology, though this skeleton is quite fragmentary. Other postcranial remains suggested to be from H. erectus include femora KNM-ER 736, KNM-ER 737, BOU-VP-1/15, BOU-VP-2/15, BOU-VP-19/63; tibiae KNM-ER 741, KNM-ER 19700, BOU-VP-1/109, StW 567; tali KNM-ER 5428 and BOU-VP-2/95, and the OH 28 femur and pelvis (Walker, 1994; Antón, 2003; Gilbert and Asfaw, 2008). These fossils collectively suggest that H. erectus was a large, muscular hominin. Body size estimates from the tibia and femora range from 45–68 kg (Antón, 2003). Using human-based regression equations, the large talus KNM-ER 5428 would be from an 86.7-kg individual (McHenry, 1992b). Homo erectus femora are characterized by thick midshaft cortical bone, subtrochanteric platymery, and a distal position of the minimum shaft breadth (Kennedy, 1983; Gilbert and Asfaw, 2008). The lower limb postcranial anatomy of H. erectus is consistent with a bipedal locomotor gait similar, if not indistinguishable, from that of modern humans. This assertion has recently been supported by an analysis of 1.52-Ma footprints presumably left by H. erectus at Ileret, Kenya (Bennett et al., 2009). An H. erectus female pelvis and lumbar vertebra (BSN49/ P27a-d) have recently been described from 0.9- to 1.4-Ma deposits in Gona, Ethiopia (Simpson et al., 2008). The pelvis is from a small, presumably female, individual (1.2–1.46 m in height) and retains the laterally flaring ilia characteristic of the australopith pelvis. However, the dimensions of the birth canal

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suggest that H. erectus females were capable of delivering infants with large (300- to 315-cc) brains, suggesting that H. erectus had evolved a modern human–like prenatal brain growth pattern. Remarks Readers are advised to consult Antón (2003) for a more detailed treatment of the biology and evolution of Homo erectus. As already discussed, the allocation of unassociated postcrania is problematic; however the partial skeletons KNMER 15000 and 1808 are evidence that H. erectus is a consistently larger hominin than the australopiths or perhaps early Homo. Bramble and Lieberman (2004) have suggested that evolution of the body proportions and anatomies first seen at 1.9 Ma and present in KNM-ER 15000 and 1808 are adaptations for long-distance running and may have been selected for to increase hunting or scavenging success. Relatively long legs provide an elongated stride and energy conserving tendons increase the efficiency of long-distance travel. Modern humans have important physiological differences when compared to chimpanzees that are related to heat dispersal, such as sweat glands and reduced body hair. Adoption of diurnal hunting, scavenging, and long-distance travel would impose such a selection pressure against body hair. However, with the removal of body hair, selection would act fiercely on modern human skin color. Jablonski and Chaplin (2000) have elegantly shown that under an equatorial African sun, light skin color would result in folic acid destruction, whereas dark skin pigmentation would protect folic acid, while still allowing enough ultraviolet radiation to maintain sufficient vitamin D production. Rogers et al. (2004) sequenced the MC1R gene in modern humans and other primates and found that this gene, which helps regulate pigmentation, coalesced in hominins at roughly 1.5 Ma. These data suggest a selective sweep in a gene partially responsible for skin color variation in hominins near the time that H. erectus appeared. Homo erectus may therefore have been the first hominin with reduced body hair, perhaps as a result of long-distance diurnal travel related to hunting and scavenging. Homo erectus specimens also indicate a shift in dietary strategies compared to earlier hominins. Australopith postcanine teeth are both relatively and absolutely larger than either early Homo or early H. erectus teeth. However, there is an increase in incisor size in H. erectus, suggesting a greater emphasis on anterior tooth loading. The evidence for an increase in meat consumption around 2 million years ago is supported by genetic studies on the tapeworm, which presumably evolved a relationship with hominins after being consumed as part of an animal carcass (Hoberg et al., 2001). Finally, a species cannot become reliant on meat if that food source is not present in the environment. The evolution of H. erectus and evidence that this species began to consume more meat tissue than its predecessors is supported by paleoecological evidence for faunal evolution in Africa between 2.5 and 1.8 million years ago during a time of variable climates with the trend toward drier and a greater variety of habitats (Behrensmeyer et al., 1997). These conditions would support the evolution of many of the prey animals found in H. erectus assemblages. The pattern of stone tool sites on the African landscape changes during the early evolution of H. erectus (Cachel and Harris, 1998). These authors have noted that at that time archaeological sites begin to increase in volume, and the distances that hominins traveled to obtain the raw material for their stone tools increased. The patterns of stone tools thus indicate an increase in the home range occupied by H. erectus. This has also been reported in the later H. erectus locality of Olorgesailie, which reflects a shift toward greater use of the landscape and a more deliberate selection of stone tool raw materials (Potts, et al.

1999). These archaeological data are consistent with work by Antón et al. (2002) who have shown that an increase in body size and a change in diet correlate with an increase in home ranges across primates. Critically, the increase in home range is not just within Africa, but H. erectus is presumably the first hominin species to migrate out of Africa. This occurred shortly after the first fossil evidence for H. erectus (~1.95 Ma), as fossils likely assignable to this species have been found in 1.77-Ma sites in Dmanisi, Georgia (Gabunia and Vekua, 1995; Gabunia et al., 2000; Vekua et al., 2002; Lordkipanidze et al., 2006, 2007), and in 1.8-Ma sites in Indonesia (Swisher et al., 1994). Related to an increase in big-game hunting, long-distance travel, and stone-tool sophistication is the tantalizing, but difficult-to-test, question of whether H. erectus possessed language. Based on the reduced size of the thoracic vertebral canals in the Nariokotome skeleton, MacLarnon (1993) suggested that H. erectus might have lacked the precise motor control of the intercostal and abdominal muscles necessary for modern human–like speech. However, the vertebrae of the Nariokotome skeleton may be pathological (Latimer and Ohman, 2001), and vertebrae from other H. erectus skeletons suggest that the size of the vertebral canals are within the modern human range and do not preclude H. erectus from possessing language (Meyer, 2006). Based on morphological differences between the African and Asian Homo fossils from the early Pleistocene, some have suggested that H. erectus be reserved for fossils from Asia, and the majority of African fossils from this time period be allocated to H. ergaster (Groves and Mazák, 1975). This hypothesis of taxonomic diversity in the H. erectus sample has other supporters (e.g., Wood and Richmond, 2000; Schwartz and Tattersall, 2003). However, fossils of H. erectus crania from Eritrea dated to 1.0 Ma (Abbate et al., 1998) and remains from 1.4- to 1.0-Ma sites in Ethiopia (Asfaw et al., 2002; Suwa et al., 2007) overlap in variation with Asian and African H. erectus specimens, suggesting that H. erectus is a single, morphologically diverse taxon as suggested earlier (Rightmire, 1993). Results of a 3-D geometric morphometric study of variation in H. erectus found that a single-species hypothesis best fit the data (Baab, 2008b). Recently, a 1.44 Ma maxilla KNM-ER 42703 was assigned to H. habilis (Spoor et al., 2007). If the taxonomic assignment is correct, then H. habilis and H. erectus were contemporaries, challenging the view that H. habilis evolved into H. erectus via anagenesis. HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS Schoetensack, 1908 Figure 25.17 and Table 25.2

Partial Synonymy Palaeanthropus heidelbergensis, Bonarelli, 1909; Homo rhodesiensis, Woodward, 1921; Cyphanthropus rhodesiensis, Pycraft, 1928; Homo (Africanthropus) helmei, Dreyer, 1935; Homo florisbadensis (helmei), Drennan, 1935; Paleoanthropus njarensis, Kohl-Larsen and Reck, 1936; Homo steinheimensis, Berckhemer, 1936; Africanthropus njarasensis, Weinert, 1939; Homo marstoni, Paterson, 1940; Homo swanscombensis, Kennard, 1942; Homo saldanensis, Drennan, 1935; Homo sapiens rhodesiensis, Campbell, 1964; Homo sapiens steinheimensis, Campbell, 1964; Homo sapiens steinheimensis, Campbell, 1964; Homo erectus petraloniensis, Murrill, 1983; Homo antecessor, Bermúdez de Castro et al., 1997; Homo cepranensis, Mallegni et al., 2003 Holotype Mauer Mandible, complete adult mandible from Rösch sandpit in the village of Mauer, near Heidelberg, Germany (Schoetensack, 1908). Age and Occurrence Middle Pleistocene, Europe, Asia, Africa (table 25.2). T WEN T Y-FIVE: HOMININI


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FIGURE 25.17 Homo heidelbergensis cranium from Kabwe, or “Broken Hill.” Courtesy of Philip Rightmire.

Diagnosis A nearly complete mandible from Germany described by Schoetensack (1908) and reevaluated by Howell (1960) and more recently by Mounier et al. (2009) differentiated H. heidelbergensis from H. erectus and from H. sapiens. Compared to H. erectus mandibles, the Mauer mandible has a broader ramus; a taller anterior corpus; a posteriorly positioned mental foramen; a truncated gonial angle; an enlarged buccal cusp on the third premolar; and taurodontism of the molar pulp cavities. Unlike H. sapiens, the Mauer mandible has a thick symphysis with no projecting mental eminence; an extended planum alveolare; and the second molar is larger than the first. Similarities between the Mauer type mandible and mandibles and a cranium from the Arago site in France has led Rightmire to amend the diagnosis to include features shared in common by the Arago specimen, and fossils from Africa including Kabwe, Bodo, and Ndutu (Rightmire, 1998, 2008). In comparison with H. erectus, H. heidelbergensis possesses a larger cranial capacity achieved through an expanded parietal region and reduced postorbital constriction; a longer, more vertical occiput and shorter, more horizontally oriental nuchal plane; increased flexion of the anterior cranial base; larger frontal sinuses; a thinner tympanic plate; discontinuous supraorbital tori with a shallower supratoral sulcus; a shallower mandibular fossa; an anteriorly positioned incisive canal; and a more vertically oriented nasal margin. In comparison with H. sapiens, H. heidelbergensis possesses less parietal expansion; superior-inferiorly thicker and more projecting supraorbital tori; thicker cranial bones; midline keeling of a less vertically oriented frontal bone; an angular torus on the parietals; and a large, broad face. Description Based on Rightmire (2008). Homo heidelbergensis possesses an interesting mixture of primitive features found in H. erectus and more derived features found in later H. sapiens specimens. These include a large, broad face, with a brain size that is within the range of modern humans. The brain is encased in a differently shaped and more robust cranium. The frontal bone is low, and there is a distinctive sagittal keel. The cranial vault is thick, particularly in the occipital region. There is also some subnasal prognathism. The supraorbital tori are projecting, superoinferiorly tall and discontinuous. The tori achieve their maximum thickness in the mid-orbit region, and appear everted

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or twisted laterally (Wolpoff, 1999). However, relative to earlier H. erectus crania, H. heidelbergensis has expanded parietals, a broader frontal, and a more rounded occiput, all features consistent with a larger brain volume. Postcranially, H. heidelbergensis shares with H. sapiens the same limb proportions; however, the long bones are more robustly built. The three most complete crania from Bodo, Kabwe, and Ndutu will be discussed here. The earliest African specimen that may belong to H. heidelbergensis is the 600 ka (Clarke et al., 1994) Bodo cranium recovered in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia in 1976 (Conroy et al., 1978). The Bodo cranium consists of most of the face, and 41 cranial fragments pieced together to form most of the frontal bone, parietals, some of the anterosuperior aspect of the temporals, and some of the right aspect of the superior occipital. There is also a missing portion of the left maxilla and zygomatic. None of the teeth are preserved well enough to discern any occlusal detail. Bodo possesses a very large face, with massive zygomatics, a broad nasal opening, and a robustly built arched supraorbital torus. The supraorbital height is approximately 17.5 mm, slightly less than the 21 mm thick supraorbitals on the Kabwe skull. The breadth of the face (15.8 cm) is matched only by the large Indonesian H. erectus skull Sangiran 17. Bodo possesses a gently sloping frontal bone, with limited postorbital constriction. There is also a keel running along the sagittal aspect of the cranium. The cranial bones of the Bodo specimen are extremely thick, approaching 13 mm at the bregma position—greater than in any known H. erectus specimen (Conroy et al., 1978). Using a CT reconstruction of the skull, Conroy et al. (2000b) estimated a cranial capacity of 1,250 cc. Distinct cutmarks on the frontal and maxilla may be evidence of the deliberate defleshing and potential cannibalism of Bodo (White, 1986b). In many ways, the Bodo cranium is similar to another large Middle Pleistocene cranium from Kabwe (or “Broken Hill”). Both skulls are considered to be from males (Rightmire, 1998; Wolpoff, 1999). The Kabwe cranium was the first major discovery of a fossil human on the continent of Africa and thus holds important historical significance. It was discovered in 1921 in the Broken Hill Mine in Zambia. Kabwe is nearly complete, missing only a region consisting of the right temporal and the right side of the basicranium (Woodward, 1921). Like Bodo, the Kabwe cranium is robustly built, with a broad face, and a thick, arched supraorbital torus. Also like Bodo, Kabwe has a gently receding forehead, and a midline keel. However, Kabwe possesses more gracile zygomatics than those found on the Bodo cranium. All of the maxillary teeth are preserved and they show considerable wear, with many of the teeth littered with cavities. The cranial capacity of Kabwe is estimated to be ca. 1,300 cm3 (Holloway et al., 2004). Postcranial remains recovered from the Broken Hill Cave include several femora, a complete tibia (E 691), and an innominate (E 719) that all show modern human proportions, though are more robustly built than modern human lower limbs (Pearson, 2000). This postcranial robusticity is evident as well in a large Middle Pleistocene femur from Berg Aukas, Namibia (Grine et al., 1995), and KNM-ER 999, a large femur from Koobi Fora, Kenya (Day and Leakey, 1974; Trinkaus, 1993b). Similar in morphology to Bodo and Kabwe, though slightly more gracile, the fragmentary Ndutu cranium is probably from a female (Rightmire, 1998; Wolpoff, 1999). Ndutu has a projecting supraorbital torus, though it is thinner than that found on either Bodo or Kabwe. The Ndutu cranium also has expanded parietals and a long vertical occiput (Clarke, 1976, 1990). The cranial capacity is estimated by Holloway et al. (2004) to be 1,100 cm3.

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Temporally younger specimens, such as those from Guomde, Florisbad, and Lake Eyasi, are more similar morphologically to modern Homo sapiens than early members of H. heidelbergensis, and thus it is difficult to confidently assign these fossils to a taxon, and the absence of accurate and precise information about the age of these fossils (Millard, 2008) currently limits our ability to accurately assess the tempo of evolutionary change from a H. heidelbergensis–like ancestor to the earliest definitive H. sapiens. Remarks The legitimacy of Homo heidelbergensis as a taxonomic unit is controversial. Some regard Homo heidelbergensis as a late version of the evolving lineage Homo erectus that ultimately gave rise to our own species Homo sapiens in Africa (White et al., 2003). This view necessarily evokes transitional fossils with intermediate morphologies. Formerly, these fossils were regarded as “archaic” Homo sapiens, but most paleontologists now refer to them as H. heidelbergensis. Two studies have recently tested the distinctiveness of H. heidelbergensis and both have supported its taxonomic validity (Rightmire, 2008; Mounier et al., 2009). Since H. erectus, H. heidelbergensis, and H. sapiens may represent a single evolving lineage, some have argued that the former two taxonomic distinctions should be sunk into H. sapiens sensu lato (Tobias, 1995; Wolpoff, 1999). However, this approach is untenable given overwhelming morphological and genetic (e.g., Stringer, 2002; White et al., 2003; Green et al., 2006; Wall and Kim, 2007) evidence that Neanderthals are a distinct lineage of extinct hominins. The most recent common ancestor of H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis requires a name that is neither H. sapiens nor H. neanderthalensis. Some have given that distinction to H. erectus (e.g., White et al., 2003), while others suggest that middle Pleistocene hominins are sufficiently and consistently different from earlier H. erectus to warrant a separate species, that would be H. heidelbergensis (e.g., Tattersall, 1986; Rightmire, 2008). The taxonomic murkiness in the middle Pleistocene is further complicated by suggestions that European H. heidelbergensis fossils (represented perhaps by the crania from Petralona, Arago, and Atapuerca) are morphologically distinct from African fossils from Bodo and Kabwe, and that the European specimens of H. heidelbergensis form a chronospecies with H. neanderthalensis (Stringer, 1996). Nonetheless, the coefficient of variation for over 20 features of all crania assigned to H. heidelbergensis is within the expected range for a single species (Rightmire, 2008). If future studies find the European and African H. heidelbergensis fossils different enough to warrant species distinction, the African fossils will be regarded as Homo rhodesiensis, with the Kabwe cranium as the type specimen (Rightmire, 2008). HOMO SAPIENS Linnaeus, 1758 Figures 25.18 and 25.19; Table 25.2

Partial Synonymy Homo capensis, Broom, 1918; Palaeoanthropus palestinensis, McCown and Keith, 1939; Homo sapiens neanderthalensis, Howell, 1978; Homo sapiens afer, Howell, 1978; Homo sapiens capensis, Galloway, 1937a, 1937b; Homo helmei, McBrearty and Brooks, 2000; Homo sapiens idaltu, White et al., 2003; Homo idaltu, Basell, 2008. Diagnosis Because of the gradual accumulation of features that today characterize our own species, Homo sapiens (considered here to be synonymous with “humans”), it has proven difficult to construct a diagnosis applicable to all members of the lineage, or to identify the point at which the species began (Howell, 1978). If a criterion for inclusion in H. sapiens was the possession of features described in some literature as “anatomically modern,” this would exclude some extant humans (Lieberman

et al., 2002) and much of the late middle through late Pleistocene African hominin sample many would attribute to H. sapiens. Although Howell (1978) provided a thorough summary of modern human skeletal anatomy, including many features uniquely found in Homo sapiens, but not in H. neanderthalensis, or in other species of Homo, he emphasized that he was not offering a diagnosis of H. sapiens. Subsequent studies have attempted to identify and quantify autapomorphies of Homo sapiens (e.g., Day and Stringer, 1982; Stringer et al., 1984; Lieberman, 1995; Lieberman et al., 2002); however, because these features arose sequentially, it is preferable to adopt a lineage-based definition of the species, in which descendants of H. heidelbergensis subsequent to the separation from the H. neanderthalensis lineage are considered humans, and to view the accumulation of autapomorphies in this context (Lieberman et al., 2002). Among the autapomorphic traits identified as characteristic of, or unique to, the Homo sapiens lineage are limb bones with thin cortical bone and small articular surfaces, presence of a canine fossa, large endocranial capacity, cerebral asymmetry, elevated cranial vault with a high, vertical forehead and greatest width biparietally, and inferred associated expansion of the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes, with parietal bossing and loss of sagittal keeling and parasagittal flattening, high frontal angle, narrow, high, rounded occipital planum of the occipital bone, strong basicranial flexion with the foramen magnum tucked well under the braincase, expanded middle cranial fossa, associated with inferred expansion of lateral and inferior areas of the temporal lobes that relate to language, reduced, orthognathic face, separation of the supraorbital region from glabella and subdivision of the superior orbital margin into supraorbital and supraciliary portions, inferior orbital plane tilted down and back from the inferior orbital margin, extreme lateral placement of the styloid processes, reduced dental crown size and concomitant reduction in size of alveolar processes of the upper and lower jaws, reduction of cranial robustness, including thinner cranial bones, and expansion of the mental trigon and mental fossae of the mandible to form a bony chin (Howell, 1978; Day and Stringer, 1982; Arsuaga et al., 1999; Lieberman, 1998; Spoor et al., 1999; Lieberman et al., 2002; Schwartz and Tattersall, 2003; Bastir et al., 2008; Pearson, 2008). Description Survey of the fossil record shows that the features characteristic of anatomically modern humans accumulated progressively in a mosaic fashion, beginning in the late middle Pleistocene and reaching full expression only by the end of the late Pleistocene (Howell, 1978; Habgood, 1989; Stringer, 2002; Trinkaus, 2005; Bräuer, 2008; Pearson, 2008). These features appeared first in Africa and the geographically closely linked Levant at the same time that the distinctive Neanderthal morphological pattern was developing in Europe and western Asia (Stringer, 2002) and when more archaic hominins (i.e., H. erectus) still inhabited eastern Asia (Klein, 1995). The fossil record of Homo sapiens in Africa is copious, particularly from localities dated to the end of the late Pleistocene and Holocene, making it impossible to comprehensively list and describe all the relevant specimens within the scope of this overview. Table 25.2 provides instead a representative sampling of fossil Homo sapiens occurrences on the continent and several from the Levant. Specimens are described as exemplars of archaic, near-modern, and modern human categories, with greatest emphasis on the earlier phases of the lineage, though it should be noted that these phases grade into one another without clear demarcations and that there was considerable morphological heterogeneity at any particular time (Foley and Lahr, 1992).



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FIGURE 25.18 Holotype of Homo sapiens idaltu, cranium BOU-VP-16/1. Courtesy of Tim White.

Archaic humans (early fossil H. sapiens) typically exhibit some of the morphological configuration of extant humans, while retaining varying degrees of structural primitiveness. They date from the late middle to early late Pleistocene, and their cultural context is usually Mousterian or Middle Stone Age (McBrearty and Brooks, 2000; Basell, 2008). The oldest of these hominins may be from the Omo Kibish deposits (table 25.2). Omo I, comprised of parts of the skull, dentition, and postcranial skeleton, has a cranium that is robust in comparison with modern human crania, with a prominent glabella, slightly receding forehead, prominent supraorbital torus, and large teeth, accompanied by more derived features such as a rounded occipital profile, contracted nuchal planum with modest muscle markings, a relatively high vault, expanded parietal region and widest point high on the vault, and absence of a sagittal keel and parasagittal flattening (Day, 1969). Its skeleton is morphometrically within the modern human range (but see Pearson, 2000), though it is robustly built with strong muscle markings (Day, 1969; Rightmire, 1976; Stringer, 1978; Day and Stringer, 1982). In contrast to the condition of the Omo I cranium, the Omo II calvaria has greater resemblance to specimens of Homo heidelbergensis and is more heavily constructed, with strong muscle markings; it has a receding forehead, large, flat nuchal plane, greater occipital angulation, modest sagittal keel, and shallow parasagittal

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depressions, and a massive occipital torus accompanied by a transverse supratoral sulcus; nonetheless, its cranial capacity is estimated to be 1,435 cm3 (Day, 1969; Day and Stringer, 1982). The Omo I postcranials and other remains from Omo Kibish indicate that individuals from the site were of medium to tall stature (ca. 162–182 cm; Pearson, 2000; Pearson et al., 2008a, 2008b). Though Omo I clearly belongs in Homo sapiens and neither specimen has anatomical affinities with Neanderthals (Day and Stringer, 1982; contra Brose and Wolpoff, 1971), its relationship to Omo II and the phylogenetic position of the latter remain unclear (Fleagle et al., 2008). An extraordinary set of archaic H. sapiens crania, penecontemporaneous with the Omo fossils (table 25.2), was recovered from Herto, Ethiopia. The most complete of these is BOUVP-16/1, which has a long, high vault. Its more archaic morphology includes a modestly receding forehead, strongly flexed occipital with a prominent external occipital protuberance, large teeth, large, flared pterygoid plates, broad, deep glenoid fossa, very well-developed temporal lines, robust supraorbital region, and great distance between the articular eminence and occlusal plane; however, it also exhibits the advanced features of a divided supraorbital torus, greatest breadth high on the vault, relatively little prognathism, and modest-sized orbits and malars (White et al., 2003). Typical of H. sapiens from this

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time period, BOU-VP-16/1 and the other adult (BOU-VP-16/2; BOU-VP-16/43) and immature (BOU-VP-16/5) cranial remains from Herto have no special morphometric affinity with any regional modern H. sapiens population, but they demonstrate that modern human morphology was developing in Africa prior to the disappearance of Neanderthals from Europe and western Asia (White et al., 2003). Cut marks on these crania reveal the earliest evidence for nonutilitarian defleshing and mortuary practices (Clark et al., 2003). Also from this time period are hominin remains from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco (table 25.2), including two partial crania (Irhoud 1 and 2), and a juvenile mandible and humerus (Irhoud 3 and 4)(Hublin and Tillier, 1981; Hublin et al., 1987). Although the Irhoud specimens have been considered by some to have Neanderthal affinities (e.g., Ennouchi, 1962, 1963, 1969; Mann and Trinkaus, 1973), this has been largely discounted as only a superficial resemblance (e.g., Briggs, 1968; Hublin and Tillier, 1981; Hublin et al., 1987; Hublin, 1992, 2001). Instead, the Irhoud specimens are typical of other late middle Pleistocene H. sapiens from Africa, in exhibiting a mix of archaic and advanced features that anticipates the morphology of modern humans. Irhoud 1 has a long, low cranial vault and large upper face. It also possesses a weak occipital torus and moderately elongate nuchal planum. The interorbital distance is broad. Cranial capacity was recalculated at a modest 1,305 cm3 (Holloway, 2000), after an initial estimate of 1,480 cm3 by Anthony (1966). However, the forehead is only slightly receding, the frontal attains a great vertical dimension at bregma, and the lower face is gracile. In addition, although the supraorbital tori are arched, robust, and continuous across glabella, they thin out laterally. The parietals rise vertically and are expanded superiorly (Hublin, 1992), so the greatest width is high on the cranium, and in posterior view the cranial vault has a pentagonal profile (Hublin, 2001). Alveolar prognathism is pronounced but not outside the modern human range, and there is no midfacial prognathism (Hublin, 1992). Irhoud 2 has an even more modern-looking frontal profile, and its supraorbital tori are more separated by glabella than in Irhoud 1. Conversely, Irhoud 2 appears more primitive in the posterior outline of the cranial vault and extent of the nuchal planum (Hublin, 1992). X-ray synchrotron microtomography of the teeth in Irhoud 3 shows that dental development and tooth eruption were like that of modern humans, the oldest evidence of modern life history parameters such as prolonged growth and a correlated increased juvenile learning period (Smith et al., 2007). This mandible has a true chin, small condyle, and the height of the corpus decreases posteriorly, but primitively it has large teeth, a genioglossal fossa, and a planum alveolare (Hublin, 2001). Hominin remains from the Levantine sites of Jebel Qafzeh and Skhul (Israel) provide further evidence of the development of H. sapiens features in the late middle Pleistocene–earliest late Pleistocene (table 25.2), and represent the first known migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa proper. At Skhul, at least 10 individuals were recovered (Schwartz and Tattersall, 2003), most from intentional burials (Garrod and Bate, 1937). The best-preserved adult skull is Skhul V, which exhibits a high, rounded vault, vertical forehead, diminished nuchal planum (compared with Homo heidelbergensis crania), expanded parietal eminences, a posteriorly placed lateral origin of the petrotympanic crest, and large mastoid processes, in combination with more archaic features such as barlike supraorbital tori that continue across an anteriorly prominent glabella, large teeth, and a very broad interorbital area (McCown and Keith, 1939; Howells, 1970; Harvati, 2003; Schwartz and Tattersall,

2003). The mandible of this individual has no incisive alveolar planum, the corpus decreases in height posteriorly, and although it has a projecting “chin,” the jaw lacks a proper mental trigon or mental tubercles (Schwartz and Tattersall, 2003), its ramus is quite high and vertical, and the coronoid process is very high. Other crania (e.g., Skhul II, IV) also show archaic features, with greater development of the supraorbital region, thicker bones, and lower crania with longer nuchal planes and more receding foreheads. The juvenile cranium Skhul I has a comparatively more modern aesthetic about it: it has a vertical forehead, raised cranial vault, and parietal expansion producing a pentagonal outline in posterior view. Estimated brain sizes of the more complete adult crania are impressive, ranging from 1,520 to 1,590 cm3 (Holloway, 2000). Fourteen hominin individuals have been recovered from Jebel Qafzeh, most from intentional graves in Mousterian contexts (Vandermeersch, 1981). There is some variation in this sample in the degree of development of supraorbitals and mental trigons, but the overall expression of anatomically modern H. sapiens features is unmistakable (Vandermeersch, 1981; Stringer, 1974; Trinkaus, 1984b; contra Brose and Wolpoff, 1971). The crania are generally long, high vaulted, with vertical to near-vertical frontals and rounded occipital profiles. Parietal expansion and bossing is obvious, as is reduction of the lower face. In some individuals (Qafzeh 9, 11), the supraorbital region is bipartite, the mastoid process is large and juxtamastoid eminence small, and the mandible exhibits a true mental trigon or chin (Harvati, 2003; Schwartz and Tattersall, 2003). Endocranial volume is capacious, calculated as 1,568 cm3 for Qafzeh 6 and 1,508 cm3 for Qafzeh 9 (Vandermeersch, 1981; Holloway, 2000). In contrast to penecontemporaneous Neanderthals from the region, postcranial features of the Skhul and Qafzeh hominins are far more like those of modern humans (e.g., higher neck-shaft angles of the femur, short, stout superior pubic rami, position of the external obturator groove, lower limb crosssectional anatomy; Ben-Itzhak et al., 1988; Smith et al., 1983, 1984; Rak, 1990; Trinkaus, 1992, 1993a). The differences in femoral angles have a high correlation with varying activity levels during development, and from this it can be implied that adults endured less femoral strain and juvenile individuals from the Qafzeh-Skhul population(s) underwent lower levels of locomotor activity and greater age-grade division of activities than Neanderthal juveniles from the region (Ruff and Hayes, 1983; Trinkaus, 1993a). In addition, principal components analysis of crania demonstrate that Qafzeh 6 and Skhul 5 fall within a grouping of Homo sapiens crania from northern Africa dated between 35,000 and 5,000 y, and not with the Neanderthal sample (Bräuer and Rimbach, 1990). Dental analysis of prey species shows that these Levantine H. sapiens may have had a more efficient strategy of resource exploitation than Neanderthals from the same region and hunted more seasonally, demonstrating that similarities in stone tool cultures did not necessarily correlate with identical behaviors (Lieberman and Shea, 1994). Measurements estimated from the ratio of femoral length to stature indicate that the Qafzeh-Skhul hominins were reasonably tall, with adult heights of between 164 and 193 cm (Feldesman et al., 1990). The persistence of archaic features and considerable morphological heterogeneity in the African late Pleistocene (Stringer, 2002) is evidenced in specimens such as those from Klasies River Mouth in South Africa, and L.H. 18 from the Ngaloba Beds at Laetoli, Tanzania. Though not as old geologically as the Herto hominins (table 25.2), L.H. 18 has a more primitive appearance, with a relatively low vault, small mastoid process,



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marked recession of the forehead, slight keeling of the frontal, inferred facial prognathism, occipitomastoid crest, thick cranial bones, central occipital torus, and low cranial capacity (1,200 cm3)(Day et al., 1980; Rightmire, 1984). More advanced traits in the specimen include a rounded occipital profile, low position of inion, parietal bossing, presence of a nasal spine, canine fossa, absence of parasagittal flattening, and a divided supraorbital torus (Day et al., 1980; Rightmire, 1984). Fossils from Klasies River Mouth, South Africa, are close in age to the Ngaloba hominin (table 25.2), and derive from Middle Stone Age contexts (Singer and Wymer, 1982). These have been prominent in the debate about the antiquity of the emergence of modern humans in Africa, with some workers stressing their modern human features (e.g., Singer and Wymer, 1982; Rightmire and Deacon, 1991; Bräuer et al., 1992) and others denying their modernity (e.g., Wolpoff et al., 1994). The debate is fueled in part by the degree of variation in the sample, particularly in mandibular morphology (Grine et al., 1998). Mandibular specimen KRM 41815 (SAM-AP 6222) is small but robust, with remnants of evidently modest-sized teeth. The ramus has an anteriorly projecting expansion of the coronoid process, and a broad, shallow sigmoid notch. The corpus decreases in height posteriorly. Although the chin is not anteriorly prominent, nonetheless it is well demarcated, with a clear mental trigon flanked by shallow depressions. In contrast, the anterior profile of the symphyseal region of mandible SAM-AP 6223 is nearly vertical, and its mental trigon is more weakly demarcated (Schwartz and Tattersall, 2003). Detailed comparative morphological examinations of the malar (KRM 16651 = SAM-AP 6098) and temporal (SAM-AP 6269) specimens from the site show that they are within the range of variation observed in modern humans (Bräuer and Singer, 1996; Grine et al., 1998). The supraorbital region of the frontal fragment from Klasies River Mouth (KRM 16425) is divided into supraorbital and superciliary portions and is essentially modern (Grine et al., 1998). Variability in the hominin sample from this site extends to the postcranium, which is described as exhibiting a mix of modern and archaic features (Churchill et al., 1996; Pearson and Grine, 1997; Pearson, 2000). The partial cranium (M.A.R. 89.4.1.3, or Dar es Soltane 5) from Dar es Soltane II, Morocco is reminiscent of the Ngaloba specimen, though it may be much younger geologically (table 25.2). It clearly is not anatomically modern in all respects, attesting to the persistence of archaic morphology in H. sapiens well into the late Pleistocene. Its frontal is slightly receding and bounded by thick, arched supraorbital tori, which project more anteriorly than glabella, it has a broad interorbital area, the nasals are deeply set under glabella, the articular fossa is deep, and cranial bones are moderately thick, imparting a primitive aspect to the cranium (Ferembach, 1976a; Bräuer, 1984). Nonetheless, the supraorbitals are each faintly subdivided into medial and lateral segments, it has canine fossae, and the frontal vault rises to impressive height near bregma (Schwartz and Tattersall, 2003; Trinkaus, 2005). By the latter half of the late Pleistocene in Africa, hominins were near-modern human anatomically, but usually still relatively robust in build and dimensions and generally not morphometrically affiliated with a particular modern human population. The skeleton from Nazlet Khater, Egypt (table 25.2), is typical of this group of hominins. The postcranial anatomy of this specimen is indistinguishable from that of modern humans, but the skull exhibits strong alveolar prognathism, a robust mandibular corpus, very great breadth of the mandibular ramus, and “does not display clear affinities with modern Negroid

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populations” (Thoma, 1984; Pinhasi and Semal, 2000, p. 282; Trinkaus, 2005). Nonetheless, in principal components analysis of cranial variables, Nazlet Khater and Dar es Soltane 5 fall within the range or closer to anatomically modern humans than to Neanderthals, or closer than Neanderthals are to modern humans, including Upper Paleolithic Europeans (Bräuer and Rimbach, 1990). Some of the features found in the Nazlet Khater skull (anteriorly positioned zygomatic; exceptionally wide mandibular ramus) are shared with the oldest known early modern human in Europe, Pestera cu Oase 2, from Romania, dated to ca. 40,000 y (Rougier et al., 2007). A cranium from Hofmeyr, South Africa, is of similar antiquity to Nazlet Khater (table 25.2). This specimen is large, robust, and retains primitive features such as a broad nasal opening, glabellar prominence, a continuous, moderately well-developed supraorbital torus, large molars, and a broad frontal process of the maxilla (Grine et al., 2007). Though it also exhibits many modern human features, such as a steeply vertical frontal, high, rounded braincase with parietal expansion and greatest width high on the parietals, and has an associated mandibular fragment lacking a retromolar gap, its overall construction does not match that of crania from extant African populations; however, 3-D geometric and linear morphometric analyses show a close affinity between the Hofmeyr specimen and Upper Paleolithic European crania (Grine et al., 2007). This supports the idea that the ancestry of Upper Paleolithic Eurasians was rooted in Africa, as previously indicated by the work of Bräuer and Rimbach (1990). While Wolpoff (1989) has argued to the contrary that early humans from Africa exhibit features linking them closely with contemporary African populations, the evidence for this is unconvincing (Habgood, 1989). Hominin fossils from Border Cave, South Africa also belong in this group of near moderns. A very fragmentary cranium, BC 1, has thick, arched supraorbital tori that are not subdivided and that project anterior to glabella, resembling the Dar es Soltane II cranium in this regard. It has a wide interorbital region, and prominent mastoid and supramastoid crests. However, the frontal rises steeply vertically and is “bulging,” glabella is little developed, and the vault is large (cranial capacity ca. 1,510 cm3; Holloway, 2000) and high (Cooke et al., 1945, de Villiers, 1973; Rightmire, 1979; Habgood, 1989). The mandibles have moderately developed chins, corpora that recede in height posteriorly, and lack retromolar gaps, but they have anteroposteriorly expanded rami with high, shallow notches between the coronoid processes and condyles. Statistical analyses showing close affinity between BC 1 and modern African populations such as southern African Negro and Khoisan (e.g., de Villiers 1976; Rightmire, 1979; de Villiers and Fatti, 1982) are statistically suspect and flawed by comparatively including only modern African populations that it was assumed a priori had a phylogenetic relationship with the Border Cave hominin (Campbell, 1980; Habgood, 1989). A slightly older H. sapiens specimen is the juvenile skeletal burial from Taramsa Hill, Egypt (table 25.2). The long bones are slender, and the cranium exhibits a number of modern features such as a high, vertical forehead, rounded occipital, divided supraorbital, and expanded parietals, but it retains a relatively large, prognathic face and large teeth (Vermeersch et al., 1998). This appears to be the oldest known intentional burial north of the equator in Africa (Vermeersch et al., 1998). By the end of the late Pleistocene–early Holocene, most hominins (the exceptions are H. neanderthalensis in Europe, and late-surviving H. erectus and H. floresiensis, both in Indonesia) were essentially anatomically modern, and their accompanying

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archeological record of Late Stone Age or Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic cultures exhibits the signs of modern human– like cognitive skills and behaviors (including, at Wadi Kubbaniya, Egypt, and Jebel Sahaba, Sudan, evidence of murder or warfare; Wendorf, 1968; Wendorf and Schild, 1986; Thorpe, 2003). Hominins from this time period include a number of specimens from the Upper Semliki Valley, Democratic Republic of Congo, dated to the late Pleistocene (e.g., Is 11 fossils) and Holocene (e.g., Is 1-1 and 1-2; Ky 2), respectively (table 25.2; Boaz et al., 1990). The most complete of these, Is 1-1, includes a cranium (figure 25.19), mandible, and partial skeleton from an adult male. In all respects, the morphology of this individual matches that of anatomically modern humans, and the results of multivariate discriminant analysis show that it closely resembles modern Bantu or Central African Negroid populations in its cranial anatomy (Boaz et al., 1990). This fits a pattern in which other African fossil Homo sapiens from this interval (table 25.2) routinely have strong morphometric affinities with extant African populations (Rightmire, 1975). Remarks A number of models have been advanced to explain the origin and phylogeny of Homo sapiens, including the African Replacement Model, which states that H. sapiens first arose in Africa, migrated to other regions of the Old World, and replaced archaic, indigenous populations in these regions with little or no interbreeding; the African Hybridization and Replacement Model, which allows for some degree of genetic exchange between African emigrants and populations being replaced; the Assimilation Model, which posits an African origin for humans and subsequent significant gene flow between regions, but denies an important role for migratory replacement; and the Multiregional Evolution Model, which denies a recent African origin for modern humans, emphasizing instead regional genetic and morphological continuity over time and gene flow between regions, with humans emerging contemporaneously in different regions (Aiello, 1993; Stringer, 2002). As shown, the African (and Levantine) fossil record supports an African origin for Homo sapiens. Skeletal traits associated with modern humans first appeared in Africa during the late middle Pleistocene–early late Pleistocene, long before evidence for this morphology in other parts of the Old World (Foley and Lahr, 1992), and well before the disappearance of

Lateral view of anatomically modern Homo sapiens cranium Is 1-1 from Ishango, Democratic Republic of Congo. Courtesy of Noel Boaz.

FIGURE 25.19

Neanderthals in Europe (Aiello, 1993). In addition, the earliest H. sapiens populations outside Africa resemble contemporaneous African H. sapiens cranially and postcranially (Bräuer and Rimbach, 1990; Holliday and Trinkaus, 1991; Ruff, 1994; Holliday, 1997, 1998, 2000; Pearson, 2000; Grine et al., 2007), suggesting that migration “out of Africa” played an important role in regional populational transformations from archaic hominins to Homo sapiens (McBrearty and Brooks, 2000). The central importance for Africa in the establishment of H. sapiens throughout the Old World in the Pleistocene is further supported by genetic studies, which indicate that all modern humans share a late Pleistocene African ancestor (e.g., Wainscoat et al., 1986; Cann et al., 1987, 1994; Mountain et al., 1993; Stoneking, 1993; Stoneking et al., 1993; Bowcock et al., 1994; CavalliSforza et al., 1994; Nei, 1995; Tischkoff et al., 1996; Ingman et al., 2000; Pearson, 2004; but see Templeton, 1993; Relethford, 1995). Study of the mitochondrial (mt) haplogroup M, originally thought to be an ancient marker of East Asian origin, demonstrated that this haplogroup is rooted in eastern Africa; its distribution and variation indicate migration of H. sapiens from Africa to Asia via western India around 50,000 years ago (Quintana-Murci et al., 1999). In contrast, mtDNA studies of Neanderthals reveal an ancient separation time of their lineage from the one leading to modern humans, within the interval 741,000–317,000 years ago (Krings et al., 2000; Ovchinnikov et al., 2000). Furthermore, the amount of gene flow needed to spread modern human morphology among small peripheral populations is incompatible with the maintenance over time of regional features in those populations (Stringer, 2002). Thus, the balance of evidence does not support the Assimilation and Multiregional Evolution Models. Genetic evidence also does not generate much support for the Hybridization and Replacement Model (Pearson, 2004). The Homo sapiens lineage in Africa forms a good paleospecies: it is morphologically more advanced than Homo heidelbergensis and Homo erectus, differs anatomically substantially from the penecontemporaneous Neanderthal lineage, and exhibits progressive accumulation of features that characterize modern humans. As with many other basal segments of mammalian clades, however, recognition of the earliest members of the lineage is difficult because of the retention of a great number of plesiomorphies. Moreover, taxonomic “splitters” may prefer to emphasize the primitive features in these early modern humans by subdividing the lineage formally (cf. McBrearty and Brooks’s [2000] use of “Homo helmei” and “Homo sapiens”). Nonetheless, it appears that the Homo sapiens lineage emerged in the latter part of the middle Pleistocene, close in time to the beginnings of Middle Stone Age (MSA) culture, which was distinguished by prepared core technology, and flake and blade tools including unifacial or bifacial projectile points (McBrearty and Brooks, 2000). Although the first appearance of the MSA is dated by 40Ar/39Ar in the Ethiopian Rift to >276,000 years (Morgan and Renne, 2008), older than the corpus of fossil evidence for archaic Homo sapiens (table 25.2), specimens such as Florisbad (Dreyer, 1935; Grün et al., 1996), and possibly the Guomde hominin, KNM-ER 3884 (Bräuer et al., 1992b)(closer in age to the beginning of the MSA; table 25.2), seem more advanced than other specimens assigned to Homo heidelbergensis and could represent the beginnings of the Homo sapiens lineage. While the origin of Homo sapiens may have been coincident with the beginning of MSA culture, the connection between these cultural and anatomical changes is obscure, since Mousterian and MSA stone tool kits found with early H. sapiens are technologically identical to stone tool industries of Neanderthals (Klein, 1995). There is ongoing debate about the



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MIOCENE

PLIOCENE

Late 8

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Early 6

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Late 3

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H O LO C E N E 10,000–present 0

Sahelanthropus tchadensis Orrorin tugenensis Ardipithecus kadabba Ardipithecus ramidus Australopithecus anamensis Australopithecus afarensis Australopithecus bahrelghazeli Australopithecus africanus Australopithecus garhi Paranthropus aethiopicus Paranthropus boisei Paranthropus robustus Kenyanthropus platyops Homo habilis Homo rudolfensis Homo erectus Homo heidelbergensis Homo sapiens

8

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FIGURE 25.20

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Time line of hominin species’ ranges.

relationship between the emergence of modern human features and cultural change. Changes in African H. sapiens cranial anatomy seem to have started with increased brain size and expansion of the frontal, parietal, and perhaps temporal regions, implying a significant reorganization of the brain and cognitive abilities, as well as with diminution of the lower face. This was followed by “modernization” of the occipital profile, lessening of midfacial robusticity, and thinning and bipartite division of supraorbital tori. Tooth size reduction and lessening of mandibular robustness occurred more recently, toward the end of the late Pleistocene. Some of the most recent transformations of human morphology were probably associated with new methods of processing food. If the acquisition of modern human morphology was not causally related to equally unique and modern behaviors, what was the reason for anatomical transformation into H. sapiens, and when did modern human behavior begin? In the current debate, the Human Revolution Model posits that the first unequivocal signs of fully modern cognitive and communicative abilities occurred in the African archeological record relatively late, around 50–40,000 years ago, driven by largely undetectable reorganization of human neurological networks (e.g., Klein, 1992, 1995, 2000). The evidence for this relatively recent cognitive and technological shift is found in cultural factors associated with the Late Stone Age (LSA) and Upper Paleolithic, including customary shaping of bone, antler, shell, and ivory into formal artifact types; expression of ritual in art and elaborate graves; spatial organization of camp floors; greater diversity and standardization of artifact types; capability of blade and microlithic production; increased geographic range and widespread trade networks; personal ornamentation; and capability of fishing (Klein, 1992, 1995, 2000). In contrast, others (e.g., Lahr and Foley, 1998; McBrearty and Brooks, 2000) have argued

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that the African Middle Stone Age was not just a regional variant of Mousterian culture, and that modern cultural features had been gradually accumulating throughout the duration of the MSA, in phase with the mosaic development of modern human morphology. If this view is correct, H. sapiens cognitive changes, increased utilization of coastal resources (e.g., Walter et al., 2000), and migratory patterns may have been driven by cycles of cooling and aridity, correlated with Northern Hemisphere glacial cycles (Carto et al., 2009). These climatic pulses are connected to episodic emigrations of humans from Africa throughout the late Pleistocene, leading to establishment of Homo sapiens as a global species by the end of the epoch (Carto et al., 2009).

Summary The three earliest purported hominin species (Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Orrorin tugenensis, and Ardipithecus kadabba) are characterized by subtly modified canines relative to fossil and extant hominoids, molars as large or slightly larger than those of Pan, slightly thicker enamel than is found in extant African apes, and provisional evidence for bipedality. Paleoenvironmental contexts suggest at least some heterogeneity with grassland, woodland and forest represented at hominin-bearing sites. The specific ecological niches of hominins within these mosaic environments, however, remain unknown. Haile-Selassie et al. (2004a, 2004b) have suggested that only one genus may be sampled thus far in the late Miocene, and it is not unexpected that the systematics of the late Miocene taxa are debated, given such sparse material. The record in the early Pliocene is less ambiguous taxonomically and craniodental evidence supports three time successive species with ancestordescendant relationships possible: Ardipithecus ramidus (itself a

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O ut g

D S. t Ar cha .r d A. am en a i si A. na dus s a m A. far en g e si A. arh nsi s a i s K. fric pl an P. at u ro yo s P. bus ps bo tu s P. ise ae i H th . h io a pi H bilis cus .r u H do . e lp rg he as ns te is r H .s ap ie ns

C Ar .r A. ami a du A. nam s a e A. fare nsis ga ns rh is i A. af ric an us P. ro bu st us P. ae th io pi cu s P. bo is ei H om o

O ut g

ro up A. af ar en si A. s af ric an P. us ae th io pi P. cu ro s bu st us P. bo is ei H .h ab ilis H .r ud ol fe H ns .e is re ct us

B ro up A. af ar en si A. s af ric an P. us ae th io pi P. cu ro s bu st u P. s bo is ei H .h ab ilis H .r ud ol fe H ns .e is re ct us

A

FIGURE 25.21 A) Strict consensus of the three shortest trees found by PAUP’s branch and bound algorithm in phylogenetic analysis published by Kimbel et al., 2004. B) Strict consensus of the five shortest trees found by PAUP’s branch and bound algorithm in phylogenetic analysis published by Kimbel et al., 2004. C) Cladogram published by Asfaw et al., 1999, showing an unresolved polychotomy as a major feature. D) Strict consensus of the most parsimonious cladograms published by Strait and Grine, 2004. The dashed line reflects these authors’ uncertainty as to whether Kenyanthropus is a distinct species.

likely descendant of Ardipithecus kadabba), Australopithecus anamensis, and Australopithecus afarensis. If these taxa are related, it suggests that over time there was directional selection for postcanine megadonty, and a concomitant change in canine function and morphology (i.e., canines become more incisiform) as the premolars became molarized. Postcranially, Ardipithecus can now be distinguished in numerous respects from Australopithecus, raising the possibility of rapid aquisition of bipedal features. Alternatively, Ardipithecus may not be the sister taxon to Australopithecus. The mid-Pliocene finds the first record of hominins in southern Africa. Australopithecus africanus is craniodentally derived relative to Au. afarensis in several respects, and shares features of the jaw, face, and basicranium with later hominins. Both Au. afarensis and Au. africanus are well represented postcranially and are incontrovertibly terrestrial bipeds, although the details of their gait and degree of commitment to bipedalism are subjects of ongoing discussion. The mid-Pliocene also has two controversial taxa, Kenyanthropus platyops and Au. bahrelghazeli, considered by some to be conspecific with Au. afarensis. As figure 25.20 reveals, the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene is the only part of the African hominin record where multiple lineages clearly co-occur in time and possibly space, in southern and East Africa. This runs counter to prevailing notions of the hominin diversification being rather bushy (see also White, 2003, 2009) although future finds may increase evidence for cladogenesis. Overlap of multiple taxa makes attribution of fossil postcrania and stone tools with dental remains problematic, however, it is apparent that hominins of this time were experimenting with new and different adaptive pathways.

Both Au. garhi and Paranthropus evolve even larger masticatory apparatuses than found in earlier australopiths, allowing these taxa to puncture, crush and grind food with abrasive and/or hard mechanical properties. Encephalization and reduction in tooth size also evolve during this period, and fossils exhibiting these traits are almost invariably associated with stone tool manufacture and placed in one of three recognized species of early Homo that, somewhat ambiguously, co-occur as early as 1.9 Ma. More long-legged and bipedally efficient body plans also appear in the late Pliocene, but while Homo erectus is known to possess derived postcrania due to associated skeletal material, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Paranthropus have few postcrania definitively assigned to them. Environmental mosaicism is associated with all hominins during this period, although there is a general trend of increasingly frequent associations between hominins and more open environments over time. The instability and variability of such habitats is itself a likely selective force in hominin evolution contributing to behavioral plasticity and a generalist strategy associated with the tribe’s success in Africa and worldwide. Phylogenetic hypotheses abound for this period (figure 25.21). Monophyly of South and East African Paranthropus species is supported by most parsimony-based analyses but it remains plausible that the forms evolved independently. There is no clear candidate among known australopith-grade hominins for an ancestral relationship to genus Homo, although Au. africanus and Au. garhi seem more closely related than Au. afarensis. Paranthropus is deemed too derived to have played an ancestral role, but some analyses (figure 25.21) place Paranthropus as the sister clade to Homo. Finally, if Homo habilis and



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Homo rudolfensis are two different species, then it is presently unclear which is more closely related to Homo erectus. There is general agreement that Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and Homo sapiens represent an evolving lineage within Africa, although the species boundaries on either side of H. heidelbergensis are obscure. Behaviorally, this lineage became ever more complex, as brain size increased dramatically and tools became more sophisticated. Many have argued that behavioral evolution took a punctuated leap sometime after the origin of H. sapiens ca. 200,000 years ago, so that humans were acquiring anatomically modern features before exhibiting fully modern behavior. Archeological evidence in Africa suggests that modern behavior may have accreted slowly initially, then exploded after a critical threshold was reached. Africa was thus the crucible that selected for virtually all of the adaptations that allowed one hominin taxon to spread into every biome on Earth. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the following people and institutions for providing photographs: Michel Brunet, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History; Emma Mbua and the National Museums of Kenya, Martin Pickford, Noel Boaz, Philip Rightmire, Carol Ward, Francis Thackeray, and the Transvaal Museum (Northern Flagship Institution); Tim White; and the University of California Press. We thank Meave Leakey and Emma Mbua (National Museums of Kenya), Phillip Tobias and Ron Clarke (University of the Witwatersrand), Francis Thackeray (Transvaal Museum), Michael Mbago and Amandus Kweka (National Museums of Tanzania), and Mamitu Yilma (Ethiopian National Museum) for access to specimens in their care. John Kingston and Tim White provided helpful comments and insights on portions of the manuscript. Bonnie Miljour expertly produced figures 25.11, 25.12, 25.19, 25.20, and 25.21, and Grace Holliday helped with manuscript revisions. Funding for W.J.S.’s research was generously provided by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, L. S. B. Leakey Foundation, and several Turner Grants from the Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan. We are also grateful to Lars Werdelin for his editorial guidance and Francisco Reinking and Chuck Crumly of the University of California Press for their patience and assistance.

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PART FOUR

LAURASIATHERIA


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CHAP TER T WENT Y-SIX

Creodonta MARGARE T E . LEWIS AND MICHAEL MORLO

The order Creodonta was first named by Cope (1875) and removed from its original placement in the order Carnivora (Cuvier, 1822). Many researchers still maintain that creodonts and carnivorans (or carnivoramorphans) are sister taxa (e.g., Tedford, 1976; Savage, 1977; Novacek and Wyss, 1986; Wozencraft, 1989; Flynn and Wesley-Hunt, 2005), though not all agree (Fox and Youzwyshyn, 1994; Polly, 1996). While both creodonts and carnivorans possess carnassials, creodont carnassials are either P4/M1 and m1/m2 (Oxyaenidae, limnocyonine hyaenodontids) or P4/M1/M2 and m1/m2/m3 (other Hyaenodontidae). Members of the order Carnivora all have carnassials at P4 and m1. While creodonts and carnivorans share an ossified tentorium and a few basicranial and tarsal features, their possible synapomorphies are few (Flynn et al., 1988; Wyss and Flynn, 1993; Rose, 2006). Like carnivorans, creodonts vary greatly in their postcranial adaptations. Unlike carnivorans, most creodonts have fissured terminal phalanges, with the exception of the European Proviverrinae, and an unfused scaphoid and lunate. In general, hyaenodontid limbs are relatively short with respect to body size in comparison to carnivorans (Mellett, 1977), but more elongate and gracile than in the oxyaenids. A more general description of creodont craniodental and postcranial features can be found elsewhere (e.g., Jenkins and Camazine, 1977; Gingerich and Deutsch, 1989; Rose, 1990; Gebo and Rose, 1993; Polly, 1996; Gunnell, 1998; Morlo and Habersetzer, 1999; Morlo and Gunnell, 2003). All known Afro-Arabian creodonts belong to the family Hyaenodontidae and range in age from the Eocene (and possibly Paleocene) to the middle Miocene. While the earliest African members of this family are found in the north, this family eventually spread southward into eastern and southern Africa. In Africa, as elsewhere, this family is diverse both in body size and morphology, with body size ranging from some of the smallest of forms to the largest hyaenodontid known (Megistotherium). A brief list of the Afro-Arabian hyaenodontid subfamilies and genera can be found in table 26.1, while the distribution of species can be found in tables 26.2 and 26.3 and, later, in figure 26.8.

ABBREVIATIONS

AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York; BMNH, The Natural History Museum, London; CGM, Cairo Geological Museum, Egypt; KNM, Kenya National Museums, Nairobi, Kenya; UM, Uganda Museum, Kampala, Uganda; YPM, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven.

Systematic Paleontology Order CREODONTA Cope, 1875 Family HYAENODONTIDAE Leidy, 1869

Diagnosis Tritubercular to sectorial molars with carnassial blades in P4, M1, M2, and m1, m2, m3 (except in Limnocyoninae). M3 transverse or absent. ta b l e 2 6 .1 Afro-Arabian genera and subfamilies Subfamily Apterodontinae Hyainailourinae

Koholiinae Proviverrinae Teratodontinae

Genus Apterodon Quasiapterodon Akhnatenavus Anasinopa Buhakia Dissopsalis Hyainailouros Isohyaenodon Leakitherium Masrasector Megistotherium Metapterodon Metasinopa Pterodon Koholia Boualitomus Tinerhodon Teratodon

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ta b l e 2 6 . 2 Distribution of Afro-Arabian hyaenodontid creodonts from the Paleocene through the Oligocene

Jebel Qatrani (L), Eg.

EE

x

x

x

x x

x

x

?

x

?

x

x

x

x

x x

x

x

El Kohol, Alg.

x

Gour Lazib, Alg. Grand Daoui, Mor. LP

x x

Adrar Mgorn, Mor.

Remarks For many years, the earliest African representatives of this family dated to the late Eocene (Savage, 1978). Recent finds push the earliest occurrence back to at least the earliest Eocene and possibly the late Paleocene (e.g., Gheerbrant, 1995; Gheerbrant et al., 2006). Subfamily APTERODONTINAE Szalay, 1967

Diagnosis Lower molars with paraconid, protoconid, and more or less complex talonid. Upper molars triangular, as in Tritemnodon and Sinopa, with protocone prominent, subequal paracone, metacone, and styles. Teeth tubercular rather than sectorial (Osborn, 1909:417). Age and Occurrence Late Eocene to Oligocene; Europe and Egypt. Remarks The genus Apterodon was originally placed within the subfamily Hyaenodontinae. Szalay (1967) suggested that this genus should be placed in a separate tribe from other hyaenodontines. Van Valen (1967) agreed but wanted to abandon the use of formal tribes until the subfamily was better known. Holroyd (1994) later elevated the tribe to subfamily status. Genus APTERODON Fischer, 1880

Synonymy ?Apterodon sp. nov. Simons, 1868; Dasyurodon Andreae, 1887; Pterodon Andrews, 1904 (P. macrognathus only). Diagnosis As for subfamily. Type Species Apterodon gaudryi Fischer, 1880. Age and Occurrence Late Eocene to Oligocene; Europe and Egypt. Afro-Arabian Species Apterodon altidens Schlosser, 1910; A. macrognathus Andrews, 1904; A. saghensis Simons and Gingerich, 1976. 550


Hyaenodontidae indet.

x

Tinerhodon disputatum

Pterodon phiomensis

“Pterodon” africanus

Metasinopa fraasi

Metasinopa ethiopica

x

Metapterodon sp.

Masrasector ligabuei

Masrasector aegypticum

Koholia atlasense

Hyainailouros sp.

Boualitomus marocanensis

Apterodon sp.

Apterodon saghensis

?

x x

Taqah, Oman Qasr el-Sagha, Eg.

x

Quasiapterodon minutus

LE

x

Pterodon syrtos

Dur el Talhah, Lib.

Metapterodon schlosseri

E/O

Metapterodon markgrafi

Jebel Qatrani (U), Eg.

Metapterodon brachycephalus

Chilga, Eth.

EO

Masrasector nov. sp.

LO

Apterodon macrognathus

Site

Apterodon altidens

Time

Akhnatenavus leptognathus

Abbreviations: LO = late Oligocene, EO = early Oligocene, E/O = Eocene/Oligocene, LE = late Eocene, EE = early Eocene, LP = late Paleocene

x

Remarks Van Valen (1966) removed Apterodon from the Creodonta and placed it in the Mesonychidae. Szalay (1967) later reaffirmed the creodont affinities of Apterodon and was supported by Van Valen (1967). The oldest member of this genus is found in northern Africa in the late Eocene (Holroyd et al., 1996). Simons and Gingerich (1976) suggest that Apterodon probably evolved in isolation in Africa and dispersed around the Tethys Sea to Europe in the early Oligocene. They based this on the relative frequency of Apterodon in the Fayum deposits in contrast to the relatively low number of species and specimens (one per species) from Europe. A. macrognathus may have been ancestral to later species in the Fayum, as well as to European taxa (Tilden et al., 1990; Holroyd, 1994). Others have suggested that Apterodon originated in Asia and crossed into northern Africa before continuing to Europe (Lange-Badré and Böhme, 2005). Genus QUASIAPTERODON Lavrov, 1999

Synonymy Apterodon Fischer, 1880 (partim). Diagnosis After Lavrov (1999). Small, with skull length about 100 mm. Preorbital opening ahead of P4 posterior edge. Protocone developed on P4 and P3. Paraconids of m1 and m2 strongly displaced medially from axis of dental row; their talonids retain rudimentary interior basin. Type Species Apterodon minutus Schlosser, 1910. Age and Occurrence Late Eocene to Oligocene; Egypt. Afro-Arabian Species Quasiapterodon minutus (Schlosser, 1910). Remarks Q. minutus originally was placed in Apterodon Schlosser, 1910. After several authors had stated that it probably did not belong in this genus (Tilden et al., 1990; Holroyd, 1994), Lavrov (1999) formally created the genus Quasiapterodon. There is some doubt, however, as to whether

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Hyaenodontidae indet.

cf. Teratodon

Teratodon spekei

Teratodon enigmae

Metasinopa napaki

Metapterodon zadoki

Metapterodon stromeri

Metapterodon kaiseri

Megistotherium osteothlastes

Leakitherium sp.

Leakitherium hiwegi

Isohyaenodon pilgrimi

Isohyaenodon matthewi

Isohyaenodon andrewsi

Hyainailouros sp.

Hyainailouros sulzeri

Hyainailouros nyanzae

Hyainailouros napakensis

Hyainailouros fourtaui

Dissopsalis pyroclasticus

Buhakia moghraensis

Anasinopa leakeyi

Site

Anasinopa haasi

ta b l e 2 6 .3 Distribution of Afro-Arabian hyaenodontid creodonts during the Miocene

middle miocene Gafsa (L), Tun.

x

Baringo-L2/56, Ken.

x

Grillental, Namib.

x

Arrisdrift, Namib.

x

Tugen Hills-Kabarsero, Ken.

x

Tugen Hills-Bartule, Ken.

x

Kaboor, Ken.

x

Fort Ternan, Ken.

?

x

Baringo-Chaparawa, Ken.

x

early miocene Wadi Moghra, Eg.

x

Negev, Israel

x

Gebel Zelten, Lib.

?

x

x x

Maboko, Ken.

x

Muruarot 2, Ken.

x

x

Ombo, Ken. Mfwanganu, Ken.

x

x

x

Rusinga 2, Ken. R. 106,31, Ken.

x

x x

Rusinga, Ken.

x

R.1,1a,3,12,18 Ken.

x

Napak, Ug.

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

Moroto I, Ug.

x

x

x

x

x

Koru, Ken.

x

Songhor, Ken. Karungu, Ken.

x x

x

x

x

it belongs in Apterodontinae or should instead be placed close to “Metasinopa” ethiopica (B. Lange-Badré, pers. comm.; and M.M., pers. obs.). Subfamily HYAINAILOURINAE Pilgrim, 1932 (emend.)

Synonymy Pterodontidae Polly, 1996; Hyaenaelurinae Egi et al., 2007.

Type Genus Hyainailouros Biedermann, 1863. Diagnosis Emended after Holroyd (1999). Hyaenodontids with metaconid small to absent, with distinct but unbasined

x

x

Langental, Namib. Elisabethfeld, Namib.

x

x x

talonid on lower molars, connate metacone and paracone present on M1–M2, a weak to absent P3 lingual cingulum, P4 lacking continuous lingual cingulum, relatively large anterior keels on lower molars, m3 talonid reduced relative to that of m1–m2, lower molar protoconids and paraconids subequal in length, circular subarcuate fossa present on petrosal, and nuchal crest not extending laterally to mastoid processes. Emended to allow for the presence of a small metaconid on m3 as partly present in Dissopsalis and related taxa. Orienspterodon is excluded from this subfamily due to the fact that the talonid of m3 is less reduced than the talonid of m2 (discussed later).

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Age and Occurrence Early Eocene to late middle Miocene; northern and eastern Africa, Europe, questionable from Asia and North America. Remarks Pilgrim named this subfamily using the Latinized form “Hyaenaelurinae,” even though he correctly cited the type genus as Hyainailouros (the Greek version), as created by Biedermann (1863). This has led to much nomenclatural confusion. The ICZN 35.4.1 (1999) states that a familial name has to be corrected if based on an incorrect emendation of the type genus name. As Hyainailouros is correct, the subfamily has to be based on this name and not on its (incorrectly) Latinized version Hyaenaelurus. We thus emend “Hyaenaelurinae” Pilgrim, 1932 to the correct form Hyainailourinae Pilgrim, 1932. The genera included in this subfamily have long been considered to be members of the Hyaenodontinae despite the fact that Pilgrim (1932) placed them in their own subfamily. Pilgrim’s taxonomy was not followed by subsequent authors until Polly (1996) provided a phylogenetic analysis supporting Pilgrim. Holroyd (1999) revised Polly’s original diagnosis of this taxon, which he had named Pterodontinae, as she noted that his diagnosis is based almost solely upon upper dentitions and crania, while the sole feature of the lower dentition, the loss of the metaconid, is known to have evolved independently in other hyaenodontid lineages. Hyainailourine origins may lie with the early Eocene “proviverrine” genus Arfia (Van Valen, 1967; Polly, 1996; Peigné et al., 2007), which is now known to have occurred in all northern continents (Gingerich, 1989; Smith and Smith, 2001; Lavrov and Lopatin, 2004; Smith et al., 2006). The supposed earliest true hyainailourine is Francotherium from the late early Eocene (MP 10) of France (Polly, 1996). Holroyd (1999) also includes the middle Eocene Asian taxon “Pterodon” dakhoensis in the subfamily. It is clear, however, that the generic assignment of this species does not lie within Pterodon (Lavrov, 1996), leading Egi et al. (2007) to rename this species Orienspterodon dakhoensis. More importantly, assignment of Orienspterodon to Hyainailourinae is unlikely due to the fact that the talonid is less reduced in m3 than in m2. Instead, the genus may be close to the South Asian “proviverrines” Paratritemnodon, Kyawdawia, and Yarshea that have been interpreted as of separate descent from Arfia and thus as a sister group of Hyainailourinae (Peigné et al., 2007). Details of the tooth eruption sequence that distinguish hyainailourines from proviverrines as well as from hyaenodontines place Dissopsalis and Buhakia into this subfamily (Morlo et al., 2007). The consequence of this move is that the undisputed close relatives of these genera, Metasinopa and Anasinopa, should be interpreted as hyainailourines as well. Questionable is Masrasector, which has been interpreted either as an ancestor of Anasinopa (Tchernov et al., 1987) or as a possible descendant of an early Eocene prototomine-like proviverrine (Peigné et al., 2007). Only in the first case would Masrasector belong to the Hyainailourinae (discussed later).

lingual bulge on p3; slender canines; paraconid smaller relative to the protoconid. Differs from Metapterodon in retaining a m3 talonid. Type Species Pterodon leptognathus Osborn, 1909. Age and Occurrence Late Eocene/early Oligocene; northern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Akhnatenavus leptognathus (Osborn, 1909). Genus ANASINOPA Savage, 1965 Figure 26.1

Diagnosis Hyainailourine with dental formula 3.1.?4.3/ 3.1.4.3; skull elongate and jaws slender; two-rooted p1; lower premolars compressed, crowded posteriorly, length slightly greater than height; p4 with distinct talonid; P4 tubercular, parastyle smaller than metacone: M1 + 2 tritubercular, triangular; metacone and paracone close together but not connate; metastyle shearing; metaconule and paraconule present; protocone V shaped; M3 present; m1 smallest and m3 largest; protoconid and paraconid subequal with height approximately equal to trigonid length; metaconid much smaller; talonid basined; m1 and m2 talonid length slightly less than trigonid; m3 talonid much reduced. Type Species Anasinopa leakeyi Savage, 1965. Age and Occurrence Early to middle? Miocene; eastern and northern Africa, Israel. Afro-Arabian Species Anasinopa haasi Tchernov et al., 1987; A. leakeyi Savage, 1965. Remarks This genus was first named from numerous fragmentary dental and mandibular specimens from Kenya (figure 26.1). Members of this genus are relatively small for hyaenodontids, with A. leakeyi being about the size of the European wolf (Canis lupus)(Savage, 1965) and A. haasi being much smaller. Savage (1965) notes that the presence of metaconids on the lower molars places this genus and species firmly in the proviverrines (as understood at that time). Savage (1965) suggests that this genus represents an intermediate stage between African “Sinopa” (now Metasinopa ethiopica) and Tritemnodon from the middle Eocene of North

Genus AKHNATENAVUS Holroyd, 1999

Synonymy Pterodon Osborn, 1909:419 (partim); Pterodon Simons, 1968:18. Diagnosis Differs from Pterodon and Metapterodon in its smaller size and in having more gracile and relatively smaller premolars; presence of diastemata between p1 and p2, p2 and p2; smaller and shorter talonids on m1 and m2; 552


FIGURE 26.1 KNM RU 2935 (= CMF.4018), Anasinopa leakeyi, right mandible fragment with m1–m3 from Rusinga Island, Kenya (Savage, 1965:260): A) buccal, B) lingual, and C) occlusal views.

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America. However, he also notes that it is less derived than specimens of Metasinopa fraasi. Tchernov et al. (1987) suggest that Anasinopa is a direct descendant of the Oligocene genus Masrasector from the Fayum. This genus was not known to Savage in 1965. Van Valen (1967), however, transferred Anasinopa to Paracynohyaenodon due to what he believed was Savage’s reliance on incorrect drawings in the original description of Paracynohyaenodon. This view has not been supported in the literature and Anasinopa has remained as a distinctly Afro-Arabian genus. Genus BUHAKIA Morlo et al., 2007

Diagnosis From Morlo et al. (2007). Differs from Pterodon and Metapterodon in having larger talonids on m1 and m2 that point posteriorly instead of posterolingually. Differs from all other African hyainailourines in lacking a metaconid on m2, but with relatively large talonids. Type Species Buhakia moghraensis Morlo et al., 2007. Age and Occurrence Early Miocene; northern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Buhakia moghraensis Morlo et al., 2007. Remarks The holotype of the sole species of the genus is a juvenile mandibular fragment (DPC 8994) from Wadi Moghra (⫽ Moghara), Egypt. This species represents a hypercarnivorous member of a pre-Miocene diversification of middle- to large-sized hyaenodontids (Morlo et al., 2007). The interpretation of hypercarnivory is based on the reduction of the metaconids and trenchant character of the cristid obliquum on the lower molars. Genus DISSOPSALIS Pilgrim, 1910

Diagnosis After Colbert (1933); Savage (1965); Barry (1988). Dental formula ?.1.4.3./?.1.4.3. Mandible slightly bowed and with distinct swelling under p4. Protocone prominent, anterior and remote from paracone; paracone much lower and smaller than metacone; metaconule and paraconule present but reduced; parastyle small or absent; very long, trenchant, posteriorly directed metastyle. Premolars robust with welldeveloped cingulum; P3 with slight posterolingual expansion; P4 with large lobate and bulbous lingual cusp (protocone), slightly inflated paracone, and parastyle small or absent; P4 almost as large as M1; M1 and M2 with long and very narrow, anterolingually directed protocone: paracone and metacone closely appressed, but not connate (contra Savage, 1965); M3 small, narrow, and transverse; p3 with small anterior accessory cusp, weak talonid, and salient entocristid; p4 with tall and robust protoconid and distinct talonid with a basin formed by an entocristid; p4 larger than m1; molars trenchant; m1 with three cusped trigonid and basined talonid; metaconid small; m2 with trenchant trigonid; greatly reduced metaconid; short, basined talonid; m3 with trenchant trigonid; metaconid vestigial or absent; talonid only a small trenchant tubercle. Type Species Dissopsalis carnifex Pilgrim, 1910. Age and Occurrence Middle Miocene; Asia and eastern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Dissopsalis pyroclasticus Savage, 1965. Remarks This genus was first described by Pilgrim (1910) from fragmentary material from the Chinji Formation in the Siwalik sequence of northern Pakistan. Savage (1965) later named an additional species, D. pyroclasticus, from Kenya.

The relationship of Dissopsalis to other taxa has been highly disputed, as the degree of carnassial specialization in this genus approaches that of hyaenodontines. While this genus traditionally has been placed in the proviverrines due to the possession of a separate paracone and metacone on the upper molars and retention of reduced metaconids on the lowers (Pilgrim, 1914; Colbert, 1933, 1935), these features are primitive (Barry, 1988). Barry (1988) concludes that Dissopsalis and Anasinopa may be sister taxa, with Anasinopa leakeyi being a plausible ancestor for Dissopsalis. Despite the derived nature of Dissopsalis, Barry (1988) rejected the placement of this genus within the Hyaenodontinae. He notes that both taxa share the following synapomorphies: development of an oblique shearing paracristid, suppression of the metaconids and talonids, and near fusion of the paracones and metacones. Barry argued that Dissopsalis retained many primitive features and thus did not have all of the hyaenodontine synapomorphies. In contrast, Van Valen (1965) suggested a special relationship to Arfia, a relationship supported by Polly (1996). Polly’s cladistic analysis of cranial and postcranial characters suggested the following relationship: (Arfia (Dissopsalis (Pterodon, Hyainailouros))). Thus, Dissopsalis can be interpreted as a hyainailourine. As Polly found hyaenodontines (sensu latu) to be diphyletic (Hyaenodontinae and Hyainailourinae), the importance of the supposed hyaenodontine (sensu latu) synapomorphies listed by Barry (1988) can be questioned. Moreover, tooth eruption patterns in Dissopsalis are unlike those of hyaenodontines but fit with hyainailourines (M.M., pers. obs.). For these reasons, we follow Morlo et al. (2007) and remove Dissopsalis from the proviverrines and place it in the Hyainailourinae. The African species, D. pyroclasticus, is apparently easily confused with other hyaenodontids and with carnivorans and suids (Barry, 1988). Although it is recorded from Fort Ternan, Maboko, Moroto, and Napak (Bishop, 1967; Andrews et al., 1981; Pickford, 1981; Shipman et al., 1981; Pickford et al., 1986), Barry considers only the type specimen (BMNH M.19082) from Kaboor, Kenya and a single upper molar from the Ngorora Formation of the Baringo Basin (Locality 2/56; KNM-BN 1191) to belong to this species with any assurance. Barry refers the upper molar from Baringo to this species due to the small paracone, narrow protocone, and trenchant metastyle, which are a suite of characters found together only in Dissopsalis. Morlo et al. (2007) implied a generic separation of D. pyroclasticus from Dissopsalis by stating that Buhakia was closer to D. carnifex than to D. pyroclasticus. This separation, however, was not formally published; therefore, we follow the traditional assignment of this taxon. Genus HYAINAILOUROS (Biedermann, 1863)

Synonymy Hyaenailurus Rütimeyer, 1867; Hyaenaelurus Stehlin, 1907; Hyaenaelurus Helbing, 1925; Hyaenaelurus Koenigswald, 1947; Hyainolouros Holroyd, 1994; Hyainolouros Holroyd, 1999 Diagnosis Very large to giant hyainailourines with P3–4 three rooted, diastema between single-rooted p1 and p3, and reduced talonids in m1–3. Type Species Hyainailouros sulzeri Biedermann, 1863. Age and Occurrence Early to middle Miocene; northern and eastern Africa, western Europe, and Pakistan. Afro-Arabian Species Hyainailouros fourtaui Koenigswald, 1947; H. napakensis Ginsburg, 1980; H. nyanzae (Savage, 1965); H. sulzeri Biedermann, 1863 T WEN T Y-SIX: CREODON TA


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Remarks Fourtau (1920) identified a P3 from Moghra, Egypt as Hyaena sp. indet. The species Hyainailouros fourtaui was named for this specimen by Koenigswald (1947), and it is now considered to be a P4 (Ginsburg, 1980; Morlo et al., 2007). Despite the fact that this genus has been known longer than any other hyainailourine except Pterodon, its diagnosis is more than unclear. The relationship of Hyainailouros to Miocene African “Pterodon” (“P.” nyanzae, P. africanus), as well as to Megistotherium osteothlastes (which may be conspecific with H. bugtiensis), are unresolved and need further study. Here we follow the discussion of the genus provided by Morlo et al. (2007). Until recently, H. sulzeri was only known from western Europe (Switzerland, France, Germany, and Spain)(Ginsburg, 1999). This taxon has been identified at Arrisdrift, Namibia, from a maxillary fragment and a juvenile canine and mandible (Morales et al., 2003) and has also been reported from Grillental, Namibia (Morales and Pickford, 2005), although the Grillental material was later referred to Megistotherium (Morales and Pickford, 2008). Morlo et al. (2007) suggest that all described African species of Hyainailouros may ultimately be recognized as conspecifics of the type species, given how poorly known this genus is within Africa. They suggest that all known taxa may be reducible to three: H. bugtiensis (= Megistotherium osteothlastes), H. sulzeri (all African and European specimens), and Sivapterodon lahirri (India). H. sulzeri in this scheme would be highly sexual dimorphic, as Miocene “Pterodon” (P. nyanzae including Miocene P. africanus, see Holroyd 1994), H. fourtaui, and H. napakensis are clearly smaller than H. sulzeri (sensu stricto). Hence, Turner and Antón (2004: figure 5.2) accept the presence of two African species of Hyainailouros that are separated by size. Undescribed material from the lower Miocene of Meswa Bridge, Kenya, including a mandibular ramus, various upper and lower teeth, humerus, radius, ulna, and tibia, may help to resolve some of these issues. Genus ISOHYAENODON Savage, 1965 Figures 26.2 and 26.3

Diagnosis After Morales et al. (1998a). Differs from Hyaenodon in upper and lower molars more robust, lower molars with subequal paraconid and protoconid; m2 less reduced with respect to m3, and upper molars with better developed protocone. Type Species Isohyaenodon andrewsi Savage, 1965. Age and Occurrence Oligocene through Lower Miocene; northern and eastern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Isohyaenodon andrewsi Savage, 1965 (status questioned); I. matthewi Savage, 1965 (status questioned); I. pilgrimi Savage, 1965. Remarks This genus was originally proposed as a subgenus of Hyaenodon by Savage (1965), with the suggestion that it might merit generic distinction. Morales et al. (1998a) elevated Isohyaenodon to generic status. They recognized two species, I. andrewsi and I. pilgrimi, and referred Metapterodon zadoki to this genus. The status of the species I. andrewsi (figure 26.2) is in question. Van Valen (1967) suggests that the type specimen may, in fact, be a mandible of Leakitherium hiwegi despite being slightly smaller than the holotype of L. hiwegi. He also suggests that other species of Isohyaenodon may belong in Leakitherium. Morales et al. (2007) suggest that L. hiwegi and I. andrewsi may be upper and lower dentitions, respectively, of the same species. They note that if this true, then Leakitherium would have 554


KNM MO 25, Isohyaenodon andrewsi, right mandible fragment with p1–p3, m2, alveolus for p4, broken m1 from Maboko, Kenya: A) buccal B) lingual, and C) occlusal views.

FIGURE 26.2

priority. In contrast, Holroyd (1999) considers I. andrewsi to be the previously unknown lower dentition of Metapterodon kaiseri, currently known only from the upper dentition, or a closely related species to M. kaiseri. The status of the second species, I. matthewi, is also in question. Morales et al. (1998a) noted that Metapterodon zadoki, which they referred to Isohyaenodon, had priority in Savage’s publication. They then synonymized I. matthewi with I. zadoki as they believed that “H.” matthewi and M. zadoki are lower and upper dentitions, respectively, of the same species. They also refer one specimen of I. matthewi (KNM-CMF 4060) to I. andrewsi as this specimen conjoins with an I. andrewsi mandible (KNM-CMF 4023). Further material from Napak has been described as Isohyaenodon zadoki (Morales et al., 2007).

KNM RU 2943 (= CMF.4062), Isohyaenodon pilgrimi, right mandible fragment with p4, m2–m3 from Rusinga Island, Kenya (Savage, 1965:284): A) buccal, B) lingualm and C) occlusal views.

FIGURE 26.3

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The third species, I. pilgrimi (figure 26.3), is the only one of Savage’s (1965) three eastern African (former) Hyaenodon species whose status has not been questioned. Perhaps this is due to the fact that it is the only species of Isohyaenodon to include material of both upper and lower dentitions. New material has recently been described from Napak, Uganda (Morales et al., 2007). As I. andrewsi is the type species of the genus, synonymizing this species with Leakitherium hiwegi or Metapterodon kaiseri will require a taxonomic revision of all members of the genus. Morales et al. (2007:74) has noted that the m2 of I. pilgrimi, M. zadoki, and a possible specimen of Leakitherium from Napak (UM NAP I 44’99) all share a “mesial valley on the anterior margin.” The enamel surface of the m2 in M. zadoki, L. hiwegi, and UM NAP I 44’99 has “vertical, rounded parallel ridges or swellings” in contrast to the usual wrinkled creodont enamel (2007:74). Thus, even if Isohyaenodon is synonymized with Leakitherium and all current taxa are placed within that genus, the relationship of Leakitherium and Metapterodon must be clarified and the placement of M. zadoki within a genus addressed. Synonymy of Isohyaenodon with Metapterodon requires evaluating the relationships among current Isohyaenodon species and L. hiwegi to determine if they all belong to this genus, as well. Clearly, more associated upper and lower dentitions are necessary to resolve these issues. Note that there are currently no African members of the genus Hyaenodon. Other African taxa originally referred to Hyaenodon include H. brachycephalus. Holroyd (1999) removed H. brachycephalus from Hyaenodon and placed it in Metapterodon. Clearly, the confusion over what taxa should be incorporated within Isohyaenodon or Metapterodon suggests that both taxa are in need of further revision. Genus LEAKITHERIUM Savage, 1965

Synonymy Leakeytherium Morales et al., 2007. Diagnosis Hyainailourine without M3; M1+2 highly sectorial, protocone greatly reduced on M2; molars with connate paracone and metacone and shearing metastyle; P4 with protocone and prominent parastyle, central paracone, metacone and trenchant metastyle. Type Species Leakitherium hiwegi Savage, 1965. Age and Occurrence Miocene; eastern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Leakitherium hiwegi Savage, 1965. Remarks The species L. hiwegi has strongly sectorial molars like Pterodon. This species is roughly similar in size to Isohyaenodon andrewsi and is about the size of a leopard (Savage, 1965; Van Valen, 1967; Morales et al., 2007). The type species is only known from upper dentition. Van Valen (1967) and Morales et al. (2007) have suggested that this material may belong to the same species as Isohyaenodon andrewsi, which is only known from lower dentitions. Morales et al. (2007) refer a lower molar fragment from Napak to this genus noting that the morphology is also similar to other species of Isohyaenodon, but roughly 50% larger (see remarks in Isohyaenodon section). Genus MASRASECTOR Simons and Gingerich, 1974 Figure 26.4

Diagnosis Emended from Holroyd (1994); Peigné et al. (2007). Differs from all other hyaenodontids, including all Fayum taxa, Oligocene European Quercitherium, and Miocene

African Teratodon, in its small length/breadth index of m1, combined with the low, short, blunt p3–4 (Peigné et al., 2007). Masrasector further differs strongly from Metasinopa and Anasinopa (where known) in its generally smaller size and in having lower crowned teeth; less pronounced molar size increase from front to back; less reduced metaconid; slight buccal cingulum on lower molars and well-developed buccal cingulum on upper molars; more poorly developed paracristid shearing; entoconid and hypoconid distinct and separate on molars; p3 with posterior accessory cusp; p4 with distinct entoconid, entocristid and hypoconulid and a talonid basin; small mesostyle module on upper molars; lower molars with hypoconid more labially placed and distinct from the hypoconulid and entoconid; molar hypoconulid more posteriorly projecting; relatively larger molar talonids that are subequal in length to trigonid; large, bulbous P4 protocone; shorter, less obliquely oriented metastyle; a smaller paraconule bearing a stronger postparaconule crista; relatively shorter and wider talon basin on M1–2; paracone and metacone more connate, less appressed to one another; shorter M3 parastyle, narrower M3 talon basin; less anteriorly positioned protocone relative to the buccal edge of the tooth; P3 metastyle lacking; weaker P3 buccal and lingual cingula; shorter and wider P3; less angled anterior face of P3. Type Species Masrasector aegypticum Simons and Gingerich, 1974. Age and Occurrence Late Eocene to early Oligocene; northern Africa and Arabian Peninsula. Afro-Arabian Species Masrasector aegypticum Simons and Gingerich, 1974; M. ligabuei Crochet et al., 1990; Masrasector n.sp. Holroyd, 1994. Remarks Simons and Gingerich (1974) believed Masrasector to be a stage between the Eocene Sinopa or Proviverra and the Oligocene and Miocene Metasinopa. In this scenario, the paraconids, metaconids, and protoconids become progressively larger, resulting in a change in shear, where Masrasector is intermediate between the early group (Sinopa and Proviverra) and Metasinopa. Simons and Gingerich note that the crowns of the upper and lower premolars are typically worn flat at an early age and that talonid basin wear indicates a propalinal component at the end of the masticatory stroke. Simons and Gingerich (1974) note that a specimen (YPM 20944) that is about half the size of M. aegypticum is present at Quarry G (Jebel Qatrani Formation, Upper Sequence) as well, suggesting a second species present at the same level. Holroyd (1994) demonstrated that this specimen has deciduous teeth and referred it to M. aegypticum. However, a short review of the specimen reveals a clear difference from M. aegypticum in the relative proportions of m1, which is relatively less broad in the juvenile (see figure 26.4). In our view, YPM 20944 does not belong to Masrasector aegypticum and may not be a Masrasector at all. The relationships of Masrasector are completely unresolved as it differs strongly from other hyaenodontids. Its supposed ancestorship to Anasinopa (Simons and Gingerich, 1974)— and thus its relationship to Hyainailourinae—is only weakly justified, as is the alternative interpretation of Masrasector being a descendant of a prototomine-like proviverrines from the early Eocene of Africa (Peigné et al., 2007). The hypothesized relationship to South Asian “proviverrines” (Egi et al., 2005), however, has been convincingly falsified (Peigné et al., 2007). The blunt premolars of Masrasector suggest a lifestyle similar to that of the hypothesized molluscivores Quercitherium and Teratodon, even if molar morphology separates all



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A) Juvenile mandible (YPM 20944) from Quarry G, Jebel Qatrani Formation Upper Sequence, Fayum Province, Egypt, in, from top to bottom, buccal, occlusal, and lingual views. B) Cast of type specimen of Masrasector aegypticum (CGM 30978) in occlusal view also from Quarry G. Note the differences in the relative proportions of m1 between the two specimens that lead us to conclude that YPM 20944 belongs to a different species, and possibly different genus, than CGM 30978.

FIGURE 26.4

three genera phylogenetically from each other. This lifestyle has therefore evolved independently. Genus MEGISTOTHERIUM Savage, 1973

Diagnosis Rasmussen et al. (1989). Gigantic hyainailourine, single large upper incisor; large upper canine, laterally placed with respect to other teeth; palate constricted near P1–2; P3–4 three rooted, P4 width greater than length (unlike Hyainailouros); M1–2 trenchant; M3 small, transverse (Savage, 1973). Mandible deep and bowed, forming thick horizontal torus along inferior edge; p4 differs from that of other hyaenodontines in being obliquely oriented with respect to the axis of the mandible; p4 further differs from that of Hyainailouros in bearing a small, trenchant hypoconid; m1 differs from that of Pterodon in its extreme size reduction, and the lack of differentiated cusps and crests; m2–3 resemble those of most hyaenodontines but differ from Apterodon in having long, bladelike paraconids and (at least on m2) small hypoconids. Type Species Megistotherium osteothlastes Savage, 1973. Age and Occurrence Early Miocene; northern and eastern Africa, possibly Pakistan. Afro-Arabian Species Megistotherium osteothlastes Savage, 1973. Remarks This is the largest known hyaenodontid. Savage (1973) named the only species based on a skull from Libya 556


(BMNH M26173) and referred a mandible from the Bugti Hills, Pakistan (BMNH M 12049), to this genus. The referred material includes a partial mandible (DPC 14557) from Egypt and an upper canine, damaged m2 and partial left humerus from Kenya (Rasmussen et al., 1989; Morales and Pickford, 2005, 2008). Morales and Pickford (2008) refer the Grillental Hyainailouros to Megistotherium and mention unpublished material of this genus from Moroto I, Uganda. Although originally considered a hyaenodontine, Megistotherium was later placed in Pterodontinae by Holroyd (1999). Morales and Pickford (2005) have noted that this genus has never been clearly demonstrated to differ from Hyainailouros, while Morlo et al. (2007) have suggested that M. osteothlastes may be referable specifically to H. bugtiensis. Savage (1973) notes the remarkably large size of the holotype of M. osteothlastes, including an enormous sagittal crest, paranasal sinuses, and canines. The premolars are described as “heavy” and “blunt,” as in Crocuta. Both by its name (“greatest beast—bone crusher”) and through comparison to Crocuta, Savage indicates that he views this species as equivalent, at the least, to extant spotted hyenas in bone-cracking capabilities. Unlike many African creodonts, this species has attributed postcranial material. Savage (1973) states that these specimens are distinguished by their large size from all other species in the same beds at Gebel Zelten, Libya. The humerus from the Ngorora Formation, Kenya, is similar in morphology to the Gebel Zelten humerus but is smaller in size (Morales and Pickford, 2005). The Kenyan humerus, along with the damaged m2, represents the latest possible occurrence of this genus (13–12 Ma; Morales and Pickford, 2005, 2008). Genus METAPTERODON Stromer, 1926 Figure 26.5

Synonymy Hyaenodon Andrews, 1906:218; Hyaenodon Osborn, 1909:423; Pterodon Osborn, 1909:423 (partim); ?Metasinopa Osborn, 1909:423; Metapterodon Stromer, 1926:110; Hyaenodon Savage, 1965:268 (partim); Metapterodon Savage, 1965:268 (partim); Hyaenodon (Isohyaenodon) Savage, 1965:280 (partim); Metasinopa(?) sp. Savage, 1965:264. Diagnosis Revised after Holroyd (1999). Differs from Pterodon and Akhnatenavus in having P4 postparacrista developed into a shearing crest; narrower lower molars; narrower upper molar metastyles; undulant labial face on upper molars; p2 with anterior accessory cuspid; bladelike P4 metastyle; double-rooted P3. Differs from Pterodon in smaller size and in having longer P4 metastyles; smaller protocones; narrower upper molars; more labially placed and more salient anterior accessory cuspids on p2–p3; p1 lacking; more sharply angled posterior trigonid wall; much shorter m1–m2 talonids; m3 talonid lacking. Differs from Hyaenodon in having upper molar protocones primitively present; lower molar posterior paracristid not markedly longer than anterior paracristid. Type Species Metapterodon kaiseri Stromer, 1926. Age and Occurrence Late Eocene to early Miocene; northern, eastern, and southern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Metapterodon brachycephalus (Osborn, 1909); M. kaiseri Stromer, 1926; M. markgrafi Holroyd, 1999; M. schlosseri Holroyd, 1999; M. stromeri Morales et al., 1998a; M. zadoki Savage, 1965 (M. zadoki may belong in Isohyaenodon).

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for the moment until the relationships among the aforementioned genera are clarified. Genus METASINOPA Osborn, 1909

FIGURE 26.5 KNM KA 77 (= CMF.4038), Metapterodon kaiseri, right maxilla fragment with P3–M3 from Karungu, Kenya (Savage, 1965:268, figure 28, plate 4, figure 2) in A, buccal; B, lingual; C, occlusal views.

Remarks The genus Metapterodon has proven to be quite problematic. Although described originally from Namibia, additional fragmentary Kenyan material was added to the Namibian species M. kaiseri by Savage (1965). Savage provided the first revision of the genus based on his disagreement with the meaning of characters cited by Stromer (1926). Van Valen (1967) synonymized Metapterodon with Pterodon but noted that the latter genus might be polyphyletic. Savage (1978) appears to have agreed with Van Valen, as M. kaiseri and M. zadoki were placed in Pterodon in this later work. Dashzeveg (1985) synonymized M. zadoki with M. kaiseri, a view that has not been supported by later researchers (e.g., Morales et al., 1998a; Holroyd, 1999; Morales et al., 2007). Morales et al. (1998a) resurrected Metapterodon for the Namibian material and placed M. zadoki and the eastern Africa specimens of M. kaiseri in the genus Isohyaenodon (see remarks in the Isohyaenodon section.) This change supports Van Valen’s (1967) view that the Kenyan material assigned to M. kaiseri differs from the Namibian holotype and should be placed in another taxon. Morales et al. (1998a) did not address the Fayum material. Holroyd (1999), apparently unaware of the work of Morales et al. (1998a), independently revived Metapterodon. She recognized M. kaiseri and M. zadoki as valid species, referred Hyaenodon brachycephalus to Metapterodon, and named two new species. Like Van Valen (1967) and Morales et al. (1998a), Holroyd (1999) recognized that M. kaiseri might be different from later taxa assigned to this genus. She noted that her two new species may ultimately prove to belong to a separate genus from M. kaiseri, but she still placed them in this genus to demonstrate their uniqueness from both Isohyaenodon and Pterodon. Note that Holroyd considered “H. (Isohyaenodon) andrewsi” to be the previously unknown lower dentitions of M. kaiseri or a closely related species. She also tentatively placed two specimens previously referred to Hyaenodon (Andrews, 1906; Osborn, 1909; Savage, 1965) in her new species M. schlosseri: AMNH 13262 (formerly ?Hyaenodon from Quarry B) and BMNH C8812-13 (formerly Hyaenodon (Isohyaenodon) andrewsi, possibly from the lower sequence of the Jebel Qatrani Formation). The relationships between African forms of Isohyaenodon, Pterodon, and Metapterodon are in need of further clarification. While M. zadoki may well belong in Isohyaenodon, we have chosen the conservative approach and left it in Metapterodon

Synonymy Sinopa Andrews, 1906 (S. ethiopica only); Sinopa Schlosser, 1911. Diagnosis Revised after Holroyd (1994). p1 absent; p3 and m3 present; small lower premolars; basal talonid present, persistent metaconid on m2 and m3; small trenchant heels on lower molars (Osborn, 1909). Differs from Miocene Anasinopa in having more poorly developed metaconids; strong preparacrista; smaller p4 talonid; narrower mandibular cheek teeth; narrower protoconid and talonid; smaller m2 relative to m3; more mediolaterally oriented paracristid; better separated paracone and metacone. Type Species Metasinopa fraasi Osborn, 1909. Age and Occurrence Late Eocene to ?Miocene; northern and eastern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species ?Metasinopa ethiopica (Andrews, 1906); M. fraasi Osborn, 1909; M. napaki Savage, 1965. Remarks This genus was originally named from material in the Fayum. Metasinopa is distinguished from Pterodon and Apterodon by a persistent metaconid on m2 and m3 that Osborn believed related it to Sinopa and Tritemnodon. The genus is distinguished from Hyaenodon by having a basal talonid, as in Pterodon and Apterodon (Osborn, 1909). M. fraasi and M. ethiopica both retain a metaconid on the lower molars but differ in the greater breadth of the talonid and overall greater size of M. fraasi (Osborn, 1909). Analyses by Barry (1988) suggest that at least M. fraasi is related to Anasinopa and Dissopsalis. Barry has even suggested that M. fraasi, and possibly all of Metasinopa, may belong within the Miocene genera Anasinopa or Dissopsalis, or even the older European Eocene genus Prodissopsalis. Holroyd (1994) kept this species in the genus Metasinopa. The type specimen is still the only known specimen of M. fraasi. “M.” ethiopica was originally described as “Sinopa” ethiopica and later transferred to Metasinopa by Savage (1965). In her unpublished dissertation, Holroyd (1994), however, argues for a generic separation of this taxon from Metasinopa. It should be noted, that Quasiapterodon is very close to this species as well. M. napaki was described from a fragmentary mandible (BMNH M19097) found in northeast Uganda. Savage placed this new species provisionally in Metasinopa “largely for convenience” (1965:264). This species is smaller overall than M. fraasi and larger than M. ethiopica. The m3 talonid of M. napaki is relatively longer than in the other members of this genus. Van Valen (1967) questioned the referral of M. napaki to Metasinopa due to the moderate size of the metaconid on m3 (i.e., larger than that of M. fraasi). Instead, Van Valen proposed moving this species to Paracynohyaenodon; a move that has not been accepted in the literature. The only known upper dentition of Metasinopa is a fragmentary maxilla (BMNH-M 19096) from Napak that Savage (1965) provisionally assigned to M. napaki. Savage believed that the absence of a parastyle on P4 prevented the inclusion of this specimen in Sinopa, Anasinopa, Dissopsalis, or Prodissopsalis. Barry (1988), however, notes that the absence of a parastyle has also been used as a diagnostic character for Dissopsalis. Barry, therefore, suggests that this specimen probably belongs to Anasinopa leakeyi or a small, second African species of Dissopsalis due to the possession of a bulbous and anteriorly directed protocone, inflated paracone, and absence of the parastyle on T WEN T Y-SIX: CREODON TA


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P4. While the type of A. leakeyi has a small parastyle, Barry believed that the strength of the parastyle, or parastylar cingulum, varies in A. leakeyi much as it does in D. carnifex. Holroyd (1994) has suggested that M. napaki as a whole is actually a member of Anasinopa or an unnamed, closely related genus. If either Barry (1988) or Holroyd (1994) is correct, then the known range of Metasinopa would be restricted to northern Africa during the late Eocene/early Oligocene. Genus PTERODON (Blainville, 1839)

Diagnosis Emended after Holroyd (1999). Differs from Metapterodon in its larger size and in having m3 talonid present; relatively larger m1–m2 talonids; more lingually placed and less salient anterior accessory cuspulids on p2–p3; narrower upper molars; relatively shorter upper molar metastyles; incomplete fusion of paracone and metacone; a single, pronounced upper molar ectoflexus. Differs from Akhnatenavus in having molar talonids as wide as trigonids; molar protoconid and paraconid subequal in size; anterior “bulge” on molars lacking; unreduced premolars; premolar diastemata lacking. Differs from Megistotherium and Hyainailouros in its smaller size and in having relatively larger talonids and larger anterior keels on lower molars. Type Species Pterodon dasyuroides Blainville, 1839 Age and Occurrence Late Eocene through early Miocene; northern and eastern Africa, Europe. Afro-Arabian Species Pterodon africanus Andrews, 1906; P. phiomensis Osborn, 1909; P. syrtos Holroyd, 1999. Remarks Holroyd (1994, 1999) notes that Pterodon has been used as a “wastebasket taxon” for middle to late Paleogene and Miocene hyaenodontines lacking the derived features of Hyaenodon. As such, she restricted Pterodon via the above diagnosis to species that share derived characters with the type species, P. dasyuroides. Egi et al. (2007) removed the last remaining Asian species of Pterodon, P. dakhoensis, from this genus and placed it in the newly erected genus Orienspterodon. Savage (1965) suggested that all species vary mainly in size, while others disagree (e.g., Holroyd, 1994, 1999). Nonetheless, the members of this genus do vary in size, with P. grandis being “two-thirds as large again” as P. africanus (Savage, 1965:272) and P. phiomensis being two-thirds the size of P. africanus. P. syrtos is the smallest member of this genus. Like most African creodonts, this genus is not without controversy. Van Valen (1967) believed that Napak material included in P. africanus by Savage (1965) should be placed in Hyainailouros. Holroyd (1999) suggested that both of Savage’s P. africanus specimens (BMNH M19090 and KNM-CMF 4024) should be referred to P. nyanzae (= Hyainailouros nyanzae) as the type of P. nyanzae is not significantly larger than his P. africanus specimens (a feature used by Savage to distinguish the two). She also discounts his perception of a greater anterior keel on the P4 and M1 of P. nyanzae relative to P. africanus. Interestingly, although Morales et al. (2007) list both both taxa as having been described from Napak, they list only P. africanus with no explanation in their final creodont taxon list. As has been discussed before, however, it is unclear how small Hyainailouros can be separated from large Miocene “Pterodon.” In our view, Miocene “Pterodon” more probably belongs to Hyainailouros. While the late Eocene European form, P. dasyuroides, has been suggested to be ancestral to African Pterodon (Savage, 1978), the redating of the earliest portion of the Fayum to the late Eocene makes this much less likely. Lange (1967) believed P. africanus to be the most primitive Pterodon. A brief discussion of the history of Pterodon can be found in Holroyd (1999). 558


Subfamily KOHOLIINAE Crochet, 1988 Genus KOHOLIA Crochet, 1988

Diagnosis Hyaenodontids possessing a P4 with a particularly slender principal cusp, a relatively long and trenchant posterior crest and a very small protocone. M1 with a tall parastyle, a large stylar shelf and the paracone and metacone equal in distance from the labial edge of the crown, and a paracone that is more developed and taller than the metacone. Age and Occurrence Lower Eocene; northern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Koholia atlasense Crochet, 1988. Remarks The morphology of P4, the fact that M2 is larger than M1, the size of the protocone, and the fact that the paracone and metacone are nearly connate place this taxon in the Hyaenodontidae (Crochet, 1988). Crochet placed this genus in its own subfamily, the Koholiinae, based on three features that differ from hyaenodontines: “1. P4 possesses a very slender principal cusp, a very elongated and trenchant metastylar crest, and a very developed lingual cingulum (but much smaller than in proviverrines); 2. The paracone of M1 is very developed and taller than the metacone. Such a character is seen in certain proteutherian families (namely Palaeoryctidae), condylarths (mainly Mesonychia), and fissipeds (canids, for example). Among the hyaenodontine creodonts, Pterodon dasyuroides (Ludian, MP 18 to 20, western Europe) and Pterodon africanus (Savage, 1965) possess M1 and M2 paracones slightly larger than the metacones and well joined to the latter. For the latter species, Savage (1965) noted that the M2 possesses a tall paracone. Of the other hyaenodontids, only the proviverrine Tritemnodon (North American Eocene) has a paracone that is significantly more developed than the metacone (Matthew, 1909). 3. The stylar shelf of the M1 is particularly developed (Fig. 1 and 2). This character distinguishes the Kohol form from every described hyaenodontid.” (See Crochet 1988:1796; translated from the French). Crochet notes elsewhere in his description that the stylar shelf is particularly wide. Subfamily PROVIVERRINAE Schlosser, 1886

Content Includes North American and Asian Limnocyoninae, Morlo and Gunnell, 2003, 2005; Morlo et al., 2007. Diagnosis After Matthew (1909); Gunnell (1998); Morlo (1999). Narrow skull with long face; M1–3 tritubercular; m1–3 tuberculosectorial; metaconids present on lower molars; less derived carnassial specializations; limbs mostly unspecialized, but scansorial and cursorial specialists also occur. Age and Occurrence Eocene, but possibly also late Paleocene. Oligocene and Miocene occurrences disputed. North America and northern Africa (Eocene), Egypt (Oligocene), and Indo-Pakistani region and eastern Africa (Miocene). Remarks Barry (1988), Polly (1996), Morlo and Habersetzer (1999), and subsequent authors have suggested that this subfamily is paraphyletic. Some researchers (Barry, 1988; Egi et al., 2005) have tried to support a relationship between the African genera Dissopsalis, Anasinopa, and Metasinopa, possibly Masrasector, and even Teratodon and European and/or Asian proviverrines based on postulated derived features. However, Dissopsalis (and, consequently, its relatives Anasinopa, Metasinopa, and Buhakia) is now assigned to Hyainailourinae (and thus distinct from the subfamily Proviverrinae) based on tooth morphology (Lange-Badré, 1979; Peigné et al., 2007), basicranial morphology (Polly, 1996), and dental ontogeny (Morlo et al., 2007). Teratodon (Savage, 1965) has also been placed in its own subfamily (Van Valen, 1967;

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Morlo and Habersetzer, 1999). This leaves the Moroccan genera Tinerhodon (Paleocene) and Boualitomus (early Eocene) as the only undisputed proviverrines of Africa, while the assignment of Masrasector awaits clarification. Genus BOUALITOMUS Gheerbrant in Gheerbrant et al., 2006

Diagnosis From Gheerbrant et al. (2006). Dental morphology close to that of proviverrine hyaenodontids (m1 smaller than m2–3, m2 and m3 similar in size, large paraconids and sharp paracristid, protoconids high and pointed, metaconid not reduced, trigonid moderately compressed, talonid narrow with weak cusps, entoconid distal, premolars sharp and elongated, p2–3 asymmetric, diastemata between anterior premolars). Dental morpholog=y closest to Prototomus among proviverrines but differs in the absence of p1. Small size, close to that of P. minimus. Differs from P. minimus in having m3 unreduced with respect to m2, the cusps less differentiated on the talonid of the molars, the p4 and molars slightly narrower, and the talonid narrower in m1. The talonid of p4 bears at least two accessory cusps. Type Species Boualitomus marocanensis Gheerbrant in Gheerbrant et al., 2006 Age and Occurrence Earliest Eocene; northern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Boualitomus marocanensis Gheerbrant in Gheerbrant et al., 2006 Remarks Gheerbrant et al. (2006) link this genus from the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco with Prototomus, a primitive “proviverrine,” and related forms within the subfamily (see Peigné et al., 2007, and references cited therein for a discussion suggesting that prototomine-like “proviverrines” are not related to Proviverra-like proviverrines). In fact, these authors note that the only autapomorphic feature is the loss of p1, which may be related to the shortened anterior portion of the dentary. Prototomine-like “proviverrines” have a single-rooted p1, while Proviverrinae sensu stricto have a double-rooted p1 (Morlo and Habersetzer, 1999). Estimated body mass ranges from 300 to 570 g, indicating that this is a very small form. Genus TINERHODON (Gheerbrant, 1995)

Diagnosis Emended after Gheerbrant (2006). Dentition showing affinities with the proviverrine hyaenodontids, and especially with Boualitomus: m3 not reduced; paraconids lingual and enlarged, only slightly smaller than metaconid; paracristid and protocristid sharp; carnassial notches on paracristid, protocristid and cristid obliqua; trigonid moderately compressed mesiodistally; talonid narrower than trigonid and bearing cusps of similar height; talonid elongated and oblique with respect to the longitudinal axis; entoconid distal and close to the hypoconulid; premolars simple and sharp; p2–3 laterally compressed, elongated and with asymmetric lateral profile; diastemata between anterior premolars; large mental foramina below p4 and p2. Tinerhodon especially resembles Boualitomus in the morphology of the talonid of p4 that bears several accessory susps, including a bulbous protostylid. Tinerhodon differs from Boualitomus and other proviverrines in some unusual primitive features: (1) smaller size (half the size of Boualitomus); (2) molars with wider talonid, with more cuspidate talonid cusps (hypoconulid especially larger), and with variable accessory cusps; (3) p4 with occlusal outline more inflated transversely and with talonid more molarized (lingual accessory cusps more developed, protostylid more inflated, postfossid distinct, and hypoflexid more developed). It also

differs from Boualitomus in having the protostylid closer to the protoconids and the presence of a metaconid ridge on p4, and the distally more recurved protoconids on the molars. Type Species Tinerhodon disputatum Gheerbrant, 1995. Age and Occurrence Latest Paleocene; northern Africa. Afro-Arabian Species Tinerhodon disputatum Gheerbrant, 1995. Remarks This genus and species is known from Adrar Mgorn 1 and Ihadjamene in the Ouarzazate Basin of Morocco (Gheerbrant, 1995). It was described by Gheerbrant (1995) as being most similar to creodonts, but also similar to basal Carnivora and to pantolestids. Later work (Gheerbrant et al., 2006) indicates that this genus is related to the primitive Eocene genus Boualitomus, also from Morocco. The material from the Grand Daoui Quarries (lowermost Eocene) in the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco has been suggested to be part of a lineage leading from the Adrar Mgorn 1 material (Gheerbrant et al., 2003, 2006). The Ouled Abdoun material is larger and more derived than the Adrar Mgorn material. The two genera share the primitive talonid morphology of p4, with Tinerhodon showing particularly cimolestidlike features including “small size, p4 less simplified and more inflated transversely, talonid of molars wider and bearing more developed cusps” (Gheerbrant et al., 2006:486). It should be noted, however, that Tinerhodon—if it is a hyaenodontid— is closer to Proviverrinae sensu stricto than to Prototomus-like “proviverrines” (to which Boualitomus belongs). This is evident in the structure of its talonids, where the hypoconids, hypoconulids, and entoconids are strong and similarly separated from each other while in Boualitomus (and other Prototomus-like “proviverrines”) the hypoconulid is placed much closer to the entoconid and all talonid cusps are much weaker. Subfamily TERATODONTINAE Savage, 1965

Diagnosis M3/m3 present, M3 transverse, M2/m3 main carnassial pair, M1/m2 less functional as carnassials. Premolars large, bunodont, tubercular with thick enamel: P4 larger than M1. Lower molars with small talonid and metaconid present; m2 larger than m1. Jaw relatively short. M1 and M2 metacone slightly larger than and connate with paracone; elongate metastyle; M2 slightly larger than M1; protocone almost as large as paracone. Lower molars with well-developed metaconid, trigonid cusps high, talonid small, paraconid-protoconid shear very oblique. p3 large with low single cusp. Age and Occurrence Miocene; eastern Africa. Remarks Savage placed this taxon at the family level as a member of the Oxyaenoidea. Teratodontidae was later reduced to a subfamily by Van Valen (1967), a stance that has been viewed as a possibility by other workers (e.g., Polly, 1996) or fully supported (Morlo and Habersetzer, 1999) or disregarded (Morales et al., 2007). Genus TERATODON Savage, 1965 Figures 26.6 and 26.7

Diagnosis As for subfamily. Type Species Teratodon spekei Savage, 1965. Age and Occurrence Miocene; eastern Africa and possibly Egypt.

Afro-Arabian Species Teratodon spekei Savage, 1965; T. enigmae Savage, 1965. Remarks The species T. spekei is about the size of Vulpes vulpes, while T. enigmae has more robust jaws and dentition T WEN T Y-SIX: CREODON TA


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(figures 26.6 and 26.7). A poorly preserved mandibular fragment from Wadi Moghara, Egypt, has been referred to cf. Teratodon due to similarities in size and the presence of a metaconid and short talonid on m1 (Morlo et al., 2007). Teratodon shares its blunt, durophagous premolars with Masrasector and the European Quercitherium. However, molar morphology separates all three from each other, implying that durophagy evolved independently in all three hyaenodontids.

FIGURE 26.6 KNM RU 14769B, Teratodon sp., right mandible fragment with p2–p3, broken p4–m3 in A) buccal, B) lingual, and C) occlusal views.

KNM RU 14769A, Teratodon sp., left maxilla fragment with C, P1–P4, roots of M1 in A) buccal, B) lingual, and C) occlusal views.

FIGURE 26.7

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General Discussion SYSTEMATICS AND TA XONOMY

The fossil record of creodonts extends from the Paleocene to the Miocene. As noted by Polly (1996), this large expanse of geological time has contributed to the paucity of systematic revisions of the order and its families since Matthew’s (e.g., 1901, 1909) original taxonomic work. While the number of creodont families recognized has differed from author to author, there are at least two that are generally recognized: the Oxyaenidae and the Hyaenodontidae. The earliest creodonts are oxyaenids from the late Paleocene (Tiffanian LMA) of North America, suggesting a North American origin for this family (Gunnell, 1998; Eberle and McKenna, 2002). The primary radiation of oxyaenids occurs in North America (Gunnell, 1998), although they do appear in the Eocene in Eurasia. No oxyaenids have been found in Africa. Hyaenodontids appear first in Asia and Africa and eventually are found in Europe and North America. The relationship between the hyaenodontids and oxyaenids and the question of whether they should be elevated to unrelated orders has long been debated (Van Valen, 1967; Gingerich, 1980; Polly, 1996; Gunnell, 1998; Flynn and Wesley-Hunt, 2005; Gheerbrant et al., 2006). A brief taxonomic history of the hyaenodontids has been presented by Polly (1996). A third family, the Limnocyonidae, has been recognized in North America (e.g., Gazin, 1946; Gunnell, 1998). However, this group has also been placed as a subfamily within the Oxyaenidae (e.g., Wortman, 1902; Matthew, 1909) or Hyaenodontidae (e.g., Denison, 1938; Simpson, 1945; Van Valen, 1966; Morlo and Gunnell, 2003; Peigné et al., 2007). Savage (1965) proposed an additional family, the Teratodontidae (including Teratodon and Quercitherium), as a derived descendant of the proviverrine hyaenodontids present in Africa and Europe. Van Valen (1967) thought that this was a viable taxon, although he believed it should be at a lower taxonomic level. In this chapter, we have placed Teratodon within its own subfamily as the dentally derived condition of this genus cannot be ignored. As with creodont families, various formulations of subfamilies have also appeared. Hyaenodontid creodonts have generally been subdivided into the Proviverrinae and Hyaenodontinae following Matthew’s (1909) suggestion that the first was ancestral to the latter. Two additional subfamilies, Limnocyoninae and Machaeroidinae, have been placed variably within this family or the Oxyaenidae, as noted earlier. More recently, Crochet (1988) named a new subfamily, Koholiinae, from Algeria. The two traditional subfamilies, Proviverrinae and Hyaenodontinae, are probably paraphyletic. Barry (1998) undertook a phylogenetic analysis to explore the relationship of Dissopsalis to other taxa. As a result, he placed some proviverrines in a monophyletic group termed “advanced proviverrines” composed of the “Neogene proviverrines” (Dissopsalis, Anasinopa, and Metasinopa), as well as Prodissopsalis, Allopterodon, Cynohyaenodon, and probably Paratritemnodon and Paracynohyaenodon. Prodissopsalis and Allopterodon are the sister group of the “Neogene proviverrines.” The sister group of the “advanced proviverrines” includes the European species of Proviverra and possibly Masrasector aegypticum. Together, all of these taxa form an “Old World proviverrine” assemblage that Barry states can be distinguished from hyaenodontines, limnocyoninines,

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and the “undifferentiated residue of proviverrines” (1998:43), although the interrelationships of these groups is unclear. Barry concludes that Dissopsalis either was African in origin or came from a lineage common to both Africa and southern Asia. Holroyd (1994) took a different tack and proposed that some taxa found in both Asia and Africa (Masrasector, Dissopsalis, and Anasinopa) along with Paratritemnodon and Metasinopa form a monophyletic group with respect to other hyaenodontids. In fact, she suggests that the Indo-Pakistani genus Paratritemnodon had an African origin. Egi et al. (2004) added the new genus Yarshea from Myanmar to this clade, extending its geographic range farther east. While Barry assumed that hyaenodontines were monophyletic, Polly (1996) suggested that the subfamily Hyaenodontinae is diphyletic and thus split this taxon into the Pterodontinae (Pterodon and possibly Hyainailouros) and the Hyaenodontinae (Hyaenodon, “Pterodon” hyaenoides, and possibly Oxyaenoides) with several genera unassigned to subfamily. In this scenario, the metaconid is lost at least twice. Holroyd (1999) later revised the diagnosis for Pterodontinae, as Polly’s diagnosis was based almost exclusively on upper dentition and cranial features. Holroyd notes that the metaconid was lost independently in several hyaenodontid lineages but retains Polly’s general definition of pterodontines as hyaenodontids lacking a metaconid that are more closely related to Pterodon than Hyaenodon. We must note, however, that Pilgrim’s Hyainailourinae has priority over Polly’s Pterodontinae. Holroyd (1994, 1999) noted that Paleogene hyainailourines (= her pterodontines) appear to be monophyletic, at least when compared to selected European and Asian proviverrines and hyaenodontines. She suggests that African hyainailourines form a clade with European Pterodon dasyuroides possibly united by a “weak to absent P3 lingual cingulum, relatively larger anterior keels on the lower molars, m3 talonid reduction, and lower molar protoconids and paraconids subequal in length” (1999:17). Among the Neogene hyainailourines, Holroyd (1999) suggests that the larger taxa (“Megistotherium, Hyainailouros, and P. nyanzae”) are most closely related to the Fayum species of Pterodon. Smaller Neogene hyainailourines may be more closely related to Metapterodon or a new small species from Locality 41. However, Metapterodon is itself a problematic taxon (see Morales et al., 1998a; Holroyd, 1999). Holroyd resisted formally recognizing these relationships within hyainailourines as she notes that morphological similarities could be due to convergence. Based on new finds in the Pondaung Formation in Myanmar, Peigné et al. (2007) proposed a new set of relationships among proviverrines, hyainailourines, and limnocyonines, thereby rendering any previously hypothesized relationships between Asian and African taxa invalid. Proviverrines are broken into (1) Proviverra-like Proviverrinae, (2) Arfia-like South Asian Proviverrinae, and (3) Prototomus-like Proviverrinae. Briefly, Prototomus-like proviverrines (including Sinopa) form a clade with Masrasector and the limnocyonines (including Prolimnocyon). This clade is the sister group to a clade formed by hyainailourines and Arfia-like South Asian proviverrines (Paratritemnodon and Kyawdawia). All of these taxa then form a sister group to Proviverra-like proviverrines. Arfia is considered the ancestor of the hyainailourines and the Arfia-like South Asian proviverrines. This has implications for the biogeography of these taxa, as hyainailourines were not present in Asia before the early Miocene. The South Asian taxa now can be interpreted as an endemic clade that evolved indepen-

dently in the Eocene/Oligocene hyainailourine radiation of Africa and Europe, including some taxa with morphologies similar to hyainailourines (Orienspterodon). Attempts have been made to place hyaenodontines into tribes. Szalay (1967) created the tribe Apterodontini consisting solely of the genus Apterodon. However, Holroyd (1994) elevates this tribe to the subfamily level with Apterodontinae and includes not only Apterodon but also what is now known as Quasiapterodon (based on “Apterodon” minutus). This genus is derived from material assigned to Apterodon aff. A. macrognathus (Holroyd, 1994: figure 5.1). The European species A. gaudryi is descended from the A. macrognathus lineage (see also Lange-Badré and Böhme, 2005, for a slightly different approach). It is clear that a large-scale study of the African Creodonta needs to be undertaken given the key nature of this group for understanding biogeography and dispersal issues worldwide. BIOGEOGRAPHY OF HYAENODONTID CREODONTS

Throughout most of creodont evolution, the joint land mass of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (i.e., the Afro-Arabian continent) was separated from Eurasia. Short-lived dispersal routes permitting Simpsonian sweepstakes dispersal or island hopping may have occurred throughout this time (see Holroyd, 1994, for a discussion of some of these routes), but definitive connections between Eurasia and Africa were submerged in the Tethys at the end of the Cretaceous and did not occur again until the Miocene or latest Oligocene (see Morlo et al., 2007, and references therein). Despite this relative isolation, early workers posited that the first African creodonts were not endemic, but were closely related to Eurasian forms that had migrated into Africa at some point during the late Paleocene to late Eocene (e.g., Andrews, 1906; Schlosser, 1911; Cooke, 1968; Coryndon and Savage, 1973; Maglio, 1978). Gingerich (1980, 1989; Gingerich and Deutsch, 1989), on the other hand, suggested that hyaenodontids, and creodonts overall, originated in Africa based on the diversity of the Fayum taxa. Redating of the Fayum along with recent African discoveries have indicated that the time of dispersal, regardless of direction, must have been before the late Eocene. More recently, a specifically Asian origin for all hyaenodontids has been suggested. The oldest member of this taxon is often considered to be Prolimnocyon chowi from the Bayan Ulan fauna of Inner Mongolia (Meng et al., 1998; Beard and Dawson, 1999). In this model, hyaenodontids and other mammalian taxa (e.g., artiodactyls, perissodactyls, and primates) disperse from Asia near the Paleocene/Eocene boundary (Beard, 1998; Beard and Dawson, 1999; Eberle and McKenna, 2002). Note that this model subsumes the family Limnocyonidae, of which Prolimnocyon is a member, into the Hyaenodontidae such that Prolimnocyon is presumably the ancestor of Limnocyonidae and a sister-group of prototomine-like “proviverrines.” Due to its already small, reduced m3, Bumbanian (lower Eocene of Asia), Prolimnocyon cannot be the ancestor of all Hyaenodontidae. In any case, prototomine-like proviverrines and Prolimnocyon appear in North America by the earliest Eocene (Wasatchian NALMA) and are already widely dispersed (Gunnell, 1998). In Europe, hyaenodontids, including the presumed earliest hyainailourine Francotherium, appear in the early Eocene (Dormaal, Belgium, and Le Quesnoy, France; Smith and Smith, 2001), although they appear to be limited to western Europe.



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An alternate model has been proposed by Gheerbrant (1990). Gheerbrant hypothesized that hyaenodontids, along with omomyid primates, dispersed northward from Africa near the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. The earliest supposed creodont in Africa is Tinerhodon disputatum from the latest Paleocene site of Adrar Mgorn 1 in Morocco (Cappetta et al., 1978, 1987; Gheerbrant, 1995; Gheerbrant et al., 2006). Gheerbrant et al. (2006) proposed that Tinerhodon was a primitive proviverrine with some cimolestid-like features, suggesting to them that even earlier African proviverrines are the ancestors of all other creodonts. They dismiss the Mongolian P. chowi as being too derived to be ancestral to all other creodonts. Their identification of Cimolestes (a taxon that has been variously regarded as the ancestor of carnivorans, creodonts, or both) in the late Paleocene of Africa suggests to them that the earliest creodonts evolved in northern Africa from African cimolestids that then underwent a trans-Tethyan dispersal into Europe and eventually into North America. Gheerbrant and Rage (2006) envision five to seven faunal dispersals between Africa and Laurasia from the Late Cretaceous to the Eocene/ Oligocene boundary. Several of these dispersals involve creodonts moving northward from Africa. Holroyd (1994) challenged Gheerbrant’s original model, as a simple northward dispersal does not explain the close relationships between late Eocene and early Oligocene mammals of the Fayum and other areas at the genus and family level. Her research indicated that creodonts engaged in several intercontinental dispersals, with proviverrine dispersal events occurring in the early Eocene and hyaenodontine dispersal events occurring from the early through middle Eocene. Egi et al. (2004) supported the idea of an Afro-Asian proviverrine group that was widely distributed around the Tethys Sea and roamed between northern Africa and southeast Asia during the Eocene. Holroyd (1994), however, postulated a later dispersal of Fayum taxa (e.g., Apterodon) from northern Africa into Europe. At present, it is not possible to rule out either Asia or Africa as the origin of hyaenodontid creodonts. Creodont phylogeny is poorly understood, and the late Paleocene/early Eocene record of hyaenodontids is relatively poor. Phylogenetic relationships between African, Asian, and European taxa are disputed (e.g., Egi et al., 2005; Peigné et al., 2007). The presence of taxa such as Tinerhodon and Boualitomus from the Paleocene and Eocene of Morocco, respectively, and Koholia from the Algerian Eocene provide intriguing glimpses into the early Tertiary carnivore guilds of this region. However, the model of Peigné et al. (2007) may simplify these problems by interpreting “proviverrine” relationships in a different way. If prototomine-like “Proviverrinae” (including limnocyonines and Arfia) are not or only roughly related to Proviverrinae s. str., then the origin of both groups may have lain in different continents: Asia for prototominelike taxa (with Prolimnocyon chowi as the oldest known representative) and Africa for Proviverrinae s. str. (with Tinerhodon as the oldest known representative). The late early Eocene African Boualitomus could then easily be interpreted as an African prototomine-like “proviverrine” that migrated to Africa from Europe in one of the several early Eocene faunal exchanges between Africa and Europe (Gheerbrant and Rage, 2006). In Europe, as in all Northern continents, the group was well established in the early Eocene (e.g., Smith and Smith, 2001). On the other hand, Proviverrinae s. str. may have migrated from Africa to Europe later than the earliest Eocene as their first European representatives are known not

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before MP 8 (“Proviverra” eisenmanni and Parvagula; see Morlo and Habersetzer, 1999). Within Africa, creodonts began to diversify and disperse during the Eocene. In the early Eocene, creodonts are known from the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco (Gheerbrant et al., 2006) and two sites in Algeria: El Kohol and Gour Lazib (Crochet, 1988; Adaci et al., 2007). By the late Eocene and early Oligocene, creodonts had dispersed across northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (e.g., Osborn, 1909; Schlosser, 1910, 1911; Simons, 1968; Simons and Gingerich, 1974; Crochet et al., 1990; Holroyd, 1994, 1999), which was part of the African continent at the time (Smith et al., 1994). By the late Oligocene, creodonts had reached Ethiopia (Sanders et al., 2004), yet they are poorly represented elsewhere in the African fossil record. This is in contrast to the situation in Eurasia and North America where only one genus, Hyaenodon, occurred. In Europe and North America, it survives until shortly before the end of this epoch (Mellett, 1977; Lange-Badré, 1979; Gunnell, 1998; Tedford et al., 2004) and lasts until the earliest Miocene in Asia (Wang et al., 2005). Creodonts disappear from Europe during the late Oligocene (Ginsburg, 1999) but reimmigrated in the latest early Miocene. In the early Miocene, creodonts are well-known components of the African fossil record. They ranged from the Arabian Peninsula and northern Africa to eastern and even southern Africa (Stromer, 1926; Koenigswald, 1947; Savage, 1965; Bishop, 1967; Savage, 1973; Andrews et al., 1981; Pickford et al., 1986; Tchernov et al., 1987; Rasmussen et al., 1989; Morales et al., 1998a; Morlo et al., 2007). At the beginning of the Miocene, the Arabian plate collided with Asia. It is not surprising, therefore, that hyaenodontid creodonts reappear in Europe during the Miocene. Made (1999) defines the “Creodont Event” (17.5? Ma) as the point where the creodont Hyainailouros disperses from Africa to Eurasia, possibly in the company of other African taxa during a relatively warm interval in Europe. Morlo et al. (2007), however, suggest that Hyainailouros may have migrated twice out of Africa: once to Asia (19.6 Ma, MN 3, Bugti fauna) and once to Europe (MN 4). This hypothesis is based on the greater similarity between African Hyainailouros and European H. sulzeri than between H. sulzeri and H. bugtiensis. Hyainailouros then persists through the early Miocene of the Indo-Pakistani region and into the earliest middle Miocene (MN 5) of Europe. Citations of Hyainailouros being present in MN 7/8 (Ginsburg, 1980, 1999; Welcomme et al., 1997) are based on its occurrence at La Grive, which incorporates not only a mammalian fauna from MN 7/8 but also faunal elements of MN 5. Besides Hyainailouros, the carnivorans Paralutra jaegeri (Heizmann and Morlo, 1998) and Martes munki, both typical faunal elements for MN 5 (Nagel et al., in press), are also found in La Grive. During the middle Miocene, creodonts are found across northern, eastern, and southern Africa (e.g., Savage, 1978; Shipman et al., 1981; Barry, 1988; Morales et al., 1998b, 2003). By the end of the Miocene, however, creodonts disappear from both Asia and Africa. The appearance of modern forms of Carnivora has been suggested to be the cause of the extinction of the Creodonta (e.g., Gunnell, 1998; Ginsburg, 1999). Ginsburg (1999) proposed that once migrations between Eurasia and Africa were established in the early Miocene (MN 3), creodonts declined rapidly as members of the order Carnivora dispersed through Africa. However, Morlo et al. (2007) provide evidence for the immigration of

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carnivorans into Africa as early as the late Oligocene, which implies a long time of co-occurrence. In fact, these early carnivoran immigrants include only small stenoplesictids that did not compete with creodonts due to their smaller size and different diet. In the early Miocene, amphicyonids and the sabretoothed barbourofelids are also present in African faunas. As with stenoplesictids, both amphicyonids and barbourofelids differ clearly in their respective ecomorphologies from the cooccurring medium-sized and giant hyainailourines. Moreover, studies of changes in carnivore guilds after migration events have not necessarily shown competition to be an important factor. Instead, the new arriving taxa were incorporated into the fauna (Van Valkenburgh, 1999; Morlo et al., in press). This is also evident from studies on the arrival of single carnivorans on islands (Phillips et al., 2007). While it is therefore tempting to blame the disappearance of the creodonts solely on carnivorans, one must remember that dramatic reversals in diversity (and presumably abundance) occur in other groups (e.g., hominoids) during the Miocene of Africa. Presumably, climatic changes and changes in the diversity and abundance of preferred prey species, in concert with the dispersal and diversification of carnivorans within Africa, led to the demise of the original carnivores of Africa.

Conclusions The Order Creodonta is found throughout the Cenozoic of Africa in the form of hyaenodontids (figure 26.8). While the origins of both the family and the order are unclear, this group is undeniably successful until the end of the Miocene. Although no formal studies have been carried out on the structure of specific African creodont guilds for a specific place and time (and, indeed, there is often not enough material of individual species for such a study), it is clear that members of this group ranged from small, insectivorous forms to the largest carnivores in Africa.

Map of sites with creodonts in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Cross hatching indicates a region with a large number of early Miocene sites.

FIGURE 26.8

The taxonomy of hyaenodontid creodonts is fairly complex. We support the presence of five subfamilies within the Afro-Arabian region: Apterodontinae, Hyainailourinae, Koholiinae, prototomine-like Proviverrinae, and Teratodontinae. Unfortunately, analysis of the relationships between these subfamilies is beyond the scope of this chapter. Material in northern Africa and Asia demonstrate that revision of the taxonomy of African hyaenodontids cannot be carried out in isolation. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Bill Sanders and Lars Werdelin for the invitation to participate in this volume and the anonymous reviewers and editors for providing helpful comments and suggestions.

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CHAP TER T WENT Y-SEVEN

Prionogalidae (Mammalia Incertae Sedis) L ARS WERDELIN AND SUSANNE M. COTE

Priongale breviceps is a very small mammal with carnivorous adaptations described by Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann (1991) on the basis of fragmentary craniodental material from a number of early Miocene localities in Kenya and Uganda. The dental homologies as reconstructed are unique among mammals, and therefore the taxon is placed in Mammalia incerta sedis. It has recently been accompanied in the family Prionogalidae by Namasector soriae, from Namibia (Morales et al., 2008) and the fanily was suggested by those authors to belong in the Creodonta.

Systematic Paleontology Family PRIONOGALIDAE Morales et al., 2008 Genus PRIONOGALE Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991 PRIONOGALE BREVICEPS Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991

Emended Diagnosis Hypercarnivorous mammal as small as or smaller than any extant carnivoran. Tooth row greatly reduced and snout foreshortened. Dental formula I?/2, C?/1, P3/2, M1/2. Two pairs of carnassial teeth present: P4/m1 and M1/m2. P4 molarized as in extant carnivorans with enlarged, anterolingually situated protocone, buccally placed paracone and prominent metacone. P4 with mesiodistally long metastyle. M1 with broad stylar shelf and reduced paracone situated far from buccal margin of tooth, metacone large with metastyle extending at >30° to the direction of the pre- and postmetacristae. p4 and m1 very similar in morphology, with three cusps corresponding to paraconid, protoconid, and hypoconid. The paraconid/ protoconid complex is trenchant. The postprotocristid leads directly to the prehypocristid and a trenchant hypoconid. There is no trace of a metaconid. The lingual margin of the talonid has a shallow but wide basin. m2 has only two cusps, paraconid and protoconid, which form a single cutting blade as in extant hypercarnivores. The talonid is absent or reduced to a minute distal cusplet. Holotype KNM-SO 1431, right maxilla fragment with P3–M1 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 1a–1b; erroneously listed as left maxilla fragment KNM-SO 1413 by Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991:6).

Type Locality Songhor, Kenya (early Miocene, ca. 19.5 Ma). Age and Occurrence Songhor, Legetet, Chamtwara, Sienga and Rusinga, Kenya; Napak IV, Uganda (all early Miocene, ca. 20–17 Ma). Additional Material Songhor: KNM-SO 1380 left mandible fragment with p4–m1 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 3a–3c); KNM-SO 1698, left mandible fragment with broken m2; SO 5056, left mandible fragment with p4–m1 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figure 6); KNM-SO 8334, right mandible fragment with p4m1 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 5a–5b); KNM-SO 15976, right mandible fragment with broken m1, m2 fragment; KNM-SO 15977, right mandible fragment with m2 fragment; KNM-SO 15979, right p4 (listed as SO 3160 in Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: table 1); KNM-SO 15980, left P4 (listed as SO 3120 in Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: table 1, figures 8a–8c, figure 15); KNM-SO 22192, left mandible fragment with m2; KNM-SO 22371, right mandible fragment with broken m1–m2; KNM-SO 22856, left mandible fragment with p4, m1 fragment (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 4a–4c), specimen currently missing; KNM-SO 22858, left mandible fragment with m2 fragment (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 7a–7c); KNM-SO 22857, left mandible fragment with p4, fragment of c (listed as KNM SO 22957 by Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: table 1, figures 2a–2c); KNM-SO 22859, right mandible fragment with m2 ; KNM-SO 22860, left mandible fragment with p4–m1 in Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann (1991:7, figures 14a–14d), specimen currently missing; KNMSO 22946, right mandible fragment with m2, broken p4–m1; Sgr 4168.66, isolated right m1. Legetet: KNM-LG 1554, right mandible fragment with m1–m2; KNM-LG 2380, right mandible fragment with m2 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 12a–12c); KNM-LG 2389, right mandible fragment with broken m1; KNM-LG 2395, right mandible fragment with broken m2; KNM-LG 2398, right P4 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figure 11); KNM-LG 2402, ?P4 fragment. Chamtwara: KNM-CA 301, right mandible fragment with broken m1 and m2; KNM-CA 302, right mandible fragment with m2 fragment; KNM-CA 2083, left edentulous mandible fragment; KNM-CA 2731, left mandible fragment with m2 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 10a–10c); KNMCA 2800, left mandible fragment with broken m2; KNM-CA

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3164, right mandible fragment with p4 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 9a–9b). Rusinga: KNM-RU 15928, right mandible fragment with broken m1 and m2; KNM-RU 19690, left mandible fragment with broken p4–m1, roots of m2; ?KNM-RU 16759, broken ?m2. Napak IV: right mandible fragment with m1–m2 (Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann, 1991: figures 13a–13c); left mandible fragment with m1–m2; left P4 (all Napak specimens unnumbered and presently missing). Remarks As noted, there is some confusion regarding the identity of at least two of these specimens. On the basis of present knowledge, we cannot explain the discrepancies. The specimens currently listed as KNM-SO 22856 and SO 22860 do not match any of the other specimens listed by Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann (1991), nor do either of the specimens illustrated under these numbers by those authors match any other specimens in the specimen list. In addition, several of the specimens originally described by Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann (1991) cannot at present be located in the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, or the Uganda Museum, Kampala. The dental homologies given here are dependent on acceptance of the arguments presented by Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann (1991). In their view, the first upper molariform tooth must be P4 because the difference between this tooth and the subsequent one is too great for them to be M1 and M2. Among the differences demonstrated by these authors, the position of the paracone stands out. In the putative P4, this cusp is situated close to the buccal edge of the tooth, while in the putative M1 the paracone is located close to the lingual margin and is flanked on the buccal side by a wide stylar shelf. The authors also call attention to similarities between the ?P4 of Prionogale and the P4 of some primitive Paleocene “insectivores” such as Acmeodon. Given this upper cheek tooth homology, the posterior-most lower cheek tooth must be m2. Against this interpretation stands the very similar p4 and m1. Like the appearance of very dissimilar M1 and M2, very similar p4 and m1 is rare or nonexistent among carnivorous mammals. If these teeth are instead m1 and m2, the posterior-most molar must be m3. In such a scenario, the upper sectorial cheek tooth pair would be M1 and M2, regardless of morphology. In this case, Prionogale could represent a highly derived hyaenodontid creodont, as suggested by Morales et al. (2008). Both of these scenarios seem possible, although the weight of evidence tends to favor the original interpretation of SchmidtKittler and Heizmann (1991). However, accepting this interpretation leaves unresolved the question of the relationships of Prionogale. Schmidt-Kittler and Heizmann (1991: figure 17) indicate a closer relationship of Prionogale with Leptictoidea than with Carnivora or Creodonta, while in their abstract (but not in their text) they suggest that Prionogale is a relic of the endemic African paleofauna (i.e., an afrotherian). No characters can at present be used to support such an interpretation, but it must surely be considered on biogeographic grounds and because Prionogale is morphologically very distant from contemporaneous carnivorous animals, suggesting a long separate evolution for the genus. Genus NAMASECTOR Morales et al., 2008 NAMASECTOR SORIAE Morales et al., 2008

Diagnosis Morales et al. (2008). Very small hypercarnivorous creodont, comparable in size to Thereutherium and Prionogale, M1–m2 and P4–m1 functioning as highly specializsed carnassials. P3 elongated with a strong linguobasal cuspid, P4 568


and p4 elongated with morphology similar to M1 and m1, respectively. Holotype EF 118’04, right maxilla with P3–M1 (apparently erroneously given as EF 118’01 in the text but correctly in the figure captions; Morales et al., 2008: plate 1:2, figure 2:1). Type Locality Elisabethfeld (Tortoise site), Namibia (early Miocene, ca. 20–19 Ma). Age and Occurrence Type locality only. Additional Material EF 50’01, left mandible, EF 60’01, right mandible, EF 118’01, right P4, EF 118’01 right maxilla fragment. Remarks All this material is suggested by Morales et al. (2008) to belong to a single individual. As in the case of Prionogale, the dental homologies given here are entirely based on arguments presented by the authors of the taxon. In this case the homologies are much better established as the teeth are more “orthodox” in morphology than those of Prionogale. However, there is a slim possibility that the anteriormost of the preserved (P3 and p4 above) teeth might be deciduous. However, this should not affect the suggested homologies of the remaining teeth and thus at present has no bearing on the relationships of Namasector.

Discussion Morales et al. (2008) find a number of similarities between Namasector and Prionogale, such as the diminutive size, the development of two carnassial pairs, the small m1, and the reduced premolar row. They further consider Namasector (and by extension Prionogale) to belong to the Creodonta due to the similarities in the carnassials with that group of carnivores. Because of differences from all known creodonts, however, they erect the new family Prionogalidae, encompassing the nominal genus Prionogale and the referred genus Namasector, and place it as Incertae sedis within the order Creodonta. We agree that Namasector does, indeed, show probable affinities with the Creodonta, and specifically with the smaller Hyaenodontidae such as Isohyaenodon (see Lewis and Morlo, this volume, chap. 26). We also agree that there are features that are shared between Namasector and Prionogale that may be indicative of relationship, such as the two carnassial pairs. However, the major difference between Prionogale and Namasector (and hyaenodontid creodonts) lies in the morphology of M1. In Prionogale, as stated earlier, the paracone is lingually placed in M1 and buccally placed in P4. Namasector shows a pattern more typical of creodonts, with the paracone in both teeth relatively buccally placed, though it is slightly more lingual in P4, which is the opposite of the condition in Prionogale. This issue has yet to be addressed in detail. For this reason, we have here preferred to retain the Prionogalidae as Mammalia Incertae sedis rather than place them with the Creodonta as suggested by Morales et al. (2008). We have placed Namasector here as well, rather than with the Creodonta, to highlight the ongoing discussion regarding the affinities of this genus to Prionogale.

Literature Cited Morales, J., M. Pickford, and M. Salesa. 2008. Creodonta and Carnivora from the early Miocene of the northern Sperrgebiet, Namibia. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Namibia 20:291–310. Schmidt-Kittler, N., and P. J. Heizmann. 1991. Prionogale breviceps n.gen. n.sp.: Evidence of an unknown major clade of eutherians in the Lower Miocene of East Africa. Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen 19:5–16.

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CHAP TER T WENT Y-EIGHT

Primitive Ungulates (“Condylarthra” and Stem Paenungulata) EMMANUEL GHEERBR ANT

Africa is probably the most poorly known paleobiogeographic province in the evolutionary history of the primitive ungulates collectively called “Condylarthra.” This is related to the more general problem of the very poor fossil record of mammals in the early Paleogene of Africa. Consequently, knowledge of the origin and early evolution of modern African ungulates relies mostly on molecular phylogenetic analyses (e.g., Madsen et al., 2001; Murphy et al. 2001). The few described African condylarths have been found in the Paleocene and early Eocene of Morocco, and in the middle Eocene of Senegal (table 28.1). These sites have yielded limited mammalian material represented mostly by isolated teeth. The best-preserved condylarth material comes from the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco (Gheerbrant et al., 2001). Consequently, the systematic and phylogenetic position of African condylarth taxa remains unresolved. Besides the few described taxa, several condylarth occurrences have been inferred in Africa from phylogenetic hypotheses of the origin

of African ungulates. “Hyopsodontids” and phenacodonts have been especially advanced as potential stem groups of the endemic modern ungulates of Africa. The most robust current hypotheses involve a probable Laurasian “hyopsodontid” origin for the macroscelideans (Hartenberger, 1986; Tabuce et al., 2001, 2007; Zack et al., 2005a, 2005b). The ungulate affinity of macroscelideans is supported by molecular studies that include them in the superclade Afrotheria (e.g., Madsen et al., 2001; Murphy et al., 2001). The study by Tabuce et al. (2001) of the macroscelidid Nementchatherium from the Eocene of Algeria supports close relationships between macroscelideans and African ungulates such as hyracoids and proboscideans. The recent analysis of Tabuce et al. (2007) also supports a relationship between paenungulates and macroscelideans and European louisinines. “Hyopsodontidae” are, however, still nearly unknown in Africa, perhaps with the exception of two damaged teeth reported by Tabuce et al. (2005) from the Lutetian Aznag locality (Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco).

ta b l e 2 8 .1 Measurement data for Abdounodus hamdii

dentition Specimen

Lp3

Lp4

Lm1

Wm1

Lm2

Wm2

Lm3

Wm3

Lm1–2

Lm1–3

MNHN PM21 OCP DEK/GE 308 MNHN PM35 OCP DEK/GE 310 PM67 PM68

4.4* ? ? ? ? ?

4.9* ? ? ? ? ?

4.9* ? ? 5.5 ? ?

3.85* ? ? 4 ? ?

5.2* ? 5.7 5.7 5.7 5.4

? ? 4.7 4.5 4.4 3.7

? 6.3 ? 6.1 5.5 5.3

? 4.2 ? 4.3 3.8 3.3

10* ? ? 11 11.1 10.8

? ? ? 17 ? ?

dentary (corpus)

Height below m2 Transverse width below m1

MNHN PM21

MNHN PM33

OCP DEK/GE 310

OCP DEK/GE 308

? 6.05*

? ?

11 6.5

? ?

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We here follow Archibald’s (1998) systematics of condylarths, with the Zack et al. (2005b) emendations for the “Hyopsodontidae,” “Mioclaenidae,” and Apheliscidae. “Mioclaenidae” is considered a junior synonym of Hyopsodontidae, and includes Mioclaeninae, Kollpaniinae, Pleuraspidotheriinae, and Hyopsodontinae, which is restricted to Hyopsodus. Classical “Hyopsodontidae” are referred to Apheliscidae, which includes Apheliscinae, Louisininae and several genera incertae sedis (see Zack et al., 2005b: table 4). ABBREVIATIONS

CPSGM, OCP DEK/GE: Collections of the Office Chérifien des Phosphates, Khouribga, Morocco; TZT, THR, and NTG2: material respectively from Talazit, Adrar Mgorn 1 and N’Tagourt 2, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco, collection of the University Montpellier II; BD, M’Bodione Dadere, Senegal, collection of the University Montpellier II; NHN, collection of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

Systematic Paleontology Superorder PAENUNGULATA Simpson, 1945 Family Incertae sedis (nov. 1) Genus ABDOUNODUS Gheerbrant and Sudre, 2001 (in Gheerbrant et al., 2001) ABDOUNODUS HAMDII Gheerbrant and Sudre, 2001 (in Gheerbrant et al., 2001) Figures 28.1 and 28.2

Age and Occurrence Probably Thanetian of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco (see table 28.3, later). This species was described from the earliest Ypresian, as for P. escuilliei (Gheerbrant et al., 2001), but the exact level and locality of the holotype, previously the only known specimen, remain unknown. We here report on new specimens from more southern localities than those of Phosphatherium (quarries of Meraa El Arech and Sidi Chennane) and from older levels called “phosphates bed II,” of Thanetian age (Gheerbrant et al., 2003). Further details on the age of the mammal levels from Sidi Chennane and Meraa El Arech will be published separately. Material Holotype: MNHN PM21, a left dentary with p3–4, m1–2, diastema and alveoli for p?, c or i?. Referred new material:

. OCP DEK/GE 308, fragment of left dentary with m3 (figures 28.1D–28.1F), from Sidi Chennane, section B7, loc. 32°39’68 N, 6°44’02 W, local phosphates bed II, Thanetian;

. MNHN PM35, fragment of left dentary with m2? (figures 28.1A–28.1C), loc. Sidi Chennane?

. OCP DEK/GE 310, fragment of right dentary with m1–3 (figures 28.2A–28.2C), from Meraa El Arech, section S4, loc. N 32° 44, 044’ W 06° 47,603’, local phosphates bed II, Thanetian.

. Two other specimens with m2–3 from private collections (PM67, and PM68) are also referred here to A. hamdii.

Diagnosis Modified from Gheerbrant et al. (2001). Dental morphology close to “mioclaenids” in the strong bunodonty and in the simplified and inflated premolars. Differs from 570


“mioclaenids,” and especially from kollpaniines, by the following combination of derived features: (1) dental row: presence of a diastema in front of p3; (2) molars: talonid short and narrow, narrower than the trigonid; postfossid partially filled by the convex and confluent internal flanks of the hypoconid and entoconid, which bear a small but distinct hypolophid; entoconid voluminous; cingula reduced; weak cristid obliqua joining the trigonid in its labial midwidth on m1–2; hypoconulid small and labial. Kollpaniines differ, moreover, in the more distal metaconid, which invades the postfossid, in the less rectilinear protocristid, and in having the hypoconulid close to the entoconid. Abdounodus hamdii differs from all known condylarths, including “mioclaenids” and apheliscids (= “Hyopsodontidae”), in the incipient hypolophid, the typically low postcristid (cingulum-like), especially on m1–2, and bearing a small labial hypoconulid and an incipient postentoconulid. Description Abdounodus hamdii, described by Gheerbrant et al. (2001) based on a single partial lower jaw retaining damaged p3–4, m1–2 (holotype), is one of the most poorly known mammals from the Ouled Abdoun basin. We refer to this species recently discovered material from Ouled Abdoun that is nearly identical to the holotype. This new material significantly enhances our knowledge of the lower molar morphology of Abdounodus and indicates that Abdounodus hamdii is from older beds than Phosphatherium (i.e. from phosphates bed II of Thanetian age; see Gheerbrant et al., 2003). Abdounodus hamdii is a small species, the size of a large species of Hyopsodus. The teeth are very bunodont, although the crests are still developed, especially on the molar protoconid. There is a distinct diastema in front of p3 on the single known specimen (holotype) preserving this area. The p3–4 are not enlarged. They are extended mesiodistally but also inflated labiolingually. The morphology is typically simplified: paraconid and metaconid reduced or absent, talonid reduced, postfossid absent. Cingula are absent. The molars are very bunodont: the cusps are bulbous and low; the crests are weak; the basins are shallow; the crown is low with a talonid that is slightly narrower than the trigonid; the crown is inflated laterally, including on the lingual side. The m2 is slightly wider than m1 and m3. The mesiodistal compression of the trigonid increases posteriorly. The cingulids are vestigial. The paraconid is bulbous. The paracristid is typically mesially extended and joins the paraconid on its mesiolabial flank (OCP DEK/GE 310, PM67). The paraconid is more labial than the metaconid, especially on anterior molars. On m2 and m3, there is a thin premetacristid, but no postmetacristid. The protoconid is selenodont-like: the paracristid and protocristid are widely concave and crescentic, the paracristid is mesially convex, and the protocristid is long, sharp and underlined by a semilunar wear facet, indicating an incipient functional protolophid. The metaconid is slightly distal to the protoconid. The talonid of m1–2 is short. It is as wide or wider than the trigonid on m2, and narrower than the trigonid on m1 and m3. The cristid obliqua ends labially against the trigonid, at the transverse level of the protoconid apex (m2–3) or more labially (m1). The cristid obliqua and the entocristid are weak anteriorly, so that the postfossid is open laterally near the trigonid. The hypoconid and entoconid are well developed and their internal flanks are inflated and confluent, showing a slight but distinct hypolophid crest on the unworn m2 and m3 (figure 28.2). In the postfossid,

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Abdounodus hamdii from the Thanetian of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. A–C) MNHN PM35, fragment of left dentary with m2? (loc. Sidi Chennane?) in occlusal (stereopair), labial, and lingual views. D–F) OCP DEK/GE 308, fragment of left dentary with m3 (loc. Sidi Chennane), in occlusal (stereopair), lingual, and labial views.

FIGURE 28.1

Abdounodus hamdii from the Thanetian of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. A–C) OCP DEK/GE 310, fragment of left lower jaw with m1–3 (loc. Meraa El Arech) in occlusal (s.e.m. stereopair), labial, and lingual views.

FIGURE 28.2

there is an occasional small accessory cusp that is close to the hypoconulid and linked to the hypolophid (OCP DEK/GE 310). The postcristid is cingulum-like—that is, located low and distal and weakly linked to the entoconid and hypoconid, on worn specimens such as OCP DEK/GE 308. It bears a hypoconulid and a postentoconulid. The hypoconulid is labial, close to the hypoconid, but separated from it by a notch. It is large on m3, and small on m1–2. The mesoconid and an entoconulid are more or less distinct. m3 is two rooted and not enlarged, and has a weak posterior lobe bearing a

well-developed hypoconulid and a small postentoconulid (OCP DEK/GE 310, OCP DEK/GE 308). However, the distal root of m3 is oblique and shows a developed distal lobe that is compressed laterally and salient distally (PM67). The corpus of the dentary is moderately high. The ramus rises labially to m3 (talonid) on OCP DEK/GE 308 and 310. There is a very small coronoid foramen located behind m3, on the concave anterior side of the ramus. Dimensions of the described material of Abdounodus hamdii are given in table 28.1.

T WEN T Y-EIGHT: PRIMITIVE UNGULATES


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Remarks In Abdounodus hamdii, the strong bunodonty, simplified, inflated, and small p3–4, bulbous paraconid, short and narrow talonid, large talonid notch and mesially convex paracristid are all features of “Mioclaenidae,” a family of small condylarths that has been renamed Hyopsodontidae by Zack et al. (2005b) to include Mioclaeninae, Kollpaniinae, and Hyopsodus. Abdounodus was indeed tentatively referred to “Mioclaenidae” (Gheerbrant et al., 2001). However, none of these “mioclaenid” taxa show clear affinity with Abdounodus. Abdounodus is, moreover, distinguished by several significant characters, some of which are elucidated by the new material reported here, such as OCP DEK/GE 310: 1.

the inflated and confluent internal flank of the hypoconid and entoconid, which bears an incipient hypolophid; in “mioclaenids,” the entoconid is laterally compressed;

2. the typically low, more or less cingulum-like postcristid, especially on m1–2; 3.

the small, labially positioned hypoconulid and the presence of an incipient postentoconulid;

4.

the occurrence of a diastema in front of p3.

Feature 4, if representative of the species, is autapomorphic, at least at the generic level. The presence of an incipient hypolophid (feature 1) is reminiscent of Ocepeia (discussed later), although the construction differs in detail (in Ocepeia the internal crest is absent on the hypoconid of m1–2). Several differences (see Ocepeia) indicate that Abdounodus and Ocepeia belong to distinct genera and families. However, feature (1) and the general resemblance of Abdounodus and Ocepeia to each other—for instance, in the strong bunodonty, simplified premolars, bulbous paraconid, crescenti, and concave paracristid and protocristid, hypolophid, and reduced cingula—might suggest a relationship between the two genera at a high systematic level relative to other early ungulates; that is, they belong to the same major African ungulate group. Features 1, 2, and 3 all are reminiscent of an archaic lophodont ungulate. This is in accordance with the development of the protocristid with its concave shape and crescentic wear pattern, suggesting a functional protolophid. The labial hypoconulid is known in proboscideans and the presence of a postentoconulid is known in tethytheres (Gheerbrant et al., 2005). The incipient hypolophid (feature 1), low postcristid (feature 2), and bunodonty are especially reminiscent of primitive hyracoids such as Seggeurius. As a whole, these features are more likely indicative of a relationship between Abdounodus and paenungulates, rather than with northTethyan condylarths such as “mioclaenids” (Gheerbrant et al., 2001). However, the structure is much more primitive than in any known paenungulate (e.g., strong bunodonty vs. very incipient lophodonty, paraconid bulbous, trigonid not compressed in m1–2, m3 only slightly longer than m2, and with a short hypoconulid lobe). Abdounodus might be representative of a primitive lineage of paenungulates, although it seems autapomorphic in features such as the occurrence of diastema in front of p3 (holotype). Determination of its exact relationships with and within paenungulates awaits description of more complete material. In any case, Abdounodus probably belongs to a new and primitive family of African ungulates.

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Superorder ?PAENUNGULATA Simpson, 1945 Family Incertae sedis (nov. 2) Genus OCEPEIA Gheerbrant and Sudre, 2001 (in Gheerbrant et al., 2001) OCEPEIA DAOUIENSIS Gheerbrant and Sudre, 2001 (in Gheerbrant et al., 2001) Figure 28.3

Age and Occurrence Thanetian? of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco (table 28.3). This species was described from the earliest Ypresian as for P. escuilliei (Gheerbrant et al., 2001), but the exact level and locality of the described material are unknown (two specimens recovered from a commercial source). Some new specimens referred to the species O. daouiensis are probably from the Thanetian of Sidi Chennane (Phosphates bed II). Material Holotype: CPSGM-MA1, fragment of right dentary with p4, m1; MNHN PM20, fragment of left dentary with m2–3. New referred material: MNHN PM41, left dentary with p3–4, m1–3 (figures 28.3A–28.3C); MNHN PM49, fragment of right dentary bearing p3–4, m1, and alveoli for the canines and two or three incisors (figure 28.3D); OCP DEK/GE 309, fragment of left dentary with c1, p3–4, m1–2 (figure 28.3E). Diagnosis Modified from Gheerbrant et al. (2001). Morphology close to that of loxolophine arctocyonids, especially in the bulbous and median paraconid on m3, but more derived in several features, some of which are known in phenacodontids such as Ectocion (a) while others are probably autapomorphic (b): (a) selenodont trend with well developed labial crests (especially the postcristid); postmetacristid and metastylid developed; mesoconid large; entoconulid present; entoconid strong; hypoconulid located very lingually. (b) anterior dentition remarkably shortened, with p1–2 lost and diastema absent or reduced; p3–4 morphology simplified and trenchant, with development of a long mesiodistal crest; p4 crown inflated labially; cingula absent or only vestigial; labial flank of molars inflated; hypoconulid reduced in m1–2; horizontal ramus of dentary transversely inflated. Ocepeia is more primitive than phenacodontids in several respects, including the bulbous paraconid of the molars and the simple p4. The occurrence of a lower molar entolophid is also distinctive with respect to arctocyonids and phenacodontids; it recalls lophodont ungulates such as paenungulates. Description The new material establishes the lower dental formula of O. daouiensis as i1–2–3?, c1, p2–3, m1–2–3. The anterior dentition is very short, with loss of p1 and p2, diastema absent or very short, small and compressed lower incisors (length of i1–3 less than the length of c1), and short symphysis. The root of i1–2 is mesiodistally compressed and labiolingually wide; i2 was larger than i1. A small, circular alveolus suggests the probable presence of i3; it was considerably smaller than i1–2 and possibly peglike. The canine is a large and stout tooth. It is somewhat primate-like, with a lingual cingulum and an asymmetrical labiolingual profile (flat lingual flank). It is elliptic in cross section, with an oblique (mesiolabial to distolingual) long axis. The lower canine has mesiodistal crests that are linked to the lingual cingulum. The p3 and p4 are similar, with a typically simplified morphology, longer than wide, and trenchant. Although elongated, the crown remains broad and bunodont. It is exodaenodont

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Ocepeia daouiensis from the Thanetian? of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. A–C) MNHN PM 41, lower jaw preserving p3–4, m1–3, in lingual, occlusal (stereopair), and labial views. D) MNHN PM49, fragment of right dentary bearing p3–4, m1, and alveoli for the canine and two or three incisors, in occlusal stereophotographic view; E) OCP DEK/GE 309, fragment of left dentary with c1, p3–4, m1–2, in occlusal s.e.m. view.

FIGURE 28.3

below the talonid and p4 is inflated mesiolabially. The paraconid is very reduced. The talonid is reduced. There is a variable and more or less continuous lingual cingulum. The molars are bunodont and low, but also selenodont (long and sharp labial crests). Their size (length) increases from m1 to m3. The labial flank is noticeably inflated, and it lacks a cingulum. The talonid is large. It is much longer, as wide or wider, and lower than the trigonid. The trigonid is moderately compressed. The paracristid and protocristid are broadly concave and bear a semilunar wear facet, suggesting a selenodont trend. The paraconid is well developed and bulbous on all molars. It is only slightly lingual to the metaconid in m1 and m2, and median to it in m3. The metaconid is slightly more distal than the protoconid. A premetacristid and postmetacristid are present; the postmetacristid base is inflated as a more or less distinct metastylid. The postfossid is relatively large and complicated. The mesoconid is large and inflated, and the entoconulid is small. The hypoconid is slightly more mesial than the entoconid. It bears long and concave crests with well-developed wear facets 3 and 4. The cristid obliqua contacts the trigonid at about its midwidth. The postcristid is crenulated and bears several small accessory cusps, at least one of which is labial and close to the hypoconid, and one lingual and close to the entoconid. The hypoconulid is weak on m1–2 (smaller than the mesoconid), but it forms a large and distally salient lobe on m3. Comparison and homology with the m3 hypoconulid lobe suggests,

that on m1–2, the hypoconulid corresponds to the lingualmost accessory cusp of the postcristid (close to the entoconid). The well-developed entoconid shows a typical lingual crest called an entolophid by Gheerbrant et al. (2001); on m1–2 it is linked to the labial-most accessory cusp on the postcristid, and on m3 (MNHN PM20, MNHN PM41) to the hypoconid. The entocristid is not reduced. Abrasive wear is weak, whereas the shearing attrition wear facets are well developed. The dentary is robust, with a labially remarkably inflated corpus. The corpus is high nearly the entire length of the tooth row, even anteriorly at the symphysis providing a robust construction to the whole anterior lower dentition. The anterolingual bony crest of the ramus is less concave posteriorly than in Phosphatherium, where the ramus is more inclined anteriorly. The coronoid process is vertical, narrow and very high (higher than in Phosphatherium). The articular condyle is moderately high above the tooth row. It is expanded as a transverse cylinder, but with distinct lateral and medial articular surfaces. The articular surface is extended ventrally on the medial side. The mandibular angular process is well developed and strongly protruding ventrodistally. It is narrower than in Phosphatherium. There are at least two large mental foramina, below p3 and the posterior part of p4. The short symphysis ends below p3 and is unfused. Dimensions of the described material of Ocepeia daouiensis are given in table 28.2.



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ta b l e 2 8 . 2 Measurement data for Ocepeia daouiensis

dentition c1 Specimen

L

CPSGM-MA1 MNHN PM20 MNHN PM41 MNHN PM49 OCP DEK/GE 309

W

p3 H

L

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 4.3 4.4 7.7

p4

W

? ? ? ? 5.5 4 5.6 4.3 5.9 4.5

L

W

6.4 ? 6.1 5.6 6.1

5.6 ? 4.5 5.2 5.5

m1 L

m2

W

7.3 5.4 ? ? 7.1 4.8 6.8 6 ? ?

L

m3

W

? ? 7 5.3 ? ? 7.2 6.2 7.4 6.4

L

W

? 8.3 ? 8.3 ?

? 5 ? ? ?

tooth row Specimen MNHN PM41 MNHN PM49 OCP DEK/GE 309

Lm1–3

Lm1–2

Lp2–m3

Lp3–4

22 ? ?

14.3 ? 14.4

32.2 ? ?

10.8 11.4 12.2

dentary (horizontal ramus)

Height below m2 Transverse width of the below m1 • • • • • •

CPSGM-MA1

MNHN PM20

MNHN PM41

MNHN PM49

OCP DEK/GE 309

? ?

17 9.6

16.4 9.1

? ?

17.6 9.1

Height of the coronoid-angular apophyses: 48.2 mm Height of the articular condyle–alveolar border: 11 mm. Height of the coronoid apophysis–articular condyle: 15.4 mm Transverse width of the articular condyle: 13 mm Width of the angular apophysis: 13 mm Maximal length of the dentary: 63.4 mm; estimated total length of the dentary: 72–73 mm

ta b l e 2 8 .3 Major occurrences and ages of African condylarths ? = attribution uncertain.

Taxon


Stratigraphic Unit

Age

“condylarthra” / stem paenungulata, paleocene–eocene Paenungulata Abdounodus hamdii (5) ?Paenungulata Ocepeia daouiensis (5) ?Condylarthra”indet. 1 (1) “Condylarthra” indet. 2 (THR 100) (2) “Condylarthra” indet. 3 (THR 303) (2) “Condylarthra” indét. 4 (NTG-52) (3) Condylarthra indet. 5 (4)

Sidi Chennane, Meraa El Arech, Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco Sidi Chennane and Grand Daoui?, Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco Talazit, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco Adrar Mgorn 1, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco Adrar Mgorn 1, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco N’Tagourt 2, Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco M’Bodione Dadere, Senegal

Phosphates bed II Phosphates bed II? Fm Jebel Guersif Fm Jebel Guersif Fm Jebel Guersif Fm Aït Ouarithane or Jbel Ta’louit ?

Thanetian, about 57 Ma Thanetian?, 57? Ma Late Thanetian, 55–58 Ma Late Thanetian, 55–58 Ma Late Thanetian, 55–58 Ma Ypresian, 55 Ma Lutetian, middle Eocene

NOTES: (1) Sudre et al. 1993; (2) Gheerbrant 1995; (3) Gheerbrant et al. (1998); (4) Sudre (1979); (5) Gheerbrant et al. (2001) and this chapter.

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Remarks The most striking feature of Ocepeia daouiensis is its very short (e.g., loss of p1–2 and reduced diastema) and robust (e.g., deep and inflated dentary, stout c1) anterior dentition. The corresponding short-snouted morphology is a remarkable and unusual ungulate convergence with primates, especially with anthropoids. It suggests a peculiar oral ingestion pattern in Ocepeia, probably characterized by a greater strength of the anterior dentition for the gripping and/or cutting of food (e.g., Butler, 1983). We might speculate that this is linked to peculiar ecological adaptations, e.g., with a possible primate-like arboreal life. The robust and short-snouted morphology, the small incisors, the selenodont (incipiently lophodont) molar pattern, and the wear pattern, illustrating a predominant shearing function (phase I of mastication), suggest a peculiarly specialized folivorous ungulate. Ocepeia has a distinct adaptive dental function and diet compared to the noticeable crushing trend (premastication phase) of Abdounodus, which is more bunodont and shows significant abrasive tooth wear; Abdounodus was possibly more frugivorous. Ocepeia shows several other familial differences from Abdounodus. It differs especially in its larger size, less bunodont molars (especially less inflated lingually) that are more shearing than crushing, larger m3 with a developed hypoconulid lobe, larger talonid, entolophid not extended on the hypoconid of m1–2, hypoconulid lingual, paraconid more lingual on m1 and more labial (median) on m3, and strong postmetacristid. However, as discussed for Abdounodus, there is a general resemblance, including the selenodont, incipiently lophodont molar pattern that suggests their probable affinity at a high systematic level (i.e., within Paenungulata). Among known “condylarths,” the basic molar and premolar pattern of Ocepeia is especially reminiscent of the loxolophine arctocyonids, known from the Paleocene of North America. The resemblance includes the paraconid, which is bulbous, and located medially in m3 (in contrast to “Mioclaenidae”), the lingual hypoconulid, the large talonid, and the inflated premetacristid. My colleagues and I (Gheerbrant et al., 2001) mentioned Lambertocyon (late Paleocene) as the closest loxolophine. Loxolophines differ in the smaller m3 (but not so in Lambertocyon), the reduced entocristid, the slightly shorter and more piercing premolars, and several primitive features (Gheerbrant et al., 2001: table 4), including in the anterior dentition. Ocepeia was also favorably compared to phenacodontids based on their very similar molar patterns, which is also supported by the large and stout lower canine. However, new data on the anterior dentition serve to distinguish Ocepeia from any known phenacodontids. The lower canine differs in its primate-like morphology. The simplified premolars of Ocepeia, previously considered to be a secondary feature with respect to phenacodontids (Gheerbrant et al., 2001), are now viewed as more probably primitive, in accordance with several other plesiomorphic features of the Moroccan genus (unreduced paraconid, hypoconulid lobe of m3 developed, cristid obliqua more lingual on the trigonid, no protostylid, trigonid of m1 less compressed). The molarized p4 of phenacodontids is probably a significant specialized difference from Ocepeia. In this regard, Ocepeia remains phenetically closer to arctocyonid loxolophines such as Lambertocyon than to phenacodontids. As stated previously, the arctocyonid loxolophines seem to represent the best known structural ancestral morphotype for Ocepeia. The new morphological data on Ocepeia would suggest that the median paraconid in m3 is a significant shared derived feature with Loxolophinae.

The shortened and robust anterior dentition is a remarkable specialized morphology of Ocepeia, indicating an African ungulate lineage that diverged early from the ancestral generalized condylarth pattern retained in known arctocyonids. The occurrence of an entolophid suggests, as for Abdounodus, a possible paenungulate affinity. The primitive molar pattern associated with the autapomorphic anterior dentition indicates a basal and divergent paenungulate lineage. A recent cladistic analysis indicated a primitive basal position for Ocepeia (Gheerbrant et al., 2005) with respect to “Taxeopoda” and Paenungulata. However, Ocepeia was very poorly known at that time, and cladistic analysis incorporating the new material will certainly help to further resolve its position. More strikingly than for Abdounodus, it appears that Ocepeia cannot be referred to any known condylarth family.

Undetermined African Condylarthra OUARZAZATE BASIN, MOROCCO

TZT 1, a right isolated p3 or p4 (figures 28.4E and 28.4F) from the Thanetian of Talazit, was described by Sudre et al. (1993) as an undetermined arctocyonid. This is one of the very few ungulate teeth and one of the largest mammal teeth (L = 5.0 mm; W = 3.2 mm) discovered in the Ouarzazate basin, which has yielded mostly small insectivorous or carnivorous species. The premolariform crown is dominated by a large inflated protoconid, which is flanked distally by a small posterior bulbous cusp. The protoconid apex is extensively worn by abrasion through most of its height. The paraconid was absent or very small. Sudre et al. (1993) stressed resemblances with North American triisodontine arctocyonids such as Goniacodon, especially in the morphology of the distal cusp. A resemblance is also noted with the p3 of Hyopsodontidae sensu Zack et al. (2005b)(= “Mioclaenidae”), which additionally share the strong apical abrasion of the protoconid. This wear pattern and the poorly developed crests indicate a predominant vertical orthal chewing movement typical of primitive early Paleogene ungulates. The Apheliscidae also shares the predominant development of the protoconid and the reduced talonid. The systematic position of this form is here considered undetermined. THR 100, a fragment of a lower molar (figure 28.4A) from the Thanetian of the Adrar Mgorn 1, was described by Cappetta et al. (1987: figure 3) as an undetermined condylarth. This is a small (L max = 2.2 mm) and bunodont, molariform, two-rooted tooth. The trigonid is slightly inclined and weakly compressed mesiodistally. The protoconid is robust and low. The talonid is wider than the trigonid. The hypoconid is large and robust. The cristid obliqua joins the trigonid in its labial part and does not rise on it. The enamel is thick. The affinity of this tooth remains enigmatic. More complete material would justify a comparison with small European louisinine apheliscids. THR 303, an isolated talonid (W = 3.4 mm; L = 3.4 mm) of a right m1 or m2 (figures 28.4B–28.4D) from the Thanetian of the Adrar Mgorn 1, was described by Gheerbrant (1995) as an indeterminate placental of possible condylarth affinity. The crown is high (H = 3.9 mm) labially where the enamel extends far below the hypoconid, as an original structure. The cusps are robust and bulbous, but also slightly crested. The postfossid is relatively large. The entoconid and hypoconid are large and subequal, and their internal flanks are inflated and confluent. The hypoconulid is well developed



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Undetermined African Condylarthra. A) THR 100, a fragment of a left lower molar from the Thanetian of the Ouarzazate Basin (Morocco), in labial stereo view (Gheerbrant 1995: plate 5, figure 8); B–D) THR 303, an isolated talonid of a right m1 or m2 from the Thanetian of the Ouarzazate Basin (Morocco) in occlusal and distal views (Gheerbrant 1995: figures 36 and plate 6, figure 3); E–F) TZT 1, a right isolated p3 or p4 from the Thanetian of the Ouarzazate Basin (Morocco), in occlusal and labial views (Sudre et al. 1993: figure 1); G) NTG–52, a damaged left lower molar from the Ypresian of the Ouarzazate Basin (Morocco) in occlusal view (Gheerbrant et al. (1998: figure 7); H) BD323, right dP4/? from the middle Eocene of M’Bodione Dadere (Senegal) in occlusal view (Sudre 1979: figure A). Scale bars = 1 mm.

FIGURE 28.4

and salient distally. The entoconid and hypoconulid are approximated with respect to the hypoconid, from which they are separated by a wide notch extending distolabially as a vestigial postcingulid. The mesoconid and entoconulid are distinct. The general construction, including the accessory cusps, is similar to phenacodontids, but THR 303 is less bunodont and has a larger hypoconulid. Gheerbrant (1995) also made favorable comparisons with ptolemaiids. However, THR 303 is original in the strong exodaenodonty of the tooth below the (tall) hypoconid, and the confluent entoconid and hypoconid. Although the condylarth affinity of this species is likely, it exact systematic position remains unknown. NTG-52 (figure 28.4G), a damaged lower molar from the Ypresian of N’Tagourt 2, was described earlier (Gheerbrant et al., 1998) as an indeterminate condylarth. This is among the largest teeth discovered at this locality (L = 4.1 mm), although it belongs to a smaller species than Khamsaconus bulbosus (Sudre et al. 1993). It is bunodont. The precingulid is inflated and robust. The protocristid is strongly reduced and a deep notch separates the paraconid and metaconid. The entoconid and hypoconid are large and bulbous, and they are also deeply separated, the postcristid being strongly reduced. The cristid obliqua joins the trigonid very labially. The precise systematic affinity of this form is unknown. M’BODIONE DADERE , SENEGAL

BD323 (figure 28.4H), an upper molariform tooth from the middle Eocene locality of M’Bodione Dadere was interpreted by Sudre (1979) as a dP4 of a condylarth. The tooth is small (L = 2.9 mm; W = 2.8 mm) and square in occlusal outline. The crown is low, with weak crests. The paracone and metacone are large, low, and blunt, and their labial flank is expanded. There is no mesostyle. A very small mesial paracrista is

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separated from the paracone by a small notch. The centrocrista is rectilinear, in line with the preparacrista. The protocone is slightly distal to the paracone. There is a trace of a crest at the lingual base of the paracone, but no clear evidence of a true protoloph. The precingulum is linked to the mesiolabial end of the preprotocrista, which is inflated and strongly abraded at this level (paraconule?). From this site, Sudre (1979) also described a distal part of an upper molariform tooth, BD1, similar in size to BD323, but of uncertain taxonomic position. This very bunodont tooth bears a broad postcingulum delineating a posterior fovea, and large hypocone. The condylarth affinity of BD323 is supported by the overall bunodont (not lophodont) morphology. The morphology of this tooth might be suggestive of relationships with louisinine apheliscids and primitive macroscelidids according to current study by R. Tabuce (pers.comm.). Its exact systematic position remains to be determined.

Conclusions The best-known African condylarths are Abdounodus and Ocepeia from the late Paleocene (and early Eocene?) of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. They show clearly derived features with respect to the generalized primitive ungulates called “condylarths.” Some are striking autapomorphies indicating an old, at least Paleocene, African history; others, such as the incipient lophoselenodonty, suggest possible relationships to the Paenungulata. Early Paleogene African localities (including M’Bodione Dadere) may also provide key data related to the recent hypothesis of a “condylarth” (i.e., “hyopsodontid”) origin of the macroscelideans (Hartenberger, 1986; Tabuce et al., 2001; Zack et al., 2005a). The origin and initial radiation of the African endemic ungulates and, in fact, of the whole African placental fauna are among the major challenges in contemporary mammalian paleontology.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank the editors, L. Werdelin and W. J. Sanders, for their kind invitation to contribute to this book, and for the editorial corrections that improved the chapter. The study of the mammal material from the Ouled Abdoun basin benefited from the collaboration of the paleontological Convention with the Ministère de l’Energie et des Mines (Direction de la Géologie) and the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) of Morocco. Casts of the material from the Ouarzazate Basin and from M’Bodione Dadere were kindly provided by R. Tabuce (University Montpellier II). The photographs were taken by P. Loubry (UMR 5143) and C. Chancogne (UMR 5143).

Literature Cited Archibald, J. D. 1998. Archaic ungulates (“Condylarthra”); pp. 292– 331 in C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.), Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Butler, P. M. 1983. Evolution and mammalian dental morphology. Journale de Biologie Buccale 11:285–302. Cappetta, H., J.-J. Jaeger, B. Sigé, J. Sudre, and M. Vianey-Liaud. 1987. Compléments et précisions biostratigraphiques sur la faune paléocène à Mammifères et Sélaciens du bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc). Tertiary Research 8:147–157. Gheerbrant, E. 1995. Les mammifères Paléocènes du Bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc) : III. Adapisoriculidae et autres mammifères (Carnivora, ?Creodonta, Condylarthra, ?Ungulata et Incertae Sedis). Palaeontographica, Abt. A 237:39–132. Gheerbrant, E., J. Sudre, H. Cappetta, C. Mourer-Chauviré, E. Bourdon, M. Iarochène, M. Amaghzaz, and B. Bouya. 2003. Les localités à mammifères des carrières de Grand Daoui, Bassin des Ouled Abdoun, Maroc, Yprésien: Premier état des lieux. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 174:279–293. Gheerbrant, E., J. Sudre, M. Iarochène, and A. Moumni. 2001. First ascertained African “Condylarth” mammals (primitive ungulates: cf. Bulbulodentata and cf. Phenacodonta) from the earliest Ypresian of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21:107–118.

Gheerbrant, E., J. Sudre, S. Sen, C. Abrial, B. Marandat, B. Sigé, and M. Vianey-Liaud 1998. Nouvelles données sur les mammifères du Thanétien et de l’Yprésien du bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc) et leur contexte stratigraphique. Palaeovertebrata 27:155–202. Gheerbrant, E., J. Sudre, P. Tassy, M. Amaghzaz, B. Bouya, and M. Iarochène. 2005. Nouvelles données sur Phosphatherium escuilliei (Mammalia, Proboscidea) de l’Eocène inférieur du Maroc, apports à la phylogénie des Proboscidea et des ongulés lophodontes. Geodiversitas 27:239–333. Hartenberger, J.-L. 1986. Hypothèse paléontologique sur l’origine des Macroscelidea (Mammalia). Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, Série II 302:247–249. Madsen, O., M. Scally, C. J. Douady, D. J. Kao, R. W. DeBry, R. Adkins, H. M. Amrine, M. J. Stanhope, W. W. De Jong, and M. S. Springer. 2001. Parellel adaptive radiations in two major clades of placental mammals. Nature 409:610–614. Murphy, W. J., E. Eizirik, W. E. Johnson, Y.-P. Zhang, O. R. Ryder, and S. J. O’Brien. 2001. Molecular phylogenetics and the origins of placental mammals. Nature 409:614–618. Sudre, J. 1979. Nouveaux Mammifères éocènes du Sahara occidental. Palaeovertebrata 9:83–115. Sudre, J., J.-J. Jaeger, B. Sigé, and M. Vianey-Liaud. 1993. Nouvelles données sur les condylarthres du Thanétien et de l’Yprésien du Bassin d’Ouarzazate (Maroc). Geobios 26:609–615. Tabuce, R., S. Adnet, H. Cappetta, A. Noubhani, and F. Quillevere. 2005. Aznag (bassin d’Ouarzazate, Maroc), nouvelle localité à sélaciens et mammifères de l’Eocène moyen (Lutétien) d’Afrique. Bulletin de la Société de Géologie de France 176:381–400. Tabuce, R., B. Coiffait, P. E. Coiffait, M. Mahboubi, and J.-J. Jaeger. 2001. A new genus of Macroscelidea (Mammalia) from the Eocene of Algeria: A possible origin for elephant shrews. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21:535–546. Tabuce, R., L. Marivaux, M. Adaci, M. Bensalah, J.-L. Hartenberger, M. Mahboubi, F. Mebrouk, P. Tafforeau, and J.-J. Jaeger. 2007. Early Tertiary mammals from North Africa reinforce the molecular Afrotheria clade. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 274:1159–1166. Zack, S., T. A. Penkrot, J. Bloch, and K. D. Rose. 2005a. Affinities of the “hyopsodontids” to elephant shrews and a holarctic origin of Afrotheria. Nature 434:497–501. Zack, S., T. A. Penkrot, D. W. Krause, and M. C. Maas. 2005b. A new apheliscine “condylarth” mammal from the late Paleocene of Montana and Alberta and the phylogeny of the “hyopsodontids.” Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 50:809–830.



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CHAPTE R TWE NTY-N I N E

Neogene Insectivora PE RCY M. B UTLE R

The order Insectivora was formerly used (e.g., Simpson, 1945) to comprise a miscellany of eutherians with primitive characters, thought to be relatively little modified descendants from the ancestral eutherian stock. Subsequent investigations of eutherian phylogeny have resulted in the removal of a number of insectivoran families to separate orders. Of the African families, the Macroscelididae (order Macroscelidea) and the Tenrecidae and Chrysochloridae (order Tenrecoidea) are treated in separate chapters in this book, leaving only the Erinaceidae and Soricidae to be the subject of the present chapter. These two families have a wide distribution outside Africa, with a fossil record going back to the Eocene, but they appear in Africa only in the Miocene, as immigrants (see tables 29.1 and 29.2).

Systematic Paleontology Order ERINACEOMORPHA Gregory, 1910 Family ERINACEIDAE Fischer, 1814 Recent erinaceids are divided into two subfamilies: the spiny hedgehogs (Erinaceinae), widely distributed in Eurasia and Africa, and the moonrats (Echinosoricinae = Hylomyinae of Frost et al., 1991), of Southeast Asia. Echinosoricines similar to the modern forms have been found in the early Miocene of Thailand (Mein and Ginsburg, 1997). The extinct genus Galerix and related genera from the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe are generally regarded as members of the same subfamily, called Galericinae, and are divided into the tribes Galericini and Echinosoricini (Butler, 1948). The earliest member of the Galericinae is Eogalericius, from the middle Eocene of Mongolia (Lopatin, 2004). Doubt has been cast on the special relationship between the Galericini and Echinosoricini by Gould (1995), who carried out a cladistic analysis of fossil and living Erinaceidae. Gould failed to find any derived characters shared by Galerix and the Echinosoricini; the differences between them are due to Galerix having more primitive characters. The database of the analysis, however, is very incomplete: of 94 skeletal characters used, only 29 are available for Galerix, and these are mostly dental. Until the relationship is clarified, Galericinae should be regarded as a paraphyletic taxon. Erinaceinae and Galericinae appeared in

Europe in the early Oligocene, and both entered Africa in the early Miocene. African Fossil Record Two genera of Galericinae occurred in Africa, both of them represented in Europe and Asia. Galerix africanus is known by about 30 specimens from the early Miocene of Kenya, including mandibles, maxillae, and isolated teeth (Butler, 1956, 1969, 1984). The best specimen, from Rusinga, is a maxilla with associated mandibles. It resembles the European Galerix exilis but is larger, with a proportionately shorter premolar series. On the upper molars, the lingual root is divided in some specimens, and the metaconule has no posterior crest; in these characters G. africanus approaches the Echinosoricini (Butler, 1984). The report of Galerix from the middle Miocene of the Otavi Mountains, Namibia (Conroy et al., 1992; Senut et al., 1992), shows that it spread widely over Africa. An isolated incisor from the middle Miocene of Beni Mellal, Morocco (Lavocat, 1961), is of uncertain identification. A related genus, Schizogalerix, is represented by some isolated molars from four middle to late Miocene localities in Algeria and Morocco (Engesser, 1980). Schizogalerix is distinguished from Galerix by the enlargement and division of the mesostyle of upper molars. It has been found in Turkey, Greece, and Austria, but not in France or Spain, and it must have invaded Africa from the east, rather than by the Iberian route (Engesser, 1980). The Erinaceinae are distinguished from the Galericinae by their characteristic dentition. The anterior incisors I1 and i2 are enlarged to act as forceps. The i1 is absent, and I3 is larger than I2 and usually two rooted. Of the premolars, P1, p1, and p3 are missing, P3 is small, and p4 has a tall, upright paraconid. The last molars are simplified: M3 has no metacone and m3 has no talonid. The genus Amphechinus (= Palaeoerinaceus), of which there are several species in the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe and Asia, reached Africa by the early Miocene. It is specialized in the greater enlargement of the anterior incisors: the root of i2 reaches back below p4, and the premaxilla is lengthened to accommodate the root of I1. Also, the second and third molars are reduced in size in comparison with the first. These specializations are absent in modern erinaceines. At the same time, Amphechinus has retained primitive characters lost in modern forms; for example, the lachrymal foramen opens in the orbit instead of on

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ta b l e 29 .1 African fossil Erinaceidae

Distribution

Taxon

Reference

galericinae Galerix africanus Butler, 1956 Galerix sp. ?Galerix sp. Schizogalerix

E. Miocene, East Africa (Koru, Legetet, Songhor, Rusinga, etc.) M. Miocene, SW Africa (Otavi) M. Miocene, NW Africa (Beni Mellal) M.–L. Miocene, NW Africa

Butler, 1956, 1969 (as Lanthanotherium) Conroy et al., 1992; Senut et al., 1992 Lavocat, 1961 Engesser, 1980

erinaceinae Amphechinus rusingensis Butler, 1956

Amphechinus sp. Gymnurechinus leakeyi Butler, 1956 Gymnurechinus camptolophus Butler, 1956 Protechinus salis Lavocat, 1961 Erinaceus (Atelerix) broomi Butler and Greenwood, 1973 Erinaceus (Atelerix) sp.

E.–M. Miocene, E. Africa (Legetet, Chamtwara, Songhor, Maboko, etc.), SW Africa (Arrisdrift) M. Miocene, E. Africa (Fort Ternan) E. Miocene, E. Africa mainly Hiwegi Fm., Rusinga) E. Miocene, E. Africa (Songhor, Rusinga) M. Miocene, NW Africa (Beni Mellal) E. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Bolt’s Farm), E. Africa (Olduvai) L. Pliocene, NW Africa (Ahl al Oughlam)

Butler, 1956, 1984; Mein and Pickford, 2003 Butler, 1984 Butler, 1956, 1984 Butler, 1956, 1969, 1984 (includes G. songhorensis) Lavocat, 1961 Broom, 1937, 1948 (as Atelerix major); Butler and Greenwood, 1973 Geraads, 1995

ta b l e 29 . 2 African fossil Soricdae

Distribution

Taxon

Reference

crocidosoricinae Lartetium dehmi africanum (Lavocat, 1961)

M. Miocene, NW Africa (Beni Mellal)

Lavocat, 1961

crocidurinae Myosorex robinsoni Meester, 1955

Myosorex sp. Sylvisorex granti (Thomas, 1907) Sylvisorex olduvaiensis Butler and Greenwood, 1979 Suncus varilla (Thomas, 1895)

Suncus varilla meesteri Butler and Greenwood, 1979 Suncus infinitesimus Heller, 1912 Suncus leakeyi Butler and Greenwood, 1979 Suncus shungurensis Wesselman, 1984

580


L. Pliocene, E. Africa (Omo); E. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Olduvai); L. Pliocene–E. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Makapansgat, Bolt’s Farm, Sterkfontein, etc.) M. Miocene, NW Africa (Tunisia); E. Pliocene, S. Africa (Langebaanweg) E. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Olduvai) E. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Olduvai)

Butler and Greenwood, 1979; Meester, 1955; Meester and Meyer, 1972

Robinson and Black, 1974; Pocock, 1976; Hendey, 1981 Butler and Greenwood, 1979 Butler and Greenwood, 1979

L. Pliocene–E. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Makapansgat, Bolt’s Farm, Sterkfontein, etc.); M. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Isenya) E. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Olduvai)

Meester and Meyer, 1972; Brugal and Denys, 1989

L. Pliocene—E. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Sterkfontein, Sterkfontein extension) E. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Olduvai)

Meester and Meyer, 1972

L. Pliocene, E. Africa (Omo)

Wesselman, 1984

Butler and Greenwood, 1979

Butler and Greenwood, 1979

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ta b l e 29 . 2 (continued) Taxon Suncus barbarus Geraads, 1993 Suncus lixus (Thomas, 1908) Suncus hesaertsi Wesselman, 1984 Suncus sp. Crocidura kapsominensis Mein and Pickford, 2006 Crocidura aithiops Wesselman, 1984 Crocidura dolichura Peters, 1876 Crocidura cyanea (Duvernoy, 1838) Crocidura balsaci Butler and Greenwood, 1979 Crocidura nana Dobson, 1890 Crocidura hildegardeae Thomas, 1904 Crocidura yankariensis Hutterer and Jenkins, 1980 Crocidura taungsensis Broom, 1948 Crocidura fuscomurina (Heuglin, 1865) Crocidura hirta Peters, 1852

Crocidura jaegeri Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988 Crocidura marocana Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988 Crocidura maghrebiana Hutterer, 1991

Crocidura tarfayensis Vesmanis and Vesmanis, 1980 Crocidura whitakeri de Winton, 1898 Crocidura russula (Hermann, 1780) Crocidura canariensis Hutterer, Lopez-Jurado and Vogel, 1987 Crocidura spp.

Diplomesodon fossorius Repenning, 1965

Distribution

Reference

L. Pliocene, NWAfrica (Ahl al Oughlam) L. Pliocene, E. Africa (Omo); M. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Isenya—cf.) L. Pliocene, E. Africa (Omo) L. Miocene, E. Africa (Lukeino). Pliocene, S. Africa (Langebaanweg) L. Miocene, E.Africa (Lukeino)

Geraads, 1995 Wesselman, 1984; Brugal and Denys, 1989 Wesselman, 1984 Mein and Pickford, 2006. Pocock, 1976; Hendey, 1981 Mein and Pickford, 2006

L. Pliocene, E Africa (Omo)

Wesselman, 1984

L. Pliocene, E. Africa (Omo—cf.); E. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Koobi Fora—cf.) L. Pliocene, E. Africa (Laetoli—cf.) E. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Olduvai)

Wesselman, 1984; Black and Krishtalka, 1986 Butler, 1987 Butler and Greenwood, 1979

E. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Koobi Fora—cf.) M. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Isenya) M. Pleistocene, E. Africa (Isenya)

Black and Krishtalka, 1986 Brugal and Denys, 1989 Brugal and Denys, 1989

L. Pliocene, S. Africa (Taung); L. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Cave of Hearths) E. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Bolt’s Farm—cf.)

Broom , 1948; Meester, 1955; De Graaff, 1960 Davis and Meester, unpublished); De Graaff, 1960 Butler, unpublished; Davis and Meester, unpublished; De Graaff, 1960 Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988

E. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Bolt’s Farm—cf.); L. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Witkrans Cave, Cave of Hearths—cf.) Plio-Pleistocene, NW Africa (Irhoud Ochre) M. Pleistocene, NW Africa (Irhoud Derbala Virage) M. Pleistocene, NW Africa (Irhoud Derbala Virage; Oulad Hamida)

Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988 Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988 (as C. cf. viaria); Hutterer, 1991; Geraads, 1993 (as C. darelbeidae) Geraads, 1993

M. Pleistocene, NW Africa (Oulad Hamida—cf.) M. Pleistocene, NW Africa (Ain Mefta—cf.) M. Pleistocene, NW Africa (Ain Mefta)

Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988

L. Pleistocene, Canary Islands

Michaux et al., 1991

L. Pleistocene, S. Africa (Kabwe); PlioPleistocene, SW Africa (Otavi Mountains) L. Pliocene, S. Africa (Makapansgat)

Hopwood, 1928; Senut et al., 1992

Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988

Repenning, 1965, 1967

soricinae Asioriculus maghrebiensis (RzebikKowalska, 1988)

L. Pliocene–E. Pleistocene, NW Africa (Irhoud Ochre, Ahl al Oughlam)

the face, and the condyle and posterior part of the jaw are less elevated, so that the coronoid process is inclined rather than vertical. Amphechinus rusingensis (figure 29.1B) is represented by several partial skulls and jaw fragments from Kenya, ranging in age from 20 Ma (Legetet) to 15 Ma (Maboko)(Butler, 1956, 1969, 1984), and it has also been found at Arrisdrift, Namibia (Mein and Pickford, 2003). It is less advanced than the European species in that the roots of p2 are not united and the metaconule of upper molars is less reduced, implying an Asiatic rather than a European ancestry.

Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988; Geraads, 1995 (as Episoriculus)

Gymnurechinus, the second early Miocene erinaceine genus, is unknown outside Africa. In the dentition, it lacks the specializations of Amphechinus and resembles modern Erinaceinae; thus, the anterior incisors are less enlarged and the second and third molars less reduced. At the same time, it shares with Amphechinus primitive characters such as the orbital lachrymal foramen and the low elevation of the condyle. Two species are recognized, G. leakeyi (figure 29.1A) and G. camptolophus (figure 29.1C), distinguished by the pattern of rugosity on the skull roof, by the shape of the molar teeth,

T WEN T Y-NINE: NEOGENE INSECTIVOR A


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A

2 I1 i2

B

la. f

PMX

la. f

3 C P2 3 4 M1 2 3 3

C

p2

p4

0

m1 2

1 cm

3

m. f 0

1 cm

m. f

C

0

FIGURE 29.1

2 cm

A) Gymnurechinus leakeyi. B) Amphechinus rusingensis.

ABBREVIATIONS: la.f., lachrymal foramen; m.f., mental foramen; pmx, premaxilla; C. Gymnurechinus camptolophus. After Butler, 1956.

and by size. Both species are represented by well-preserved skulls, permitting a detailed description of the structure, including the endocast (Butler, 1956). Compared with modern hedgehogs, the skull is less flattened, with a higher occiput and a longer snout. An incomplete skeleton of G. camtolophus from Rusinga Island indicates an agile animal with a strong neck, high thoracic neural spines, and flexible lumbar region. It has greater resemblance to Echinosorex or Hylomys than to Erinaceus. Modern erinaceines are specialized in developing spines on their backs, accompanied by complex cutaneous musculature. This forms a sphincter at the margin of the spine-covered area, which by contracting flexes the back and pulls the skin over the head and hindquarters. This mechanism of rolling up explains several features of the skeleton, including the short snout, flattened skull, short neck, low neural spines, and other muscle processes, that distinguish Erinaceus from Gymnurechinus. Thus, Gymnurechinus seems to be a plesiomorphic erinaceine that had not developed the spiny pelage. Protechinus salis, based on fragmentary material from the middle Miocene of Morocco (Lavocat, 1961), might be derived from Gymnurechinus. It is advanced in the facial position of the lachrymal foramen and the union of the roots of p2, but it remains primitive in the low elevation of the condyle and coronoid process. Erinaceinae of modern type were present at the same time in Europe and Turkey (Engesser, 1980). All the Miocene genera became extinct, and sub-Saharan Africa is now inhabited by species of Erinaceus, of which they form a subgenus Atelerix. Two molars from the late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) of Morocco (Geraads, 1995) are very similar to E. (A.) algirus, which now lives in the Mediterranean zone. The facial part of a skull from Bolt’s Farm, South Africa (early Pleisto-

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cene), was described by Broom (1937) as Atelerix major (now changed on priority grounds to Erinaceus (Atelerix) broomi). Fragmentary material from Olduvai, including limb bones, was studied by Butler and Greenwood (1973), who concluded that E. (A.) broomi was related to the extant E. (A.) albiventris but had primitive characters shared with E. europaeus. The existing species of E. (Atelerix) inhabit grassland and savanna; E. (A.) albiventris has lost the hallux, a cursorial adaptation. Probably the most recent erinaceid invaders, not found as fossils, are Hemiechinus auritus, which ranges from Egypt to the European steppes, and Paraechinus aethiopicus in the Sahara and Arabia, the most desert-adapted hedgehog, with close relatives in India. The successive erinaceid invasions reflect increasing aridity in the regions of entry, from forest in the Miocene, to savanna in the Pliocene, to desert today. Order SORICOMORPHA Gregory, 1910 Family SORICIDAE Fischer, 1814 Shrews form an important part of the small-mammal fauna of Africa at the present time. With about 150 species, they are second only to the rodents in diversity; however, their paleontological record is comparatively poor. Except for two fossil species, all African shrews belong to the subfamily Crocidurinae (“white-toothed shrews”), and they show little morphological diversity. In most cases, the species are distinguished by combinations of small differences, so that fairly complete jaws or maxillae are required for identification. Nearly all the material is fragmentary and identification to species, and sometimes even to genus, may be uncertain. Differences between primitive and derived characters in the living species of Crocidurinae were investigated by Heim de Balsac and

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Lamotte (1956, 1957), Butler and Greenwood (1979), Butler et al. (1989), McLellan (1994), and Jenkins et al. (1998). African Fossil Record Shrews are characterized by specialized anterior incisors (I1, i1) and double articulation of the mandibular condyle. The two extant subfamilies, Soricinae and Crocidurinae, differ in the form of p4 and the mandibular condyle (Repenning, 1967; Reumer, 1994). Both subfamilies are believed to be derived from the more primitive Crocidosoricinae, which are known from the Oligocene of Mongolia and Europe, and reached their maximum diversity in Europe in the early Miocene (Reumer, 1994). A crocidosoricine, Lartetium dehmi africanum, was present in Morocco in the middle Miocene (Lavocat, 1961); it belongs to a genus found in the early and middle Miocene of Europe and Turkey. Lartetium has also been recorded from the late Miocene of Egypt (Pickford et al., 2008). The diversity of Crocidurinae in Africa today strongly indicates that the subfamily originated there, but evidence from before the Pliocene is very sparse. A jaw of Crocidura from Rusinga (Butler and Hopwood, 1957) is probably not early Miocene but modern; it resembles large Recent shrews of the C. olivieri group. No other shrews are known from the early Miocene deposits of East Africa, though many specimens of Tenrecidae of similar size to shrews have been found. If the Rusinga specimen is rejected, the earliest record of Crocidurinae is undescribed material of Myosorex from the middle Miocene (ca. 12 Ma) of Tunisia (Robinson and Black, 1974; Robinson et al., 1982). From the late Miocene Lukeino Formation of Kenya (ca. 6 Ma), Mein and Pickford (2006) described Crocidura kapsominensis and Suncus sp., based on fragmentary material. Two more species of Crocidura, represented by single specimens, occur in the Middle Awash (5.7 Ma), Ethiopia (H. B. Wesselman, pers. comm.). By the early Pliocene, crocidurines had reached South Africa, and appeared in Europe (the late Miocene crocidurine teeth from Turkey [Engesser, 1980] have been reidentified by Reumer [1994] as crocidosoricine). The basic radiation of the Crocidurinae thus probably took place in Africa in the middle to late Miocene. In the absence of fossil evidence, the pattern of branching must be inferred from the comparison of living species. Myosorex, together with the extant Congosorex and Surdisorex, differs widely from other crocidurines and shares some characters with Soricinae (Heim de Balsac, 1967). It has an additional minute tooth in the lower jaw between the unicuspid i2 and p4. The comparatively small anterior incisors and condyle resemble the condition in Crocidosoricinae. Isozyme analysis (Maddalena and Bronner, 1982) and mitochondrial rRNA (Quérouil et al., 2001) place Myosorex in an intermediate position between Crocidurinae and Soricinae. It may have entered Africa independently. Myosorex robinsoni is common in the South African Pleistocene breccias and at Olduvai. It is related to the extant M. cafer and M. varius (Meester, 1955; Avery, 2000). These inhabit moist habitats (forest and river valleys), and other species are in tropical mountain forest. They have fossorial adaptations. The affinity between the closely related genera Sylvisorex, Suncus, and Crocidura has been much discussed. The first two genera differ from Crocidura in the presence of a small fourth upper unicuspid tooth anterior to P4 (probably P3). This is present in Myosorex and is presumably a primitive trait. Sylvisorex differs from Suncus in having a higher proportion of primitive characters—for example, smaller i1, mental foramen under p4 rather than m1, additional cusps on p4, basined talonid on m3, narrower ventral condyle. These are, however, not present in all the species. Heim de Balsac and Lamotte

(1957) regarded Sylvisorex as broadly ancestral to the other genera. Mitochondrial rRNA (Quérouil et al., 2001) shows that Sylvisorex and Suncus are paraphyletic, on multiple branches from the stem of the Crocidura crown group. When the upper dentition is not available, generic identification must depend on resemblance to living species. Two species of Sylvisorex were identified by Butler and Greenwood (1979) from the early Pleistocene of Olduvai. One is very similar to S. granti, though it differs in some details, and has some resemblance to S. megalura. The other, S. olduvaiensis, is distinct from the living species, though it shares some derived characters with S. johnsoni, which is much smaller, and it also has some resemblance to Suncus lixus. It is the commonest shrew in the lower part of Bed I but is rare in the upper part, perhaps due to greater aridity at that time. Existing species of Sylvisorex are inhabitants of tropical mountain forest, except S. megalura, which extends to savanna. As 11 of 16 living species of Suncus occur in southern Asia, it has been suggested that the genus originated there (Butler, 1978), from a Sylvisorex-like ancestor and that the African species represent an invasion from Asia. The most primitive species, Suncus dayi from India, is very similar to Sylvisorex (Jenkins et al., 1998). However, the mitochondrial rRNA analysis of Quérouil et al. (2001) makes S. dayi the sister species of Sylvisorex megalura, within a clade that also includes Suncus etruscus and the African S. infinitesimus and S. remyi. Therefore, it seems probable that Suncus originated in Africa, and more than one species invaded Asia. As no fossil Suncus has been found outside Africa, the date of the invasion(s) remains speculative. The oldest evidence of Suncus is a mandible fragment and a molar from the late Miocene (ca. 6 Ma) of Kenya. It is the size of the extant S. varilla. In South Africa, Suncus is recorded, but not described, from the early Pliocene of Langebaanweg, South Africa (Hendey, 1981). Suncus varilla, similar to the living species, is present in the Plio-Pleistocene breccias of South Africa (Meester and Meyer, 1972). A primitive form, S. varilla meesteri (figure 29.2), occurs at Olduvai and probably Makapansgat (Butler and Greenwood, 1979). Suncus lixus, which is larger than S. varilla, has not been recorded from the South African deposits, though some material from Bolt’s Farm might belong to it. Wesselman (1984) identified as Suncus aff. lixus a fragment of mandible from the late Pliocene (3.0 Ma) of Omo, but the ramus is shallower than in S. lixus. Suncus infinitesimus, distinguished from S. varilla by smaller size, occurs at Sterkfontein, South Africa (Meester and Meyer, 1972). It is represented at Olduvai by a more primitive species, S. leakeyi. Probably related is S. shungurensis, from Omo (3.0 Ma), known by three mandibular fragments with molars (Wesselman, 1984). The generic identity of S. haessertsi, from the same place, is uncertain; it is known only by a fragment with m3 of a large shrew that might belong to Crocidura. Suncus barbarus, from the late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) of Morocco (Geraads, 1995) is a distinctive species, known by upper and lower dentitions. Crocidura jaegeri, from the late Pliocene of Algeria (Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988) is a small shrew that is much like Suncus leakeyi from Olduvai, and it might be a Suncus. A maxillary fragment shows a small tooth anterior to P4 that might be the fourth unicuspid. Heim de Balsac and Lamotte (1957) regarded Crocidura as diphyletic, partly derived from Sylvisorex and partly from Suncus, with independent loss of P3. Butler et al. (1989) also postulated a multiple origin of Crocidura, with different groups of species derived from Sylvisorex-like ancestors. However, the



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0 I

U

P4 p4

i1

m1

M1 2

2 3

1 mm

3 d fac

i2

v fac

FIGURE 29.2

Suncus varilla meesteri.

ABBREVIATIONS: d. fac. and v. fac., dorsal and ventral articular facets of condyle; U, unicuspids. After Butler and Greenwood, 1979.

allozyme analysis of Maddalena (1990) and the mitochondrial rRNA analysis by Quérouil et al. (2001) indicate a single origin, with Sylvisorex and Suncus on earlier branches from the Crocidura stem. Of 19 species and subspecies of Crocidura included in the cladistic analysis of McLellan (1994), based on morphology, 17 are in a single clade, but C. dolichura and C. nilotica are in more basal positions. The oldest record of Crocidura, if the Rusinga jaw is rejected, is of C. kapsominensis, from the late Miocene (ca. 6.0 Ma) of the Lukeino Formation, Kenya (Mein and Pickford, 2006). The first upper unicuspid is exceptionally large. From the late Pliocene (3.0 Ma) of Omo, Ethiopia, Wesselman (1984) described Crocidura aithiops, a large, advanced form in the C. olivieri group, and C. aff. dolichura, which is small and primitive. Forms similar to these occur in the late Miocene (5.7 Ma) and early Pliocene (4.4 Ma) of the Middle Awash, Ethiopia (H. B. Wesselman, pers. comm.). Also from the late Pliocene is a jaw fragment from Laetoli (ca. 2.7 Ma; Upper Ndolanya Beds), unnamed but of the size of C. cyanea (Butler, 1987). Though based on very limited material, these show that diversification of Crocidura was already advanced in the Pliocene. In South Africa, the oldest species is C. taungsensis, from the late Pliocene of Taung (Broom, 1948; Meester, 1955), based on the anterior part of a skull. It is a shrew that resembles C. fuscomurina in size, but it differs in the small parastyle of P4 and the more posterior position of the infraorbital foramen. It survived into the late Pleistocene (De Graaff, 1960). The largest collection of shrews from the early Pleistocene is from Olduvai Bed I, although Crocidura is poorly represented (Butler and Greenwood, 1979). The only species described is C. debalsaci, based on 19 mandibular specimens out of a total of 848. Multivariate analysis indicates that it is related to C. voi (Butler et al., 1989), a savanna species included in the subgenus Afrosorex by Hutterer (1986). In South Africa, Crocidura has not been recorded from Makapansgat, Sterkfontein (prior to 0.1 Ma), Swartkrans, and other localities that have produced many specimens of Suncus. Crocidura fuscomurina (distinct from C. taungsensis) and C. hirta appear at Bolt’s Farm; C. silacea occurs in the most recent deposits at Sterkfontein (Avery, 2000). Perhaps the comparative scarcity of Crocidura reflects environmental conditions; the African species of Suncus are inhabitants of savanna, while the more primitive species of Crocidura are mainly forest animals, and

584


the genus spread to savanna rather late (Hutterer and Happold, 1983; Hutterer, 1986; McLellan, 1994). In northwest Africa, after C. jaegeri (1.7 Ma), mentioned as a possible Suncus, the record of Crocidura goes back only to the middle Pleistocene (ca. 0.5 Ma). Most of the fossils are close to species still living in the area (see Rzebik-Kowalska, 1988; Hutterer, 1991; Geraads, 1993), but names have been given to C. marocana and C. maghrebiana (synonym C. darelbeidae), thought to be related to C. whitakeri and C. viaria, respectively. Maddalena (1990) investigated the relationships between species of Crocidura by electrophoretic isozyme analysis. After the separation of the primitive C. luna and C. bottegi on basal branches, the species divided into two clades, containing the Palaearctic and Afrotropical species, respectively. The two groups also differ karyotypically; the primitive diploid chromosome number of 36–40 is retained or reduced in the Palaearctic and Oriental species, and increased in the Afrotropical species (Maddalena and Ruedi, 1994). Thus, the non-African species appear to have a unique common ancestor that migrated from Africa probably near the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. The reverse migration also occurred. The only African soricine in Morocco in the late Pliocene, Asioriculus maghrebiensis, belongs to a genus that ranged from the late Miocene to Pleistocene in Europe and Asia Minor. It probably entered Africa from the east. Crocidura russula, now living in northwest Africa as well as western Europe (Catzefl is et al., 1985), may have crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from Europe to Africa at a time of low sea level during the Pleistocene. This would also account for the close relationship between Crocidura sicula, in Sicily, and C. canariensis on the Canary Islands (Sará;, 1995). The most problematic fossil African shrew is Diplomesodon fossorius, known only from Makapansgat (Repenning, 1965), where it is represented by several mandibles and partial skulls. It differs from Crocidura in having only two upper unicuspids between I1 and P4. In this it resembles D. pulchellum, the only living species of the genus, from Central Asia east of the Aral Sea. Diplomesodon fossorius is larger and more specialized, with proportionately larger anterior incisors, transversely wider molars, more reduced last molars, and a transversely extended ventral condyle. Several of its derived characters are approached by or shared with Crocidura macarthuri, living in East Africa. Butler (1978) suggested that D. fossorius and D. pulchellum had been independently derived from Crocidura, in Africa and Asia, respectively, and that their resemblance is due to parallel evolution. However, protein electrophoresis shows that D. pulchellum is not a member of the clade to which the Palaearctic species of Crocidura belong but rather is an early offshoot of the Afrotropical clade (Ruedi, 1998). This implies that Diplomesodon emigrated to Africa independently from Crocidura, and supports the generic assignment of D. fossorius. The primary habitat of the Crocidurinae was probably tropical rain forest, where at the present time occur the species of Sylvisorex and most of the more primitive species of Crocidura. The African species of Suncus and many species of Crocidura have adapted to drier conditions and spread to savanna (Hutterer and Happold, 1983; Hutterer, 1986; McLellan, 1994). This process may have occurred earlier in Suncus than in Crocidura, to judge by the relative scarcity of Crocidura in Olduvai Bed I and the older deposits of South Africa. Diplomesodon may be another early example. Changes of

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climate have undoubtedly had a major influence on the distribution of species, such as the spread of Myosorex into southern Africa (Meester, 1968). With retreat of the forest belt due to greater aridity, populations were isolated in forest islands and on mountains, where they developed into separate species (Heim de Balsac, 1967; McLellan, 1994). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank Alisa Winkler for help with the literature search and for editorial improvements of the text, Bonnie Miljour for setting up the figures, and Hank Wesselman for permission to cite unpublished research on fossil shrews.

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Engesser, B. 1980. Insectivora and Chiroptera (Mammalia) aus dem Neogen der Türkei. Schweizerischen Paläontologischen Abhandlungen 102:45–149. Frost, D. R., W. C. Wozencraft, and R. S. Hoffmann. 1991. Phylogenetic relationships of hedgehogs and gymnures (Mammalia, Insectivora, Erinaceidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 518:1–69. Geraads, D. 1993. Middle Pleistocene Crocidura (Mammalia, Insectivora) from Oulad Hamida I, Morocco, and their phylogenetic relationships. Proceedings Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen 96:281–294. . 1995. Rongeurs et insectivores (Mammalia) du Pliocene final de Ahl al Oughlam (Casablanca, Maroc). Geobios 28:99–115. Gould, G. C. 1995. Hedgehog phylogeny (Mammalia, Erinaceidae)— the reciprocal illumination of the quick and the dead. American Museum Novitates 3131:1–45. Heim de Balsac, H. 1967. Faits nouveaux concernant les Myosorex (Soricidae) de l’Afrique orientale. Mammalia 31:610–628. Heim de Balsac, H., and M. Lamotte. 1956. Évolution et phylogénie des Soricidés africains: I. La lignée Myosorex-Surdisorex. Mammalia 20:140–167. . 1957. Évolution et phylogénie des Soricidés africains: II. La lignée Sylvisorex-Suncus-Crocidura. Mammalia 21:15–49. Hendey, Q. B. 1981. Palaeoecology of the late Tertiary fossil occurrences in “E” Quarry, Langebaanweg, South Africa, and reinterpretation of their geological context. Annals of the South African Museum 84:1–104. Hopwood, A. T. 1928. Mammalia; pp. 70–73 in W. P. Pycraft, G. E. Smith, M. Yearsley, J. T. Carter, R. A. Smith, A. T. Hopwood, D. M. A. Bate, W. E. Swinton, and F. A. Bather: Rhodesian Man and Other Associated Remains. British Museum, London. Hutterer, R. 1986. African shrews allied to Crocidura fischeri: Taxonomy, distribution and relationship. Cimbebasia (A)4:23–35. . 1991. Variation and evolution of the Sicilian shrew: Taxonomic conclusions and description of a possibly related species from the Pleistocene of Morocco (Mammalia: Soricidae). Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 42:241–251. Hutterer, R., and D. C. D. Happold. 1983. The shrews of Nigeria. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 18:1–79. Jenkins, P., M. Ruedi, and F. M. Catzeflis. 1998. A biochemical and morphological investigation of Suncus dayi (Dobson, 1888) and a discussion of relationships in Suncus Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833, Crocidura Wagler, 1832, and Sylvisorex Thomas, 1904 (Insectivora: Soricidae). Bonner Zoologische Monographien 47:257–276. Lavocat, R. 1961. Le gisement de Vertébrés miocènes de Beni Mellal (Maroc): Étude systématique de la faune de Mammifères et conclusions génerales. Notes et Mémoires du Service Géologique de Maroc 155:1–145. Lopatin, A. V. 2004. A new genus of the Galericinae (Erinaceidae, Insectivora) from the middle Eocene of Mongolia. Palaeontological Journal 38:319–326. Maddalena, T. 1990. Systematics and biogeography of Afrotropical and Palaearctic shrews of the genus Crocidura (Insectivora, Soricidae): An electrophoretic approach; pp. 297–308 in G. Peters and R. Hutterer (eds.), Vertebrates in the Tropics. Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Maddalena, T., and G. Bronner. 1992. Biochemical systematics of the endemic African genus Myosorex Gray, 1838. Israel Journal of Zoology 38:245–252. Maddalena, T., and M. Ruedi. 1994. Chromosomal evolution in the genus Crocidura (Insectivora: Soricidae). Special Publication of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 18:335–344. McLellan, L. J. 1994. Evolution and phylogenetic affinities of the African species of Crocidura, Suncus, and Sylvisorex (Insectivora: Soricidae). Special Publication of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 18:379–391. Meester, J. 1955. Fossil shrews of South Africa. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 22:271–278. . 1968. The origins of the southern African mammal fauna. Zoologia Africana 1:87–95. Meester, J., and I. J. Meyer. 1972. Fossil Suncus (Mammalia, Soricidae) from southern Africa. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 27:269–277. Mein, P., and L. Ginsburg. 1997. Les mammifères du gisement miocène inférieur de Li Mae Long, Thailand: Systematique, biostratigraphie et paléoenvironnement. Geodiversitas 19:783–844. Mein, P., and M. Pickford. 2003. Insectivora from Arrisdrift, a basal middle Miocene locality in southern Namibia. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Namibia 19:141–146.



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Mein, P., and M. Pickford. 2006. Late Miocene micromammals from the Lukeino Formation (6.1 to 5.8 Ma), Kenya. Bulletin et Mémoires de la Société Linnéen de Lyon 75:183–223. Michaux, J., R. Hutterer, and N. Lopez Martinez. 1991. New fossil fauna from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands: evidence for a Pleistocene age of endemic rodents and shrews. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, Série III 312:801–806. Pickford, M., H. Wanas, P. Mein, and H. Soliman. 2008. Humid conditions in the Western Desert of Egypt during the Vallesian (Late Miocene). Bulletin of the Tethys Geological Society, Cairo 3:63–79. Pocock, T. N. 1976. Pliocene mammalian microfauna from Langebaanweg: A new fossil genus linking the Otomyinae with the Murinae. South African Journal of Science 72:58–60. Quérouil, S., R. Hutterer, P. Barrière, M. Colyn, J. C. K. Peterhaas, and E. Verheyen. 2001. Phylogeny and evolution of African shrews (Mammalia: Soricidae) inferred from 16S rRNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 20:185–195. Repenning, C. A. 1965. An extinct shrew from the early Pleistocene of South Africa. Journal of Mammalogy 46:189–196. . 1967. Subfamilies and genera of the Soricidae. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 565:1–74. Reumer, J. W. F. 1994. Phylogeny and distribution of the Crocidosoricinae (Mammalia: Soricidae). Special Publication Carnegie Museum of Natural History 18:345–355.

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Robinson, P., and C. C. Black. 1974. Vertebrate faunas from the Neogene of Tunisia. Annals of the Geological Survey of Egypt 4:319–332. Robinson, P., C. C. Black, L. Krishtalka, and M. R. Dawson. 1982. Fossil small mammals from the Kechabta Formation, northeastern Tunisia. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 51:231–249. Ruedi, M. 1998. Protein evolution in shrews; pp. 269–294 in M. Wolsan and J. M. Wojcik (eds.), Evolution of Shrews. Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Bialowieza. Rzebik-Kowalska, B. 1988. Soricidae (Mammalia, Insectivora) from the Plio-Pleistocene and middle Quaternary of Morocco and Algeria. Folia Quaternaria 57:51–90. Sará;, M. 1995. The Sicilian (Crocidura sicula) and the Canary (C. canariensis) shrew (Mammalia, Soricidae): Peripheral isolate formation and geographic variation. Bollettino di Zoologia 62:173–182. Senut, B., M. Pickford, P. Mein, G. Conroy, and J. Van Couvering. 1992. Discovery of 12 new Late Cainozoic fossiliferous sites in palaeokarsts of the Otavi Mountains, Namibia. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l’Académie des Science, Paris, Série II 314:727–733. Simpson, G. G. 1945. The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 85:1–350. Wesselman, H. B. 1984. The Omo Micromammals: Systematics and Paleoecology of Early Man Sites from Ethiopia. Contributions to Vertebrate Evolution, vol. 7. Karger, Basel, 219 pp.

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CHAP TER THIRT Y

Chiroptera GREGG F. GUNNELL

The fossil record of bats is relatively poor (Gunnell and Simmons, 2005), although there are places (e.g., the Quercy karst deposits in France) where bat fossils can be quite common. Except for some exceptional preservation in lagerstätten such as Messel in Germany (Habersetzer and Storch, 1987; Simmons and Geisler, 1998; Storch, 2001) and the Green River Formation (Jepsen, 1966; Simmons et al., 2008) in Wyoming (USA), most bat fossils consist of fragmentary skulls and dentitions. The African record of bats is no different. Three separate areas preserve fossil bats on the mainland African continent—North, East, and South Africa (figure 30.1). The oldest records are from North (early Eocene) and East (middle Eocene) Africa, while East and South Africa have the best records of Plio-Pleistocene bats. Additionally, there is a restricted sample of late Oligocene bats from Taqah, Oman (Sigé et al., 1994), on the nearby Arabian Peninsula and good samples of subfossil bats from Madagascar (Samonds, 2006, 2007). The African fossil bat record includes scant records of pteropodids (Old World fruit bats) from the Miocene and Pliocene and from Pleistocene and subfossil samples from Kenya and Madagascar. With the possible exception of Tanzanycteris (Gunnell et al., 2003), which may be most closely related to Hassianycteris (an archaic bat from Messel; Smith and Storch, 1981), all known African bats represent modern superfamilies if not modern bat families.

Systematic Paleontology Order CHIROPTERA Blumenbach, 1779 Family PTEROPODIDAE Gray, 1821 Genus PROPOTTO Simpson, 1967 PROPOTTO LEAKEYI Simpson, 1967 Figures 30.2A and 30.2B

Diagnosis Lower dental formula (2?).1.3.3, lower canine large, p2 small and peglike, lower molars rounded, low crowned with central basin surrounded by low cusps and lacking central anteroposterior groove typical of extant fruit bat molars, m3 small and circular in outline, dentary deepens anteriorly and possesses a small inferior, symphyseal torus (see Walker, 1969).

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, Burdigalian (18–20 Ma); Koru, Songhor, Chamtwara, and Rusinga Island, Kenya. Remarks There are six described specimens of Propotto leakeyi, all represented by lower jaws and teeth. The type (KNM-SO 508; this was Simpson’s [1967] specimen “R” and was also numbered CMM 421A) and an additional specimen (KNM-RU 2084; this was Simpson’s [1967] specimen “T” and was also numbered CMM 745), originally described as possibly coming from Rusinga Island (Simpson, 1967:46), are from Songhor. KNM-KO 101 is from Koru Locality 25, KNM-CA 1999 is from Chamtwara, KNM-RU 1879 (this was Simpson’s [1967] specimen “S”) is questionably from Rusinga locality R1, and KNM-RU 3690 is from Rusinga locality R3A (Butler, 1984). When originally described by Simpson (1967), Propotto was thought to be a lorisid primate, but Walker (1969) noted the lack of a tooth comb and the anteriorly deep dentary and argued that the true affinities of these specimens were with fruit bats (see Sigé and Aguilar, 1987, for a contrary opinion). Except for a single, enigmatic tooth from the late Eocene of Thailand (Ducrocq et al., 1993) and pteropodid records from the late Oligocene and early Miocene of southern France (Aguilar et al., 1986; Sigé and Aguilar, 1987; Sigé et al., 1997), Propotto remains the earliest and best record yet known for fossil fruit bats. A previously described partial skeleton of a possible Oligocene pteropodid from Italy (Meschinelli, 1903; Dal Piaz, 1937) has been suggested to be an echolocating bat instead (Russell and Sigé, 1970; Schutt and Simmons, 1998). Genus EIDOLON Rafinesque, 1815 EIDOLON aff. E. HELVUM (Kerr, 1792) Figure 30.2C

Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.95 Ma); Omo Locality 1, Member B, Shungura Formation, Ethiopia. Remarks A single upper second molar of Eidolon was described by Wesselman (1984) from Omo Locality 1. Other than being somewhat larger and lacking a bulge along its lingual ridge, this tooth is nearly identical to M2 in the extant straw-colored fruit bat, Eidolon helvum. Eidolon is distributed across Arabia, sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar 587


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East Africa

Epoch

North Africa

Holocene/ Pleistocene

Myzopoda, Cardioderma, Nycteris, Scotophilus, Myotis, Eptesicus, Miniopterus, cf. Nycticeius, cf. Pipistrellus

Pliocene

Coleura, Saccolaimus, Hipposideros

Taphozous, Myotis, Miniopterus, Rhinolophus

Miocene Oligocene

Philisis

Eocene

Tanzanycteris

Madagascar Eidolon, Rousettus Emballonura, Hipposideros, Triaenops, Mormopterus, Myotis

Taphozous, Nycteris, Myotis, Eptesicus, Miniopterus, Rhinolophus

Hipposideros, Megaderma, Scotophilisis, Rhinolophus

Tadarida, Saccolaimus, Hipposideros, Chamtwaria

Late Eocene

Arabia Subfossil

Hipposideros, Myotis, Eptesicus, Miniopterus, Rhinolophus

Eidolon

Propotto

South Africa

Dhofarella, Saharaderma, Khonsunycteris, Qarunycteris, Witwatia, Philisis, Vampyravus Dizzya

Dhofarella, Hipposideros, Chibanycteris, Philisis

Stratigraphic distribution of Cenozoic chiropteran genera in East, North, and South Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Madagascar. Relative position of taxon name does not necessarily indicate precise placement within any epoch.

FIGURE 30.1

today and is among the most common of African fruit bats (Nowak, 1994). EIDOLON DUPREANUM (Pollen, 1866, in Schlegel and Pollen, 1866)

Age and Occurrence Subfossil, late Pleistocene-Holocene, ≤ 10,000 BP; Old SE Locality, Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar. Remarks The presence of Malagasy subfossil Eidolon dupreanum is documented by several isolated dental and postcranial remains described by Samonds (2007). Genus ROUSETTUS Gray, 1821 ROUSETTUS MADAGASCARIENSIS G. Grandidier, 1928

Age and Occurrence Subfossil, late Pleistocene, exact age uncertain; SS2 Locality, Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar. Remarks Rousettus madagascariensis is represented by a single distal right humerus that was described by Samonds (2007). ROUSETTUS cf. R. MADAGASCARIENSIS

Age and Occurrence Subfossil, late Pleistocene, 69,600– 86,800 BP; NCC-1 Locality, Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar. Remarks Rousettus cf. R. madagascariensis is represented by a single fragmentary right m3 that was described by Samonds (2007). PTEROPODID sp.

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, Burdigalian (19 Ma) and early Pleistocene (1.6 Ma); Songhor, Chamtwara, and Area 130A, Okote Member, Koobi Fora Formation, Kenya. 588


Remarks Six partial humeri from Chamtwara and two from Songhor represent pteropodids but cannot be assigned to any particular genus (Butler, 1984). A single lower first molar of an indeterminate pteropodid from Koobi Fora Area 130A was described by Black and Krishtalka (1986). They noted similarities to extant Myonycteris (little collared fruit bat), Epomops (epauleted bat), and Epomophorus (epauleted fruit bat) but were not able to determine which, if any, of these genera the tooth represents. Family EMBALLONURIDAE Gervais, 1855 Genus DHOFARELLA Sigé et al., 1994 DHOFARELLA THALERI Sigé et al., 1994

Diagnosis Sigé et al. (1994). Possesses upper molars with moderately notched labial border, parastyle projecting mesially, large and distally projecting hypocone shelf (talon), protocone lacking a postprotocrista, lower molars with relatively straight cristid obliqua, strong hypoconid and entoconid, and high and sharply defined entocristid. Description The sample of Dhofarella thaleri from Taqah is small, being composed only of five specimens, two partial lower jaw fragments, and three isolated teeth (Sigé et al., 1994). Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene, Rupelian (31.5 Ma); Taqah, Oman. Remarks Among living African emballonurids, Dhofarella is most similar to Coleura afra (African sheath-tailed bat) but differs in having even shorter and broader lower molars and straight cristid obliquae that produce shallow hypoflexids. DHOFARELLA SIGEI Gunnell, Simons and Seiffert, 2008

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FIGURE 30.2 African Pteropodidae. A) Holotype (KNM-SO 508) of Propotto leakeyi, right dentary with p3–m2 in occlusal (top) and medial (bottom) views. B) Referred specimen (KNM-RU 2084) of Propotto leakeyi, left dentary with m2–3. C) Right M2 of Eidolon cf. E. helvum from Omo Locality 1 in occlusal (top), lingual (middle), and labial (bottom) views. A and B adapted from plate 1, figures 6 and 8 in Simpson (1967); C adapted from figure 14 in Wesselman (1984).

Diagnosis Differs from Dhofarella thaleri in being 30% smaller in comparable tooth dimensions, and in having a relatively shorter m1 trigonid and talonid. Description Like the sample from Taqah, Dhofarella is poorly known from the Fayum as well being represented only by the holotype specimen (CGM 83670), a left dentary m1–3. Age and Occurrence Latest Eocene, Priabonian (34 Ma); Fayum Quarry L-41, Egypt Remarks Dhofarella sigei establishes the presence of emballonurids in Africa by the late Eocene, indicating that the family has had a relatively long presence on the continent. Genus SACCOLAIMUS Temminck, 1838 SACCOLAIMUS INCOGNITA Butler and Hopwood, 1957

Diagnosis Butler and Hopwood (1957). Similar in size to Saccolaimus nudiventris (= Taphozous nudiventris) but differs in having a relatively larger P2, less divergent frontal crests, and a zygomatic root originating opposite M2. Description The holotype (BMNH M14222) of Saccolaimus incognita is a left maxillary fragment preserving portions of P4 and M2 and alveoli for C1–P2, M1, and the anterior roots of M3. Judging from the alveolus, P2 was less reduced than in extant species of Saccolaimus and M3 was relatively reduced unlike in most other African emballonurid genera. The hard palate terminates at M2 unlike in Emballonura and Coleura where it extends to the posterior margin of M3. There is a well-developed postorbital process (broken) present, a characteristic typical of emballonurids. Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, Legetet Formation (20 Ma and 17.5 Ma), Burdigalian; “Maize Crib,” Koru, Kenya, and Moroto II, Uganda. Remarks Extant Saccolaimus has often been considered a subgenus of Taphozous and the species nudiventris is now placed in Taphozous. However, the characters of S. incognita

described by Butler and Hopwood (1957) support placing this species in Saccolaimus as they originally suggested. An additional specimen of S. incognita (KNM-LG 1514), consisting of a palate with partial left and right dentitions preserved, was described by Butler (1984) as Taphozous incognita. Pickford and Mein (in press) describe a proximal humerus from Moroto II that they assign to Taphozous incognita. SACCOLAIMUS ABITUS (Wesselman, 1984) Figure 30.3A

Diagnosis Relatively large species, intermediate in size between Saccolaimus peli and Taphozous nudiventris, but differing from these extant species in having a more mesiodistally compressed tooth row, an anteriorly deep dentary, and relatively shorter and broader p2–m1; characteristics shared with S. peli include lower molars with heavy labial cingulum, cristid obliqua joining postvallid labially, and lacking a high entocristid. Description The holotype (L1–375) is a right dentary with p2–m1 from Omo Locality 1. There is an additional isolated left m2 from Omo Locality 28. Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.1–2.95 Ma); Omo Locality 1, Member B, and Omo Locality 28, member F, Shungura Formation, Ethiopia. Remarks Wesselman (1984) included Saccolaimus as a subgenus of Taphozous and placed T. abitus in that subgenus. Saccolaimus is here recognized as a valid genus distinct from Taphozous (following Simmons, 2005) so the species abitus is recognized as Saccolaimus abitus. Genus TAPHOZOUS E. Geoffroy, 1818 TAPHOZOUS sp.

Age and Occurrence Plio-Pleistocene (1.8–2.3 Ma); Sterkfontein, Cave Breccia, South Africa. THIRT Y: CHIROP TER A


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FIGURE 30.3 African Plio-Pleistocene echolocating bats. A) Holotype (L1-375) of Saccolaimus abitus, right dentary with p2–m1 in occlusal (top), lateral (middle), and medial (bottom) views. B) Left m1 (KNM-ER 5955) of Scotophilus sp. in occlusal (left) and labial (right) views. C) Right dentary (TSM 93) with p4–m2 of Triaenops furculus in lateral view. D) Right dentary (TSM 29) with p4–m2 of Hipposideros commersoni in lateral view. A adapted from figures 15A–15C in Wesselman (1984); B adapted from figures 4A–4B in Black and Krishtalka (1986); C and D adapted from figures 2 and 3 in Sabatier and Legendre (1985).

Remarks Taphozous sp. was included in a faunal list from Sterkfontein (Pocock, 1987) but was not mentioned in the text of that paper. Taphozous sp. is also known from the late Pliocene (2.5 ma) at Ahl al Oughlam in Morocco (Eiting et al., 2006). Genus COLEURA PETERS, 1867 COLEURA MUTHOKAI Wesselman, 1984

Diagnosis Similar to extant Coleura afra (African sheathtailed bat) but differs in being somewhat smaller, in having labiolingually narrower molars, and in having a somewhat lower entocristid. Description The holotype (L28–211) and only specimen is a left m1. This tooth has a strong labial cingulid, is nyctalodont, and has a relatively basined talonid that is somewhat broader than the trigonid. Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.1 Ma); Omo Locality 28, Member F, Shungura Formation, Ethiopia. Genus EMBALLONURA Temminck, 1838 EMBALLONURA ATRATA Peters, 1874

Age and Occurrence Pleistocene? Lac Tsimanampetsotsa, Karst Breccia, Madagascar. Remarks The presence of extant Emballonura atrata (Old World sheath-tailed bat) in the Lac Tsimanampetsotsa faunal sample was noted by Sabatier and Legendre (1985). These authors suggested that the Lac Tsimanampetsotsa deposits were at least Pleistocene in age if not older. Recently (Samonds, 2006; pers. comm.) has questioned this age assessment and has suggested that this represents a subfossil Holocene assemblage instead. E. atrata is only found on Madagascar today. 590


EMBALLONURID gen. et sp. indet.

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, Burdigalian (18–20 Ma); Rusinga Locality R3, Rusinga Island, Songhor, and Locality 10, Legetet Formation, Kenya. Remarks Several isolated humerus fragments have been assigned to indeterminate emballonurids by Butler (1969, 1984). These include KNM-SO 5523 and BMNH M 34152, proximal and distal humeri, respectively, from Songhor, and two distal humeri, KNM-LG 1507 from Legetet Locality 10 and an unnumbered specimen in the Kenya National Museum collection from Rusinga locality R3. Family HIPPOSIDERIDAE Lydekker, 1891 Genus HIPPOSIDEROS Gray, 1831 HIPPOSIDEROS (BRACHIPPOSIDEROS) OMANI Sigé et al., 1994

Diagnosis Teeth smaller than in any other known species of Hipposideros. Description H. (B.) omani is represented by a few isolated teeth from Taqah. The holotype (TQ 72, left M1) measures only 0.9 × 1.15 mm (Sigé et al., 1994). Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene, Rupelian (31.5 Ma); Taqah, Oman. HIPPOSIDEROS KAUMBULUI Wesselman, 1984

Diagnosis Very similar to extant Hipposideros commersoni (Old World leaf-nosed bats) but differs in having slightly smaller tooth dimensions, an m1 with a broader talonid, a much more massive hypoconid, a shallower and more

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lingually closed trigonid fovea, an m3 with a lower and less distinct entocristid, and an M3 with a strong distal cingulum. Description The holotype (L28–167) is an m1. There are two other teeth, an M3 and a fragmentary m3, that also represent this species from the type locality. Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.1 Ma); Omo Locality 28, Member F, Shungura Formation, Ethiopia. HIPPOSIDEROS CYCLOPS (Temminck, 1853)

Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.95 Ma); Omo Locality 1, Member B, Shungura Formation, Ethiopia. Remarks This extant species is represented at Omo Locality 1 by two isolated teeth (Wesselman, 1984). HIPPOSIDEROS COMMERSONI E. Geoffroy, 1813 Figure 30.3D

Age and Occurrence Middle to late Pleistocene (266,000– 69,600 BP) and Pleistocene? Twin Rivers Cave, Zambia; NCC-1 Locality, Anjohibe Cave, and Lac Tsimanampetsotsa, Karst Breccia, Madagascar. Remarks The presence of extant Hipposideros commersoni is documented from the middle Pleistocene Twin Rivers Cave in Zambia (Avery, 2003), the late Pleistocene NCC-1 Locality in Anjohibe Cave (Samonds, 2007), and in the Lac Tsimanampetsotsa faunal sample (Sabatier and Legendre, 1985). H. commersoni is known from much of sub-Saharan African and Madagascar today (Nowak, 1994).

well-developed secondary cusp; P2 absent; M3 reduced with elongate mesostyle but lacking metacone and metastyle. Description Three specimens were assigned to this species by Lavocat (1961). The holotype (BML 1124) is a maxilla with P4–M3, while the other two specimens are an upper canine (BML 1197) and a lower jaw with m1–3 (BML 779). Legendre (1982) lists three other referred specimens including two lower jaws (BNM 1 and 2) and an upper canine (BNM 3). Age and Occurrence Early late Miocene, Tortonian; Beni Mellal, Morocco. Remarks Lavocat (1961) noted some resemblances of his new species to Hipposideros caffer but chose to place the new species questionably within Asellia pending discovery of more complete specimens. Sigé (1976) retained these specimens in Asellia but Legendre (1982) moved them to Hipposideros in the subgenus Syndesmotis. There is also a late Miocene (10–11 Ma) record of Hipposideros (Syndesmotis) sp. from Sheikh Abdallah, in the Western Desert of Egypt (M. Pickford, pers. comm.). HIPPOSIDEROS sp.

Remarks Hipposideros sp. has been reported from Kanapoi (late Pliocene) in Kenya (Winkler, 1998, 2003)(two species), Lac Tsimanampetsotsa (?Pleistocene) in Madagascar and questionably from Songhor (early Miocene) in Kenya (Butler, 1969, 1984; Sabatier and Legendre, 1985). Genus TRIAENOPS Dobson, 1871 TRIAENOPS GOODMANI Samonds, 2007

HIPPOSIDEROS cf. H. COMMERSONI

Age and Occurrence Late Pleistocene to Holocene, exact age uncertain; Old SE Locality (≤10,000 BP) and SS2 Locality (age uncertain), Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar. Remarks The presence of Hipposideros cf. H. commersoni is documented by isolated teeth from these two Anjohibe Cave localities (Samonds, 2007). HIPPOSIDEROS BESAOKA Samonds, 2007

Diagnosis Samonds (2007). Differs from H. commersoni in having larger and more robust teeth and in having upper molars that are broader relatively to their length. Description A feature shared between H. besaoka and extant H. commersoni is a great deal of variability in the depth and thickness of the mandibular corpus. H. besaoka has the typical Hipposideros dental formula of 1/2, 1/1, 2/2, 3/3, and it also shares a laterally shifted and reduced P2 and a relatively large p2 with other species of Hipposideros. Age and Occurrence Late Pleistocene to Holocene (≤ 10,000 BP); TW-10 Locality, Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar. Remarks The hypodigm of H. besaoka is easily the largest of any fossil hipposiderine yet described from Africa. In addition to the holotype maxilla (UA 9478), there are over 600 referred specimens ranging from relatively complete dentaries to isolated teeth (Samonds, 2007). HIPPOSIDEROS (SYNDESMOTIS) VETUS (Lavocat, 1961)

Diagnosis Lavocat (1961); Legendre (1982). Larger than extant H. (S.) megalotis; angular process long and laterally deflected, coronoid process low and relatively short; C1 with

Diagnosis Samonds (2007). Larger than any other known species of Triaenops; molar crowns narrow with labially rounded protoconid and hypoconid, preentocristid weak to absent, talonid wider than trigonid, and m2 with small hypoflexid shelf. Description Triaenops goodmani is only represented by three partial lower dentitions, two of which contain worn m2–3 only. The holotype (UA 9010) preserves relatively unworn p4–m2 and provides most of the morphological information pertaining to this species. The p4 is tall and simple; the molars have labial cusps taller than lingual cusps, talonids slightly lower than trigonids, and are nyctalodont. Age and Occurrence Late Pleistocene to Holocene (≤ 10,000 BP); Old SE Locality, Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar. Remarks Samonds (2007) described T. goodmani as being the largest known species of Triaenops, but her measurements of m2 seem to contradict this statement. T. goodmani is reported to have an average m2 length and width of 1.56 × 1.00 (see Samonds, 2007: table 3). Comparable measurement means of T. auritus and T. furculus for m2 length and width are 2.14 × 1.99 and 2.52 × 2.13, respectively (note that these measurements apparently were reversed in Samonds, 2007: table 3), while the same measurements for T. rufus are 1.45 × 0.95. This suggests that T. goodmani at least in m2 size is one of the smaller species of Triaenops. TRIAENOPS FURCULUS Trouessart, 1906 Figure 30.3C

Age and Occurrence Pleistocene? Lac Tsimanampetsotsa, Karst Breccia, Madagascar. THIRT Y: CHIROP TER A


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Remarks The presence of extant Triaenops furculus (triple noseleaf bats) in the Lac Tsimanampetsotsa faunal sample was recorded by Sabatier and Legendre (1985). Today Triaenops furculus is restricted to Madagascar and certain islands in the Seychelles.

these specimens represented a species similar to the extant Cardioderma cor (African false vampire bat). Genus MEGADERMA E. Geoffroy, 1810 MEGADERMA GAILLARDI (Trouessart, 1898)

TRIAENOPS sp.

Age and Occurrence Late Pleistocene (69,600–86,800 BP) and late Pleistocene-Holocene (≤10,000 BP); NCC-1 Locality and Old SE Locality, Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar. Remarks The presence of Malagasy subfossil Triaenops sp. at Anjohibe was noted by Samonds (2006, 2007). HIPPOSIDERINE Gen. et sp. indet.

Remarks Ten teeth of an indeterminate hipposiderine were described from the late early Oligocene locality of Taqah (31.5 Ma) in Oman by Sigé et al. (1994). Three specimens of an indeterminate hipposiderine are also present in the late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) Ahl ah Oughlam sample from Morocco (Eiting et al., 2006). Butler (1984) noted the presence of humeral fragments of Miocene hipposiderines, a proximal humerus from Chamtwara and three distal humeri from Songhor.

Description Seven teeth from Beni Mellal were assigned to this taxon by Sigé (1976). These include three teeth—BM 1200, a relatively large m3 (3.5 × 3.0 mm), BM 1201, an M3 (2.0 × 4.2 mm), and BM 1202, a p2—that were originally placed in a new genus and species, Afropterus gigas, by Lavocat (1961). Age and Occurrence Early late Miocene, Tortonian; Beni Mellal, Morocco. Remarks When Lavocat (1961) described Afropterus gigas, he compared it with the New World phyllostomid Vampyrum (Vampiris in Lavocat, 1961), although he declined to place it in a specific family, indicating that he didn’t believe it was a phyllostomid. Russell and Sigé (1970) suggested that A. gigas was a megadermatid, a position supported by Butler (1978). Sigé (1976) felt that Afropterus gigas was not distinct enough from Megaderma gaillardi to warrant specific separation and synonymized the African genus and species, a view that is accepted here. MEGADERMA JAEGERI Sigé, 1976

Family MYZOPODIDAE Thomas, 1904 Genus MYZOPODA Milne-Edwards and Grandidier, 1878 MYZOPODA sp.

Age and Occurrence Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma); Olduvai Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Remarks Butler (1978) mentions the presence of a humerus from Olduvai that closely resembles that of extant Myzopoda aurita (Old World sucker-footed bat) except for its larger size. M. aurita, the sole extant member of the family, is today only known from Madagascar. Family MEGADERMATIDAE H. Allen, 1864 Genus SAHARADERMA Gunnell et al., 2008 SAHARADERMA PSEUDOVAMPYRUS Gunnell et al., 2008

Diagnosis Possesses m1 longer than m2, distinct paraconids, metaconids, and hypoconulids on lower molars (especially m1), less bilaterally compressed molar talonids (especially m3), relatively long and narrow p4, and a relatively shallow mandibular horizontal ramus. Description The holotype (CGM 83672) and only known specimen is represented by a right dentary p4–m3. Age and Occurrence Latest Eocene, Priabonian (34 Ma); Fayum Quarry L-41, Egypt. Remarks The recognition of Saharaderma pseudovampyrus as a megadermatid in the late Eocene of North Africa is an important record of this Old World family because it extends the temporal range of megadermatids by at least 16 million years—the next oldest sample is an enigmatic record from Rusinga Island (Butler and Hopwood, 1957).

Diagnosis Relatively small size; upper canine with well differentiated anterior cuspule; m1 with open trigonid that is basally more narrow than the talonid. Description The hypodigm consists of the holotype (BML Br 522, a left m1) and four other isolated teeth (an upper canine, another m1, and two M1’s). Age and Occurrence Early late Miocene, Tortonian; Beni Mellal, Morocco. Remarks One of the specimens referred to this species by Sigé (1976), a left M1 (BML La 1178), was figured by Lavocat (1961) and referred to family indeterminate. One other referred specimen was noted in the Sigé (1976) hypodigm as BML (La) 3000 (right M1) but in his figure 8 (p. 78) was labeled as BML (La) 300 (also a right M1) instead. MEGADERMA sp.

Age and Occurrence Late Miocene (10–11 Ma); Sheikh Abdallah, Western Desert, Egypt. Remarks Megaderma sp. occurs in western Egypt in the late Miocene (M. Pickford, pers. comm.). “MEGADERMIDAE” Indet.

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, Burdigalian (18 Ma); Kasawanga, Rusinga Island, Kenya. Remarks A single specimen (BMNH M 34141, represented by a left dentary with m1–3, was assigned to “Megadermidae” genus and species indeterminate by Butler and Hopwood (1957). Butler (1984) noted that this specimen was from Kasawanga, not Rusinga Locality R106 as originally stated.

Genus CARDIODERMA Peters, 1873 CARDIODERMA SP.

MEGADERMATIDAE gen. et sp. nov.

Age and Occurrence Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma); Olduvai Bed I, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Remarks Butler and Greenwood (1965) mentioned the presence of a mandible and maxilla of an extinct megadermatid from Olduvai Bed I. Butler (1978) later suggested that

Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma); Makapansgat, Cave Breccia, South Africa. Remarks Megadermatidae, genus nov. was included in a faunal list from Makapansgat (Pocock, 1987) but was not mentioned in the text of that paper.

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Family MOLOSSIDAE Gervais, in de Castelnau, 1855 Genus TADARIDA Rafinesque, 1814 TADARIDA RUSINGAE Arroyo-Cabrales et al., 2002

Diagnosis Largest species of genus, sagittal crest present near lambdoid crest, palate deeply domed, M2 postprotocrista strong, M1–2 with hypocone developed and connected to postprotocrista by a small crest. Description The holotype (KNM-RU 14357) and only specimen of T. rusingae is a nearly complete skull (length = 30.49 mm). Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, Burdigalian (17.5–18 Ma); Rusinga Locality R106, Hiwegi Formation, Rusinga Island, Kenya. Remarks The skull of T. rusingae represents one of only two African fossil bats known by relatively complete skulls (the other being Tanzanycteris). Genus MORMOPTERUS Peters, 1865 MORMOPTERUS JUGULARIS Peters, 1865

Age and Occurrence Pleistocene? Lac Tsimanampetsotsa, Karst Breccia, Madagascar. Remarks The presence of extant Mormopterus jugularis (Little Goblin bat) in the Lac Tsimanampetsotsa faunal sample was noted by Sabatier and Legendre (1985). M. jugularis is today restricted to Madagascar. MOLOSSIDAE Indeterminate

Remarks Indeterminate molossids have been recorded from Beni Mellal in Morocco (Lavocat, 1961), from Olduvai Bed I in Tanzania (Butler, 1978), and from Napak, Uganda (Butler, 1984). Family NYCTERIDAE Van der Hoeven, 1855 Genus CHIBANYCTERIS Sigé et al., 1994 CHIBANYCTERIS HERBERTI Sigé et al., 1994

Diagnosis Sigé et al. (1984). Upper molar protocone not clearly separated from bases of labial cusps, M2 with protofossa closed off by protocristae, M2 talon relatively small, p2 simple with little or no differentiation of the trigonid. Description The holotype (TQ 77, right M2) of Chibanycteris herberti is of relatively small size (2.4 × 2.7 mm). Five other teeth (four p2’s and one m3) were also assigned to this species by Sigé et al. (1984). Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene, Rupelian (31.5 Ma); Taqah, Oman. Remarks This is the earliest record of a nycterid known from Africa. The family Nycteridae (slit-faced or hollow-faced bats) is represented by a single genus (Nycteris) today, and of the 13 living species, 10 are restricted to Africa (Nowak, 1994). Simmons (2005:391) discusses the nomenclature of the family name, which is often (and perhaps more technically correctly) spelled Nycterididae. NYCTERIS sp.

Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma); Makapansgat, Cave Breccia, South Africa. Remarks Nycteris also has been tentatively identified from Area 130A, early Pleistocene (1.6 Ma), Okote Member, Koobi Fora Formation, Kenya (Black and Krishtalka, 1986). Butler

(1978), citing a personal communication from Brian Patterson, stated that there are some undescribed specimens of a nycterid from Kanapoi (late Pliocene, 2.5 Ma, Kenya). It is not clear if these specimens are among those later referred to Winkler (1998, 2003) to Hipposideros sp. NYCTERIDAE indet.

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, Burdigalian (19 Ma); Chamtwara, Kenya. Remarks A single distal humerus from Chamtwara (KNM. CA 2198) was described by Butler (1984). He noted that it was very similar to extant Nycteris thebaica. Family RHINOPOMATIDAE Bonaparte, 1838 Genus QUARUNYCTERIS Gunnell et al., 2008 QARUNYCTERIS MOERISAE Gunnell et al., 2008

Diagnosis Differs from Rhinopoma in being larger, in having paracone and metacone of nearly equal height, a less well-developed parastyle, and a relatively smaller and less labially extended mesostyle. Description The holotype (CGM 83671) and only known specimen is a right M2 from Quarry BQ-2. Age and Occurrence Latest Eocene, Priabonian (37 Ma); Fayum Quarry BQ-2, Egypt. Remarks Despite being only a single tooth, Qarunycteris is an extremely important record because it is the only African fossil rhinopomatid known. Family VESPERTILIONIDAE Gray, 1821 Genus KHONSUNYCTERIS Gunnell, Simons and Seiffert, 2008 KHONSUNYCTERIS AEGYPTICUS Gunnell, Simons and Seiffert, 2008

Diagnosis Possesses relatively large and robust c1 with relatively short posterior shelf and lacking anterior cusplet, p2 larger than p3 which is much smaller than p4, p3 double rooted, p4 relatively elongate with an anterior cusplet, molars relatively short and broad, robust, tall and straight ascending ramus (not angled anteriorly). Description The holotype (CGM 83673) and only known specimen is a left dentary c1–m2. Age and Occurrence Latest Eocene, Priabonian (34 Ma); Fayum Quarry L-41, Egypt. Remarks Khonsunycteris is by far the oldest vespertilionid known from Africa, predating the next oldest species by 15 million years. Genus CHAMTWARIA Butler, 1984 CHAMTWARIA PICKFORDI Butler, 1984

Diagnosis Possesses three upper premolars with P3 smaller than P2, but P3 not as reduced as in Myotis; differs from Kerivoula in having a longer, narrower face, nasals extending above canines, infraorbital foramen close to tooth row, a sharp infraorbital crest, and a lower P4 paracone. Description The holotype (KNM-CA 2237) is a rostrum with left C1–M1. Age and Occurrence Early Miocene (19.5 Ma), Burdigalian; Chamtwara, Kenya. Remarks Among fossil vespertilionids, Chamtwaria most closely resembles Stehlinia from Europe. It is intermediate in THIRT Y: CHIROP TER A


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premolar characters between Stehlinia and extant Kerivoula and is grouped with the latter genus as the only two members of the subfamily Kerivoulinae by McKenna and Bell (1997). CHAMTWARIA? sp.

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene (17.5 Ma), Burdigalian; Moroto II, Uganda. Remarks Pickford and Mein (in press) describe a left upper canine from Moroto II that they questionably assign to Chamtwaria. Genus SCOTOPHILUS Leach, 1821 SCOTOPHILUS SP. Figure 30.3B

Age and Occurrence Early Pleistocene (1.6 Ma); Area 130A, Okote Member, Koobi I Formation, Kenya. Remarks Black and Krishtalka (1986) describe an upper and a lower molar from Koobi Fora as Scotophilus sp. Genus MYOTIS Kaup, 1829 MYOTIS TRICOLOR (Temminck, 1832)

EPTESICUS sp.

Age and Occurrence Early Pliocene (5.0 Ma) and Pleistocene (1.3–1.9 Ma); Langebaanweg, Varswater Formation, South Africa (Hendey, 1981); and Swartkrans Cave Breccia, South Africa (Avery, 1998). Genus MINIOPTERUS Bonaparte, 1837 MINIOPTERUS SCHREIBERSI (Kuhl, 1817)

Age and Occurrence Middle Pleistocene (170–266 Ka); Twin Rivers Cave, Zambia (Avery, 2003). Remarks Miniopterus schreibersi (Schreiber’s long-fingered bat) is widespread across much of the Old World (Simmons, 2005). MINIOPTERUS cf.. M. SCHREIBERSI (Kuhl, 1817)

Age and Occurrence Plio-Pleistocene (1.8–2.3 Ma); Sterkfontein Cave Breccia in South Africa (Pocock, 1987). Remarks Miniopterus cf. M. schreibersi has also been recorded from Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania (Butler, 1978). MINIOPTERUS sp.

Age and Occurrence Pleistocene (1.3–1.9 Ma); Swartkrans, Cave Breccia, South Africa. Remarks Myotis cf. M. tricolor is also known from the PlioPleistocene (1.7–2.0 Ma), Kromdraai B Cave Breccia in South Africa (Pocock, 1987).

Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.5–3.1 Ma); Makapansgat Cave Breccia in South Africa (Pocock, 1987). Remarks A new species of Miniopterus is present in the late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco (Eiting et al., 2006).

MYOTIS GOUDOTI (A. Smith, 1834)

Age and Occurrence Late Pleistocene, exact age uncertain; SS2 Locality, Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar. Remarks Myotis goudoti from Anjohibe cave is represented by a single lower canine that can be identified by its small size, single, sharp cusp, and uniquely spade-shaped lingual surface (Samonds, 2007).

Genus NYCTICEIUS Rafinesque, 1819 Cf. NYCTICEIUS (SCOTEINUS) SCHLIEFFENI (Peters, 1859)

Age and Occurrence Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma); Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania (Butler and Greenwood, 1965). Genus PIPISTRELLUS Kaup, 1829 Cf. PIPISTRELLUS (SCOTOZOUS) RUEPPELLI (Fischer, 1859)

MYOTIS cf. M. WELWITSCHII (Gray, 1866)

Age and Occurrence Plio-Pleistocene (1.7–2.0 Ma); Kromdraai B Cave Breccia in South Africa (Pocock, 1987). Remarks Myotis cf. M. welwitschii was included in a faunal list from Kromdraai B by Pocock (1987). No mention was made of this taxon in the text of that paper. MYOTIS sp.

Occurrence Myotis species indet. is known from Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco (Eiting et al., 2006); Bolt’s Farm, South Africa (Broom, 1948); and Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania (Butler, 1978). Genus EPTESICUS Refinesque, 1820 EPTESICUS cf.. E. BOTTAE (Peters, 1896)

Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma); Makapansgat Cave Breccia in South Africa (Pocock, 1987). EPTESICUS cf. E. HOTTENTOTUS (A. Smith, 1833)

Age and Occurrence Plio-Pleistocene (1.7–3.1 Ma); Makapansgat and Kromdraai B Cave Breccias in South Africa (Pocock, 1987) and Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania (Butler, 1978). 594


Age and Occurrence Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma); Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania (Butler and Greenwood, 1965). VESPERTILIONIDAE Indeterminate

Remarks An indeterminate vespertilionid has been noted from the Mio-Pliocene, Beni Mellal, Morocco (Lavocat, 1961). Indeterminate partial humeri of vespertilionids have been described from Chamtwara and Songhor by Butler (1984). Family PHILISIDAE Sigé, 1985 Genus WITWATIA Gunnell et al., 2008 WITWATIA SCHLOSSERI Gunnell et al., 2008

Diagnosis Larger than other philisids, upper molars with robust and distinct parastyles, relatively tall protocones higher and more steeply descending postprotocristae, p2 and p4 robust, p4 with distinct cuspule developed on posterolingual margin, lower molars with robust anterior cingulids, c1 lacks complete cingulid and lacks descending groove along posterior flank. Description The holotype of W. schlosseri (CGM 83668) is a left dentary with c1–m3. The hypodigm consists of 13 other specimens, all from Quarry BQ-2.

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Age and Occurrence Latest Eocene, Priabonian (37 Ma); Fayum Quarry BQ-2, Egypt. Remarks Witwatia schlosseri is among the largest fossil bats known, similar in size to Afropterus gigas (Lavocat, 1961). Both of these fossil taxa rival extant Macroderma gigas (Australian ghost bat), one of the largest known microbats. WITWATIA EREMICUS Gunnell et al., 2008

Diagnosis Differs from W. schlosseri in being smaller; similar in size to Philisis sphingis but differs in having upper molars with more parallel postpara- and premetacristae resulting in notched mesostyle, ectoloph narrow and extending to labial margin, preprotocrista terminates at base of paracone and does not extend anteriorly to the parastyle, trigon basin narrower and more steeply sloping, talon more distinctly defined by postprotocingulum that is distinct and separated from the postprotocrista; lower molars have more lingually angled cristid obliqua and deeper ectoflexid as in W. schlosseri, paraconid lower, less distinct and more appressed to base of protoconid, trigonid generally more anteroposteriorly compressed, anterior cingulid more robust, and hypoconulid relatively smaller. Description Witwatia eremicus is represented by upper and lower molars and some canines. Like all philisids, W. eremicus has myotodont molars. Age and Occurrence Latest Eocene, Priabonian (37 Ma); Fayum Quarry BQ-2, Egypt.

long and narrow extending to mesostyle that may be partially open (doubled), preprotocrista extends to parastyle, postprotocrista terminates before reaching metacone, p4 relatively simple, no para- or metaconid developed, lower molars myotodont, cristid obliquae only weakly angled lingually and flexed, hypoflexid relatively shallow, hypoconulid large. Description The holotype (YPM 34488) of P. sphingis is a right maxilla P4–M3. There is also a referred lower jaw p4–m2 from the type locality. Gunnell et al. (2008) note the presence of two other specimens from Quarry I as well. Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene, Rupellian (30 Ma); Fayum Quarry I, Egypt. PHILISIS SEVKETI Sigé et al., 1994

Diagnosis Differs from other species of Philisis in being smaller.

Description The holotype is a left m1 (TQ 51). In addition there are seven other fragmentary specimens from Taqah that constitute the hypodigm of P. sevketi. Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene, Rupelian (31.5 Ma); Taqah, Oman. CF. PHILISIS sp.

Genus PHILISIS Sigé, 1985 PHILISIS SPHINGIS Sigé, 1985 Figures 30.4C and 30.4D

Description Two broken upper molars were assigned to cf. Philisis sp. by Sigé et al. (1994). Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene, Rupelian (31.5 Ma); Taqah, Oman. Remarks An additional specimen from an unknown level in the Jebel Qatrani Formation was referred to Philisis sp. by Sigé, 1985.

Diagnosis Size intermediate, infraorbital canal short, P4 with relatively large talon and small, low protocone, upper molars without hypocone or talon development, ectoloph

Genus DIZZYA Sigé, 1991 DIZZYA EXSULTANS Sigé, 1991 Figures 30.4A and 30.4B

African Eocene-Oligocene echolocating bats. A) Holotype (CB 1–17) of Dizzya exsultans, right M1 or M2 in occlusal view. B) Referred specimen (CB 1–18) of Dizzya exsultans, left distal humerus in lateral (left) and anterior (right) views. C) Holotype (YPM 34488) of Philisis sphingis, right maxilla with P4–M3 in occlusal view. D) Referred specimen (YPM 34489) of Philisis sphingis, right dentary with p4–m2 in occlusal view. E) Holotype (Unnumbered) of Vampyravus orientalis, right humerus in medial (left), lateral (middle), and anterior (right) views. A and B adapted from figures 2 and 5 in Sigé (1991); C–E adapted from figures 3B, 4B, and 5 in Sigé (1985).

FIGURE 30.4

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Diagnosis Sigé (1991). Small size, upper molars with metacone slightly stronger than paracone, mesostyle weakly open, weak para- and metalophs developed; postprotocrista and metacingulum continuous; lower molars nyctalodont with moderately high hypoconids. Description The holotype of Dizzya exsultans is an upper M1 or M2 (CB 1–17). Sigé (1991) also attributed a lower dentary fragment with broken m1–2 (CB 1–15) and a distal humerus fragment (CB 1–18) to D. exsultans. Age and Occurrence Early Eocene, Ypresian (50 Ma); Chambi, Tunisia. Remarks The presence of both rhinolophoids and vespertilionoids (in the form of the philisid Dizzya) at Chambi in the early Eocene led Sigé (1991) to postulate a southern origin for modern bat groups noting that only archaic bats (Eochiroptera) were known at this time in the northern continents. Genus SCOTOPHILISIS Horácˇek et al., 2006 SCOTOPHILISIS LIBYCUS Horácˇek et al., 2006

RHINOLOPHUS FERRUMEQUINUM MELLALI Lavocat, 1961

Diagnosis Lavocat (1961). Possesses c1–m1 dental series longer than Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, teeth narrower and less robust, premolars relatively longer, molars relatively shorter, upper molars subrectangular with para-, meta-, and mesostyles aligned instead of being concave at the mesostyle. Description Rhinolophus ferrumequinum mellali is based on two specimens, a holotype dentary (BM 707) with c1–m1, and a referred maxilla (BM 1216) with P4–M2. Age and Occurrence Early late Miocene, Tortonian; Beni Mellal, Morocco (Lavocat, 1961). RHINOLOPHUS sp.

Age and Occurrence Late Miocene (10–11 Ma) and Pleistocene (1.3–1.9 Ma); Sheikh Abdallah, Western Desert, Egypt (M. Pickford, pers. comm.), and Swartkrans Cave Breccia in South Africa (Avery, 1998). Remarks Rhinolophus sp. is present in the Egyptian Western Desert (M. Pickford, pers. comm.), while a new species of Rhinolophus is present in the late Pliocene (2.5 ma) of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco (Eiting et al., 2006).

Diagnosis Molars with heavily built protoconid, high lingual crown wall, and shallow protofossid; p3 absent; symphysis robust and oval and not extending beyond p2, mandibular angle indistinct. Description The holotype (NMPC/OF.JZel./Chi 1) is a right dentary with m1–2. Age and Occurrence Early middle Miocene, Langhian (16.0 to 14.0 Ma); Jebel Zelten, Libya. Remarks Scotophilisis has been proposed as an intermediate taxon between Oligocene Philisis and extant Scotophilus (Horácˇek et al., 2006; see also Wessels et al., 2003).

Age and Occurrence Early Eocene (50 Ma); Chambi, Tunisia (Sigé, 1991). Remarks A broken first or second upper molar was assigned to an indeterminate rhinolophoid by Sigé (1991). Nothing else can be added to Sigé’s original discussion of this tooth.

Family RHINOLOPHIDAE Gray, 1825 Genus RHINOLOPHUS Lacépède, 1799 RHINOLOPHUS HILDEBRANDTII Peters, 1878

Family TANZANYCTERIDAE Gunnell et al., 2003 Genus TANZANYCTERIS Gunnell et al., 2003 TANZANYCTERIS MANNARDI Gunnell et al., 2003

Age and Occurrence Middle Pleistocene (170,000–266,000 BP); Twin Rivers Cave, Zambia (Avery, 2003). Remarks Rhinolophus hildebrandtii (Hildebrandt’s horseshoe bat) is relatively common in southern and central Africa today (Simmons, 2005).

Diagnosis Possesses very large cochlear diameter relative to basicranial width, first rib relatively broader than other ribs, clavicle articulating with coracoid, trochiter (= greater tuberosity) of humerus extending proximally beyond humeral head, anterior laminae on ribs present, manubrium with bilaterally compressed ventral keel, and a narrow, dual-faceted scapular infraspinous fossa. Description Tanzanycteris mannardi is known from a single, partial skeleton. It is the oldest placental mammal known from sub-Saharan Africa (Gunnell et al., 2003). Age and Occurrence Middle Eocene, Lutetian (46 Ma); Mahenge, Tanzania. Remarks Tanzanycteris is unique among Eocene bats in possessing very enlarged cochlea. This suggests that sophisticated forms of echolocation were already being employed by bats as early as the middle Eocene (Gunnell et al., 2003).

RHINOLOPHUS CF. R. CAPENSIS Lichtenstein, 1823

Age and Occurrence Plio-Pleistocene (1.7–3.1 Ma); Kromdraai B Cave Breccia in South Africa (Pocock, 1987). Remarks Rhinolophus cf. R. capensis is also known from Makapansgat Cave Breccia, South Africa (De Graaff, 1960). RHINOLOPHUS CLIVOSUS Cretzschmar, 1828

Age and Occurrence Late Pleistocene (300,000 to 15,540 BP); Hoedjiespunt 1 and Saldanha Bay Yacht Club localities, west coast of South Africa (Matthews et al., 2007). RHINOLOPHUS CF. R. CLIVOSUS Cretzschmar, 1828

Age and Occurrence Plio-Pleistocene (1.8–3.1 Ma); Makapansgat and Sterkfontein Cave Breccias in South Africa (Pocock, 1987). RHINOLOPHUS CF. R. DARLINGI K. Anderson, 1905

Age and Occurrence Plio-Pleistocene (1.8–3.1 Ma); Makapansgat and Sterkfontein Cave Breccias in South Africa (Pocock, 1987). 596


RHINOLOPHOID sp.

FAMILY indet. Genus VAMPYRAVUS Schlosser, 1910 VAMPYRAVUS (= PROVAMPYRUS) ORIENTALIS Schlosser, 1910 Figure 30.4E

Diagnosis The humerus is robust, distally curved, trochiter and lesser tuberosity extend beyond humeral head, head relatively large, round, and robust, distal articular facets offset laterally, capitulum with distinct lateral tail, entepicondyle relatively robust and extended.

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Description The holotype (unnumbered, in the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart) is a relatively large right humerus (49 mm in length) similar in length to living Rousettus aegyptiacus (Egyptian rousette fruit bat, body weight approximately 140 g). The bone is very robust and is fully described in Sigé (1985). Age and Occurrence Early Oligocene, Rupelian; Jebel Qatrani Formation, Egypt (precise locality unknown). Remarks Schlosser originally mentioned the type humerus in 1910 (p. 507), noting that it was similar to Vampyrus (= Vampyrum) and Stenoderma, two New World phyllostomid bats, but larger than both, being almost twice as large as the humerus of Stenoderma. He stated that this specimen was the basis for Vampyravus orientalis n. g. n. sp. (“Ich basiere hierauf Vampyravus orientalis n. g. n. sp.”). However, in the following year (Schlosser, 1911), he published a formal and much more extensive description, with figures, of the same humerus, this time proposing the name Provampyrus orientalis for the specimen. Sigé (1985) argued that Vampyravus should be considered as a nomen oblitum (“forgotten name”) because it had not been used in publication between 1910 and 1968, therefore rendering Vampyravus still valid and available. McKenna and Bell (1997) considered Vampyravus to be a likely nomen nudum and therefore not available as a valid name. According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), Article 12 states that in order “to be available, every new name published before 1931 must satisfy the provisions of Article 11 [which Vampyravus orientalis does] and must be accompanied by a description or a definition of the taxon that it denotes, or by an indication.” The issue at hand seems to be whether Schlosser’s (1910) cryptic description of Vampyravus constitutes enough of a taxon definition to stand as valid. It would not constitute a valid diagnosis and description today, but since it was published in 1910, it seems as though it does. At least, there is no apparent reason to invali-

date the senior synonym without petitioning the ICZN. Therefore, I follow Sigé (1985) and continue to recognize Vampyravus as valid. A further complicating factor may be that the humerus of Vampyravus orientalis could well represent the same taxon as Philisis sphingis, a presumably similar sized bat from the Jebel Qatrani Formation (Sigé, 1985) known only from teeth. This determination awaits more complete material from the Fayum. MICROCHIROPTERAN Indeterminate

Remarks Black and Krishtalka (1986) describe a worn lower molar from Area 131A, Okote Member, Koobi Fora Formation as an indeterminate chiropteran. K. Muldoon (pers. comm.) reports the present of three bat genera (Miniopterus, Otomops, and Mormopterus) from the late Holocene (500 BP) locality of Ankilitelo Cave in southwestern Madagascar.

General Discussion and Summary The fossil record of African bats begins in the early Eocene in Tunisia (table 30.1). With the possible exception of Tanzanycteris (Gunnell et al., 2003), all African Eocene bats are members of extant superfamilies, if not families. Sigé (1991) suggested that perhaps modern bats had a southern origin because of the lack of modern bat families on northern continents in the Eocene. However, since 1991, emballonurids have been described from the early (Hooker, 1996; although see Storch et al., 2002) and middle (Storch et al., 2002) Eocene of Europe, and vespertilionoids have been described from the early Eocene of North America (Beard et al., 1992). There does, however, remain a curious lack of archaic bats from the African Eocene suggesting that, if not a center of origin, Africa (and Gondwana) may have played a significant role as a center of diversification for many modern groups of bats.

ta b l e 3 0 .1 Occurrences and ages of African Chiroptera Bold = fi rst described in primary reference. South African Cave Site dates interpreted based on Vrba (1982), Delson (1984), and Partridge (2000).

Taxon

Occurrence (Site, Location)

Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Primary Reference

pteropodidae Propotto leakeyi

Eidolon aff. E. helvum Eidolon dupreanum Rousettus madagascariensis Rousettus cf. R. madagascariensis Pteropodid sp. Pteropodid sp.

Koru, Songhor, Chamtwara, Rusinga Island, Kenya Omo Loc. 1, Ethiopia Shungura Fm., Member B Anjohibe Cave, Old SE Locality Madagascar Anjohibe Cave, SS2 Locality Madagascar Anjohibe Cave, NCC-1 Locality Madagascar Songhor and Chamtwara, Kenya Loc. 130-A, Kenya

Koobi Fora Fm., Okote Member

Early Miocene (18.0–20.0 Ma)

Simpson, 1967

Late Pliocene (2.95 Ma) Subfossil (10,000 BP) Subfossil

Wesselman, 1984

Late Pleistocene (69,600–86,800 BP) Early Miocene (19 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.6 Ma)

Samonds, 2007 Samonds, 2007 Samonds, 2007

Butler, 1984 Black & Krishtalka, 1986



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ta b l e 3 0 .1 (c o n t i n u e d)

Taxon


Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Primary Reference

emballonuridae Dhofarella thaleri

Taqah, Oman

Dhofarella sigei

Fayum Quarry L-41, Egypt Koru, Kenya

Saccolaimus incognita Taphozous ( Saccolaimus) incognita Saccolaimus abitus Taphozous sp. Taphozous sp. Coleura muthokai Emballonura atrata Emballonurid sp. Emballonurid sp.

Moroto II, Uganda Omo Locs. 1 & 28, Ethiopia Sterkfontein, South Africa Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco Omo Loc. 28, Ethiopia Tsimanampetsotsa, Madagascar Rusinga Loc. R3, Kenya Songhor, Legetet Locality 10

Early Oligocene (31.5 Ma) Jebel Qatrani Fm. Late Eocene (34.0 Ma) Legetet Fm., Kenya Early Miocene (20.0 Ma) Early Miocene (17.5 Ma) Shungura Fm., Late Pliocene Members B and F (2.1–2.95 Ma) Cave Breccia Plio-Pleistocene (1.8–2.3 Ma) Cave Breccia Late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) Shungura Fm., Late Pliocene Member F (2.1 Ma) Karst Breccia Pleistocene or Subfossil Early Miocene (18.0 Ma) Legetet Fm. Early Miocene (20.0 Ma)

Sigé et al., 1994 Gunnell et al., 2008 Butler & Hopwood, 1957 Pickford & Mein, 2007 Wesselman, 1984 Pocock, 1987 Eiting et al., 2006 Wesselman, 1984 Sabatier & Legendre, 1985 Butler, 1969 Butler, 1984

hipposideridae Hipposideros (Brachipposideros) omani Hipposideros kaumbului Hipposideros cyclops Hipposideros commersoni Hipposideros commersoni

Hipposideros commersoni Hipposideros cf. H. commersoni Hipposideros cf. H. commersoni Hipposideros besaoka Hipposideros (Syndesmotis) vetus Hipposideros (Syndesmotis) sp. Hipposideros sp. Hipposideros spp. Hipposideros sp. Triaenops goodmani Triaenops furculus

598


Taqah, Oman

Omo Loc. 28, Ethiopia Omo Loc. 1, Ethiopia Twin Rivers Cave, Zambia Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar Tsimanampetsotsa, Madagascar Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar Beni Mellal, Morocco Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt Songhor, Kenya Kanapoi, Kenya Tsimanampetsotsa, Madagascar Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar Tsimanampetsotsa, Madagascar

Shungura Fm., Member F Shungura Fm., Member B

NCC-1 Locality

Karst Breccia Old SE Locality SS2 Locality TW-10 Locality

Cave Breccia

Karst Breccia Old SE Locality Karst Breccia

Early Oligocene (31.5 Ma)

Sigé et al., 1994

Late Pliocene (2.1 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.95 Ma) Middle Pleistocene (170 – 266 Ka) Late Pleistocene (69,600 – 86,800 BP) Pleistocene or Subfossil Subfossil (10,000 BP) Subfossil

Wesselman, 1984 Wesselman, 1984 Avery, 2003 Samonds, 2007

Sabatier & Legendre, 1985 Samonds, 2007 Samonds, 2007

Subfossil ( 10,000 BP) Early late Miocene

Samonds, 2007

Late Miocene (10-11 Ma) Early Miocene (20.0 Ma) Early Pliocene (4 Ma) Pleistocene or Subfossil Subfossil ( 10,000 BP) Pleistocene or Subfossil

Pickford, pers. comm. Butler, 1969

Lavocat, 1961

Winkler, 2003 Sabatier & Legendre, 1985 Samonds, 2007 Sabatier & Legendre, 1985

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Taxon


Stratigraphic Unit

Triaenops sp.

Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar

NCC-1 Locality

Triaenops sp.

Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar Taqah, Oman

Old SE Locality

Cave Breccia

Hipposiderine sp.

Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco Chamtwara, Kenya

Hipposiderine sp.

Songhor, Kenya

Hipposiderine sp. Hipposiderine sp.

Age Late Pleistocene (69,600 – 86,800 BP) Subfossil ( 10,000 BP) Early Oligocene (31.5 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) Early Miocene (19.0 Ma) Early Miocene (20.0 Ma)

Primary Reference Samonds, 2007

Samonds, 2007 Sigé et al., 1994 Eiting et al., unpub. ms. Butler, 1984 Butler, 1984

myzopodidae Myzopoda sp.

Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania

Early Pleistocene (1.8-1.9 Ma)

Butler, 1978

Late Eocene (34.0 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.8-1.9 Ma) Early late Miocene

Gunnell et al., 2008 Butler & Greenwood, 1965 Sigé, 1976

Early late Miocene

Sigé, 1976

Late Miocene (10-11 Ma) Early Miocene (18.0 Ma)

Pickford, pers. comm. Butler & Hopwood, 1957

Late Pliocene (2.7-3.1 Ma)

Pocock, 1987

Early Miocene (18.0 Ma) Pleistocene or Subfossil Early late Miocene

Arroyo-Cabrales et al., 2002 Sabatier & Legendre, 1985 Lavocat, 1961

Early Pleistocene (1.8-1.9 Ma) Early Miocene (19 Ma)

Butler, 1978

megadermatidae Saharaderma pseudovampyrus Cardioderma sp.

Fayum Quarry L-41, Egypt Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania

Megaderma gaillardi

Beni Mellal, Morocco Beni Mellal, Morocco Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt Rusinga Loc. R106, Kenya

Megaderma jaegeri Megaderma sp. Megadermatid sp.

Megadermatid sp.

Makapansgat, South Africa

Jebel Qatrani Fm.

Cave Breccia Hiwegi Fm.

Cave Breccia

molossidae Tadarida rusingae Mormopterus jugularis Molossid Indet. Molossid Indet. (4 species) Molossid Indet.

Rusinga Loc. R106, Kenya Tsimanampetsotsa, Madagascar Beni Mellal, Morocco Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania Napak, Uganda

Hiwegi Fm. Karst Breccia

Butler, 1984

nycteridae Chibanycteris herberti

Taqah, Oman

Nycteris sp. Nycteris sp.

Makapansgat, South Africa Loc. 130-A, Kenya

?Nycterid Indet. Nycterid Indet.

Kanapoi, Kenya Chamtwara, Kenya

Cave Breccia Koobi Fora Fm., Okote Member

Early Oligocene (31.5 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.6 Ma) Late Pliocene (4 Ma) Early Miocene (19 Ma)

Sigé et al., 1994 Pocock, 1987 Black & Krishtalka, 1986 Butler, 1978 Butler, 1984



599

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Taxon


Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Primary Reference

rhinopomatidae Qarunycteris moerisae

Fayum Quarry BQ-2, Egypt

Birket Qarun Fm.

Late Eocene (37.0 Ma)

Gunnell et al., 2008

Late Eocene (34.0 Ma) Early Miocene (19.5 Ma) Early Miocene (17.5 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.6 Ma)

Gunnell et al., 2008 Butler, 1984

vespertilionidae Khonsunycteris aegypticus Chamtwaria pickfordi

Fayum Quarry L-41, Egypt Chamtwara, Kenya

Chamtwaria?

Moroto II, Uganda

Scotophilus sp.

Loc. 130-A, Kenya

Myotis tricolor

Swartkrans, South Africa Myotis cf. M. tricolor Kromdraai B, South Africa Myotis goudoti Anjohibe Cave, Madagascar Myotis cf. M. welwitschii Kromdraai B, South Africa Myotis sp. Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco Myotis sp. Boltís Farm, South Africa Myotis sp. Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania Eptesicus cf. E. bottae Eptesicus cf. E. hottentotus Eptesicus cf. E. hottentotus Eptesicus cf. E. hottentotus Eptesicus sp. Eptesicus sp. Miniopterus schreibersii Miniopterus cf. M. schreibersii Miniopterus cf. M. schreibersii Miniopterus sp. Miniopterus n. sp. Cf. Nycticeius (Scoteinus) schlieffeni

Makapansgat, South Africa Makapansgat, South Africa Kromdraai B, South Africa Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania Langebaanweg, South Africa Swartkrans, South Africa Twin Rivers Cave, Zambia Sterkfontein, South Africa Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania Makapansgat, South Africa Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco Olduvai Bed I, Tanzania

Cf. Pipistrellus (Scotozous) Olduvai Bed I, rueppelli Tanzania

600


Jebel Qatrani Fm.

Koobi Fora Fm., Okote Member Cave Breccia Cave Breccia SS2 Locality Cave Breccia Cave Breccia Cave Breccia

Cave Breccia Cave Breccia Cave Breccia

Varswater Fm., QSM Member Cave Breccia

Cave Breccia

Cave Breccia Cave Breccia

Pleistocene (1.3–1.9 Ma) Plio-Pleistocene (1.7–2.0 Ma) Subfossil Plio-Pleistocene (1.7–2.0 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) Early Pliocene (4.5 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma) Plio-Pleistocene (1.7–2.0 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma) Early Pliocene (5.0 Ma) Pleistocene (1.3–1.9 Ma) Middle Pleistocene (170–266 Ka) Plio-Pleistocene (1.8–2.3 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma) Early Pleistocene (1.8–1.9 Ma)

Pickford & Mein, 2007 Black & Krishtalka, 1986 Avery, 1998 Pocock, 1987 Samonds, 2007 Pocock, 1987 Eiting et al., 2006 Broom, 1948 Butler, 1978

Pocock, 1987 Pocock, 1987 Pocock, 1987 Butler, 1978 Hendey, 1981 Avery, 1998 Avery, 2003 Pocock, 1987 Butler, 1978 Pocock, 1987 Eiting et al., 2006 Butler & Greenwood, 1965 Butler & Greenwood, 1965

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Taxon Vespertilionid Indet. Vespertilionid Indet.


Stratigraphic Unit

Beni Mellal, Morocco Songhor & Chamtwara, Kenya

Age

Primary Reference

Early late Miocene

Lavocat, 1961

Early Miocene (19 Ma)

Butler, 1984

Late Eocene (37.0 Ma) Late Eocene (37.0 Ma) Early Oligocene (30.0 Ma) Early Oligocene (31.5 Ma) Early Oligocene (31.5 Ma) Early Oligocene (30.0 Ma) Early Eocene (50.0 Ma) Early Middle Miocene (14.0–16.0 Ma)

Gunnell et al., 2008 Gunnell et al., 2008 Sigé, 1985

philisidae Witwatia schlosseri

Philisis sevketi

Fayum Quarry BQ-2, Egypt Fayum Quarry BQ-2, Egypt Fayum Quarry I, Egypt Taqah, Oman

Cf. Philisis sp.

Taqah, Oman

Philisis sp.

Fayum, Egypt

Dizzya exsultans

Chambi, Tunisia

Scotophilisis libycus

Jebel Zelten, Libya

Witwatia eremicus Philisis sphingis

Birket Qarun Fm. Birket Qarun Fm. Jebel Qatrani Fm.

Jebel Qatrani Fm.

Sigé et al., 1994 Sigé et al., 1994 Sigé, 1985 Sigé, 1991 Horáˇcek et al., 2006

rhinolophidae Rhinolophus hildebrandtii Twin Rivers Cave, Zambia Rhinolophus cf. R. Kromdraai B, capensis South Africa Rhinolophus cf. R. Makapansgat, South capensis Africa Rhinolophus clivosus Hoedjies-punt 1 Rhinolophus clivosus Rhinolophus cf. R. clivosus Rhinolophus cf. R. clivosus Rhinolophus cf. R. darlingi Rhinolophus cf. R. darlingi Rhinolophus ferrumequinum mellali Rhinolophus sp. Rhinolophus sp. Rhinolophus n. sp. Rhinolophoid sp.

Cave Breccia Cave Breccia Fossil hyena lair

Saldanha Bay Yacht Club Makapansgat, South Africa Sterkfontein, South Africa Makapansgat, South Africa Sterkfontein, South Africa Beni Mellal, Morocco

Fossil owl accumulation Cave Breccia

Sheikh Abdallah, Egypt Swartkrans, South Africa Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco Chambi, Tunisia

Cave Breccia

Cave Breccia Cave Breccia Cave Breccia

Cave Breccia Cave Breccia

Middle Pleistocene (170–266 Ka) Plio-Pleistocene (1.7–2.0 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma) Late Pleistocene (300,000 BP) Late Pleistocene (15,540 BP) Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma) Plio-Pleistocene (1.8–2.3 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.7–3.1 Ma) Plio-Pleistocene (1.8–2.3 Ma) Early late Miocene

Avery, 2003

Late Miocene (10–11 Ma) Pleistocene (1.3–1.9 Ma) Late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) Early Eocene (50.0 Ma)

Pickford, pers. comm. Avery, 1998

Pocock, 1987 De Graaf, 1960 Matthews et al., 2007 Matthews et al., 2007 Pocock, 1987 Pocock, 1987 Pocock, 1987 Pocock, 1987 Lavocat, 1961

Eiting et al., unpub. ms. Sigé, 1991

tanzanycteridae Tanzanycteris mannardi

Mahenge, Tanzania

Middle Eocene (46.0 Ma)

Gunnell et al., 2003



601

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Taxon


Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Primary Reference

family ? Fayum, Egypt Vampyravus (= Provampyrus) orientalis Microchiropteran Indet. Loc. 131-A, Kenya

Jebel Qatrani Fm.

Early Oligocene

Schlosser, 1910

Koobi Fora Fm., Okote Member

Early Pleistocene (1.6 Ma)

Black & Krishtalka, 1986

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank Lars Werdelin and Bill Sanders for the invitation to participate in this volume. I thank Bernard Sigé for his many helpful insights and for his thorough review of the manuscript. I have benefited greatly from discussions with Thierry Smith, Nancy Simmons, Erik Seiffert, Thomas Eiting, Kaye Reed, Martin Pickford, Laura MacLatchy, Karen Samonds, Kathleen Muldoon, Bill Sanders, and Philip Gingerich. Alan Walker kindly provided a cast of the holotype of Tadarida rusingae, and Marilyn Fox and Mary Ann Turner produced and provided casts of the type and referred specimens of Philisis sphingis.

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Meschinelli, L. 1903. Un nuovo Chirottero fossile (Archaeopteropus transiens Mesch.), delle lignite di Monteviale. Atti Reale Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti 62:1329–1344. Nowak, R. M. 1994. Walker’s Bats of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 287 pp. Partridge, T. C. 2000. Hominid-bearing cave and tufa deposits; pp. 100–125 in T. C. Partridge and R. R. Maud (eds.), The Cenozoic of Southern Africa. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Pickford, M., and P. Mein. In press. Early Middle Miocene mammals from Moroto II, Uganda. Pocock, T. N. 1987. Plio-Pleistocene fossil mammalian microfauna of southern Africa: A preliminary report including description of two new fossil muroid genera (Mammalia: Rodentia). Palaeontologia Africana 26:69–91. Russell, D. E., and B. Sigé. 1970. Révision des chiroptères lutétiens de Messel (Hesse, Allemagne). Palaeovertebrata 3:83–182. Sabatier, M., and S. Legendre. 1985. Une faune à rongeurs et chiroptères Plio-Pleistocènes de Madagascar. Actes du 100 Congrés National des Sociétés Savants, Montpellier, Sciences 4:21–28. Samonds, K. E. 2006. The origin and evolution of Malagasy bats: Implications of new Late Pleistocene fossils and cladistic analyses for reconstructing biogeographic history. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y., 403 pp. . 2007. Late Pleistocene bat fossils from Anjohibe Cave, northwestern Madagascar. Acta Chiropterologica 9:39–65. Schlosser, M. 1910. über einige fossile Säugetiere aus dem Oligocän von Ägypten. Zoologischen Anzeiger 35:500–508. . 1911. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der oligozänen Landsäugetiere aus dem Fayum: Ägypten. Beiträge zur Paläontologie und Geologie Österreich-Ungarns und des Orients 24:51–167. Schutt, W. A., Jr., and N. B. Simmons. 1998. Morphology and homology of the chiropteran calcar, with comments on the phylogenetic relationships of Archaeopteropus. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 5:1–32. Sigé, B. 1976. Les Megadermatidae (Chiroptera, Mammalia) miocènes Beni Mellal, Maroc. Géologie Méditerranéenne 3:71–86. . 1985. Les chiroptères oligocènes du Fayum, Egypte. Geologica et Palaeontologica 19:161–189. . 1991. Rhinolophoidea et Vespertilionoidea (Chiroptera) du Chambi (Eocène inférieur de Tunisie). Aspects biostratigraphiques, biogéographiques et paléoécologiques de l’origine des chiroptères modernes. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 182:355–376. Sigé, B., and J.-P. Aguilar. 1987. L’extension stratigraphique des mégachiroptères dans le Miocène d’Europe méridionale. Comptes Rendus des Séances de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris 304:469–474. Sigé, B., J.-Y. Crochet, J. Sudre, J.-P. Aguilar, and G. Escarguel. 1997. Nouveaux sites d’âges varies dans les Remplissages Karstiques du Miocène inférieur de Bouzigues (Hérault, Sud de la France): Partie I. Sites et faunes 1 (Insectivores, Chiroptères, Artiodactyles). Geobios 20:477–483. Sigé, B., H. Thomas, S. Sen, E. Gheerbrant, J. Roger, and Z. Al-Sulaimani. 1994. Les chiroptères de Taqah (Oligocène inférieur, Sultanat

d’Oman): Premier inventaire systématique. Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen 26:35–48. Simmons, N. B. 2005. Order Chiroptera; pp. 312–529 in D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds.), Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Simmons, N. B., and J. H. Geisler. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of Icaronycteris, Archaeonycteris, Hassianycteris, and Palaeochiropteryx to extant bat lineages, with comments on the evolution of echolocation and foraging strategies in Microchiroptera. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 235:1–182. Simmons, N. B., K. L. Seymour, J. Habersetzer, and G. F. Gunnell. 2008. Primitive early Eocene bat from Wyoming and the evolution of flight and echolocation. Nature 451:818–821. Simpson, G. G. 1967. The Tertiary lorisiform primates of Africa. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 136:39–62. Smith, J. D., and G. Storch. 1981. New Middle Eocene bats from “Grube Messel” near Darmstadt, W-Germany (Mammalia: Chiroptera). Senckenbergiana Biologica 61:153–167. Storch, G. 2001. Paleobiological implications of the Messel mammalian assemblage; pp. 215–235 in G. F. Gunnell (ed.), Eocene Biodiversity: Unusual Occurrences and Rarely Sampled Habitats. Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Publishers, New York. Storch, G., B. Sigé. and J. Habersetzer. 2002. Tachypteron franzeni n. gen., n. sp., earliest emballonurid bat from the middle Eocene of Messel (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 76:189–199. Vrba, E. S. 1982. Biostratigraphy and chronology, based particularly on Bovidae, of southern hominid-associated assemblages: Makapansgat, Sterkfontein, Taung, Kromdraai, Swartkrans; also Elandsfontein (Saldanha), Broken Hill (now Kabwe) and Cave of Hearths; pp. 707– 752 in H. de Lumley and M. A. de Lumley (eds.), Prétirage 1er Congrés International de Paléontologie Humaine. Union Internationale des Sciences Prehistoriques et Protohistoriques 2, Nice, France. Walker, A. C. 1969. True affinities of Propotto leakeyi Simpson, 1967. Nature 223:647–648. Wesselman, H. B. 1984. The Omo micromammals—Systematics and paleoecology of early man sites from Ethiopia; pp. 1–219 in M. K. Hecht and F. S. Szalay (eds.), Contributions to Vertebrate Evolution, vol. 7. Karger, Basel, Switzerland. Wessels, W., O. Fejfar, P. Peláez-Campomanes, A. van der Meulen, and H. de Bruijn. 2003. Micromamíferos miocenos de Jebel Zelten, Libia; pp. 699–715 in N. López-Martínez, P. Peláez-Campomanes, and M. Hernández Fernández (eds.), Coloquios de Paleontología, volume 1 in honor of Dr. Remmert Daams. Winkler, A. J. 1998. New small mammal discoveries from the early Pliocene at Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18 (suppl. to no. 3):87A. . 2003. Rodents and lagomorphs from the Miocene and Pliocene of Lothagam, northern Kenya; pp. 169–198 in M. G. Leakey and J. M. Harris (eds.), Lothagam: The Dawn of Humanity in Eastern Africa. Columbia University Press, New York.



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CHAP TER THIRT Y-ONE

Pholidota TIMOTHY J. GAUDIN

The family Manidae includes all the living pangolins, or scaly anteaters. Pangolins are a small group, encompassing eight extant species that are distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent, southern China, Southeast Asia, and the East Indies eastward to the Phillipines (Barlow, 1984; Feiler, 1998; Nowak, 1999; Gaubert and Antunes, 2005; Schlitter, 2005). Four of these species presently occur in Africa: Smutsia gigantea, the giant pangolin; S. temmincki, the ground pangolin; Phataginus tetradactyla, the long-tailed pangolin; and P. tricuspis, the tree pangolin. All are found in the forests of western and central Africa except S. temmincki, which occurs in drier and more open habitats in eastern and southern Africa (Kingdon, 1997). Pangolins are generally rare (although some species may be locally common; Kingdon, 1997) and very unusual mammals recognized most readily by their extraordinary external carapace of large, overlapping, keratinous epidermal scales that form a protective cover for the back, tail, head, and limbs. Pangolins are toothless, with smooth conical skulls and greatly reduced mandibles (Grassé, 1955; Kingdon, 1974, Heath, 1992a, 1992b, 1995). They feed almost exclusively on ants and termites, capturing these insects with a tremendously elongated tongue covered with copious amounts of sticky saliva and masticating them using a keratinized stomach lining (Grassé, 1955; Kingdon, 1974, 1997; Heath, 1992a, 1992b, 1995; Nowak, 1999; Swart et al., 1999). Most pangolins are characterized by powerful forelimbs and strong claws, used to break open ant and termite nests (Grassé, 1955; Kingdon, 1974, 1997; Heath, 1992a, 1992b, 1995; Nowak, 1999). They range in habitus from terrestrial to semiarboreal to more fully arboreal forms. The two arboreal species from Africa have elongated, prehensile tails (Grassé, 1955; Kingdon, 1974, 1997; Nowak, 1999). The fossil record of pangolins is sparse. This can be attributed in part to their ecology—their preference for forested habitats, their solitary lifestyles and concomitantly low population densities. It can also be attributed to their morphology, and in particular their lack of teeth, the most commonly preserved and readily identifiable portion of the skeleton in most mammals. Indeed, because of the absence of teeth, their fossils may often be overlooked by mammalian paleontologists even when present (Pickford and Senut, 1991; Gaudin et al., 2006). The family Manidae is placed in the order Pholidota. Pholidota also includes at least two extinct families of pango-

lins, the Patriomanidae and Eomanidae (Szalay and Shrenk, 1998; Storch, 2003; Gaudin, 2004; Gaudin et al., 2006, in press). Additionally, several authors (Emry, 1970; McKenna and Bell, 1997; Rose et al., 2005) have advocated close ties between pangolins and an extinct group of mostly North American fossorial mammals with reduced dentitions, the palaeanodonts. Emry (1970) and McKenna and Bell (1997) actually include palaeanodonts formally within the order Pholidota. I will follow Gaudin et al. (in press) and refer to the order Pholidota as including living and fossil pangolins but not palaeanodonts, and employ Pholidotamorpha to refer to the group including both pangolins and palaeanodonts. The Paleogene record of the Pholidota sensu stricto is largely confined to Laurasian continents. The oldest pangolins are Eomanis waldi and E. krebsi from the middle Eocene (roughly 45 Ma) Messel deposits of Germany (Storch, 1978; Storch and Martin, 1994). Somewhat younger taxa are known from the late Eocene of Central Asia (Cryptomanis gobiensis; Gaudin et al., 2006) and western North America (Patriomanis americana; Emry, 1970, 2004), and even younger pangolins derive from the Oligocene-Miocene of France and Germany (various species of Necromanis; Koenigswald, 1969, 1999; Koenigswald and Martin, 1990). By contrast, the record from Africa and from those parts of Asia where pangolins occur today is confined to the Pliocene and Pleistocene with one exception (discussed later) and is represented by less complete material (Guth, 1958; Emry, 1970; Botha and Gaudin, 2007). The first published cladistic study of pangolin phylogenetic relationships was conducted by Gaudin and Wible (1999). We based our study on the cranial anatomy of the seven extant pangolins plus the one fossil form represented by well-preserved cranial material, Patriomanis. This study confirmed the monophyly of the extant forms relative to Patriomanis. Szalay and Shrenk (1998) suggested that all well-known Laurasian fossil pangolins could be placed in the family Patriomanidae. However, Gaudin et al. (2006) noted that such a family was likely paraphyletic, and Storch (2003) suggested that Eomanis should be assigned to its own family, Eomanidae. A comprehensive phylogenetic study of pangolin interrelationships has been conducted (Gaudin, 2004; Gaudin et al., in press). The phylogenetic results of this study are illustrated in figure 31.1 and are consistent with the allocation of extant pangolins (perhaps plus closely allied Plio-Pleistocene forms) to the family Manidae,

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the allocation of Patriomanis, Cryptomanis, and Necromanis to the Patriomanidae, and Eomanis to the Eomanidae. As discussed elsewhere (Gaudin and Wible, 1999; Gaudin et al., in press), uncertainty has existed historically not only concerning the phylogenetic relationships among living and fossil pangolins, but also concerning the appropriate taxonomic arrangement of the living taxa, in particular the number of genera to which they should be assigned. The eight extant species have been placed in as many as six different genera (Pocock, 1924), although most recent taxonomies have placed them in a single genus, Manis (Barlow, 1984; Nowak, 1999; Schlitter, 2005). However, Patterson (1978) recognized two separate genera, and McKenna and Bell (1997) recognized four. Studies by Emry (1970) and Gaudin and Wible (1999) agreed that extant pangolins ought to be placed in multiple genera, but they did not make any formal taxonomic pronouncements pending more thorough systematic study. The phylogenetic study reported elsewhere (i.e., Gaudin, 2004; Gaudin et al., in press; see also figure 31.1) supports the allocation of the African ground pangolins to the genus Smutsia, the African arboreal pangolins to the genus

Phataginus, and the Asian pangolins to the genus Manis. These generic assignments are followed in the present study.

Systematic Paleontology The fossil record of pangolins in Africa is scant, although there is evidence that pangolins have occupied the continent since at least Oligocene times. Indeed, as noted by Pickford and Senut (1991), their record might be more substantive if paleontologists were better able to recognize the postcranial elements of these animals in the field and in existing collections. The published record is summarized here. Order PHOLIDOTA Weber, 1904 UNNAMED TAXON Gebo and Rasmussen, 1985 Figure 31.2

Age and Occurrence Fayum province, Egypt; Jebel Qatrani Formation (Gebo and Rasmussen, 1985). The Jebel Qatrani Formation is assigned an early Oligocene age by Gingerich (1992). Discussion Remains include two manual ungual phalanges with deeply divided, bifid tips like those characteristic of modern and most fossil pangolins (Gebo and Rasmussen, 1985). Although Pickford and Senut (1991) question this allocation, the overall morphology of these unguals resembles that of pangolins much more closely than other digging mammals with bifid unguals, and the identification thus seems reasonable based on the limited evidence available.

† † †

† †

“Eomanidae”

†

† †

FIGURE 31.1 Phylogeny of the Pholidota from Gaudin (2004) and Gaudin et al. (in press), based on analysis of 395 morphological characters drawn from the cranial and postcranial skeleton, scored for 15 in-group taxa. The results shown are a consensus of two most parsimonious trees derived from different character weighting schemes. Basal nodes for the families Manidae and Patriomanidae are labeled. Eomanidae is paraphyletic in this analysis and includes the putative anteater Eurotamandua. The order Pholidota includes all fossil pangolins, including eomanids and Eurotamandua. The Pholidotamorpha is a clade including both pholidotans and palaeanodonts, and it is equivalent to the “Order Pholidota” as defi ned by Emry (1970) and McKenna and Bell (1997).

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A) Isolated ungual phalanx in dorsal view, unnamed taxon from the Oligocene of Egypt (modified from Gebo and Rasmussen, 1985). B) Extant specimen of Smutsia gigantea, AMNH 53858, right femur, anterior view. C) S. gigantea, AMNH 53858, left humerus, anterior view. D) S. gigantea, AMNH 53858, left radius, anterior view. Scale bars equal 5 mm in A, 1 cm in B-D. FIGURE 31.2

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FIGURE 31.3 A) Smutsia temmincki. B) Skeleton of S. gigantea in left lateral view. Scale bars ⫽l 10 cm. B reprinted with permission from Rose et al., 2005.

Family MANIDAE Gray, 1821 Genus SMUTSIA Gray, 1865 SMUTSIA GIGANTEA Illinger, 1811 Figure 31.3

Age and Occurrence Langebaanweg, South Africa; Varswater Formation, early Pliocene (ca. 5 Ma; Hendey, 1973, 1976; Botha and Gaudin, 2007). Also Lake Albert Basin, Uganda; Warwire formation, late Pliocene (3.6–3.45 Ma; Pickford and Senut, 1991, 1994). Discussion The older remains from Langebaanweg are the more complete, consisting of a partial skeleton that includes portions of the skull, vertebral column, and limbs (Botha and Gaudin, 2007). Indeed, apart from the isolated unguals just discussed, this is the oldest pangolin skeletal material from the African fossil record and by far the most complete. The specimens exhibit a number of pathologies but otherwise closely resemble the extant pangolin species S. gigantea. The younger remains from Uganda consist of a single left radius, also assigned to S. gigantea (Pickford and Senut, 1991). Both the South African and Ugandan specimens are slightly smaller than extant S. gigantea. SMUTSIA cf. S. TEMMINCKII Smuts, 1832

Age and Occurrence Late Pleistocene (12–18 ka; Klein, 1972); Nelson Bay Cave, South Africa. Discussion Klein (1972) records the presence of a single individual that he ascribes to S. cf. temminckii. However, as noted by Botha and Gaudin (2007), this assignment has subsequently been questioned.

that includes Proboscidea, Hyracoidea, and anthropoid primates. As noted by Gaudin et al. (2006), the presence of ancient pangolins in the early Cenozoic of Africa would accord with morphology-based supraordinal phylogenies of placental mammals (e.g., Novacek and Wyss 1986), which support a sister-group relationship between Pholidota and the Gondwanan (South American) group Xenarthra. However, the fossil pangolin record as it is currently known better matches molecular-based phylogenies that link Pholidota to Laurasian groups, especially the Carnivora, within the clade Laurasiatheria (e.g., Delsuc et al., 2002; Springer et al., 2004). The oldest fossil pangolins, the greatest number of fossil pangolin taxa, and the best-preserved fossil pangolins are all to be found on the northern continents. Moreover, the putative sister group to the Pholidota, the Palaeanodonta, is also a Laurasian clade (Rose et al., 2005; Gaudin et al., in press). Thus the bulk of the evidence points to a Laurasian origin for pangolins, and implies that the absence of pangolins from the early Cenozoic of Africa is not simply an artifact of poor preservation or collection biases. Nevertheless, improvement of the Oligocene and Neogene record of pangolins should contribute significantly to the resolution of outstanding questions concerning the phylogenetic diversification and biogeographic origin of the Manidae itself. The biogeographic range of extant manids lies entirely outside the range of the Paleogene fossil taxa. The fossil record of undisputed manids in sub-Saharan Africa, where pangolins occur today, extends back only to the early Pliocene, as noted earlier. In Southeast Asia, the record does not extend back further than the Pleistocene (Emry, 1970). All but one of these Plio-Pleistocene fossils, the giant Asian pangolin Manis palaeojavanica, has been assigned to modern species. It remains unclear whether modern pangolins originated in Africa and subsequently migrated to Southeast Asia or the reverse. Pangolins persist in Europe until the Pliocene (Kormos, 1934), raising the possibility that both the extant African and Asian clades trace their origin back to Europe. Finally, substantial morphological differences exist between extant manids and fossil pangolins such as Cryptomanis (Gaudin et al., 2006) and Patriomanis (Emry, 1970, 2004; Rose and Emry, 1993; Gaudin and Wible, 1999). For example, Gaudin et al. (2006) point out that the proximal limb elements are more robust but the distal limb elements less robust in Cryptomanis when compared to modern forms. Furthermore, there is substantial diversity in the locomotor habits among modern pangolins. For example, members of the genus Phataginus are small arboreal taxa with elongate, prehensile tails, Smutsia gigantea is a terrestrial quadruped and a strong digger, whereas S. temminckii often walks bipedally and does very little digging (Kingdon, 1974, 1997). Therefore, improvements in the African fossil record for pangolins should provide insight into the evolution of morphological diversity within Manidae, and potentially the origin of derived morphologies that characterize the family as a whole.

Discussion ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

With only four published records, the African fossil record for pangolins is extremely poor. Yet the Oligocene Fayum record would appear to indicate that pangolins have been present in Africa for some 30 million years or more. Based on this record, Gebo and Rasmussen (1985) suggest that pangolins form part of the characteristic “old African” assemblage of mammals

I thank the editors for inviting me to contribute to this volume. I thank my artist, Julia Morgan Scott, for her always excellent work in preparing figures 31.1 and 31.3. Work on this manuscript was supported by National Science Foundation RUI Grant DEB 0107922.

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Literature Cited Barlow, J. C. 1984. Xenarthrans and pholidotes; pp. 219–239 in S. Anderson and J. Knox Jones, Jr. (eds.), Orders and Families of Recent Mammals of the World. Wiley, New York. Botha, J., and T. J. Gaudin. 2007. A new pangolin (Mammalia: Pholidota) from the Pliocene of Langebaanweg, South Africa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27:484–491. Delsuc, F., M. Scally, O. Madsen, M. J. Stanhope, W. W. de Jong, F. M. Catzefelis, M. S. Springer, and E. J. P. Douzery. 2002. Molecular phylogeny of living xenarthrans and the impact of character and taxon sampling on the placental tree rooting. Molecular Biology and Evolution 19:1656–1671. Emry, R. J. 1970. A North American Oligocene pangolin and other additions to the Pholidota. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 142:459–510. . 2004. The edentulous skull of the North American pangolin, Patriomanis americanus. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 285:130–138. Feiler, A. 1998. Das Philippinen-Schuppentier, Manis culionensis Elera, 1915, eine fast vergessene Art (Mammalia: Pholidota: Manidae). Zoologische Abhandlungen, Staatliche Naturhistorische Sammlungen, Dresden Museum für Tierkunde 50:161–164. Gaubert, P., and A. Antunes. 2005. Assessing the taxonomic status of the Palawan pangolin Manis culionensis (Pholidota) using discrete morphological characters. Journal of Mammalogy 86: 1068–1074. Gaudin, T. J. 2004. Phylogenetic analysis of extinct and extant pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and related taxa using postcranial data. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(suppl. to no. 3):63A. Gaudin, T. J., R. J. Emry, and B. Pogue. 2006. A new genus and species of pangolin (Mammalia, Pholidota) from the late Eocene of Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26:146–159. Gaudin, T. J., R. J. Emry, and J. R. Wible. In press. The phylogeny of living and extinct pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and associated taxa: A morphology-based analysis. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. Gaudin, T. J., and J. R. Wible. 1999. The entotympanic of pangolins and the phylogeny of the Pholidota (Mammalia). Journal of Mammalian Evolution 6:39–65. Gebo, D. L., and D. T. Rasmussen. 1985. The earliest fossil pangolin (Pholidota: Manidae) from Africa. Journal of Mammalogy 66:538–540. Gingerich, P. D. 1992. Marine mammals (Cetacea and Sirenia) from the Eocene of Gebel Mokattam and Fayum, Egypt: Stratigraphy, age and paleoenvironments. University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 30:1–84. Grassé, P. P. 1955. Ordre de Pholidotes; pp. 1267–1282 in P. P. Grassé (ed.), Traité de Zoologie, vol. 17, Mammifères. Masson et Cie, Paris. Guth, C. 1958. Pholidota; pp. 641–647 in J. Piveteau (ed.), Traité de Paléontologie, vol. 2, no. 6, Mammifères Évolution. Masson et Cie, Paris. Heath, M. E. 1992a. Manis pentadactyla. Mammalian Species 414:1–6. . 1992b. Manis temminckii. Mammalian Species 415:1–5. . 1995. Manis crassicaudata. Mammalian Species 513:1–4. Hendey, Q. B. 1973. Fossil occurrences at Langebaanweg, Cape Province. Nature 244:13–14. . 1976. The Pliocene fossil occurrences in “E” quarry, Langebaanweg, South Africa. Annals of the South African Museum 69:215–247. Kingdon, J. 1974. East African Mammals, vol. 1. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 446 pp. . 1997. The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 476 pp.

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Klein, R. G. 1972. The Late Quaternary mammalian fauna of Nelson Bay Cave (Cape Province, South Africa): Its implications for megafaunal extinctions and environmental and cultural change. Quaternary Research 2:135–142. Koenigswald, W. von. 1969. Die Maniden (Pholidota, Mamm.) des europäischen Tertiärs. Mitteilungen der Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Historische Geologie 9:61–71. . 1999. Order Pholidota; pp. 75–80. in G. E. Rössner and K. Heissig (eds.), The Miocene Land Mammals of Europe. Pfeil, Munich. Koenigswald, W. von, and T. Martin. 1990. Ein Skelett von Necromanis franconica, einem Schuppentier (Pholidota, Mammalia) aus dem Aquitan von Saulcet im Allier-Becken (Frankreich). Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 83:845–864. Kormos, T. 1934. Manis hungarica, n. sp., das erste Schuppentier aus dem europäischen Oberpliozän. Folia Zoologia et Hydrobiologia 6:87–94. McKenna, M. C., and S. K. Bell. 1997. Classification of Mammals above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. Novacek, M. J., and A. R. Wyss. 1986. Higher-level relationships of the recent eutherian orders: Morphological evidence. Cladistics 2:257–287. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker’s Mammals of the World. 6th ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1936 pp. Patterson, B. 1978. Pholidota and Tubulidentata; pp. 268–278 in V. J. Maglio and H. B. S. Cooke (eds.), Evolution of African Mammals. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. Pickford, M., and B. Senut. 1991. The discovery of a giant pangolin in the Pliocene of Uganda. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, Serie II, 313:827–830. . 1994. Fossil Pholidota of the Albertine Rift Valley, Uganda; pp. 259–260 in M. Pickford and B. Senut (eds.), Geology and Palaeobiology of the Albertine Rift Valley, Uganda-Zaire, Palaeobiology II. CIFEG Occasional Papers, Orleans. Pocock, R. I. 1924. The external characters of the pangolins (Manidae). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1924:707–723. Rose, K. D., and R. J. Emry. 1993. Relationships of Xenarthra, Pholidota, and fossil “edentates”: The morphological evidence; pp. 81–102 in F. S. Szalay, M. J. Novacek, and M. C. McKenna (eds.), Mammal Phylogeny: Placentals. Springer, New York. Rose, K. D., R. J. Emry, T. J. Gaudin, and G. Storch. 2005. Xenarthra and Pholidota; pp. 106–126 in K. D. Rose and J. D. Archibald (eds.), The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origins and Relationships of the Major Extant Clades. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Schlitter, D. A. 2005. Order Pholidota: pp. 530–531 in D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds.), Mammal Species of the World. 3rd ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. Springer, M. S., M. J. Stanhope, O. Madsen, and W. W. de Jong. 2004. Molecules consolidate the placental mammal tree. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:430–438. Storch, G. 1978. Eomanis waldi, ein Schuppentier aus dem MittelEozän der “Grube Messel” bei Darmstadt (Mammalia: Pholidota). Senckenbergiana Lethaea 59:503–529. . 2003. Fossil Old World “edentates”; pp. 51–60 in R.A. Fariña, S. F. Vizcaíno, and G. Storch (eds.), Morphological Studies in Fossil and Extant Xenarthra (Mammalia). Senckenbergiana Biologica 83. Storch, G., and T. Martin. 1994. Eomanis krebsi, ein neues Schuppentier aus dem Mittel-Eozän der Grube Messel bei Darmstadt (Mammalia: Pholidota). Berliner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen E 13:83–97. Swart, J. M., P. R. K. Richardson, and J. W. H. Ferguson. 1999. Ecological factors affecting the feeding behavior of pangolins (Manis temminckii). Journal of Zoology 247:281–292. Szalay, F. S., and F. Schrenk. 1998. The middle Eocene Eurotamandua and a Darwinian phylogenetic analysis of “edentates.” Kaupia: Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte 7:97–186.

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CHAP TER THIRT Y-T WO

Carnivora L ARS WERDELIN AND STÉPHANE PEIGNÉ

The order Carnivora has a shorter history in Africa than on any other continent except Australasia and South America. The definite record of the order on the African continent extends back to the Lower Miocene, though some earlier records may exist (discussed later). During this time, the order has diversified enormously, first as a result of migrations from Eurasia and later as a result of in situ speciation. Despite this, our knowledge of the history of African Carnivora still is poorer than for most continents, mainly due to the geographically biased fossil record on the African continent. For the Plio-Pleistocene, only parts of northern, eastern, and southern Africa have an adequate Carnivoran fossil record, and for the Miocene the situation is much worse, as only some time slices of this epoch have an adequate record in some parts of eastern Africa, with most of the rest of the continent simply a white spot on the map. Nevertheless, this review encompasses more than 100 genera and about twice that many species. The organization is by family (in standard order) and genus (in alphabetical order), with a series of subheadings providing the bulk of the information. These are as follows: Diagnosis We have tried to provide reasonable diagnoses of all genera. In most cases these have been taken from the original publications or from subsequent revisions. Many extant genera are diagnosed on the basis of soft-tissue characters, and for these we have tried to present provisional diagnoses based on craniodental information. These diagnoses should be treated as general indications only. African Species A list of the species of each genus that are known from the African fossil record. When “Genus sp.” is listed, this means that an unnamed species is known to differ significantly from all named species, or at least cannot comfortably be included in the named species. Age The approximate first and last appearance datums for each African genus (not including extra-African occurrences). Geographic Occurrence An alphabetical list of the African countries in which each genus has been found (again, extraAfrican occurrences are not included). Locality data are provided in the tabular material. Remarks Any comments of a mainly taxonomic nature that we have found to be relevant in our study of the various taxa.

We conclude with short sections on biogeography and migration patterns, based on the data we have collected in creating the review.

Systematic Paleontology Family AMPHICYONIDAE Haeckel, 1866 Genus AFROCYON Arambourg, 1961 Figure 32.1 and Table 32.1

Diagnosis Revised from Arambourg (1961). Amphicyonid of large size, comparable to Amphicyon giganteus or A. shahbazi; p4 simple with slightly enlarged talonid and distal accessory cuspid; m1 voluminous with posteriorly located metaconid, relatively short talonid, large hypoconid in buccal position; m2 with well-developed protoconid and hypoconid, entoconid reduced; m3 longer than wide, bilobed and two-rooted; mandibular corpus very tall and narrow. African Species A. burolleti Arambourg, 1961. Age Ca. 19–15 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Libya. Remarks The single species of the genus is known from a fragmentary and poorly preserved left hemimandible with

Afrocyon burolleti, type specimen (MNHN, no number) in buccal and occlusal views.

FIGURE 32.1

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Arrisdrift

X

Beni Mellal

cf.

Bled Douarah Beglia

cf.

Buluk

X X

Elisabethfeld

X

Escarpment (Gona)

X

Fejej

X

Fiskus

X

Fort Ternan

X

Grillental

X

Hamadi Das (Gona)

X

Hiwegi R 1

X

Hiwegi R 3

X

Hiwegi R 5

X

Hondeklip Bay Jebel Zelten

X

cf. X

Kiahera Hill Kipsaraman

X

X

Kalodirr X cf.

X

Koru

X

Kulu

X

X

Langental

X

Legetet

X

Lemudong’o

X

Lothagam Lower Nawata

X

Lothagam Upper Nawata

X

Maboko

X

Malembe

X

Mfwangano

X

Moroto II

?

Napak Ngorora Member D

X X

Nyamsingula

X

Oued Mya 1

X

Rusinga Samburu Hills Namurungule

X

Toros Menalla Wadi Moghra

X

X

Songhor


Ysengrinia sp.

X

Chamtwara

610

Ysengrinia ginsburgi

Myacyon dojambir

Cynelos sp.

Cynelos minor

Cynelos macrodon

Cynelos euryodon

Bonisicyon illacabo

Amphicyonidae sp. A

Amphicyonidae indet.

Amphicyon giganteus

Agnotherium sp.

Agnotherium kiptalami

Sites

Agnotherium antiquum

Afrocyon burolleti

ta b l e 3 2 .1 Occurrences of Amphicyonidae species

X X X

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p4–m3. Its main distinctive feature is the presence of a double-rooted m3, which is unique among Amphicyoninae. Due the fragmentary nature of the holotype, detailed comparison with other taxa must await future discoveries. Genus AGNOTHERIUM Kaup, 1833

Diagnosis Revised from Kurtén (1976). Amphicyonid of medium to large size, with felinoid characters: short snout, elongated upper canines, reduced anterior premolars, small, double-rooted P3, large P4 with small parastyle and reduced protocone; large M1–2; high-crowned, large p4, large m1 with trenchant trigonid, no metaconid, and reduced talonid with only a trenchant hypoconid crest; m2 reduced relative to m1 and lacking the paraconid; jaw deep. African Species A. cf. antiquum Kaup, 1833, A. kiptalami Morales and Pickford, 2005, A. sp. Age Ca. 14.8–9.5 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia. Remarks This genus shows a derived condition toward hypercarnivory, including reduced premolars and m2–3, m1 lacking metaconid and with a talonid formed solely by the hypoconid, and extreme reduction of the P4 protocone. The diagnosis proposed by Kurtén (1976) includes the absence of m3. However, material from Steinheim (Helbing, 1929: figure 1) and Frohnstetten (Kuss, 1962) clearly shows the alveolus for m3. In addition, the isolated m2 from Beni Mellal (Morocco) assigned to a form close to A. antiquum by Ginsburg (1977) has a small facet on its distal face that indicates the presence of an m3. There is considerable size variation in African Agnotherium, from the early and small species from Fort Ternan to later, larger forms such as Agnotherium kiptalami from Ngorora D or Agnotherium sp. cf. A. antiquum from Bled Douarah. The taxonomic status of the species from Fort Ternan is not yet clear. It is smaller than other Agnotherium and the m1 has a small metaconid (Morales and Pickford, 2005a; L.W., pers. obs.), whereas the metaconid is completely absent in all other known specimens of Agnotherium. Genus AMPHICYON Lartet, 1836

Diagnosis Translated and revised from Kuss (1965). Medium- to large-sized amphicyonids with dental formula I 3/3, C 1/1, P4/4, M 3/3; P1–3/p1–3 rounded, short, lacking posterior accessory cusps and with strong basal cingulum; p4 with posterior accessory cusps and sometimes a weak anterior bump; P4 somewhat shorter than m1, generally with a parastyle and a retracted and reduced protocone; m1 relatively low-crowned, paraconid somewhat truncated and with an anterior crest, metaconid reduced but always present, talonid wide with a tall hypoconid; M1 triangular or distally somewhat concave, lingual cingulum mostly present only posterior to the protocone; M2 and M3 relatively large; M2 enlarged and as wide or slightly wider than M1; m2 more or less rectangular, longer than wide, with vestigial paraconid and talonid shorter and narrower than trigonid. African Species A. giganteus (Schinz, 1825). Age Ca. 19–15 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Libya, Namibia. Remarks The genus is known from complete skeletons and many dental remains from North America and Europe. It is also known from many poorly characterized Asian species, the generic assignment of which requires confirmation (see review in Peigné et al., 2006). Although rare in Africa, the genus

potentially has a Pan-African distribution, since it is present in northern (Jebel Zelten; Ginsburg and Welcomme, 2002) and southern (Arrisdrift; Morales et al., 2003) Africa. In both cases, remains have been assigned to Amphicyon giganteus or a closely related species. A. giganteus is a large-sized generalized species based on dental remains from the middle Miocene of France. Specimens from Libya (distal humerus and astragalus) are assigned to Amphicyon sp. cf. A. giganteus on the basis of their overall size only, as these remains are not diagnostic at the species level in Amphicyon. The presence of A. giganteus at Arrisdrift is well supported, with a subcomplete mandible with p4–m2 and some metapodials (Morales et al., 2003). Genus BONISICYON Werdelin and Simpson, in press

Diagnosis From Werdelin and Simpson (in press). Amphicyonidae of small size; carnassial shear on m1 entirely mesiodistal; m1 hypoconid an elongated crest, separated from trigonid by a narrow postvallid notch and effectively a part of the carnassial shear; m1 metaconid in evidence only as a bulge on the lingual side of the protoconid; m1 relatively wide and bulbous at the base of the crown; m2 broad and short. African Species B. illacabo Werdelin and Simpson, in press. Age Ca. 7.5–5.5 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Ethiopia, Kenya. Remarks This genus and species brings together material of a small amphicyonid from a number of sites. It includes the material from the Upper Nawata Fm., Lothagam described by Werdelin (2003) as Amphicyonidae sp. B as well as the tooth described as Simocyon sp. from Lemudong’o by Howell and García (2007). Isolated teeth from Gona, Ethiopia, bear witness to the uniqueness of this taxon. Genus CYNELOS Jourdan, 1862

Diagnosis Translated and revised from Kuss (1965) and Hunt (1998a). Small- to large-sized amphicyonids with dental formula I 3/3, C 1/1, P 4/4, M 3/3; incisors tend to have accessory cusps; strong canines; long and slender premolars; p4 with posterior accessory cuspid only; M2–3 and m2–3 enlarged, with M2 only slightly more reduced than M1, and with the paracone as large or only slightly larger than the metacone; lower jaw slender. African Species C. euryodon (Savage, 1965), C. macrodon (Savage, 1965), C. minor Morales and Pickford, 2008, C. sp. Age Ca. 20.5–16 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Egypt, Kenya, Uganda. Remarks Cynelos is the most diverse amphicyonine genus with at least six species in North America and up to nine in Europe during the late Oligocene and Miocene, although there is no consensus about the generic assignment of some European species (Hunt, 1998a; Peigné and Heizmann, 2003). In Africa, Cynelos is by far the most common Amphicyonidae with two species. C. macrodon is known only from isolated teeth but C. euryodon, the smallest African species, is wellknown from several early Miocene localities in Uganda and Kenya. The arrival of Cynelos coincides with the first wave of migrations of Carnivora to Africa. Recently, Morales et al. (2007) proposed resurrecting Hecubides for the African species. In our opinion, these authors demonstrate the distinction between Cynelos euryodon and C. lemanensis only. Given the fragmentary nature of the known material, we see no strong support for a generic distinction of African Cynelos. Genus MYACYON Sudre and Hartenberger, 1992

THIRT Y-T WO: CAR NIVOR A


611

1/22/10 3:17:28 AM

Diagnosis Translated and modified from Sudre and Hartenberger (1992). Amphicyonid of large size characterized by its sectorial molars; m1 large with an elongated talonid, strong protoconid with tall, strong trenchant anterior crest, paraconid indistinct and separated from protoconid by a very weak notch (visible on the buccal margin of the anterior crest), metaconid reduced and situated slightly posteriorly, talonid short, with a strong, crested hypoconid and a smaller, poorly developed entoconid situated far distally and lacking crest; m2 short and oblong, with protoconid trenchant, no paraconid, poorly developed metaconid situated at the level of the protoconid, and talonid short and narrower than the trigonid, with a strong hypoconid but no entoconid; trigonid of m1 and m2 with a strong buccal cingulum. African Species M. dojambir Sudre and Hartenberger, 1992. Age Ca. 11.2–9 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Algeria. Remarks This species is represented by a fragmentary right hemimandible with m1–m2 (m3 not yet erupted). This is a very large species that reached the size of the largest species of Amphicyon, A. ingens from North America (Hunt, 2003). As previously pointed out (Sudre and Hartenberger, 1992), Myacyon has nothing to do with any of the known Amphicyoninae. It remains a geographically and morphologically isolated species in northern Africa. Genus YSENGRINIA Ginsburg, 1965

Diagnosis Modified from Hunt (1998a). Medium- to largesized amphicyonid with dental formula I 3/3, C 1/1, P 4/4, M 3/3. P1–3/p1–3 low, reduced and lacking accessory cuspids; p4 tall with well-developed posterior accessory cuspid; robust, massive m1 trigonid with strongly reduced metaconid, talonid dominated by a centrally to buccally placed, prominent hypoconid crest and a reduced entoconid; M2–3/m2–3 not enlarged relative to M1/m1 like in, for example, Amphicyon; m2 elliptical in occlusal view, short, with large trigonid comprising a vestigial paraconid, strong protoconid, reduced metaconid, and low, short, posteriorly tapering talonid with a prominent hypoconid crest but no entoconid; mandibular corpus robust and tall, especially anteriorly. African Species Y. ginsburgi Morales et al., 1998; Ysengrinia sp. Age Ca. 20–17 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Namibia, South Africa. Remarks The only African species of Ysengrinia is known through dental and postcranial remains from Arrisdrift (Morales et al., 1998, 2003). There are many morphological differences between this species and the type species Y. gerandiana (Heizmann and Kordikova, 2000; Peigné and Heizmann, 2003), notably the more reduced size of p4 relative to m1 in the African species. The species assigned to Ysengrinia do not really form a homogeneous group (especially with the inclusion of poorly known species such as Y. depereti and Y. valentiana), and a detailed analysis shows many differences between them (Peigné and Heizmann, 2003). AMPHICYONIDAE indet.

Age Ca. 20.5–5.5 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Angola, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda.

Remarks The earliest and the latest occurences of the Amphicyonidae in Africa are documented by indeterminate remains. 612


An isolated incisor, particularly difficult to assign precisely, is known from Malembe (Hooijer, 1963). Though assigned to cf. Amphicyon, this tooth could equally belong to Cynelos. Aside from Bonisicyon illacabo, Lothagam includes a large amphicyonid (size of A. giganteus) from the Lower Nawata Fm., known from an upper molar and fragmentary postcranial elements. Other records of Amphicyonidae are mentions in faunal lists that require confirmation. Thus, ?Cynelos sp. may be present in the early middle Miocene site of Moroto II, Uganda (Pickford et al., 2003), but here we consider it an undetermined amphicyonid. One exception is the recent description of new material from the Namurungule Fm. (Samburu Hills) that includes lower teeth of a large Carnivore assigned to Amphicyonidae or Ursidae (Tsujikawa 2005). Illustrations of the specimens show that they belong to an amphicyonid. The author suggests close relationships to Agnotherium, but in our opinion, the m2 is much more similar to that of Ysengrinia spp. (especially Y. gerandiana and Y. americana) in having an elliptical outline, a posteriorly tapering talonid with a prominent, laterally placed hypoconid, and a distinct buccal cingulum. The m2 from Samburu Hills is, however, larger in size and more elongated than in Ysengrinia, and, above all, it comes from geologically much younger strata. In addition, the p4 of the same individual differs from that of Ysengrinia in lacking accessory cuspids. The absence of the posterior accessory cuspid on p4 is a derived feature of Pseudarctos bavaricus and Ictiocyon socialis, two much smaller species with an m2 that is morphologically distinct from the Samburu Hills amphicyonid. The species from Namurungule may represent a new species, but additional remains are necessary to confirm this hypothesis. Family URSIDAE Fischer, 1817 Genus AGRIOTHERIUM Wagner, 1837 Table 32.2

Diagnosis Modified from Hunt (1998c). Large-sized ursine with dental formula I 3/3, C 1/1, P 3–4/2–4, M 2/3; sexually dimorphic; short-snouted robust skull, somewhat brachycephalic; palate wide; premolar toothrow much shortened with anterior premolars reduced in size, single rooted, and low crowned; P4 robust, with strong parastylar cusp and protocone shelf; M2 with only rudimentary talon; m1–2 cusp pattern variable; premasseteric fossa present; symphyseal region of lower jaw ventrally produced as a “chin”; long-footed, plantigrade limbs. African Species A. africanum Hendey, 1980, A. aecuatorialis Morales et al., 2005, A. sp. Age Ca. 6.3–4 Ma. Geographic Occurrence ?D. R. Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, South Africa, Uganda. Remarks This genus has a stratigraphic range in Africa from the latest Miocene to the early Pliocene. Though generally rare, it was successful and spread through the entire continent. The Muishondfontein Pelletal Phosphorite Mb. of the Varswater Fm. of Langebaanweg has yielded a large number of cranial, dental and postcranial specimens of Agriotherium africanum, representing a minimum of 14 individuals. The ursid from Sahabi, previously identified as Indarctos sp. (Howell, 1987), is probably a close relative of this species (Morales et al., 2005). The possible record of the genus from the upper member of the Sinda Beds of the Democratic Republic of Congo (late Miocene to Pliocene) is speculative given the available material (Yasui et al., 1992). Additional material is also known from early Pliocene sites in Ethiopia (L.W., pers. obs.).

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Afalou bou Rhummel

X

Ahl al Oughlam

cf.

Ain Bahya III

X

Ain Rouina

cf.

Ali Bacha Aramis

X cf.

Babors

X

Bouknadel

X

Boulhaut

X

Brèche entre Oran et Mers-el-Kébir

X

Djebel Thaya

X

Doukkala I

X

Douar Debagh

X

El Khenzira

X

El Ksiba

X

Fort Bourdonneau

X

Grotte de l’Akouker

X

Grotte d’Os (Djurdjura)

X

Grotte de l’Ours (Djurdjura)

X

Grotte des Ours (Constantine)

X

Grotte des Ours G0 (Casablanca)

X

Grotte du Mouflon (Constantine)

X

Hadar Denen Dora

X

Hadar Kada Hadar

X

Khifan bel Ghomari

X

Koobi Fora Lonyumun

?

Koobi Fora Tulu Bor

X

L’Anou Tenechiji

X

L’Ifri en Terga Roumi

X

La Madeleine

X

La Pointe Pescade

X X

Les Falaises

X

Menacer

aff.

Nachukui Lower Lomekwi

X

Nkondo

X

Oulad Hamida 1—rhino cave

X

Oulad Hamida Th III—H. erectus

X

Rusinga Sahabi Sagantole Fm.

X cf. X

Sidi Abderrahmane Sinda

X X

Takouatz Guerrissène

X



X

X

Koobi Fora Okote

Langebaanweg PPM

Ursus sp.

Ursus etruscus

Ursus arctos

Ursidae indet.

Indarctos arctoides

Hemicyon sp.

Agriotherium sp.

Agriotherium africanum

Sites

Agriotherium aecuatorialis

ta b l e 3 2 . 2 Occurrences of Ursidae species

613

1/22/10 3:17:28 AM

Tamar Hat

X

Ternifi ne

X

Thomas I—H. erectus cave

X

Thomas II

X

Thomas III

Ursus sp.

X

Toulkine

X

Tugen Mabaget

X

Genus HEMICYON Lartet, 1851

Diagnosis Translated and modified from Ginsburg and Morales (1998). Mid- to large-sized species of Hemicyoninae with dental formula I 3/3, C 1/1, P 4/4, M 2/3; m1 talonid simple and nearly symmetrical, talonid groove shallow and roughly axial; P4 with paracone anterobuccally inflated and without anterobuccal cingulum; M1 subrectangular; M2 tends to be oval in shape; P4 protocone elongated; lower premolars simple; m1 with a strong metaconid well separated from the protoconid; talonid shallow, with low hypoconid and lingual tubercles of the talonid poorly or not developed; m2 generally broader than m1, with protoconid and metaconid very prominent; m3 small, low, with only protoconid and metaconid developed. African Species H. sp. Age Ca. 18–17 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Kenya. Remarks Hemicyon belongs to the Hemicyoninae, traditionally considered a subfamily of Ursidae. It is known in Africa from a single tooth, a P4 from the early Miocene of Rusinga (Schmidt-Kittler, 1987), which is only slightly younger than the earliest, much smaller, Eurasian species of the genus, H. gargan (Ginsburg and Morales, 1998). Schmidt-Kittler (1987) rightly casts doubts on the generic assignment of the Rusinga tooth, arguing that his specimen compares well with an isolated P4 from Wintershof-West (early Miocene, Germany) that is now assigned to another hemicyonine, Phoberocyon dehmi (Ginsburg and Morales, 1998). Genus INDARCTOS Pilgrim, 1913

Diagnosis Modified from Hunt (1998c). Mid- to large-sized ursid, sexually dimorphic with dental formula I 3/3, C 1/1, P 4/4, M 2/3; skull dolichocephalic and snout short; P1/ p1–P3/p3 well developed in earlier species and reduced in size


X

X

Tighenif

614

Ursus etruscus

Ursus arctos

Ursidae indet.

Indarctos arctoides

Hemicyon sp.

Agriotherium sp.

Sites

Agriotherium africanum

Agriotherium aecuatorialis

ta b l e 3 2 . 2 (c o n t i n u e d)

but nearly always present and single rooted in advanced species; P4 robust with parastylar cusp present but usually not as developed as in Agriotherium; molars low crowned; M2 with elongate talon; protoconid-metaconid-entoconid- entoconulid of m1 aligned in smooth descending curve; premasseteric fossa absent; anterior part of lower jaw tapers forward, not as squared off and blunt as in Agriotherium; “chin” present only in old individuals; plantigrade. African Species I. aff. arctoides (Depéret, 1895). Age Ca. 7.1–5.3 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Algeria. Remarks Apart from the Hemicyon sp. from Rusinga, Indarctos is the earliest ursid in Africa. It is known through a single record from Menacer, late Miocene of Algeria (Petter and Thomas, 1986). The genus has also been identified from Sahabi (Howell, 1987) but assignment of this material is debatable, and this record is here assigned to Agriotherium. According to Howell (1987), two genera, Agriotherium and Indarctos, are present at Sahabi, mainly based on the size variability of the sample. However, size alone cannot be used to distinguish the strongly sexually dimorphic species of the two genera. It is therefore most probable that only one genus (Agriotherium) is present at the Libyan locality. Genus URSUS Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis Modified from Hunt (1998c). Mid- to largesized ursid; sexually dimorphic, with dental formula I 3/3, C 1/1, P 2–4/1–4, M 2/3; skull dolichocephalic; no premasseteric fossa; m2 shorter than m1 in earlier forms but m2 later increasing to exceed m1 length; great elongation of m2–3/ M1–2; Pleistocene forms exhibit twinning of metaconid of m1–m2 and considerable widening of m2–3 relative to m1. African Species U. cf. etruscus Cuvier, 1823, U. arctos Linnaeus, 1758, U. sp. Age Ca. 2.5 Ma–Holocene. Geographic Occurrence Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia.

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Remarks Ursus originated in Eurasia and reached Africa in the mid-Pliocene. It is only known from the Maghreb, where it became extinct around the mid-19th century (Servheen et al., 1998; Nowak, 2005, p. 124). The earliest record of the genus, Ursus sp. cf. U. etruscus, is from the mid-Pliocene site of Ahl al Oughlam. The presence of a form close to this typical Villafranchian Eurasian bear in northwestern Africa supports a migration event from Europe, possibly through Spain and the Gibraltar Strait, where the species is known from as early as the early Pliocene of Layna (Fraile et al., 1997). A large number of Pleistocene to Holocene records of Ursus spp. are known from northern Africa, especially from Morocco and Algeria (Hamdine et al., 1998). URSIDAE indet.

Age Ca. 4.4– 0.7 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Algeria, Ethiopia, Kenya. Remarks At least one species of undescribed ursine is represented by postcranial material from several members at Hadar, Koobi Fora and West Turkana (Werdelin and Lewis, 2005). Family CANIDAE Fischer, 1817 Genus CANIS Linnaeus, 1758 Table 32.3

Diagnosis Modified after Munthe (1998). Canids of large size; shorter, broader face than Vulpes; wide zygomatic arches; width of skull across widest part of arches equal to at least half the length of the skull; frontal sinuses enlarged and invading the postorbital processes; incisors with accessory cusps and I3 enlarged; P4 about the same length as M1, no parastyle; m1 talonid with crest uniting hypoconid and entoconid. African Species C. adustus Sundevall, 1847, C. atrox Broom, 1948, C. aureus Linnaeus, 1758, C. brevirostris Ewer, 1956, C. falconeri Forsyth Major, 1877, C. mesomelas Schreber, 1776, C. pictus (Temminck, 1820), C. sp. Age Ca. 3.5 Ma–Recent. Geographic Occurrence Algeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia. Remarks The genus Canis (here including Lycaon) is widely distributed in Africa today. Modern Canis are cursorial, openhabitat adapted taxa. This is likely to have been true in the past as well and may explain their relative scarcity as fossils, since such habitats seem to be underrepresented in the carnivoran fossil record of Africa. The record of Canis sp. from South Turkwel is, at ca. 3.5 Ma, one of the oldest for the genus outside North America (Werdelin and Lewis, 2000; Tedford et al., in press). Genus EUCYON Tedford and Qiu, 1996 Figure 32.2A

Diagnosis Modified after Tedford and Qiu (1996). Skull with frontal sinus invading the base of the postorbital process, usually removing the “vulpine-crease” on the dorsal surface of the process; paroccipital process expanded posteriorly, usually with a salient tip; mastoid process enlarged into a knob or ridgelike prominence; lacking foxlike lateral flare and eversion of the dorsal border of the orbital part of the zygoma; lacking a transverse cristid connecting the hypoconid and entoconid of the m1 talonid; second posterior cusplet present on p4. African Species E. intrepidus Morales et al., 2005, E. minimus Haile-Selassie et al., in press, E. wokari García, 2008, E. sp. (figure 32.2A).

Age Ca. 6.1–2.6 Ma. Geographic Occurrence Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa.

Remarks The genus Eucyon was originally erected for some Eurasian and North American species transitional between the primitive Leptocyon spp. and derived Canis (Tedford and Qiu, 1996). E. intrepidus from the Lukeino Fm., Kenya, recently described by Morales et al. (2005), is the oldest known representative of the genus in Africa. It is based on isolated teeth, but these are diagnostic for the genus. A second possible record of this species from Lemudong’o in Kenya has recently been described by Howell and García (2007). Recently, García (2008) has described the new species E. wokari from the early Pliocene of Ethiopia (Aramis and Kuseralee). More complete material of Eucyon sp. is known from Langebaanweg (figure 32.2A), in the form of a skull, mandibles, and postcranial elements of more than one individual (Spassov and Rook, 2006). Eucyon is also known from the much younger site of Ahl al Oughlam, where material described by Geraads (1997) as Canis aff. aureus at least in part is attributable to Eucyon sp. (but see Geraads, 2008). Genus NYCTEREUTES Temminck, 1838 Figures 32.2B and 32.2C

Diagnosis Modified after Ward and Wurster-Hill (1990). Skull small, greatest length >100 kg). These giant otters were distributed from Egypt to South Africa, including a great diversity in eastern Africa. The Canidae are exclusive to North America until the late Miocene, after which Eucyon- and Vulpes-like taxa appear in western Europe, Asia, and Africa. Our knowledge of the Canidae in Africa is still limited though rapidly improving. Recently, Morales et al. (2005) described from Lukeino (ca. 6 Ma) what was then the oldest canid of Africa, Eucyon intrepidus. Even more recently, however, a foxlike canid has been discovered from older sediments in Chad (Toros-Menalla, ca. 7 Ma; Bonis et al., 2007). The family reaches southern Africa in the early

Pliocene and northwestern Africa in the mid-Pliocene. The final radiation of the Canidae (Caninae) in the Pleistocene is seen mainly in eastern Africa, but also in South Africa and Algeria. The Viverridae and the Herpestidae are among the first immigrants to Africa during the early Miocene and are first known from the same eastern African localities (e.g., Koru, Napak, Rusinga, Songhor). Viverrids are found in northern (Egypt) and southern (Namibia) parts of the continent soon after, but remain rare or absent during the middle Miocene, with a few records in Kenya (Fort Ternan, Ngorora), Morocco (Beni Mellal), and Namibia (Arrisdrift), and are only slightly more abundant during the late Miocene in Ethiopia (Chorora, Adu-Asa), Kenya (Lothagam, Lukeino), and Chad (Toros-Menalla). After the early Miocene records, herpestids are nearly absent in Africa until the end of the Miocene. Solitary mongooses (Galerella and Ichneumia) are first found in the late Miocene of Chad (only record for central Africa) and Kenya. Social mongooses (Helogale) appear in Africa in the latest Miocene of Ethiopia (Adu Asa Fm.). Plio-Pleistocene taxa show greater diversity than today and are known mainly from eastern (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania) and South Africa. In addition to these areas, modern mongooses are known only from a single northern African site (mid-Pliocene, Morocco). The Hyaenidae has a particularly rich and diverse fossil record in Africa, which strongly contrasts with the present low diversity (four extant species). In contrast to many families, the oldest hyaenids in Africa are from northern Africa, with Hyaenictis ?graeca, Protictitherium punicum, P. crassum, and Lycyaena crusafonti, all from roughly contemporaneous, late middle–early late Miocene localities of Morocco (Beni Mellal) and Tunisia (Bled Douarah). Protictitherium expands its range southwards to Kenya (Namurungule). A hyaenid fauna composed of Chasmaporthetes, Ikelohyaena, Hyaenictis, Hyaenictitherium, Ictitherium, and Adcrocuta, of which the latter never reaches sub-Saharan Africa, characterizes the late Miocene–earliest Pliocene. Except for Chasmaporthetes and Ikelohyaena, all these genera become extinct ca. 5 mya ago, while bone-cracking species of Crocuta, Pliocrocuta, Pachycrocuta, Parahyaena, and Hyaena appear soon after this date. The Percrocutidae is represented in Africa by two genera, Dinocrocuta and Percrocuta. Many records are late middle Miocene in age, with the oldest being from Kenya (Percrocuta sp. from Fort Ternan and P. tobieni from Ngorora). Slightly younger records of Percrocuta are from Tunisia (Bled Douarah) and Kenya (Nakali, Namurungule). Dinocrocuta is slightly younger and is found at early late Miocene localities of Algeria and Kenya. The last records of the family are from the latest Miocene. The Felidae was a very diverse family, with at least 15 genera and 35 taxa. Including undetermined material would certainly raise the total number of felid species to over 40. The Felidae first appears in Africa during the early Miocene. The family therefore has a long history on this continent though the distribution is, as for other families, very heterogeneous. About 90% of the occurences are in eastern or southern Africa. The subfamily Machairodontinae, which includes the sabertooth taxa, first appears in the late middle Miocene and becomes extinct during the middle Pleistocene. For more than 10 million years, sabertooth cats were diverse (they account for about half of the total number of African species of Felidae) and significant members of the large predator guild. They had their greatest



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diversity during the late Miocene–early Pliocene with about 10 species, most of which were large-sized taxa. Extant genera and species have a fossil record restricted to the Pliocene (after ca. 4.3 Ma).

Migration Patterns As noted, the Carnivora arrives in Africa in the Lower Miocene or slightly earlier, which is quite late in the history of the order. Clearly, their arrival in Africa was due to a migration event, from either Europe or Asia, or both. Throughout the history of Carnivora in Africa, there has been a series of such events, both into and out of Africa. Although the fossil record biases the data, a number of these events are distinct and broadly associated with tectonic and climatic trends of the Neogene The first such event occurred some 20 Ma ago. It involved members of the families Amphicyonidae, Ursidae, Felidae, Mustelidae, Herpestidae, Viverridae, and Barbourofelidae. The latter two families may have migrated from Asia via Africa to Europe, while the other five most likely are immigrants from Europe. There is no evidence for size sorting during this event, as it involves both very small (e.g., Herpestidae) and very large (e.g., Amphicyonidae) taxa. This event is broadly correlative with the first land passage between Africa and Eurasia, the so-called Gomphotherium land bridge (Rögl, 1998), a result of the isolation of the Indo-Pacific from the Paratethys during the later part of sea level cycle TB2.1 (Haq et al., 1987, 1988). The next event occurs prior to 14 Ma and involves immigration of the family Percrocutidae, the subfamily Mustelinae (earlier mustelids are of uncertain subfamily, but possibly Lutrinae), the amphicyonid genus Agnotherium, and the lutrine Vishnuonyx, the latter of which almost certainly arrived from the Indian subcontinent. The paleogeography of this time is very similar to the time of the Gomphotherium land bridge, with the Indo-Pacific and Paratethys once again isolated from one another during sea level cycle TB2.4, which is dated ca. 15–13.8 Ma (Berggren et al., 1995). Again, no clear size sorting is discernible during this event. The third event occurred prior to 10 Ma and involved the family Hyaenidae and the genus Machairodus, with the latter appearing nearly simultaneously in Eurasia and Africa. This event seems to have involved the immigration to Africa of mainly medium- to large-sized species and is associated with sea-level cycles TB2.6 (ca. 12.5–11.3 Ma) and TB3.1 (ca. 11.3– 8.9 Ma). It should be noted that as presently reconstructed, there is no direct land connection between Africa and Europe at this time, and exchange between these continents may have occurred via an easterly route around the Paratethys. The next event occurred prior to ca 7.5 Ma and involves a series of genus-level taxa: the ursids Indarctos and Agriotherium, the mustelids Plesiogulo and Sivaonyx, the hyaenids Adcrocuta, Chasmaporthetes, and Hyaenictis, and the felid Metailurus. All these are relatively large taxa, indicating significant size sorting. Agriotherium and Sivaonyx appear more or less simultaneously in Africa and Eurasia. This event may also, if recent data are accurate, involve the family Canidae as the last carnivoran family to migrate into Africa. It is broadly correlative with sea-level cycle TB3.3, ca. 7.2–5.3 Ma. The Pliocene also saw a series of carnivoran migration events, but this time mainly out of Africa. The first such event occurred ca 4.5–4 Ma and involved migration into Africa of the canid genus Nyctereutes and migration out of Africa of the felid genera Megantereon and Homotherium. All these are medium- to large-sized taxa. The event may be correlated

658


with sea level cycle TB3.4, ca. 4.1–5.6 Ma, but it is more likely that at this point migrations were climatically rather than tectonically mediated, as the paleogeography changes very little after the middle Upper Miocene. An additional set of genera of medium- to large sized carnivorans migrates out of Africa ca. 3.5 Ma: the canid Canis, the hyaenid Pachycrocuta, and the felid Acinonyx. A final event occurs before ca 2 Ma and involves migration out of Africa of the hyaenid genera Hyaena and Crocuta and the felid genus Panthera. At this time the mustelid genus Aonyx may have migrated to Africa, but this is very uncertain. Except Aonyx these are all large-sized taxa. In summary, carnivoran migrations in the Miocene appear to be mainly into Africa and to be tectonically controlled. The earliest migrations show no size sorting, but gradually migrations appear to involve mostly medium- to large-sized taxa. In the Pliocene, migrations are mainly out of Africa and are climatically controlled. They involve mostly medium- to large-sized taxa.

Conclusions Despite their late appearance, the Carnivora have diversified greatly on the African continent, as shown in the present compilation. At the same time, the geographic and temporal biases in the material show just how much remains to be discovered. The Plio-Pleistocene, up to about one million years ago, is reasonably well-known for some African regions, but the origin of the extant fauna is obscure (Werdelin and Lewis, 2005). The latest Miocene has seen a tremendous upswing in interest and discoveries in the last few years (Werdelin, 2003; Haile-Selassie et al., 2004b; Morales et al., 2005; Howell and García, 2007), and we hope that in the next decade a similar upswing will occur for the middle Miocene, which is very poorly known. One aspect of carnivoran evolution in Africa that is becoming evident as new discoveries accumulate is the importance of Africa to the evolution of carnivorans elsewhere. Though we would perhaps not go quite as far as Pickford (2004), it is becoming clear that important PlioPleistocene carnivoran taxa such as Canis, Homotherium, Acinonyx, Panthera, and others may have had an African origin, or at least that Africa was important to their gobal diversification. This makes the factors allowing intermittent migration of mammals out from Africa of critical importance for understanding the origin and composition of modern carnivoran guilds in the Old World and in some cases North America. Carnivorans are also important in the evolutionary history of our own genus (Turner, 1984), and hence understanding carnivoran evolution will help in understanding human evolution as well. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank all those many people who collected, curated, and initially described the specimens on which the taxa incorporated in this chapter are based. We would also like to thank many colleagues for fruitful discussions over the years about carnivores and African paleontology. L.W. would like to thank Susanne Cote, Meave Leakey, Margaret Lewis, Jorge Morales, and Martin Pickford for help that significantly improved the chapter, and the Swedish Research Council for a series of grants that made the work possible. S.P. would like to thank the Swedish Museum of Natural History

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and financial support through the Synthesys project (SE-TAF 1380), which was made available by the European Community’s Research Infrastructure Action under the FP6 “Structuring the European Research Area” Program. APPENDIX

This appendix contains details of the analysis presented in table 32.12. For Canidae, we include Fennecus in Vulpes and Lycaon in Canis (see Werdelin and Lewis, 2005); for Ursidae, we consider Ursus as extinct in Africa; for Mustelidae, we consider, following current use, Paraonyx as used by Savage a junior synonym of Aonyx and Poecilictis to be a junior synonym of Ictonyx; Viverridae in Savage are now separated into four families (Viverridae, Herpestidae, Nandiniidae, and Eupleridae); Stenoplesictidae is not regarded as valid here. The differences from Savage concern the Herpestidae, in which we recognize Galerella, Paracynictis, Liberiictis, and Dologale as valid genera and Xenogale as a junior synonym of Herpestes, and the African Viverridae, in which we follow current usage by considering Osbornictis a junior synonym of Genetta. Differences among the Hyaenidae are due to the recognition of Parahyaena as distinct from Hyaena and the recognition of the Percrocutidae as a distinct family. For Felidae, we recognize Barbourofelidae as a distinct family. For extant genera, we follow recent systematists and recognize Caracal, Leptailurus, and Profelis as valid genera distinct from Felis; species number may be difficult to establish because of the many indeterminate records. Like Savage (1978), we attempt here to include some of them. Species numbers are therefore a lowest estimate that will increase when better material is found to document indeterminate or poorly known taxa. We report evidence that supports the recognition of new taxa in addition to the named species. For Amphicyonidae, we have 10 species and consider that Amphicyonidae indet. (including sp. A) includes at least one additional species. For Ursidae, in addition to the five named species, there are at least two additional species: (1) a new ursine to be described from East Africa; (2) the hemicyonine species from Rusinga. For Canidae, in addition to the 20 named species, we have added 2 species, considering (1) that Canis sp. includes at least one new species (from Turkwel and possibly Laetoli); other, more recent mentions may be referred to either of the previously described species; (2) that Canidae indet. from the Mursi Formation probably represents a species new for the continent. For Mustelidae, in addition to the 32 named species, we consider that Mustelidae indet. includes at least one additional species. For Viverridae, some undetermined mentions certainly represent new taxa (especially from Koobi Fora). The exact number is not possible to establish, but we consider that Viverridae indet. comprises at least two additional species. For Herpestidae, we have included only the named species. For Percrocutidae, we did not consider Percrocuta from Namurungule Fm. as a distinct species. For Hyaenidae, in addition to the 27 named species, we have considered as distinct species (1) in Hyaenidae indet., Hyaenidae indet. E from Langebaanweg; and (2) that at least one record of Proteles sp. may correspond to the extant species Proteles cristatus. For Barbourofelidae, we did not recognize Barbourofelidae indet. from Namurungule as a distinct species because of a possible identity with Vampyrictis of the same age. For Felidae, in addition to the 27 named species (Megantereon ekidoit/whitei does not correspond to a species

but represents uncertainty of assignment), 2 species have been added, considering that (1) Felis sp. certainly includes at least one species distinct from Felis silvestris lybica and (2) that Felidae indet., especially the record from Songhor, certainly includes another one. For pinnipeds, “living genera” include those that are frequently observed along the African coasts that is, Monachus monachus, Arctocephalus pusillus, and A. tropicalis (Nowak, 2003). In addition to the six named species, we have considered that ?Mirounga sp. from Ryskop certainly represents a species distinct from the M. leonine.

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CHAP TER THIRT Y-THREE

Chalicotheriidae MARGERY C. COOMBS AND SUSANNE M. COTE

Chalicotheres are an unusual group of extinct fossil perissodactyls that, despite a dentition suited for a herbivorous diet, had claws on their digits instead of hooves. The group first appeared in the Eocene, reached its highest diversity in the Miocene, and went extinct in the Pleistocene. Chalicotheres seem to have undergone much of their diversification in Asia but are also found in Europe, Africa, and North America. Oligocene and later chalicotheres belong to the family Chalicotheriidae (sensu Coombs, 1989), which includes two subfamilies, the Chalicotheriinae and Schizotheriinae. The Chalicotheriinae have relatively short, low-crowned cheek teeth and strangely proportioned, gorilla-like bodies in which the forelimbs are much longer than the hindlimbs (Zapfe, 1979); they appear to have lived primarily in moist forested environments and never reached North America. Schizotheriinae have longer, higher-crowned cheek teeth and more typical ungulate (somewhat okapi-like) body proportions; they are found in a variety of depositional environments from moist forests to drier, more open, treed areas. They reached North America via Bering connections in the Miocene. There has been much debate about the use of the claws in chalicotheres. It is likely that chalicotheres browsed in an upright bipedal position. They may have used their clawed digits to hook down branches and bring them within reach of the mouth (Zapfe, 1979; Coombs, 1983), tear off branches, cut up fruit, or debark trees (Koenigswald, 1932; Geraads et al., 2006), or uproot trees (Schaub, 1943). Feeding appears to have involved browsing (in the broad sense) on some combination of leaves, fruit, bark, and twigs, depending on the taxon and prevailing environmental conditions. The presence of chalicotheres in a fauna is usually thought to be an indicator of some trees and shrubs in the vicinity. Dental mesowear studies of several European Miocene chalicotheres by Schulz et al. (2007) suggested an abrasive dietary component. These authors interpreted the abrasive part of the diet in terms of bark and twigs. Coombs and Semprebon (2005) suggested on the basis of low-magnification stereoscopic dental microwear that both bark/twig feeding and fruit consumption were significant abrasive factors in various chalicothere diets; a more complete microwear study is pending. African Chalicotheriidae, represented sequentially by both the Chalicotheriinae and Schizotheriinae, are found from the

early Miocene into the Pleistocene (figure 33.1). Chalicothere fossils are rare and in Africa are known mostly from fragmentary remains. Fortunately, many of their skeletal elements are distinctive enough to allow them to be identified from isolated bones, particularly those of the manus and pes. Virtually all known African members of the Chalicotheriinae are restricted to the early Miocene and belong to a single, relatively basal species, Butleria rusingensis. Later African chalicotheres belong to the Schizotheriinae and have been referred to three species: Ancylotherium hennigi, Ancylotherium cheboitense, and “Chemositia” tugenensis. Ancylotherium hennigi was the last surviving member of the Schizotheriinae worldwide. ABBREVIATIONS

BMNH, British Museum of Natural History (now The Natural History Museum), London; BPI, Bernard Price Institute for Paleontological Research, Johannesburg; BSPG, Bayerischen Staatssamlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie, Munich; CMK, Community Museums of Kenya, Nairobi; IPMH, Institut für Paläontologie und Museum der HumboldtUniversität, Berlin; KNM, Kenya National Museum, Nairobi; NMT, National Museum of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam; MNHN, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris; NMAA, National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa; UMP, Department of Paleontology, Uganda Museum, Kampala; Mc, metacarpal; Mt, metatarsal.

Systematic Paleontology Order PERISSODACTYLA Owen, 1848 Superfamily CHALICOTHERIOIDEA Gill, 1872 Family CHALICOTHERIIDAE Gill, 1872 Subfamily CHALICOTHERIINAE Gill, 1872 Genus BUTLERIA Bonis et al., 1995 BUTLERIA RUSINGENSIS (Butler, 1965) Figure 33.2 and Table 33.1

Synonymy Chalicotherium rusingense Butler, 1965; Butleria rusingensis (Butler) Bonis et al., 1995; Butleria rusingensis (Butler) Anquetin et al., 2007. 665


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A

Litolophus (As) Eomoropus (As, NA)

Chalicotherioidea

ae

Chalicotheriidae

riin

Schizotherium (E, As)

the

o hiz Sc

Borissiakia (As) Moropus (NA, E, As) Tylocephalonyx (NA) Metaschizotherium (E) Chemositia (Af) Phyllotillon (As)

Chalicotheriinae

Ancylotherium (E, As, Af) “Chalicotherium” pilgrimi (As) Butleria rusingensis (Af)

Anisodon (E, As) “Nestoritherium” (As)

B

Chalicotherium (E, As)

Ma 0

Ancylotherium hennigi

5

Chemositia tugenensis Schizotheriinae indet.

Ancylotherium cheboitense

10 Chalicotheriinae indet.

15

Butleria rusingensis

20 ?

Relationships and geologic time distributions of African chalicotheres. A) Cladogram of potential relationships of selected chalicotheres, including those discussed in the text (based on Coombs, 1989, and Bonis et al., 1995); B) time distributions of African chalicotheres, based on table 33.1.

FIGURE 33.1

ABBREVIATIONS : Af, Africa; E, Europe; As, Asia; NA, North America. Chalicotheriinae: black boxes; Schizotheriinae: gray boxes.

Holotype BMNH M25270, a left maxilla with P2–M3, from site R107, Rusinga Island, Kenya. Diagnosis Small, basal chalicotheriine with relatively long face and no perinasal depression (maxilla elongated, upper border of nasal opening above P2–P3); mandibular symphysis short (just to the level of p2); i1–i3 present; diastema relatively long; paracone and metacone of upper molars displaced somewhat lingually on M1–M3; “metastylid” distinct on lower molars; astragalus depressed but less so than in Anisodon grande (previously placed in Macrotherium or Chalicotherium; Butler, 1965; Bonis et al., 1995; Anquetin et al., 2007). Description Like other members of the Chalicotheriinae, Butleria has well-developed upper and lower canines and has apparently lost the upper incisors. Three small lower incisors are present, as in Anisodon grande, in contrast to their 666


reduction and loss in more derived members of the genus Anisodon (Xue and Coombs, 1985; Anquetin et al., 2007). A crista and crochet are variably present on upper molars. B. rusingensis is like other Chalicotheriinae in having distinctive postcranials in which the hindfoot is shorter than the forefoot, as reflected in proportions of the wide, low astragalus and short metatarsals. It is not clear whether the astragalus had an articulation with the cuboid, but if a facet was present, it must have been smaller than that in A. grande and Chalicotherium goldfussi (Butler, 1965). Zapfe (1979) provided measurement tables showing that at least Mt II and Mt III (Mt IV has not been described) are somewhat longer compared to width than their counterparts in A. grande; proportions for Mt II of B. rusingensis are closer to those of “Chalicotherium” pilgrimi (BMNH M12168). Fusion of proximal and middle phalanges does not occur in B. rusingensis or in any other chalicotheriine. Age Early Miocene (definitively known from deposits from ~19.7 to ~16.8 Ma; see table 33.1). Occurrence East Africa: Kenya and Uganda. Remarks Butler (1965) considered Ch. rusingense to be a relatively primitive species within Chalicotherium and included only two genera, Chalicotherium and Nestoritherium, within the Chalicotheriinae. Later, Bonis et al. (1995) began an evaluation of species previously referred to Chalicotherium and split off Butleria as a new basal genus of the Chalicotheriinae. Anquetin et al. (2007), in a more recent revision of chalicotheriine phylogeny, retained the name Butleria rusingensis and upheld its position as a basal member of the Chalicotheriinae. At the same time, they encouraged a more complete and detailed evalution of B. rusingensis and comparison with early Miocene Chalicotheriinae from Asia. Currently, Butleria includes only African B. rusingensis. Its relatively basal morphology does, however, resemble in many ways that of “Ch.” pilgrimi from the Bugti Beds of Pakistan; Bonis et al. (1995) and Anquetin et al. (2007) did not evaluate “Ch.” pilgrimi, so its generic assignment is still unsettled and beyond the scope of this chapter. B. rusingensis is the best-known African chalicothere. Significant additional material has been added to collections of the Kenya National Museum since Butler’s description of the original specimens in 1965. The most abundant material comes from deposits at Rusinga, but there are also associated foot elements from Mfwangano (figure 33.2). New finds from Legetet and Chamtwara in the Tinderet region of Western Kenya are roughly the same age as the P3 designated by Butler (1965) from Koru. Butler (1965) observed significant size variation in the Rusinga sample, recognizing common “small” and much rarer “large” forms, as is also seen in more recently collected material. These two forms likely represent two sexes, as sexual dimorphism is common in chalicotheres (Coombs, 1975). All the occurrences listed here are based on clearly identifiable elements, except for Meswa Bridge, which is represented by an isolated canine tooth (KNM ME 10508). This canine is small for B. rusingensis but compares reasonably well morphologically with chalicotheriine lower canines. If confirmed, this occurrence would be the earliest known appearance of Chalicotheriinae in Africa. Hooijer (1963) identified an isolated incisor and lower molar crown fragment as Macrotherium (?) spec. from Miocene deposits of Malembe, near the Atlantic Coast in western Congo (now Cabinda, Angola). Butler (1965, 1978) argued that both specimens were too large to belong to B. rusingensis,

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A

B

5 cm

5 cm FIGURE 33.2 Butleria rusingensis: A) KNM RU 18564, palate with P2-M3, both sides, from R106, Rusinga; B) part of KNM MW 17251, forefoot with Mc II, Mc III, Mc IV, and phalanges, from Mfwangano.

and questioned whether they belonged to a chalicothere. Pickford has attributed these fragments to Arsinoitherium (Guérin and Pickford, 2005). In any case, they should not be included in any consideration of chalicothere temporal and geographic ranges. Subfamily SCHIZOTHERIINAE Holland and Peterson, 1914 Genus ANCYLOTHERIUM Gaudry, 1862

Diagnosis Slightly modified from Geraads et al. (2007). Large schizotheriinae chalicothere. Metaloph of upper molars short, ectoloph relatively flat between very prominent styles, crochet often present. Second lobe of m3 short. Manus as a whole, and each individual metacarpal concave dorsally; trapezium fused to Mc II or (more likely) lost; proximal carpal row shifted in the volar direction in respect to the distal row; scaphoid contacting Mc II in extreme flexion; lunate and magnum with volar processes much reduced or absent. Mc V lost. Mt III the longest metatarsal in a clearly mesaxonic hindfoot. ANCYLOTHERIUM HENNIGI (Dietrich, 1942) Figure 33.3 Synonymy Chalicothere, Andrews, 1923; Chalicotheriidae, Hopwood, 1926; Metaschizotherium hennigi Dietrich, 1942; Metaschizotherium hennigi Hopwood, 1951; Metaschizotherium (?) transvaalensis George, 1950; Metaschizotherium (?) transvaalensis Webb, 1965; Ancylotherium hennigi (Dietrich) Thenius, 1953; Ancylotherium hennigi Butler, 1965 Type Material Dietrich (1942) did not designate a single type for this species but described and figured the following specimens: Vo 330 18/9–Okt. 1938, right M2; Deturi 2/39, proximal phalanx of the manus; Vo 11/12.1.39, proximal part

of left Mc III; and Gar. Kor 1/39, middle phalanx of digit II of the pes. All are in the collections of the Institut für Paläontologie und Museum der Humboldt-Universität (Berlin) and were collected from the Laetolil beds, Vogel River, Garussi area, northwest of Lake Eyasi, Tanzania. Cooke and Coryndon (1970) listed all four specimens as syntypes. Among the syntypes, the best candidates to be lectotype are the M2 and the partial Mc III. Dietrich’s description was unfortunately quite brief, so most of our knowledge of this species relies on subsequent work, especially that of Butler (1965), on additional material. Because the manus is one of the most diagnostic parts of A. hennigi, it seems most logical to choose Dietrich’s Mc III fragment as the species lectotype. Diagnosis Metacarpals less flattened and hollowed out dorsally and scaphoid proportionally taller (proximal to distal) than in Ancylotherium pentelicum (Butler, 1965); astragalus broad and low compared with that of A. pentelicum and Ancylotherium cheboitense (Guérin, 1987; Guérin and Pickford, 2005); body size smaller than A. pentelicum. Description A. hennigi has the dental and postcranial specializations of Ancylotherium, but is less robust and shows a more moderate degree of postcranial modification than both A. pentelicum and A. cheboitense, despite its later age. The proportionally low astragalus is, however, a derived character. Age Plio-Pleistocene (definitively known from deposits from 3.7 to 1.33 Ma). Occurrence East Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania. South Africa: Republic of South Africa (table 33.1). Remarks The species of Ancylotherium with the most complete available material is A. pentelicum, a late Miocene species best known from Pikermi (Greece) but distributed through southeast Europe and into Asia. It reached the largest size of any chalicothere and had the highest-crowned molars. Skulls

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ta b l e 33 .1 Summary of African chalicothere occurrences, ages, and distributions Starred references cite occurrences; unstarred are used for age determinations only. Abbreviations: K, Kenya; E, Ethiopia; T, Tanzania; U, Uganda; SA, South Africa. Specimens in boldfaced museums were examined by the authors.

Taxon

Locality

Formation

Age

Material

Museums

References

chalicotheriinae Butleria rusingensis ?Meswa Bridge (K) Muhoroni agglomerates

~20–23.5 Ma

Possible canine

KNM

Koru, Tinderet (K) Koru or Legetet Fm.

~19.5–19.6 Ma

P3, M3

BMNH

Legetet (Tinderet locality 10) (K)

Legetet Fm.

~19.5–19.6 Ma

dP3, P3

KNM

Songhor (K)

Kapurtay

~19.6–19.7 Ma

Mt II, phalanges, various Isolated teeth

KNM

Canine, phalanges

KNM

Proximal phalanx, distal Mc, Mt, various teeth and jaw fragments, other phalanges Holotype, plus numerous additional teeth and bones of the manus and pes

UMP, *Bishop, 1967; Bishop BMNH et al., 1969; *Pickford, 1979

BMNH, KNM

*Butler, 1965; *Bishop, 1967; *Drake et al., 1988

Mt II, astragalus, phalanges, associated manus elements

BMNH, KNM

*Butler, 1965; *Bishop, 1967; Drake et al., 1988

Ungual phalanx

KNM

Metatarsal

KNM

*Pickford, 1979, Drake et al., 1988; Boschetto et al., 1992 *Tsujikawa and Nakaya, 2005; *Tsujikawa, pers. comm.; Sawada et al.; 1998

Agglomerates

Chamtwara (Tinderet locality 34) (K)

Napak I, IV, V, IX (U)

~19.6–19.7 Chamtwara Ma Member (lateral equivalent of Kapurtay Agglomerates) “Napak Volcanics” ~19.5 Ma

17–18 Ma Wayando Fm, Rusinga (K): Rusinga Kiahera, Hiwegi, Agglomerate, Kiakanga, Hiwegi Fm., Kaswanga, Kulu Fm., Gumba Gumba redbeds Mfwangano (K) Lateral equivalent 17.9 Ma of Kiahera Fm. And Rusinga Agglomerate Moruorot (K) Kalodirr Member, 16.8–17.8 Lothidok Fm. Ma

Undetermined

Nachola, near Baragoi (K)

Aka Aiteputh Fm.

14–15 Ma

*This chapter; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *Butler, 1965; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *This chapter; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *Butler, 1965; *Bishop, 1967; Bishop et al. 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *This chapter; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981

schizotheriinae Undetermined

668


Awash Basin (E)

Chorora Fm.

~10.5 Ma

Proximal phalanx

NMAA

Samburu Hills, Locality 14 (K)

Upper Member, Namurungule Fm.

9.5 Ma

Proximal phalanx

KNM

Nkondo (U)

Nkondo Fm.

~5–6 Ma

Scaphoid, broken calcaneum

UMP?

Geraads et al., 2002, as Ancylotherium sp. cf. A. tugenense *Nakaya et al., 1984; *Nakaya, 1994; Sawada et al., 1998; *Tsujikawa, 2005; Guérin, 1994, as Chalicotherioidea indet.

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Taxon

Locality

Formation

“Chemositia” tugenensis

Koitugum, Tugen Hills (K)

Mpesida Fm.

Ancylotherium cheboitense ?Ancylotherium

Cheboit, Tugen Hills (K) Kapcheberek, Tugen Hills (K)

Lower Lukeino Fm. Lukeino Fm.

Sagatia, Tugen Hills (K) Laetoli (T)

Mabaget Fm.

4.4–5 Ma

Laetolil Beds

IPMH, NMT

Tugen Hills/ Baringo JM 511/K001/ BPRP#1, K015/ BPRP#15 (K) Makapansgat,

Chemeron Fm.

3.6–3.7 Ma Type material (M2, proximal phalanx of manus, partial Mc III, middle phalanx), astragalus, calcaneum, two duplexes, distal metapodial, two track imprints 3.2–3.6 Ma P4, proximal phalanx, upper molar, talonid

KNM

*Hooijer, 1972; *Hooijer, 1973; A. Hill, pers. comm.

Makapan Limeworks Quarry

~3 Ma

Numerous (86+), but

BPI

Kaiso (U)

Probably “Kaiso Village”

2.3 Ma

typically broken specimens, including many adult and juvenile teeth Proximal phalanx

*George, 1950; *Webb, 1965; Guérin and Pickford, 2005

BMNH

Lower Omo Basin (E)

Members D, G, ?C, 1.9–2.4 Ma Shungura Fm., Omo Group

cheboitense ?Ancylotherium cheboitense Ancylotherium hennigi

Transvaal (SA)

Age

6.37–7.2 Ma Holotype broken femur and pes elements (broken tooth KNM MP214 in holotype is a suid) 5.9–6.1 Ma Holotype pes elements, right lower molar 5.7–6.5 Ma Proximal phalanx, ungual phalanx, lower molar

Bed I, Olduvai (T) Olduvai Beds

Konso (E)

Material

Intervals 1, 4, and 5, Konso Formation

Damaged metapodial

Left P4, right m1 or m2, calcaneum, left Mt IV, ?skull piece

1.71–2.1 Ma Scaphoid, lunate, cuneiform, Mc Ii, Mc III, proximal phalanx, 2 middle phalanges ~1.33–1.91 16 dental and manus/ Ma pes specimens, most from youngest Interval 5

Museums

References

KNM

*Pickford, 1979; Kingston et al., 2002

CMK

*Guérin and Pickford, 2005 *Pickford, 1975; *Pickford, 1979 (as A. hennigi); Deino et al., 2002 *Guérin and Pickford, 2005 *Dietrich, 1942; *Guérin, 1987; *Guérin in Leakey, 1987; Drake and Curtis, 1987

KNM

CMK

*Andrews, 1923; *Hopwood, 1926; *Butler, 1965; *Cooke and Coryndon, 1970; Guérin, 1994 MNHN, *Hooijer, 1975; NMAA *Guérin, 1976; *Guérin, 1985; Feibel et al., 1989; Guérin and Pickford, 2005 BMNH *Hopwood, 1951; Leakey, 1951; *Butler, 1965; Guérin and Pickford, 2005 NMAA *Suwa et al., 2003; Suwa, pers. comm.

chalicotheriidae Undetermined

Maboko (K)

Maboko Fm.

>14.7 Ma Sbraded middle phalanx (~15 Ma)

KNM

*This chapter; Feibel and Brown, 1991



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A

B

C

D

E

F G

Morphology of African Schizotheriinae: A) left M2 of Ancylotherium hennigi from Makapansgat; B) dorsal view of broken duplex of A. hennigi from Laetoli ; C) volar (⫽ palmar) view of astragalus of A. hennigi from Laetoli; D) dorsal view of astragalus of holotype of A. cheboitense; E) right Mt IV of holotype of “Chemositia” tugenensis; F) left Mt IV of A. hennigi from Shungura (Omo); and G) left Mt IV of holotype of A. cheboitense. A from George (1950), courtesy of South African Journal of Science; B, C from Guérin (1987); D, G from Guérin and Pickford (2005); E from Pickford (1979); F from Guérin (1985). FIGURE 33.3

ABBREVIATIONS FOR THE PROPORTIONS OF MT IV:

width; MSW ⫽ minimum shaft width.

L ⫽ length; DW ⫽ distal

show inflation of the frontal bone forming a modest-sized skull dome (Geraads et al., 2007). As Schaub (1943) described, A. pentelicum had a highly modified forelimb, in which strong flexion of the carpus and hyperextension of the clawed phalanges was possible. The hindlimbs were less strongly modified but still distinctive (see Roussiakis and Theodorou, 2001). Geraads et al. (2006) discussed variability of certain characters within A. pentelicum; this information is useful in comparisons with the African species. A. hennigi is clearly recognizable as Ancylotherium, but most known parts of the skeleton are more conservative in morphology. Like other derived members of the Schizotheriinae, Ancylotherium fused the proximal and middle phalanges of digit II of the manus to form a bone called a duplex. Specimens of A. hennigi from Laetoli show this character well (Guérin, 1987; see figure 33.3B). However, the supposed fused phalanges figured by Dietrich (1942, Deturi 2/39) as one of the syntypes is not a duplex; Schaub (1943) identified it as a proximal phalanx belonging to digit IV of the manus. The first discovered specimen of A. hennigi was a proximal phalanx from Kaiso, Uganda (Andrews, 1923; Hopwood, 1926; Butler, 1965), still the only described chalicothere specimen from Kaiso. Butler (1965, 1978) thought that this phalanx (BMNH M12693) was the broken proximal part of a duplex and referred it to digit II of the manus; personal observation of this specimen (MCC) suggests that it is not a duplex, because the broken distal end

670


shows a remnant of the articular facet. A variety of other phalanges of A. hennigi have also been identified. A. hennigi had a widespread distribution in eastern and southern Africa but is a very rare species in several otherwise abundant fossil faunas. It is still understood primarily from single isolated and often broken elements, and much of its anatomy remains unknown. The most complete forefoot material of A. hennigi is that from Olduvai Bed I described by Butler (1965). George (1950) and Webb (1965) reported numerous (86), but typically broken, specimens from Makapansgat, South Africa. Most of these are craniodental remains, which provide good evidence for a crochet on upper molars (figure 33.3A), a character common in Ancylotherium. Webb (1965) also illustrated a well-developed, spatulate lower incisor, which is better developed than any of the reduced lower incisors in BSPG AS II 147, the Pikermi specimen of A. pentelicum in which this part of the jaw is best preserved. George (1950) originally made an M2 (figure 33.3A) from Makapansgat the type of a new species, Metaschizotherium (?) transvaalensis, but Butler saw no reason to separate it from A. hennigi, whose syntypes include a very similar upper molar (Dietrich, 1942). Known hindfoot elements include an astragalus (Laetoli; figure 33.3C) and two calcanea (Laetoli, Shungura). The relatively low astragalus nonetheless shows the typical (and probably plesiomorphic) schizotheriine character of articulating only with the navicular (Guérin, 1987), in contrast to astragali of derived Chalicotheriinae, which have both navicular and cuboid articulations. The Mt IV from Shungura (Guérin, 1985; see figure 33.3F) is extremely useful for comparisons with the same element in A. cheboitense and “Chemositia” tugenensis. Guérin (in Leakey, 1987), named a new ichnotaxon, Ancylotheriopus tanzaniae, for two unusual, large footprints from Site C of the Laetoli footprint tuff and attributed them to A. hennigi. The clear, deep prints are tridactyl and clawed, with the middle digit longest, all characters that might be expected in footprints of Ancylotherium, and they seem to corroborate the idea that the phalanges were held hyperextended, having little contact with the ground. Guérin interpreted one print as a left hindfoot and the other a right forefoot, but with only two separated prints it is hard to be certain that this is correct. In particular, Guérin’s figure 12.14B, which he interpreted as a metacarpograde forefoot print, looks more like a heeled plantigrade print. In sticky mud a hindfoot might more likely imprint in a plantigrade posture than a forefoot. ANCYLOTHERIUM CHEBOITENSE Guérin and Pickford, 2005 Figure 33.3C and 33.D

Holotype Kipsaraman Museum (CMK) BAR 323”01, a left articulated pes, including the astragalus, a calcaneum fragment, cuboid, coossified navicular and ectocuneiform, mesocuneiform, and Mt II–IV, from Cheboit in the Lukeino Formation. Diagnosis Robust, proportionally short, metatarsals; all metatarsals with a strongly depressed anterior surface of the shaft. Description Guérin and Pickford (2005) reported that the ectocuneiform and navicular are fused in the holotype. Whether this condition was widespread throughout the species is unknown, but it has not been reported in any other chalicothere. The species diagnosis of A. cheboitense by Guérin and Pickford (2005) noted a large tall astragalus. The

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astragalus (figure 33.3D) is indeed large (near the high end but within the known size range of A. pentelicum), but its height/width proportions are not remarkable, falling near the middle of the range for A. pentelicum (Geraads et al., 2006; Coombs, 2009). In contrast, the astragalus of A. hennigi (figure 33.3C) is proportionally shorter than in both A. pentelicum and A. cheboitense. Age Late Miocene (holotype age 5.9–6.1 Ma). Occurrence East Africa: Kenya. Remarks Guérin and Pickford (2005) also referred a lower molar to this species, noting that it was high crowned, as in other species of Ancylotherium. They also considered a very damaged metapodial from the Mabaget Formation (Sagatia) as possibly referable to this species. Interestingly, Guérin and Pickford (2005) did not consider the possibility that KNM LU 845, a chalicothere proximal phalanx, and KNM LU 929, a broken ungual phalanx, both referred to A. hennigi by Pickford (1979), might instead be referable to A. cheboitense. At present it is not possible to assign the two Lukeino phalanges unequivocally, because there are no phalanges associated with the type of A. cheboitense. However, in our opinion it is more parsimonious to refer them tentatively to A. cheboitense on the basis of geographic and age proximity. Because the Lukeino phalanges are the only previous basis for extending the range of A. hennigi down into the late Miocene, reassigning them as possible A. cheboitense narrows the confirmed range of A. hennigi to the Plio-Pleistocene. A broken lower molar, KNM LU 844, has also been found at the same locality (2/225) in the Lukeino Formation. The relatively sparse material of A. cheboitense provides a fascinating perspective on hindfoot modifications in African schizotheriine chalicotheres. It is curious, for example, that A. cheboitense has shortened metatarsals without a similarly modified astragalus, while A. hennigi shortened the astragalus but not the metatarsals. While assignment of A. cheboitense to Ancylotherium is justified on the basis of current evidence, we can only hope for additional remains to help elucidate the affinities and morphology of this species. Genus CHEMOSITIA Pickford, 1979 CHEMOSITIA TUGENENSIS Pickford, 1979 Figures 33.3E–33.3G

Holotype KNM MP 229, parts of a right hindlimb, including a femur fragment, partial astragalus and calcaneum, complete Mt IV (figure 33.3E), proximal and middle phalanx, from the Mpesida Formation of the Tugen Hills. KNM MP 214, including a molar fragment that was originally included in the holotype, belongs to a suid (A. Hill, pers. comm.). Diagnosis A medium-large schizotheriine chalicothere in which Mt IV is longer compared to width than in both A. hennigi and A. cheboitense; Mt IV apparently lacking any articulation with the ectocuneiform. Age Late Miocene (holotype age 6.37–7.2 Ma). Occurrence East Africa; Kenya. Remarks No material other than the holotype is unequivocally attributed to this species. Coombs (1989) briefly reviewed “Chemositia” tugenensis, queried the “volar facets” of the proximal phalanx that Pickford (1979) had considered diagnostic, and expressed doubt about the validity of the genus Chemositia. At the same time, the Mt IV of “C.” tugenensis (figure 33.3E) does differ from that of both the other known African schizotheriines, Ancylotherium hennigi (figure 33.3F) and

A. cheboitense (figure 33.3G); its morphology and proportions are closer to those of Mt IV of A. hennigi but are unlikely to be confused with the latter. Thus the species may well be valid, and the generic name provides a convenient placeholder until the affinities of “C.” tugenensis become clearer. The most likely generic assignment would be either Ancylotherium or Metaschizotherium. Thenius (1953) considered the European genus Metaschizotherium to be synonymous with Ancylotherium. Coombs (1974, 1989) continued this synonymy and treated Metaschizotherium as a basal subgenus within Ancylotherium. More recently, however, a detailed study of Metaschizotherium bavaricum (Coombs, 2009) has shown that synonymy of Metaschizotherium with Ancylotherium is incorrect. Although Metaschizotherium and Ancylotherium are clearly separate genera, Mt IV of “C.” tugenensis has proportions and morphology resembling those of Metaschizotherium from the middle Miocene of Europe. At the same time it could be a basal species within Ancylotherium, whose occurrence in the late Miocene of Eurasia is well documented. For now, the known remains of “C.” tugenensis are too fragmentary for assignment, so decisions on the synonymy of Chemositia must await additional, more diagnostic material. OTHER AFRICAN CHALICOTHERIIDAE

The best-known African chalicotheres, B. rusingensis (Chalicotheriinae) and A. hennigi (Schizotheriinae), are well separated temporally. The schizotheriines “C.” tugenensis and A. cheboitense are useful additions to our knowledge of chalicotheres in the intervening time gap. Several additional finds provide tantalizing evidence of African chalicotheres but cannot be clearly assigned to a given species. Tsujikawa and Nakaya (2005) referred one such specimen to B. rusingensis, a metatarsal (H. Tsujikawa, pers. comm.) from the 14–15 Ma (Sawada et al., 1998) Aka Aiteputh Formation of Nachola, Samburu Hills (Kenya). A highly abraded, probable middle phalanx (KNM MB 28161), which represents the only plausible chalicothere element from Maboko (Kenya), also extends the range of chalicotheres into the middle Miocene, but its affinity is difficult to determine. Nakaya et al. (1984) referred a proximal phalanx (KNM SH 12138) from the Namurungule Formation of the Samburu Hills, Kenya (9.5–9.6 Ma; Sawada et al., 1998), to Ancylotherium sp., while Geraads et al. (2002) referred a proximal phalanx (NMAA CHO1–10, from the Chorora Formation, Ethiopia (10.5 ⫾ 0.5 Ma), to Ancylotherium cf tugenense. Both phalanges are referable to the Schizotheriinae and expand the early temporal range of Schizotheriinae in Africa. Pickford (1979) suggested that the Schizotheriinae appeared even earlier in Africa than is usually indicated and identified three chalicothere specimens from the early Miocene of Napak, Uganda, as possible schizotheriines. One of us (SMC) has reviewed this material and concluded that the proximal phalanx and distal metacarpal (UMP Nap V’61 and Nap V’61B) are referable to the chalicotheriine B. rusingensis, already identified from Napak. The proximal metapodial (UM Nap 1 58) does not seem to be chalicothere at all but corresponds to the Mt II of a rhinocerotid, possibly Ougandatherium napakense Guérin and Pickford, 2003. It articulates well with a rhinocerotid entocuneiform with the same collection number. The “abnormal premolar” (BMNH M21832) that was figured by Butler (1965; figures 33.3G and 33.3H) and cited



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by Pickford (1979) as a possible schizotheriine is not convincingly a member of this subfamily either. Therefore we conclude that the hypothesis of early Miocene Schizotheriinae in Africa is not supported.

Discussion and Conclusions B. rusingensis, a member of the Chalicotheriinae, first appears in the African fossil record in the early Miocene, about 20 Ma (figure 33.1). It seems to have had an Asian origin, inasmuch as undoubted Chalicotheriinae are not known in Europe until about 15–16 Ma (late MN5; Heissig, 1999), while the basal chalicotheriine “Ch.” pilgrimi occurs in the Oligo-Miocene Bugti Beds of Pakistan. It is unclear exactly how closely B. rusingensis and “Ch.” pilgrimi are related, since “Ch.” pilgrimi is known from few remains, and the characters shared by these two species are plesiomorphic for the subfamily. The deposits in which B. rusingensis is found range from subaerial to fluviatile to lacustrine and lake margin (Pickford, 1981), and paleoenvironments are generally interpreted as warm, humid forests in a volcanic terrain. There is no clear evidence that B. rusingensis survived past the early Miocene. Middle Miocene chalicothere fossils from Maboko and Nachola are either too poorly preserved or do not match perfectly with earlier material of B. rusingensis. It is not altogether clear when the Schizotheriinae arrived in Africa, but the presence of a phalanx in Ethiopia at 10.5 Ma (Geraads et al., 2002) suggests that at least one representative was present by that time. Geographic origin is hard to pinpoint because related contemporaneous Miocene schizotheriines occur in both Europe and Asia. The well-known Eurasian schizotheriine species Ancylotherium pentelicum, typically found in MN 12–13 faunas (such as Pikermi and Samos) at ~8–5.5 Ma, has not been found in Africa, and the split (or splits) leading to the African taxa most likely preceded the appearance of that species. Very little is known of the early history of the Schizotheriinae in Africa. The earliest named species “C.” tugenensis (~ 7 Ma) and A. cheboitense (~ 6 Ma) seem to have lived in relatively moist environments with available forest. In particular, the Mpesida Beds include abundant silicified remnants of substantial tree trunks (Kingston et al., 2002), and the Cheboit locality in the Lukeino Formation has lateritic paleosols and preserves numerous colobine monkeys and forest-adapted bovids (Guérin and Pickford, 2005). In contrast, A. hennigi seems to have lived in a drier environment. Guérin (1985, 1987, 1994) has suggested a savanna environment with bushes and shrubs or gallery forest. The rarity of chalicothere fossils makes it difficult to use their absence as an environmental indicator. No chalicothere fossils have been reported so far in some very abundant fossil faunas, such as East and West Turkana (Koobi Fora and Nachukui Formations, Kenya), Langebaanweg (South Africa), and the late Miocene and Pliocene deposits of Chad, but the reason for this is not clear. By the end of the Miocene, chalicotheres were extinct everywhere except for two specialized lineages. Derived species of Anisodon (previously known as Nestoritherium; see Anquetin at al., 2007), a member of the Chalicotheriinae, survived into the early Pleistocene in forested environments of the Siwaliks and eastern Asia. In Africa, Ancylotherium hennigi, a member of the Schizotheriinae, also persisted into the Pleistocene, living in more open environments. Sometime after 1.33 Ma, A. hennigi also disappeared.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank W. Sanders and L. Werdelin for their invitation to submit this chapter. E. Mbua and M. Mungu at the KNM and E. Kamuhangire and N. Abiti at the Uganda Museum kindly allowed access to collections under their care. We also thank A. Hill, T. Kunimatsu, D. Geraads, C. Guérin, T. White, G. Suwa, J.-R. Boisserie, L. MacLatchy, L. Hlusko, F. Guy, M. Pickford, and H. Tsujikawa for photographs or information about faunal ages and unpublished fossil material. D. Geraads reviewed the manuscript, providing some useful insights and suggestions. P. Getty and W. Coombs contributed helpful insights concerning trackways. S.M.C.’s research in East Africa was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-0524944), the Quaternary Association’s Bill Bishop Award, and the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University.

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Deino, A. L., L. Tauxe, M. Monaghan, and A. Hill. 2002. 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and paleomagnetic stratigraphy of the Lukeino and lower Chemeron Formations at Tabarin and Kapcheberek, Tugen Hills, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 42:117–140. Dietrich, W. O. 1942. Altestquartäre säugetiere aus der südlichen Serengeti, Deutsch-Ostafrika. Palaeontographica, Stuttgart, Abt. A, 94A:43–130. Drake, R. E., and G. H. Curtis. 1987. K-Ar geochronology of the Laetoli fossil localities; pp. 48–52 in M. D. Leakey and J. M. Harris (eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene Site in Northern Tanzania. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Drake, R. E., J. A. Van Couvering, M. H. Pickford, G. H. Curtis, and J. A. Harris. 1988. New chronology for the early Miocene faunas of Kisingiri, western Kenya. Journal of the Geological Society, London 145:479–491. Feibel, C. S., and F. H. Brown. 1991. Age of the primate-bearing deposits on Maboko Island, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 21:221–225. Feibel, C. S., F. H. Brown, and I. McDougall. 1989. Stratigraphic context of fossil hominids from the Omo Group deposits: Northern Turkana Basin, Kenya and Ethiopia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 78:595–622. George, M. 1950. A chalicothere from the Limeworks Quarry of the Makapan Valley, Potgietersrust District. South African Journal of Science 46:241–242. Geraads, D., Z. Alemseged, and H. Bellon. 2002. The late Miocene mammalian fauna of Chorora, Awash basin, Ethiopia: Systematics, biochronology and the 40K- 40Ar ages of the associated volcanics. Tertiary Research 21:113–122. Geraads, D., N. Spassov, and D. Kovachev. 2006. The Bulgarian Chalicotheriidae (Mammalia): an update. Revue de Paléobiologie, Genève 25:429–437. Geraads, D., E. Tsoukala, and N. Spassov. 2007. A skull of Ancylotherium (Chalicotheriidae, Mammalia) from the late Miocene of Thermopigi (Serres, N. Greece) and the relationships of the genus. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27:461–466. Guérin, C. 1976. Rhinocerotidae and Chalicotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Shungura Formaton, Lower Omo Basin; pp. 214–221 in Y. Coppens, F. C. Howell, G. L. I. Isaac, and R. E. F. Leakey (eds.), Earliest Man and Environments in the Lake Rudolf Basin: Stratigraphy, Paleoecology, and Evolution. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. . 1985. Les rhinoceros et les chalicothères (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) des gisements de la Vallée de l’Omo en Éthiopie; pp. 67–95 in Y. Coppens and F. C. Howell (eds.), Les Faunes PlioPléistocènes de la Basse Vallée de l’Omo (Éthiopie) : Tome 1. Les Périssodactyles, Les Artiodactyles (les Bovidae), Expédition internationale 1967–1976. Cahiers de Paléontologie, Travaux de Paléontologie Est-africaine, Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris. . 1987. Chalicotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) remains from Laetoli; pp. 315–320 in M. D. Leakey and J. M. Harris (eds.), Laetoli: A Pliocene Site in Northern Tanzania. Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press, Oxford. . 1994. Les Chalicotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) du Néogène de l’Ouganda. pp. 281–287 in M. Pickford and B. Senut (eds.), Geology and Palaeobiology of the Albertine Rift Valley, UgandaZaire: Vol. II. Palaeobiology. CIFEG Occasional publications, Orléans. Guérin, C., and M. Pickford. 2003. Ougandatherium napakense nov. gen. nov. sp., le plus ancien Rhinocerotidae Iranotheriinae d’Afrique. Annales de Paléontologie 89:1–35 . 2005. Ancylotherium cheboitense nov. sp., nouveau Chalicotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) du Miocène supérieur des Tugen Hills (Kénya). Comptes Rendus Palevol 4:225–234. Heissig, K. 1999. Family Chalicotheriidae; pp. 189–192 in G. E. Rössner and K. Heissig (eds.), The Miocene Land Mammals of Europe. Pfeil, Munich. Hooijer, D. A. 1963. Miocene Mammalia of Congo. Annales Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium, Series In 8°, Sciences Géologiques 46:1–77. . 1972. A late Pliocene rhinoceros from Langebaanweg, Cape Province. Annals of the South African Museum 59:151–191. . 1973. Additional Miocene to Pliocene rhinoceroses of Africa. Zoologische Mededelingen, Leiden 46:149–178. . 1975. Note on some newly found perissodactyl teeth from the Omo Group deposits, Ethiopia. Proceedings Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, series B, Physical Sciences 78:186–190.

Hopwood, A. T. 1926. Fossil Mammalia; pp. 13–26 in E. J. Wayland (ed.), The Geology and Paleontology of the Kaiso Bone-beds. Occasional Papers of the Geological Survey of Uganda, vol. 2, Entebbe. . 1951. The Olduvai fauna; pp. 20–24 in L. S. B. Leakey (ed.), Olduvai Gorge: A Report on the Evolution of the Hand-axe Culture in Beds I–IV. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Kingston, J. D., B. F. Jacobs, A. Hill, and A Deino. 2002. Stratigraphy, age and environments of the late Miocene Mpesida Beds, Tugen Hills, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 42:95–116. Koenigswald, G. H. R. von. 1932. Metaschizotherium fraasi n. g. n. sp., ein neuer Chalicotheriide aus dem Obermiocän von Steinheim a. Albuch. Bemerkungen zur Systematik der Chalicotheriiden. Palaeontographica (suppl.) 8:1–24. Leakey, L. S. B. 1951. The significance of the geological and palaeontological evidence; pp. 25–33 in L. S. B. Leakey (ed.), Olduvai Gorge: A Report on the Evolution of the Hand-axe Culture in Beds I–IV. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Leakey, M. D. 1987. Animal prints and trails; pp. 451–489 in M. D. Leakey and J. M. Harris (eds.), Laeotoli: A Pliocene Site in Northern Tanzania. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Nakaya, H. 1994. Faunal change of late Miocene Africa and Eurasia: Mammalian fauna from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, Northern Kenya. African Study Monographs (suppl.) 29:1–112. Nakaya, H., M. Pickford, Y. Nakano, and H. Ishida. 1984. The late Miocene large mammal fauna from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. African Study Monographs (suppl.) 2:87–131. Pickford, M. 1975. Another African chalicothere. Nature 253:85. . 1979. New evidence pertaining to the Miocene Chalicotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) of Kenya. Tertiary Research 2:83–91. . 1981. Preliminary Miocene mammalian biostratigraphy for Western Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 10:73–97. Pickford, M., and P. Andrews. 1981. The Tinderet Miocene sequence in Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 10:11–33. Roussiakis, S. J., and G. E. Theodorou. 2001. Ancylotherium pentelicum (Gaudry & Lartet, 1856)(Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from the classic locality of Pikermi (Attica, Greece), stored in the Palaeontological and Geological Museum of Athens. Geobios 34:563–584. Sawada, Y., M. Pickford, T. Itaya, T. Makinouchi, M. Tateishi, K. Kabeto, S. Ishida, and I. Ishida. 1998. K-Ar ages of Miocene Hominoidea (Kenyapithecus and Samburupithecus) from Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes 326:445–451. Schaub, S. 1943. Die Vorderextremität von Ancylotherium pentelicum Gaudry und Lartet. Schweizerischen Palaeontologischen Abhandlungen 64:1–36. Schulz, E., J. M. Fahlke, G. Merceron, and T. Kaiser. 2007. Feeding ecology of the Chalicotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Ancylopoda). Results from dental micro- and mesowear analyses. Verhandlungen des naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins Hamburg (N.F.) 43:5–31. Suwa, G., H. Nakaya, B. Asfaw, H. Saegusa, A. Amzaye, R. Kono, Y. Beyene, and S. Katoh. 2003. Plio-Pleistocene terrestrial mammalian assemblage from Konso, southern Ethiopia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23:901–916. Thenius, E. 1953. Studien über fossile Vertebraten Griechenlands. III. Das Maxillargebiss von Ancylotherium pentelicum Gaudry und Lartet. Annales Géologiques des Pays Hélleniques 5:97–106. Tsujikawa, H. 2005. The updated late Miocene large mammal fauna from Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. African Study Monographs (suppl.) 32:1–50. Tsujikawa, H., and H. Nakaya. 2005. [Geologic age and palaeoenvironments of mammalian faunas from Samburu Hills, northern Kenya.] Earth Monthly 27:603–611. [In Japanese] Webb, G. L. 1965. Notes on some chalicothere remains from Makapansgat. Palaeontologia Africana 9:49–73. Xue, X.-X., and M. C. Coombs. 1985. A new species of Chalicotherium from the upper Miocene of Gansu Province, China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 5:336–344. Zapfe, H. 1979. Chalicotherium grande (Blainv.) aus der miozänen Spaltenfüllung von Neudorf an der March (Devinská Nová Ves), Tschechoslowakei. Neue-Denkschriften des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien 2:1–282.



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CHAP TER THIRT Y-FOUR

Rhinocerotidae DENIS GER A ADS

Among the Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae have traditionally been allied with tapirs because they lack a mesostyle, even though other primitive perissodactyls may also lack it (Hooker and Dashzeveg, 2004). The upper cheek teeth are ␲-shaped (figure 34.1) except M3, which is triangular. The incisors are separated from the cheek teeth by a diastema, as there is no canine; they consist of a chisel-shaped I1, borne by a slender premaxilla, a tusk-shaped i2, plus much smaller I2 and i1. However, I1, or both I1 and i2, become reduced or disappear in several lineages. Nasal and sometimes frontal horns, consisting of agglomerated hair (thus rarely fossilized), grow on more or less recognizable skull bosses in many genera; they are usually inserted behind one another but may rarely sit side by side. Although extensively pneumatized, the skull is robust, with thick bone and sutures fused in adulthood, and this certainly accounts for the good fossil record of the family. The temporal fossa is long, but the cranial base is shortened. The mandible has a transversely elongated condyle, plus an extra articular facet for the postglenoid process. The latter may be united with the posttympanic process beneath the auditory foramen. Horned forms (roughly the Rhinocerotini of Prothero et al. [1986], Rhinocerotinae of Cerdeño [1995], or Rhinocerotina of Antoine [2002]) lack a mastoid exposure, but it may have been present (as in the tapirs), in some hornless forms. They have three digits in the posterior limb, and three or four (the fifth digit being reduced but functional) in the anterior one. Dental terminology is shown in figure 34.1. The various stages of premolar molarisation are shown in figure 34.1C. During the past two decades, various attempts have been made to resolve the phyletic relationships within the family. Almost every author agrees that this is a difficult task, mainly owing to the dearth of clearly identifiable synapomorphies, and the broad divergences in the published cladograms confirm this. The most parsimonious recent cladistic analyses, using no less than 282 characters (Antoine, 2002; Antoine et al., 2003), unite under the Rhinocerotini (which includes the bulk of the Rhinocerotinae) as an unresolved trichotomy, the Teleoceratina (Old and New World brachypotheres), the Aceratheriina (Old World aceratheres and related forms), and the Rhinocerotina (nonelasmothere Old World horned rhinos); the Elasmotheriini are the sister

A B

C

FIGURE 34.1 A) Terminology of upper tooth elements: ACro: antecrochet; Cri: crista; Cro: crochet; Eclo: ectoloph; Hy: hypocone; MeFo: medifossette; Melo: metaloph; Pa: paracone fold; PFo: post-fossette; Pr: protocone; Prlo: protoloph; Ps: parastyle. B) Terminology of lower tooth elements: EcFl: ectoflexid; End: entoconid; Hyld: hypolophid; Med: metaconid; Meld: metalophid; Pald: paralophid. C) Morphology of upper premolars; from left to right: submolariform, semimolariform, molariform (from Heissig, 1969).

group of the Rhinocerotinae. Even though many criticisms can be made of parsimony analysis (choice of characters, of coding, of number of states, of equal weighing, subjectivity of state control, etc.), which leads to significantly different results even when performed by renowned specialists, the phylogenies proposed by Antoine et al. (2002, 2003) can be used as working hypotheses. There are five living species, all of them seriously threatened or even close to extinction. The small two-horned Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, found in Sumatra and the Malaysian peninsula, numbers at most a few hundred surviving individuals. Of the two single-horned species of Rhinoceros, R. sondaicus and R. unicornis, also from southeastern Asia, the former is the most seriously threatened, with perhaps 60 animals remaining in the wild. The African forms, Ceratotherium

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simum and Diceros bicornis, are closely related. Some morphological cladistic analysis (Groves, 1983; Prothero et al., 1986; Cerdeño, 1995; but not Geraads, 1988 and Antoine et al., 2003) and mitochondrial gene sequencing (Tougard et al., 2001) suggest that, among living forms, African rhinos are the sister group of Dicerorhinus ⫹ Rhinoceros, but more molecular analyses would be welcome. During the Miocene, African rhinos underwent a diversification comparable to those of the northern continents, but they have received much less attention than the Eurasian forms, especially from systematic and phylogenetic aspects. A number of specific studies, especially by Guérin and Hooijer, have appeared in the last decades, but the last broad review is 30 years old (Hooijer, 1978). As a result, the commonly used taxonomy in Africa is one which was in use a long time ago in Europe, where the meanings of the generic names Brachypotherium, Aceratherium and Dicerorhinus are now much more restricted than they used to be (Heissig, 1999). As in Eurasia, where many species have been wandering through several genera, the phylogeny and systematics of African rhinos are still confused. Much new material, a large part of it still unpublished, has come to light in recent decades, and there is little doubt that serious revisions of the African rhinos are needed. The present account takes a rather conservative view; I have tried to update the systematics, and raise a few phyletic issues, but this account should not be considered as more than preliminary. ABBREVIATIONS

BMNH, Natural History Museum, London; FSL, Faculté des Sciences, Lyon; KNM, Kenya National Museums, Nairobi; MNHN, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris; NME, National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

Systematic Paleontology Family RHINOCEROTIDAE Gray, 1821 Subfamily RHINOCEROTINAE (Gray, 1821) Tribe RHINOCEROTINI (Gray, 1821) Subtribe TELEOCERATINA (Hay, 1902) Genus BRACHYPOTHERIUM Roger, 1904

Type Species Brachypotherium goldfussi (Kaup, 1834), from the early late Miocene (Vallesian) of Eppelsheim, Germany. Diagnosis Large rhinos with broad and low skull, short hornless nasals, orbit far forward, powerful anterior dentition and especially large I1s with a short root, brachyodont cheek teeth and short but broad premolars. Upper and lower molars tend to have flattened labial walls and the latter have shallow ectoflexids. Short massive terminal limb segments, with a characteristically low talus. BRACHYPOTHERIUM nov. sp.? Figure 34.2 Some fossils from Buluk (⫽ West Stephanie) in Northern Kenya, collected and kindly made available to me by E. Miller, apparently belong to a new species. The best specimen is a relatively complete skull, KNM-WS-46072 (figure 34.2), which is low and broad, especially in the occipital area, with an almost flat cranial profile, a deep zygoma, and short hornless nasals. The short and broad premolars match those of the brachypotheres, and there are several typical brachypothere

676


Brachypotherium nov.sp. ?, skull KNM-WS-46072 from the lower Miocene of Buluk, Kenya.

FIGURE 34.2

upper incisors and tali in the Buluk collection. The size is that of the small European brachypothere Prosantorhinus, but this genus has a saddle-shaped skull, with a sagittal crest and a small nasal horn (Heissig, 1972). The Buluk skull is more like Brachypotherium brachypus from Europe (e.g., Cerdeño, 1993: plate 4, figure 11), and, pending detailed study, I tentatively include it in this genus, although the Kenyan material is certainly younger. BRACHYPOTHERIUM SNOWI Fourtau, 1918 Figure 34.3

Synonymy Aceratherium campbelli Hamilton, 1973. Type Maxilla figured by Fourtau (1920, fig. 26); housed in the Cairo Geological Museum. Type Locality Wadi Moghara, Egypt, ca. 17–18 Ma. (Miller, 1999). Diagnosis A Brachypotherium of large size (length of cheek tooth row about 270 mm); skull low and wide, nasals rather long, probably carrying a small (pair of) horn(s), very broad zygomatic arches, temporal lines almost fused into a sagittal crest, dorsal profile strongly concave, occipital rounded, nasal notch above front of P3, anterior border of orbit above M2. Remarks Brachypotherium snowi was established by Fourtau on the basis of a maxilla with worn teeth and the socket of the upper incisor, plus a fragment of mandible and some teeth. He pointed out the large size of the animal, the shortness and great width of the upper premolars, their lack of a labial cingulum and the reduction of the lingual one (a difference from European brachypotheres), and the moderate development of the antecrochet on all teeth. On the lower teeth he noticed the lack of cingula and of labial flattening, the large size of i2, and the presence of i1. A referred third metatarsal is stout, but not extremely so. Several specimens from Jebel Zelten, Libya, a set of localities probably mostly dating to about 16 Ma., were referred to this species by Hamilton (1973). The i2s are large and separated by minute i1s; the cingulum is reduced on the upper teeth; P2 is much narrower than P3, which is broad. A third metacarpal is smaller than the Mt III from Moghara. Most of the specimens described by Hamilton as Aceratherium campbelli also belong here, as first recognized by Gentry (1987: 430). The holotype skull of the latter species, as well as another, uncollected skull (Hamilton, 1973: plate 3) are clearly from brachypotheres, as shown by their large size, skull regularly broadening from front to rear, with very

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robust zygomatic arches and posteriorly very broad, low rounded occipital surface, short, broad upper teeth with flat labial walls, and large upper incisor. Several of the diagnostic features of the species are based upon these specimens. The nasals, if correctly identified by Hamilton, decrease in width toward the anterior end, but are rather thick and broad. Paired dorsal swellings suggest that some kind of horn may have been present. In East and South Africa, this species has been called B. heinzelini, but this name should be restricted to the type specimen (discussed later). It is represented by sparse remains from Rusinga (Hooijer, 1966), and has been reported from a few other sites. The most complete specimen is an unpublished mandible from Mwiti (Kajong), Kenya, dated to ca. 16–17 Ma (figure 34.3). It has a straight ventral edge and a widely expanded angular area, as in the European B. brachypus (Cerdeño, 1993: plate 5, figure 12); the large i2s are followed by a long diastema; the cheek teeth are brachyodont and have a shallow ectoflexid; the premolars are short, and the missing p2 was certainly small. As in other brachypotheres, the talus may be very characteristic in its broad and low proportions at Jebel Zelten (Hamilton, 1973: plate 6, figure 7), but, as in Eurasia, the distinction from other rhinos may not always be so clear-cut. The talus from Gumba (Hooijer, 1966: plate 14, figure 3) is high and might not belong to this genus. Brachypotherium snowi shows some resemblances to the contemporaneous European Prosantorhinus (Heissig, 1972; Cerdeño, 1996), but the latter has well-marked terminal horn bosses on the nasals, probably a lower and broader skull, and metapodials that are still shorter. BRACHYPOTHERIUM LEWISI Hooijer and Patterson, 1972

Synonymy ?Brachypotherium heinzelini Hooijer, 1963 Type Skull KNM-LT-88. Type Locality Lower member of the Nawata Formation at Lothagam, Kenya (Hooijer and Patterson, 1972). Diagnosis Mostly from Hooijer and Patterson (1972). Size very large: condylobasal length of type skull over 70 cm, anterotransverse diameters of M1–2 some 90 mm as opposed to 70 mm in B. snowi. Nasals hornless, slender, not very long, deepest point of nasomaxillary notch above P4, anterior border of orbit above anterior end of M2, frontals flat and hornless, inferior squamosal processes united below subaural channel. Upper incisors very large, upper cheek teeth

brachyodont, ectoloph flattened behind paracone style, antecrochet moderate, protocone constriction slight, external cingula often present. Lower i2s of small to moderate size, brachyodont cheek teeth, external cingula often developed. Trochanter tertius of femur strongly developed. Differs from B. snowi in its larger size, straight dorsal cranial profile, dorsal orbital border at least as high as the skull roof, V-shaped choanae, nasal notch deeper, shorter diastemas, lack of i1, smaller i2s. Remarks The material from Lothagam (Hooijer and Patterson, 1972) includes a rather complete but crushed skull, and a second, less deformed skull lacking most of the teeth; a few more specimens were added more recently (Harris and Leakey, 2003). The material is basically similar to that of B. snowi but differs in the characters mentioned in the diagnosis. Metacarpals from Lothagam are larger than those of B. snowi from Jebel Zelten or Rusinga, but not significantly different in their proportions; an Mt III from the latest Miocene of Saitune Dora, Ethiopia (Haile Selassie, 2001) is still larger, and a molar from Sahabi, Libya (d’Erasmo, 1954), probably of similar age, is truly gigantic. The talus (Hooijer 1963: plate 5, figure 10) is larger and more trapezoidal than that of B. snowi. Brachypotherium heinzelini was established on a P4 from Sinda-Ongoliba (Zaire), as well as on some tooth fragments and a talus, all supposed by Hooijer (1963) to be of early Miocene age. The P4 was mainly characterized by the presence of a labial cingulum, flattened ectoloph, and weak antecrochet, the first of these features being the main distinction from B. snowi. It has been shown since (Pickford et al., 1993) that Sinda is probably of latest Miocene age; thus, B. heinzelini should rather be compared with B. lewisi, and Pickford et al. (1993: 109) suggested that these names may be synonymous. However, the labial cingulum is “virtually absent” on the type of B. lewisi (Hooijer and Patterson, 1972: 5), while another difference between them is size, B. lewisi being larger, though if the type of B. heinzelini is a P3, not a P4, this difference would vanish. If the two names are synonymous, B. heinzelini has priority, and some confusion would arise, as this name as hitherto been widely given to early and middle Miocene forms. To avoid confusion, this name should be restricted to the type specimen, while other specimens hitherto called B. heinzelini can be referred to B. snowi. Brachypotherium lewisi is best known from the late Miocene, and the transition from B. snowi is poorly documented (table 34.1). The latest definite record of the genus is at Saitune Dora (Haile Selassie, 2001) dated to 5.5–6 Ma., but a possible still later record is from the early Pliocene Apak member of Lothagam (Harris and Leakey, 2003); the extinction of Brachypotherium therefore took place about 2 to 4 Ma later than in Europe. Subtribe ACERATHERIINA (Dollo, 1885) Genus PLESIACERATHERIUM Young, 1937

Type Species Plesiaceratherium gracile Young, 1937. Diagnosis Mmodified from Yan and Heissig (1986).

Figure 34.3 Brachypotherium cf. snowi, mandible KNM-MI-3 from the lower Miocene of Mwiti, Kenya.

Medium-sized to large Aceratheriini with primitive type of skull and dentition. Upper incisors reduced but still shearing against the lower ones in some species. Lower i2 flattened, horizontal and weakly curved. Skull hornless, with deep nasal notch and narrow braincase. Upper cheek teeth with

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ta b l e 34 .1 List of the main African fossil localities with Rhinocerotidae Many ages are estimates, not necessarily supported by absolute dating.

Site

Country

Published Identifications

Present Identifications

Haua Fteah

Libya

0.1

Klein and Scott, 1986

C. simum; D. mercki

C. simum; S. mercki

Bouknadel

Morocco

0.1

Michel, 1992

C. simum; D. hemitoechus

Morocco Kenya Morocco South Africa Ethiopia South Africa

0.2 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.6

Michel, 1992 Brugal and Denys, 1989 Raynal et al., 1993 Klein et al., 1999 Geraads et al, 2004 Hooijer and Singer, 1960

C. simum; D. hemitoechus Rhinocerotidae C. mauritanicum D. bicornis; C. simum Diceros sp. D. bicornis; C. simum

Ceratotherium sp.; D. hemitoechus C. mauritanicum? Rhinocerotidae indet. C. mauritanicum D. bicornis; C. simum Diceros sp.; C. simum D. bicornis; C. simum

Aïn Bahya, Doukkala Isenya Grotte des Rhinocéros Duinefontein Asbole Elandsfontein (Hopefield) M. Awash-Bodo Tighenif Olorgesailie Buia

Ethiopia Algeria Kenya Erythrea

0.7 0.7 0.9 1

Rhinocerotidae C. simum C. simum C. simum

Rhinocerotidae C. mauritanicum C. simum C. simum

Bouri Daka Kanjera Fm. (N)

Ethiopia Kenya

1 1

Ceratotherium sp. D. bicornis; C. simum

Ceratotherium sp. D. bicornis; C. simum

Olduvai upper Bed II, III, IV Aïn Hanech

Tanzania

1

Kalb et al., 1980 Geraads et al., 1986 Hooijer, 1969 Martinez-Navarro et al., 2004 Asfaw et al., 2002 Pickford, 1986; Ditchfield et al., 1999 Hooijer, 1969

D. bicornis; C. simum

D. bicornis; C. simum

Algeria

1.4

Arambourg, 1970

C. simum germanoafricanum

C. mauritanicum

Chemoigut Anabo Koma Peninj Konso Fm. Olduvai Bed I, lower Bed II Nyabusosi Aïn Boucherit Baard’s quarry lower levels Semliki—Lusso

Kenya Djibouti Tanzania Ethiopia Tanzania

1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.8

Bishop et al., 1975 Bonis et al., 1988 Geraads, 1987 Suwa et al., 2003 Hooijer, 1969

Ceratotherium sp. Ceratotherium sp. C. simum D. bicornis; C. simum C. simum

Ceratotherium sp. C. mauritanicum C. simum D. bicornis; C. simum C. simum

Uganda Algeria South Africa

1.8 2.0 2.0

Guérin, 1994b Arambourg, 1970 Hendey, 1978

Congo

2.1

Boaz et al., 1992

D. bicornis C. simum mauritanicum D. bicornis; Ceratotherium sp. cf. Ceratotherium sp.

Koobi Fora

Kenya

2.5

Harris, 1983

Ahl al Oughlam Laetoli—Upper Ndolanya Hohwa Rawi Fm. Omo

Morocco Tanzania

2.5 2.6

Geraads, 2006 Kovarovic et al., 2002

Dicerotini C. mauritanicum D. bicornis; Ceratotherium sp. B. lewisi?; Rhinocerotidae indet. D. praecox; D. bicornis; C. mauritanicum C. mauritanicum C. mauritanicum

Uganda Kenya Ethiopia

2.6 2.8 3.0

Hadar—Kada Hadar

Ethiopia

3.0

Guérin, 1994b Ditchfield et al. 1999 Hooijer, 1973; Guérin,1985; Hooijer and Churcher, 1985 Geraads, 2005

West Turkana

Kenya

3.0

Harris et al, 1988

Lothagam-Kaiyumung Makapansgat

Kenya South Africa

3.0 3.0

Harris and Leakey, 2003 Hooijer, 1958

D. bicornis; Ceratotherium sp.; C. simum C. praecox D. bicornis; C. simum

Aïn Brimba

Tunisia

3.0

Arambourg, 1970

C. simum germanoafricanum

Koro Toro 13

Chad

3.2

Likius, 2002

Hadar—Denen Dora

Ethiopia

3.2

Geraads, 2005

D. cf. bicornis; C. praecox; Stephanorhinus sp. D. praecox; C. mauritanicum

Turkwell South Hadar—Sidi Hakoma

Kenya Ethiopia

3.2 3.3

Ward et al., 1999 Geraads, 2005

Rhinocerotidae D. praecox; C. mauritanicum

678


Age (Ma)

Key References

D.bicornis; C.praecox; C. simum C. mauritanicum C. simum C. praecox C. simum D. bicornis; C. simum

C. mauritanicum? C. mauritanicum? Diceros sp.; C. mauritanicum

D. praecox; C. mauritanicum

D. praecox; C. mauritanicum Diceros sp.; C. mauritanicum D. praecox Diceros sp.; Ceratotherium sp. C. mauritanicum C. mauritanicum; Stephanorhinus sp. D. praecox; C. mauritanicum Rhinocerotidae indet. D. praecox; C. mauritanicum

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Site

Country

Age (Ma)

Key References



Ekora

Kenya

3.5

Hooijer and Patterson, 1972 Guérin, 1987

C. praecox

D. praecox

Laetoli

Tanzania

3.6

D. bicornis; C. praecox

Hooijer and Patterson, 1972 Arambourg, 1970

C. praecox

D. cf. praecox; C. mauritanicum D. praecox

Kanapoi

Kenya

4.0

Ichkeul

Tunisia

4.0

Hooijer, 1969; Pickford, 1987 Harris and Leakey, 2003

D. bicornis; C. simum germanoafricanum D. bicornis; C. praecox; B. lewisi C. praecox

C. mauritanicum; Stephanorhinus sp. Diceros sp.?; C. mauritanicum? D. praecox; Ceratotherium sp.; B. lewisi Ceratotherium sp.

Kanam East and West

Kenya

4.3

Lothagam-Apak

Kenya

4.3

Manonga-Kiloleli

Tanzania

4.3

M. Awash-Aramis

Ethiopia

4.4

C. cf. praecox

Rhinocerotidae indet.

Chemeron

Kenya

4.5

C. simum, C.praecox; B. heinzelini; D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum D. cf. bicornis; C. praecox

C. mauritanicum

Kollé

Chad

4.5

Likius, 2002

Warwire Kossom Bougoudi Hamada Damous Nkondo Langebaanweg PPM

Uganda Chad Tunisia Uganda South Africa

4.5 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.1

Langebaanweg QSM

South Africa

5.2

M. Awash-late Miocene

Ethiopia

5.5

Guérin, 1994b Likius, 2002 Coppens, 1971 Guérin, 1994b Hooijer, 1972; Hendey, 1981 Hooijer, 1972; Hendey, 1981 Haile-Selassie, 2001

Lukeino A-B Lissasfa Hondeklip Lothagam-upper Nawata Mpesida

Kenya Morocco Namibia Kenya

6.0 6.0 6.0 6.5

Pickford and Senut, 2001 Raynal et al., 1999 Pickford and Senut, 1997 Harris and Leakey, 2003

Kenya

6.5

Menacer (Marceau) Sinda

Algeria Congo

7.0 7.0

Lothagam-lower Nawata

Kenya

7.0

Sahabi

Libya

7.0

Douaria

Tunisia

7.0

Hooijer, 1973 ; Kingston et al., 2002 Thomas and Petter, 1986 Hooijer, 1966; Guérin, 2000 Hooijer and Patterson, 1972; Harris and Leakey, 2003 d’Erasmo, 1954; Bernor et al., 1987 Guérin, 1966

Karugamania

Congo

8.0

Guérin, 2000

Oued-Mya-1

Algeria

9.0

Ngeringerowa Namurungule

Kenya Kenya

9.0 9.5

Nakali

Kenya

9.5

Bou Hanifia Ngorora E

Algeria Kenya

10.0 10.0

Bled Douarah (upper Beglia Fm.) Djebel Krechem

Tunisia

10.0

Tunisia

10.0

Sudre and Hartenberger, 1992 Pickford, 1983 Nakaya et al., 1987; Nakaya, 1993 Aguirre and Guérin, 1974; Antoine, 2002 Arambourg, 1959 Hooijer, 1971; Guérin, 2000 Robinson and Black, 1974 Geraads, 1989

Harrison and Baker, 1997 WoldeGabriel et al., 1994 Hooijer, 1973; Guérin, 2000

C. simum; D. africanus

D. bicornis; C. praecox D. cf. bicornis C. simum D. bicornis; C. praecox C. praecox

C. mauritanicum; Rhinocerotidae indet. Dicerotini Rhinocerotidae indet. Rhinocerotidae indet. Dicerotini Ceratotherium sp.

C. praecox

Ceratotherium sp.

Diceros sp.; C. cf. praecox; B. cf. lewisi Diceros?; C. praecox Rhinocerotidae C. praecox D. bicornis; C. praecox; B. lewisi C. praecox; B. lewisi

Diceros sp.; B. cf. lewisi; Rhinocerotidae indet. Brachypotherium sp.? Ceratotherium sp. Ceratotherium sp.? Ceratotherium sp.; B. lewisi

Rhinocerotidae B. heinzelini; A. acutirostratum C. praecox; B. lewisi

Rhinocerotidae indet. Rhinocerotidae indet.

D. neumayri; Brachypotherium sp. D. douariensis B. heinzelini; A. acutirostratum Aceratherium sp.

Brachypotherium sp.; C. douariense? C. douariense; Rhinocerotidae indet. B. snowi?; Rhinocerotidae indet. Dicerotini?

Rhinocerotidae Paradiceros sp.; Kenyatherium bishopi; Chilotheridium sp. Kenyatherium bishopi

Rhinocerotidae indet. Ceratotherium sp.?; Kenyatherium bishopi? Kenyatherium bishopi

D. primaevus B. lewisi; Aceratherium or Dicerorhinus; C. pattersoni Rhinocerotidae

C. cf. primaevum Brachypotherium sp.; Elasmotheriinae? Rhinocerotidae indet.

D. cf. douariensis; B. cf. lewisi

C. douariense?; Rhinocerotidae indet.

Ceratotherium sp.; B. lewisi

Ceratotherium sp.; B. lewisi



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Site

Country

Age (Ma)

Chorora Ngorora A-D

Ethiopia Kenya

10.5 12.0

Kabasero Beni Mellal Alengerr

Kenya Morocco Kenya

12.5 12.5 13.0

Fort Ternan Kisegi

Kenya Uganda

13.0 13.5

Muruyur-Kipsaramon Kirimun

Kenya Kenya

13.7 15.0

Nyakach

Kenya

15.0

Maboko-Ombo

Kenya

15.5

Hooijer, 1973; Pickford, 1986

Nachola Moroto I and II Mwiti (Kajong)

Kenya Uganda Kenya

15.5 16.0 16.5

Buluk (W. Stephanie)

Kenya

16.5

Pickford et al., 1987 Pickford et al., 1986 Savage and Williamson, 1978 Leakey and Walker, 1985

Jebel Zelten Loperot

Libya Kenya

16.5 17.0

Langental

Namibia

17.0

Ryskop Moruorot

Namibia Kenya

17.0 17.2

Moghara

Egypt

17.5

Karungu

Kenya

17.5

Bukwa

Uganda

17.5

Kulu Fm. (Rusinga)

Kenya

17.7

Uyoma peninsula

Kenya

17.7

Hiwegi Fm. (Rusinga)

Kenya

17.8

Mfwangano Kenya Wayando Fm. (Rusinga) Kenya

17.8 18.0

Pickford, 1986 Pickford, 1986; Hooijer, 1966

Arrisdrift

Namibia

18.0

Auchas

Namibia

19.5

Napak-Napak

Uganda

19.5

Koru-Songhor

Kenya

20.0

Napak-Iriri

Uganda

20.0

Guérin, 2000; Guérin, 2003 Pickford and Senut 2003; Guérin, 2000 Pickford et al., 1986; Guérin and Pickford, 2003 Pickford, 1986; Hooijer, 1966 Pickford et al., 1986; Hooijer, 1966, 1973

680


Key References Geraads et al., 2002 Nakaya, 1993; Guérin, 2000 Hill et al., 2002 Guérin, 1976 Hooijer, 1973; Guérin, 2000 Hooijer, 1968 Guérin, 1994b; Guérin, 2000 Pickford, 1988 Hooijer, 1971; Guérin, 2000 Pickford, 1986

Hamilton, 1973 Hooijer, 1971; Guérin, 2000 Heissig, 1971; Hooijer, 1973; Guérin, 2000 Pickford and Senut, 1997 Deraniyagala, 1951; Hooijer, 1968 Fourtau 1920, Miller, 1999 Hooijer, 1966; Pickford, 1986 Walker, 1968; Hooijer, 1971 Hooijer, 1966; Pickford, 1986 Pickford, 1986; Guérin, 2000 Hooijer, 1966, 1968



Dicerotini B. lewisi ; C. pattersoni

Ceratotherium sp.? Rhinocerotidae indet.

Rhinocerotidae cf. Paradiceros mukirii D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum

Rhinocerotidae indet. cf. P. mukirii Rhinocerotidae indet.

Paradiceros mukirii Paradiceros mukirii

P. mukirii Rhinocerotidae indet.

A. acutirostratum Dicerorhinus or Aceratherium; Chilotheridium pattersoni Brachypotherium sp.

Rhinocerotidae indet. B. snowi?; Rhinocerotidae indet. Brachypotherium sp.; Plesiaceratherium sp.? Elasmotheriinae?; Chilotheridium sp.?

B. heinzelini; D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum; C. pattersoni Rhinocerotidae Rhinocerotidae Rhinocerotidae

Elasmotheriinae? Rhinocerotidae indet. Brachypotherium cf. snowi

D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum; Chilotheridium pattersoni B. snowi; A. campbelli Chilotheridium pattersoni

Brachypotherium nov. sp.?; Rhinocerotidae indet. B. snowi Chilotheridium pattersoni

B. heinzelini

Brachypotherium sp.

Rhinocerotidae A. acutirostratum

Rhinocerotidae indet. T. acutirostratum; Rhinocerotidae indet. B. snowi; Rhinocerotidae indet. Brachypotherium sp.; R. leakeyi? Elasmotheriinae?;

B. snowi; Aceratherium sp. B. heinzelini; D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum; B. heinzelini; C. pattersoni D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum; Chilotheridium pattersoni B. heinzelini; Dicerorhinus or Aceratherium B. heinzelini; D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum B. heinzelini; D. leakeyi B. heinzelini; D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum; C. pattersoni? D. australis; cf. C. pattersoni Rhinocerotidae D. leakeyi; A. acutirostratum; Ougandatherium napakense D. leakeyi B. heinzelini; D. leakeyi

R. leakeyi; T. acutirostratum B. snowi? B. snowi; R. leakeyi B. snowi; R. leakeyi B. snowi; R. leakeyi

“D.” australis; Chilotheridium sp.? Rhinocerotidae indet. Ougandatherium napakense; Rhinocerotidae indet. Rhinocerotidae indet. Brachypotherium sp.; Rhinocerotidae indet.

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faint constriction of the inner cusps. Premolars with high lingual cingulum. Lower premolars long and narrow, with shallow labial groove and protoconid flattened labially. Vertical rugosities on the labial wall are common. Limbs long and slender, mainly their distal segments. Manus tetradactyl. PLESIACERATHERIUM sp. I provisionally refer to this genus two incomplete skulls from Nyakach, Kenya, found by M. Pickford, numbered KNMNC-10486 and KNM-NC-10510, and dated to about 15 Ma. The nasals are remarkably long, straight, and hornless. The nasal notch is deep, and its bottom is U shaped, almost rectangular. The dorsal skull profile is concave, and the orbit is elevated, with an inflated and rounded supraorbital tuberosity. The premaxillae are slender, but probably carried incisors (an isolated upper incisor of medium size could be of the same species). The cheek teeth have a simple morphology (quite distinct from that of the next genus), with slightly pinched protocones on the molars, weak or absent crochet, but the premolars are reduced in size and their lingual cingulum is weak. These skulls resemble those of early–middle Miocene Eurasian forms included in Plesiaceratherium, but these have larger premolars with a strong, continuous lingual cingulum (Heissig, 1972; Antunes and Ginsburg, 1983). The related genus “Hoploaceratherium,” best known from “H.” tetradactylum from Sansan, France, has teeth more like the Nyakach ones, but there are small terminal horns (a minor difference), and it is said to have lost its upper incisors (Heissig, 1999). The Nyakach rhino is probably a member of this Plesiaceratherium-Hoploaceratherium group, but more detailed evidence, especially relating to its upper incisors and postcranials, are still needed to ascertain its phyletic position. It may well be that some specimens from various sites previously referred to Aceratherium or Dicerorhinus belong here. Genus TURKANATHERIUM Deraniyagala, 1951

Type Species Turkanatherium acutirostratum Deraniyagala, 1951.

Diagnosis Skull dolichocephalic, occiput vertical, frontoparietal profile concave, temporal lines meet to form a sagittal crest, nasals elongate, nasal notch U shaped and shallow (bottom above front of P3), anterior orbital margin above front of M2. Premolars with long transverse lophs, vestigial bridge between protocone and hypocone, molars without crista, antecrochet strong, at least on M1. TURKANATHERIUM ACUTIROSTRATUM Deraniyagala, 1951 Figure 34.4

Type Skull (housed in the Colombo Museum, Sri Lanka). Type Locality Moruorot, Kenya, about 17 to 17.5 Ma. Diagnosis As for genus. Remarks The type skull is preserved in the Sri Lanka National Museum but seemingly has never been examined by Western researchers, who have had to rely mostly on the descriptions and figures of Deraniyagala (1951). The skull (figure 34.4) is high and narrow, the dorsal profile is concave, the condyles much higher than the tooth row, the temporal lines meet to form a long sagittal crest, the nasal notch has the shape of a wide U, and its bottom is above the middle of P3, and thus rather far from the anterior orbital border, which is above the front of M2. The nasals carry no horn,

Turkanatherium acutirostratum, holotype skull from Moruorot; lateral view (A) and occlusal view (B) of teeth.

FIGURE 34.4

but they are long and slender, extending forward well beyond the level of P2. The long premaxillae were said by Deraniyagala (1951) to be edentulous; this is very unlikely, as noted by Hooijer (1966), but the size of I1 is unknown. The protoloph is constricted on the molars, especially M1, which has a strong antecrochet, but the crochet is weak. The premolars are small, broad, with lophs converging lingually, a lingual connection between them, an incomplete internal cingulum and the postfossette is transversely elongated. An incomplete mandible from the same locality (MT-66 in Hooijer 1968, now KNM-MO-43) shows, from the shape of their alveoli, that the lateral incisors had long roots and some outward curvature. Arambourg (1933) described from Losodok in the same area two slender metatarsals, but they might not belong to the same taxon. Arambourg (1959) and Hooijer (1963, 1966) referred T. acutirostratum to Aceratherium, without much discussion, and this generic attribution has been accepted ever since, but this was done at a time when the latter genus had a very broad meaning, including most middle and many of the late Miocene nonbrachypothere hornless rhinos from Eurasia. The type species of Aceratherium is A. incisivum from the early late Miocene of Germany, and recent revisions (Heissig, 1999) favor restriction of the generic name to this species. Even though this can be disputed, T. acutirostratum clearly differs from A. incisivum, which has a shorter skull, an almost flat cranial profile, a very robust zygomatic arch, a deeper nasal notch extending closer to the orbit, and larger and more molariform premolars with a lingual connection occurring only in late wear. Turkanatherium can thus be retained as a valid generic name, because its type species differs considerably from that of Aceratherium. The cheek teeth of a lower jaw KNM-RU-3012 (850-47 in Hooijer, 1966) do not differ from those of the sympatric “Dicerorhinus”; the associated nasals were relatively long and broad, but not bowed anteroposteriorly, and certainly carried no large horn, but identification of all these remains is uncertain.



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Hooijer (1966) found it difficult, if not impossible, to tell apart the limb bones of “Dicerorhinus” and “Aceratherium,” in spite of the occurrence at Rusinga of two skeletons that he referred to each of these genera; both had primitive limb proportions. Turkanatherium (and Plesiaceratherium) might be expected to differ in the retention of the fifth digit of the manus, but it has not yet been found. “Aceratherium” has been reported from a number of African sites, often on the basis of fragmentary remains, but identification of isolated or even incomplete teeth of rhinos is seldom reliable. For instance, identification of teeth from Karugamania, Zaire, as A. acutirostratum by Hooijer (1963) was made on the assumption of an early/middle Miocene age of the deposits. Their reassignment to the late Miocene (Pickford et al., 1993) rules out their belonging to this species (especially as the P4 lacks the remarkable transverse broadening of the type specimen). It is likely that T. acutirostratum was a common species in the early and middle Miocene of Africa but, besides the type, it is hard to refer any specimen to this species with certainty. Genus CHILOTHERIDIUM Hooijer, 1971

Type Species Chilotheridium pattersoni Hooijer, 1971. Diagnosis Slightly modified from Hooijer (1971). Small single nasal horn in both sexes; frontals and parietals pneumatized; orbit not placed as near upper contour of skull as in Chilotherium; cranium and occiput rather narrow; parietal crests not widely separated; inferior squamosal processes not united below; symphysial portion of mandible narrow, slightly expanding anteriorly. Cheek teeth fully hypsodont as in Chilotherium and with the same pattern: uppers with paracone style fading away basally and posterior portion of ectoloph flattened; protocone well set off by folds and flattened internally; anterior fold in metaloph, marking off hypocone; antecrochet prominent basally, curving inward to medisinus entrance; crochet usually well developed, and crista weak or absent; metacone bulge at base in M3; anterior cingulum strong, internal cingulum weak and usually forming cusp at medisinus entrance. i2 subtriangular in cross section, depressed dorsoventrally, internal edge sharpened by wear, outer lower edge rounded, and outer upper edge ridged. Scapula low and wide; limb and foot bones not much shortened; radius and ulna, and tibia and fibula not ankylosed; radius with pyramidal facet; metacarpal V present, three-fifths the length of metacarpal IV; lateral metapodials somewhat divergent posteriorly; femur with small third trochanter; calcaneum without tibia facet; talus with trochlea markedly shifted laterally; navicular nearly rectangular; cuboid wider than high; metatarsal III with small cuboid facet. CHILOTHERIDIUM PATTERSONI Hooijer, 1971

Type Skull figured by Hooijer (1971: plate 1); numbered 70-64K, B12 in KNM. Type Locality Loperot, Kenya, ca. 17 Ma. Diagnosis As for genus. Remarks The species was erected on a large collection of fossils, but they are much fragmented and distorted. The skulls are made up of a mosaic of fragments that make their actual shape hard to figure out, although tooth features and limb bone proportions are certainly correct. Upper incisors were said to be lacking, but the premaxillaries are broken off on both skulls from Loperot, and the absence of isolated upper incisors in the Loperot collection is 682


not a strong argument against their actual presence (there are only two isolated i2s). The main feature of the postcranial skeleton is the retention of a functional fifth metacarpal, but since even a vestigial Mc V articulates with a similar facet on the Mc IV, occurrence of this fifth digit is hard to demonstrate at other localities. Although not noted by Hooijer, the tali are characteristic, with a low medial lip of the trochlea, and a very salient distomedial tuberosity with a slanting proximal border. This morphology is absent from sites other than Loperot, showing that Chilotheridium is certainly a rare form. However, Hooijer (1971) identified Chilotheridium from a few other sites, mostly on the basis of isolated teeth. An i2 of large size from Kirimun would perhaps better match Brachypotherium. A few upper cheek teeth from Bukwa (Walker, 1968) also referred to Chilotheridium by Hooijer, are much worn but are remarkable in the depth of the grooves that tend to isolate pillars: the antecrochet is strong, the protocone is double, and the hypocone is sharply set off from the metaloph. All these features perhaps better fit an elasmothere. Two tooth fragments from Rusinga were assigned to Chilotheridium mostly because of their hypsodonty. An upper tooth series from Ngorora (Hooijer, 1971: plate 11, figure 1; now KNM-BN-133) is too worn to be reliably identified. Some isolated teeth from the Samburu Hills (Nakaya et al., 1987) are also hardly identifiable. Chilotheridium was assumed by Hooijer to be close to the mainly Asiatic late Miocene genus Chilotherium, but resemblances concern mostly cheek tooth morphology, estimated depth of the nasal notch, some shortening of the metapodials, and the presence of an articulation between radius and pyramidal. The latter feature is primitive, and the others are prone to parallelism. On the other hand, Chilotherium differs considerably from the Kenyan genus in its broad skull, flat frontals, high orbits, short hornless nasals, broadened mandibular symphysis with large i2s, and much shortened metapodials, and the two genera are probably not closely related. Subtribe RHINOCEROTINA (Gray, 1821) Genus RUSINGACEROS nov. gen.

Type Species Dicerorhinus leakeyi Hooijer, 1966. Diagnosis Simplified from Hooijer (1966) for Dicerorhinus leakeyi. A rhino of medium size, with a long and low skull. Frontal and nasal horns present; nasal notch very shallow; long, slanting premaxilla bearing moderate-sized incisors; small i1s present, i2s parallel, medium sized; occiput as highly elevated as in Lartetotherium. Upper premolars with protoloph and metaloph united lingually up to at least 15 mm from crown base, cingulum weak. Upper molars with internal cingulum very weak or absent, protocone not or hardly constricted off, antecrochet absent, ectoloph depressed between the roots, crochet and crista weak or absent, M3 bulging out at junction of ectoloph and metaloph. RUSINGACEROS LEAKEYI (Hooijer, 1966)

Type Skull and associated mandible, KNM-RU-2821 (Hooijer, 1966: plates 1 and 2, figures 1 and 2). Type Locality Rusinga, precise locality unknown. Diagnosis As for genus. Remarks This species was described by Hooijer (1966) on the basis of the type, plus another associated maxilla and mandible (now KNM-RU-2822). It was originally referred to the genus Dicerorhinus Gloger, 1841, of which the modern

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D. sumatrensis is the type species. There are some similarities in the cranial profile, shape and orientation of the nasals and premaxillae, size of the main incisors, but the Rusinga type skull is longer and lower with a longer facial portion, the orbit is more posterior, the zygomatic arch is extremely robust, and the cheek teeth are much more primitive, with submolariform premolars, weaker cristae on the molars, and no metacone fold (the very strong metacone fold of the premolars of the Sumatran rhino is certainly a derived feature), and the posterior limb is relatively longer. There is no evidence of a close relationship between the Rusinga material and the modern species, and including the Rusinga form in Dicerorhinus would expand the content of this genus to virtually every two-horned rhino with front teeth. Several authors (Groves, 1983; Geraads, 1988; Cerdeño, 1995) have included the Rusinga species in Lartetotherium, a genus based on L. sansaniense from the late middle Miocene site of Sansan in France, thus much later in age than Rusinga. The resemblances include a high occiput, the size of the front teeth, and probably (the Rusinga teeth are highly worn) the molarisation stage of the upper premolars, but the skull of L. sansaniense is much higher and shorter, the zygomatic arch is weaker, the antorbital part shorter (the anterior orbital margin is above the anterior end of M2), the nasal notch is deeper (bottom above P2–P3), the symphysis is broader and shorter. An earlier form of L. sansaniense, from Sandelzhausen in Germany, has a nasal notch situated farther rostrally (Heissig, 1972), and the skull looks relatively longer than that from Sansan (but both are crushed). It partly bridges the chronological and morphological gaps between the Rusinga and Sansan rhinos, but the lack of a frontal horn is a difference from both. Hooijer (1966) reported R. leakeyi from various sites at Rusinga, and from Songhor and Napak, and some other occurrences were added more recently (see table 34.1) but, besides Rusinga, most of the identifications are based on isolated teeth. Regardless, R. leakeyi is the earliest rhino of modern type, i.e., with a strong nasal and smaller frontal horn. In Eurasia, the earliest “Dicerorhinus” is documented by a few isolated teeth (of doubtful generic attribution) from Baigneaux in France (Ginsburg and Bulot, 1984), a locality dated to late MN4, i.e., somewhat later than Rusinga.

The large Mammals from Ichkeul are mostly of African affinity, but some genera are known on both sides of the Mediterranean at that time, and S. ? africanus is probably of northern origin. This is confirmed by the occurrence of the genus at Koro Toro 13 in Chad, a locality dated at about 3–3.5 Ma. (Likius, 2002), but not in East Africa. STEPHANORHINUS HEMITOECHUS (Falconer in Murchison, 1868)

Synonymy Rhinoceros subinermis Pomel, 1895: 21. Type skull figured by Falconer in Murchison (1868: plate 15); BMNH M27836. Type Locality Clacton, Essex, Great Britain; middle Pleistocene. Remarks The species has been revised by Guérin (1980) and Fortelius et al. (1993). No rhino related to European forms is known in the late Pliocene or early and middle Pleistocene of North Africa, and the Stephanorhinus found in the late Pleistocene of Morocco and Algeria must be an immigrant from the North, together with Sus and cervids. Long referred to S. mercki, it is now believed to belong to S. hemitoechus, the last species of the genus, with a large nasal horn supported by wide nasals buttressed by a robust nasal septum. Genus PARADICEROS Hooijer, 1968

Type Species Paradiceros mukirii Hooijer, 1968. Diagnosis Mostly from Hooijer (1968). Two horns, placed on nasals and frontals, respectively. Inferior squamosal processes separate. Lower orbital border rounded. Bottom of nasal notch above front of P3. Mandibular symphysis abbreviated but not widened; edentulous in the adult. Cheek teeth brachyodont, protocone constricted, antecrochet prominent in milk and first molars rather than in last and premolars. Last upper molar subtriangular. Upper molars with wide and low medisinus entrance, upper premolars with high internal pass. Limbs and some of the foot bones more shortened than in Aceratherium or Dicerorhinus though not to the extent seen in Brachypotherium or Chilotherium. PARADICEROS MUKIRII Hooijer, 1968 Figure 34.5

Genus STEPHANORHINUS Kretzoi, 1942

Type Species Stephanorhinus etruscus (Falconer in Murchison, 1868) from the Plio-Pleistocene of Italy. This is a mostly European genus, the limits of which are controversial. It includes several Pliocene and Pleistocene species previously referred to Dicerorhinus and perhaps dates back to the late Miocene; the whole genus is in need of revision.

Type Juvenile skull, figured by Hooijer (1968, pl. 1); KNMFT-2866. Type Locality Fort Ternan, ca. 13–14 Ma. Diagnosis As for genus. Remarks The species has also been reported from Kisegi in Uganda (Guérin, 1994b) and Beni Mellal in Morocco (Guérin,

STEPHANORHINUS ? AFRICANUS (Arambourg, 1970)

Type M3, MNHN-1948-2-21 (Arambourg, 1970: plate 15, figure 1). Type Locality Lake Ichkeul, Tunisia, early to middle Pliocene. Diagnosis Translated from Arambourg (1970). Intermediate in size between S. etruscus and D. sumatrensis, with molars more brachyodont but morphologically similar to those of the living species. Remarks The type locality yielded only the type, a mandible fragment, and an atlas. Given its age, it is unlikely to be of African origin, since only Dicerotini and brachypotheres survive in the rich East African sites after the middle Miocene.

FIGURE 34.5 Paradiceros mukirii, skull KNM-FT-3328 from the middle Miocene of Fort Ternan, Kenya.



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1976) on the basis of very poor remains; these identifications are likely but may have been influenced by the age of these sites. An unpublished, almost complete skull, KNM-FT-3328 (figure 34.5), shows further features. The occiput is inclined backward. There is no true postorbital process. The frontal horn forms a conspicuous median boss, which is much more posterior than that of the African living forms, of Rusingaceros, and even of Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, casting some doubt on their homology. Behind the orbits, the temporal lines remain far apart before turning medially, suggesting that this frontal horn had a very broad base. The few metapodials, which exhibit marked size variation, are similar in robustness to those of the Dicerotini. Many features of Paradiceros would fit a primitive Dicerotini, but none definitively supports a close relationship, and the peculiar features of the posterior horn seem to speak against it. Genus CERATOTHERIUM Gray, 1868

Synonymy Serengeticeros Dietrich, 1942. Type Species Ceratotherium simum (Burchell, 1817), living African “white” or square-lipped rhino. Diagnosis Nasal and frontal horns; nasal bones rounded and short, not contacting lacrimal; lower border of orbit sloping downward; weak postorbital process; broad nuchal crest; premaxilla much reduced; upper and lower incisors vestigial or absent; paracone fold weak; antecrochet absent (Geraads, 2005). Remarks Ceratotherium obviously shares a common ancestry with Diceros, but there is some disagreement about what should be included in either genus. It had long been assumed that modern Diceros is closer to the ancestral morphology, but I have argued (Geraads, 2005) that its cranial morphology is in fact derived and that Miocene forms should rather be placed in Ceratotherium. I follow this classification here, although the affinities of the incompletely known African Miocene forms are certainly debatable. CERATOTHERIUM ? PRIMAEVUM (Arambourg, 1959)

Type Incomplete juvenile skull, MNHN 1951–9–222 (Arambourg, 1959: plate 6). Type Locality Oued el Hammam (⫽ Bou Hanifia), Algeria, early late Miocene. Diagnosis A two-horned rhino, the anterior horn on a strongly convex nasal boss, no postorbital process on the frontal, lower orbital floor inclined. Incisors reduced or lost, strong parastyle but no cristae on the molars, protocone slightly pinched. Metapodials rather slender. Remarks This species has been described only from the type locality. The sample is large, but cranial and dental specimens are mainly from juvenile individuals. Arambourg (1959) viewed it as a relative of the Sumatran rhino, but I showed (Geraads, 1986) showed that its skull displays some apomorphic features of the Dicerotini (see diagnosis). Many important elements of the adult skull, front dentition, and premolars, are absent from the type locality, so that the precise phyletic position of this species is unclear, but it is certainly valid, and I provisionally include it in the paraphyletic genus Ceratotherium. A P2 from the late Miocene of Chorora, Ethiopia (Geraads et al., 2002) has its lingual lobes almost free from the ectoloph, as in the earlier Paradiceros mukirii, but it probably also belongs to an early Ceratotherium. A maxilla from the late Miocene Namurungule Fm (Nakaya et al., 1987: plate 6, figure 1), assigned to Paradiceros mukirii, is more likely to belong here. 684


CERATOTHERIUM DOUARIENSE (Guérin, 1966)

Type Associated partial skull and mandible, FSL-16750 and 16751, figured by Guérin, 1966: figures 1, 3, 4 (top), 5, 7–10. Type Locality Douaria, Tunisia. Age not known with precision, but almost certainly late Miocene. Diagnosis Translated and simplified from Guérin (1966). Large two-horned skull; nasal notch at the level of P2–P3, anterior orbital border above M1–M2; strong lacrimal processes directed posteroventrally; strong postglenoid process; posterior border of symphysis at the level of p3. Upper premolars with strong lingual cingulum, strong crochet, weak antecrochet. Upper molars with strong crochet. Remarks The occipital region is unknown, but the rest of the skull does not display the derived features of Diceros, and it seems better to leave this species in the paraphyletic genus Ceratotherium, pending discovery of a more complete specimen. It is doubtfully distinct from C. neumayri from the late Miocene of the Balkano-Iranian province, but more North African specimens would be welcome. It has also been reported from Jebel Krechem, mostly on the basis on geographic proximity (Geraads, 1989), but not outside Tunisia. A tooth from the latest Miocene of Sahabi, Libya, identified as Diceros neumayri by Bernor et al. (1987), can be included here, too. CERATOTHERIUM sp. The rhino from the early Pliocene of Langebaanweg, South Africa, was described by Hooijer (1972) as Ceratotherium praecox. This species should be included in Diceros (discussed later), but the Langebaanweg rhino displays derived features of the Pliocene Ceratotherium clade, such as a flattened ectoloph, more plagiolophodont teeth, and tendency to close the medi- and postfossettes (Geraads, 2005). Some other specimens are difficult to fit into the evolution of Ceratotherium. A maxilla from the Mio-Pliocene of Lissasfa, Morocco, is unusual in its high premolars but lingually fused protocone and metacone, reminiscent of the primitive Vallesian Ceratotherium from Pentalophos, Greece (Geraads and Koufos, 1990), but also of modern C. simum. CERATOTHERIUM MAURITANICUM (Pomel, 1888) Figure 34.6

Synonymy Serengeticeros efficax Dietrich, 1942. Type M2, MNHN no. TER-2261, figured by Pomel (1895: plate 1, figures 1 and 2). Type Locality Tighenif (⫽ Ternifine, ⫽ Palikao), Algeria, lower/middle Pleistocene. Diagnosis Size larger than in C. neumayri; nuchal crest stretched more caudally; nasal notch shallower; premolar row shortened; transverse lophs of upper teeth long and narrow; metaloph extending distolingually into distal cingulum, closing postfossette (Geraads, 2005). Remarks North African Ceratotherium mauritanicum (figure 34.6) is clearly distinct from C. simum, and Guérin (1994a) and Guérin and Faure (2007) recognized its specific distinctness; in this region it survives until the late middle Pleistocene. I observed (Geraads, 2005) that its main features can also be found in East Africa in most of the specimens usually referred to C. simum germanoafricanum (discussed later), and many of those called Ceratotherium praecox (Geraads, 2005: table 4), and he accordingly referred these East African

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more vertically oriented occipital plane or even one inclined anterodorsally, nuchal crest less expanded posteriorly, more deeply concave cranial profile, basioccipital angled relative to basisphenoid, shortened face with orbits more anteriorly positioned and closer to nasal notch, and often nasolacrimal contact. “DICEROS” AUSTRALIS Guérin, 2000

Ceratotherium mauritanicum, skull from the middle Pleistocene of “Grotte des Rhinocéros,” Casablanca, Morocco.

FIGURE 34.6

specimens to C. mauritanicum. Again, precise delimitation of the species may be difficult, as there is little doubt that, in East Africa, it is directly ancestral to the living C. simum. CERATOTHERIUM SIMUM (Burchell, 1817)

Diagnosis Geraads (2005). Strong postorbital constriction; nuchal crest narrow; postglenoid process weak; craniomandibular articulation horizontal; upper cheek teeth hypsodont, with very long narrow lophs and enlarged fossettes; labial walls sinuous in the upper part of crown; occlusal surface flat; premolar row shortened, DP1 shed before adulthood, P2 small; on molars, curved protoloph, oblique narrow metaloph, closed medifossette, post and prefossettes closed in advanced wear; lower cheek teeth rectangular, with closed fossettids on worn teeth; metapodials short and stout. Remarks In historical times, the “white” rhino had a more restricted range than its “black” cousin, but in the Pleistocene it extended as far as the Mediterranean. Of the two living subspecies, C. simum cottoni, which was the more common 100 years ago, is now restricted to a few individuals in northeastern Congo. The southern C. simum simum, whose numbers had plummeted to 20 in 1895, now includes about 12.000 individuals, almost all of them in South Africa (International Rhino Foundation data). Late Holocene records of white rhinos in Kenya suggest that their distributions in the recent past were less widely separated. The fossil form Rhinoceros simus germanoafricanus Hilzheimer, 1925, whose subspecific name is often used as a species name for the Pleistocene form, is based on a lost skull from Olduvai, probably from its upper levels, where definite C. simum are known. Since it also shows an oblique metaloph, like the modern form, there is no reason to separate them. In any case, using a species name based on a type that survives only through a sketch of two teeth could easily lead to confusion. Ceratotherium simum is clearly descended from C. mauritanicum. The transition, which took place near the Plio-Pleistocene boundary in East Africa, is mainly marked by features associated with an increasingly grazing diet, with some convergences with other grazing species, such as Coelodonta and Elasmotherium, in tooth morphology. Except for a somewhat larger size, early Pleistocene forms are already identical with the modern one. Genus DICEROS Gray, 1821

Type Species Diceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758, living African “black” rhino. Diagnosis Geraads (2005). Premaxilla absent or vestigial. Cranium short and relatively broad. Neurocranium tilted anterodorsally relative to the splanchnocranium, resulting in

Type Left third metacarpal, AD 52’97, figured by Guérin (2000: figures 5.3–5.4), housed in the Geological Survey of Namibia, Windhoek. Type Locality Arrisdrift, Namibia, ca. 17 Ma. Diagnosis Guérin (2000). A very large cursorial rhinoceros of the Dicerotine type. Upper cheek teeth brachyodont, with a more or less continuous crenulated inner cingulum, and a crochet as the only or main internal fold. Ectoloph of upper premolars with a strong parastyle, paracone fold thick but not very prominent, and no mesostyle or metacone fold. Upper molars have a large paracone fold on their ectoloph, with a weak vertical bulge in the middle of it, and a protocone weakly constricted on its anterior face. Tall and slim but sturdy limb bones. Lateral and medial metapodials very long with respect to the central one. Remarks This species is known only from isolated teeth and limb bones. The upper incisors are unknown; the lower ones are smaller than in R. leakeyi, although not vestigial. The P4 has no constricted protocone, a rather flat ectoloph behind the paracone fold, and no lingual connection between the lophs. These features, plus the large size for this age, led Guérin to include the Arrisdrift species in the Dicerotini, hence in Diceros, as he considers this genus as the earliest and most primitive member of this tribe. Indeed, Tougard et al. (2001) rooted the tribe into the late Oligocene, but the characters of D. australis are not exclusive of it. This is certainly a valid species, but only cranial material would shed more light on its affinities. DICEROS PRAECOX (Hooijer and Patterson, 1972)

Type Poorly preserved incomplete skull, KNM-KP-36 (Hooijer and Patterson, 1972: figure 9A). Type Locality Kanapoi, Kenya, about 4 Ma. Diagnosis Geraads (2005). The original diagnosis consists entirely of plesiomorphic characters. This species has only a few apomorphic features with respect to its likely ancestor C. neumayri: orbit more anterior with respect to tooth row; skull profile more concave; occipital plane more vertical; nuchal crest less extended posteriorly. Remarks This species had long been included in Ceratotherium, but I showed (Geraads, 2005) that the type and a referred skull from Ekora, which formed the basis of the original description, are both closer to Diceros in their tooth morphology, concave cranial profile, and occiput more vertical than in Ceratotherium. The distinction from D. bicornis may not be easy. I referred (Geraads, 2005) a fragmentary skull from the base of the Sidi Hakoma member of the Hadar Fm to D. praecox, and an as yet uncollected skull from higher up in the sequence at Dikika appears transitional but is less derived than D. bicornis in its larger size, less shortened skull, less anteriorly shifted orbit, and wide nuchal crest. I also referred (Geraads, 2005) to this species several specimens previously called either C. praecox or D. bicornis, but most of the material previously reported under the name “Ceratotherium praecox” belongs to what is called here C. mauritanicum. THIRT Y-FOUR: RHINOCEROTIDAE


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DICEROS BICORNIS (Linnaeus, 1758)

Diagnosis Geraads (2005). Size smaller than D. praecox; face more angled on neurocranium; nuchal crest not expanded; cheek teeth narrower, lophs more transverse; premolar row shortened. Remarks The living “black” rhino was once widespread outside dense forest in sub-Saharan Africa, but it has never been reported north of the present-day Sahara. Numbers sharply declined with the introduction of firearms, and several subspecies have recently become extinct. A minimum was reached in 1995, with only 2400 remaining wild individuals, but a slight rise since then has brought the number to about 3700 (IRF data), scattered from Kenya to South Africa and Namibia, with three remaining subspecies. This species has been recorded from as early as the late Miocene (e.g., Lothagam), but I preferred (Geraads, 2005) to regard these pre-Pleistocene forms as D. praecox. The best early representative of the living species is skull KNM-ER-636, from the KBS member of Koobi Fora (Harris, 1983). Subfamily ELASMOTHERIINAE (Bonaparte, 1845) Genus KENYATHERIUM Aguirre and Guérin, 1974

Type Species Kenyatherium bishopi Aguirre and Guérin, 1974.

Diagnosis Translated from Aguirre and Guérin (1974). A medium-sized Elasmotheriinae; upper premolar hypsodont with regularly convex ectoloph and a very weak paracone fold. Opening of the median valley fully blocked by a wall uniting protocone to hypocone. Medifossette lacking true folds but with localized microfolds. Protocone constricted by a groove on the mesial side of the protoloph. KENYATHERIUM BISHOPI Aguirre and Guérin, 1974

Type Upper premolar, probably P4, KNM-NA-198. Type Locality Nakali, Kenya, early late Miocene. Diagnosis As for genus. Remarks The holotype and an incomplete molar are indeed remarkable in the features mentioned in the diagnosis, plus the presence of cement, large postfossette, distally closed by a high cingulum, and small protocone and hypocone well set off from the lophs. The authors viewed Kenyatherium as close to the Eurasiatic Miocene genera Iranotherium, Hispanotherium, and Caementodon. In the cladistic analysis of Antoine (2002), it occupies a basal position among the elasmotheres because of its transverse metaloph on P4, long metaloph on M1or M2, lack of cristae, presence of lingual cingulum on upper teeth, and hypocone fully merged into the metaloph on the molar, though the latter two characters are disputable. In any case, the material from Nakali is too poor to precisely determine its systematic position. The species has also been reported from the roughly contemporaneous lower member of the Namurungule Formation (Nakaya et al., 1987); this is the more likely identification, as the antecrochet is stronger than in Chilotheridium, and the grooves isolating the protocone and hypocone on the molars are deeper. Genus OUGANDATHERIUM Guérin and Pickford, 2003

Type Species Ougandatherium napakense Guérin and Pickford, 2003.

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Diagnosis Translated from Guérin and Pickford (2003). Small Elasmotheriinae with short, hornless nasals. Hypsodont upper cheek teeth, mesial width greater than distal width; medifossette filled with cement, and with crochet as single fold. Upper premolars small, with a lingual wall connecting protocone to hypocone; ectoloph with wellmarked folds; slanting lingual cingulum; constricted protocone. Upper molars with much folded labial wall; protocone strongly constricted; no lingual or labial cingulum, but a strong anterior cingulum encloses a prefossette in the protocone groove. Cursorial limbs, with lengthened second and third segments. Long slender metapodials, the central ones with broadened distal diaphysis, the lateral ones relatively long. OUGANDATHERIUM NAPAKENSE Guérin and Pickford, 2003

Type Guérin and Pickford (2003) listed as holotype two third metacarpals and two third metatarsals, but the whole material from Napak belongs to only two individuals (Guérin and Pickford, 2003: 8), and these authors did not state why they assumed that these four bones, and only they, belong to one of these individuals. Stored in the Uganda Museum, Kampala. Type Locality Napak I, Uganda, ca. 19 Ma. Diagnosis As for genus. Remarks This species is known only from the lower level of Napak from remains of two incomplete skeletons and skull fragments. The nasals are not fused, triangular, and quite short; the premaxillae look long, but whether they carried an incisor is not known. The upper premolars resemble the P4 of Kenyatherium, with a transversely elongated postfossette, but the hypocone is more reduced, especially on P3, and more closely apressed to the protocone, so that the teeth are more premolariform (i.e., more primitive).

Evolution Like that of several other mammalian groups, the Miocene record of African Rhinocerotidae is relatively good between 18 and 15 Ma, and after 7 Ma, but more patchy between these periods, and before 18 Ma. The late early to early middle Miocene is the period of greatest diversity, with at least four contemporaneous genera in Kenya. Of these, only the brachypotheres are clearly linked to later forms, although it is likely that Rusingaceros is related to later Paradiceros and Dicerotini, despite the significant time gap. Chilotheridium remains a mysterious genus, partly owing to the poor preservation of the Loperot material. Unfortunately, the holotype of Turkanatherium acutirostratum is not available, but it may play a central role in the evolution of African rhinos, as one may suspect that it is in fact an elasmothere. The systematic status of this group is not fully settled; a recent revision (Cerdeño, 1995) considered it diphyletic, but the latest ones (Antoine, 2002; Antoine et al., 2003) viewed it as a valid clade. The main features suggesting that Turkanatherium belongs here are the transversely elongated postfossette on P3–4, and the lingual connection, through a high narrow bridge, of the lophs on these teeth. This is the “semimolariform” morphology of Heissig (1969). Turkanatherium would then document part of the ghost lineage of African elasmotheres leading to Kenyatherium, as postulated by Antoine (2002). In fact, at the time of its description, Kenyatherium was clearly separated from the other known African middle

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Miocene forms, which had mainly been described and illustrated by Hooijer. Now that more of them have been described or discovered, the distinction dwindles, and several African rhinos have premolars reminiscent of the elasmotheres. A complete skull and parts of a skeleton found at Nachola (Baragoi), a site dated to 15–16 Ma., by a Japanese team led by H. Ishida, are now under study by H. Tsujikawa, who kindly allowed me to mention them. The premolars are similar to those from Moruorot, while the molars with strongly pinched hypocone and protocone, and the high zygomatic arches and very long nasals (but without lateral flange) recall those of the elasmothere Procoelodonta. Wellpreserved skulls from Maboko, kindly made available by B. Benefit, also have strongly pinched protocones and hypocones on the (much worn) molars, antecrochet almost connecting the hypocone and transversely elongated postfossette on a premolar, plus a protruding orbital border and a strong nasal horn. The question is whether features of the cheek teeth suffice to identify a rhino as an elasmothere. One of the strongest synapomorphies of this group according to Antoine (2002; also Antoine et al., 2003) is the purportedly “submolariform” morphology of P3–P4 but, while this is probably true of Ougandatherium, the type of Kenyatherium fully matches the description of the “semimolariform” morphology, distinct from the former one by “protocone and hypocone wider apart, bridge between them longer and shifted labially, so that the protocone becomes lingually separated from it by the protocone grooves” (Heissig, 1969: 16, my translation, and figure 4c therein). If both Ougandatherium and Kenyatherium are elasmotheres, molarisation does increase in this group, and it is hard to keep premolar morphology as a major distinctive feature of it, especially as its members have diverse cranial morphologies. Furthermore, nonmolariform premolars are common in Oligocene and early Miocene rhinos, and it may be difficult to distinguish the elasmothere morphology from the primitive condition. Fullstudy of the recently collected material may clarify these issues.

Biogeography Rhinos are absent from the Oligocene sites, and the African fauna of that time is so clearly endemic that it is unlikely that an Oligocene African rhino will ever be discovered. By contrast, their absence from the earliest Miocene of Meswa Bridge might be due to incomplete sampling, as the fauna is poor but contains a Eurasian immigrant (Dorcatherium); the earliest African rhinos, obviously of northern origin, may thus prove to be older than those presently recorded at Songhor and Napak, at about 20 Ma. For the rest of the Miocene, uncertainties about real affinities hinder the reconstruction of past ranges and migration routes. Rusingaceros predates all Eurasian two-horned rhinos, which may have immigrated from Africa together with the Proboscideans; if the Nyakach rhino really belongs to Plesiaceratherium, this genus must also be part of the pre-Langhian exchange, together with the brachypotheres. The period between 15 and 10 Ma. is very poorly sampled; if Paradiceros, unknown in Eurasia, is not ancestral to the Dicerotini, the next exchange concerns Ceratotherium or its immediate ancestors, at the beginning of the late Miocene. Later immigrations from the North are those of the two Stephanorhinus species.

Conclusions The diversity of African Miocene Rhinocerotidae is clearly greater than was assumed by Hooijer (1978). An undesirable consequence is that it becomes impossible to identify them by their teeth only, as different genera may share similar dental morphology (e.g., the cheek teeth of Paradiceros mukirii are almost identical to those of the ? Plesiaceratherium from Nyakach, although the skulls are quite distinct). It follows that many previous identifications, based upon fragmentary remains, must be treated with the utmost caution. Table 34.1 lists the main rhino-bearing Cenozoic African localities, with both published and revised identifications. The latter are usually more conservative, and often tentative, because the material is incomplete, or not described and not seen by me. The great number of “Rhinocerotidae indet.” gives an idea of what remains to be done. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am eager to thank L. Werdelin and W. Sanders for having invited me to contribute to this volume. I am especially grateful to E. Mbua, who granted me access to the invaluable collections of the National Museums of Kenya, through the kind help of M. Muungu. A. Currant, A. Prieur, C. Sagne, and M. Yilma also gave me access to collections in their care in the BMNH, FSL, MNHN, and NME, respectively. B. Benefit, Y. Kunimatsu, E. Mbua, E. Miller, M. Pickford, and H. Tsujikawa kindly allowed me to mention a lot of unpublished material. M. Goonatilake kindly sent me photos of the Turkanatherium skull in the Sri Lanka National Museum. Thanks also to I. Giaourtsakis for his help and fruitful discussions, and to C. Guérin for reviewing this chapter.

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CHAP TER THIRT Y-FIVE

Equidae R AYMOND L. BERNOR, MIR ANDA J. ARMOUR-CHELU, HENRY GILBERT, THOMAS M. K AISER, AND ELLEN SCHULZ

Representatives of the Equidae in Africa are known from localities of late Miocene to Recent age, approximately 10.5 Ma to the present. Three-toed equids of the tribe Hipparionini first occur in the early late Miocene, and persist to about 0.5 Ma. The first appearance of the genus Equus in eastern Africa is in the Omo Shungura sequence (lower Member G), ca. 2.33 Ma. This is somewhat late compared to Eurasia, where Equus first occurred at 2.6 Ma (Lindsay et al., 1980). We recognize a diverse assemblage of African hipparionine horses, including at the supraspecific rank: “Cormohipparion,” ?”Sivalhippus,” Eurygnathohippus, Cremohipparion, and possibly Hipparion s.s. (the last two in North Africa only). “Cormohipparion” is a very early form that is an evolutionary derivative of the North American genus of the same name that first occurred in the Old World 11.2 Ma. ?”Sivalhippus” refers to later Vallesian age (ca. 9 Ma) taxa believed to be related to Siwalik hipparionines of the same and younger age. The Eurasian genus Cremohipparion apparently made a successful range extension into North Africa during the later portion of the late Miocene (Bernor and Scott, 2003), while Hipparion s.s. may also occur at Sahabi (Bernor et al., 2008). Eurygnathohippus is a genus of African Hipparionini that first appear in the late Miocene Nawata Formation, Kenya, and successfully spread throughout nontropical forest Africa in the Pliocene and early Pleistocene. It is plausible that Eurygnathohippus last occurred in the middle Pleistocene of Africa, but if present, it was very rare. We follow Churcher and Richardson (1978) closely in taxonomic allocation of African species of Equus. We adopt Groves (2002) in general for the systematics of extant African Equus species and develop arguments based on the recent molecular literature where inconsistencies have arisen with that taxonomy. Finally, we provide an update on the dietary behavior of extant zebras and emergent work on African hipparion paleodiet.

Systematic Paleontology Family EQUIDAE Gray, 1821

Diagnosis Modified from Churcher and Richardson (1978). Unguligrade perissodactyls exhibiting progressive skeletal and

dental adaptations for cursorial locomotion and grazing diet respectively. Dentition 3:1–0:4–3:3 (three incisors, one to no canine, four to three premolars, and three molars) in both the maxillary and mandibular dentitions. Incisors in later forms often possessing infundibula (cusps or marks). Canines usually small, sometimes absent or unerupted in females. Premolars 2–4 molarized; dP1’s/dp1’s primitively being large and sustained into adult life, not replaced by permanent P1’s/p1’s, and absent in more advanced forms. Upper molars, except in earliest forms, with three lophs: a mesiodistal ectoloph comprised of two arcuate portions; and two obliquely transverse buccolingual lophs (protoloph and metaloph) becoming J shaped and elaborated with small folds or plis in later forms. Lower molars with progressively enlarged metaconid, entoconid, and metastylid at the junction of both lophids. Body size ranges from small to large. Extremities range from short and robust to elongate and slender. Hipparionine horses persistently tridactyl, Equus species always monodactyl. Age Early late Miocene to Recent in Africa. Subfamily EQUINAE Steinmann and Doederlein, 1890

Diagnosis Modified from Churcher and Richardson (1978). Skull with postorbital bar. Upper incisors with more or less developed infundibula; in later forms on some or all lower incisors also. Cheek teeth hypsodont with species maximum crown heights ranging from 34 to 90⫹ mm, being equal to or much greater than mesiodistal length; cementum in fossettes and in later forms over all of crown; small enamel folds or plis present on the pre- and postfossettes and frequently with multiple pli caballins. Premolars 2–4 fully molarized; dP1’s/dp1’s as for the family Equidae diagnosis. Maxillary molar protolophs and metalophs join ectolophs even in early stages of wear, but in premolars the transverse lophs may remain free until a late wear stage; fossettes usually close with wear. In middle stage of adult wear, protocone is isolated in Hipparionini, while being connected to the protoloph in Equus. In mandibular cheek teeth metaconids and metastylids vary from being rounded, to elongate, to squared, with a pointed aspect lingually. Ulna greatly reduced in shaft length sometimes incomplete, fused to radius in nearly all forms. Fibula narrow, reduced, sometimes with only proximal and distal 691


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FIGURE 35.1

“Cormohipparion” africanum Type MNHN 1951-9-141 cranium, right lateral view.

ends remaining; fused distally with tibia in nearly all forms. Metapodial III’s vary from short and robust to elongate and slender. First phalanges III vary from being relatively short and massive to elongate and slender. In hipparionines the lateral hoofs are laterally compressed and do not extend to the plantar surface of the central digit (III). In Equus, lateral phalanges are lost and lateral metapodials reduced to splint bones fused to the shaft of metapodial III. Genus HIPPARION Christol, 1832

Diagnosis After Bernor et al. (1990, 1996). Medium sized, preorbital bar (POB) length reduced compared to Hippotherium, but with the anterior edge of the lacrimal placed still more than half the distance from the anterior orbital rim to the posterior rim of the preorbital fossa (POF). Nasal notch is consistently at or near the anterior border of P2. POF progressively reduced in dorsoventral and anteroposterior dimensions, posterior pocketing, medial depth, and peripheral rim expression. Infraorbital foramen usually encroaches on the anteroventral border of the POF. DP1s/dp1s absent in adults. Maxillary cheek teeth with a maximum crown height of 50–60 mm, pre- and postfossettes moderately complex, often having many plis, but of markedly shortened amplitude, posterior wall of postfossette distinct, pli caballins variably double or single, hypoglyphs deeply to moderately deeply incised, protocones oval shaped to round, isolated from protoloph until very late wear stage, protocone spurs very rare to absent. Mandibular dentition with elongate P2/p2 anterostyle/ paraconid, metaconids and metastylids mostly rounded, protoconids reduced to absent and most often covered by cementum, ectostylids absent in adult cheek teeth, premolar and molar linguaflexids variably V to shallow U shaped. Metapodials and first phalanges III elongate and slender. Remarks We adopt the concept for Hipparion s.s. previously defined by Bernor et al. (1990, 1996). Hipparion s.s. is based on the species H. prostylum Christol, 1832 from the middle Turolian locality of Mt. Luberon (⫽ Cucuron ⫽ Mt. Leberon, province of Vaucluse, France; MacFadden, 1980; Woodburne and Bernor, 1980; Bernor et al., 1989, 1996). Christol noted that H. prostylum was characterized by having three toes on each foot and an isolated protocone. In 1849, Gervais reiterated these two characteristics and further mentioned the occurrence of additional stylids on lower deciduous premolars. Gervais (1849) designated three Mt. Luberon species: H. prostylum, H. diplostylum, and H. mesostylum. Later, Gervais (1859) united all of these species into H. prostylum, recognizing the ontogenetic variability of the characters. Gaudry (1873), Osborn (1918), and in later years Sondaar (1974), Skinner and MacFadden (1977), Woodburne and Bernor (1980), MacFadden (1980, 1984), and Bernor (1985; Bernor et al., 692


1990, 1996) have all agreed in referring at least the majority of the Mt. Luberon material to H. prostylum. Sondaar (1974) stated that the specimen figured by Gervais (1859: plate 19, figure 2; maxilla fragment with P3–M2) is the holotype of H. prostylum. Bernor (1985) noted that a holotype was never designated and rectified the problem by assigning the most complete specimen, BMNH M33603 to H. prostylum as a suitable lectotype. This proposal also maintained the original concept of H. prostylum as much as possible. Sondaar (1974) stated that some postcranial elements in the Mt. Luberon hipparion sample suggest the presence of a larger rare species. Following an unpublished manuscript by Woodburne, Bernor (1985) noted the existence of two cranial morphologies, one a rare form with a more developed POF (BMNH M26617) that was referred to H. aff. prostylum, and the other, more common form that he referred to H. prostylum. Bernor et al. (1990) concluded that the best explanation is that the majority of the Mt. Luberon sample is of H. prostylum, while the rarer larger horse is probably of a different clade (Group 1 of Woodburne and Bernor, 1980), simply referred to “H.” aff. prostylum. Bernor et al. (1996) recognize a number of Eurasian taxa as belonging to Hipparion s.s., including H. melendezi (MN10, Spain), H. gettyi (MN10/11, Iran), H. prostylum (MN12 of France and possibly MN11/12 of Iran), H. dietrichi (MN12 of Greece), H. campbelli (MN12 of Iran), and H. concudense (MN12 of Spain). Bernor et al. (1990) also recognized H. hippidiodus (Turolian of China) as a likely member of the Hipparion s.s. lineage. Bernor et al. (1989, 1996) referred the Siwalik late Miocene species “H.” antelopinum to this clade, but later, Bernor and Scott (2003) stated their preference for referring this species to Cremohipparion antelopinum. There is no certain record of Hipparion s.s. as defined herein in Africa. Bernor et al. (2008) recently assessed a growing assemblage of hipparionine postcrania from Sahabi, Libya and suggested the possibility that some of this material could relate closely to H. s.s. Later in this chapter, we refer all early late Miocene African hipparionines to either “Cormohipparion” or ?”Sivalhippus” largely due to differences in the skull or postcrania. The previously persistent use of the genus Hipparion for advanced African Hipparionini has been rejected by Bernor and Harris (2003), Bernor et al. (2005), and Bernor and Kaiser (2006), except for Sahabi specimens. Eisenmann and Geraads’s (2007) recent referral of a middle Pliocene hipparion sample from Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco to H. pomeli is contradicted by the occurrence of well-developed ectostylids on the adult cheek teeth and metapodial III proportions that compare closely with eastern African members of the Eurygnathohippus clade (discussed later). It is certainly possible that members of Hipparion s.s. could be identified in northern African late Miocene localities such as Sahabi, but this would require virtually complete skull and postcranial material.

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Genus CORMOHIPPARION Skinner and MacFadden, 1977

Diagnosis After Woodburne (1996, 2007). Species of Cormohipparion have mean cheek tooth occlusal lengths from 116 to 140 mm. The unworn or little-worn M1 mesostyle height is reported to range from about 34 to 66 mm (Woodburne, 2007: table 3B). The dorsal POF is prominent with a relatively well-developed and usually continuous anterior rim, with the IOF (infraorbital foramen) alternatively located above the P2/P3 boundary, above the P3, or above the P3/P4 boundary, and consistently very close to the anteroventral limit of the POF. Posteriorly, this fossa has a well-developed rim and deeply recessed pocket. In general, the fossa is oval or teardrop shaped in outline and situated far anterior to the orbit, resulting in a wide POB. The anterior tip of the lacrimal bone enters into the rear of the dorsal POF in primitive species and becomes placed posterior to the POF in advanced species. The POF is lost or severely reduced in advanced species of Cormohipparion (Notiocradohipparion), such as C. (N.) emsliei (Hulbert, 1987). The dP1 is relatively large and persistent into adulthood, except in more derived species, where it tends to be smaller and not to persist into adult wear, or it tends to be limited to females. The protocone is isolated (except in P2) until very late wear, with a spur in plesiomorphic taxa. The protocone becomes ovate to elongate-oval in shape in advanced species. The P2 anterostyle is well developed; P2 is slightly (plesiomorphically) longer to much longer than other cheek teeth. The pli caballin is prominent; usually has multiple plis in premolars and a single one in molars. Fossette borders are moderately to very complex (especially the opposing borders of pre- and postfossettes). The anterior border of the prefossette is increasingly complex in derived taxa. The lower cheek teeth generally possess protostylids (except in C. goorisi). Woodburne (2007) modified his diagnosis of Cormohipparion following Skinner and MacFadden (1977), MacFadden (1984), and Hulbert (1987). Cormohipparion is a genus with several species variously having mesodont to hypsodont cheek teeth. Woodburne (2007) believes that there are no recognized species of C. s.s. outside North America. Remarks Woodburne (2007) recognizes the following 16–10 Ma North American series of Cormohipparion species, in order of both their geologic age and phyletic branching pattern, which are congruent: C. goorisi MacFadden and Skinner, 1981 (early Barstovian, Texas); C. quinni Woodburne, 1996 (late Barstovian, Nebraska and Colorado); C. merriami Woodburne, 2007 (early Clarendonian, Nebraska); C. johnsoni Woodburne, 2007 (early Clarendonian, Nebraska); C. fricki Woodburne, 2007 (early middle Clarendonian, Texas and Nebraska); C. skinneri Woodburne, 2007 (late middle Clarendonian, Texas); C. matthewi Woodburne, 2007 (late middle Clarendonian, Nebraska), and C. occidentale Woodburne, 2007 (late middle Clarendonian, Nebraska and South Dakota). Materials allocated to C. sp. occur in El Paso Basin faunas of middle Clarendonian age in California (Woodburne, 2005: figure 2) and in the Devil’s Punchbowl, Valyermo, California (Woodburne, 2005: figure 1), also likely of middle Clarendonian age (Woodburne, 2005). Bernor et al. (2003) recognized a new species of Old World “Cormohipparion,” C. sinapensis, from the early Vallesian (MN9) of Turkey based on low cheek tooth crown height and a variety of skull and postcranial dimensions and characters. This species allocation was supported by both discrete and continuous variables, and the latter were subjected

to univariate, bivariate, multivariate, and log10 ratio analyses. Bernor et al. (2003) likewise assigned postcranial material from another MN9 Turkish locality, Esme Akçaköy, to C. sinapensis. Bernor et al. (2003) found consistent morphologic and morphometric differences of the dentition and postcrania between these Turkish Cormohipparion and central European Hippotherium primigenium. Turkish C. sinapensis also lacked essential derived characters typical of more advanced Eurasian clades such as Cremohipparion and Hipparion s.s. that supported the assignment of the Turkish material to Cormohipparion. Woodburne (2007) favored a referral of C. sinapensis to the genus Hippotherium. This remains an open issue, but clearly the low crown heights and postcranial morphometrics of C. sinapensis are more similar to North American Cormohipparion than central European H. primigenium. Bernor et al. (2004) referred a small sample of cheek teeth from the early late Miocene (10.7–10.0 Ma, likely 10.5 Ma) locality of Chorora, Ethiopia to “Cormohipparion” sp. This hipparion has a primitive occlusal pattern and apparently increased crown height relative to Sinap “Cormohipparion” and Bou Hanifia “C.” africanum, discussed further later. There is no postcranial material, but characters of the cheek teeth generally support this referral as being the most reasonable. Finally, Bernor et al. (2004) determined that “C.” sp. from Chorora had the dietary spectrum of an intermediate feeder, very similar to central European Vallesian and Turolian members of the genus Hippotherium (Kaiser, 2003; Kaiser et al., 2003), but differed in that it ate C4 grass. “CORMOHIPPARION” AFRICANUM (Arambourg, 1959) Figures 35.1 and 35.2

Diagnosis Modified from Woodburne and Bernor (1980). A medium-sized hipparionine horse with a very long POF (85.6 mm in MNHNM 1951-9-141, type specimen) whose anterior limit is placed above P2. POB is wide, known to range between 42.0 mm (MNHNM 1951-9-141) and 47.7 mm (MNHNM 1951-9-116). The POF is posteriorly pocketed, medially deep, and apparently has an anterior rim (diagnostic for Cormohipparion [sensu Skinner and MacFadden, 1977]). Maxillary cheek tooth row maximum length is 154 mm. Maximum measured crown height is, on a slightly worn M3, 54.6 mm (MNHN-1951-9-97), suggesting that absolute maximum crown height on an unworn P4 or M1 was about 60 mm. Cheek teeth are complexly plicated, but perhaps not to the degree of H. primigenium (Kaiser and Fortelius, 2003). Metapodials have modest length, are slender and well developed craniocaudally at the midshaft, being very similar in size and proportions to C. sinapensis and are primitive relative to H. primigenium s.s. Remarks Arambourg (1959) described a new species of hipparion from the Algerian late Miocene (early Vallesian, MN9, 10.5 Ma; Sen, pers. comm., 1990) locality of Bou Hanifia (figure 35.1). Woodburne and Bernor (1980) and Bernor et al. (1980) studied this material in the context of initial proposals on the supraspecific identity of Old World late Miocene Hipparionini and related “Hipparion” africanum to their primitive (Group 1) hipparionines. Bernor et al. (1996) referred the Bou Hanifia hipparion to Hippotherium africanum largely based on its plesiomorphic characters. Study of the early Pliocene hipparion from Langebaanweg E Quarry, Eurygnathohippus hooijeri (Langebaanweg; Bernor and Kaiser, 2006), found that “Hipparion” africanum (Bou THIRT Y-FIVE: EQUIDAE


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A 0.10

SAM_Mean 0.05

BH_Mean 0.00

EA_Mean –0.05

AS_Mean –0.10

–0.15

M1

M3

M4

M5

M6

M10

M11

M12

M13

M14

M7

M8

B 0.10

0.05

SAM_Mean

BH_Mean

0.00

EA_Mean –0.05 AS_Mean –0.10

–0.15

M1

M3

M4

M5

M6

M10

M11

M12

M13

M14

M7

M8

Log10 ratio diagram comparing Bou Hanifia, Sinap, Esme Akçaköy, and Langebaanweg metapodials to the Höwenegg assemblage mean. A) MC III; B) MT III.

FIGURE 35.2

Hanifia) had remarkably similar metapodial proportions to Cormohipparion sinapensis (Esme Acakoy and Sinap). Figures 35.2A and 35.2B plot log10 ratios of Turkish C. sinapensis, Bou Hanifia (Algeria, MN9, ca. 10 Ma) “C.” africanum, and Langebaanweg (ca. 5.2 Ma) Eu. hooijeri metacarpal III’s and metatarsal III’s (after Bernor and Kaiser, 2006) against the Höwenegg standard. A notable difference was found between the Bou Hanifia metapodials and Turkish C. sinapensis metapodials. This difference leads us to provisionally assign the Bou Hanifia hipparion to “C.” africanum; this sample clearly does not relate to central European Hippotherium postcranially and those facial and dental characters they share may be plesiomorphic for Old World hipparionines. “C.” africanum appears to be derived in its elongate fossa (although the type specimen does not exhibit great length on both sides of the skull due to dorsoventral crushing); however, the preorbital fossa’s great dorsoventral extent provides the functional constraint on maximum crown height, meaning that it would be primitive for this critical character (Woodburne and Bernor, 1980; Bernor et al., 1980, 1996). The maximum crown height for this species would appear to have been about 60 mm. We cite the further use of the provisional nomen “Cormohipparion” as it applies to Siwalik taxa “C.” theobaldi and “C.” cf. nagriensis discussed later.

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Genus CREMOHIPPARION Qiu et al., 1988

Diagnosis Modified after Bernor and Tobien (1989). Hipparionine horses ranging from small to large size with length of tooth row 105–170 mm. POB short, with lacrimal usually touching or invading the posterior limit of the POF. When present, POF is subtriangular in shape and mostly anteroventrally oriented; posterior pocketing slight to absent; medial depth great to slight, medial internal pits occur only in the most derived species, C. licenti; peripheral outline strong to weakly defined, anterior rim distinct to absent. Infraorbital foramen placed inferior to and encroaching on the anteroventral border of the POF. Buccinator fossa distinct and unpocketed except in C. licenti. Canine fossa present in some but not all species. Malar fossa lacking except in C. licenti. Nasal notch tends to become retracted in this lineage and may or may not curve inward in species included within the group. No persistent and functional dP1. In adult, middle stage-ofwear individuals’ maxillary cheek teeth with maximum crown height of 40–50 mm, fossette ornamentation complex to simple, posterior wall of postfossette always distinct, pli caballins double or single, hypoglyphs deeply to shallowly incised. Also in adult, middle stage-of-wear individuals’ protocones possibly exhibiting some lingual flattening, but tending to become rounded and clearly always isolated from

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protoloph, usually with no noticeable protoconal spur, and lingually placed relative to the hypocone. P2 anterostyle/ paraconid usually elongate, but becomes shortened in some species. Mandibular teeth insufficiently known across all species, but in no case is there reported evidence of ectostylids in the adult dentition. Metapodials, when known, are elongate, to very elongate and slender. Remarks Qiu et al. (1988) nominated the subgenus Hipparion (Cremohipparion) for two Chinese species H. (Cr.) forstenae and H. (Cr.) licenti from the late Miocene and early Pliocene of China distinguished by their retracted and recurved nasals. Bernor and Tobien (1989) and Bernor et al. (1989, 1996) raised the rank of this taxon to the genus Cremohipparion and applied it to the concept of Woodburne and Bernor’s “Group 2” hipparionines. Cremohipparion is a group of hipparionines known to range from the CircumMediterranean region, through southwestern Asia, southern and eastern Asia. This genus is species rich, and composed of two morphotypes. The first to occur are members of the medium to large morphotype: Cr. moldavicum (MN10), and later derived forms Cr. mediterraneum (MN11) and Cr. proboscideum (MN11 and 12), and Chinese Turolian and Ruscinian age correlative forms Cr. forstenae and Cr. licenti. These species all have very large and medially deep POFs (although they are secondarily reduced in Cr. forstenae) with short POBs; Cr. proboscideum, Cr. forstenae and Cr. licenti have sharply retracted nasals (Bernor et al., 1996). Having dorsoventrally extensive POFs means that they would have had relatively low cheek tooth crowns. These taxa are most abundantly represented in the “Subparatethyan Province” of Bernor (1983, 1984): eastern Mediterranean to southwestern Asia and the Ukraine. The earliest appearing smaller Cremohipparion is Cr. macedonicum, first appearing in MN10 of Greece (Koufos, 1984; Bernor et al., 1996). Smaller members of this clade occur in MN12–13 horizons of the Subparatethyan Province (specifically, Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Spain) and have been referred to the small form Cr. matthewi and the very tiny forms Cr. nikosi and Cr. periafricanum. Cr. matthewi and Cr. nikosi are represented by skulls, dentitions and postcrania, and other than their very small size they are remarkable for their extremely slender and elongate metapodials. Cr. nikosi also has sharply retracted nasals, which would appear to be convergent on Cr. proboscideum, Cr. forstenae, and Cr. licenti (from China). Bernor and Scott (2003) recognized the Siwalik small hipparion with slender elongate metapodials and first phalanges III as being best referred to Cremohipparion antelopinum, and metapodial material from Sahabi as being referable to “Cr.” aff. matthewi. The Sahabi postcrania correspond most closely to those from the Samos Main Bone Beds, and as such they are supportive of a late MN12 to early MN13 age for Sahabi. Cr. aff. matthewi is not reported from any other northern African locality but could relate to the type material of “Hipparion” sitifense Pomel, 1897, from St. Arnaud Cemetery, Algeria. The nomen “H.” sitifense has been applied to a number of African small mammal samples, but as pointed out by Bernor and Harris (2003) and Bernor and Scott (2003), this is inappropriate since there was no type material ever nominated for this nomen and, according to Eisenmann (pers. comm.) the type assemblage cannot be located. What Pomel (1897) figured and reported was insufficient for species recognition and genus assignment. Bernor and Scott (2003) proposed that “H.” sitifense be considered a nomen dubium. That being said, Cremohipparion would

FIGURE 35.3

“Cormohipparion” theobaldi AMNH 98728 cranial fragment,

lateral view.

appear to only be represented in North Africa, with no current evidence of this genus occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Genus ? “SIVALHIPPUS” Lydekker, 1877 Figures 35.3–35.5

Diagnosis Large-size hipparionine horses with POF restricted in its dimensions being placed dorsoventally high on the face. POB being long, to very long in more advanced forms such as ?”Sivalhippus” perimense. Cheek teeth high crowned, being 65–75⫹ mm in maximum crown height. In middle adult wear maxillary cheek teeth complexly ornamented usually with bifid pli caballins, protocones ovate and often flattened lingually, hypoglyphs frequently deeply incised and sometimes encircling the hypocone. Ectostylids absent on adult mandibular cheek teeth. Metapodial III’s slender in primitive forms, becoming robust to massive in more advanced forms. First phalanges III robust to massive. Remarks Bernor and Hussain (1985) recognized three taxa of Sivalhippus from the Indian subcontinent, “Cormohipparion” (Sivalhippus) theobaldi, “C.” (S.) sp. and “C.” (S.) perimense. MacFadden and Woodburne (1982) earlier referred “C.” (S.) theobaldi simply to Cormohipparion theobaldi and some of the “C.” (S.) perimense of Bernor and Hussain (1985) to “Hipparion” feddeni (skull fragment GSI C349 from Perim Island). “C.” (S.) theobaldi is rare. The type specimen, GSI C153 is a left juvenile maxilla fragment with dP2–4 in early wear. In this specimen, the POF extends very low down on the face. A very large adult skull fragment, AMNH 98728, has a POF that is immense in size, being dorsoventrally extensive, anteroposteriorly elongate, anteroventrally oriented, very deep medially and deeply pocketed posteriorly (figure 35.3). MacFadden and Woodburne (1982) referred a left skull fragment (YGSP 12507; locality YGSP 330, 9.623 Ma), with P4–M3 and a dorsoventrally extensive POF to Cormohipparion cf. nagriensis. Specimen YGSP 12507 is not as large as AMNH 98728, and it has a rather short POB length estimate (32 mm est.; MacFadden and Woodburne, 1982: table 1). The cheek teeth have complex plications of the fossettes and lingually flattened protocones on P4–M2, with that of M3 being ovate (MacFadden and Woodburne 1982: figure 13, with associated caption given as figure 16). “C.” cf. nagriensis would appear to be a distinct and more primitive species, and may be derived

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FIGURE 35.4

“Sivalhippus” perimense AMNH 19761 cranium. A) Lateral view; B) occlusal view.

from North American Cormohipparion. However, following Woodburne’s (2007) revision of the “C.” occidentale complex and its phylogenetic relationships, neither S. theobaldi nor “C.” nagriensis strictly conform to the concept of Cormohipparion s.s. However, AMNH 98728 does have a large POF with a strongly continuous rim, and relatively low crown height that supports its attribution to Cormohipparion (sensu Skinner and MacFadden, 1977 and MacFadden and Woodburne, 1982). Likewise, “C.” cf. nagriensis has a dorsoventrally extensive POF, with resulting lack of derived high crowns that supports a referral to Cormohipparion. While it is possible that the juvenile type specimen of S. theobaldi may define a taxon that includes the adult skull fragments that we refer to, this is a somewhat tenuous taxonomic referral. If we chose to restrict the nomen S. theobaldi to the immature type, we need a generic name to apply to the adult skull, AMNH 98728. We therefore provisionally apply the nomen “C.” theobaldi to AMNH 98728 and “C.” cf. nagriensis to YGSP 12507, in broad agreement with MacFadden and Woodburne (1982) and Bernor and Hussain (1985). We underline the importance of further systematic study on Siwalik Hipparionini to better resolve this nomenclature. Eisenmann (1994) assigned a right P2–P4 and M3, NY 256’90 from the Kakara Formation of the Kisegi-Nyabusosi region, Toro, Uganda (Western Rift) to a new species Hipparion macrodon. The assemblage is believed to be early late Miocene. Eisenmann (1994: figures 2 and 3) demonstrated that “H.” macrodon was much larger than central European Hippotherium primigenium (sensu Bernor et al., 1990, 1996 and 1997) as well as “C.” africanum from Bou Hanifia. This would mean that “H.” macrodon was much larger still, than any species of Hipparion s.s. and thus likely would have had robustly built postcrania. Eisenmann’s figure (1994: plate 1, figure 1) of the occlusal surface of type specimen P2–P4 reveals a species with complex plications of the pre- and postfossette, ovate protocones, and variable pli caballins. In size, “H.” macrodon most closely compares to “C.” theobaldi as represented by AMNH 98728. The material is too limited to be referred to another species-level taxon. It is unlikely, however, that “H.” macrodon is referable to Cormohipparion, Hipparion s.s., Hippotherium, or Cremohipparion.

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The type specimen of “S.” perimense is GSI C349, a skull fragment from uncertain time horizons at Perim Island, off the coast of the Indian subcontinent. The POB of this specimen is long (61.6 mm) with a moderate POF length (40.2 mm) and dorsoventral height (33.1 mm). Bernor and Hussain (1985) referred an extensive series of GSI skulls (GSI K13/123, GSI C277 [K13/121], GSI C275, and GSI C151), a Munich specimen (GSM H690), and a beautifully preserved skull, AMNH 19761, to this species. Their assessment was based on similarities in skull and dental morphology: a very long POB, a POF reduced in length and dorsoventral height placed far anteriorly on the face—often medially deep with sharply reduced posterior pocketing, the lacrimal’s anterior limit positioned far posterior to the POF’s distal rim, cheek teeth similar in their complex enamel plications—often with double pli caballins and a protocone that is frequently flattened lingually. AMNH 19761 (figure 35.4) is the most advanced specimen referred to “S.” perimense, with a long POB (55.8 mm; but not so long as the type specimen), a short POF (43.1 mm), and a very restricted dorsoventral height (26.8 mm). The species hypodigm of “S.” perimense (sensu Bernor and Hussain, 1985) is likely somewhat extended, but still coherent as a clade. If the type specimen of Sivalhippus theobaldi (the juvenile maxilla fragment GSI C153) is truly relevant to “Cormohipparion” theobaldi as seems possible (dorsoventally extensive POF, low crown heights), then the nomen Sivalhippus should be restricted to that taxon. We cannot currently be assured of this assignment. This means that Sivalhippus may prove to be inapplicable to the species “S.” perimense. For the purpose of this paper, and until this problem can be resolved with a thorough phylogenetic analysis, we will apply the nomen “Sivalhippus” to “S.” perimense and apparently related assemblages of taxa in Africa. Nakaya and Watabe (1990) reported on a modest-sized but important assemblage of early late Miocene hipparionines from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, Kenya, believed to be 9.0 Ma (Watabe, pers. comm.). A cranium from the site, KNM SH-15683, was referred to Hipparion aff. africanum (figure 35.5). As a basis of reference to the type assemblage of “Hipparion” (⫽ “Cormohipparion” herein) aff. africanum we follow Bernor et al.’s (1990, 1996) report on the type

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assemblage from Bou Hanifia, Algeria, herein. Essential benchmark statistics are: POB length ⫽ 44–49 mm; POF length (not secure due to skulls’ dorsoventral distortion) ⫽ 71–79 mm; dorsoventral height extensive (not measurable due to crushing of skull specimens). The Samburu Hills skull, KNM SH-15683, has a well-preserved, ovate, dorsoventrally extensive POF that recalls the type specimen (in particular) of “S.” perimense in its overall morphology, rather more than “C.” africanum. Remarkable is the POB, which is reported to be 48.9 mm long on the left side and 53.6 mm long on the right side (Nakaya and Watabe, 1990). This compares closely with POBs in the Hoewenegg sample of H. primigenium, whose mean is 48.96 mm (n ⫽ 5; Bernor et al., 1997), and “C.” africanum cited earlier. It is not as long as the POB seen in the type specimen of “S.” perimense (⫽ 61.6 mm) but approaches AMNH 19761 (length ⫽ 55.8 m). The POF is not dorsoventrally extensive (42.3 mm) and is moderately elongate (60.3 mm; Nakaya and Watabe, 1990). Overall, the facial morphology of KNM SH-15683, as exhibited on the left side (Nakaya and Watabe, 1990: plate 1, figure 1A), recalls Siwalik members of “S.” perimense and betrays precociously elevated crown heights. In fact, the authors describe a left P4, KNM SH12271, with a measured crown height of 66.7 mm and a mandibular p3, KNM SH12250, with a measured crown height of 61.0 mm. It is reasonable to estimate that the Samburu Hills hipparion had a maximum crown height of 70⫹ mm. This crown height exceeds by a margin of ⬎25% any member of the H. primigenium clade, and is similar to early members of the “Sivalhippus” Complex in South Asia and Africa (Bernor and Harris, 2003; Kaiser et al. 2003; Bernor and Kaiser, 2006; Bernor and Haile-Selassie, in press). The maxillary cheek teeth are also similar to Siwalik hipparionines in their plication complexity and protocone morphology. A single metacarpal III, KNM-SH 12288, has been figured by Nakaya and Watabe (1990) and their measurements suggest affinities with “C.” sinapensis and “C.” africanum. The same can be said for the first phalanges III (Nakaya and Watabe, 1990: figure 18), which visually appear primitive and less massive in their dimensions. In summary, the Samburu Hills hipparion may be an early derivative of the “Sivalhippus” Complex that is related to both the Siwalik “S.” perimense and African Eurygnathohippus clades. It cannot be referred to Eurygnathohippus due to the lack of any evidence of ectostylids on the adult mandibular cheek teeth (Nakaya and Watabe, 1990; Bernor and Harris, 2003; Bernor and Kaiser, 2006). We follow Bernor and White (in press) in referring this taxon to “C.” aff. africanum, being mindful of the advances seen in this taxon’s crown height and POF morphology. In fact, the Samburu Hills hipparion could prove to be the sister taxon of the “Sivalhippus” and Eurygnathohippus clades. Bernor and Harris (2003) have discussed the occurrence of Hipparionini with large and heavily built first phalanges III. In eastern Africa, these are represented best by the Lothagam Nawata Formation form Eurygnathohippus turkanense, and also in proportions, a species of Hipparionini from the Ngorora Formation, Kenya, represented by KNM-BN 1202 and KNM-BN 1598, ca. 9 Ma and similar in proportion to Lothagam Eu. turkanense (Bernor and Harris, 2003) and Sahabi “Sivalhippus” sp. as represented by 2P111A (Bernor et al., 1987, 2005; Bernor and Haile-Selassie, in press). The Sahabi equid fauna has thus far yielded no adult mandibular cheek teeth with ectostylids, hence our referral of this phalanx to “Sivalhippus” sp. here.

“Hipparion” (⫽ “Cormohipparion” in this chapter) aff. africanum KNM SH-15683 cranium. A) Lateral view; B) basal view; C) occlusal view.

FIGURE 35.5

However, the paleobiogeographic relationships between Lothagam and Sahabi are substantial (Bernor et al., 2008), and this phalanx could equally relate to Nawata Formation Eu. turkanense. Our discussion of Eurasian and African “Cormohipparion,” Hippotherium, and “Sivalhippus” should reflect considerable uncertainty as to the generic status of Eurasian and African early late Miocene (ca. 11.2–9 Ma) hipparionines. What is clear is that across their Eurasian and African geographic range, in most major clades, Hipparionini began to diversify within this interval of time. “Sivalhippus” and Eurygnathohippus species are likely sister taxa, united by their sharply increased crown height (the apparent exception being Eurygnathohippus feibeli from Kenya and Ethiopia), with resulting restriction of the POF high and far anteriorly on the face. Postcrania of these “Sivalhippus” Complex clades were diverse, with some evolving more elongate-slender morphologies of the metapodials and first phalanges III (apparently “C.” aff. africanum from the Samburu Hills, Eurygnathohippus feibeli and Eurygnathohippus hooijeri from South Africa), and others more robust, and even massive proportions (“S.” perimense from the Siwaliks and Eu. turkanense from Kenya and Ethiopia).



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FIGURE 35.6

Eurygnathohippus turkanense type cranium, KNM-LT136. A) Lateral view; B) basal view.

Genus EURYGNATHOHIPPUS Van Hoepen, 1930

Synonymy Stylohipparion Van Hoepen, 1932 Diagnosis Revised from Bernor and Harris (2003). All African hipparionines of the genus Eurygnathohippus are united by the synapomorphy of ectostylids occurring on the permanent mandibular cheek teeth. Adult ectostylids are initially small and do not rise high on the labial side of the crown. However, in Africa they progressively evolve in length, width, and height over the chronological range of African taxa which is believed to be between 6.5 and less than 1.0 Ma. There is a report of an isolated occurrence of a southern Asian specimen with an ectostylid on permanent cheek teeth (Forsten, 1997) that requires further investigation. Primitive central European hipparionines have small, variably expressed ectostylids. However, to date, no species of Eurasian Hippotherium (other than rare occurrences in some MN9 populations) Hipparion s.s., Cremohipparion, Plesiohipparion, or Proboscidipparion are reported to have ectostylids on the permanent cheek teeth. No North American hipparion species has been reported to have this character either (Bernor and Harris, 2003; Bernor and Kaiser, 2006; Woodburne, 2007). EURYGNATHOHIPPUS TURKANENSE (Hooijer and Maglio, 1973) Figures 35.6–35.8

Diagnosis After Bernor and Harris (2003); modified from and expanded beyond Hooijer and Maglio (1973). A large species of hipparionine equid with a short, moderately broad snout posterior to a line intersecting the two I3s. POF vestigial with no clearly distinguished outline, lacking a posterior rim, very shallow in its medial depth, lacking internal pits, and lacking a peripheral outline and anterior rim. POB nearly indistinguishable due to strong reduction of the preorbital fossa. Orbital surface of lacrimal bone with a distinct and large foramen. Infraorbital foramen inferior to the remnant

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depression of the POF. Buccinator fossa distinct from the canine fossa and not pocketed. Nasal notch incised just anterior to P2. Maxillary cheek teeth with dP1 strongly reduced. Maxillary cheek teeth believed to be moderately curved, maximum crown height 65⫹ mm, fossette ornamentation moderately complex, posterior wall of postfossette mostly distinct, pli caballin usually double, hypoglyph moderately deeply to more deeply incised, protocone subtriangular shaped and lingually flattened, protoconal spur generally absent, protocone more lingually placed than hypocone in both premolar and molar teeth. There is no mandible associated with the type cranium, but the larger mandibular teeth from the Upper and Lower Nawata Members at Lothagam that have been referred to this species have the following characteristics: p2 paraconid elongate; metaconid and metastylid generally rounded to elongate; metastylid spurs usually lacking on premolars and molars; ectoflexids usually separate metaconid and metastylid on premolars but not molars; pli caballinid usually absent, rarely single or complex; protostylids often not expressed on occlusal surface, but when it occurs it has a looplike shape projected posterolabially; on permanent cheek teeth ectostylids are variable and usually being small and short in height; linguaflexids are generally V shaped on the premolars, and a deeper and broader U shape on the molars; preflexids and postflexids have enamel margins that vary in their complexity; protoconid enamel band is usually rounded. Postcrania are relatively massive for a hipparionine, metapodials are short and robust with broad proximal and distal articular surfaces; anterior first phalanges III are also stoutly built with broad anterior and posterior articular surfaces. Remarks The holotype of Eurygnathohippus turkanense, KNM-LT136, is a skull of an old adult female with the premaxillary and maxillary dentition (Hooijer and Maglio, 1973; figure 35.6). The type specimen originates from the upper member of the Nawata Formation, Kenya. Hooijer (1975) attributed a limited dental sample from the Mpesida beds and

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the Lukeino Formation of Kenya (circa 7–6 Ma), and the early Pliocene Yellow Sands of the Mursi Formation, Ethiopia, to “Hipparion” turkanense. Hooijer (1975) believed that “H.” turkanense was similar to Eurygnathohippus hooijeri from Langebaanweg, South Africa in lacking ectostylids. Hooijer and Maglio (1973) and later Hooijer (1975) believed that “H.” turkanense was closely related to Hipparion hippidiodum Sefve, 1927 (sensu Bernor et al., 1990) and cited its stratigraphic range as being 7–4 Ma. Churcher and Richardson (1978) believed that “H.” turkanense had affinities with European “Hipparion” (⫽ Hippotherium) primigenium based on incisor morphology and nasal notch incision, while being distinct from “H.” africanum from Bou Hanifia. Bernor and Harris (2003) reported a moderate but skeletally diverse dental and postcranial sample from both the Lower and Upper Nawata Members, Lothagam that was greatly augmented by collections undertaken by Meave Leakey and colleagues (Leakey et al., 1996; Leakey and Harris, 2003). While the chronologic range of this assemblage is on the order of 7.4–5.5 Ma, most of the sample is derived from the 6.5–6.0 Ma range (C. Feibel, pers. comm.). Bernor and Harris (2003) found that ectostylids variously occur and when present are small, rising vertically only a small distance on the labial margin of adult cheek teeth. This morphology is very similar to the Vienna Basin early Vallesian sample from Gaiselberg, Austria (ca. 11.2 Ma; figure 35.7), as well as new, hitherto undescribed late Miocene material from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. As such, this structure is believed to be rare in the first Old World Hipparionini and becomes a prominent feature only in the Eurygnathohippus clade, which thus far is recognized as occurring only in Africa (although Forsten, 1997, has reported a single specimen from South Asia). Bernor and Haile-Selassie (in press) have found it virtually impossible to distinguish Eu. turkanense on teeth alone. Remarkable, and unique for African Hipparionini, is the very robust postcranial skeleton referred to Eu. turkanense (Bernor and Harris, 2003). Bernor et al. (2005) reported a strong similarity in metapodial and first phalanx III size and proportions between Eu. turkanense and Siwalik late Miocene (circa 8 Ma, J. Barry, pers. comm.) “Sivalhippus” perimense. Bernor et al. (2005) further noted that massive first phalanges III are also known from the Baringo Basin (circa 9 Ma, A. Hill, pers. comm.), Kenya, and Sahabi (circa 7 Ma), Libya. Figures 35.8A and 35.8B are log10 ratio diagrams of Siwalik “S.” perimense and Eu. turkanense (sensu lato) exhibiting the characteristic short and robust morphology that is common between the South Asian and African sister taxa. An interesting collateral issue is whether we can identify ectostylids in the Siwalik members of this group to further strengthen our hypothesis of phylogenetic relationships between “Sivalhippus” and Eurygnathohippus. We support Hooijer’s (1975) observation of a 7–4 Ma chronologic range for Eu. turkanense, and find that it is known to occur only in Kenya and Ethiopia. EURYGNATHOHIPPUS FEIBELI Bernor and Harris, 2003 Figures 35.9 and 35.10

Diagnosis After Bernor and Harris (2003). A small hipparionine equid with gracile limbs. Metacarpal III elongate and slender with midshaft depth substantially greater than width. Anterior first phalanx III long with very narrow midshaft width. Maxillary cheek teeth with thin parastyle and mesostyle; labiolingually moderately curved to straight, maximum crown height believed to be between 50 and 60 mm; mostly moderate to

FIGURE 35.7 Gaiselberg “Hippotherium” primigenium lower cheek teeth. A) NHMW3, right p4, labial view; B) NHMW3540-206, left p4, labial view.

simple complexity of the pre- and postfossettes; posterior wall of postfossette mostly separated from posterior wall of the tooth; pli caballin mostly single or poorly defined double; hypoglyph variable with wear; protocone tending to be elongate and compressed; protoconal spur usually absent but may appear as a small, vestigial structure; premolar and molar protocone placed lingually to hypocone. Mandibular cheek teeth having premolar metaconid/metastylid mostly rounded, molar metaconid/ metastylid mostly rounded to elongate; metastylid spur absent; ectoflexid not separating metaconid/metastylid in premolars, variably separating metaconid/metastylid in molars; pli caballinid mostly absent; when expressed, protostylid is most often presented as a posteriorly directed, open loop; ectostylids are variably expressed and when present are diminutive structures that do not rise high on the labial side of the tooth; premolar and molar linguaflexid shallow V shape; preflexid and postflexid enamel margins generally with simple complexity; protoconid enamel band rounded. Remarks Bernor and Harris (2003) assigned KNM-LT 139, a partial right forelimb including fragmentary radius, metacarpal III, anterior first phalanx III, anterior second phalanx III, partial metacarpal II, first, second, and third phalanx II and partial metacarpal IV to Eu. feibeli (figure 35.9). This specimen has been figured by Hooijer and Maglio (1974: plate 5, figure 7), who assigned it to “Hipparion” cf. sitifense, considered by Bernor and Scott (2003) to be a nomen dubium. The type specimen originates from the Upper Nawata Member, Lothagam Formation. In addition, Bernor and Harris (2003) referred a modest sample of Lower and Upper Nawata cheek teeth and postcranial remains to this species. Eurygnathohippus feibeli has also been identified based on a first phalanx III (JAB-VP-1/1) from the Middle Awash locality of Jara-Borkana, Ethiopia (6.0 Ma; Bernor et al., 2005; Bernor and Haile-Selassie, in press). Beyond the Lothagam and Jara-Borkana records, the stratigraphic range of Eu. feibeli is not certain. There is a record of a small hipparion in the Middle Awash sequence that is secure at 5.7 Ma from the locality of Bilta that is likely Eu. feibeli. The best Bilta specimen is an adult mandible, with a short symphysis that preserves adult cheek teeth with small but distinct ectostylids (Bernor and Haile-Selassie, in press). There are other smaller Hipparionini from the Middle Awash as young as 5.4 Ma that may also be referable to Eu. feibeli. There is good material of a larger hipparion with somewhat more robust proportions from Amba West and Amba East that Bernor and Haile-Selassie referred to Eu. aff. feibeli, which may yet prove to be a distinct species.



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A

–

–

B

–

–

FIGURE 35.8 Log10 ratio diagram of robust limbed African and Eurasian “Sivalhippus” complex fi rst Phalanges III.

Another important specimen, possibly referable to Eu. feibeli, is an early Pliocene (ca. 4.0 Ma) skull from Ekora, Kenya (KNM-EK 4; Hooijer and Maglio, 1974:13–15, plate IV, figures 1–3, plate 5, figure 1; figure 35.10). This specimen is comprised of a partial cranium with deciduous dentition (dP2–4) and M1 clearly exposed in its crypt (Bernor and Harris, 2003). Hooijer and Maglio (1974) referred this specimen to “Hipparion” primigenium largely because of the well-developed POF. While the preorbital fossa is large for a sub-Saharan African Pliocene hipparion, it is not as well developed as H. primigenium s.s. (Bernor et al., 1988, 1989; Bernor et al., 1997). Moreover, the overall cranial size is less than that of H. primigenium s.s., while the measured crown height of the unerupted M1 (⫽ 55.0 mm) is similar to H. primigenium s.s. (Bernor and Franzen 1997; Bernor et al., 1997; Bernor and Harris, 2003; Kaiser et al. 2003; Woodburne, 2007). As reported by Bernor and Harris (2003), KNM-EK 4, contrasts sharply with the two skulls of Eu. turkanense. The Ekora skull is smaller, with a shorter POB and lacrimal situated closer to the POF. The POF is large, subtriangular in shape, anteroposteriorly oriented with moderate posterior pocketing, significant medial depth, and has a peripheral outline that is moderately well delineated. The nasal notch is not preserved,

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but would not have been highly retracted. Specimen EK 4 is clearly a different species from Eu. turkanense but its phylogenetic relationships are uncertain. The cranial size and cheek tooth morphology of KNM-EK 4 suggest an affinity with Lower and Upper Nawata Eu. feibeli, and it was provisionally referred to Eu. aff. feibeli by Bernor and Harris (2003). In their morphometric comparisons of the larger Langebaanweg hipparion, Eu. hooijeri, Bernor and Kaiser (2006) found that while larger, its metapodial proportions exhibited remarkable, and distinct, similarities to the type material of Eu. feibeli. It is plausible that Eu. feibeli and Eu. hooijeri are sister taxa. TEURYGNATHOHIPPUS HOOIJERI Bernor and Kaiser, 2006 Figure 35.11

Diagnosis After Bernor and Kaiser (2006). A large species of hipparionine equid with a moderately elongate snout and arcuate incisor arcade. POB moderately long (37.1 mm) with lacrimal extending near to, but distinctly posterior to, the posterior rim of the POF. Preorbital fossa distinct, but reduced, being unpocketed posteriorly, moderately deep medially, and having a strong dorsoventral orientation. Nasal notch unretracted, extending to near the mesial limit of P2. Infraorbital foramen

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FIGURE 35.10 Eurygnathohippus aff. feibeli KNM-EK4 cranium, lateral

view.

FIGURE 35.9 Eurygnathohippus feibeli type KNM-LT139 anterior foot, dorsal view.

is situated high on the face indicating great crown height. Maximum crown height of the cheek teeth 77.5⫹ (likely 80) mm. Maxillary I3 exhibits slight mesial lengthening with a distinct taper. Maxillary cheek teeth have elongate to oval-shaped protocones, fossette plications are only moderately complex, and pli caballins may vary from single to double. Mandibular cheek teeth have rounded to elongate metaconids, metastylids that may be elongate or pointed in earlier wear and more squared in later wear. Ectostylids are rare but observed on the labial wall of some teeth. Postcrania are mostly at the small end of the size range of the central European species Hippotherium primigenium, exhibiting advances in metapodial III morphology, including lengthening, midshaft that is slender and deep, wider proximal and distal articular surfaces, and distal sagittal keel with increased diameter. Remarks The holotype of Eu. hooijeri is an old adult female skull, SAM PQ-L22187 (figure 35.11) from the Langebaanweg E Quarry (early Pliocene, ca. 5 Ma) originally described and figured by Hooijer (1976: figures 1.1–1.3) under the nomen Eu. cf. baardi. The Langebaanweg E Quarry hipparion assemblage is extensive and includes the type skull, other partial skull material, lower jaw, cheek tooth and postcranial material. Some of this postcranial material is associated and has proven to be very valuable for comparisons with other Old World and North American hipparion species. Bernor and Kaiser (2006) found that the Langebaanweg hipparion exhibits a mosaic of primitive and advanced attributes. The skull has characters that are relatively primitive, such as the shallow incision of the nasal notch, moderately long POB with lacrimal closely approaching, but not invading, the POF. Advanced skull characters include: loss of preorbital fossa posterior pocketing, reduced medial depth and infraorbital foramen placed high on the face. The height of the skull, particularly anterior cheek tooth row to the posterior nasals, is very great.

The maxillary and mandibular cheek tooth dentition is most remarkable for its great crown height, 77.5 mm being recorded by Bernor for a slightly worn m2. Bernor and Kaiser agree with Hooijer’s (1976) initial estimation of a maximum crown height of 80 mm in Eu. hooijeri. This crown height is more than 25% greater than in any of the late Miocene Eurasian Hipparionini of the Hippotherium, Cremohipparion, or Hipparion s.s. clades. Such high crowns may be found among advanced members of the Sivalhippus Complex in southern and eastern Asia (Bernor and Wolf, in progress). Bernor has not observed cheek tooth crown heights of this magnitude in Ethiopian or Kenyan samples of Eu. turkanense and Eu. feibeli. In fact, an unworn and unerupted M1 of Eu. aff. feibeli from Ekora (KNM-EK4) has a crown height of 55.0 mm. (Bernor and Harris, 2003), and there is no evidence in the Ethiopian or Kenyan late Miocene–early Pliocene record of this clade that contradicts this observation. This evidence supports differences in postcranial size and proportions in asserting that Eu. feibeli and Eu. hooijeri should be recognized as distinctly separate species. Bernor and Kaiser (2006) also reported that ectostylids rarely occur in the Langebaanweg assemblage. They believe that this rarity is likely due to a combination of factors, including the following: ectostylids are not well developed at this early time and are always weakly expressed when present; many of the lower cheek teeth have the cementum eroded away, as well as any small ectostylid that may have existed. The fact that specimens with an ectostylid exist, and that they are also present in South African Eurygnathohippus “namaquense” (after Notohipparion namaquense Haughton, 1932 and Hipparion namaquense of Churcher and Richardson, 1978) are an indication that they do occur in early Pliocene South African hipparionines. The E Quarry Eu. hooijeri postcrania are generally at the small end of the size range for Höwenegg Hippotherium primigenium. They are, at the same time, strikingly similar to Cormohipparion sinapensis from Turkey, and even more similar in their fundamental proportions to “Hipparion” africanum from Bou Hanifia, Algeria. The metacarpal III’s and metatarsal III’s are particularly remarkable for their lengthening, their sharp contrast between midshaft width (M3) versus midshaft depth (M4) and their elevated dimensions for proximal (M5) and distal articular (M11) width and distal sagittal keel depth (M12)(see figure 35.2). These features of the metapodials provide empirical support for the hypothesis that Eu. hooijeri undertook functional shifts in its postcranial skeleton that facilitated more effective cursorial locomotion.



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EURYGNATHOHIPPUS AFARENSE (Eisenmann, 1976) Figure 35.12

Eurygnathohippus hooijeri type cranium, SAM PQ-L22187. A) Oblique view; B) basal view; C) lateral view.

FIGURE 35.11

Bernor and Kaiser (2006) abandoned the use of Hooijer’s (1976) nomen Hipparion cf. baardi, and alternatively “Eurygnathohippus” cf. baardi (Franz-Odendaal et al. 2003; Bernor 2006), because the type specimen of Hipparion (Hipparion) albertense baardi Boné and Singer, 1965 is insufficient to relate to the Langebaanweg E Quarry hipparion. Bernor and Kaiser (2006) have contended that the type specimen of this nomen could be referred to any of a number of Old World hipparionines: it is undiagnostic at the species and even the genus level. Finally, Bernor and Kaiser (2006) followed Franz-Odendaal et al. (2003) in determining that Eu. hooijeri’s diet is at the grazing end of the dietary spectrum, similar to living zebras. Eisenmann and Geraads (2007) provided a brief comment on the Langebaanweg hipparion and proposed a new species name, Hipparion hendeyi, with the same type specimen selected by Bernor and Kaiser (2006; SAM PQ-L22187; figure 35.11 herein). Eisenmann and Geraads (2007) nomination of “H.” hendeyi is unsupported by any analysis, morphologic or metric, and contains no figures, no developed diagnosis, and no meaningful systematic comparisons. Moreover, it is superseded by Bernor and Kaiser’s (2006) nomination of Eu. hooijeri; Eisenmann and Geraads (2007) nomen “H.” hendeyi is thus a junior objective synonym of Eu. hooijeri. We retain the generic designation Eurygnathohippus, given the morphological support noted above and in Bernor and Kaiser (2006), and we reemphasize that species of Eurygnathohippus are neither closely related to, nor can be objectively included in, the genus Hipparion s.s. (Woodburne and Bernor, 1980; Bernor et al., 1996; Bernor and Harris, 2003, Zouhri and Bensalmia, 2005; contra Eisenmann and Geraads, 2007).

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Diagnosis Modified from Eisenmann (1976). A large hipparionine with length basion-P2 being 377 mm. Occipital fossa large. Glenoid processes (⫽ postglenoid processes) large and flat. Vomerine notch acute (V shaped), not arcuate as in Equus (and most hipparionines), vomerine index high (14). POF strongly reduced with slight depression and slight posterior rim. POB long (53.2 mm). Maxillary cheek teeth with complex plications of the fossettes, ovate protocones, single to bifid pli caballins. I3 not atrophied (as in Eu. cornelianus). Mandibular cheek teeth with ectostylids (albeit not large), preflexid and postflexid enamel borders not complexly plicated, wide linguaflexids. Incisors large, with lingual grooving. Postcrania not certainly known. Remarks The type specimen of Eurygnathohippus afarense is a partial skull, AL363-18, from the Kada Hadar Member of Hadar, Ethiopia (KH3, ca. 3.0 Ma; Eisenmann, 1976). Eisenmann (1976) also referred a mandible, AL177-21, to Eu. afarense (figure 35.12). The large incisors of the mandible were an important aspect of Eisenmann’s (1976) diagnosis. However, Bernor and Armour-Chelu (1999) noted that the large size compared to Eu. hasumense could possibly be due to AL177-21’s young age versus Eu. hasumense AL340-8’s greater age. Eisenmann and Geraads (2007) have subsequently agreed with Bernor and Armour-Chelu (1997) and transferred AL177-21 to the hypodigm of Hadar Eu. hasumense. There is no locality other than Hadar that has Eu. afarense identified. With only a partial skull and dentition and no referable postcrania, the efficacy of Eu. afarense is in question. Yet Eisenmann (1976) stated the view that “Hipparion” afarense represented a “pre-ethiopicum” stage of evolution. She believed that Eu. afarense represents the most likely immediate ancestor of African Pleistocene Hipparionini, differing from them in the “nonreduction of the third incisors, the slighter development of ectostylids, and the inferior height of the mandibular ramus, which denotes a lesser degree of hypsodonty” (translated by Churcher and Richardson, 1978). Churcher and Richardson (1978) considered the cheek teeth of Eu. afarense as being close to those of Hippotherium primigenium, on the one hand, and more advanced Pleistocene Hipparionini, on the other. In fact, the cheek teeth of Eu. afarense are distinctly African Plio-Pleistocene in character, being virtually 50% higher crowned than in H. primigenium and having ectostylids on the lower adult cheek teeth along with more ovate protocones and less complexity of the pre- and postfossettes. The origin of Eu. afarense may prove to be autochthonous for the northern rift, with its sister taxon plausibly being Eu. hasumense. The enlarged incisor teeth of Eu. afarense’s were likely an adaptation to increased dependence on grazing, although neither isotopic nor paleodietary analyses have yet been conducted on this sample. This species has not been identified outside Hadar, Ethiopia. EURYGNATHOHIPPUS HASUMENSE (Eisenmann, 1983) Figures 35.13 and 35.14

Diagnosis A large hipparion. Skull with little to no preorbital fossa, long POB, elongate narrow snout, with nasal notch incised to mesial border of P2, maxillary cheek teeth with moderate plication complexity and elongate oval protocones, maxillary incisors known to be rather small. Mandible with long and narrow symphysis and rounded incisor arcade. Metapodial III’s are elongate and robustly built. First phalanges III robustly built.

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FIGURE 35.12 AL 177–21. Eurygnathohippus afarense (sensu Eisenmann 1976) AL177–21, mandible.

A) Occlusal view; B) lateral view.

Remarks Eisenmann (1983) recognized “Hipparion” (⫽ Eurygnathohippus) hasumense based on a right p4–m2 cheek tooth row (holotype, KNM-ER 2776) from zones B and C of the Kubi Algi Formation (underneath the Hasuma Tuff). She has included in the hypodigm of Eu. hasumense cheek teeth of common morphology from the Chemeron Formation (Kenya) and the Denen Dora Member of the Hadar Formation. Included in this hypodigm was the partial skeleton, including cheek teeth, of AL155-6 from DD2 (ca. 3.2 Ma). The AL155 postcrania were analyzed, along with other Hadar and Ethiopian metapodial and first phalangeal material (6–2.9 Ma) by Bernor et al. (2005). Denen Dora 2 has also produced a beautifully preserved skull with an associated mandible of Eu. hasumense (sensu Bernor et al., 2005), AL340-8 (figure 35.13). The Hadar sample of Eu. hasumense can be characterized from a number of well-preserved specimens. The skull and mandible (AL340-8) is large and of an old, probably female, adult. The premaxilla is elongate and narrow with an arcuate dental arcade. The nasal notch extends to the mesial boundary of P2 with the anterior nasal opening being long and V shaped anteriorly. The mandible lacks the anterior incisor dentition and symphysis, and only the left p2–p4 are preserved. The preserved teeth exhibiting modestly sized ectostylids on p2–p4; cheek teeth have rounded to elongate metaconids and metastylids that are rounded to pointed linguodistally; pre- and postflexids are labiolingually compressed and lack complex plications. Another mandible, AL425-1 appears to have weathered out from the beneath the uppermost Denen Dora sandstone which caps the member. This mandible is remarkable for its very long symphysis and very narrow, rounded incisor arcade (figure 35.14). It is, in fact, longer in this dimension than the AL177-21 mandible of Eu. afarense (now transferred to Eu. hasumense by Eisenmann and Geraads, 2007) and does not have the large incisors found in that specimen (although they are quite worn due to advanced age). The AL425-1 mandible closely corresponds to the AL340–8 skull, particularly in its elongate snout portion and narrow, rounded dental arcade. Bernor et al. (2005) analyzed the large sample of metapodials III and first phalanges III from Hadar and found that it was very advanced among African Pliocene hipparionines. The postcranial skeleton is very large for a hipparionine, with the metapodials III and first phalanges III being robustly built and elongate. The authors concluded that most of the Hadar postcranial material was homogeneous in this regard (except one metapodial III from KH3, which was smaller) and that the pre-

dominant horse at Hadar was Eu. hasumense. Bernor et al. (2005) found that species diversity in Ethiopian horizons between 6 and 2.9 Ma was low, with the vast majority of specimens being allocated to the Eu. Feibeli–Eu. hasumense lineage. Bernor and Armour-Chelu (1997) reported a partial skull from Manonga Valley Beredi 3, WM1958/92, as being morphologically very similar to the AL340-8 skull from Hadar. The Beredi postcrania are currently under study by Bernor and Armour-Chelu and should prove useful for further comparisons with the Ethiopian Eu. Feibeli–Eu. hasumense lineage. Eu. hasumense would appear to have a chronologic range of at least 3.5–2.9 Ma, and is known to range geographically from Ethiopia to Tanzania. As cited, it is a member of the Eu. feibeli–Eu. hasumense lineage, which is sister to Eu. afarense. EURYGNATHOHIPPUS CORNELIANUS van Hoepen, 1930

Diagnosis A medium-sized hipparion with skull lacking POF and having an elongate premaxilla with hypertrophied first and second incisors and atrophied third incisors. All maxillary incisors are strongly grooved on the lingual surface. Mandibular symphysis very broad with hypertrophied, procumbent i1 and i2 with heavily developed ribs on the lingual surface. Mandibular i3’s are atrophied and placed adjacent and immediately behind the i2’s. Maxillary cheek teeth have moderately complex plications of the pre- and postfossettes and have a maximum crown height as high as 90 mm in their later stratigraphic occurrence. Postcrania referred to this taxon are similar in size, but are mostly somewhat more elongate than Hippotherium primigenium. Remarks Van Hoepen (1930:23, plates 20–22) described an anterior mandibular dentition with very large, hypertrophied i1 and i2 and atrophied i3 placed immediately posterior to the i2’s. As pointed out by Cooke (1950), Eisenmann (1983) and Bernor and Armour-Chelu (1997), Van Hoepen (1930) mistook the atrophied i3’s for canines. Dietrich (1942:97) is credited as being the first author to suggest a synonymy between Eurygnathohippus and Stylohipparion (Eisenmann, 1983). Leakey (1965: plate 20, 4 figures) reported the occurrence of Stylohipparion (⫽ Eurygnathohippus) albertense from Bed II of Olduvai Gorge, figuring three mandibular symphyses and one premaxilla complete (lower left corner of figure) with their incisor dentitions. The mandibular dentitions were identical to the type specimen of Van Hoepen from the locality of Cornelia, (Orange) Free State. THIRT Y-FIVE: EQUIDAE


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Eurygnathohippus hasumense AL340-8. A) Cranium and mandible, lateral view; B) right maxillary cheek teeth occlusal view; C) left mandibular cheek teeth, occlusal view. Courtesy of Vera Eisenmann.

FIGURE 35.13

Hooijer (1975: plates 7–8) reported an adult skull from Olduvai BK II (plate 6, nos. 2845–2846), which he referred to Hipparion cf. ethiopicum. The skull is nearly complete, albeit distorted due to crushing. This skull is of an older individual with M3 appearing well worn. Hooijer (1975) reported that there is no POF. The snout is relatively long, but there is apparently some portion of the maxilla missing anterior to P3 that disallows an appreciation of its true length. The nasal notch is preserved on the left side and is not retracted, apparently incised a short distance anterior to P2. The incisors are worn. Hooijer (1975:30) reported, “The incisors of the Olduvai skull are of the type of Eurygnathohippus cornelianus Van Hoepen (1930): the first and second large, anteriorly flattened, with thick enamel in front and thin enamel lingually, and large cusps completely filled with cement. There is a shallow longitudinal groove along the center of the labial surface of the first incisor, and the second has two such anterior grooves. The lingual surface (of the incisors) is grooved also. The third incisor is much reduced.” We add that the right I3 would appear to conform to other Olduvai BK II specimens cited earlier as referable to Eu. cornelianus. Hooijer (1975) also cites the lack of a canine in this Olduvai specimen.

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Hooijer (1975) reported on another cranium, OLD/63 BK II no. 283 (from the Channel Sand) that includes P2–M2 (P4 erupting and M3 still in the crypt). The specimen lacks the snout and cranium. This specimen provides a suitable contrast to the older adult cranium (nos. 2845–2846) for viewing cheek tooth morphology. These cheek teeth exhibit moderate plications of the fossettes, protocones that are elongate earlier in wear, shorter in later wear and nearly uniformly flattened lingually and rounded labially. Hooijer (1975: 33) reported that the barely worn M2 has a crown height of 75 mm, and the unworn M3 has a chord (not arc) measure of 75 mm. These data imply a maximum crown height of over 75 mm. Eisenmann (1983: plate 5-3 A–C) did not recognize the existence of Eu. cornelianus at Olduvai following Hooijer’s (1975) description. She did, however, refer an immature cranium, KNM-ER 3539 with dP2–4, M1 to Hipparion (⫽ Eurygnathohippus) cornelianum (Eisenmann, 1983; however, note that the same specimen is described by Eisenmann [1976: plate 3] as H. cf. ethiopicum following Hooijer, 1975). This is a well-preserved cranium lacking a POF. Eisenmann (1983) claims that the incisors are large and grooved, but none are figured (neither are they figured by Eisenmann, 1976): the

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Eurygnathohippus hasumense AL425-1 mandible. A) Occlusal view; B) buccal view; C) anterior dentition.

FIGURE 35.14

premaxilla in its figured dorsal view is devoid of teeth. This juvenile skull has a moderately long and rather narrow snout. Eisenmann (1983) reports similarities in vomer and incisor morphology between the Koobi Fora skull and Hadar material of Eu. afarense. Eisenmann (1983) has further reported Eu. cornelianus–type incisors from Omo Shungura D, E, F, G, and L. We have not seen these. Eisenmann (1983) recognized a second taxon from Koobi Fora and the Omo Shungura Formation, distinguished by its smaller incisor teeth, and referred it to Hipparion ethiopicum. She reports a mandible from the same stratigraphic level at Koobi Fora as the Eu. cornelianus skull (collecting area 105, Notochoerus scotti zone) that has a symphysis notably smaller than the typical H. cornelianum. She characterized this taxon as having “large molars relative to small premolars, large anteroposterior development of the ectostylid (high ectostylid index), a great vestibulo-lingual development of the ectostylid (great occlusal width). In addition, the ectostylids are complicated, with accessory pillars and some molars have shallow vestibular grooves.” Bernor and Armour-Chelu (1999) reviewed the problematic classification of “Hipparion” ethiopicum and “H.” cornelianum and determined that it was difficult to recognize a single taxon given the diverse size and morphologies of the sample. Eisenmann’s (1983) referral of cranial specimen KNM-ER 3539 to “H.” cornelianum was believed to be questionable because of its juvenile stage of development, absent incisors, assertion of atrophied third incisors (third incisors are atrophied in the mandible, not maxilla; see Leakey: 1965, plate 20, lower left maxilla vs. other 3 mandibular incisors). Moreover, the KNM-ER 3539 skull is placed at 1.89 Ma, while the Olduvai BK II assemblage is >1.2 Ma, (possibly near 1.3 Ma) meaning that considerable evolution could have occurred within this interval of time. Eisenmann and Geraads (2007) refigured KNM-ER 3539, but with a previously unpublished view of the dorsal aspect of the premaxillary incisal region. In this photograph, one can see a very large right and left I1 just beginning to emerge from the crypt. However, this specimen is so immature that one should not be caught in the trap of recognizing a taxon based upon enlarged incisors at this stage of development as was done by Eisenmann (1976) with the AL177-21 specimen of Eurygnathohippus “afarense.” Our

sense is that the Koobi Fora cranium does not have an extraordinarily broad incisor region and cannot readily be separated from Eisenmann’s sense of H. ethiopicum. More fossils are necessary to address this issue. Particularly convincing would be an adult mandibular symphysis region with hypertrophied i1–i2 and atrophied i3 as found in the holotype Eu. cornelianus and Olduvai Bed II specimens figured by Leakey (1965). Armour-Chelu et al. (2006) have reviewed Hooijer’s concept of H. ethiopicum and, by extension, Eu. cornelianus. They argue that the first evidence of this clade may be from the Upper Ndolanya Beds, Tanzania, circa 2.6 Ma (Ndessokia, 1990). It is also likely represented from Omo Shungura F, dated to 2.36 Ma. Armour-Chelu et al. (2006) have further pointed out that Churcher and Richardson (1978) referred collections with the fundamental cheek tooth morphology (high crowned, large ectostylids) to three regional subspecies: Hipparion libycum libycum, Hipparion libycum ethiopicum, and Hipparion libycum steytleri for assemblages from northern Africa, eastern Africa, and southern Africa, respectively. Armour-Chelu et al. (2006) have pointed out three problems with this taxonomic solution: first, a detailed morphological comparison of all these populations has not been made; second, crucial statistical analysis of postcranial elements has not been made; third, the diagnostic anterior premaxillary and mandibular symphysial dentitions are lacking in most African Plio-Pleistocene assemblages (outside of Olduvai Bed II and the type material of Eu. cornelianus from Cornelia, South Africa). We also add here that stratigraphically younger Olduvai material (possibly from Bed IV) has measured maximum crown heights of 90 mm (Bernor, pers. obs.), which is substantially higher than the 75-mm crown heights reported by Hooijer (1975) for BK II. Our current understanding of Eu. cornelianus is that this species is a member of an evolving lineage that occurred between ca. 2.4 and < 1 Ma. As a result of their statistical analysis on Olduvai Bed II metapodials and astragali, ArmourChelu et al. (2006) concluded that Olduvai Beds I and II had a hipparion referable to Eu. cornelianus s.s., which is related, at least in part, to Hooijer’s hypodigm of H. cf. ethiopicum. Specimen KNM-ER 3539 may be a member of this lineage, however, its referral to Eu. cornelianus s.s. cannot be determined



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A

B

Log10 ratio diagram comparing Langebaanweg, Hadar, Aramis, Amba West, Daka, Gona, and Casablanca MT III’s and MC III’s. A) MC III; B) MT III. FIGURE 35.15

because of its juvenile status. Also, their analysis revealed the likelihood that there is a second, smaller species of Eurygnathohippus known from Olduvai Bed II, as well as Omo Shungura F, H, and K that is not referable to Eu. cornelianus. Armour-Chelu et al. (2006) followed Bernor and ArmourChelu (1999) in provisionally recognizing the nomen Eu. “ethiopicus” for some Omo Shungura F, G, and H hipparionines. Clearly, demonstrating the highly derived, hypertrophied incisor structure and accompanying broad mandibular symphysis of Eu. cornelianus is important for referral of an assemblage to that species. Gilbert and Bernor (2008) identified cheek teeth, metapodials and astragali from the 1 Ma Daka fauna of Ethiopia that related well to the Olduvai BK II Eu. cornelianus assemblage. As a result, they referred the Daka hipparion assemblage to Eu. cf. cornelianus. EURYGNATHOHIPPUS POMELI (Eisenmann and Geraads, 2007) Figures 35.15 and 35.16

Diagnosis Modified from Eisenmann and Geraads (2007). A species of Eurygnathohippus with moderately elongate and moderately wide muzzle; preorbital fossa reduced, with long POB (50 mm); incisor arcade relatively narrow and tightly arcuate; cheek teeth large and hypsodont, with protocones 706


rather elongate and ovate; lower adult cheek teeth with welldeveloped and persistent ectostylids rising high on the crown; metapodials elongate and similar in proportions to early and middle Pliocene Eurygnathohippus sp. from Ethiopia and Tanzania, not being as large and derived as the Hadar hipparion. Remarks Eisenmann and Geraads (2007) reported a wellpreserved assemblage of hipparionini Ahl al Oughlam near Casablanca. This assemblage has yielded a very rich microand macromammal fauna together with fishes, reptiles, and birds. Eisenmann and Geraads (2007) argue that the sample is homogeneous and biochronologically correlative with eastern African faunas that are ca. 2.5 Ma. in age, roughly contemporaneous with Omo Shungura D. Eisenmann and Geraads’s (2007) analysis of the skull has been largely focused on the shape of the vomer. They claim that “Hipparion” pomeli is a member of the “H.” hasumense group because the basion to vomer distance is short and the cheek teeth are relatively large. They distinguish this “group” from the “H.” afarense group which, based on a single specimen, has a V-shaped vomer. They relate “H.” afarense to the juvenile Koobi Fora skull, KNM-ER 3539 (discussed earlier), which they refer to “H.” cornelianum, along with a series of Olduvai skull fragments (Olduvai BKII-264, BKII-283, BKII-067/5465). They also relate a number of other Hadar, Omo, East Turkana, and Cornelia specimens to this “group”

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of hipparionines. In fact, Hadar-aged and younger African hipparions are consistent in the one character that best unites the Eurygnathohippus clade: the presence of ectostylids on the permanent cheek teeth. The ectostylid may not be present on the occlusal surface of a fresh crown, but is present on the side of the crown and becomes apparent with wear. Later Pliocene-Pleistocene hipparions, including Eu. pomeli, have well-developed ectostylids on the permanent cheek teeth. Eisenmann and Geraads (2007: figure 8) provide a view of Ahl al Oughlam mandibular cheek teeth that clearly have well-developed, enlarged ectostylids on the permanent cheek teeth. The evolutionary stage of these cheek teeth is consistent with a middle Pliocene correlation and confirms referral to the genus Eurygnathohippus. There is likewise an excellent sample of metacarpals III and metatarsals III. Figures 35.15A and 35.15B are log10 ratio diagrams comparing the mean figures given by Eisenmann and Geraad’s (2007) for metacarpal III and metatarsal III to a number of more slender-limbed African Eurygnathohippus species. Figure 35.15A compares the Ahl al Oughlam metacarpal III mean measurements (AaO) with Eu. hooijeri from Langebaanweg (SAM, ca. 5.2 Ma), Eu. aff. feibeli from Amba West (Middle Awash, 5.2 Ma; remarkably similar to the Langebaanweg hipparion), and two specimens from Aramis (Middle Awash, 4.2–4.0 Ma); and AL155– 6BB of Eu. hasumense from Hadar (3.2 Ma). This comparison reveals that the metacarpal III’s are most similar to the Aramis specimens, and most definitely not as elongate, not as wide at the midshaft, and not with such pronounced keel development as Hadar Eu. hasumense. Figure 35.15B compares the Ahl al Oughlam (AaO) metatarsal III mean with Hadar Eu. hasumense, Daka (Middle Awash, 1.0 Ma) Eu. cf. cornelianus, and Laetoli Eurygnathohippus sp. (75–14–2471B, Upper Ndolanya Beds, 2.6 Ma). The Ahl al Oughlam metatarsal III is most like the Laetoli specimen, particularly in length and midshaft width, and is unlike Hadar Eu. hasumense. A similarity with Laetoli is consistent with Eisenmann’s and Geraads’ ca. 2.5 Ma correlation. There is no basis to deny inclusion of “Hipparion” pomeli in the genus Eurygnathohippus. The large, well-developed ectostylids on the lower cheek teeth secure this referral. The highly reduced POF, elongate oval protocones and metacarpal III and metatarsal III proportions offer congruent morphological support for this referral. “H.” pomeli is thus not referable to Hipparion s.s. Also, Eu. pomeli is not closely related to Eu. hasumense but rather has limb proportions more similar to other species of African Eurygnathohippus ranging from 5–1 Ma, suggesting that Hadar Eu. hasumense may have been an evolutionary side branch of Eurygnathohippus evolution. REMARKS ON THE TA XONOMY OF HIPPARIONINI

African hipparionine horses have a taxonomic history that is best described as mind numbing. The group’s taxonomy requires a major review of specimens, associated geologic context, and taxonomic history that is beyond the scope of our current report here. Churcher and Richardson (1978) made a valiant effort to unravel the alpha taxonomy of the African Hipparionini; however, the time and place in Neogene Old World equid systematics predicated referring all hipparionines to the genus “Hipparion.” In the last 30 years, Old World Hipparion has been demonstrated to be a highly paraphyletic group better segregated into genus-level lineages (cf. Bernor et al., 1996; Bernor and Armour-Chelu, 1999).

Contrary to Eisenmann and Geraads (2007), the vast majority of African hipparionines, and in particular the Plio-Pleistocene forms, are not referable to the genus Hipparion s.s. The continued practice of referral of African hipparionines to the Eurasian genus Hipparion (with the exception of some Sahabi specimens) is scientifically regressive. Bernor and Armour-Chelu (1999) gave an overview of Africa’s diverse group of hipparionines and followed Woodburne and Bernor (1980) and Bernor et al. (1990, 1996) in offering a revisionary sketch. Since then, Bernor and Harris (2003), Bernor and Scott (2003), Bernor et al. (2004, 2005), FranzOdendaal et al. (2003), Bernor and Kaiser (2006), ArmourChelu et al. (2006), Bernor and Kaiser (2006), Gilbert and Bernor (in press), and Bernor and Haile-Selassie (in press) have undertaken specimen-based studies of eastern and southern African hipparionines. We update Bernor and Armour-Chelu’s (1999: table 14-2) list of African Hipparion taxa in table 35.1, continuing the progressive review of this complex problem. In this contribution we no longer support Churcher and Richardson’s (1978) recognition of the genus Hipparion s.s. throughout Africa, although the genus plausibly occurs at Sahabi (Bernor et al., 2008). Churcher and Richardson’s (1978) application of the nomen “Hipparion” (⫽ Hippotherium) primigenium is likewise unsubstantiated at the species level for localities in Algeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa. We have cited herein our preference for the use of “Cormohipparion” africanum for the Bou Hanifia material (10.5 Ma), ably described by Arambourg (1959). The remainder of Churcher and Richardson’s (1978) hypodigm is difficult to assign, but the Ethiopian, Kenyan, and South African material is likely best referable to Eurygnathohippus sp. Hipparion albertense Hopwood, 1926 was correctly restricted to the type specimen by Churcher and Richardson (1978) because it was insufficient for species recognition: the buccal two-thirds of an upper second molar from the Plio-Pleistocene of Uganda. Hooijer (1975) asserted that the nomen H. albertense should be considered a nomen vanum. He further elaborated on the taxonomic muddle invoked by the application of this “species name” for African assemblages, while Churcher and Richardson (1978) avoided substantive comment. Churcher and Richardson (1978) did address Plio-Pleistocene material from Kaiso, which Cooke and Coryndon (1970) referred to H. (Hipparion) albertense. Hipparion baardi of Boné and Singer, 1965 was described from a modest assemblage of isolated teeth from Langebaanweg Baard’s Quarry. These authors remarked on the rather hypsodont teeth of this assemblage (ca. 70 mm), and assigned it to H. (H.) albertense as a new subspecies baardi. Hooijer (1975) evaluated the status of H. (H.) albertense baardi and concluded that this sample should have its own name, H. baardi. Churcher and Richardson (1978) followed this recommendation. Hooijer (1976) acknowledged likely stratigraphic differences between Langebaanweg Baard’s Quarry and E Quarry, referring the much better material from Langebaanweg E Quarry to H. cf. baardi. Prior to the actual study of the Langebaanweg E Quarry hipparion material described by Hooijer (1976), Bernor and Armour-Chelu (1999), and later Franz-Odendaal et al. (2003) provisionally referred this sample to “Eurygnathohippus” cf. baardi. Most recently, Bernor and Kaiser (2006) undertook a detailed study of the Langebaanweg E Quarry sample and referred that material to Eurygnathohippus hooijeri, citing its extraordinary representation of the skeleton (see description given earlier).



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ta b l e 35 .1 Summary of the biogeographic distribution of African Neogene

Taxon

Chronology

Geographic Range

hipparionini Hipparion s.s. Cremohipparion Cremohipparion aff. matthewi Cormohipparion

9.7–6.5 Ma 9.7–4 Ma 6.5 16–8 Ma

“Cormohipparion” theobaldi “Cormohipparion” africanum “Sivalhippus” spp.

8–7 Ma 10.5 Ma 9–6.5 Ma

Eurygnathohippus Eurygnathohippus turkanense Eurygnathohippus feibeli Eurygnathohippus hooijeri Eurygnathohippus afarense Eurygnathohippus hasumense Eurygnathohippus cornelianus lineage; includes Eu. “ethiopicus” Eurygnathohippus pomeli

6.5–0.5 6.5–4.0 Ma 6.0–4.0 Ma 5.2 Ma 3.0 Ma 3.5–2.9 Ma 2.5–0.5 Ma

Eurasia and North Africa Eurasia and North Africa Sahabi Predominantly North America, in Eurasia and possibly North Africa 11.2–9.7 Ma South Asia and related form “?C.” megadon in East Africa North Africa South Asia (“S.” perimense), East Africa (“S.” sp. from Samburu Hills) and Sahabi Africa Ethiopia and Kenya Ethiopia and Kenya South Africa Ethiopia Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa

2.5 Ma (or older?)

North Africa

equini Equus Equus koobiforensis Equus oldowayensis Equus capensis Equus numidicus Equus tabeti Equus melkiensis Equus algericus Equus grevyi Equus quagga Equus zebra Equus africanus

2.33–present 2–1.0 Ma 2.3–1.0 Ma 2–0.001 Ma 1.9–1.2 Ma 1.9–1.2 Ma Late Pleistocene Late Pleistocene Late Pleistocene–recent ?1Ma–recent ?Middle Pleistocene–recent 1.2 Ma–recent

The nomen Notohipparion namaquense Haughton, 1932 is based on a well-worn mandibular dentition discovered between Langebaanweg C and E Quarries, Langebaanweg, South Africa (Churcher and Richardson, 1978; figure 35.16). Churcher and Richardson (1978) noted that Haughton (1932) neither designated a holotype nor provided a formal diagnosis. Churcher and Richardson (1978) further accurately described the specimen as exhibiting a variable expression of ectostylids in the worn (less than 35 mm in height) crown. Besides expressing ectostylids, the pre- and postflexids were found to have a wavy complexity. Hooijer (1975) recognized a resemblance between “N.” namaquense and a partial mandible recovered from Shungura Member B11 of the Omo group. He assigned the Omo specimen to “Hipparion” sp. B, citing that it was clearly less advanced than “H.” libycum and indistinguishable from “Hipparion” primigenium. In fact, the mandible of “N.” namaquense conforms closely to known members of the Eurygnathohippus clade in its stage of ectostylid evolution: ectostylids are variably expressed and do not normally rise high on the labial side of the teeth. This fundamental morphology is found in both the Lothagam (Bernor and Harris, 2003) and Middle Awash (Bernor and Haile-Selassie, in press)

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Africa Kenya Tanzania South African North Africa North Africa North Africa North Africa Central Asia–East Africa East and South Africa South Africa, Namibia, Angola East Africa

latest Miocene/earliest Pliocene Hipparionini. Its provenience between the C and E Quarries of Langebaanweg, commensurate with what Bernor and Kaiser have observed for the E Quarry Eu. hooijeri assemblage, suggests a referral of “N.” namaquense to Eu. cf. hooijeri. Churcher and Richardson (1978) recognized Hipparion sitifense as a valid taxon occurring in northern, central, and eastern Africa. They further synonymized, in part, H. (H.) albertense (after Cooke and Coryndon, 1970) with their concept of Hipparion sitifense. Churcher and Richardson (1978) cited small size as the most remarkable feature of H. sitifense but noted the lack of a type specimen and suitable diagnosis of the material. Bernor and Harris (2003) and Bernor and Scott (2003) reported that the original material described by Pomel (1897) could not be located. Furthermore, Bernor and Harris (2003) and Bernor and Scott (2003) noted that the originally described assemblage lacked sufficient preserved fossil material to accurately assign it to any genus or species based on our current understanding of phylogenetically meaningful features. Currently, late Miocene African hipparionines are assigned to four different genera: “Cormohipparion” (“C.” africanum, Bou Hanifia; “C.” aff. africanum, Samburu

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FIGURE 35.16 Notohipparion namaquense SAM PQ-9982 type mandibular dentition discovered between Langebaanweg C and E quarries.

Hills; “Cormohipparion” sp., Chorora), Hipparion s.s. (Sahabi, Libya), Cremohipparion aff. matthewi (Sahabi, Libya), and Eurygnathohippus (Eu. feibeli and Eu. turkanense (Lothagam, Kenya, and Middle Awash, Ethiopia). As demonstrated by Armour-Chelu et al. (2006), there are likely multiple small species of Eurygnathohippus recorded in the Plio-Pleistocene of eastern Africa. Unfortunately, much of the limited material of these hipparionines is easily confused with small, undescribed species of Equus. Hooijer and Maglio (1973) originally described the type material of Hipparion turkanense from the late Miocene of Lothagam based on a beautifully preserved skull. Churcher and Richardson (1978) supported Hooijer’s view that H. turkanense co-occurred with Hipparion primigenium at Lothagam. “H.” primigenium was also cited as occurring at Bou Hanifia (⫽ “C”. africanum here) and Ekora (EK4, Eu. aff. feibeli here). Churcher and Richardson (1978) did recognize however that “H.” turkanense had a dorsoventrally higher maxilla with likely higher crowned teeth. In fact, Bou Hanifia “Cormohipparion” africanum has a dorsoventrally deep POF, which reflects substantially lower maximum crown heights than Eu. turkanense, Eu. hooijeri, and Eu. hasumense (figures 35.6, 35.11, and 35.13) and metapodial morphology is dramatically different between these taxa (Bernor et al., 2005, Bernor and Kaiser, 2006). Since Hooijer and Maglio’s (1973) original description, and Churcher and Richardson’s (1978) minor revision, very important metapodial and first phalangeal material of Eu. turkanense has been collected from Lothagam by Meave Leakey and her team. Bernor and Harris (2003) reported the material as being very robust and relatively massive for a hipparionine. Bernor et al. (2005) found striking similarities between the postcrania of Eu. turkanense and Siwalik “S.” perimense material, and also found rare occurrences of this postcranial morphology from the early Pliocene of Ethiopia. Churcher and Richardson (1978) chose to recognize Hipparion libycum as a single species of latest Pliocene to late Pleistocene hipparionine that ranged across the African continent. Their resulting synonymy (Churcher and Richardson, 1978, p. 399) was extensive. They defined these hipparionines as being extremely hypsodont (over 70 mm unworn height in adult cheek teeth), with strong development of ectostylids, and with marked reduction and medial migration of the lateral incisors in both jaws. Unfortunately, the crucial maxillary and mandibular incisor morphology is only recorded in the Olduvai Bed II, BK II locality and the

type specimen of Eu. cornelianus is from Cornelia, South Africa (Bernor and Armour-Chelu, 1997; Armour-Chelu et al., 2006). While Churcher and Richardson (1978) are correct that the essential morphology of late Plio-Pleistocene hipparionines is similar, crown height evolves, potentially convergently, through the African hipparion sequence (Bernor and Armour-Chelu, 1997). Striking species-level comparisons between late Pliocene and Pleistocene pan-African hipparionine assemblages will have to address anterior dentitions and postcranial remains to secure species-level identities. Genus EQUUS Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis After Churcher and Richardson (1978). Facial region usually shallower than in hipparionine horses, with lacrimal fossa absent or rudimentary. Sagittal crest absent. Fossae on occiput for nuchal attachment small, and those directly above the occipital condyles poorly developed. Bony auditory meatus variable in length and orientation. Basicranial region with or without low longitudinal crest. Coronoid process of the mandible lower than in hipparionine horses, and ascending ramus with obliquely posterior orientation. Grooves on mandibular incisors variably developed. Canines usually absent in females. Cheek teeth very hypsodont. Upper cheek teeth with protocone connected to protolophs by a narrow isthmus and few, to no enamel plis on the pre- and postfossette mesial and distal borders. Lower cheek teeth with well-developed metaconid and metastylid, always lacking parastylids. Limbs straighter than in Hipparionini, ulna often with a discontinuous shaft; extremities always monodactyl, lateral digits absent, and lateral metapodials reduced to shortened splints that exhibit contact for no more than two-thirds of the length of metapodial III. Lacking a rudiment of MCV. Hoofed phalanges lack developed median slits on the anterior margin and are more arcuate shaped in their outline than in Hipparionini. Age Late Pliocene (2.6 Ma)–Recent in the Old World. Remarks Churcher and Richardson (1978) provided an extensive review of African Equus taxonomy. They utilized all information available at that time, which was essentially restricted to living species size, coat color and pattern, and osteological features of the skeleton. Generally speaking, they distinguished species by proportions of the long bones: onagers and half-asses being slender, donkeys small, zebras heavily built or stocky. They noted the considerable variability in cheek tooth size and occlusal morphology. However, Churcher and THIRT Y-FIVE: EQUIDAE


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Richardson (1978) noted that zebras and asses usually lacked a pli caballin in the upper cheek teeth (contrary to caballine Equus) and the usual occurrence of a V-shaped linguaflexid. Churcher and Richardson (1978) reported remains of Equus spp. from the late Pliocene of northern and eastern Africa and the late Pleistocene of eastern and southern Africa. They claimed that these lineages became extinct at the latest by the end of the early Pleistocene in northern Africa, and late Pleistocene or early Holocene in sub-Saharan Africa. Introduction of true horses, Equus caballus, is reported to have taken place in northern Africa following the invasion of Egypt by the Hyksos kings around 1580 B.C. (Zeuner, 1963; Churcher and Richardson, 1978). Subsequently, E. caballus dispersed along the southern Mediterranean coastline and across the Sahara by human introduction. A later introduction of E. caballus took place in South Africa along the Cape Province by Dutch settlers in the late 17th century (Churcher and Richardson, 1978). Churcher and Richardson (1978) recognized that many Pliocene Equus fossils were assigned to Equus numidicus and to two Pleistocene species, Equus oldowayensis in eastern Africa and Equus capensis in southern Africa. They believed that these taxa were likely antecedents of the extant Grevy’s zebra, Equus (Dolichohippus) grevyi, which is now restricted to the arid and semiarid regions of the Horn of Africa. They (1978:403) asserted that E. (D.) grevyi occurred in the middle to late Pliocene of Africa. Churcher and Richardson (1978) recognized two subgenera of zebra, Equus (Dolichohippus) and Equus (Hippotigris), but not Equus (Quagga): all Burchell’s zebras and E. quagga were considered to be of the subgenus (Hippotigris). Churcher and Richardson (1978) reported that there are fossil records of E. zebra and E. quagga from southern Africa. They speculated that the E. zebra and E. quagga clades evolved as a result of the early speciation of southern African populations of E. burchelli: E. zebra being adapted to broken montane countryside, and E. quagga presumably evolving in response to life in semiarid regions of southern Africa. We find this to be an entirely credible hypothesis. EQUUS (DOLICHOHIPPUS) KOOBIFORENSIS (Eisenmann, 1983)

Diagnosis After Eisenmann (1983)—A large species of Equus approaching the size of Equus sanmeniensis of China. Palate relatively long with respect to the muzzle. Upper cheek teeth with deep postprotoconal valleys and relatively small protocones. Maxillary P2 with postprotoconal valleys and relatively small protocones. Mandibular p2 at least occasionally bearing a protostylid; stenonine double knot (metaconidmetastylid) on the lower cheek teeth; vestibular grooves (ectoflexids) at least occasionally shallow in m3. Remarks The type skull, KNM-ER 1484, was recovered from the Notochoerus scotti zone, Area 130, below the KBS tuff of Koobi Fora. Equus koobiforensis is an exceptionally large horse (Eisenmann, 1983). Beyond Eisenmann’s diagnosis, other characters include the following: a protostylid is present on dp2, cheek teeth show deep linguaflexids and shallow ectoflexids, and muzzle width is similar to that found in E. oldowayensis. Eisenmann (1983) reported a number of close dental similarities shared by E. koobiforensis and European E. stenonis, including deep postprotoconal valleys, short protocones, and similar proportions of the lengths and protoconal indices of the upper cheek tooth series. She further 710


noted that the P2 and M3 are relatively elongate and the protoconal index increases from P2 to M3. Eisenmann (1983) was unsettled about the hypodigm of E. koobiforensis. She reported a great range of variability in the size of the Koobi Fora Equus assemblage, believing that the sample must include two species. The type skull, KNM-ER 1484, is that of a large, young adult mare. Eisenmann (1983: figure 5-4) argued that, compared to several other species of Equus, E. koobiforensis is very large and most similar to the Chinese Pleistocene form, E. sanmeniensis. Eisenmann (1983) further indicated that there is a mismatch between the very large E. sanmeniensis skull, and proportionally smaller metapodials; only the lower cheek tooth series KNM-ER 4051 matches that of the Holotype cranium. Eisenmann (1983) reported that at least the following two characters of the holotype cranium indicate that Equus koobiforensis is distinct from, and probably more primitive than, any modern species of Equus: (1) the relatively long palate associated with a short snout, also seen in Dinohippus interpolatus, D. leidyanus, E. simplicidens, E. stenonis vireti, and E. stenonis senezensis; (2) the low protoconal indices, quite similar to E. stenonis. With regard to other African large Equus species, Eisenmann (1983) reported difficulty making comparisons to both E. capensis and E. oldowayensis due to the lack of precise data for the skull, cheek teeth, and limb bones, but admitted that E. koobiforensis could become the junior synonym of E. oldowayensis following further study. EQUUS (DOLICHOHIPPUS) OLDOWAYENSIS (Hopwood, 1937) Figure 35.17

Diagnosis After Churcher and Hooijer (1980). A large horse overlapping in size with E. grevyi. The dentition of the skull has a large and broad incisor arcade with incisor teeth having infundibula on I1 and I2 and which may be absent on lower third incisor; males possess a large canine, while the canine is vestigal in females; in middle wear, premolar protocones are generally shorter and rounder on P2 and P3 than on P4, while in the molars, the protocones are persistently more elongate; the mesial portion of the protocone has a strong connection to the protoloph; pli caballins are vestigial or absent; fossette plications are simple. Mandibular incisors are as in the premaxillary incisors, having distinct infundibula; lower cheek teeth have a diminutive metaconid on p2 and rounded to slightly elongate metaconid on p3–m3; metastylid is generally rounded to square-shaped distally on p3–m3 giving a distinctly straight linguomesial border; linguaflexids are very shallow in p2 and V shaped on p3–m3. Metapodials referred to this taxon vary in length and slenderness with those from the Omo being rather gracile, while material from Bed I Olduvai is more robust. The diversity of postcranial measurements alone suggests that there may be more than a single species included within this diagnosis. Remarks Churcher and Hooijer (1980) reviewed the taxonomy of E. oldowayensis, which we follow closely herein. Hopwood (1937: figures 1 and 2) designated a lower jaw from an animal about 2 years old (Catalogue Number VIII, 353, in the Bayerische Paläontologische Staatssammlung, Munich) as the holotype of E. oldowayensis. Hopwood (1937) also designated a lower incisive region with the left incisors and right first incisor (BMNH M14199) as the paratype. The original Olduvai collection deposited in Munich, which included the type of E. oldowayensis, was destroyed, together with its catalogue, during WW II (K. Heissig, pers. comm. to Churcher

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FIGURE 35.17

Equus oldowayensis BMNH M14134 left mandible, buccal view.

and Hooijer as cited in 1980:266). Cooke (1963: table 4) assigned a large equid from the Omo deposits to E. oldowayensis Hopwood, 1937, or possibly E. aff. grevyi, but without discussion. Hooijer (1976) reported a large Equus from the Omo that he considered to be indeterminate to species in the absence of skulls, and accepted a great deal of variation in cheek tooth characters, including variably long or short protocones and V- or U- shaped linguaflexids. Coppens (1971) noted that “true Equus appears in Member G together with Hipparion ethiopicum.” Churcher and Richardson (1978: 381, table 20.1) recognized E. (Dolichohippus) oldowayensis from the Omo Shungura Formation Members F through J, explicitly recognizing it as being a member of the Grevy’s zebra lineage. In order to stabilize the taxon E. oldowayensis Churcher and Hooijer (1980) selected the mandible, BMNH M14184, as the neotype of E. oldowayensis (see figure 35.17 for representative specimen). Churcher and Hooijer (1980) reported on the extensive Olduvai Equus material currently housed (on loan) in the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Histoire, Leiden, and currently under study by Armour-Chelu. Equus oldowayensis was equipped with a broad muzzle and horizontal incisive row. This morphology suggests an adaptation to short grass feeding. Equus oldowayensis is the most widespread and abundant horse in Plio-Pleistocene deposits of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania (Churcher 1981; Hooijer and Churcher, 1985). The earliest reported stratigraphic occurrence is from the Shungura Member G (2.33 Ma), and its latest reported occurrence may be Olorgesailie (1.0 Ma) and perhaps the Daka (Ethiopia) 1 Ma horizons. Schulz and Kaiser have studied a small sample of Olduvai E. oldowayensis and found that they are at the most abrasion-dominated end of the grazing spectrum.

Churcher (1970), Broom’s (1928) figuring of the teeth was inaccurate. Cooke (1950) illustrated the original. Wells (1959) discarded the nomen E. capensis as being indeterminate and a nomen nudum. Churcher (1970) believed that E. helmei, E. cawoodi, E. kubmi, E. zietsmani, and specimens of E. harrisi and E. plicatus were all referable to Equus capensis. Churcher and Richardson’s (1978:495–496) synonymy was even more extensive. Widely distributed in South African sites dating from the Plio-Pleistocene, E. capensis became extinct during the terminal Pleistocene, along with other members of the megafauna (Klein, 1974). The complex synonymy of this taxon was reviewed in Churcher and Richardson (1978). They concluded that E. oldowayensis and E. capensis are similar to one another, implying that they may be conspecific. This would give E. capensis priority over E. oldowayensis. While E. capensis and E. oldowayensis are very similar in several respects, indicating that they are closely related, we have chosen to retain them as separate taxa for the present. Based on mesowear analysis of the middle Pleistocene Elandsfontein (South Africa) sample, Kaiser and Franz-Odendaal (2004) interpreted E. capensis’s paleodiet to indicate a mixed feeding niche. This departure from penecontemporaneous E. oldowayensis paleodiet is attributed to the unique fynbos vegetation of the Cape Province, South Africa. EQUUS (DOLICHOHIPPUS) NUMIDICUS Pomel, 1897

Diagnosis After Churcher and Richardson (1978). A medium-sized horse about the size of a large zebra. The maxillary cheek teeth have a mesiodistally short protocone, especially distal to its junction with the protoloph; the plis

EQUUS CAPENSIS Broom, 1909

Diagnosis A large bodied horse estimated to be 150 cm at the withers and with a body mass of approximately 400 kg (Eisenmann, 2000) being similar in size to E. oldowayensis. Teeth are large and muzzle broader than found in E. oldowayensis. Cheek teeth generally with simple plication frequencies. The protocone is moderately long with a lingual depression. Remarks Churcher (1970) provided a useful review of the nomen E. capensis that we follow in part here. E. capensis was founded by Broom (1909: plates 18, 19, 22) based on a right mandible, embedded within a block of calcrete, containing p2–m3 (figure 35.18). It was recovered from Table Bay, Ysterfontein, Maitland, South Africa (Broom, 1909; Churcher, 1970). Broom’s (1909) original description did not include a photograph, but Churcher (1970) was able to locate the type specimen in the SAM collections. According to

FIGURE 35.18 Equus capensis right mandible embedded in calcrete.



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are small and simple and the pli caballin is absent; the hypoglyph is shallow, simple, and V shaped, and the styles are rounded, slightly set off at angles from the ectolophs, which are shallowly concave buccally. The cementum is not thick. Remarks Equus numidicus was erected by Pomel (1897) based on cheek teeth from Ain Boucherit. Eisenmann (1980) attributed three associated molars and 16 isolated teeth from Ain Boucherit and 10 upper cheek teeth from Ain Hanech to E. numidicus. There are no reported skulls or postcrania of this species, making its species-level status difficult to defend. Arambourg (1970) correlated Ain Boucherit with the Lower Villafranchian. Coppens (1971) correlated it with Members A–D of the Omo Shungura Formation, however, Eisenmann (1980) pointed out that Equus does not occur in the Omo until Member G. Sahnouni et al. (2002) estimate Ain Boucherit’s age as being younger than the Ahl al Oughlam paleontological site (ca. 2.5 Ma) and slightly older than Ain Hanech. Ain Boucherit can be correlated to between 2.4 and 2.0 Ma based on the presence of Equus. EQUUS TABETI Arambourg, 1970

Diagnosis After Eisenmann (1983). A moderate sized species of Equus with asinine upper cheek teeth, stenonine lower cheek teeth, and slender MCIII and first phalanges III. Remarks Equus tabeti is based on material from Ain Hanech, Algeria (Arambourg, 1970). Churcher and Richardson (1978:408) attributed to these deposits a Pleistocene age and synonymised E. tabeti with E. (Hippotigris) burchelli. Geraads et al. (2004) estimated the age of Ain Hanech to be ca. 1.2 Ma. Equus tabeti is largely known from North Africa, although Eisenmann (1983) tentatively recorded its presence, as E. cf. tabeti, at Koobi Fora, Kenya. The Koobi Fora material includes a modest sample of cranial, dental and postcranial material. The most remarkable specimens are a fragmentary skull of a young adult with the M3 (KNM-ER 1211), a fragmentary metacarpal III of a medium-sized form (E. cf. tabeti, KNM-ER 2069), a very small and exceedingly slender metacarpal III (KNM-ER 2067), which Eisenmann (1983) reports to be unlike any Equus that she has ever seen and likely pathological. Upper cheek teeth are reported to be ass-like in their protoconal index, while lower cheek teeth are typically stenonine. Furthermore, the size of cheek teeth are quite similar to northern African E. tabeti: in the type material, the P2–P4 ranges from 82 to 95 mm in length, while it is 91 mm in KNM-ER 1211; the molar length of E. tabeti ranges from 70 to 81 mm in length, while being 78 mm in KNM-ER 1211 and 73 mm in KNM-ER 325. Also, a single known m3 has a deep ectoflexid, like E. tabeti, and unlike modern asses (Eisenmann, 1983). The proportions of the partial metacarpal III (KNM-ER 2069) as well as the first phalanges III, KNM-ER 2069, are similar to Equus tabeti. Eisenmann (1983) believes that the Koobi Fora E. cf. tabeti is a primitive ass and may be derived from E. numidicus, but it has more gracile metapodials and phalanges. Ecomorphological analyses of postcranial elements have concluded that E. tabeti most likely lived in arid environments like modern hemionines (Eisenmann and Karchoud, 1982). EQUUS MELKIENSIS Bagtache, Hadjouis and Eisenmann, 1984

Diagnosis After Bagtache et al. (1984). An Equus of probably Asinus affinities measuring 1.35–1.40 m. at the withers. 712


FIGURE 35.19 Equus algericus type IPH 61-803 right

lower m2.

Metapodials are of moderate robusticity with elevated proximal craniocaudal dimensions. Remarks The species E. melkiensis was nominated by Bagtache et al. (1984) based on a metacarpal III recovered from Allobroges, Algeria, dating to the Aterian (sub-latest Pleistocene). It was reported to co-occur with the caballine horse, E. algericus (discussed later). The type specimen is a metacarpal III, I.P.H. Allo. 61-1314, measuring 211 mm in length. Bagtache et al. (1984) nominated two paratypes: a left m2, I.P.H. Allo. 61-1969 and a left metatarsal III, I.P.H. Allo. 61-1834. The left m2 is cited by Bagtache et al. (1984) as being typical “stenonine” Equus with the following characters (reconstructed from their figure 2): a somewhat elongate-rounded metaconid and rounded-square metastylid, V-shaped linguaflexid, short preflexid with a strong mesiolingual pli; postflexid small and labiolingually constricted, shallow ectoflexid not invading between pre- and postflexid. The reconstructed height and metapodial proportions suggest asinine affinities to Bagtache et al. (1984). E. melkiensis is also reported from Morocco (Eisenmann, 1995). EQUUS ALGERICUS Bagtache, Hadjouis and Eisenmann, 1984 Figure 35.19

Diagnosis After Bagtache et al. (1984). A caballine species of Equus with a height at the whithers of about 1.44 m. Metapodials are stockily built (trapus). Remarks The type specimen of E. algericus is reported to be a lower second molar, (IPH 61-803), from Allobroges, Algeria (Bagtache et al. 1984: figure 1). As figured, the type specimen would appear to be of a left, not a right cheek tooth. Not enough information is given to verify that it is in fact an m2 rather than a p3, p4, or m1, although its size and occlusal morphology could be that of a premolar rather than a molar. The type specimen has a rounded metaconid connected by a long isthmus to the squared metastylid, giving the linguaflexid a shallow and wide character (figure 35.19). The preflexid is very long, with a distinct, mesiolabial pli directed labially. The postflexid is shorter than the preflexid. There is a small pli caballinid. There are a dozen metapodials, complete and fragmentary, from the type assemblage. The complete metacarpals III have a length of about 225 mm, while the metatarsals III are about 271 mm in length, being more lightly built than zebras and Equus mauritanicus. The metacarpals III are reported to resemble those of E. caballus cf. gallicus from Jaurens and Solutré, France (late Pleistocene). E. algericus is also reported from Morocco (Aouraghe and Debenath, 1999). E. algericus has several caballine features including an asymmetrical double knot (⫽ metaconid-metastylid), but not in the type specimen.

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Metapodials are stockily built (robust), and Bagtache et al. (1984) reconstructed this species height at the withers as being 144 cm. We question the utility of using a single lower cheek tooth as a type specimen because of the degree to which they can vary ontogenetically, both in size and morphology. EXTANT SPECIES OF EQUUS

EQUUS (DOLICHOHIPPUS) GREVYI (Oustalet, 1882)

Diagnosis Modified after Williams (in press). The largest living nondomestic equid. Its withers height is 140–160 cm. Weight in males 353–431 kg (mean 386 kg). It is large headed and long legged, with extremely large ears with rounded tips. The skull is very elongate, exceeding the cervical spine in length (Groves, 2002). Other cranial characters are a raised regio-occipitalis, a deep postorbital constriction, long vomer and muzzle, and a rounded nasal end of the premaxilla, which is wedged between the nasals (Williams, in press). Protostylids are often well developed on p2 (Eisenmann, 1976). The narrow muzzle (Eisenmann, 1980) is grey to tan with a white margin before fine black and white stripes. Sexual dimorphism is slight, with males being 10% heavier than females (King, 1965). Males and females are easily distinguished by the female’s black labia. Males have large upper and lower canines, which are absent in females. The mane stands tall and erect on the nape of the neck and is striped black and white continuously with the body. The neck is broad with thickest stripes on the body. The narrow, closely set stripes cover most of the head and body. Flank stripes are fine and vertical, tapering out at a level above the elbow, leaving the underside unstriped. The white belly coloration extends partway up the sides. A wide black hairline passes down the spine and continues onto the tail. The tail ends in a tuft of hair. There is a narrow white zone on either side of this broad black dorsal stripe. Stripes on the hindquarters curl down from the dorsal stripe and taper out leaving the buttocks white. Fine horizontal striping extends down the legs to the hooves and merges at the fetlock. Those stripes on the hindquarters remain vertical until above the hind legs (rather than being primarily horizontal as in other zebra species). In foals, stripes are brown and later turn black, starting with neck and ears, followed by head and limbs, and finally ending with flanks. The dorsal stripe remains brown-black and fluffy for up to 2 years. Remarks Forsten (1992) believed that the early stenonine Equus, which first occurred in the Old World 2.6 Ma (Lindsay et al., 1981), may have been ancestral to Equus grevyi. Churcher (1981) referred Equus material of the Member L of the Omo Shungura Formation to E. oldowayensis, which Eisenmann (1985) later described as the earliest E. grevyi. E. grevyi is currently distributed in the arid regions of Ethiopia, northern Kenya, and has recently vanished from Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea. Churcher and Richardson (1978) referred E. numidicus, E. oldowayensis and E. capensis to the subgenus Dolichohippus. They further recognized E. (D.) grevyi as occurring in the early Pleistocene to Recent of Ethiopia and Kenya (1.8 Ma–Recent). Like Churcher and Richardson (1978), Eisenmann (1983) recognized E. numidicus and E. oldowayensis. Furthermore, Eisenmann (1983) recognized E. cf. grevyi from the Metridiochoerus compactus zone, the Guomde Formation and the Galana Boi beds of Kenya, based both on cheek tooth dentitions and postcranial remains.

Marean and Gifford-Gonzalez (1991) argue that E. grevyi formerly ranged as far south as Tanzania (Lake Manyara) during late Pleistocene times and also occurs in Neolithic levels at Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt (Churcher 1986). Kingdon (1997) has reported ancestral or proto-Grevy’s Zebra forms, extended from central Asia to southern Africa. Historically, E. grevyi ranged west of the Rift Valley in Kenya (Stigand, 1913; Stewart and Stewart, 1963) to western Somalia, and from the Danakil desert in Eritrea, through the Awash Valley and Ethiopian Rift Valley, the Ogaden, and northeast of Lake Turkana in Ethiopia to north of Mt. Kenya (Williams, in press). EQUUS (QUAGGA) QUAGGA (Boddaert, 1785)

Diagnosis Modified after Klingel (in press). The shoulder height of an adult male plains zebra (E. quagga) is 123–133 cm (mean 128 cm) and 115–126 in females (mean 123 cm). Weight 220–284 kg in the male (mean 248 kg) and 175–241 kg in the female (mean 219 kg). Forehead distinctly convex, zygomatic arches relatively robust. Ear bullae are comparatively small in size; paroccipital processes are well developed. Postorbital constriction is relatively pronounced. The mandible is massive, and the premaxillae curve downward below the level of the alveolar line of the cheek teeth (Grubb, 1981; Groves, 2002). After some initial wear, upper incisors have infundibula that change their shape with wear. In advanced wear, infundibula disappear. In the lower incisors, infundibula are absent or reduced to a simple circular shape in most northern populations, but more usually present in the south. Molars are hypsodont. The tooth eruption sequence is similar to the horse. The first molar is the first permanent cheek tooth to erupt, while the third incisor is the last. Forelock and mane are thin to absent in the northern-most populations, and well developed in the southern populations. When present, the mane may vary widely from thick and long to short and thin. The stripes of plains zebra are rather broad, especially towards its rump. However, plains zebras vary in color and pattering across their range. Stripe patterns are distinct in the northern subspecies, but less prominent in the south. Shadowing on the flank and rump between the dark and white stripes is thin or even absent in the north and wider in the southern populations. The ground color varies from white (north) to buff (south). The basic pattern characteristics, stripe width, complexity, branching, stripe length, is individually unique and inherited. Northern populations have legs striped to the hooves, southern populations usually do not. Rump stripes do not meet the dorsal midline, while in the northern populations, and often also in the southern populations, the stripes extend to the ventral midline. Body stripes are broader than in Grevy’s zebra and the montain zebra, although less so in Cape mountain zebra E. zebra zebra than in Hartmann’s mountain zebra E. zebra hartmannae. The stripe patterns vary with subspecies and geographic location. The neck is relatively short and legs are robust. Ears are pointed, the muzzle is relatively blunt and cropped. The plains zebra has one pair of mammae. There is little sexual dimorphism, although males are usually about 10% larger than females, but there is no colour variation between the sexes. Males also have large canines, whereas in mares the canines are lacking or vestigial. Patterns from various subspecies and populations are published in Cabrera (1936), Antonius (1951), Rau (1974, 1978), and Kingdon (1979, 1997). Remarks E. quagga is one of the most widely distributed African ungulates, ranging from southern Sudan and southern THIRT Y-FIVE: EQUIDAE


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Ethiopia to northern Namibia and northern South Africa. Geographic variation is pronounced and includes several morphotypes, often recognized as subspecies: E. q. crawshaii, E. q. borensis, E. q. boehmi, E. q. chapmanni, E. q. burchelli, and E. q. quagga. From the latest Pliocene and early Pleistocene to the Holocene the species extended over almost the whole African continent. Fossil remains are reported from northern Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Libya) to the Cape of South Africa (Churcher, 1970; Churcher and Richardson, 1978). Opinions as to whether the quagga represents part of a cline with Burchell’s zebra remain divided. Groves and Ryder (2000), Groves and Bell (2004), and Rau (1978) place them in a single taxon that gives the nomen E. quagga priority. Leonard et al. (2005) suggest that these taxa differentiated between 120,000 and 290,000 years ago. Fossil E. cf. burchelli was described by Mendrez (1966) from the Sterkfontein Extension site. Fossil remains of quagga have been reported by Cooke (1941) from the Wonderwerk Cave. The eruption sequence and dental wear patterns have been used for aging (Erz, 1964; Klingel and Klingel, 1966; Smuts 1972, 1974). Wild extant Equus is highly adaptable to locally available plant foods (Berger, 1986). Smuts (1972, 1975) mentions over 65 species of plants ingested by the Burchell’s zebra, among which are 50 species of grass as well as 9 taxa of trees and bushes. The choice of grass species broadly reflects what is available, but zebras do show some selectivity. Of seven major grass species, one, Panicum maximum, contributed 40% of the intake, and the same preferences were shown all through the year (Ben-Shahar, 1991). Other favored grass species in studies include Themeda triandra, Cynodon dactylon, and Eragrostis superba (Grubb, 1981). In extremely dry periods they also take browse and even rhizomes (Pienaar, 1963; Gwynne and Bell, 1968). The variety of food items ingested by Equus quagga under given habitat conditions indicates that these horses are not to be regarded as specialized grazers, but grass may be the only source of food during some seasons. Based on tooth wear equilibria, Kaiser and Schulz (2006) have demonstrated that the diets of plains zebras vary in abrasiveness and reflect the water availability in a given habitat. In dry habitats the zebra’s diet has been shown to be more abrasive than in moister habitats. They further suggest that E. quagga may be a suitable indicator for subtle differences in habitat and climate. Equus mauritanicus occurs in the middle and later Pleistocene of northern Africa (Maghreb region). Churcher and Richardson (1978) referred the material to E. burchelli mauritanicus of the subgenus Hippotigris, thus recognizing it as a member of the mountain zebra, quagga, and Burchell’s zebra clade. Eisenmann (1980, 1983) recognized E. mauritanicus as a distinct species, claiming similarities to the more primitive E. stenonis in the dentition, and at the same time a close resemblance to E. burchellii. Armour-Chelu (pers. obs.) has studied the E. mauritanicus material in Paris and concurs with Eisenmann that this material is best recognized as a species other than E. burchellii. We recognize E. mauritanicus as a species needing further study, analysis, comparison, and formal diagnosis Eisenmann (1983) also introduced the notion of cross breeding between E. mauritanicus and quaggas. Churcher and Richardson (1978) reported an extensive series of late Pliocene to Recent occurrences of E. (“H.”) burchelli from Morocco, Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Republic of South Africa. We follow Eisemann’s stance that E. mauritanicus is a potentially valid species based on observations by ArmourChelu, but a great deal of descriptive work is still necessary.

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Eisenmann (1983) recognized Equus cf. burchelli from a sample of upper and lower cheek teeth, anterior and posterior first phalanges from the Metridiochoerus compactus zone of Koobi Fora, Kenya. EQUUS (HIPPOTIGRIS) ZEBRA Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis Modified after Penzhorn (in press). Mediumsized, long-legged zebra. The smallest living zebra. The shoulder height of an adult male Cape Mountain Zebra is 127 cm and is 116–129 cm females (mean 124 cm). Weight ca 250– 260 kg in males and 204–257 kg in females (mean 234 kg). Joubert (1971) noted that Hartmann’s mountain Zebra males (mean⫽298 kg) are heavier than females (mean ⫽ 276 kg). The mountain Zebra is a stocky equid with a relatively short head, which is also striped. Skull dimensions of E. zebra hartmannae are greater than those found in E. zebra zebra (Lundholm, 1952). According to Penzhorn (in press), the mountain zebra, as does the Grevy’s zebra, has the regio-occipitalis placed high and the postorbital constriction is pronounced. The orbit is placed slightly behind the posterior border of the third molar, and the dorsoventral diameter of the orbit is greater than in the plains zebra (E. quagga). The maxillary tuberosity does not extend as far back as in plains zebra, so that the pterygopalatine fossa is visible from below; the external auditory meatus is large (3% of the basal length of the skull) and directed horizontally (instead of upward or backward); the nasofrontal suture is almost straight, and the temporal lines diverge more rapidly rostrally than in plains zebra, and at a wider angle (Smuts and Penzhorn, 1988; Groves 2002). Canine teeth are prominent in adult males, while those of the females are rudimentary and normally do not cut through the gums (Joubert, 1971). Remarks Two subspecies, E. z. hartmannae (Hartmann’s mountain zebra) and E. z. zebra (Cape mountain zebra) are recognized, although Groves and Ryder (2000) consider them to be distinct at the species rank: E. hartmannae and E. zebra. Recent studies on 15 microsatellite loci and 445 base pairs of the mitochondrial control sequences of E. zebra (Moodley and Harley 2005; Moodley et al. 2006) support the classification in two subspecies. Lundholm (1952) described a fossil subspecies, E. z. greatheadi, from Vanwyksfontein, close to the Orange River. Today, natural populations of the Cape mountain zebra occur on the Bankberg, Gamka Mountain Reserve, and the Kamanassie Mountains. Historically, mountain zebras occurred from the southern parts of South Africa through Namibia and into extreme southwestern Angola. In the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa, they were widely distributed along mountain ranges forming the southern and western edge of the central plateau. Hartmann’s mountain zebras occur in the mountainous zone between the Namib Desert and the central plateau of Namibia. The subspecies is structured into four distinct populations (Penzhorn, in press). In studies of cranial morphology, sexual dimorphism was evident in E. z. zebra, where males are smaller than females, while sexes are the same size in E. z. hartmannae (Groves and Bell 2004); however, no sexual dimorphism was found in E. z. zebra skulls by Smuts and Penzhorn (1988). Age determination, primarily based on incisor wear, has been discussed by Joubert (1972), Penzhorn (1982, 1987), and Penzhorn and Grimbeek (1987). The muzzle is tan to dark gray between the nostrils and black at the tip. The mane is stiff, upright on the nape and

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is striped continuously with the neck. They also have a tufted tail with a flowing tassel of white and black hair. The rear spine and upper tail are marked with a gridiron pattern. The long rounded ears are white tipped with black patches. The most diagnostic feature of the mountain zebras is the dewlap, a square flap of skin on this zebra’s throat, most developed in males. Stripes are black to deep chocolate brown on a white to buff background. The stripes on the head are narrowest, followed by those on the neck and body. Stripes on lower part of the face are suffused chestnut to orange colored. The mountain zebra is distinguishable from other zebra species by the thin and relatively closely spaced vertical black stripes on its neck and rump, which form a gridiron pattern on the rump and are narrower and more numerous than those of the plains zebra. The horizontal to oblique stripes on the hindquarters are clearly much broader. Also distinctive are the wide, horizontal bands on its haunches, which are broader than both those of Grevy’s zebra and the plains zebra. Unlike the plains zebra, the mountain zebra lacks shadow stripes, and the stripes do not meet under the creamy to white belly, which sometimes is interrupted by the first few stripes behind the forelegs that may extend the length of the belly. The black stripes of Hartmann’s mountain zebra are thin with much wider white interspaces, while this is the opposite in Cape mountain zebra (Penzhorn, in press). The distinct striping on the legs may encircle the entire limb to the hooves. Churcher and Richardson (1978) report a relatively small sample of ?middle Pleistocene to Recent fossil remains of E. zebra from South Africa. EQUUS (ASINUS) AFRICANUS (Heuglin and Fitzinger, 1866)

Diagnosis After Churcher and Richardson (1978). Equines of small size and stocky build. Maxillary molars square. Ectoloph of relatively “low relief,” with styles lower and valleys shallower than in the subgenera Equus and Hippotigris. Ectoloph valleys flat or slightly convex laterally; parastyle and mesostyle squared and tilted mesially. Pli caballins typically lacking or reduced. Cheek tooth pre- and postfossettes small with simple plis. Protocone with mesial arm comprising approximately 40% of the length. Lower molars with a pli caballinid. Ectoflexid shallow except in earliest wear; ptychostylid small. Metaflexid with sharp buccal angle. Metaconid elongate, lingually flattened, directed mesiolingually; metastylid rounded, directed distolingually; entoconid rounded and constricted at base; hypoconulid and hypostylid prominent. Linguaflexid open and V shaped. Remarks Churcher and Richardson (1978) synonymized E. africanus and Equus hydruntinus within the nomen Equus (Asinus) asinus. Churcher (1982) reported the earliest occurrence of this taxon from the middle of Bed II, Olduvai Gorge (>1.2 Ma). This identification was based on a single metatarsal III, which was short (231 mm) and slender, although not to the extent of E. tabeti. Following the classification of Groves (1986), Denzau and Denzau (1999), and Groves and Smeenk (2007), two subspecies are accepted: E. (A.) africanus africanus von Heuglin and Fitzinger, 1866 (Nubian wild ass) and E. (A.) africanus somaliensis Noak, 1884 (Somali wild ass). In historical times the Nubian wild ass was distributed in eastern Sudan and northern Eritrea, while the known range of the Somali wild ass was

southern Eritrea, northeastern Ethiopia, Djibouti and northern Somalia (Yalden et al., 1986; Denzau and Denzau, 1999; Moehlman, 2002; Groves and Smeenk, 2007). According to Groves (1974), E. africanus has the highest and narrowest hooves compared with all extant species of Equus indicating an evolutionary adaptation to rocky habitats (Klingel, 1970, 1971). The subspecies E. a. somalicus has a whithers height of about 1.25 m while E. a. africanus is smaller, having a whithers height of about 1.15 m (Clark, 1985). E. a. somalicus is characterized by the following: a rosy gray coat; white belly, legs, and muzzle; well-defined black leg stripes; and a faint, or completely absent shoulder stripe. The second subspecies E. a. africanus is rose-gray, too, but a bit lighter colored. Belly and muzzle are also white, but no stripes are observed on the legs, while the shoulder stripe is well defined. The African wild ass E. africanus is widely accepted as the ancestor of the domestic donkey E. asinus Linnaeus, 1758. The colors and markings of the wild form can be found in domestic donkeys too (Clark, 1985; Denzau and Denzau, 1999). In general, E. africanus is much larger than the domestic conspecific E. asinus. A huge variability in the domestic breeds is also observed (Poitou asses and Spanish giants often measure 1.5 m at the withers)(Clark, 1985). REMARKS ON THE TA XONOMY OF EQUUS

The taxonomy and systematics of the extant Equidae is currently being intensively debated. Key equid systematics publications include: Groves and Mazak (1967), Groves and Willoughby (1981), Kingdon (1979), Eisenmann (1997), Groves (2002), and Groves and Bell (2004). There is considerable debate about the number of genera, subgenera, and species of zebra that should be recognized. Markers and methodology used range from morphological and ethological approaches (Groves, 1986 et seq.) to molecular genetics. Molecular studies have increasingly flourished since the 1980s (re: Higuchi et al., 1984). Table 35.1 follows Groves (2002), which we accept as a basic template, on which we develop further discussion, with some differences of opinion given later here (cf. tables 35.2 and 35.3). Classification Based on Morphology The first inventories of extant Equus, and consideration of the taxonomic position of fossil Equus occurred around the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries (Gray, 1825; Gidley, 1901; Allen, 1909; Lydekker, 1916). Our predecessors, Churcher and Richardson (1978), provided a monumental documentation of African Neogene equid systematics. Their insights on the taxonomy of African Equus are still extensively cited. Churcher and Richardson (1978) recognize three subgenera of Equus: E. (Dolichohippus), E. (Asinus), and E. (Hippotigris). They did not consider Eurasian or American Equus in their classification. Within the subgenus Hippotigris, Churcher and Richardson (1978) recognized three species of zebra: E. (H.) burchellii, E. (H.) quagga, and E. (H.) zebra. Equus grevyi is placed in the subgenus E. (Dolichohippus). Bennett (1980) undertook a cladistic analysis on 96 skulls und 57 postcranial skeletons of members of Pliocene to Recent Equus. She recognized only two subgenera of Equus: E. (Equus) and E. (Asinus). With reference to Willoughby (1974), Azzaroli (1979), and Groves and Willoughby (1981), Eisenmann (1986) recognized the three subgenera of Equus: E. (Equus), E. (Hemionus), and E. (Asinus). Eisenmann (1986) agreed that the formerly proposed zebra subgenera E. ( Hippotigris), E. (Quagga), and E. (Dolichohippus) deserved further study. Craniological studies by Eisenmann and Turlot



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ta b l e 35 . 2 Extant African Equus species recognized in key literature

Groves and Mazak, 1967

x (A)

x (Hi)

Rau, 1978, 1986

x (Hi)

x (Hi)

E. zebra hartmannae Matschie, 1898

E. zebra zebra Linnaeus, 1758

E. zebra Linnaeus, 1758

E. quagga burchellii Gray, 1824

E. quagga quagga Boddaert, 1785

E. quagga Boddaert, 1785

E. grevyi Oustalet, 1882

E. africanus f. asinus Linnaeus, 1758

E. africanus somaliensis Noack, 1884

E. africanus africanus Heuglin and Fitzinger, 1866

Reference

E. africanus Heuglin and Fitzinger, 1866

Acronyms in brackets refer to subgenera as discussed in key literature: A, Asinus; D, Dolichohippus; E, Equus; Hi, Hippotigris; Q, Quagga.

x (Hi)

x (Q)

Churcher and Richardson, 1978

x

Bennett, 1980

x

x (Hi) x (E)

x (Q)

x (E)

Groves and Willoughby, 1981

x (E) x (Hi)

Higuchi et al. 1984

x (Q)

Loewenstein and Ryder, 1985

x

George and Ryder, 1986

x

x

x x

x

x

x x

x

Eisenmann, 1986 Yalden et al., 1986

x (D)

Churcher, 1993

x (D)

Ishida et al., 1995

x

Oakenfull and Clegg, 1998

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x (Hi)

x

x

x

x

Oakenfull and Ryder, 1998 Eisenmann and Mashkour, 1999 Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1999

x (Q)

Groves and Ryder, 2000 Oakenfull et al., 2000 Groves, 2002

x x

x

x

x (Q)

Hack et al., 2002

x (Q)

x (Q)

x (Hi)

x (Hi)

x (Q)

x (Q)

Burke et al., 2003 Groves and Bell, 2004 Leonard et al., 2005 Orlando et al., 2006

x (D)

x (Q) x (Q)

x (Q) x

SOU RCE S :

Original authors as follows: E. africanus (Heuglin and Fitzinger, 1866), E. africanus africanus (Heuglin and Fitzinger, 1866), E. africanus somaliensis (Noack, 1884), E. africanus f. asinus (Linnaeus, 1758), E. grevyi (Oustalet, 1882), E. quagga (Boddaert, 1785), E. quagga quagga (Boddaert, 1785), E. quagga burchellii (Gray, 1824), E. zebra (Linnaeus, 1758), E. zebra zebra (Linnaeus, 1758), and E. zebra hartmannae (Matschie, 1898).

(1978), Eisenmann (1979), and Skinner (1996), as well as work based on skins only (Rau, 1974) support the hypothesis that the quagga (E. quagga quagga) and the plains zebra (E. quagga burchellii) are closely related, but clearly distinct from the mountain zebra (E. zebra zebra). Based on multivariate analysis of 340 Equus skulls, Klein and Cruz-Uribe (1999) challenged these studies and underscored the possibility that the quagga and the plains zebra have to be distinguished at the species level. But Eisenmann and Brink (2000) argue that Klein and Cruz-Uribe (1999) used only a subset of variables instead of the entire set of cranial variables given in the measurement convention by Eisenmann (1980, 1986). Therefore, Eisenmann and Brink (2000) emphasized that the choice of variables was critical to the distinction of equid skulls and agreed with Klein and Cruz-Uribe (1999) that genetic studies were needed to clarify this issue. Groves and Bell (2004) revised the taxonomy of the zebras and considered E. q. quagga to grade as a morphocline into E. q. burchellii.

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Groves (2002) Equus taxonomy (table 35.1) is based on extended morphological studies, ethology, and reproductive biology that attempt to bridge to recent molecular results. There are broad areas of agreement between Eisenmann (1986) and Groves (2002). In all of his studies, Groves and his coauthors have embraced the “phylogenetic species concept” of Cracraft (1983), which basically asserts that if a population can be shown to have distinct morphological characters and geographic separation, it should be recognized as a distinct operational taxonomic unit (OTU). If we accept that African zebras are a monophyletic group, then following Groves (2002), there would have to be a taxonomic rank between the genus Equus and the recognized subgenera E. (Equus), E. (Hippotigris), and E. (Quagga) to taxonomically unite zebras. Groves (2002) differs from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN, 2006) somewhat and reflects both previous and subsequent data and conclusions given by Groves and Ryder (2000), Groves (2002), and Groves and Bell (2004).

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ta b l e 35 .3 Extant Eurasian Equus species recognized in key literature

Groves and Mazak, 1967

x

x

x (A)

x (A)

E. khur Lesson, 1827

E. kiang Lydekker, 1916

E. hemionus onager Boddaert, 1785

E. hemionus kulan Groves and Mazak, 1967

E. hemionus Pallas, 1775

E. ferus przewalskii Poliakov, 1881

E. ferus f. caballus Linnaeus, 1758

Reference

E. ferus Boddaert, 1785

Acronyms in brackets refer to subgenera as discussed in key literature: A, Asinus; He, Hemionus.

x (A)

Rau, 1978, 1986 Churcher and Richardson, 1978 Bennett, 1980

x

x (A)

x (A)

x (A)

Groves and Willoughby, 1981 Higuchi et al., 1984 Loewenstein and Ryder, 1985

x

x

x

x

George and Ryder, 1986

x

x

x

x

Eisenmann, 1986

x

x

x

x

Ishida et al., 1995

x

x

Oakenfull and Clegg, 1998

x

x (He)

x (He)

Yalden et al., 1986 Churcher, 1993

Oakenfull and Ryder, 1998

x

x

x

Eisenmann and Mashkour, 1999

x

Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1999

x

Groves and Ryder, 2000 Oakenfull et al., 2000

x

x

Groves, 2002

x x (He)

x

x

x

x (He)

x (He)

x (He)

Hack et al., 2002 Burke et al., 2003

x

Groves and Bell, 2004 Leonard et al., 2005 Orlando et al., 2006

x

x

SOURCE S :

Original authors as follows: E. ferus (Boddaert, 1785), E. ferus f. caballus (Linnaeus, 1758), E. ferus przewalskii (Poliakov, 1881), E. hemionus (Pallas, 1775), E. hemionus kulan (Groves and Mazak, 1967), E. hemionus onager (Boddaert, 1785), E. kiang (Lydekker, 1916), and E. khur (Lesson, 1827).

Classification Using Genetic and Immunological Markers George and Ryder (1986) analyzed mitochondrial DNA restriction-endonuclease maps of E. africanus, E. burchellii, E. grevyi, E. hemionus, and E. zebra suggesting that there are at least three major clades in modern Equus: the zebras, the wild asses, and the true horses. Ishida et al. (1995) investigated the mitochondrial DNA sequence of the control region and support the interpretation by George and Ryder (1986), though they consider E. zebra as the outgroup of all other zebras. Oakenfull and Clegg (1998), the first investigators to study the DNA sequences of a globular protein gene (α and θ globin), also found a marked divergence between the zebras, wild asses, and the true horses. Furthermore, these data suggest that E. ferus przewalskii and E. ferus caballus diverged from all other species of Equus around 1.3 Ma. The relationship between zebras and asses, however, cannot be resolved based on the molecular data presently available. At the species level, the first genetic studies aimed at posing hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships of extant Equus were conducted by Higuchi et al. (1984). They analyzed 229 base

pairs of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to resolve the question of the origin of the quagga. According to their results, the cladogenetic event that separated the maternal lineages of the quagga and mountain zebra should have occurred between 3 and 4 Ma, based on the calibration of a molecular clock using the split of the primate and ungulate clades dated to 80 Ma. Higuchi et al.’s (1984) analysis therefore suffers from three limitations: from the calibration of the molecular clock, from the use of limited data that included the skin of only a single quagga (Museum Mainz, Germany, without number), and from the comparatively small number of 229 base pairs analyzed. Lowenstein and Ryder (1985) extended the sample size to three quaggas and employed radioimmunoassay techniques to study proteins from the skin. These were compared to serum proteins of three extant zebras (E. burchellii, E. zebra, E. grevyi), two Asian wild asses (E. hemionus onager and E. hemionus kulan) and two horses (E. ferus przewalskii and E. caballus). These immunological data have suggested that the quagga is best considered to be a subspecific variant of the plains zebra, E. burchellii. It is further problematic that neither Higuchi



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et al. (1984) nor Lowenstein and Ryder (1985) have provided precise geographic provenance and museum specimen ID’s of the quagga material they investigated, and that the remainder of their samples were zoo specimens. Recent, more extensive studies of quagga mtDNA (Leonard et al., 2005) confirm earlier morphology-based data (Rau, 1978; Groves, 2002; Groves and Bell, 2004), suggesting that the quagga and the plains zebra should be synonymized. Oakenfull and Ryder (1998), who conducted the first study of mtDNA (control region and 12S rRNA) markers in true horses (E. f. przewalskii), found no significant variation in the mtDNA lineages of Przewalski’s horse and domestic horse. However, they did not address the question of the ancestry of the two taxa. Forstén (1992) attempted to edify the origin of the wild asses by relating mtDNA data (George and Ryder, 1986) with paleontological data from various sources. She concluded that wild asses first occurred in the late Pleistocene of India, the Levant, and North Africa. Aranguren-Mendez et al. (2001) used 15 microsatellite loci to resolve the ancestry of Spanish domesticated donkey breeds, which previously were considered to derive from the African wild ass, Equus africanus. Subsequently, Aranguren-Mendez et al. (2004) analyzed 313 base pairs of the cytochrome b gene of 79 individuals and 383 base pairs of the control region of 91 individuals. ArangurenMendez et al. (2004) confirmed the existence of two divergent maternal lineages of African origin (E. asinus africanus and E. a. somaliensis). In conclusion, the ancestry of the African ass lineage still remains unresolved. The majority of the aforementioned studies were not intended as syntheses of molecular data with morphological, ethological, and biogeographic evidence. The first synthetic approach combining molecular (mtDNA) with morphological data, as well as biogeographic aspects, is by Oakenfull et al. (2000), who analyzed a large sample of several species (including the Asian kiang E. kiang). Until now, molecularbased research has neither included all recognized extant Equus species nor a sufficient number of wild-shot individuals and thus has contributed minimal insights into the phylogeny of Equus. Since most studies (Oakenfull and Ryder, 1998; Oakenfull et al., 2000; Orlando et al., 2006) investigated only one (mtDNA) genetic marker, the bias caused by introgression cannot be known. Further studies should acknowledge that Sakagami et al. (1999) regard mtDNA as being a less suitable single marker system for perissodactyl systematics because of an increased nucleotide substitution rate compared to other groups (Brown et al. 1979). Great potential can be seen in combined approaches using different molecular markers (Hillis et al., 2002).

Evolutionary Biogeography of African Equidae Figure 35.20 portrays the evolution of African Equidae graphically. The first occurring hipparionine in Africa was previously claimed to be of the genus Hippotherium, best and most certainly represented in the central European Vallesian and Turolian ages (Bernor et al., 1996, 1997). Woodburne (2007) undertook a major revision of North American Cormohipparion and concluded that there are no bona fide Cormohipparion in Eurasia. However, we follow Bernor and White (in press) in recognizing C. sinapensis at the early late Miocene locality of Sinap, Turkey, as well as a close relative from Bou Hanifia, North Africa, “C.” africanum. The skull morphologies of the Sinap and Bou Hanifia horses are not greatly divergent from

718


North American Cormohipparion, while the postcrania are primitive as in Cormohipparion, being distinctly different from the larger and more robustly built European lineage, Hippotherium. Rather than erect a new genus for this African hipparion, we prefer to refer it to “C.” africanum to distinguish it from European Hippotherium. The occurrence of this clade also in East Africa at Chorora (Ethiopia) and the Samburu Hills (Kenya) Ethiopia (Chorora) during the earliest part of the African equid record, 10.5 Ma, suggests that they were derived from the founding group of African Hipparionini. The retention of similar, albeit measurably derived, metapodial proportions in the Langebaanweg hipparionines suggests that this founding population may have been at the base of the African hipparionine radiation. We recognize chronologically early attributes of the Sivalhippus Complex (sensu Bernor and Hussain, 1985) in late Vallesian correlative (ca. 9 Ma) Samburu Hills hipparionines. Nakaya and Watabe (1990) have reported similarities of the Samburu hipparion to Bou Hanifia “Hipparion” africanum, and there are in fact distinct similarities in skull and postcranial morphology. However, there are important morphological features in the facial morphology, and a precocious increase in crown height (to about 70 mm) that suggest the Samburu Hills hipparion shares an affinity with the Siwalik clade referred to “S.” perimense. Bernor and Harris (2003) have previously argued that the latest Miocene Lothagam form Eurygnathohippus turkanense is likewise derived from “S.” perimense. The Samburu Hills hipparion however is relatively primitive in its postcranial features, having more elongate and slender metapodials, and it is therefore more comparable to “C.” africanum, than either “S.” perimense or Eu. turkanense. The Samburu Hills hipparion could prove to be a somewhat derived step in the ancestry of both “Sivalhippus” and Eurygnathohippus, having neither derived massive metapodials like “S.” perimense, S. theobaldi, and Eu. turkanense, nor apparent ectostylids like species of Eurygnathohippus. Its slender metapodials could prove to have proportions very similar to “C.” africanum and ancestral to Eu. hooijeri (Bernor and Kaiser, 2006) and Eu. feibeli (Bernor and Harris, 2003). As such, it could share phylogenetic relationships between African and Asian Hipparionini. The Baringo Basin has yielded a circa 9 Ma hipparionine with massive first phalanges III. Bernor et al. (2005), and we here show, that these are very similar in proportions to Siwalik and eastern African massive-limbed forms. Altogether, there are multiple lines of evidence that support a hypothesis of extended, perhaps ephemeral, biogeographic relationships between southern Asia and eastern Africa through much of the late Miocene among species belonging to the “Cormohipparion,” “Sivalhippus,” and Eurygnathohippus clades. Study of the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history of these hipparionines is currently being undertaken by Bernor and Wolf. The Hipparion s.s. and Cremohipparion lineages are evident from the latest Miocene locality of Sahabi and are not known to occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Both of these lineages are identified on the basis of postcrania only, and are compared with material from Turolian localities in Greece, Turkey, and Iran. Their limited chronologic and geographic relationships suggests a middle-late Turolian biogeographic extension from the eastern Mediterranean into northern Africa. The distinct divergence of African Hipparionini from Eurasian Hipparionini by the earliest Pliocene suggests a strong vicariant biogeographic pattern. Compared to the Eurasian

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Chronological and geographic distribution of Neogene and Quaternary African Equidae. The oldest African hipparions thus far known (“Cormohipparion”) is from the early late Miocene. The almost contemporaneous central European Hippotherium primigenium behaved as a browser at Höwenegg (Germany); data after Kaiser (2003). In the Turolian of Dorn-Dürkheim (Germany), H. aff. primigenium and H. kammerschmittea are mixed feeders and browsers, respectively, demonstrating the ecological variability of late Miocene European hipparions (data from Kaiser et al., 2003). Eu. hooijeri from Langebaanweg, South Africa (ca. 5.2 Ma), is a grazer classifying at the more attrition dominated end of the mesowear continuum (data from Franz-Odendaal et al. 2003). The early Pleistocene E. oldowayensis (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) also classifies at the attrition-dominated end of the grazer spectrum, while E. capensis from the middle Pleistocene of Elandsfontein (South Africa) was foraging a mixed diet (Kaiser and Franz-Odendaal, 2004). FIGURE 35.20

late Miocene and Pliocene (Bernor et al., 1996), the diversity of African Hipparionini is quite low. The Eu. feibeli/Eu. hasumense clade would appear to dominate in eastern Africa between 6 and 2.9 Ma (Bernor et al., 2005). This clade shares a number of characters, in particular postcranial proportions, with the early Pliocene Langebaanweg form, Eu. hooijeri. Middle Pliocene Eu. pomeli (Eisenmann and Geraads, 2007) shows affinities with the Kenyan and Ethiopian earlier Pliocene Hipparionini. At 2.5 Ma there appears to be a replacement of

earlier forms with a new group of Hipparionini, perhaps derived from southern African populations, that evolve very great crown heights, and at least in one lineage, E. cornelianus, a very broad gape with hypertrophied incisors. These Hipparionini no doubt became dedicated short-grass feeders from the later Pliocene until their extinction in the middle Pleistocene (Bernor and Armour-Chelu, 1999). The evolutionary biogeography of African Equus is engulfed in controversy. This problem is exacerbated by a lack of



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Hierarchical dendrogram based on a set of 30 comparative species taken from Fortelius and Solounias (2000). The closer the species are in their mesowear signature, the smaller is the normalized Euclidean distance (root mean-squared difference; NED) at the branching point. Cluster 1 contains those grazers (triangles) with the most abrasion-dominated diet, cluster 2 contains the grazers with less abrasive diet, cluster 3 four intermediate feeders (squares) and, cluster 4 the browsers (circles). Browsers (cluster 4): Alces alces, Diceros bicornis, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, Giraffa camelopardalis, Odocoileus hemionus, Okapia johnstoni, Odocoileus virginianus, and Rhinoceros sondaicus. Mixed feeders (cluster 3): Capricornis sumatraensis, Cervus elaphus canadensis, Gazella granti, Gazella thomsoni, Aepyceros melampus, Ovibos moschatus, Taurotragus oryx, and Tragelaphus scriptus. Grazers (clusters 1 and 2): Alcelaphus buselaphus, Bison bison, Ceratotherium simum, Connochaetes taurinus, Damaliscus lunatus, Equus africanus, Equus quagga, Equus grevyi, Equus zebra hartmanae, Equus zebra zebra, Hippotragus equinus, Hippotragus niger, Kobus ellipsiprymnus, and Redunca redunca. Feeding traits of extant taxa are according to the “conservative” (CONS) classification by Fortelius and Solounias (2000). Note that there is debate on the classification of Tragelaphus scriptus, which is classified a browser elsewhere (see Kaiser and Rössner, 2007).

FIGURE 35.21

congruence between osteological data, soft anatomical data, and molecular data. While there are substantial collections of fossil Equus from across the African continent, there is an absolute dearth of detailed morphological description, consistent analysis, and rigorous comparison. We have left unresolved whether many of the African fossil species such as E. mauritanicus and E. lylei are valid species or referable to extant zebra species. We have erred on the side of conservatism in these cases and followed Churcher and Richardson (1978) because there is simply too little information to support additional nomina. Equus is first securely recorded in Africa in Omo Shungura Formation Member G, 2.33 Ma (Geraads et al., 2004). Late Pliocene to early Pleistocene Equus, such as E. koobiforensis, shows affinities with European E. stenonis and undoubtedly reflects a proximate phylogenetic relationship. Likewise, E. koobiforensis shows morphological and size similarities to Chinese Nihowan age E. sanmeniensis and E. oldowayensis (Eisenmann, 1983).

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However, the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene record of Equus would appear to have a recorded species diversity, which, however, has yet to be documented sufficiently to recognize more than one species at any particular locality. Churcher and Richardson (1978) explicitly supported the notion that the Olduvai Equus was a dolichohippine and directly related to the E. grevyi lineage. In turn, Churcher (1981) and Hooijer and Churcher (1985) asserted that E. oldowayensis was the most widespread and abundant horse in Plio-Pleistocene deposits of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania and ranging in age from the Omo Shungura G member to Olorgesaile (2.33–1.0 Ma). Churcher and Richardson (1978) further believed that E. capensis was a broadly distributed southern African Equus that was closely related to E. oldowayensis. Also, Churcher and Richardson (1978) identified the large northern African Equus, E. numidicus as a member of the dolichohippines. Its correlation is best considered to be with Bed I Olduvai (Eisenmann, 1980). The earliest occurrences of asses may be documented by E. tabeti. While Churcher and Richardson (1978) synonymised E. tabeti with E. burchellii, Eisenmann (1983) made cogent arguments for its recognition as a primitive ass. She further reports E. tabeti in both northern and eastern Africa. Bagtache et al. (1984) reported a late Pleistocene ass, E. melkiensis, from Algeria, co-occurring with a caballine species, E. algericus. The fossil record would appear to support the occurrence of dolichohippine Equus prior to quaggas, mountain zebras, and asses. The molecular evidence is far from clear and needs more work. The ancestry of E. africanus is still unknown (Oakenfull and Ryder, 1998; Aranguren-Mendez et al., 2001). The study of microsatellites and mtDNA of Equus zebra by Moodley and Harley (2005) and Moodley et al. (2006) indicates that the divergence of the mountain zebra (E. zebra) and the plains zebra (E. quagga) is still unresolved because of an underestimation caused by constraints on allele size and mutation rate. E. przewalskii/E. caballus would appear to have diverged from all other species of Equus by 1.3 Ma (Ishida et al., 1995; Oakenfull and Clegg, 1998; Lowenstein and Ryder, 1985).

Diet and Rainfall All extant equids are widely recognized as being typical grazers (Nowak, 1991), but habitat conditions such as differences in mean annual precipitation, temperature, and evapotranspiration may affect food availability and thus shift the dietary signal as inferred from dental wear proxies (Kaiser and Schulz, 2006). Tooth wear in equids has been shown to be correlated with subtle habitat differences (Schulz et al., 2007). The mesowear method was applied to evaluate tooth wear in relation to climatic data. Four upper tooth positions (premolars 4, and molars 1, 2, and 3) were scored applying the mesowear method developed by Fortelius and Solounias (2000), first tested by Kaiser et al. (2000), and modified by extension to several upper and lower tooth positions by Kaiser and Solounias (2003) and Kaiser and Fortelius (2003). For each locality where extant Equus data were sampled, the mean annual precipitation was calculated using ArcView 3.1 software based on climate data from the IIASA database (International Institute for Applied System Analyses), a reliable source of precipitation data compiled by the United Nations (Leemans and Kramer, 1981). Mean weighted values for climate variables were calculated for each extant Equus species. Museum specimens comprising 501 individuals of extant African Equus that died between 1886 and 2000 were used in

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ta b l e 35 . 4 Frequencies of mesowear variables of P4 and M1–3 N, number of dental tooth specimens scored (number of individuals in brackets); %h, percent high relief parameters; % s, percent sharp cusps; % b, percent blunt cusps; MAP, mean annual precipitation in millimeters, weighted average for the distribution range of each species.

Species Equus africanus Equus grevyi Equus quagga Equus zebra hartmanae Equus zebra zebra

N 24(10) 205(54) 944(289) 387(117) 86(31)

%h

%s

%b

MAP

66.7 52.7 49.2 48.8 31.4

29.2 6.6 7.2 2.6 12.9

12.5 8.6 13.3 16.5 30.6

224.5 618.5 718.8 378 462.6

h, s, b / E. hemionus, E. quagga and E. grevyi, chi-square 41.030, p < 0.001 h, s, b/ E. africanus and E. zebra zebra, chi-square 7.179, p < 0.05 h, s, b / E. zebra and E. hemionus, chi-square 26.417, p < 0.001

this investigation. These specimens are housed at the following institutions: American Museum of Natural History, New York; National History Museum, London; Etosha Ecological Institute, Okaukuejo; Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris; Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin; National Museum of Namibia, Windhoek; Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main; Naturhistorisches Museum, Bern; Nico van Rooyen Taxidermy, Pretoria; Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.; Transvaal Museum, Pretoria; Zoologisches Museum, Hamburg; Zoologische Staatssammlung, Munich. The mesowear variable frequencies were calculated for each species, and cluster statistics were performed in order to test these equids versus a set of 25 extant ungulate species used as dietary references by Fortelius and Solounias (2000; see figure 35.21). The resulting cluster diagram ranks taxa relative to one another so that the closer the data sets plot to one another, the greater their similarity as measured by the normalized Euclidean distance (NED) at the branching point. Mesowear variable frequencies of species and mean annual precipitation in their range of distribution are listed per species in table 35.4. In three species, low occlusal reliefs prevail over high reliefs. Cusp shape scoring ranges from 3% sharp to 29% sharp, while blunt cusps never exceed 31%. Cluster analysis classified the 30 species including 5 equid taxa into four major clusters (figure 35.21): one containing those grazers with the most abrasion dominated diet (cluster 1), one containing the grazers with less abrasive diet (cluster 2), one containing all intermediate feeders (cluster 3), and one containing all the browsers (cluster 4). The equids are classified in clusters 1 and 2. E. zebra zebra is the only species in cluster 1, where it is closely linked to Damaliscus lunatus, a grazing African antelope. Cluster 2 contains three zebras, E. zebra hartmannae, E. quagga and E. grevyi, which classify close to the most abrasion dominated end of Cluster 2. All equid species are significantly different in their mesowear signatures (chi-square probabilities p < .05; table 35.4). With the exception of E. zebra zebra, an abrasion dominated signature is related to aridity (small MAP). The natural range of E. zebra zebra is not the driest environment in this comparison, however, the species has the most abrasion dominated feeding trait (Schulz, 2008). For E. quagga, a positive correlation is found between the humidity (mean annual precipitation ⫽ MAP) and dental mesowear variables, indicating a less abrasion-dominated feeding niche, as has been suggested by Kaiser and Schulz

(2006). This relationship also seems to apply to E. africanus, E. zebra hartmannae, and E. grevyi, and it supports the observation that equid feeding behaviour reflects environmental parameters. E. africanus, which is associated with the driest natural distribution range in Africa (224.5 mm rain fall per annum), shows the second most abrasion dominated feeding regime. The extreme abrasion dominated trait of the Cape mountain zebra (E. zebra zebra) is thus interpreted as a result of overhunting, habitat fragmentation and early conservation management, which forced this species into a restricted population at the end of the 19th century (Novellie et al., 2002). The Cape mountain zebra was subsequently reintroduced into environments with poorer-quality food resources that were more abrasive. In conclusion, feeding traits of extant equids indicate climate related environmental parameters such as humidity but also reflect habitat fragmentation and other effects of human management and competition for resources.

Conclusions The African later Neogene record includes two tribes of Equidae, Hipparionini, and Equini. Hipparionini, a tribe of tridactyl horses with an isolated protocone, are first recorded in northern and eastern Africa circa 10.5 Ma. The richest sample of these early hipparionines is from Bou Hanifia, Algeria and includes a taxon that we refer to “Cormohipparion” africanum. “C.” africanum is similar in cranial morphology to Central European Hippotherium primigenium and, for that matter, North American C. occidentale (Bernor et al., 2003), but is more primitive in its slender, elongate postcranial morphology. At the same time it is advanced in its maximum crown height. We believe that it was related to “C.” sinapensis, which in turn is a plausible descendant of North American Cormohipparion. The penecontemporaneous equid sample from Chorora Ethiopia, “Cormohipparion” sp. is meager in comparison, but similar in its dental stage of evolution. The slightly younger, ca. 9.0 Ma Samburu Hills hipparion “Sivalhippus” sp. could conceivably be derived from “C.” africanum, but it is derived in its facial morphology and maximum crown height, while retaining primitive proportions of the metapodials. Samburu Hills “Sivalhippus” sp., younger Sahabi “Sivalhippus” sp., and Lothagam Eurygnathohippus turkanense exhibit plausible evolutionary relationships to Siwalik (India) hipparionines. We review here and update the literature on the taxonomic tangle that best describes the literature enveloping



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FIGURE 35.22 Reference map of historic ranges of extant Equus species (after Moehlman, 2002; Heptner et al., 1966; Denzau and Denzau, 1999). See tables 35.2 and 35.3 for taxonomic citations.

Siwalik Hipparionini. We recognize “Cormohipparion” nagriense as a valid species related to the immigration of Cormohipparion into southern central Eurasia. “Cormohipparion” theobaldi is a very large hipparion with a dorsoventrally enormous, medially and posteriorly deep POF and relatively low cheek tooth crown height. Its uniquely large size and low crown height make it very similar to “H.” megadon, and we refer that taxon to “C.” megadon. We believe that “C.” theobaldi may be legitimately referred to the type S. theobaldi deciduous dentition; and if future study verifies this observation, we suggest the formal recognition of this genus, with the species S. theobaldi and perhaps S. megadon. The most prevalent of Siwalik hipparionines is “S.” perimense. This is a large hipparion with its POF reduced and placed dorsally high and far anteriorly on the face, an increased crown height, and massive metapodials. It would appear to be related to Eu. turkanense from the Lower Nawata, Lothagam Hill, differing from Eu. turkanense in its lack of ectostylids. However, Eu. turkanense shares remarkably similar metapodial and first phalangeal proportions with “S.” perimense and “S.” sp. from Ngorora and Sahabi. If S. theobaldi proves to be a valid genus-rank taxon, then “S.” perimense and “Sivalhippus” sp. need a new genus-level nomen. There is a modest evolutionary radiation of Eurygnathohippus species in Africa. Eu. hooijeri, a large, precociously hypsodont species is reported only from the early Pliocene of South Africa, ca. 5.2 ma. It would appear to be related to latest Miocene Eu. feibeli, a smaller form reported from Kenya and Ethiopia. In the northern portion of the East African Rift, there are two closely related species, Eu. hasumense (Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania) and Eu. africanum (Ethiopia only). Beginning at 2.5 Ma, the Eu. cornelianus lineage appears in Tanzania and Ethiopia, and presumably Kenya, and is characterized by moderate size, elongate, slender metapodials, hypertrophied I1s and I2s, atrophied I3s, and progressively higher-crowned cheek teeth with a climax of 90 mm crown height. It may prove to be

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appropriate to recognize Eu. “ethiopicus” in earlier, pre-Olduvai Bed II eastern African horizons. This depends largely on identifying mandibular symphyses with incisor and canine dentitions, and better records of maximum crown heights in 2.5–0.5 Ma eastern and southern African hipparionines. There may well have been more than one species of hipparionin living in this chronologic interval. The Eurasian genera Hipparion s.s. and Cremohipparion are only thus far reported from Sahabi Libya and date to about 7–6 Ma. These genera are prominent in eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asian faunas and no doubt made their geographic extension in the later portion of the late Miocene. Equus makes its first appearance in eastern Africa in Omo Shungura Formation Member G, 2.33 Ma. This age of occurrence is delayed relative to Eurasia, where it is 2.6 Ma (Lindsay et al., 1980). First occurring African Equus is apparently related to European E. stenonis and Chinese E. sanmeniensis. The eastern African species E. koobiforensis and E. oldowayensis are evidently closely related to Eurasian E. stenonis (⫽ “stenonine” horses) and in fact may be conspecific. E. capensis is a related South African species. A detailed morphologic comparison of E. stenonis, E. sanmeniensis, E. koobiforensis, and E. oldowayensis has not been undertaken, but it would appear to be necessary to resolve their relationships and perhaps eventually their taxonomic status. There are four northern African species of Equus which we retain herein: E. numidicus, E. tabeti, E. melkiensis, and E. algericus. E. numidicus is a large-sized (about the size of a large zebra) and is considered to be a close relative of E. grevyi. E. tabeti is a smaller (moderate-sized) Equus believed to be related to Equus (Asinus) and occurs in the Pleistocene of northern and eastern Africa. Eisenmann (1983) reported that it was adapted to warm, dry environments. E. melkiensis is a smaller late Pleistocene Equus with asinine characters that co-occurs with the caballine horse, E. algericus. Figure 35.22 plots the historic distribution of nondomesticated Eurasian Equus species.

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The first occurrence of zebra species E. grevyi, E. quagga, and E. zebra is widely debated. Churcher and Richardson prefer to recognize E. grevyi and E. quagga within the Pleistocene, whereas Eisenmann prefers to recognize the distinction of these and several other species that Churcher and Richardson synonymize into extant African zebra species. The molecular evidence would not seem to offer conclusive evidence to support one argument or the other. Sufficient fossil material exists to test these hypotheses with morphologic data and will provide insight for molecular based hypotheses. All African equids were adapted to eating grass. African Hipparionini would appear to have become progressively more dedicated to eating grass with the recorded increase of maximum crown height from 60 to 90 mm across the 10.5–1.0 Ma timeframe. Zebras also eat grass and are adapted to severe drought conditions in many circumstances. Recent work by Kaiser and Schulz here demonstrates that mesowear is an excellent predictor of environment and in particular rainfall. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank Bill Sanders and Lars Werdelin for inviting us to participate in this volume and their extraordinary patience in our need for more time than anticipated to complete this chapter. We thank Vera Eisenmann for many of the equid figures included herein. We thank Denis Geraads for the figure of Eurygnathohippus pomeli and Hideo Nakaya and Mahito Watabe for the figure of “Cormohipparion” aff. africanum. We also thank the National Science Foundation (grant number EAR-125009) for supporting the hipparion research (awards to R.L.B.) and the Revealing Hominid Origins Initiative (NSF grant BCS-0321893) to F. C. Howell and T. D. White for supporting R. L. Bernor, M. J. Armour-Chelu, H. Gilbert, and T. M. Kaiser, who are members of the Perissodactyl Research Group (R. L. Bernor, working group leader). T.M.K. and E.S. thank the American Museum of Natural History, New York; the British National History Museum, London; the Etosha Ecological Institute, Okaukuejo; the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris; the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin; the National Museum of Namibia, Windhoe; the Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main; the Naturhistorisches Museum, Bern; the Nico van Rooyen Taxidermy, Pretoria; the Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg; the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.; the Transvaal Museum, Pretoria; the Zoologisches Museum der Universität, Hamburg; and the Zoologische Sammlung, Munich, for access to the specimens investigated in this study. The work of T.M.K. and E.S. was partly supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (AZ: KA 1525-4-1/4-2 and KA 1525 6-1). T.M.K. further thanks T. Franz-Odendaal (currently Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) for providing access to specimens of Equus capensis and Eurygnathohippus hooijeri. We also wish to thank the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD) for a scholarship awarded to T. Franz-Odendaal.

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Willoughby, D. P. (ed.). 1974. The Empire of Equus. Barnes, Cranbury, N.J., 475 pp. Woodburne, M. O. 1996. Reappraisal of the Cormohipparion from the Valentine Formation, Nebraska. American Museum of Natural History Novitates 3163:1–56. . 2005. A new occurrence of Cormohipparion. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25:252–253. . 2007. Phyletic diversification of the Cormohipparion occidentale Complex (Mammalia; Perissodactyla, Equidae), late Miocene, North America, and the origin of the Old World Hippotherium Datum. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 306:1––138.

Woodburne, M. O., and R. L. Bernor. 1980. On superspecific groups of some Old World hipparionine horses. Journal of Paleontology 54:1319–1348. Yalden, D. W., M. J. Largen and D. Kock. 1986. Catalogue of the mammals of Ethiopia 6. Perissodactyla, Proboscidea, Hyracoidea, Lagomorpha, Tubulidentata, Sirenia and Cetacea. Monitore Zoologico Italiano, suppl. 21:31–103. Zeuner, F. E. 1963. A History of Domesticated Animals. Hutchinson, London, 560 pp. Zouhri, S., and A. Bensalmia. 2005. Révision systématique des Hipparion sensu lato (Perissodactyla, Equidae) de l’Ancien Monde. Estudios Geológicos 61:61–99.



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CHAP TER THIRT Y-SIX

Tragulidae DENIS GER A ADS

Present-day tragulids are small ruminants restricted to some humid environments of the Old World intertropical zone. They had a wider distribution in the past, with a good record in the European, East African, and southern Asian Miocene. There are five living species, only one of them, Hyemoschus aquaticus, being African. Moschiola, with at least three species, lives in Sri Lanka and India, and the two species of Tragulus, T. javanicus, and T. napu, in Southeast Asia (see Meijaard and Groves, 2004, for a revision of Tragulus, and Groves and Meijaard, 2005, for a revision of Moschiola). The question of their relationships has never been addressed in detail, but Moschiola is usually associated with Tragulus, M. meminna being often considered a species of the latter, mainly on the basis of metacarpal fusion. However, Moschiola shares with H. aquaticus a number of mostly primitive features, absent in Tragulus, which show that Moschiola is an early offshoot of the Asiatic branch. Besides the living genera, tragulids include Dorcabune and Siamotragulus from the Miocene of southern Asia, and the more widespread Dorcatherium, the only genus to have been reported from Africa. Archaeotragulus from the late Eocene of Thailand, although described as a Tragulidae, is here not included in this family.

Systematic Paleontology Order ARTIODACTYLA Owen, 1848 Suborder RUMINANTIA Scopoli, 1777 Family TRAGULIDAE Milne Edwards, 1864 The Tragulidae share with other Ruminantia a complex stomach and the ability to ruminate, as well as a few skeletal characters that help in defining this group, such as selenodonty, the lack of upper incisors and P1, a postcanine diastema, an incisiform lower canine, the fusion of capitate with trapezoid, cuboid with navicular, and ecto- with mesocuneiform, and the reduction of the fibula to a malleolar bone. Most of the present-day Ruminantia belong to the Pecora, which have a four-chambered stomach; usually some kind of cranial appendages; a crescentic articulation between atlas and axis; completely fused third and fourth metapodials; and extremely reduced lateral digits. The Tragulidae are more primitive than the Pecora in the lack of skull appendages, functionally

replaced by long, strongly curved upper canines in males, cheek teeth that are not fully selenodont, no postglenoid process in the squamosal, very narrow to absent mastoid exposure, noncrescentic odontoid apophysis of axis vertebra, unfused radius and ulna and incompletely fused central metapodials, distal keel absent on the dorsal part of the metapodials, proximal and distal trochleae of the talus usually not parallel, and persistence of complete lateral metapodials and digits. The main primitive characters of the soft anatomy are the absence of the omasum in the stomach, and a diffuse placenta, as opposed to the cotylodenous one in Pecora. Derived characters are the enlarged orbits and merging of the optic foramina, cancellous bulla, spaced central incisors, and several characters of the cheek teeth. The lower molars have a peculiar structure: the distal half of the first lobe consists of four cristids forming a 兺 (or M). They are, from lingual to labial, the Dorcatherium fold, the distal half of the metaconid, the distal half of the protoconid, and the Tragulus fold. The latter differs from the Palaeomeryx fold of some Pecora in its more lingual position, as its tip connects with the mesial tip of the hypoconid, instead of its flank. The premolar row is long; in p4, and sometimes also in p3, two parallel cristids usually descend distally from the main cuspid. This structure is also found is several Oligocene Ruminants, such as Bachitherium and Iberomeryx. On upper molars, the distal lobe is smaller than the mesial one, especially in M3, and strongly shifted labially. As a whole, the postcranial skeleton loses flexibility (Morales et al., 2003, have shown that flexibility decreases from Miocene to Recent). The cubonavicular is frequently fused with the ectomesocuneiform, and the tibia with the malleolar bone; grooves for tendons are deeply incised on the radius and tibia, the articulation between fibula and calcaneus is relatively flat (obviously a derived state, as camels, suids, and even early cetaceans have an articulation more like that of the Pecora). A more or less ossified dorsal shield is present in the modern forms; it is likely that it was also present in some fossils, although Thomas et al. (1990) did not mention it in their description of the associated skeletal elements of Siamotragulus. Virtually all African fossil tragulids come from the Miocene of western Kenya; none is known within the range of the living form, and the African fossil record is therefore very patchy. Arambourg (1933) was the first to mention a fossil

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tragulid in Africa; Whitworth (1958) added several new species. More recent additions to African tragulid systematics and evolution were provided by Pickford (2001, 2002). However, no comprehensive revision of the family has been undertaken. All Miocene forms were included in Dorcatherium, a genus well-known in many European and (mostly southern) Asian sites, but it is by no means certain that all African forms belong to the same genus. Most fossil tragulids are known from teeth and postcranials only, and in Africa, reasonably complete tooth rows are far fewer than in Europe. This makes specific distinctions based on morphological characters still harder, and they have consequently been based mostly on size, which is clearly not satisfactory. As this review does not intend to be a revision, I shall follow the currently accepted taxonomy; larger and better-preserved samples are needed before it can be reliably improved.

Description According to Whitworth (1958), this species has less bunodont teeth than other Miocene ones, no ectostylid, a p2 shorter than p3, and the lingual and labial crests of the ⌺ are weak. It is indeed true that in most cases the Tragulus fold is weak and too short to reach the tip of the hypoconid; this is reminiscent of the morphology of the smallest modern tragulids, and could be a consequence of smaller size. The morphology of p4 is variable: there may be two parallel cristids descending distally from the main cuspid or a morphology closer to that of the Pecora, with short transverse cristids arising from a main longitudinal cristid.

Genus DORCATHERIUM Kaup, 1833

ca. 24 mm long. Range This is the earliest tragulid in Africa, as it occurs at Meswa Bridge (M. Pickford, pers. comm.), but is best known from the early Miocene of Songhor; some specimens from Rusinga are of the right size for this species. It was also reported from Langental in Namibia (Pickford, 2001). Description Whitworth (1958) noticed that this species is less bunodont than D. pigotti, and the specimens from Songhor are very selenodont, with high tubercles. The ectostylid is not pillar shaped, but the mesial and labial cingula are strong. The p4 is relatively longer than in D. pigotti. A definitely tragulid cubonavicular from Songhor is not fused with the ecto-meso-cuneiform. The metatarsal is longer than in Hyemoschus, but much more slender.

Diagnosis Cingulum present on upper molars, but variably developed; metacarpals not fused. The controlled diagnosis of Dorcatherium is very short, but it is likely that many of the characters listed later for D. pigotti are indeed valid for the whole genus (or at least its African representatives). The fibula is free in all known African specimens but may be fused with the tibia in European forms. DORCATHERIUM MORUOROTENSIS Pickford, 2001 Table 36.1

Type Locality and Age Moruorot. 17.2 to 17.5 Ma, according to Pickford. Diagnosis Modified from Pickford (2001). Tiny Dorcatherium, lower molar row ca 16–16.5 mm long. Differs from D. minimum from Pakistan in its slightly smaller size and in the presence of a cingulum on the anterior and lingual aspects of the upper molar protocones, and lesser buccal flare of the paracone and metacone. Range See table 36.1. Description This species is based on two upper molars and a lower molar row (that I have not seen). For the lower teeth, Pickford (2001) mentioned, besides the lack of an ectostylid and the presence of a mesial cingulum, the absence of a Dorcatherium fold, which would make it unlike other tragulids. The mesial and distal cristids of the lower molars look tall (Pickford, 2001: figure 1), and D. moruorotensis is certainly quite distinct from other African Dorcatherium. DORCATHERIUM PARVUM Whitworth, 1958 Figure 36.1

Type Locality and Age Rusinga R39; Formation unknown (Pickford, 1986). Diagnosis Small Dorcatherium, lower molar row ca. 20 mm long. Some individuals lacked p1 (Whitworth, 1958). Range This species is best known from Rusinga (figure 36.1), but Pickford (2002) described it also from Napak, Uganda. In the KNM, mandible SO-1345 from Songhor has the right size (L m1–m3 = 19.5; L m3 = 8.2) for this species, confirming Whitworth’s (1958:42) identification based on limb bones. This species is also present at Maboko, and was even listed at Ngorora, a much younger site, by Pickford (2001: table 7); if these identifications are correct, the species range might cover most of the early and middle Miocene (table 36.1). 730


DORCATHERIUM SONGHORENSIS Whitworth, 1958

Type Locality and Age Songhor, about 20 Ma. Diagnosis Medium-sized Dorcatherium, lower molar row

DORCATHERIUM PIGOTTI Whitworth, 1958

Synonymy D. libiensis Hamilton, 1973? Type Locality and Age Rusinga, perhaps R106 (Whitworth, 1958); R106 is in to the Hiwegi Fm (Pickford, 1986). Diagnosis In part after Whitworth (1958). Medium-sized Dorcatherium, lower molar row ca. 30 mm long. Ethmoidal vacuity much reduced; large orbit; mandible with a gently convex lower border; occipital narrow, auditory bulla spherical, mastoid not exposed, teeth less bunodont than in Hyemoschus, p3 longer than p2 and p4. Range See table 36.1. Dorcatherium libiensis Hamilton, 1973, known from a few remains from Jebel Zelten, is included in the synonymy, following Pickford (2001). Description D. pigotti is by far the best known African Dorcatherium (hereunder abbreviated as D.), thanks to an associated skull and mandible (KNM-RU-46441) found at Rusinga by A. Walker, who kindly made it available to me. It is the best-preserved known skull of Dorcatherium. Although similar in general shape, it differs from Hyemoschus (abbreviated as H.) in a number of points and in many of them is more similar to Moschiola (M.):

. Some bone is missing in the lacrymal area, but it is fairly certain that the ethmoidal vacuity is much smaller, as in M., and perhaps even absent, as in the Eppelsheim D.; all bones in this area probably had an X-contact, rather than the broad fronto maxillary suture of Tragulus.

. It is impossible to tell whether the premaxilla was

separated from the nasal, as in H., or if there was a contact, as in all other Tragulidae, including the Eppelsheim D.

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5.0

Pickford et al., 2004

Ngeringerowa, Kenya*

9.0

Pickford, 1991

Hyemoschus aquaticus

Mabaget, Kenya*

D. iririensis

1 2

D. chapppuisi

Main reference

D. pigotti

Ma

D. songhorensis

Locality

D. parvum

Location

Dorcatherium moruorotensis

ta b l e 3 6 .1

⫹ ⫹

middle miocene 3

Ngorora B, Kenya

12.0

Hill et al., 2002

4

Fort Ternan, Kenya*

13.0

Pickford, 2001

5

Serek, Kenya*

14.0

Pickford, 2002

6

Kirimon-Mbagathi, Kenya

15.0

Pickford, 2001

7

Nyakach, Kenya*

15.0

Pickford, 2001

8

Maboko-Ombo, Kenya*

15.5

Pickford, 2001

9

Nachola, Kenya*

15.5

Pickford et al., 1987

10

Kipsaraman, Kenya*

15.7

11

Moghara, Egypt*

12

Jebel Zelten, Libya*

13

Kajong (Mwiti), Kenya

17.0

⫹

?

⫹ ⫹

⫹ ⫹

⫹ ⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

Behrensmeyer et al., 2002

⫹

⫹

16.0

Pickford, 2001

⫹

16.5

Hamilton, 1973

⫹

Pickford, 2001

?

⫹

early miocene 14

⫹

Kalodirr, Kenya

17.0

Leakey and Leakey, 1986

15

Langental, Namibia*

17.0

Pickford, 2001

16

Loperot, Kenya

17.0

Pickford, 2001

17

Buluk, Kenya*

17.2

Pickford, 2001

18

Moruorot, Kenya*

17.2

Pickford, 2001

19

Arrisdrift, Namibia*

17.5

Morales et al., 2003

20

Bukwa, Uganda

17.5

Pickford, 2001

21

Karungu, Kenya*

17.5

Pickford, 2001

22

Locherangan, Kenya*

17.5

Anyonge, 1991

23

Uyoma peninsula, Kenya*

17.7

Pickford, 2001

?

?

24

Rusinga (Kulu Fm), Kenya*

17.7

Pickford, 2001

⫹

⫹

25

Rusinga (Hiwegi Fm)*

17.8

Pickford, 2001

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹ ⫹

⫹

⫹ ⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹ ?

⫹

? ⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

26

Rusinga (Kiahera Fm)*

17.9

Pickford, 2001

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

27

Rusinga (Wayando Fm)*

18.0

Pickford, 2001

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

28

Mfwangano, Kenya*

18.0

Pickford, 1986

⫹

⫹

⫹

29

Napak, Napak Mb, Uganda*

19.5

Pickford, 2002

30

Napak, Iriri Mb, Uganda*

20.0

Pickford, 2002

⫹

31

Koru-Legetet, Kenya*

20.0

Pickford, 2001

⫹

32

Songhor-Mteitei, Kenya*

20.0

Pickford, 2001

33

Meswa Bridge, Kenya

22.0

Pickford, 2001

⫹ ⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹

⫹ ⫹

THIRT Y-SIX: TR AGULIDAE


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FIGURE 36.1 Dorcatherium pigotti, unnumbered skull from Rusinga in NMK. A) lateral view; B) upper teeth; C) lower teeth. D) D. cf. pigotti, left metatarsal from Maboko, KNM-MB-22063. E) D. chappuisi, left metatarsal from Maboko, KNM-MB-25150. F) D. cf. parvum, right ankle from Rusinga, KNM-RU-15136; note the free fibula, but cubonavicular fused with ectocuneiform. Scale bar equals 2 cm for figures 36.1A, 36.1D, 36.1E; 1 cm for figures 36.1B, 36.1C, 36.1F.

. There is no preorbital fossa, as in H. . In H., the auditory region is often extended dorsoventrally, and the auditory foramen opens very high, so that the zygomatic arch is directed dorsocaudally; the Rusinga skull has a normal horizontal arch, as in the other living tragulids.

. Correlatively, the lower border of the mandible has a strong convexity below m3 in H., whereas it is weaker and less localized in D.

. The occipital of H. is much broader than that of the

other tragulids, including the Rusinga skull; in the latter it is quite narrow, with dorsoventrally elongated condyles, more like those of M.

. The auditory bulla is large and rounded in H. and M., more flattened in Tragulus. In the Rusinga skull it is almost spherical, but not very large.

. Living tragulids have a small mastoid exposure, and an open slit between the squamosal and occipital; the mastoid is not visible on the Rusinga skull, and there is no gap between squamosal and occipital.

. The teeth, especially the lower premolars, are less bunodont; in H., after moderate wear, the cristids soon become quite short, whereas they remain well distinct in D.

Discussion The Rusinga skull is important to the generic distinction between Hyemoschus and Dorcatherium, which has been discussed more than once (e.g., Gentry, 1978). Both names are usually retained, mainly because of the geographic and chronological gap between them, but these are of course not valid arguments. Unfortunately, the only known skull of D. naui, type species of the genus Dorcatherium, from the early late Miocene of Eppelsheim in Germany, is badly crushed, and the cast that I have seen (MNHN) is too imperfect for details to be compared. Given the possible amount of

732


morphological differences between two species of Tragulidae, generic distinction between the Rusinga skull and Hyemoschus is probably warranted on a phenetic basis, but there is no strong evidence that all Miocene African forms (let alone the European ones) belong to one and the same genus. This is why I prefer not to include the features of the Rusinga skull in the diagnosis of Dorcatherium. DORCATHERIUM IRIRIENSIS Pickford, 2002 Table 36.1

Type Locality and Age Napak V, Napak Member, Uganda. Diagnosis A species of Dorcatherium intermediate in size between D. pigotti and D. chappuisi (Pickford, 2002). Range Table 36.1. The species is only known from Napak. Description The species is defined on the basis of size; if Napak is earlier than all Rusinga sites, it could well be ancestral to D. chappuisi, which is only slightly larger. DORCATHERIUM CHAPPUISI Arambourg, 1933 Table 36.1

Type Locality and Age Moruorot (= Losodok), Kenya. Range See table 36.1. Diagnosis Large Dorcatherium, lower molar row ca. 17–20 mm long; p1 retained. Shallow mandibular ramus. Whitworth (1958) thought that the cuneiform remained separate from the cubonavicular, on the basis of purported tragulid bones from Rusinga. Description The species was erected for a mandible with complete cheek teeth from Moruorot. The teeth are strongly weathered, which may increase their apparent bunodonty, but the posterior arm of the hypoconid is very short lingually and connects only to the labial arm of the hypoconulid on m3. There is no ectostylid (Gentry, 1978). The posterolabial cristid of p4 also fails to curve lingually at its distal end. Specimens of the right size to belong to D. chappuisi are known

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from the early and middle Miocene, and as late as Ngorora, but they are more selenodont than the type, with longer cristids, and there may be an ectostylid; even at Rusinga the Tragulus fold is longer, showing that selenodonty does not merely increase with age. Size of m3 also seems to vary erratically, but a single p4 from Ngorora is relatively shorter and more complex than earlier ones. All this variation suggests that more than one species may have been collected under this name. A complete metatarsal from Maboko (figure 36.1E) is more slender than those of other species, and much more than that of the living Hyemoschus. Genus HYEMOSCHUS Gray, 1845 HYEMOSCHUS AQUATICUS (Ogilby, 1841) Figure 36.2

Diagnosis Differs from the Miocene Dorcatherium by cingulum usually weak or absent on upper molars; cristids of lower cheek teeth short and quickly obscured by wear, plus some details of the postcranial skeleton (Morales et al., 2003) to which should be added the shortness of the metapodials and reduction of MT V. Hyemoschus differs from Tragulus + Moschiola in its larger size, broad occipital, thick premolars, unfused metacarpals, fibula not fused with tibia, and further differs from Tragulus in its ethmoidal fissure and coat pattern. Thus, the branching pattern of the modern forms is certainly Hyemoschus (Moschiola (Tragulus)), but Hyemoschus shares no synapomorphy with other living tragulids to the exclusion of Dorcatherium. Age Recent, but perhaps present in the early Pliocene. Range The living water chevrotain is usually found under heavy cover, close to permanent water, in most of the rain forests of tropical Africa, but has a disjunct distribution in two areas, one extending from Sierra Leone to Ghana, another from Nigeria and Congo to Western Uganda (figure 36.2). It does not seem to be seriously threatened. Description Pickford et al. (2004) recorded the species from the early Pliocene of the Mabaget Formation, Kenya, on the basis of an incomplete upper molar and an incisor. Both specimens are indeed similar to those of the living water chevrotain, but the selenodont upper molar has a stronger cingulum than most modern Hyemoschus; and, with its labially curved postprotocrista, it is also similar to those of the late Miocene Dorcatherium (which are mostly European, such as D. jourdani or D. puyhauberti); unfortunately, upper teeth are less distinctive than lower ones. The Mabaget specimens provide good evidence for the derivation of Hyemoschus from Dorcatherium, but the poor African late Miocene record precludes any hypothesis about its geographic origin.

Phylogeny The interrelationships of the selenodont Artiodactyls have been much debated in recent years (Barry et al., 2005, and references therein), but no consensus has been reached; and when fossil forms (such as the Lophiomerycidae, Iberomeryx, Leptomerycidae, and Bachitherium) are taken into account, the position of the Tragulidae varies strongly. Many of these primitive hornless Ruminants have often been clustered with tragulids to make up the “Tragulina,” but derived characters to support this grouping are hard to find. As already stated (Geraads et al., 1987) the complete closure of the first lobe of the lower molars makes the Tragulidae definitely

FIGURE 36.2 A) African localities with Dorcatherium, and range of living

Hyemoschus aquaticus. B) Detail of western Kenya; diamond size represents the number of Dorcatherium species in each locality.

more derived than the Leptomerycidae, Cryptomeryx, and Iberomeryx. The earliest record of the family is at Meswa Bridge (the material has not been described, but M. Pickford, pers. comm., confirms its occurrence there). It is only about 2 Ma later that they appear in Europe and southern Asia, while becoming more diverse in Africa (Pickford, 2001). No possible



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ancestor is known in Africa, as there is no Ruminant known at Chilga or the Fayum (but the Oligocene African record is very poor) and close relatives must be sought elsewhere, but purported early Tragulidae, such as Archaeotragulus Métais et al., 2001, despite the reported occurrence of a Tragulus-fold, look to be closer to Iberomeryx. The biogeographic history of tragulids in the Miocene is wholly unknown, because the lack of cranial appendages, extreme rarity of cranial remains, and uniformity of most characters have prevented the deciphering of their phylogenetic relationships. In Africa, most of the current taxonomy is based on size, which is far from satisfactory. Pickford (2001) recognized five species on the basis of talus and m3 size. His figure 2 suggests that size within each species remained rather stable for almost 5 Ma, but my own measurements of a sample about as large as that of Pickford in the NMK suggest somewhat different conclusions. Most m3s from Maboko (Pickford’s faunal set III) are intermediate between D. songhorensis and D. pigotti; if the former species went extinct earlier than Maboko, they must belong to a D. pigotti smaller than at Rusinga. The same is true of D. chappuisi, which is smaller at Maboko than in earlier (Rusinga) or later (Fort Ternan) sites. Identifications based on size are probably valid at Rusinga, but using the same size groups in the late middle Miocene may be misleading. Morphological differences do exist, but they are hard to relate to species. For instance, most p4s from early sites have the typical tragulid morphology, with two parallel cristids descending distally from the main cuspid, but several specimens from Maboko, the size of small D. pigotti, have only short transverse cristids, as in Hyemoschus. A p4 from Ngorora, instead, has a complex p4, with both transverse and longitudinal cristids. Lower molars from Maboko are remarkable in the very labial position of the preentocristid (mesial arm of the entoconid), which almost reaches the Tragulus-fold. In Europe, late Miocene Dorcatherium are more selenodont than most middle Miocene forms (Gentry, 1990), although precociously selenodont teeth, known as D. guntianum, are already present in the early middle Miocene. A parallel can perhaps be found in Africa, with the early D. songhorensis being more selenodont than many later forms.

Ecology Data on the ecology of living water chevrotain in Gabon were provided by Dubost (1978). It lives in the rain forest, where it prefers rather dense shelter providing shade and safety from predators. It feeds mostly on fruit, losing weight during dry seasons. Despite its name, it normally lives on dry ground, entering water only for refuge, being a very good swimmer, and this seems to be the main reason why it is never found far from water. The male is a solitary animal, usually avoiding encounters with its congeners, but it is not territorial. Population densities are relatively low (about 10 individuals per square kilometer). By contrast, the high number of fossils found in some sites (in Europe, Asia, and Africa) suggests that they aggregated at least in family groups. However, similarities in anatomy between Hyemoschus and Dorcatherium make it unlikely that the latter had a very different diet or lived outside dense cover, although differences in metapodial proportions between species (figures 36.1D and 36.1E) probably indicate some habitat partitioning. In the Miocene of Europe, the distribution in time and space of Dorcatherium follows those of tapirs, Deinotherium and dryopithecines. It is nearly absent from the late Miocene open environments.

734


At Maboko, tragulids are more than twice as common in the riparian woodland (“dhero”) as in grassland or bushland (Retallack et al., 2002). Their almost complete disappearance with the late Miocene in Africa is certainly linked with the expansion of grasslands, even if they survived in some places (Pickford et al., 2004). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank L. Werdelin and W. Sanders for having invited me to contribute to this volume. I am especially grateful to B. Benefit and A. Walker, who kindly allowed me to mention here some of the unpublished material that they found at Maboko and Rusinga, respectively; to A. W. Gentry for his helpful comments and information on Dorcatherium; and to an anonymous reviewer whose detailed comments and original information on many Kenyan Tragulidae greatly improved the manuscript. Best thanks also, for granting access to collections in their care, to E. Mbua and M. Muungu (Kenya National Museum, Nairobi), J. Cuisin, C. Lefèvre, M. Pickford and C. Sagne (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris), G. Gruber (Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt), and W. Wendelen (Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale, Tervuren).

Literature Cited Anyonge, W. 1991. Fauna from a new Lower Miocene locality west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 11:378–390. Arambourg, C. 1933. Mammifères miocènes du Turkana. Annales de Paléontologie 22:123–146. Barry, J. C., S. Cote, L. MacLatchy, E. H. Lindsay, R. Kityo, and A. R. Rajpar. 2005. Oligocene and early Miocene ruminants (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from Pakistan and Uganda. Palaeontologia Electronica 8(1):1–29. Behrensmeyer, A. K., A. L. Deino, A. Hill, J. D. Kingston, and J. J. Saunders. 2002. Geology and geochronology of the middle Miocene Kipsaramon site complex, Muruyur beds, Tugen Hills, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 42:11–38. Dubost, G. 1978. Un aperçu sur l’écologie du chevrotain africain Hyemoschus aquaticus Ogilby, Artiodactyle Tragulidé. Mammalia 42:1–62. Gentry, A. W. 1978. Tragulidae and Camelidae; pp. 536–539 in V. J. Maglio and H. B. S. Cooke (eds.), Evolution of African Mammals. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. . 1990. Ruminant artiodactyls of Pas¸alar, Turkey. Journal of Human Evolution 19:529–550. Geraads, D., G. Bouvrain, and J. Sudre. 1987. Relations phylétiques de Bachitherium Filhol, Ruminant de l’Oligocène d’Europe occidentale. Palaeovertebrata 17:43–73. Groves, C. P., and E. Meijaard. 2005. Interspecific variation in Moschiola, the Indian chevrotain. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (suppl.) 12:413–420. Hamilton, W. R. 1973. The Lower Miocene ruminants of Gebel Zelten, Libya. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology 21:75–150. Hill, A., M. G. Leakey, J. D. Kingston, and S. Ward. 2002. New cercopithecoids and a hominoid from 12.5 Ma in the Tugen Hills succession, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 42:75–93. Leakey, R. E. F., and M. G. Leakey. 1986. A new Miocene hominoid from Kenya. Nature 124:143–146. Meijaard, E., and C. P. Groves. 2004. A taxonomic revision of the Tragulus mouse-deer (Artiodactyla). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 140:63–102. Métais, G., Y. Chaimanee, J.-J. Jaeger, and S. Ducrocq. 2001. New remains of primitive ruminants from Thailand: Evidence of the early evolution of the Ruminantia in Asia. Zoologica Scripta 30:231–248. Morales, J., D. Soria, I. M. Sanchez, V. Quiralte, and M. Pickford. 2003. Tragulidae from Arrisdrift, basal Middle Miocene, southern Namibia. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Namibia 19:359–369. Pickford, M. 1986. Cainozoic palaeontological sites of Western Kenya. Münchner Geowissentchaftliche Abhandlungen A 8:1–151.

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. 1991. Biostratigraphic correlation of the Middle Miocene mammal locality of Jabal Zaltan, Libya. pp.1483–1490 in: M. J. Salem, O. S. Hammuda, and B. A. Eliagoubi, (eds.), Third Symposium on the Geology of Libya (Tripoli, 1987). Elsevier, Amsterdam. Pickford, M. 2001. Africa’s smallest ruminant: A new tragulid from the Miocene of Kenya and the biostratigraphy of East African Tragulidae. Géobios 34:437–447. . 2002. Ruminants from the early Miocene of Napak, Uganda. Annales de Paléontologie 88:85–113. Pickford, M., H. Ishida, Y. Nakano, and K. Yasui. 1987. The middle Miocene fauna from the Nachola and Aka Aiteputh formations, northern Kenya. African Study Monographs (suppl.) 5:141–154.

Pickford, M., B. Senut, and C. Mourer-Chauviré. 2004. Early Pliocene Tragulidae and peafowls in the Rift Valley, Kenya: Evidence for rainforest in East Africa. Comptes Rendus Palevol 3:179–189. Retallack, G. J., J. G. Wynn, B. R. Benefit, and M. L. McCrossin. 2002. Paleosols and paleoenvironments of the Middle Miocene, Maboko Formation, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 42:659–703. Thomas, H., L. Ginsburg, C. Hintong, and V. Suteethorn. 1990. A new tragulid Siamotragulus sanayathanai n.g.n.sp. (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from the Miocene of Thailand (Amphoe Pong, Phayao Province). Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris 310:989–995. Whitworth, T. 1958. Miocene ruminants of East Africa. Fossil Mammals of Africa 15:1–50.



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CHAP TER THIRT Y-SEVEN

Pecora Incertae Sedis SUSANNE M. COTE

The Ruminantia is commonly divided into two infraorders: the Tragulina and the Pecora. Pecoran monophyly is well accepted with five modern families: the Giraffidae, Bovidae, Moschidae (musk deer in Asia), Antilocapridae (pronghorns of North America), and Cervidae (deer). These are commonly placed in three superfamilies: Bovoidea, Cervoidea, and Giraffoidea (e.g., Flower, 1883; Gentry, 1994; Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2005). Of modern pecorans, only the Bovidae and Giraffidae are widespread in Africa (cervids dispersed into North Africa in the early late Pleistocene; see Gentry, this volume, chapter 40). In the African Miocene, there are several named taxa of pecoran ruminants that are not easily assigned to the modern families or superfamilies. Some of these taxa have been assigned to either extant or extinct families, but their status is disputed. These taxa are the subject of this chapter. Taxa that are clearly attributable to the bovids, giraffids, and cervids are fully discussed in separate chapters. The interfamilial relationships of the Pecora have been the subject of continual debate, and almost all possible phylogenetic arrangements have been suggested in the literature. Morphological analyses have often suggested a close relationship between the Bovidae and Giraffidae (Morales et al., 1986; Gentry and Hooker, 1988; Gentry, 1994, 2000), and the position of the Moschidae has been particularly controversial (see Hassanin and Douzery, 2003: figure 1 for a review). There is a growing consensus from molecular data and new “supertree” analyses that Bovidae and Cervidae together are the sister group of the Giraffidae (Hassanin and Douzery, 2003 and references therein; Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2005; Price et al., 2005). Moschidae are part of the clade including Bovidae and Cervidae, normally considered more closely related to cervids, although one study has linked them more closely with bovids (Hassanin and Douzery, 2003). It is also suggested that Giraffidae and Antilocapridae may be sister taxa (Hassanin and Douzery, 2003; Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2005). Although most nodes in these new phylogenetic trees are resolved, consistency indices are sometimes low. Hernández Fernández and Vrba (2005) point out that new phylogenies are best viewed as “working hypotheses” and also draw attention to the potential problem

of long-branch attraction—particularly for the Giraffidae and Antilocapridae. The basal position of Giraffidae, far removed from the Bovidae, along with a potential sister taxon relationship between Giraffidae and Antilocapridae, significantly complicates scenarios of biogeography. Divergence of the Pecora and Tragulina is estimated at approximately 50 Ma (Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2005; 54–37 Ma using the Bayesian relaxed molecular clock analysis of Hassanin and Douzery, 2003), and diversification of pecoran families appears to have occurred around 30 Ma (36–26 Ma in Hassanin and Douzery, 2003; 32–28 Ma in Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2005). Importantly, these molecular dating studies give rather early divergence dates (early Miocene) for the tribes within Bovidae and Cervidae, as well as for the giraffid lineage (late Oligocene), suggesting the presence of long “ghost lineages” in these groups. The divergence of pecoran families occurs just after extensive global cooling at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. It has been suggested that the simultaneous radiation of pecoran families, adapting to the same type of climate change, may have led to parallel evolution of several traits, and contributes greatly to the difficulties of resolving pecoran phylogeny (Janis and Scott, 1988; Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2005). In addition to the living families of ruminants, there are numerous names given to extinct alleged families of both the infraorders Tragulina and Pecora, largely from Eurasia. The status of many of these (including to which infraorder they should be assigned) is controversial. Only three extinct families are relevant here: (1) Gelocidae Schlosser, 1886. These are small early pecorans of the Eocene–Oligocene of Europe and perhaps Asia, variably considered basal pecorans (Webb and Taylor, 1980; Blondel, 1997), tragulines (Vislobokova, 2001), or a paraphyletic assemblage (Janis and Scott, 1987). (2) Palaeomerycidae Lydekker, 1883. Miocene pecorans of Eurasia and (as Dromomerycinae) North America. They are generally larger than other contemporaneous pecorans, and most bear cranial appendages and are usually regarded as cervoids. (3) Climacoceratidae Hamilton, 1978. African Miocene ruminants well accepted as a family within the Giraffoidea, bearing branched cranial appendages.

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ABBREVIATIONS

AMNH—American Museum of Natural History, New York; BSP—Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie, Munich; BU—Department of Geology, Bristol University, Bristol; CGM—Cairo Geological Museum, Cairo; DLC—Duke Lemur Center, North Carolina; FT—Fort Ternan; GSN—Geological Survey of Namibia, Windhoek; KNM— National Museums of Kenya, Department of Paleontology, Nairobi; NHM—The Natural History Museum, Department of Palaeontology, London; SAM—South African Museum, Cape Town; UMP—Uganda Museum, Paleontology, Kampala. Terminology for dental morphology, including the critical Palaeomeryx-fold, follows that of Janis and Scott (1987: figure 5). Dental measurements presented in this chapter were taken by the author as maximum lengths and breadths, and they cannot be compared with those of Hamilton (1973, 1978a, 1978b), which appear to be occlusal surface measurements.

Systematic Paleontology Order ARTIODACTYLA Owen, 1848 Suborder RUMINANTIA Scopoli, 1777 Infraorder PECORA Flower, 1883

Diagnosis Adapted from Webb and Taylor (1980); Janis and Scott (1987); Gentry and Hooker (1988). Ruminants with a compact, parallel-sided astragalus and an axis vertebra with a spout-shaped odontoid process. A four-chambered stomach with a well-developed omasum is present. Metapodial characters include: complete metapodial keels; fusion of metacarpals III and IV; and metatarsals II and V greatly reduced (or absent). Cranial characters include loss of the stapedial artery; an enlarged fossa for the stapedial muscle, shallow subarcuate fossa, and loss of the promontorium on the petrosal; and a broadened basiooccipital with strong flexion stops on condyles. Metastylids present on lower molars. Discussion The Gelocidae is sometimes considered the most basal family of pecorans (e.g., Webb and Taylor, 1980; Gentry, 1994). Conversely, Janis and Scott (1987, 1988) exclude the Gelocidae (which they consider paraphyletic) from the Pecora on the basis that metastylids are absent in Gelocus. However, small metastylids are clearly present on the lower molars of Gelocus communis from Ronzon in the NHM (A. Gentry, pers. comm.; pers. obs.), although metacarpals III and IV are unfused in this taxon (Webb and Taylor, 1980). Lower molar metastylids are also absent in Antilocapridae (Hassanin and Douzery, 2003: table 2), though this may be a secondary loss. In addition to the synapomorphies in the diagnosis, pecorans are characterized by selenodont cheek teeth with reduced (or absent) lingual cingulum in the upper molars. Upper canines are generally absent but are present in moschids and some cervids. Numerous features of the pecoran limb (fore- and hindlimbs of roughly equal length; elongated limbs, complete distal metapodial keels, fusion of metapodials, and loss of side toes) are adaptations to life in more open habitats, and it is possible that these features evolved in parallel (Janis and Scott, 1988). Pecorans have also traditionally been characterized by the possession of cranial appendages. Cranial appendages are absent in the Moschidae and in the modern cervid Hydropotes (a secondary loss). Cranial appendages are also absent in several fossil taxa of clear pecoran status. Abundant evidence 738


now indicates that cranial appendages evolved in parallel in the pecoran families and cannot be used as a character to unite the Pecora (or Eupecora, sensu Webb and Taylor, 1980). Further inquiry is necessary, but the current understanding of the ontogeny of cranial appendages shows that they have different developmental bases, ontogenetic trajectories, and microstructure (e.g. Janis and Scott, 1987; Azanza et al., 2003). The parallel evolution of cranial appendages may be related to the loss of upper canines, a common feature of pecorans that may also be nonhomologous. Genus WALANGANIA Whitworth 1958

Type Species Walangania africanus Whitworth, 1958. This is here regarded as the only species in the genus. Hamilton (1973) synonymized Palaeomeryx africanus Whitworth, 1958 with Walangania gracilis Whitworth, 1958 as W. africanus, as the name Palaeomeryx (a European genus) does not apply to this material. WALANGANIA AFRICANUS Whitworth, 1958 Figure 37.1 and Table 37.1

Synonymy Walangania gracilis Whitworth, 1958; Palaeomeryx africanus, Whitworth, 1958; Kenyameryx africanus, Ginsburg and Heintz, 1966. Holotype NHM M 21358 right mandible with p3–m3 from Songhor, Kenya. Occurrence Early Miocene, East Africa (table 37.1). Diagnosis Emended from Whitworth 1958; Barry et al. (2005). Medium-sized pecoran (m1–m3 length ~40 mm). Cranial appendages unknown and likely absent; p1 at least variably present; p4 variably bifurcated anteriorly, with transverse entostylid and well-developed metaconid that sometimes has a posterior flange. Lower molars with metaconid and entoconid slightly oblique and compressed; small metastylid situated lingual to the posterior end of postmetacristid. Palaeomeryx-fold variably present. Upper molars with large

A) UMP BUMP 274. Walangania africanus right maxilla with erupting P3, dP4–M3, occlusal view. B–C) KNM SO 1627; W. africanus left mandible with p3–m3, occlusal (B) and buccal (C) views. FIGURE 37.1

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ta b l e 37.1 Distribution of Pecoran ruminants Abbreviation: T, type locality. Specimens in boldfaced museums were examined by the author; museum abbreviations that appear in italics are casts only. Starred references cite occurrences, while nonstarred references are used for age determinations only.

Taxon

Occurrence

Walangania africanus

Moroto, Uganda

>20.6 Ma

UMP

Songhor, Kenya (T)

19.5 Ma

KNM, NHM

Koru, Kenya

19–20 Ma

KNM, NHM

Chamtwara

19–20 Ma

KNM

Legetet

19–20 Ma

KNM

Napak, Uganda

19–20 Ma

UMP, NHM

Rusinga Mfwanganu Morourot

17–18.3 Ma 17.9 Ma 16.8–17.9 Ma

KNM, NHM KNM, NHM KNM, NHM

Kalodirr Nachola Fort Ternan Songhor (T)

16.8–17.5 Ma 14–15 Ma 14 Ma 19.5 Ma

KNM KNM KNM NHM

Elisabethfeld (T)

18–20 Ma

GSN, BSP, NHM

Langental

18–20 Ma

AMNH, GSN

Propalaeoryx nyanzae

Rusinga (T) Mfwanganu

17–18.3 Ma 17.9 Ma

NHM NHM

Prolibytherium magnieri

Gebel Zelten (T)

~18–16 Ma

Sperrgebietomeryx wardi

Wadi Moghara Elisabethfeld (T)

~18–16 Ma ~18–20 Ma

NHM, MNHN, BU DLC, CGM GSN, SAM, BSP, NHM

Langental

~18–20 Ma

Oragemeryx hendyi

Arrisdrift (T)

~17.5 Ma

GSN

Namibiomeryx senuti

Elisabethfeld (t)

18–20 Ma

GSN, AMNH, NHM

“Gelocus” whitworthi Propalaeoryx austroafricanus

Age

Museum

metaconules on M1 and M2; paracone with strong labial rib, metacone rib weak or absent; strong parastyle, weaker metastyle; and subsidiary crests present in the anterior fossette and separate from posteriorly directed postprotocrista. Limbs of advanced pecoran type, with closed metatarsal gullies. Description Whitworth named two similar pecoran taxa in his 1958 review of East African ruminants: Walangania gracilis was named for a juvenile maxilla and mandible with associated partial skeleton from Mfwanganu, and Palaeomeryx africanus from numerous specimens from several East African localities. Features that differentiated W. gracilis and P. africanus included the presence of a p1 and a Palaeomeryx-fold on the lower molars of the later. Hamilton (1973) combined Palaeomeryx africanus and Walangania gracilis into a single taxon, Walangania africanus, stating that the Palaeomeryx-fold

References *Barry et al., 2005; *Cote, 2004; *Pickford and Mein, 2006; Gebo et al., 1997 *Whitworth, 1958; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *Whitworth, 1958; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *This chapter; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *This chapter; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *Barry et al., 2005, *Cote, 2004, *Pickford, 2002, MacLatchy et al., 2006 *Whitworth, 1958; Drake et al., 1988 *Whitworth, 1958; Drake et al., 1988 *Whitworth, 1958; Hamilton, 1973; Boschetto et al., 1992 *This chapter; Boschetto et al., 1992 *Nakaya, 1994; Sawada et al., 1998 *Gentry, 1970 *Hamilton, 1973; Bishop et al., 1969; Pickford and Andrews, 1981 *Stromer, 1926; *Hamilton and Van Couvering, 1977; *Morales et al., 1999; Pickford and Senut, 2003 *Hamilton and Van Couvering, 1977; Morales et al., 1999 *Whitworth, 1958; Drake et al., 1988 *Whitworth, 1958; Drake et al., 1988 *Arambourg, 1961, *Hamilton, 1973; *Pickford et al., 2001; Miller and Simons, 1996 *Miller and Simons, 1996, *Pickford et al., 2001 *Morales et al., 1999; Pickford and Senut, 2003 *Stromer, 1926; *Hamilton and Van Couvering, 1977; *Morales et al., 1999; Pickford and Senut, 2003 *Morales et al., 1999; *Morales et al., 2003; Pickford and Senut, 2003 *Hopwood, 1929; *Morales et al., 1995; Pickford and Senut, 2003

is present in the W. gracilis type and that the p1 is absent in P. africanus. Subsequent researchers have tended to follow this synonymy (but see Janis and Scott, 1987). In fact, a p1 is present in some specimens attributed to Walangania africanus, but the condition in the old W. gracilis type from Mfwanganu cannot be observed. Walangania africanus is a widespread and common taxon in East African early Miocene localities, and there is a great deal of morphological and size variation encompassed within it, as indicated in the emended diagnosis presented here. Important morphological characters that vary include bifurcation of the p4 paraconid; the size and configuration of the p4 metaconid; and the presence or absence of Palaeomeryxfolds. Palaeomeryx-folds exhibit inter- and intraindividual variation, with some specimens showing a Palaeomeryx-fold

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on m3, but not on m1 or m2, and also differ greatly in how strong the fold is (which may be a factor of tooth wear). This is significant, as the Palaeomeryx-fold is often considered a critical feature for phylogenetic relationships. There is also a considerable amount of size variation present in the collections. In particular, there are small postcrania and a few dental specimens that seem too small to belong within W. africanus, and it seems likely that a second, unnamed taxon is present in the sample currently attributed to W. africanus. Discussion Ginsburg and Heintz (1966) transferred Palaeomeryx africanus out of the Palaeomerycidae, citing the presence of p1 and the primitive nature of the premolars as nonpalaeomerycid characters, but did not assign it to any other family. Hamilton (1973, 1978a) united the species with Walangania gracilis under the name W. africanus and believed it to be a likely bovid. In contrast, Janis and Scott (1987) placed W. africanus and W. gracilis as separate taxa within the Cervoidea, a suggestion adopted by Barry et al. (2005). Gentry (1978) originally suggested that Walangania might be a bovid, but subsequently indicated that it is more cervid-like (Gentry, 1994, 2000). Gentry has also pointed out similarities to Dremotherium (1994; pers. comm. cited in Hendey, 1978), a primitive ruminant from the late Oligocene of Europe normally placed in the Cervoidea (Janis and Scott, 1987) and sometimes within Moschidae (Webb and Taylor, 1980). Cervoid-like characters of Walangania include the presence of a Palaeomeryx-fold, closed metatarsal gullies, and an enlarged metaconid on p4 (Janis and Scott, 1987; Gentry, 1994). The metatarsal gullies of specimens assigned to Walangania are closed in all specimens where the character can be observed (isolated specimens not associated with dental material). The bridge tends to be short and does not extend as far up the metatarsus as in deer, and it is possible that this character evolved independently (Janis and Scott, 1987). Currently, the bulk of evidence would suggest that Walangania has cervoid affinities, but the character support for this is not strong and rests largely on the variably present Palaeomeryxfold and the closed metatarsal gully. Similarities to Dremotherium are certainly apparent and deserving of further investigation. Younger Occurrences of Walangania Hamilton (1973) transferred a maxilla fragment from Moruorot to Propalaeoryx nyanzae, which Whitworth (1958) had previously included in Palaeomeryx (Walangania) africanus. Additional material from Moruorot and the nearby locality of Kalodirr is very similar to Whitworth’s material and may belong in Walangania. The specimens are larger and possess stronger metastyles and weaker paracone ribs than most Walangania upper molars, but they are within the range of size variation observed in the Songhor collection. Walangania africanus has also been reported from the Aka Aiteputh formation, dated to 14–15 Ma (Pickford et al., 1987; Nakaya, 1994; Sawada et al., 1998). Three left lower molars in the KNM do indeed resemble Walangania. The size and morphology of the complete lower molar are a good match for W. africanus m1s from Songhor and Napak, but there is no trace of a Palaeomeryx-fold. Gentry (1970) mentioned several teeth from Fort Ternan that might represent Walangania. Two upper molars (KNM FT 927 and KNM FT 3143 [Gentry’s Ft 61.702]) are very similar to Walangania, except for being buccolingually narrower and having a more triangular outline. Gentry interpreted KNM FT 3143 as an M3, which would make it very small for W. africanus. If these teeth were assigned to Walangania, then

740


they would be its youngest record. It is likely that the long temporal range of Walangania is an artifact of the limited material available from younger localities, and that additional material would show that many or all of them are not Walangania. Genus indet. “GELOCUS” WHITWORTHI Hamilton, 1973 Table 37.1

Synonymy Palaeomeryx africanus Whitworth, 1958 (partim). Holotype NHM M 26692, left mandible fragment with m2–m3 from Songhor, Kenya (listed as Sgr 365.1949 in Hamilton, 1973). Occurrence Early Miocene, East Africa (table 37.1). Diagnosis Emended from Hamilton (1973). Medium-sized pecoran with a rounded metaconid on the lower molars; median valley of lower molars very open lingually; length of the lower molar row ~33mm. The posterior end of the entoconid (postentocristid) is forked, and the m3 hypoconulid loop has an entostylid. Description Hamilton (1973) named Gelocus whitworthi based only on the holotype and four isolated lower molars, one of which had been previously described as Walangania africanus by Whitworth (1958). Although the “G.” whitworthi molars are only slightly smaller than Walangania (and overlap with the range of variation seen in Walangania), they show several distinctive features, most notably the forked posterior end of the entoconid, the presence of an anterolingual cingulum high up on the tooth crown that meets with the mesostylid (Hamilton’s “anterior crest curving anterolingually”), and the entostylid on m3, that make it clear that this is a separate taxon. Palaeomeryx-folds are present. No further material of “G.” whitworthi has been recognized, despite extensive collecting. It is possible that some of the variation in premolar morphology and postcranial size in material currently attributed to Walangania may in fact represent “G.” whitworthi, but no additional examples of the distinctive lower molars have ever been recovered. Janis and Scott (1987) report that “G.” whiworthi teeth are known from Maboko, but there are no published records of this occurrence. Hamilton (1978b) includes one m3 from Rusinga in the hypodigm of “G.” whitworthi, but this specimen is unconvincing (there is no entostylid; pers. obs.), although it also seems unlikely to belong to Walangania africanus. Discussion While the dental features of G. whitworthi are distinctive enough to warrant separation from Walangania africanus, it is less clear that this taxon should be included in Gelocus, leading Janis and Scott to refer to it as “Gelocus” whitworthi, a convention that has been followed by other authors (Gentry, 1994; Barry et al., 2005; this chapter), although no new generic name has been provided. Gelocus is either a basal pecoran (Gentry, 1994; Webb and Taylor, 1980) or a nonpecoran ruminant (Janis and Scott, 1987; Vislobokova, 2001). The former seems more likely, as Janis and Scott (1987) report that it is the lack of metastylids that would bar gelocids from inclusion in the Pecora, whereas metastylids are clearly visible on material of Gelocus communis from Ronzon in the NHM (pers. obs.). Hamilton (1973) thought that “G.” whitworthi showed similarities to Gelocus communis, including the forked entoconid and the configuration of the metastylid. However, the entoconid is not forked in Gelocus communis specimens in the NHM and forking similar to that described by Hamilton

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(1973) occurs in Palaeomeryx from Sansan (pers. obs.). The Palaeomeryx-fold also suggests that this species does not belong in Gelocus, and led Janis and Scott (1987) to believe that it might have cervoid affinities. Genus PROPALAEORYX Stromer, 1926

Type Species Propalaeoryx austroafricanus Stromer, 1926. Diagnosis Emended from Stromer (1926). Pecora of medium size, with shallow mandible and rather brachyodont, selenodont lower cheek teeth, closed from p2 to m3. p1 present. Lower molars with strong metastylid and entostylid; pronounced median rib on lingual surface of metaconid, similar rib on entoconid; accessory stylid in median external valley. Palaeomeryx-fold absent. No horns are known, although there are also no known cranial remains. PROPALAEORYX AUSTROAFRICANUS Stromer, 1926 Table 37.1

Holotype BSP 1926–507 right mandible with alveoli p1, p2–m3 from Elisabethfeld. Occurrence Early Miocene, southern Africa (table 37.1). Diagnosis As for genus. Larger than Propalaeoryx nyanzae. Description The alveoli for p1 demonstrate that it is a tworooted tooth. Stromer’s (1926) diagnosis (reproduced in Whitworth 1958) states that no Palaeomeryx-fold is present. Morales et al (1999:237–238) state that “a moderate Palaeomeryx-fold, most marked in the m1” is present “as in the holotype”; however, a cast of the holotype in London shows no evidence of a Palaeomeryx-fold. Propalaeoryx austroafricanus is differentiated from its contemporary Sperrgebietomeryx only by its larger size, presence of p1 and more complex lower premolar morphology. The small collection of casts of this taxon present in the NHM suggests that there is a great deal of size variability present in the material currently assigned to P. austroafricanus. Discussion Stromer (1926) originally suggested that Propalaeoryx was a bovid, whereas Arambourg (1933), followed by Whitworth (1958), thought that the dentition was cervoidlike. Janis and Scott (1987) state that there are no definitive cervoid characters present in Propalaeoryx, and they instead suggest that the bifurcated posterior crest of the metaconule indicates that it may be related to giraffoids. Gentry (1994) also tentatively links Propalaeoryx with giraffoids. Morales et al. (1999) place Propalaeoryx in their new subfamily Sperrgebietomerycinae (discussed later) within Climacoceratidae. The general consensus that Propalaeoryx belongs within the Giraffoidea is likely correct, although the state of the canine is unknown. Stromer (1926) tentatively assigned two anterior teeth to P. austroafricanus, neither of which was described as being bifurcated, but these teeth are now missing (Hamilton, 1978a). The relationships of Propalaeoryx (and other possible early Miocene African giraffoids) to the potential giraffoids Teruelia and Lorancameryx from the early Miocene of Spain (Moyà-Solà, 1987; Morales et al., 1993) have not been considered. PROPALAEORYX NYANZAE Whitworth, 1958 Table 37.1

Holotype NHM M 21368 (Ru 324.47) left mandible fragment with m1–m2 from the Lower Hiwegi Beds, Rusinga Island. Occurrence Early Miocene, East Africa (table 37.1).

Diagnosis From Whitworth (1958). m1–m3 series measuring ~45 mm. Lower molars with prominent accessory tubercle in median external valley. Teeth smaller and lower crowned than in P. austroafricanus. Palaeomeryx-fold absent. Description Propalaeoryx nyanzae was named by Whitworth for a small number of lower molars from Rusinga and Mfwanganu. It is smaller than the type species, and not much larger than W. africanus from Songhor and Napak. Propalaeoryx nyanzae has weaker internal stylids (metastylid, ectostylid) and a stronger median pillar than the type species, but the internal stylids are stronger than is common in Walangania. Whitworth (1958) also assigned a distal metatarsal with an open gully for the extensor tendon to Propalaeoryx nyanzae. Hamilton (1973) identified several teeth as the upper molars of Propalaeoryx nyanzae (including a maxilla from Moruorot that Whitworth [1958] assigned to W. africanus). These teeth are similar to those of Walangania, differing only in that they are slightly larger; have a stronger anterior cingulum and weaker posterior cingulum; and have a stronger mesostyle, parastyle, metastyle, and paracone rib. Some of these features are variable in Walangania, and it is unclear to what degree some of these characters may be size related and therefore of little phylogenetic significance. Discussion While agreeing with Arambourg (1933) that the dentition of Propalaeoryx indicated cervid affinities, Whitworth (1958) assigned a metatarsal from Rusinga (Ru 1635’50) with an open gully for the extensor tendon to this taxon. He then suggested that early bovids may have “differed little in their dental characteristics from contemporaneous cervids” and left Propaleoryx of uncertain position within Pecora. Propalaeoryx nyanzae is so poorly understood that it is difficult to make any definitive statements about its morphology or evolutionary relationships. One of the more interesting questions about P. nyanzae is how it is related to P. austroafricanus. Whitworth (1958) stated with confidence that this species belongs in Propalaeoryx, even suggesting that further material might eliminate the species-level difference. New material from Namibia (Morales et al., 1999) indicates that there probably is a specific difference and in some ways makes P. nyanzae appear more similar to Walangania. The relationship between P. nyanzae and W. africanus has not been considered and surely must be investigated when further material of P. nyanzae becomes available. Genus PROLIBYTHERIUM Arambourg, 1961

Type Species Prolibytherium magnieri Arambourg, 1961. Only species of the genus. PROLIBYTHERIUM MAGNIERI Arambourg, 1961 Table 37.1

Holotype Set of ossicones numbered 1961–5–1 (Arambourg, 1961).

Occurrence Early-middle Miocene, North Africa (table 37.1). Diagnosis After Arambourg (1961); Hamilton (1973). The skull bears large, flat, wing-shaped ossicones that are fused to the frontal and parietal bones with no visible sutures. These appendages extend anteriorly and posteriorly over the entire skull roof and show signs of vascularization. Occipital condyles large with thickened bone. Description Arambourg (1961) named Prolibytherium on the basis of a set of ossicones and a separate skull fragment. Hamilton (1973) provides a description of the dentition,



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additional cranial material, and some postcranial elements from Gebel Zelten. Most of the known dentitions are very worn, and consequently the dental anatomy of this taxon is not well-known. The teeth are relatively hypsodont, and the lower molars have flat lingual walls with no Palaeomeryx-fold. The cervical vertebrae are short and robust. Hamilton (1973) suggests that a thick, short neck and short, stocky forelimbs were adaptations to support the weight of the frontal appendages, possibly used in fighting. Pickford et al. (2001) described additional material from Wadi Moghara that is likely conspecific with the material from Gebel Zelten, although there has been no detailed analysis. Discussion Arambourg (1961) and Hamilton (1973) both viewed Prolibytherium as an early sivatheriine giraffid. However, Hamilton later (1978a, 1978b) stated that there is no evidence to identify Prolibytherium as a member of the Sivatheriinae or even the Giraffoidea, as the lower canine is unknown, and lists it as Pecora incertae sedis. Conversely, in the same volume, Churcher (1978) continued to include Prolibytherium in the Sivatheriinae. More recently, several authors have suggested that Prolibytherium may belong within the Climacoceratidae. Gentry (1994) cites the flat lingual walls of the lower molars, m3 hypoconulid lobe without central fossette, and crown height as characters shared with Climacoceras, and places Prolibytherium in the Climacoceratidae in his classification (1994:147). Others follow suit (Pickford et al., 2001; Morales et al., 2003), although they do not provide any direct character support for this relationship, but cite a general similarity of the dentitions of Prolibytherium and Climacoceras as well as similarities between the skull of Prolibytherium and those of Sperrgebietomeryx and Orangemeryx (taxa they consider to belong to the Climacoceratidae). If Prolibytherium is a climacoceratid, then specialized elongation of the neck vertebrae would not be a feature uniting Climacoceratidae (Pickford et al., 2001; Morales et al., 2003; but contra Morales et al., 1999). Attribution of Prolibytherium to the Climacoceratidae is hampered because the canine is unknown (following the view that all giraffoids must exhibit a bilobed canine; Hamilton 1978; Harris et al, this volume, chapter 41). In addition, the odd cranial appendages of Prolibytherium are in no way analogous to the tined appendages of Climacoceras (Azanza et al., 2003). Barry et al. (2005) point out that Prolibytherium has a reduced intercondyloid notch (the occipital condyles are continuous ventrally), similar to material that they assign to Progiraffa exigua from the Vihowa Formation of Pakistan. The phylogenetic significance of this feature is unclear. At present, the balance of evidence would suggest that Prolibytherium is a member of the Giraffoidea, although strict assignment to this group, or to the Climacoceratidae in particular, must await discovery of additional material. Genus SPERRGEBIETOMERYX Morales et al., 1999

Type Species Sperrgebietomeryx wardi Morales et al., 1999. Only species in genus. SPERRGEBIETOMERYX WARDI Morales et al., 1999 Table 37.1

Synonymy cf. Strogulognathus sansaniensis Filhol (Stromer, 1926).

Holotype EF 37’93 skull, mandible, and associated vertebrae and hindlimbs from Elisabethfeld, Namibia. 742


Occurrence Early Miocene, southern Africa (table 37.1). Diagnosis From Morales et al. (1999). Medium-sized ruminant with long and gracile premolar series. Lower p4 with simple metaconid, directed posteriorly, anterior wing without bifurcation. P2 and p2 nearly the same size as P3 and p3. Description The holotype is a partial skeleton including a skull and mandible. The skull has strong sagittal and nuchal crests, but no cranial appendages. The holotype dentition is rather worn, but the upper dentition is supposed to be characterized by strong styles and late fusion of the internal lobes. There is a Palaeomeryx-fold on the lower molars, and the p3 and p4 are simple with unbifurcated anterior ends and simple metaconids directed posterolingually. The lower canine of Sperrgebietomeryx is unknown. Several other isolated postcranial elements from Elisabethfeld, identified largely on the basis of size, are also included in this taxon. Discussion Stromer’s cf. Strogulognathus sansaniensis material was from Langental. Hamilton and Van Couvering (1977; Hamilton, 1978a) recovered additional ruminants from Langental and Elisabethfeld and synonymized cf. S. sansaniensis with Propalaeoryx austroafricanus. Morales et al. (1999) erect Sperrgebietomeryx based on the new specimen from Elisabethfeld and include Stromer’s original material, but they do not comment on which specimens from the Hamilton and Van Couvering collections are included in this taxon, nor do they comment on its similarities to or differences from Strogulognathus. Sperrgebietomeryx is differentiated from P. austroafricanus by its slightly smaller size, more primitive premolar morphology, the absence of p1 (Morales et al., 1999), and presumably the Palaeomeryx-fold. Morales et al. (1999) include Sperrgebietomeryx as a member of the family Climacoceratidae. Hamilton (1978b:168) originally diagnosed the Climacoceratidae (= Climacoceridae in Hamilton 1978b; see Gentry 1994 for ICZN correction to family name) as “Giraffoids having large ossicones carrying many tines.” In order to accommodate Sperrgebietomeryx within the Climacoceratidae, Morales et al. (1999:232) give a greatly altered diagnosis for the family and also name Sperrgebietomerycinae as a subfamily of climacoceratids characterized by the absence of cranial protuberances. Climacoceras does not have a Palaeomeryx-fold, and the presence of this feature in a purported climacoceratid (or any member of the Giraffoidea) is problematic. Genus ORANGEMERYX Morales et al., 1999

Type Species Orangemeryx hendeyi Morales et al., 1999. ORANGEMERYX HENDEYI Morales et al., 1999 Table 37.1

Synonymy Climacoceras sp. Hendey, 1978. Holotype AD 595’94 left frontal fragment with apophysis. Occurrence Early middle Miocene or latest early Miocene, southern Africa (table 37.1). Diagnosis From Morales et al. (1999). Having supraorbital apophyses that are conical in outline, elongated, slightly compressed, ornamented at the base with rounded tubercles, and possessing bifurcated or trifurcated upper terminations. Description All material assigned to Orangemeryx is isolated; no associated cranial apophyses and dentitions are known, nor is any of the postcranial material assigned to Orangemeryx associated. Morales et al. (2003) note a great deal of morphological and size variation within the assemblage, but they

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conclude that it can presently be considered a single, sexually dimorphic taxon. Conversely, Hendey (1978:29) thought that a second pecoran taxon may have been present at Arrisdrift, based on variation in the size of postcrania and also variation in size and morphology of dental remains. The cranial appendages of Orangemeryx are thought to be apophyseal in origin, like those of Climacoceras, but are said to differ from this genus in their short and conical, rather than long and cylindrical outline. The dentition is also similar to Climacoceras and is characterized by upper molars with strong styles, a relatively high degree of hypsodonty, and lower molars without Palaeomeryx-folds. The lower premolars are more complex than those of Sperrgebietomeryx, with a bifurcated anterior end and more lingually oriented transverse crests. The limbs and cervical vertebrae are elongated. Morales et al. (2003) describe a tooth that they consider to be the upper canine of Orangemeryx. Numerous isolated incisiform lower teeth representing either the canine or incisors have been assigned to Orangemeryx. None of these teeth is bilobed, but neither is it certain that the canine is represented in this assemblage. Discussion Orangemeryx shares numerous features, most notably its branched apophyseal cranial appendages, with Climacoceras, and the attribution of this genus to the Climacoceratidae is more secure than is the case for Sperrgebietomeryx, Propalaeoryx, or Prolibytherium. However, the fact that the canine is not definitively known will lead some authors (e.g., Harris et al, this volume, chapter 41) to leave Orangemeryx out of the Giraffoidea at present. The discovery of an associated canine could confirm the status of Orangemeryx as a climacoceratid, or perhaps more interestingly, shed doubt on the status of the bilobed canine as a synapomorphy of the Giraffoidea. Genus NAMIBIOMERYX Morales et al., 1995

Type Species Namibiomeryx senuti Morales et al., 1995. Only species in genus. NAMIBIOMERYX SENUTI Morales et al., 1995 Table 37.1

Synonymy ? “small tragulid” Hopwood, 1929. Holotype Left mandible with m1–m3; no specimen number is provided. Occurrence Early Miocene, southern Africa (table 37.1). Diagnosis From Morales et al. (1995). Dentition hypsodont; lower molars without Palaeomeryx-fold, moderate stylids, and hypoconid separated from entoconid; upper molars with strong para- and metastyles and internal lobes high crowned with early fusion; premolar series elongated; p4 with simple metaconid directed posteriorly and anterior end not bifurcated. Description Namibiomeryx is a small ruminant, about the size of a dik-dik. Morales et al. (1995) describe it as a hornless ruminant, though only dental material has been published. Namibiomeryx is placed in the Bovoidea on the basis of its lack of Palaeomeryx-fold and lower molars with moderate stylids, as well as early fusion of the upper molar lingual cusps in wear. They further place Namibiomeryx in the Bovidae, solely on the basis of its moderately hypsodont dentition. Several specimens described by Hopwood (1929) as a “smaller tragulid” are in fact not tragulid and may represent Namibiomeryx. In size and morphology they are a good match

to published drawings and measurements of Namibiomeryx, though the hypoconid is not separated anteriorly to the same degree. Hopwood’s specimens are in the AMNH (Nos. 22525 and 22526) with casts preserved in the NHM. If this material can be considered Namibiomeryx, it indicates that a p1 was not present in this taxon. Discussion Morales et al. (1995) point out that the earliest true bovids are likely to be hornless and that Namibiomeryx cannot be excluded from the family on this basis. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find dental characters that definitively unite the Bovidae, hypsodonty being an unsatisfactory character due to the likelihood that it has developed independently in several lineages. Further recovery and description of cranial and postcranial material may shed further light on the affinities of Namibiomeryx. ADDITIONAL MIOCENE PECORA OF UNCERTAIN STATUS

Rusinga In addition to “Palaeomeryx” africanus (now considered Walangania africanus and not a representative of the Palaeomerycidae), Whitworth (1958:24) listed five specimens from Rusinga as “Palaeomeryx sp.” Hamilton (1978a) transferred all but one of these teeth to Canthumeryx, a synonymy that is generally recognized (e.g., Harris et al, this volume, chapter 41). The specimen that Hamilton (1978a) did not transfer is NHM M 35250 (Ru 442’51), an m3 that Hamilton thought was too brachydont to be attributed to Canthumeryx, but also could not belong in Palaeomeryx. The advanced wear stage of this tooth makes identification difficult, but the tooth is of an appropriate size to belong with the rest of the Rusinga Canthumeryx material.

Gebel Zelten Hamilton (1973) assigned two fragmentary third lower molars to “Palaeomeryx sp.” (NHM M 26691 and BU 20112). He later (1978a) said that these are not attributable to Palaeomeryx, while maintaining that they cannot belong to either Canthumeryx or Prolibytherium. The specimen in London (BU specimen not seen) is very worn, but similar in size to Prolibytherium, although Hamilton thought this tooth was too brachydont for this taxon. NHM M 26690 is a set of cranial appendages that Hamilton (1973: plate 1, figure 6) considered “Palaeomerycidae indet.” They are long, straight, and unbranching, with their bases set close together. Hamilton (1978a) later suggested that this specimen might represent the female or juvenile condition of Prolibytherium magneri.

Fort Ternan Gentry (1970) listed a lower molar (now numbered KNM FT 3136) in his review of Fort Ternan ruminants, noting that it was similar in morphology to Propalaeoryx austroafricanus, but was larger. This tooth is similar in size to the m1 of Climacoceras but cannot be assigned to this taxon. Compared with Climacoceras, this tooth is lower crowned and more bunodont, with a less flattened lingual surface; has a central valley that is more open lingually with a more strongly developed metastylid and weaker parastylid; and possesses stronger anterior and posterior cingula. Its size and the presence of a faint but clearly visible Palaeomeryx-fold preclude attribution to any of



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the named African early Miocene pecoran taxa, although it is similar in size to published measurements of m1 and m2 of Orangemeryx. These few published specimens, along with several other fragmentary unpublished remains from East Africa provide tantalizing evidence of further pecoran diversity in the African early and middle Miocene.

Discussion The taxa discussed in this chapter represent the oldest known pecoran ruminants in Africa. The origins of the Pecora are unclear, though the group certainly originated in Eurasia, only dispersing into Africa in the late Oligocene or earliest Miocene. Although the Tragulidae are the closest living sister group of Pecora, the true sister taxa of pecorans are likely found among the extinct families of the Tragulina (Webb and Taylor, 1980; Gentry and Hooker, 1988; Gentry, 1994, 2000). Morales et al. (1995) state that as the earliest bovid, Namibiomeryx demonstrates that the bovoid-bovid transition occurred in Africa and not in Eurasia. However, it is not certain that Namibiomeryx is a bovid (see also Gentry, this volume, chapter 40) and definitive bovids of equal antiquity occur in western Asia (e.g., Barry et al., 2005). It is likely that neither bovids nor giraffids originated in Africa but migrated into Africa from separate ancestral stocks in Eurasia. Several of the taxa discussed here have been included in the Giraffoidea (Prolibytherium, Propalaeoryx, Sperrgebietomeryx, Orangemeryx). If the presence of a bilobed lower canine can be considered a synapomorphy of the Giraffoidea (Hamilton, 1978b; Harris et al., this volume, chapter 41), these taxa must be left as Pecora incertae sedis, as the state of their lower canines is unknown. The bilobed canine is given great importance in giraffoid systematics, and though it is never ideal to use a single synapomorphy to define a group, it is difficult to find other characters that unite the superfamily Giraffoidea. The reported presence of Palaeomeryx-folds in Sperrgebietomeryx, and possibly some Propalaeoryx austroafricanus (Morales et al., 1999:237), would also be unusual for a giraffoid. Morales and colleagues (1999, 2003; Pickford et al., 2001) have included Propalaeoryx, Sperrgebietomeryx, and Orangemeryx in the Climacoceratidae, largely based on a very different concept of what climacoceratids are. A more traditional classification would exclude Sperrgebietomeryx and Propalaeoryx from the Climacoceratidae due to their apparent lack of tined cranial appendages (Hamilton, 1978b). Orangemeryx and Prolibytherium might be better candidates for inclusion in Climacoceratidae as they do bear cranial appendages, but these may not all be homologous. Prolibytherium does not possess an elongated neck, part of the diagnosis of Climacoceratidae presented by Morales et al. (1999:232). Other characters of this diagnosis, including open metatarsal gullies and hypsodonty, are likely evolved in parallel in several ruminant lineages. Morales et al. (2003) also question whether a bilobed canine is truly present in Climacoceras, following Churcher (1990:193), who had suggested that the bilobed canine present in the type specimen of Climacoceras gentryi does not belong to this individual. Reexamination of the C. gentryi type shows that while the mandible was broken anteriorly, there is an excellent fit between the dentary and the small anterior fragment containing the incisor and canine and that the bilobed nature of this tooth is represented very faithfully by Hamilton (1978b: figure 3). There can be little doubt that at least Climacoceras gentryi did possess a bilobed canine,

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although this does not necessarily resolve the signficance of this feature for giraffoid systematics. The presence of a Palaeomeryx-fold in taxa that some believe to belong within Giraffoidea is problematic, as this feature is often viewed as a character of Cervoidea (Janis and Scott, 1987, 1988; Gentry, 1994). Either the Palaeomeryx-fold must be viewed as a primitive feature common to several lineages of ruminants (e.g., Hamilton, 1973:148) or less likely, a feature that evolved in parallel, or these purported giraffoids must be excluded from this subfamily. The variability in the presence, strength, and morphology of the Palaeomeryx-fold in Walangania is disconcerting. Variation along the molar row in a single individual, as well as variation in the same tooth between different individuals, indicates that the Palaeomeryx-fold may not be as phylogenetically meaningful as has often been assumed.

Conclusions New material of late Oligocene and early Miocene pecorans may help to clarify the origins of the modern pecoran families. However, as numerous authors have pointed out, the rapid divergence of pecoran groups in the Oligocene (based on molecular dating) may obscure pecoran familial relationships. Clear attribution of all pecoran taxa to a modern family is not possible until the late Miocene. Another problem is that attribution of early taxa into one of the modern groups rests largely on single synapomorphies, such as the bilobed canine for giraffoids, or Palaeomeryx-fold for cervoids, and further inquiry into the validity of these synapomorphies, and identification of new characters, is important. Similarities between several of these African early Miocene pecorans and Eurasian taxa such as Dremotherium suggest that the African material cannot be studied in isolation and that intercontinental connections are vital to furthering our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of these taxa. As African pecorans are immigrant taxa, a greater understanding of the interrelationships and origins of the Pecora may likely come from outside the African continent. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

E. Mbua and M. Mungu at the KNM; E. Kamuhangire, E. Musimae, and N. Abiti at the Uganda Museum; and J. Hooker and A. Currant at the NHM kindly allowed access to collections under their care. I would also like to thank E. Miller, J. Morales, M. Pickford, and H. Tsujikawa for helpful information. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-0524944), the Leakey Foundation, the Quaternary Research Association, and the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. Personal thanks to Lars Werdelin and Bill Sanders for including these “forgotten” taxa in this volume, Laura MacLatchy for permission to study material she collected in Uganda, and John Barry for first introducing me to ruminants. I extend my most particular regards to Alan Gentry not only for suggesting to the editors that I write this chapter, but for believing that I could.

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Hopwood, A. T. 1929. New and little-known mammals from the Miocene of Africa. American Museum Novitates 344:1–9. Janis, C., and K. Scott. 1987. The interrelationships of higher ruminant families with special emphasis on the members of the Cervoidea. American Museum Novitates 2893:1–85. ———. 1988. The phylogeny of the Ruminantia (Artiodactyla, Mammalia); pp. 273–282 in M. J. Benton (ed.), The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods: Volume 2. Mammals. Clarendon Press, Oxford. MacLatchy, L., A. Deino, and J. Kingston. 2006. An updated chronology for the early Miocene of Uganda. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26 (suppl. to no. 3):93A. Miller, E., and E. Simons. 1996. Relationships between the mammalian fauna from Wadi Moghara, Qattara Depression, Egypt, and other early Miocene faunas. Proceedings of the Geological Survey of Egypt, Centennial Conference:547–580. Morales, J. L. Ginsburg, and D. Soria. 1986. Los Bovoidea (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) del Mioceno inferior de España: Filogenia y biogeografía. Paleontología y Evolució 20:259–265. Morales, J., M. Pickford, and D. Soria. 1993. Pachyostosis in a lower Miocene giraffoid from Spain, Lorancameryx pachyostoticus nov. gen. nov. sp. and its bearing on the evolution of bony appendages in artiodactyls. Geobios 26:207–230. Morales, J., D. Soria, M. Nieto, P. Pelaez-Campomanes, and M. Pickford. 2003. New data regarding Orangemeryx hendeyi Morales et al., 2000, from the type locality, Arrisdrift, Namibia. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Namibia 19:305–344. Morales, J., D. Soria, and M. Pickford. 1995. Sur les origines de la famille des Bovidae (Artiodactyla, Mammalia). Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris 321:1211–1217. ———. 1999. New stem giraffoid ruminants from the early and middle Miocene of Namibia. Geodiversitas 21:229–253. Moyà-Solà, S. 1987. Los ruminantes (Cervoidea y Bovoidea, Artiodactyla, Mammalia) del Ageniense (Mioceno inferior) de Navarrete del Rio (Teruel, Espana). Paleontología y Evolució 21:247–269. Nakaya, H. 1994. Faunal change of late Miocene Africa and Eurasia: Mammalian fauna from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, Northern Kenya. African Study Monographs (suppl.) 29: 1–112. Pickford, M. 2002. Ruminants from the early Miocene of Napak, Uganda. Annales de Paléontologie 88:85–113. Pickford, M., and P. Andrews. 1981. The Tinderet Miocene sequence in Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 10:11–33. Pickford, M., Y. Attia, and M. Abd El Ghany. 2001. Discovery of Prolibytherium magnieri Arambourg, 1961 (Artiodactyla, Climacoceratidae) in Egypt. Geodiversitas 23:647–652. Pickford, M., H. Ishida, Y. Nakano, and K. Yasui. 1987. The Middle Miocene fauna from the Nachola and Aka Aiteputh Formations, Northern Kenya. African Study Monographs (suppl.) 5:141–154. Pickford, M., and P. Mein. 2007. Early Middle Miocene Mammals from Moroto II, Uganda. Beiträge zur Paläontologie 30:361–386. Pickford, M., and B. Senut. 2003. Miocene Paleobiology of the Orange River Valley, Namibia. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Namibia 19:1–22. Price, S., O. Bininda-Emonds, and J. Gittleman. 2005. A complete phylogeny of the whales, dolphins and even-toed hoofed mammals (Cetartiodactyla). Biological Reviews 80:445–473. Sawada, Y., M. Pickford, T. Itaya, T. Makinouchi, M. Tateishi, K. Kabeto, S. Ishida, and I. Ishida. 1998. K-Ar ages of Miocene Hominoidea (Kenyapithecus and Samburupithecus) from Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes 326:445–451. Stromer, E. 1926. Reste Land- und Süsswasser-Bewohnender Wirbeltiere aus den Diamantfeldern Deutsch-Südwestafrikas; pp. 107– 153 in E. Kaiser (ed.), Die Diamantenwüste Südwest-africas, vol. 2. Reimer, Berlin. Vislobokova, I. 2001. Evolution and classification of Tragulina (Ruminantia, Artiodactyla). Paleontological Journal 35(S2):S69–S145. Webb, S. D., and B. E. Taylor. 1980. The phylogeny of higher ruminants and a description of the cranium of Archaeomeryx. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 167:117–158. Whitworth, T. 1958. Miocene ruminants of East Africa. Fossil Mammals of Africa 15:1–50.



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CHAPTE R TH I RTY-E IG HT

Bovidae ALAN W. G E NTRY

Bovidae contain the cattle, sheep, goats, and antelopes. The word antelope is used for bovids outside Europe, mostly in Africa, or not domesticated before Linnaeus’ lifetime. It does not correspond with a formal taxonomic category. Most phylogenies postulate bovids being closer to cervids than to giraffids (Marcot, 2007). Unlike the cervoid Moschus in relation to Cervidae, there is no living hornless pecoran thought to be a bovoid (member of a superfamily Bovoidea including Bovidae and any related families, the latter as yet unknown). Table 38.1 shows an overall classification of Bovidae, and figure 38.1 shows their evolutionary relationships.

Bovid Attributes and Their History Bovidae are defined by their hollow horns (hence the old name Cavicornia) in which a keratinized epidermal sheath fits over a bony core. The bovid horn core consists of spongy bone except in some advanced bovids with internal sinuses. Neither sheath nor core is branched or seasonally shed. Some species have horns in both sexes. Upper incisors are lacking and only a few early species retain minute upper canines. Enlarged upper canines have never been found in early bovids, but they have been in the possibly bovoid Hispanomeryx (Moyá Solá, 1986). First premolars have disappeared. The cheek teeth are selenodont and the crescentic cusps join to one another earlier in wear than in cervids or giraffids. The cheek teeth are nearly always more hypsodont and with smoother enamel than in cervids or giraffids. Styles, stylids and ribs are not very bulky and cingula are weak, all unlike most deer. Metapodials lateral and medial to the main cannon bone are absent or splintlike and more reduced than in cervids. The metatarsal has an open groove distally on its anterior surface. Compared with cervids or giraffids, many bovids show strong cursorial characters in their limb bones. The majority of them show territorial behaviour. Horn cores are an extra help in identification but can be more variable within species than is useful. The first, early Miocene stage in their evolution (figure 38.2A) looks as if it were short, stumpy spikes, widely separated and above the back of the orbits (Morales et al., 2003: plate 1, figures 2–3; Moyá Solá, 1983: plate 1, figures 1–2). In the middle Miocene horn cores began to lengthen, their insertions often became

closer and more posterior, and keels appeared in Boselaphini. Lengthened, anteroposteriorly enlarged and backwardly curved horn cores could have been successive, overlapping or simultaneous advances during the middle Miocene. Backward curvature appeared in Tethytragus, Gazella, early Hippotragus and others; in longer horn cores this prevents tips becoming too anteriorly pointed. Figure 38.2E shows that lengthening alone may have taken place in the ancestors of smaller antelopes such as Neotragini, while Pelea is a further example of a larger antelope with small-diameter horn cores. From the late Miocene onward, many changes, parallels and reversals became possible in inclination, divergence, curvature, and torsion. The result is the well-known diversity of bovid horn core shapes. Horn cores of some bovids show clockwise or anticlockwise torsion. The direction can be decided by viewing a right horn core from either end and assuming the torsion to be away from and not toward the observer. In two other conventions clockwise torsion on the right is called homonymous or inverse (antonyms: heteronymous or normal). Homonymous and heteronymous are preferable to clockwise and anticlockwise in that the same word applies to the horn cores of both sides in an individual animal. Whenever used in English texts, the words need careful initial definition since they are inadequately defined or absent (in this meaning) in dictionaries. Torsion can be manifested as twisting of the axis and need not disturb the overall straightness of the horn core, as in an eland, Taurotragus oryx. In other species it can combine with changing divergence along the course of the horn core to produce lyration as in impala, Aepyceros melampus, or ultimately the open spiraling of the greater kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros. Kingdon (1982) gives an ontogenetic interpretation of tragelaphine horn cores that involves different adjectives for the lyrated and spiraled states as used in this chapter. Primitive states of skull characters are not known for sure, and all the following are tentative to varying degrees. Sinuses within the frontals and horn pedicels were of small extent, and the frontals were not elevated between the horn core bases in front view. Supraorbital foramina were small and without surrounding pits; the preorbital fossa large; the back of the tooth row lay below the orbit; the infraorbital foramen was placed low and anteriorly; the median indent at the back

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ta b l e 3 8 .1 A possible classification of Bovidae into subfamilies and tribes Vertical lines to the left indicate possible larger groupings: A, the early and perhaps diphyletic Hypsodontinae; B, Boselaphini and allied tribes; C, a cluster centred around Antilopini; D, the caprine-alcelaphine group.

Taxon

Characteristics group a

Subfamily †Hypsodontinae †Hypsodontini

Middle Miocene, perhaps diphyletic to other bovids

group b Subfamily Bovinae Boselaphini Tragelaphini Bovini

Nilgai and four-horned antelope Kudu, bushbuck group Cattle, buffalo

group c Subfamily Antilopinae Cephalophini Neotragini Antilopini †Criotherium Peleini Subfamily Reduncinae Reduncini

Subfamily †Oiocerinae †Oiocerini

Duikers Dik dik, steenbok and other small antelopes Impala, blackbuck, saiga antelope, gazelles Late Miocene, plus †Palaeoreas, coming from Antilopini Vaal rhebok, Pelea capreolus.

Waterbuck and reedbuck group, perhaps originating from near Pelea

Late Miocene, includes †Urmiatherium

group d Subfamily Hippotraginae Hippotragini alcelaphini

?Subfamily of Its Own †Tethytragus

Roan, sable antelope, oryx, addax Hartebeest and wildebeest group. This and the preceding tribe arose near the complicated base of the Caprinae.

Middle Miocene. Relationship with Oiocerini, Hippotragini, Pantholops, or Caprinae still to be decided.

?Subfamily of Its Own Pantholops

Chiru, one genus near the origin of Caprinae

Subfamily Caprinae Rupicaprini or Naemorhedini Budorcas Ovibovini Caprini

Chamois, serow, goral Takin, not in the Ovibovini Muskox Goats, but tribe for sheep still to be decided

SOU RCE : Based on Gentry (1992), Gatesy et al. (1997), Hassanin and Douzery (1999), Vrba and Schaller (2000), Matthee and Davis (2001), Hernández Fernández and Vrba (2005), and Marcot (2007). Note that if subfamily Antilopinae were regarded as the cladistic sister group to subfamily Bovinae, all ranks in C and D would need downgrading. Criotherium, Oiocerini, Tethytragus, Pantholops, and Rupicaprini are not represented in Africa.

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Cephalophini Antilopini

Bovini

Reduncini

H

E, F

Hippotragini Alcelaphini I

E

Caprinae G

E

Boselaphini Tragelaphini G

D

B H

A, B, C

A, D

FIGURE 38.1 A simplified scheme of possible subfamily and tribal-level evolutionary relationships among Bovidae. The ancestor would have had short, nearly upright horn core spikes and brachyodont or mesodont teeth with occlusal surfaces as in figure 38.4A. A) Horn cores lengthen, B) horn cores become inclined in side view, C) horn cores acquire keels, D) teeth become higher crowned, E) teeth eventually become boödont, F) much enlarged body size, G) teeth become aegodont, H) horn cores become backwardly curved, and I) long faces, teeth with rounded lobes, no basal pillars.

B

E

C D

A

settes, and strong vertical ribs on the labial walls of upper molars and lingual walls of lower molars. Aegodont attributes are loss of basal pillars, simple and less curved central fossettes, and flat or slightly concave walls in place of the ribs of boödonts.

Conventions and Abbreviations Side views of bovid horn cores showing early stages in their evolution, anterior to the right. A) Short, stumpy spikes, based on Namacerus and early Eotragus. B) Increase in length, based on modern Raphicerus campestris. C) Increased anteroposterior girth as in Eotragus clavatus or the Pseudoeotragus seegrabensis of Made (1989). D) Beginning of backward curvature, based on supposed Homoiodorcas sp. (Thomas, 1983). E) Longer horn cores with more definite backward curvature, based on late Miocene Gazella. Scale = 25 mm.

FIGURE 38.2

of the palate was at a more posterior level than the lateral ones. The braincase roof was slightly inclined, but later it could shorten and become more inclined. Temporal lines approached each other closely toward the back of the cranial roof. Each side of the occipital surface faced partly laterally as well as backward. The basioccipital was small and narrow anteriorly, later becoming quadrangular. Probably the original state of bovid teeth was like the middle Miocene Eotragus and Tethytragus with slightly rugose enamel and long premolar rows. Since then, various tribes have evolved in their own ways either toward occlusal complexity or simplicity (figures 38.3, 38.4). Many opportunities for parallelisms have been taken up, but no tribe has ended with a suite of characters coinciding with any other tribe. In the past, a rather unclear dichotomy was often seen between the Boodontia and Aegodontia of Schlosser (1911) or “millers” and “cutters” of Köhler (1993). It is paradoxical that although first noticed by palaeontologists, boödonty and aegodonty only become well manifest in middle Pleistocene and later bovids and are not very helpful for most of bovid history. Boödont attributes are large occlusal area, enlarged basal pillars and a complicated outline of the central fos-

Authors and dates of subfamily and tribe names are given in Grubb (2001) and Wilson and Reeder (2005). The treatment of species does not include complete locality or synonym citations because (1) many species are widespread; (2) many identifications are dubious, debated, and often based on fragmentary material; (3) authors are not agreed on the morphological or chronostratigraphical levels of transitions to living species; (4) late Pleistocene and later sites are very numerous and lead into an enormous archaeological literature (see Plug and Badenhorst, 2001, for South Africa alone). A good deal of information about earlier finds of fossil bovids of interest is given in Gentry and Gentry (1978), which is indexed. Early, middle, and late temporal subdivisions are used according to normal practices for the Miocene and Pleistocene epochs. The Pliocene is divided into three equal parts, which means that the middle subdivision runs from approximately 4.0 to 3.0 Ma. Localities mentioned in the text are listed in table 38.2. The oftenmentioned Siwaliks are a range of sediments associated with the Himalayan orogeny in India and Pakistan and containing a rich sequence of Miocene, Pliocene, and early Pleistocene vertebrate faunas (Barry, 1995). ABBREIVATIONS

AMNH ⫽ American Museum of Natural History, New York; BMNH ⫽ Natural History Museum, London; ICZN ⫽ International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, * ⫽ type species or type locality, Fm ⫽ formation, Mb ⫽ member. DAP ⫻ DT ⫽ horn core index ⫽ anteroposterior and transverse diameters at the base of a horn core. Skull orientations are described with the tooth row visualized as horizontal.

THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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FIGURE 38.3

Nomenclature of bovid right cheek teeth: A) upper molar; B) M3; C) P4. Anterior to

the right.

spans. The Sterkfontein Valley and Makapansgat Limeworks cave sites (formerly the “Transvaal cave sites”) and several west and north African localities are also informative. Family BOVIDAE Gray, 1821 Subfamily and Tribe INDET. Genus NAMACERUS Morales, Soria, Pickford and Nieto, 2003

Type Species Namacerus gariepensis Morales et al., 2003. NAMACERUS GARIEPENSIS Morales et al., 2003 FIGURE 38.4 Aegodont and boödont teeth of the right side in Bovidae. Top row, upper molars; lower row, lower molars. A) Early bovid based on Eotragus. B) Aegodont bovid based on Capra. C) Boödont bovid based on modern Hippotragus. Anterior to the right. Boödont features are large occlusal area, strong ribs, large basal pillars, and a complicated outline of the central fossettes. Aegodont features are flatter or straighter labial walls of upper molars and lingual walls of lower molars, absence of basal pillars, and straighter or more simple central fossettes. Goat folds can occur in either type. Scale = 25 mm.

Fossil Bovidae in Africa In Eurasia tiny bovid-like dental remains are known well back to the early Oligocene of Mongolia (Dmitrieva, 2002), but nothing is known of pre-Miocene ruminants in Africa. Pecorans such as Walangania, Propalaeoryx, and Namibiomeryx do appear in the early Miocene (Cote, this volume, chapter 37), and the last has been claimed to be a bovid by Morales et al. (1995). From the middle Miocene onward, faunas with two or more bovid species can be found. Four such localities are Gebel Zelten and Maboko, both close to the start of the middle Miocene ~16.0 Ma; Fort Ternan ~14.0 Ma; and the Ngorora Formation lasting from about 12.0–8.0 Ma. At the first three of these localities, one or more giraffoids accompany the bovids. The bovids of these and other faunas are recognisably in different subfamilies and tribes (table 38.3). Much information about subsequent bovid evolution in Africa comes from the Awash area and the Shungura Formation in Ethiopia, the Koobi Fora and Nachukui Formations in Kenya, and Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, all of which have analyzed temporal

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Synonymy Namacerus gariepensis Morales et al., 2003:372, plates 1–4.

Localities and Age *Arrisdrift. Middle Miocene, ca. 17.0 Ma. Remarks This species is notably informative as an African bovid on the threshold of the middle Miocene. It is about the size of a steenbok, Raphicerus campestris, and does have horn cores, very short and stumpy like those of early Eotragus at Buñol, Spain (Moyá Solá, 1983), but only about three-quarters of their size. The teeth are said to differ from the early Miocene (ca. 18.0 Ma) E. artenensis in Europe by being slightly more hypsodont, and the lower molars by lacking metastylids and having continuous lingual walls. The length of the lower premolar rows relative to the molar rows is about 70%, which is like Eotragus and probably primitive for bovids. The metapodials and tibia were not very long, and the limb proportions were thereby like those of a Cephalophus or a muntjac deer. Subfamily HYPSODONTINAE Köhler,1987

Type Genus Hypsodontus Sokolov, 1949. The now extinct Hypsodontinae reached their zenith and their end in the middle Miocene. By this time, they had acquired horns and become widespread. In the early Miocene they had lived in China (Chen, 1988) and possibly Arabia (Whybrow et al., 1982; Thomas et al., 1982; Gentry, 1987b) and, most probably, had not possessed horns. Some hypsodontines had hypsodont teeth, and bovid-like hypsodont and nonhypsodont teeth go back into the Paleogene of eastern Asia (Wang, 1992; Dmitrieva, 2002).

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ta b l e 3 8 . 2 List of African localities mentioned in the text Dates are mostly approximate and are taken from either the cited references or the many tabulations in the literature.

Adu-Asa Formation, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, late Miocene (Haile-Selassie et al., 2004); 5.8–5.7 Ma Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco, late Pliocene (Geraads and Amani, 1998); ~ 2.5 Ma Aïn Boucherit, Algeria, late Pliocene (Arambourg, 1979); ~2.0 Ma Aïn Brimba, Algeria, late Pliocene; ~2.5–3 Ma Aïn Hanech, Algeria, early Pleistocene; ~1.5 Ma Aïn Jourdel, Algeria, late Pliocene; ~2.2 Ma Aïn Maarouf, Morocco, Middle Pleistocene (Geraads and Amani, 1997); ~0.8 Ma, slightly younger than Tighenif Alayla, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, Latest Miocene (Haile-Selassie et al., 2004); 5.8–5.5 Ma Algiers, gisement des Phacochères, Algeria, late Pleistocene (Hadjouis, 2002) Anabo Koma, Djibouti, early Pleistocene (Bonis et al., 1988) ; ~1.6 Ma Aramis, Middle Awash, Sagantole Fm, Ethiopia, early Pliocene (Vrba, 1997); ~4.4 Ma Arrisdrift, Namibia, middle Miocene (Morales et al., 2003) ; ~17.0 Ma Asbole, Ethiopia, middle Pleistocene (Geraads et al., 2004) ; 0.8–0.6 Ma Beglia Formation, Tunisia, (?middle-) late Miocene (Robinson, 1972); 11.0–10.0 Ma Beni Mellal, Morocco, middle Miocene (Choubert and Faure-Muret, 1961); Bizerte, Tunisia, late Pleistocene Bodo 1, Awash, Ethiopia, middle Pleistocene (Vrba, 1997); 0.64 Ma Bolt’s Farm, South Africa, late Pliocene or middle Pleistocene (Cooke, 1991; Vrba, 1978) Bou Hanifia (formerly Oued el Hammam), Algeria, early late Miocene (Arambourg, 1959); 10.0–9.0 Ma Bouri 1–2, Ethiopia, early Pleistocene (Vrba, 1997); ~1.0 Ma Buffalo Cave, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Plio-Pleistocene (Kuykendall et al., 1995) Buia, Eritrea, early Pleistocene (Martínez-Navarro et al., 2004); 1.0 Ma Casablanca , Morocco, late Pleistocene (Arambourg, 1939) Chelmer, Zimbabwe, late Pleistocene (Cooke and Wells, 1951) Chiwondo Beds, Malawi, middle Pliocene–early Pleistocene (Sandrock et al., 2007); three levels: 4.0 Ma or older, 3.76–2.00 Ma or younger, and 1.6–1.5 Ma Chorora Formation, Ethiopia, late Miocene (Geraads et al., 2002) Cornelia, South Africa, middle Pleistocene (Cooke, 1974); 0.8–0.6 Ma Djebel Krechem, Tunisia, late Miocene (Geraads, 1989); ~9.0 Ma Djebel-Thaya, Algeria, late Pleistocene (Bourguignat, 1870) Elandsfontein, South Africa, middle Pleistocene (Klein et al., 2007); 0.7(- 0.4?) Ma El Hamma du Djérid, Tunisia, late Miocene (Thomas, 1979); Florisbad, Free State Province, South Africa, late Pleistocene (Brink, 1987); Fort Ternan, middle Miocene, Kenya (Gentry, 1970); 14.0 Ma Gamedah, Ethiopia, late Pliocene (Vrba, 1997); 2.6 Ma Garba IV, Ethiopia, early Pleistocene (Geraads et al., 2004); ~1.3 Ma Gebel Zelten, Libya, near the early-middle Miocene transition (Hamilton, 1973); ~16.0 Ma

Gladysvale, South Africa, middle Pleistocene (Lacruz et al., 2002); ~0.7 Ma Hadar Formation, Ethiopia, middle Pliocene (Alemseged et al., 2005); 3.4–2.9 Ma Isimila, Tanzania, middle Pleistocene (Howell et al., 1972) Kabwe, Zambia, middle Pleistocene; ~0.2 Ma Kaiso Formation deposits of unknown age in the Kazinga Channel, Uganda (Cooke and Coryndon, 1970; Geraads and Thomas, 1994) Kaiso Village Beds, Uganda, late Pliocene (Geraads and Thomas, 1994); ?(2.6–2.3) Ma Kanam, Kenya, late Pliocene – early Pleistocene (Ditchfield et al., 1999) Kanapoi, Kenya, early Pliocene (Harris et al., 2003); 4.17–4.07 Ma Kanjera, Kenya, late Pliocene – middle Pleistocene (Ditchfield et al., 1999) Karmosit beds, Kenya, Pliocene (Bishop et.al., 1971); ?3.5 Ma Katwe Ashes, Semliki, DR Congo, late Pleistocene (Boaz, 1990) Klasies River Mouth, South Africa, late Pleistocene (Klein, 1994) Kom Ombo, Egypt, late Pleistocene (Churcher, 1972) Koobi Fora Formation, Kenya, late early Pliocene–middle Pleistocene (Harris, 1991) Koro Toro, Chad, middle Pliocene (Geraads et al., 2001); 3.5–3.0 Ma Kromdraai A (= Kromdraai Faunal Site), South Africa, early (-middle?) Pleistocene (Vrba, 1978, 1996); ~0.7 Ma Laetoli, Laetolil Beds, Tanzania, middle Pliocene (Su and Harrison, 2007; Harrison, in press); 3.7–3.5 Ma Laetoli, Upper Ndolanya Beds, Tanzania, late Pliocene (Kovarovic et al., 2002); 2.6–2.5 Ma Lainyamok, Kenya, middle Pleistocene (Potts and Deino, 1995); ~0.36 Ma Langebaanweg, Varswater Formation, South Africa, early Pliocene (Gentry, 1980); ~5.0 Ma Lothagam, Kenya, Nawata Formation to Kaiyumung Member of the Nachukui Formation, late Miocene–middle Pliocene (Leakey and Harris, 2003); 7.5–3.6 Ma Lower Terrace Complex, Semliki, DR Congo, middle Pleistocene (Boaz, 1990) Lukeino, Kenya, late Miocene (Thomas, 1980; Deino et al., 2002); 6.0–5.7 Ma Lukenya Hill, Kenya, late Pleistocene (Marean, 1992) Maboko, Kenya, middle Miocene (Feibel and Brown, 1991); 16.0–15.0 Ma Maka, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, middle Pliocene (Vrba, 1997); 3.2 Ma Makapansgat Limeworks, Limpopo Province, South Africa, late Pliocene–early Pleistocene (Reed, 1998; Vrba, 1995); Mb 3 = 2.8–2.6 Ma, Mb 4 = 2.7–2.5 Ma, and Mb 5 = 1.8–1.6 Ma Manonga (= Wembere), Tanzania, late Miocene–early Pliocene (Harrison and Baker, 1997) Mansourah, Algeria, early Pleistocene (Chaîd-Saoudi et al., 2006); ~1.7 Ma Marceau, Algeria. See Menacer. Matabaietu, Ethiopia, late Pliocene (Vrba, 1997); ~2.5 Ma Melka Kunturé, Ethiopia, early–middle Pleistocene (Geraads et al., 2004b); includes Garba Melkbos, South Africa, late Pleistocene (Hendey, 1968)



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ta b l e 3 8 . 2 (continued) Menacer (formerly Marceau), Algeria, late Miocene (Thomas and Petter, 1986) Middle Awash, Ethiopia, late Miocene–early Pliocene (Haile-Selassie et al., 2004) Modder River, South Africa. See Vaal River Gravels. Mpesida, Kenya, late Miocene (Thomas, 1980; Kingston et al., 2002); 7.0–6.0 Ma Mugharet el Aliya, Morocco, late Pleistocene (Arambourg, 1957) Mumba Cave, Eyasi, Tanzania, late Pleistocene (Lehmann, 1957) Mursi Formation, Omo, Ethiopia, middle Pliocene (Brown, 1994); ~4.0 Ma Nachukui Formation, Kenya. See Lothagam. Namurungule Formation, Kenya, late Miocene (Nakaya, 1994); 10.0–8.5 Ma Ngorora Formation, Kenya, middle–late Miocene (Thomas, 1981); ~13.0–10.0 Ma Nkondo Formation, Uganda, early Pliocene (Geraads and Thomas, 1994); 5.0–4.0 Ma Nyakach, Kenya, middle Miocene Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, late Pliocene–Pleistocene (Gentry and Gentry, 1978); ~2.0–0.5 Ma Top Bed I = 1.8 Ma, II = 1.15 Ma, III = 0.8 Ma, and IV = 0.6 Ma Oued el Hammam. See Bou Hanifia.

Saint Arnaud (now El Eulma), Algeria, late Pliocene. Close to Aïn Boucherit and stratigraphically equivalent. Setif, Algeria, ?late Pliocene Shungura Formation, Omo, Ethiopia, middle Pliocene–early Pleistocene (Gentry, 1985) Simbiro, Ethiopia, early Pleistocene (Geraads et al., 2004b); ~1.3 Ma Singa, Sudan, late Pleistocene (Bate, 1951) Sterkfontein, Gauteng Province, South Africa, middle–late Pliocene (Clarke, 2006; Partridge et al. 2000, 2003); Mb 2 = 4.2–3.3 Ma, Mb 4 (type site) = 2.6–2.2 Ma, and Mb 5E = ?1.0 Ma Swartkrans, Gauteng Province, South Africa, latest Pliocene (De Ruiter, 2003); Sk1 = ~1.6 Ma, Sk2–3 = ?1.4 Ma (“broadly contemporaneous with Sk1”) Taung, North West Province, South Africa, late Pliocene (Day, 1986); 2.2 Ma Also late Pleistocene (Broom, 1934) Tighenif (formerly Palikao, then Ternifi ne), Algeria, early Pleistocene (Geraads, 1981); ~0.8 Ma Tihodaïne, Algeria, middle Pleistocene (Thomas, 1977) Toros-Menalla, Chad, late Miocene (Vignaud et al., 2002); ~7.0 Ma Usno Formation (= White Sands and Brown Sands), Omo, Ethiopia, middle Pliocene (Gentry, 1985)

Peninj, Tanzania, early Pleistocene (Gentry and Gentry, 1978) Quarry 8, Morocco. See Rabat. Rabat, Morocco, middle Pleistocene (Ennouchi, 1953) Rusinga Island, Kenya, late Pleistocene or Holocene deposits (Pickford and Thomas, 1984) Sagantole Formation, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, latest Miocene–Pliocene Sahabi, Libya, late Miocene (Bernor and Rook, 2008; Boaz, 2008)

Vaal River Gravels, Free State Province, South Africa, middle-late Pleistocene (Cooke, 1949) Wadi Derna, Libya, late Pleistocene (Bate, 1955) Wadi Natrun, Egypt, early Pliocene (Stromer, 1907) Warwire Formation, Uganda, middle Pliocene (Geraads and Thomas, 1994); 4.0–3.0 Ma Wee-ee, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, middle Pliocene (Vrba, 1997); ~3.7–3.6 Ma

Hypsodontine horn cores have rather upright insertions and weak homonymous torsion. Species differ in horn core length, but the degree of curvature is likely to be both individually variable and to be strong in shorter horn cores. The torsion of the horn cores led to much discussion of possible relationship to late Miocene Oioceros and to Caprinae, starting with Pilgrim (1934) and Gentry (1970), but all this may now be ignored. The premolar rows may be short and the molars hypsodont especially in larger species. Lower molars have flat lingual walls. Many teeth are found in later wear and with misshapen occlusal surfaces, suggesting a difficult feeding regime. Morales et al. (2003) discussed the implications of the prominent, but presumably primitive, sagittal crest in Hypsodontinae. Several generic names (Kubanotragus, Turcocerus, and others) are in use, but only Hypsodontus is used in this chapter.

Gebel Zelten and Beglia Fm. Middle (?and earliest late) Miocene. Remarks The earliest hypsodontine in Africa may be a Gebel Zelten horn core and unassociated mandible BMNH M26688 and M26685 cited as Eotragus sp. and Gazella sp. by Hamilton (1973, plate 13, figure1 [right], figures 2–3), but recognized as hypsodontine by Morales et al. (2003). It is a bigger antelope than Namacerus gariepensis. The association of Gazella negevensis Tchernov et al., 1987, in Israel with this hypsodontine is unlikely. High-crowned teeth in the Beglia Formation (Robinson, 1986) may be of Hypsodontus (Solounias, 1990). If they had survived into the levels with hipparionine horses, they would be the last of the Hypsodontinae.

Genus HYPSODONTUS Sokolov, 1949

Synonymy Nyanzameryx pickfordi Thomas, 1984, Palaeontographica A, 183:73, plate 2, figures 1–2, text figure 5. Localities and Age *Maboko, Nyakach. Middle Miocene. Remarks An early middle Miocene cranium BMNH M15543 was described as the type species of a new giraffoid climacoceratid Nyanzameryx but reidentified as Hypsodontinae by Morales et al. (2003). It has upright horn cores seemingly like the Chios (Greece) Hypsodontus cf. gaopense of Bonis et al. (1998: figure 1) and unlike later Hypsodontus tanyceras.

Type Species Hypsodontus miocenicus Sokolov, 1949:1103, text figure 3. HYPSODONTUS spp.

Localities and Age *Belometschetskaya, Georgia. Middle Miocene (see appendix note 1, at the end of this chapter); 752


HYPSODONTUS PICKFORDI (Thomas, 1984)

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ta b l e 3 8 .3 Bovid species at Gebel Zelten, Maboko, Fort Ternan and Ngorora: the beginning of bovid diversification in Africa

Taxon

Gebel Zelten

Maboko

Fort Ternan

Ngorora Fm.

subfamily hypsodontinae Hypsodontus sp. Hypsodontus pickfordi (Thomas, 1984) Hypsodontus tanyceras (Gentry, 1970)

X X X

subfamily bovinae, tribe boselaphini X

?Eotragus sp. Kipsigicerus labidotus (Gentry, 1970) Boselaphini, larger sp. ?Sivoreas sp.

X

? X X

subfamily antilopinae Homoiodorcas sp. Homoiodorcas tugenium Thomas, 1981

X

X X

subfamily antilopinae, tribe antilopini

Gazella sp. (1)

X

subfamily antilopinae, tribe ?reduncini ?Reduncini, sp. or spp

X

subfamily indet. Gentrytragus thomasi Azanza and Morales, 1994 Gentrytragus gentryi (Thomas, 1981)

HYPSODONTUS TANYCERAS (Gentry, 1970)

Synonymy Oioceros tanyceras Gentry, 1970:262, plates 5–7, plate 8, figures 3–4, etc. Localities and Age *Fort Ternan. Middle Miocene. Remarks A male and a female skull and abundant other remains were recognized from the outset as being related to (?)Oioceros grangeri and noverca (Pilgrim, 1934) of Tungur, Mongolia, but Gentry failed to sever Hypsodontinae from Caprinae or Oioceros until after Köhler (1987) had done so. Male Hypsodontus tanyceras have uniquely divergent and curved long horn cores but the female is hornless. Premolar rows are unusually short in relation to molar rows, even for a hypsodontine, and p2 is lost in some individuals. The limb bones are cursorially adapted. The species diverges somewhat from Eurasian hypsodontines but does not need a new generic name. Thomas (1984a) discusses sex dimorphism in hypsodontines. ASSESSMENT OF HYPSODONTINAE

The Paleogene bovid-like hypsodont and nonhypsodont teeth of eastern Asia have been accepted by Dmitrieva (2002), Wang (1992), and others as Bovidae and is often mentioned in papers dealing with Hypsodontinae. The authors have

X X

been aware of the difficulties of fitting them in with any likely story of bovid evolution derived from fossils elsewhere in the Old World, but they remained circumspect on the subject. Janis and Manning (1998) noted a possible connection from the Oligocene teeth of Mongolia to the early Miocene Antilocapridae (Merycodontinae) of North America. Inevitably the idea arises that Hypsodontinae could be an extinct Old World family, Hypsodontidae, allied with the Antilocapridae rather than with the Bovidae. However Métais et al. (2003) were still able to doubt that the main Oligocene hypsodontine, Palaeohypsodontus, was pecoran at all. Subfamily BOVINAE Gray, 1821 Tribe BOSELAPHINI Knottnerus-Meyer, 1907

Type Genus Boselaphus Blainville, 1816. Boselaphini appeared around the middle of the middle Miocene in the Siwaliks, East Africa, and Georgia, but only near the end of the middle Miocene in Europe and in the late Miocene in China. The two extant species are the nilgai, Boselaphus tragocamelus, and the small four-horned antelope, Tetracerus quadricornis, both in the Indian subcontinent. Bovini or bovine-like taxa probably evolved on several occasions from boselaphines. Boselaphines are known in Africa until the start of the Pliocene. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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The horn cores have keels, often show heteronymous torsion, and often a sharp diminution in anteroposterior diameter (a demarcation) along their course. They usually show signs of anterior growth or modification at their horn core bases and pedicels (Solounias, 1990, figures 12–15). In Tetracerus this extends to having an extra anterior pair of horns. Postcornual fossae are of good size but shallow depth. Strong temporal ridges on the cranial roof brace the back of the horn cores, and a rugose surface often develops between the temporal ridges. Many boselaphine characters remain primitive: the braincase roof as a whole does not become inclined; horn core insertions often remain wide apart; supraorbital pits are small; the preorbital fossa large; the infraorbital foramen positioned low and anteriorly; the median indent at the back of the palate lies behind the lateral ones; tooth enamel is rugose for bovids; the premolar rows are long. Genus EOTRAGUS Pilgrim, 1939:137

Type Species Eotragus clavatus (Gervais, 1850) in Gervais, 1848–52.

Localities and Age *Sansan, France. Middle Miocene. Remarks Eotragus, the most familiar and longest-known early bovid, is not accepted by all as a boselaphine. It is wellknown in Europe, and there are some likely records in Asia but not Africa. Its horn cores are upright spikes, widely separated above the back of the orbits. The closest plausible record to Africa comes from Negev, Israel (Tchernov et al., 1987). ?EOTRAGUS sp.

Localities and Age Fort Ternan. Middle Miocene. A single horn core (Gentry, 1970: plate 15, figure 6) is not a satisfactory record. Genus KIPSIGICERUS Thomas, 1984

Type Species Kipsigicerus labidotus (Gentry, 1970). *KIPSIGICERUS LABIDOTUS (Gentry, 1970)

Synonymy Protragocerus labidotus Gentry, 1970:247, plates 1, 3–4, etc.

Localities and Age *Fort Ternan. Middle Miocene.; ? (Protragocerus labidotus Thomas, 1981:343, text figures 4–5, plates 1, 2, figures 2–5. Ngorora Fm, Mbs A–D. Middle and early late Miocene). Remarks This is the only species of Kipsigicerus. It is known from a male and a female skull and abundant other remains. The male, but less clearly the female, has a low and wide cranium. The horn cores are strongly compressed mediolaterally. The steady diminution in their degree of divergence from base to tip resembles the little-known European Protragocerus chantrei. Pronounced forward growth of the lower parts of the horn cores and pedicels is linked with the prominent demarcation shortly above the base of the horn core. These are distinctive features for a species well back in the middle Miocene. The length of the premolar row relative to the molar row (59%, lowers) is less than in Eotragus and similar to the nonboselaphine Tethytragus in Europe, so it could be significant that no Tethytragus-like antelopes are known from Fort Ternan. Kipsigicerus has minute upper canines, nowadays a rare occurrence in individual bovids (Dekeyser and Derivot, 1956). It is well distinct ecologically from Hypsodontus tanyceras at Fort Ternan. Thomas (1983: plate 2, 754


figures 1–5) recorded probable boselaphine teeth from Al Jadidah, Saudi Arabia, close in age to Fort Ternan. The supposed K. labidotus in the Ngorora Formation (Gentry, 1978; Thomas, 1981) shows constant divergence and less or no anterior extension of the horn core base, and it is not unlike Sivoreas or some Helicoportax in the Siwaliks. Genus SIVOREAS Pilgrim, 1939

Type Species Sivoreas eremita Pilgrim, 1939:131, plate 4, figures 1, 1a. *Near Chinji, Siwaliks. Middle Miocene. The horn cores have front and back keels and tight torsion of their nonspiraled axes. Pilgrim placed the type species in the Tragelaphini, but it looks more like a boselaphine. ?SIVOREAS sp.

Synonymy Sivoreas eremita Thomas, 1981:359, text figures 6–8, plate 3 figures 6–7. Localities and Age Ngorora Fm, Mbs A–D. Remarks A few horn core pieces are less narrow and with a tighter torsion than the questionable Ngorora Kipsigicerus labidotus. It is still unknown whether they belong to a larger and mostly later (Thomas, 1981: table 25) boselaphine represented by a female hornless cranium BN1078 and other specimens. (The mandible BN 1235 [Thomas, 1981, text figure 21] is of a second large Ngorora species later in the sequence, but probably not a boselaphine.) Material in the late Miocene Namurungule Formation formerly attributed to the southeast European Palaeoreas or Ouzocerus (Nakaya et al., 1984; Nakaya 1994) may be the species later thought by Tsujikawa (2005) to be more similar to Sivoreas. Thus, the case for Sivoreas in Africa is reasonable but as yet undecided. If present, its dates would come near or after the end of its likely Siwaliks span of 14.0–11.9 Ma. Genus MIOTRAGOCERUS Stromer, 1928

Type Species Miotragocerus monacensis Stromer 1928:131, plate 4, figures 1, 1a. *Oberföhring, Munich, Germany. Late Miocene (Vallesian). This widespread Eurasian late Miocene genus entered Africa at least once during that epoch. Herein Miotragocerus is used to include many species of Tragoportax Pilgrim, 1937. Both names have been widely used in recent decades in place of the wellunderstood Tragocerus Gaudry, 1861, discovered to be a junior homonym of a beetle (Kretzoi, 1968). Other generic names have also been used, and species often transferred from one to another. The nomenclature is a complicated and much discussed subject (Kostopoulos, 2005, and earlier references). Horn cores have an anterior keel, are mediolaterally compressed, and often have demarcations or steps on the anterior edge. Horn insertions become close, frontals are raised between the horn bases, and a rugose surface is developed behind the horn bases. Within the Boselaphini, Miotragocerus was not close to Boselaphus or Bovini. MIOTRAGOCERUS CYRENAICUS Thomas, 1979

Synonymy Miotragocerus cyrenaicus Thomas, 1979:268, plate 1, figure 5. Localities and Age *Sahabi. Late Miocene. Remarks This is a large and late Miotragocerus species with diverging and backwardly curved horn cores. New skull remains from Member U-1 of the Sahabi Formation were more like the Pikermi M. amalthea than was the holotype thought to be from higher in the succession (Gentry, 2008; Boaz, 2008).

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MIOTRAGOCERUS sp. aff. M. CYRENAICUS

Synonymy Tragoportax aff. T. cyrenaicus (Thomas, 1979); Harris, 2003:537, figures 11.5–11.6. Localities and Age Lothagam: Nawata Fm, Nachukui Fm, Apak Mb. Late Miocene–early Pliocene. Remarks This boselaphine has less divergent horn cores than in Miotragocerus cyrenaicus. A similar form in the Adu-Asa Formation has a stronger anterior keel and more compressed horn cores (Haile-Selassie et al., 2004; more details in HaileSelassie et al., 2009). Harris recorded and illustrated two smaller boselaphine species in the Nawata Formation, and Tsujikawa (2005: figure 11A) recorded several species in the Lower Member of the Namurungule Formation. It is possible that some late Miocene Miotragocerus have horned females (with smaller horn cores than the males), but it is equally possible that at least two species are present at Lothagam.

The front of the orbit lacks a rim along the lachrymal edge and usually has two lachrymal foramina, the latter being like Bovini. Nasals are long and narrow, ethmoidal fissures large, and preorbital fossae lacking. The infraorbital foramen is low and anterior. Cranial roofs are little inclined as in Boselaphini. The basioccipital is long with large anterior tuberosities passing in front of the foramina ovalia. Molar teeth are caprine-like in their simple occlusal pattern, but not hypsodont. Basal pillars are absent on upper molars and small or absent on lower molars, upper molars with only weak ribs between the styles, lower molars without goat folds, premolar rows quite long with large P2s and p2s, and p4s with paraconid-metaconid fusion to form a closed lingual wall. Figure 38.5 shows the temporal distribution of African fossil species. Genus TRAGELAPHUS Blainville, 1816

Type Species Tragelaphus scriptus (Pallas, 1766). MIOTRAGOCERUS sp.

Synonymy Boselaphini gen. et sp. indet. Thomas and Petter, 1986:365, figure 4. Localities and Age Menacer. Late Miocene. Remarks The lower tooth row in question does indeed appear to be boselaphine and to date from a period before the end of the late Miocene. MIOTRAGOCERUS ACRAE (Gentry, 1974)

Synonymy Mesembriportax acrae Gentry, 1974:146, figures 1–23.

Localities and Age *Langebaanweg. Early Pliocene. Remarks This species has divergent and short horn cores, not curving backward. The frontals are much raised above the level of the dorsal orbital rims and have extensive internal sinuses. Skull, dental and postcranial material was described by Gentry (1974, 1980). ASSESSMENT OF BOSELAPHINI

The Boselaphini of today are relicts, but they were prominent in Siwalik middle and late Miocene faunas. They were also present in Africa well before the end of the middle Miocene, but as yet we have no evidence of a dominant role for them before the latest Miocene. The existing allocation of species names among late Miocene Miotragocerus from various localities may yet have to be changed. The tribes of modern African antelopes were present by the end of the Miocene, and the African Boselaphini did not survive the end of that epoch or only narrowly managed to do so. Tribe TRAGELAPHINI Blyth, 1863 Figure 38.5

Living Tragelaphus are well knit morphologically and live in habitats with bushes or trees. TRAGELAPHUS sp. or spp.

Localities and Age Adu-Asa Fm, Lukeino, Langebaanweg. Late Miocene–early Pliocene. Remarks Early Tragelaphus horn cores (Thomas, 1980; Gentry, 1980) are lyrate or only loosely spiraled and usually with a posterolateral keel stronger than the anterior one. They resemble modern nyala or sitatunga, but the fossils are smaller, less anteroposteriorly compressed, and less postorbitally inserted. Two species of moderate or larger size are present in the AduAsa Formation, and more details are available in Haile-Selassie et al. (2009). Possible tragelaphine teeth occur at Mpesida (Thomas, 1980), which would be a very early record. TRAGELAPHUS KYALOAE Harris, 1991

Synonymy Tragelaphus kyaloae Harris, 1991:145, figures 5.7, 5.8. Koobi Fora Fm. Localities and Age *Lower Lokochot Mb., Lonyumun and Moiti Mbs; Kanapoi; Lothagam, Upper Nawata, Apak and Kaiyumung Mbs. Late Miocene–middle Pliocene. Remarks This species was named on a frontlet with cranial pieces. It has the usual lyrate horn cores with a strong posterolateral keel and a weaker anterior one. It was a common species of the East African early to mid-Pliocene, as, for instance, at Kanapoi. It differs from the Lukeino and Langebaanweg Tragelaphus by horn cores more compressed anteroposteriorly and with an even weaker anterior keel arising from a more anterolateral basal insertion. The tips may be closer. The Mursi Formation “Tragelaphus aff. gaudryi” of Gentry (1985) may be T. kyaloae. TRAGELAPHUS NKONDOENSIS Geraads and Thomas, 1994

Type Genus Tragelaphus Blainville, 1816. Present-day Tragelaphini embrace Tragelaphus with seven species and Taurotragus with one or two. They are entirely African except for possible records of lesser kudu, Tragelaphus imberbis, in Arabia (Büttiker, 1982). Tragelaphus is known back to various late Miocene sites perhaps as early as ~6.5 Ma. The horn cores have keels and heteronymous torsion. Females are horned only in Taurotragus and Tragelaphus eurycerus. Postcornual fossae are weak or absent. Frontals are without internal sinuses and little elevated between the horn insertions.

Synonymy Tragelaphus nkondoensis Geraads and Thomas, 1994:387, plate 1, figures 5–6. Localities and Age Nkondo and *Warwire Fms. Early–middle Pliocene. Remarks This small Tragelaphus has short, straight, and well-inclined horn cores showing a degree of torsion of the axis but no lyration or spiraling. They are about the size of extant bushbuck, T. scriptus, but less compressed anteroposteriorly. The posterolateral keel is stronger than the anterior one. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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5.0

6.0

Tragelaphus kyaloae

Taroragus oryx

Taurotragus maroccanus

Taurotragus arkelli

Tragelaphus algericus

Tragelaphus strepsiceros

Tragelaphus gaudryi

Tragelaphus sp. or spp.

4.0

Tragelaphus nkondoensis

3.0

Tragelaphus nakuae

2.0

Tragelaphus sp. nov.

Tragelaphus pricei

1.0

Tragelaphus sp. cf. T. buxtoni

Ma 0

FIGURE 38.5 Temporal distribution of African fossil Tragelaphini. Vertical scale in millions of years.

TRAGELAPHUS sp. nov.

Synonymy Tragelaphus sp. nov. Gentry, 1981:6, plate 1. Localities and Age Hadar Fm, Mb SH. Middle Pliocene. Remarks The horn cores have more mediolateral compression than T. kyaloae or the earlier and smaller Langebaanweg and Lukeino species. The horn cores also have a more definite curve outward (initially increasing divergence) from the base than at Langebaanweg or Lukeino. Both keels have disappeared proximally (as in modern T. imberbis) but survive distally where the posterolateral one is stronger. TRAGELAPHUS NAKUAE Arambourg, 1941

Synonymy Tragelaphus nakuae Arambourg, 1941, Bull. Mus. Natn. Hist. Nat. 2, 13:343, figures 4a, 4b. Localities and Age *Shungura Fm. Shungura Fm Mbs B–H; Koobi Fora Fm Lokochot–KBS Mbs; Nachukui Fm KataboiKalachoro Mbs. Middle–late Pliocene. Tragelaphus aff. nakuae Gentry, 1981:5. Hadar Fm DD Mb. Middle Pliocene. Remarks The advanced form of this rather large species existed from around 3.0 Ma onward. By Shungura G, the horn cores are rather short, heavily built, little lyrated, with a strong posterolateral keel and anteroposterior flattening, much like modern T. eurycerus. The cranial roof is almost horizontal and strongly raised posteriorly into a transverse ridge astride the top of the occipital; an earlier stage of this character was present in T. kyaloae (Harris, 1991). The temporal ridges are strong. Older forms of the species, as in the Hadar Formation, had longer horn cores in which the divergence first increased from 756


the base then gave way to decreased divergence higher up, thereby giving a lyrated appearance. The cranial roof characters were also less advanced than they later became. Overall the horn cores were larger, longer, and more nearly parallel than in T. kyaloae. TRAGELAPHUS sp. cf. T. BUXTONI. Dietrich, 1942

Synonymy Tragelaphus sp. cf. buxtoni Dietrich, 1942:118, figure 154.

Localities and Age Laetoli. (?late) Pliocene. Remarks Dietrich’s specimen is a large frontlet. A second cranium from the Ndolanya Beds was described but not illustrated by Gentry (1987a) and has since been lost. Both specimens are larger than extant T. buxtoni. Their horn cores shared with T. kyaloae a strong posterolateral keel and wide lateral spread, and their divergence definitely increases in the basal sections, but they were larger and perhaps with less anterolateral compression. The second cranium was said to be approaching a more kudu-like appearance and was thought to resemble T. buxtoni. TRAGELAPHUS PRICEI (Wells and Cooke, 1956)

Synonymy Cephalophus pricei Wells and Cooke, 1956:12, figures 5–6.

Localities and Age *Makapansgat Limeworks (Mb 3; Vrba, 1995). Late Pliocene. Tragelaphus ?pricei Gentry, 1985:131, plate 4, figure 4. Shungura Fm Mb ca. Late Pliocene.

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Remarks This species was founded for a holotype mandible, some other dentitions, and a neotragine paratype horn core. The Shungura C pair of horn cores is the size of a small extant bushbuck and not too small to belong to T. nkondoensis. They are less compressed anteroposteriorly and with less inclined insertions than in bushbuck. This last character is a surprising contrast with the older T. nkondoensis. Geraads and Thomas (1994) point out that conspecificity of Makapansgat Limeworks dentitions with Omo horn cores is unverifiable, but so is a species difference. A bushbuck cranial roof was described from Lothagam (Harris, 2003). TRAGELAPHUS spp. aff. SPEKEI Tragelaphus spekei is the living sitatunga, of moderate size. and with horns more lyrate than in bushbuck. Tragelaphus angasi, the nyala, is very similar although certainly a distinct species. Tragelaphine horn core pieces of similar species and teeth of an appropriate matching size are fairly often found as fossils and labeled “cf. spekei,” but little else is known of them. They cannot be assumed to have belonged to swamp-living species like the sitatunga. TRAGELAPHUS GAUDRYI (P. Thomas, 1884)

Localities and Age *Tighenif. Early–middle Pleistocene. Remarks The holotype is a horn core from Tighenif. It is the size of a large T. strepsiceros and tightly spiraled, characters that would suit an ancestor of Taurotragus, especially given the hybridization between T. strepsiceros and Taurotragus oryx (Boulineau, 1933; Van Gelder, 1977). Genus TAUROTRAGUS Wagner, 1855

Type Species Taurotragus oryx (Pallas, 1766). The type species is found in eastern and southern Africa and a possibly separate species, Taurotragus derbianus, in West Africa. They are the largest known antelopes, with horn cores much twisted along an otherwise straight axis and with a strong anterior keel and sometimes a posterolateral one. The horn cores are inserted a bit more widely apart than in Tragelaphus, and supraorbital pits are large. They browse and graze in herds and in more open and dry areas than used by Tragelaphus. They jump well despite their great size. Fossils occur only late in tragelaphine history. TAUROTRAGUS ARKELLI Leakey, 1965

Synonymy Taurotragus arkelli Leakey, 1965: 43, plates 43–44.

Synonymy Palaeoreas gaudryi P. Thomas, 1884:15, plate 1, figure 7.

Localities and Age *Aïn Jourdel. Shungura E–G. Late Pliocene. Remarks This species was founded on a kudu horn core base. Gentry (1985) extended the name to a kudu in the Shungura Formation, no larger than a lesser kudu but with the strong anterior keel of a greater kudu. The near-equal dimensions of the basal horn core diameters are like the Hadar SH new species described earlier, but Tragelaphus gaudryi exhibits the spiraled horn cores of a kudu and not just the lyration of earlier species. The cranium of an earlier small kudu with more divergent horn cores was found in Shungura C. North African tragelaphine premolars of late Pliocene age are also present at Ahl al Oughlam, but a kudu frontlet from Mansourah (Bayle, 1854; Gervais, 1867–69: plate 19, figure 4) may be of later age and evolving toward T. algericus (Chaîd-Saoudi et al., 2006). The lesser kudu, T. imberbis, has no fossil record. TRAGELAPHUS STREPSICEROS (Pallas, 1766)

Synonymy Antilope strepsiceros Pallas 1766, Misc. Zool.:9. Extant greater kudu. Localities and Age Shungura G; Olduvai I–II; Koobi Fora Fm, Upper Burgi Mb upward; Nachukui Fm, Kalachoro Mb upward; Kabwe. Late Pliocene onward; Strepsiceros maryanus Leakey, 1965:40, plates 40–42. Localities and age: Olduvai I–lower II. Late Pliocene. Remarks This species is found at Olduvai and other East African locations from about 2.0 Ma onward. Vrba (1987b) confined the Makapansgat Limeworks record to Member 5. An interesting middle–late Pleistocene smaller but probably conspecific form with tightly spiraled horn cores was found at Melkbos and Elandsfontein (Hendey, 1968; Klein and CruzUribe, 1991), both in the Western Cape Province. TRAGELAPHUS ALGERICUS Geraads, 1981

Synonymy Tragelaphus algericus Geraads, 1981:51, plate 1, figure 3.

Localities and Age *Olduvai Bed IV surface. Middle Pleistocene.

Remarks The holotype cranium and only specimen differed from living eland in horn cores more uprightly inserted and the cranium longer and narrower and without a transverse ridge across the back of the cranial roof. These are primitive characters and suitable for a direct ancestor of Taurotragus oryx. TAUROTRAGUS MAROCCANUS Arambourg, 1939

Synonymy Taurotragus maroccanus Arambourg, 1939: 42, plate 9, figure 3. Localities and Age *Casablanca. Late Pleistocene. Remarks A fine frontlet is very like a modern eland, but also smaller than the earlier Tragelaphus algericus. The relatively open spiraling and slight divergence of its horn cores make it more like Taurotragus derbianus than T. oryx and thereby contrast with Olduvai T. arkelli. The more open spiraling of its horn cores in combination with the rather tight spiraling in Tragelaphus algericus, both of them north African species, also suggest a close relationship between kudu and eland. Additional dated fossils are needed to see whether and when the eland evolved from kudu, whether it happened only once, and whether the more open twisting of Lord Derby’s eland is a character reversal. *TAUROTRAGUS ORYX (Pallas, 1766)

Synonymy Antilope oryx Pallas, 1766, Misc. Zool.:9. Extant eland; Taurotragus oryx pachyceros Schwarz, 1937:33. Localities and Age *Olduvai. (?middle) Pleistocene. Remarks The eland has been found at various late Pleistocene localities and also at some earlier ones but not Makapansgat (Vrba, 1987b). Elandsfontein eland are also advanced over T. arkelli but have slightly less shortened braincases and slightly more upright horn cores than in the present day. The T. oryx at Olduvai (Gentry et al., 1995: figure 1) is definitely advanced on T. arkelli but of unspecified stratigraphic origin. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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Tribe BOVINI Gray, 1821 Figure 38.6

ASSESSMENT OF TRAGELAPHINI

Type Genus Bos Linnaeus, 1758. Bovini descended from Boselaphini (Rütimeyer, 1877–78; Pilgrim, 1939), and if they did so more than once, the tribe would not be monophyletic. The main extant genera are the Eurasian Bos and Bison, South Asian Bubalus, and African Syncerus. They are the largest and heaviest of bovids, with low and wide skulls, horned females, horn cores emerging transversely from their postorbital insertions, internal sinuses in their frontals, a shortened braincase (analyzed in Hooijer, 1958a:44–50, 57–59, and significant in the ontogeny and phylogeny of Bos and Bison species), and occlusally complicated, hypsodont teeth. Living species of Bovini have internal sinuses extending far up their horn cores. Early Bovini were smaller and had horn cores with an anterior and possibly a posterolateral keel or traces thereof, a roughly triangular and uncompressed cross section, fairly strong divergence, low inclinations in side view, and slight backward curvature. They had a slightly sloping cranial roof, strong temporal ridges, and a rectangular platform at the back of the cranial roof. Teeth of Bovini go back to the late Miocene in Africa (Thomas, 1980; Vignaud et al., 2002 [perhaps as early as 7.0 Ma]; Harris, 2003), and in the Siwaliks (Bibi, 2007). It has yet to be seen whether skulls of such early species might have more of a boselaphine than a bovine appearance. The temporal distribution of African fossil bovines is shown in figure 38.6. Gen. indet., “LEPTOBOS” SYRTICUS Petrocchi, 1956

5.0

“Leptobos” syrticus

Ugandax gautieri

4.0

Ugandax demissum

3.0

Bubalus sp.

Bos primigenius

Syncerus acoelotus

Pelorovis oldowayensis

Pelorovis howelli

Pelorovis praeafricanus

Pelorovis kaisensis

Simatherium kohllarseni

Ugandax coryndonae

2.0

Pelorovis turkanensis

1.0

Simatherium shungurense

Ma 0

Syncerus antiquus

Synonymy Leptobos syrticus Petrocchi, 1956, Boll. Soc. Geol. Ital. 75, 1:231, figures 1–7.

Syncerus caffer

It seems that early tragelaphines were like modern Tragelaphus angasi or spekei in their lyrate and keeled horn cores. They were abundant in the late Miocene of the Adu-Asa Formation, where they co-existed with the last African boselaphines but were unknown in Chad (Vignaud et al., 2002; Haile-Selassie et al., 2004). The very rare fossils of the bushbuck line had less lyrate horn cores, probably because their small size allowed little scope for its expression, but torsion of their keels was present. Variation in keels and lyration will continue to aid or confuse the accurate diagnosis of tragelaphine fossil species. Tragelaphus nakuae was a specialized late Pliocene line, which went extinct. Kudus appeared in the mid- to late Pliocene with an intensified lyration of their horn cores, which amounted to spiraling and with more emphasis on the anterior keel of the horn cores. Tragelaphus gaudryi or a similar-sized species survived the incoming of greater kudu in Shungura G13. Gentry (1985) hypothesized that T. imberbis in its restricted eastern and northeastern African range, subsequently developed from gaudryi, and at some stage acquired its unusually long metacarpals. Taurotragus may not have appeared until after the start of the Pleistocene. Its leaping ability might lead one to ponder a relationship with the Caprinae or with the Eurasian Pleistocene Spirocerus, the latter having eland-like horn cores but perhaps being an antilopine (Pilgrim, 1939). However, molecular evidence and the interbreeding of eland with the greater kudu militate against this speculation. Extra-African records of fossil Tragelaphini are unknown apart from tribal misalignments of spiral-horned antilopines in the early 20th century, but Kostopoulos (2006) made a new assertion of tragelaphine affinity for the late Miocene Greek Pheraios.

6.0

FIGURE 38.6

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Temporal distribution of African fossil Bovini.

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Localities and Age *Sahabi. Late Miocene/?Pliocene. Remarks This puzzling species, based on three crania, is not a Leptobos (Geraads, 1989) and was suspected by Geraads of being from a late stratigraphic level (also see Boaz, 2008). It is strikingly specialized in its large and almost transverse (⫽ divergent and inclined) horn cores. Likely consequences of such a horn core morphology are that the cranial roof became horizontal, the frontals were not elevated between the horn bases, the dorsal orbital rims project because the insertions are so close behind, and the temporal ridges are strong. The closeness between the supraorbital pits is probably primitive. Genus UGANDAX Cooke and Coryndon, 1970

Type Species Ugandax gautieri Cooke and Coryndon, 1970. This Pliocene genus may have appeared in the latest Miocene. Horn cores are short, of an approximately triangular cross section, with an anterior keel or remains of one, some signs of a posterolateral keel, and little compression. The horn cores have limited divergence and are quite strongly inclined backward and sometimes with backward curvature. The cranium is wide. The cranial roof is sloping and rather flat, with strong temporal ridges. Cheek teeth are somewhat hypsodont, basal pillars are present on the molars, upper molars develop large occlusal areas with labial ribs and widened lingual lobes, and central fossettes become more complicated than in boselaphines. UGANDAX DEMISSUM (Gentry, 1980)

Synonymy Simatherium demissum Gentry, 1980:233, figures 8–13.

Localities and Age *Langebaanweg. Early Pliocene; Ugandax demissum Gentry, 2006:44. Remarks This species is primitive in having quite short horn cores with some tendency to a triangular cross-section, a strong anterior keel and some remaining signs of a posterolateral keel. Its cranium is less widened and shortened than in later bovines. It does not look too dissimilar to the European Pliocene Alephis lyrix or the Siwaliks Proamphibos lachrymans. The cheek teeth are lower crowned and less occlusally complex than in later Bovini. This or a similar species was already present in the latest Miocene of the Adu-Asa Formation (Haile-Selassie et al., 2004).

The braincase is shorter, lower and wider, the temporal ridges wider apart posteriorly, anterior tuberosities closer on the basioccipital, and the central longitudinal ridge of the basioccipital less pronounced. These characters may be representative of a mid-Pliocene African bovine on or close to the Syncerus caffer ancestry. Likely Ugandax teeth of an unknown species were reported from the middle–late Pliocene of the Chiwondo Beds (Sandrock et al., 2007), perhaps the same species as the “hippotragine” of Coryndon (1966) in the same beds. Genus SIMATHERIUM Dietrich, 1941

Type Species Simatherium kohllarseni Dietrich, 1941. These are large Pliocene bovines with long horn cores, without obvious keels, of irregular or rounded rather than a neater, more or less triangular cross section, little compressed, divergent, well inclined backward in side view. The insertions are postorbital, the cranial roof slightly sloping, the frontals slightly raised between the horn bases, and the cranium wide and low. *SIMATHERIUM KOHLLARSENI Dietrich, 1941

Synonymy Simatherium kohllarseni Dietrich, 1941, Zntlbl. Miner. Geol. Paläont. B: 221. Localities and Age *Laetoli; also, as S. cf. kohllarseni, at Koobi Fora Fm. Lokochot and Tulu Bor Mbs; Makapansgat Limeworks Mbs 3 and 4. Middle–late Pliocene. Remarks The type species is based on the large cranium described by Dietrich (1942: plate 20, figures 161, 163, 165). Another Laetolil Beds cranium attributed by Gentry (1987a: plate 10.3) to the same species has shorter and stockier horn cores. Simatherium kohllarseni differs from Ugandax coryndonae in longer horn cores with less sign of keels, greater divergence, and wider insertions of its horn cores, higher frontals between the horn insertions, and a wider and lower cranium. The Koobi Fora Simatherium cf. S. kohllarseni was quite small (Harris, 1991: figure 5.15) and may be the same species as at Kanapoi (Harris et al., 2003: figure22—as “S. demissum”). The Makapansgat occurrence was published before the next species below had been described and may fit it better. Remains of unknown Simatherium species have been claimed from localities possibly going back to the early Pliocene—for example, Lothagam (Harris, 2003) and the Nkondo Formation (Geraads and Thomas, 1994).

*UGANDAX GAUTIERI Cooke and Coryndon, 1970 SIMATHERIUM SHUNGURENSE Geraads, 1995

Synonymy Ugandax gautieri Cooke and Coryndon, 1970:206, plates 17–18.

Localities and Age *Kaiso Fm, Kazinga Channel deposits of unknown age. Remarks The description is based on a cranium and teeth. It is another primitive bovine, smaller than Ugandax demissum and with more irregular keels on its horn cores and less divergence. The braincase is not greatly shortened. The horn cores are still backwardly curved. They pass more upward and backward than outward, and the skull is less wide than in Syncerus. UGANDAX CORYNDONAE Gentry, 2006

Synonymy Ugandax coryndonae Gentry, 2006, Tr. Roy. Soc. S. Afr., 61:46, figures 1–5. Localities and Age Hadar Fm., Mbs SH–*DD. Middle Pliocene. Remarks This Ugandax is more advanced than U. gautieri in its horn cores being more divergent, less backwardly curved in side view, wider apart, and perhaps inserted more posteriorly.

Synonymy Syncerus ?acoelotus Gentry, 1985: 139; Simatherium shungurense Geraads, 1995: 89, plate 1. Localities and Age *Shungura G. Late Pliocene. Remarks Rediscovery of the horn cores of a fine bovine skull made Simatherium a better attribution than the “Syncerus” of Gentry. The horn cores were long, directed obliquely backward and slightly upward. They were also of relatively small diameter along their whole course, suggesting a female skull. In this case it would not be surprising if males had the more divergent and curved horn cores known in other Tertiary bovines. A massive Shungura G horn core (Gentry, 1985: plate 3, figure 1) may be a male of the species, its top left corner in the illustration being dorsoposterior in life. See also Pelorovis kaisensis. Genus PELOROVIS RECK, 1925 Figure 38.6

Type Species Pelorovis oldowayensis Reck, 1925. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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Pelorovis appeared in Africa in the late Pliocene c.2.4 Ma and survived into the early Pleistocene or later. The existence of four species around the time interval 2.0–1.5 Ma (figure 38.6) is unlikely. Later species were larger than Syncerus. Its horn cores are without keels, slightly compressed dorsoventrally, and forwardly curved from their close insertions. Such forwardly curving horn cores (concave edge anterior) must have evolved from primitive Bovini in which the horn cores originally had convex anterolateral edges. The change in curvature would have been effected by changes in distal divergence and course. The horn insertions are so far posterior as to overhang the occipital surface, so a temporal fossa exists on either side of the braincase between the orbits and the occipital surface. The face of Pelorovis was long. Geraads (1986) recorded a Pelorovis cranium with horn cores at Ubeidiya, Israel, and several other claims have been made for the genus outside Africa. PELOROVIS TURKANENSIS Harris, 1991

Synonymy Pelorovis turkanensis Harris, 1991:149, figures 5.10–5.13.

Localities and Age Koobi Fora Fm. *KBS and Okote Mbs; Nachukui Fm Kaitio Mb.; Melka Kunturé, Garba IV, Simbiro. Late Pliocene–middle Pleistocene. Remarks This species is perhaps a junior synonym of P. praeafricanus. It differs from P. oldowayensis by its smaller size and narrower skull. Harris noted that it coexisted in its later time span with P. oldowayensis. The earliest Pelorovis horn cores from Shungura D and E were short and very flattened (and thereby unlike Bos), and slightly later Upper Burgi ones were similar. This morph has not been given a separate name. A right horn core, Shungura D L98-1, shows that the horn insertions were already positioned above the occipital. The short-horned Pelorovis at Garba IV was named P. turkanensis brachyceras (Geraads et al., 2004b: plate 12, figure 1) and apparently coexisted with P. oldowayensis at Simbiro (Geraads, 1979: plate 4, figures 1–2). PELOROVIS KAISENSIS Geraads and Thomas, 1994

Synonymy Pelorovis kaisensis Geraads and Thomas, 1994:392, plate 2, figure 4.

Localities and Age *Kaiso Village Beds, Loc. B. ?Late Pliocene. Remarks If this large, long, straight, or slightly curved horn core should be a male of Simatherium shungurense Geraads, 1995, the Omo species would have to be known as Simatherium kaisensis (Geraads and Thomas, 1994). The premise of conspecificity may be disputed. PELOROVIS PRAEAFRICANUS (Arambourg, 1979)

Synonymy Bos praeafricanus Arambourg, 1979:44, plate 35. Bos bubaloides Arambourg, 1979:39, plates 33–34. Localities and Age *Aïn Hanech. Early Pleistocene. Remarks “Bos” bubaloides and praeafricanus are Pelorovis, the holotypes are from the same individual animal, and Bos bubaloides is a preoccupied name (Geraads, 1981; Geraads and Amani, 1998). The type cranium of Bos palaethiopicus Arambourg (1979: plate 31, figure 1; plate 32, figures 1, 1a) from Aïn Boucherit also looks like a Pelorovis. The likely age of Aïn Boucherit (up to 2.0 Ma) is too old for a bovine with a temporal fossa like that of Bos primigenius to belong to Bos. Pelorovis was also present at Mansourah and earlier at Ahl al Oughlam (Geraads and Amani, 1998; Chaîd-Saoudi et al., 2006).

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PELOROVIS HOWELLI Hadjouis and Sahnouni, 2006

Synonymy Pelorovis howelli Hadjouis and Sahnouni, 2006, Geobios 39:674, figure 2. Localities and Age *Aïn Hanech (El-Kherba locus). Early Pleistocene. Remarks The holotype cranium and horn cores are bigger than Pelorovis praeafricanus and about the size of P. oldowayensis. The span of the horn cores is not great, but they are robust basally. *PELOROVIS OLDOWAYENSIS Reck, 1925

Synonymy Pelorovis oldowayensis Reck, 1925:451, figured. Localities and Age *Olduvai. Koobi Fora Fm: Upper Burgi, KBS and Okote Mbs. Melka Kunturé, Simbiro. Late Pliocene– early (?and middle) Pleistocene. Remarks This, the type species, was first thought to be a giant sheep (Reck, 1925, 1928) and was probably the final species of Pelorovis to evolve. It is best known from Olduvai Bed II where a herd was discovered in 1952, but Dietrich (1933) gave Bed IV for the holotype. It was larger than P. turkanensis, and its horn cores had become longer. The teeth have less complex occlusal patterns than later African bovines. The p4 has close contact or fusion between paraconid and metaconid to form a closed wall on the lingual side, indicating a relationship or parallelism with Syncerus. The muzzle looks wider than in P. turkanensis as befits a specialized grazer. A very long-horned skull (Gentry, 1967: plate 5, figure 3) looked as if the individual would be in so much difficulty drinking or feeding at ground level that the species as a whole would be facing extinction or rapid evolution of a new horn shape. Gentry and Gentry (1978) opted for the latter and placed the African late Pleistocene “Bubalus” antiquus in Pelorovis. Many have disagreed (including an editor of this book), and antiquus is here listed under Syncerus. Genus SYNCERUS Hodgson, 1847

Type Species Syncerus caffer (Sparrman, 1779). This is a genus of African Bovini with wide skulls and short faces. The horn cores are of variable length and often short, dorsoventrally compressed, the supraorbital pits fairly close together, and the occipital surface low and wide. The extant eastern and South African Syncerus caffer caffer has short horn cores emerging transversely and then immediately downward from just behind the orbits. It also has massive basal bosses succeeded by reduced and upturned tips. African forest buffaloes, S. caffer nanus, are smaller and more primitive, and S. c. brachyceros is intermediate (Grubb, 1972). There is a problem with how antique such habitat-responsive differences might be. Have contemporaneous small and large morphs remained conspecific as Ugandax evolved into Syncerus? On this view. Ugandax gautieri and coryndonae might be conspecific but living in different habitats. If one denied an ancestral role for Ugandax and accepted on molecular (DNA) evidence that present-day S. nanus is a separate species from S. caffer, a problem remains with smaller and larger fossils at successive time periods. Do the fossils belong to long-lasting “small to small” and “large to large” lineages, or have small and large species repeatedly reevolved from a small (or large) immediately preceding ancestor? SYNCERUS ACOELOTUS Gentry and Gentry, 1978

Synonymy Syncerus acoelotus Gentry and Gentry, 1978:313, plates 2–4 (figure 2), text figure 9.

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Localities and Age Olduvai, *upper Bed II, also middle Bed II and Beds III or IV. Late Pliocene–early (?and middle) Pleistocene. Remarks Horn cores emerge transversely (more so than in S. caffer nanus) and then curve backward in a horizontal plane. They show anterior, upper, and lower surfaces with almost a keeled edge between the upper and anterior ones. Internal sinuses in the frontals pass only into the basal parts of the horn cores. The species exists possibly in Shungura Members B–G, with a smaller subspecies in Member C (Gentry, 1985). Bovine teeth of appropriate size in the Sterkfontein Valley cave localities belong to “one or more Syncerus species, probably evolving into S. caffer” (Vrba, 1976). *SYNCERUS CAFFER (Sparrman, 1779)

Synonymy Bos caffer Sparrman, 1779, K. Svenska Vet.-Akad. Handl. Stockholm, 40:79. Extant buffalo; Bathyleptodon aberrans Lönnberg, 1937:16, figures 6–10. Localities and Age Near Naivasha, Kenya. Late Pleistocene; Homoioceras singae Bate, 1949:397. Localities and age: Singa, Sudan. Late Pleistocene. Remarks Numbers of taxonomically defective late Pleistocene fossils have been attributed to the extant buffalo, but it has never been validated north of the Sahara. Bate (1949; 1951, figures 4, 6, 8a) founded Homoioceras singae for a late Pleistocene skull from Singa which had been a door-stop in a government office for over 10 years. She intended Homoioceras to be the generic name for the late Pleistocene African long-horned buffalo, but J. W. Simons found that the holotype is probably a large race of Syncerus caffer (see Gentry and Gentry, 1978). Short metapodials give this species a more stocky appearance than a Bos or Bubalus. SYNCERUS ANTIQUUS (Duvernoy, 1851)

Synonymy Bubalis antiquus Duvernoy, 1851: 597, no figure. Localities and Age *Setif. ?Late Pleistocene; Bubalus bainii Seeley, 1891: 201, figured. Localities and age: Modder River, Free State Province, South Africa. ?Late Pleistocene; Bubalus nilssoni Lönnberg, 1933: 28, plates 1–3. Localities and age: Near Naivasha, Kenya. ?Late Pleistocene; Pelorovis antiquus Gentry and Gentry, 1978:312, plate 4 figure 1. Localities and age: Olduvai, Bed IV. Middle Pleistocene; Syncerus caffer antiquus Gautier and Muzzolini, 1991:62. Age: Late Pleistocene–Holocene. NON: Homoioceras singae Bate, 1949:397. Remarks This is a large middle and late Pleistocene bovine with long horn cores emerging transversely and slightly forward (concave edge to the rear unlike Pelorovis) from behind the orbits, insertions wide apart and without the large basal bosses seen in Syncerus caffer caffer today. It is portrayed from life in north African rock art with horn sheaths so curved that the tips can come close together. It survived until after 18,000 BP in East Africa, until 12,000–10,000 BP in South Africa, and even after 4,000 BP in north Africa (Klein, 1980; Gautier and Muzzolini, 1991; Marean, 1992). The holotype cranium from Algeria was the first fossil bovid described from Africa. Subsequent finds have come from many other sites, for example Elandsfontein (Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1991). Bate (1949, 1951) recognized that these buffaloes were not connected with the Asiatic Bubalus, as seen by their shorter faces, irregular or absent keels on the horn cores, and a tendency to paraconid-metaconid fusion on p4s. Gentry and Gentry (1978) used Pelorovis for antiquus, but fewer people

have accepted than rejected this (Gautier and Muzzolini, 1991; Peters et al., 1994). Klein (1994) emphasized that antiquus was a separate species from S. caffer irrespective of its generic affiliation, and that identifiable pieces of both species coexisted at Klasies River Mouth. He also found long-horned buffalo to be in drier more grassy settings and Syncerus caffer to be in bushier, better-watered ones. Possibly S. caffer moved into savannah after the extinction of antiquus, but it did not get as far as North Africa. Hadjouis (2002) founded S. a. complexus for a smaller and earlier form of the species in north Africa. Genus BOS Linnaeus, 1758

Type Species Bos taurus Linaeus, 1758. Founded on domestic livestock and not applicable to wild species of Bos (ICZN Opinion 2027, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 60: 81–84, 2003). Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827 is correct for the wild ox, contrary to Wilson and Reeder (2005). Bos is a Palaearctic and SE Asian genus with a good number of extant and fossil species, perhaps including those often assigned to Bibos, and also very close to Bison. The European Bos primigenius was a large and imposing species (Zeuner, 1963, figure 8:5) with moderately long, curving horn cores set widely apart and far back on the skull, and a long face. BOS PRIMIGENIUS Bojanus, 1827

Synonymy Bos primigenius Bojanus, 1827, Nov. Acta PhysMed. Acad. Caes. Leop. Car. Nat. Cur., 13:477, plate 24. Extant until the historical period; Bubalus vignardi Gaillard, 1934:37, plate 5, figures 1–2. Localities and age: Kom Ombo. Late Pleistocene; Bos primigenius Churcher, 1972:62, figures 21–27. Localities and age: Kom Ombo. Late Pleistocene. Remarks The wild ox was present in north Africa (Pomel, 1894a) where it coexisted with Syncerus antiquus. Horn cores in north Africa are more dorsoventrally compressed than in Europe: examples in Gaillard (1934) and Churcher (1972) have compressions of about 75% or less, whereas a Danish sample (Degerbøl and Fredskild, 1970) gave means of 85% (male) and 82% (female). Geraads et al. (2004a: figure 10:1) illustrate a middle Pleistocene Bos in Ethiopia at about 0.8–0.6 Ma, based on a very large occipital top and forehead with bases of horn cores. They thought it was more like the South Asian Bos namadicus than like B. primigenius. At the end of the Pleistocene, Bos was still found as far south as the Atbara River at around 15°N in Sudan (Marks et al., 1987). Genus BUBALUS H. Smith, 1827

Type Species Bubalus bubalis (Linnaeus, 1758). Founded as a species of Bos on domestic livestock. Bubalus arnee (Kerr, 1792) is to be used for the wild Asiatic water buffalo (ICZN Opinion 2027, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 60: 81–84, 2003), contrary to Wilson and Reeder (2005). Bubalus is an Asiatic genus with fossil relatives in the Siwaliks deposits of India. Several occurrences are known in the European Pleistocene (Koenigswald, 1986). The extant species B. arnee has long, wide-sweeping, dorsoventrally compressed horn cores. BUBALUS sp.

Synonymy Buffelus palaeindicus Falconer; Solignac, 1924:176, plate 6, figure 1. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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Localities and Age Bizerte. Late Pleistocene. Remarks Geraads (1992) noted that a bovine skull from Tunisia (Solignac, 1924), referred by Bate (1951) to Homoioceras, was probably truly a Bubalus as first thought by Solignac. He commented that the species could have come from either Europe or Asia and could account for a herd living near Tunis in the recent past and thought to have been introduced by the Carthaginians or Romans. European Pleistocene Bubalus have been put into different species from Bubalus arnee, so information on the DNA of the Tunisian herd might be interesting. ASSESSMENT OF AFRICAN FOSSIL BOVINI

Many details of African bovine evolution remain misty. The Sahabi “Leptobos” syrticus is an early species in the Palaearctic fringe of Africa, about which nothing more can be said. The Langebaanweg Ugandax demissum is readily acceptable as a primitive bovine, but its relationship to bovines outside Africa is not known; Hernández Fernández and Vrba (2005) postulate a closer link of Syncerus with Bubalus than with Bos, so perhaps U. demissum is closest to the middle Pliocene Siwaliks Proamphibos. The later U. coryndonae could well be in a group evolving toward Syncerus, with U. gautieri as a variant or separate species in a more closed environment. Simatherium is a difficult genus to deal with. Simatherium kohllarseni at Laetoli differs from Ugandax, but this is less certain for other Simatherium species and occurrences. Parts of large bovine horn cores of unknown orientation or original length often turn up in the second half of the Pliocene. We may note that bovid horns grow out from the skull and are not constrained in their variation by adjacent bones and organs. The only living wild bovines still found in large herds are the short-horned Bison bison and Syncerus caffer, neither of which reveals much about the scale of variation in a long-horned species. The origin of Pelorovis in the late Pliocene is obscure, particularly whether it evolved in Africa, as the p4 character suggests, or immigrated from outside the continent. The relationship with Bos asserted on a cladogram of Geraads (1992) might seem plausible from resemblances like the curved horn cores with the concave edge anterior and insertions far back close to the plane of the occipital. The narrower skull is different from Bos but could be linked with close horn insertions, particularly since domesticated Ankole cattle of Uganda can likewise have close insertions and be narrow postorbitally. MartinezNavarro et al. (2007) went so far as to postulate a direct transition from late Pelorovis to Bos primigenius. Their proposal distances B. primigenius, first known in the European earlier middle Pleistocene, from many earlier putative Eurasian relatives, such as Bos gaurus, B. mutus, Bison palaeosinensis “crâne A” (Teilhard de Chardin and Piveteau, 1930, plate 15), Adjiderebos cantabilis (Dubrovo and Burchak-Abramovich, 1986, plates 1,2), and a possible Bison (Eobison) recorded as “Hemibos” by Pilgrim (1941). None of these taxa are known to have such long faces as Bos primigenius or Pelorovis, and the horn insertions of many of them are certainly less posterior. Moreover, there are difficulties with Pelorovis as an ancestor. Its horn insertions may be too advanced in the extent to which they overhang the occipital, and the long face, so like B. primigenius, was present by ~1.6 Ma (Harris, 1991: figure 5.10B). In cases where long-horned examples of Pelorovis appear to be present outside Africa (e.g., Thomas et al., 1998) or longhorned Bos in Africa, the Siwaliks Bos acutifrons (Lydekker, 1877, 1878; Pilgrim, 1939) should be taken into account. This long-horned species could be from an earlier time span than

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Bos namadicus or B. primigenius even if it postdates the European Villafranchian (Azzaroli and Napoleone, 1982:759). By the late Pleistocene, Pelorovis oldowayensis had been displaced by another long-horned bovine for which most people prefer the name Syncerus antiquus. Presumably after Syncerus had evolved transversely divergent horns seen in S. acoelotus and extant S. caffer, the way became open for it to give rise to a long-horned species with horn cores having a posteriorly concave edge of curvature unlike Pelorovis. Large bovine teeth of the (?early and) middle Pleistocene (e.g., De Ruiter, 2003) will be difficult to identify until the time span and relationships of the later long-horned buffaloes have been established. ?Subfamily BOVINAE or ANTILOPINAE ?Aff. Tribe BOVINI or CEPHALOPHINI Genus BRABOVUS Gentry, 1987

Type Species Brabovus nanincisus Gentry, 1987. *BRABOVUS NANINCISUS Gentry, 1987

Synonymy Brabovus nanincisus Gentry, 1987:382, plates 10.4–10.5, figure 10.1. Localities and Age *Laetolil Beds. Middle Pliocene. Remarks Brabovus has only one species. The holotype is a medium-sized skull with short, little-compressed and littledivergent horn cores, internal sinuses in the frontals and horn pedicels, a little-inclined and not very long braincase roof, an extensive but shallow preorbital fossa without a clear dorsal border, low-crowned cheek teeth, long premolar rows, and small central incisors. I classified it as doubtfully Bovini, while Vrba (1987a) took it as a primitive hippotragine and later (Vrba and Gatesy, 1994) as not hippotragine. The small first incisors (Gentry, 1987a: figure 10.1) are a striking character, especially for an African bovid. Today the first incisors are small in Bison, Pantholops, and all Caprinae; intermediate in Boselaphini, Cephalophini, some Neotragini, Saiga, Pelea, and Hippotragini; and large in Tragelaphini, some Neotragini, Antilopini, Reduncini, and Alcelaphini. It looks as though primitively small central incisors could have enlarged to a variable extent in most bovids except Caprinae, but that this had not happened in Brabovus. Alternatively, early Pecora already had somewhat enlarged central incisors, and all subsequent enlargements and reductions are advanced. Brabovus resembles the similarly large cephalophine Cephalophus silvicultor in several horn core and skull characters, perhaps because it lived in similar environments. Some modern duiker specializations are absent—for example, very short horn cores, strong inflation of the auditory bulla, and strong lingual outbowings on the lower molar walls. The frontals sinuses of Brabovus might be thought to rule it out as a cephalophine, yet sinuses do not prevent Menelikia being in the Reduncini or Antidorcas being in the Antilopini. Comparisons involving Cephalophus are difficult because it may be secondarily forest-dwelling and therefore the primitiveadvanced polarities are uncertain. Within these limitations the best course is to classify Brabovus nanincisus as standing between Cephalophini and Bovinae. Tribe CEPHALOPHINI Gray, 1871

Type Genus Cephalophus C. H. Smith, 1827 Cephalophini, the duikers, are small to medium-sized stocky antelopes feeding by frugivory and selective browsing. Females

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are hornless and slightly bigger than males. Cephalophus has many forest-living species across sub-Saharan Africa. Horn cores are short, not compressed, parallel, inclined backward, and inserted far postorbitally. The frontals are shallowly domed longitudinally in front of horn bases, and the supraorbital pits are in a longitudinally extended line. Cheek teeth are brachyodont, with basal pillars on the upper and lower molars, and with rounded lobes and weak or absent styles and stylids. The m3 has a small rear (third) lobe. Premolar rows are long and anterior premolars are relatively large. The first incisors are not much larger than the other incisors and canine. The less specialized Sylvicapra has only one species, and this has less shortened and more upright horn cores, less distinctive teeth, and longer legs and lives in areas with cover outside forest limits. Cephalophini are rarely found in fossil localities and several erroneous identifications have been made. Supposed Cephalophus at Menacer and in the Ngorora Formation (Arambourg, 1959: plate 17, figure 8; Gentry, 1978) were allocated to Neotragini (Thomas, 1981; Thomas and Petter, 1986). The Aïn Boucherit C. leporinus of Arambourg (1979) will be referred here to Parantidorcas latifrons. Genus CEPHALOPHUS C. H. Smith, 1827

Type Species Cephalophus silvicultor (Afzelius, 1815). Often spelled sylvicultor by later writers.

Localities and Age Haasgat Cave. Early or Middle Pleistocene.

Remarks Wells (1967) wrote of provisional South African records at Cornelia, Vaal River deposits and Florisbad, but the Vaal River S. grimmia (Cooke, 1949) was later accepted as an Antidorcas bondi (Vrba, 1973). Cooke (1974) again referred to the Cornelia attribution, but Brink (1987) could not confirm the citation for Florisbad. Plug and Keyser (1994a) claimed the Haasgat Cave record as the oldest in South Africa. Late Pleistocene occurrences are known (Plug and Badenhorst, 2001). ASSESSMENT OF CEPHALOPHINI

The possible or even probable cephalophine at Lukeino shows that this tribe could have emerged as long ago as the late Miocene. The only informative fossils are from Laetoli where they belong to quite a large Cephalophus and obviously have interesting ecological implications. Many zoologists have thought that Cephalophini may not be primitively forest dwelling (which would have implied an independence from other bovids since before Eotragus), and the debate continues (Kingdon, 1982; Heckner-Bisping, 2001). Any ancestor resembling the less specialized Sylvicapra could have arisen from a boselaphine like Tetracerus or from a neotragine. Subfamily ANTILOPINAE Gray, 1821 Figure 38.7

CEPHALOPHUS sp or spp.

Type Genus Antilope Pallas, 1766. Synonymy Cephalophus sp. Thomas, 1980:89, figure 1(2). Localities and Age Lukeino. Late Miocene. Cephalophini sp. indet. Gentry, 1987:386, plate 10.6. Localities and age: Laetolil Beds. Middle Pliocene. Cephalophus sp. Harris, 1991:228. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, lower Burgi and KBS Mbs. Late Pliocene. Remarks Cephalophus is uncommon in the Laetolil Beds but better represented than anywhere else. The teeth are intermediate in size between modern C. spadix and C. silvicultor, smaller than in Brabovus, and there is only one tooth of a smaller species. The KBS horn core is the size of a C. silvicultor or bigger, and the likely cephalophine upper molar from Lukeino would be from a smaller species unless it were an M1. CEPHALOPHUS Small spp.

Synonymy Cf. Cephalophus (Guevi) caerulus Wells and Cooke, 1956: 15.

Localities and Age Makapansgat Limeworks. Late Pliocene. Cephalophus parvus Broom, 1934: 477, figure7. Localities and age: *Taung. Late Pleistocene. Remarks Rare dental fragments of a small Cephalophus in Makapansgat Limeworks Member 3 (Vrba, 1987b, 1995) are the size of the living blue duiker, C. monticola. The Taung record was thought to be of C. monticola, formerly called C. caeruleus (Wells, 1967). Genus SYLVICAPRA Ogilby, 1837

Type Species Sylvicapra grimmia (Linnaeus, 1758).

Extant Antilopinae are divided into the two tribes Neotragini and Antilopini. The former is a probably paraphyletic tribe of small African antelopes, from among whose early relatives sprang the Antilopini (Gentry, 1992). Neotragine horn cores take the form of small spikes, of small cross-sectional area and varying length. The temporal distribution of African fossil species (other than of Gazella) is shown in figure 38.7. Genus HOMOIODORCAS Thomas, 1981

Type Species Homoiodorcas tugenium Thomas, 1981. *HOMOIODORCAS TUGENIUM Thomas, 1981

Synonymy Homoiodorcas tugenium Thomas, 1981:364, plate 4, text figures 10–13. Localities and Age *Ngorora Fm, Mb C. Also Mbs A–B and D, commonest in B–C. Middle (?and late) Miocene. Remarks This was a smaller species than fossil or extant gazelles and was assigned to the Neotragini by Thomas. However, its horn core index (mean ⫽ 20.5 ⫻ 16.9 for eight specimens) is large, and it also shows slight backward curvature. Thomas (1981: plate 4, figures 5a–5b) shows a hornless female. One must suspect that it could be related to the ancestry of Antilopini rather than being closer to Neotragini than to any other tribe. Thomas noted that the major cross-sectional axis at the base is oblique, rather as if the lowest part of the anterolateral surface had been pushed to give a slight inward tilt to the horn core. A similar peculiarity exists in extant Madoqua and in the Langebaanweg Gazella.

*SYLVICAPRA GRIMMIA (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonymy Capra grimmia Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat. 10th ed., 1:70. Extant; Sylvicapra grimmia Plug and Keyser, 1994a:141.

HOMOIODORCAS spp. Figure 38.8

Localities and Age Gebel Zelten, Maboko. Middle Miocene. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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Parantidorcas latifrons

“Gazella” kohllarseni

Pelea capreolus

Aepyceros melampus

Aepyceros shungurae

Aepyceros sp. nov.

Aepyceros premelampus

Antilope sp.

Antidorcas marsupialis

Antidorcas australis

Antidorcas bondi Antidorcas recki

6.0

Dytikodorcas libycus

5.0

Raphicerus paralius

3.0

4.0

Ourebia ourebi Madoqua avifluminis

2.0

Oreotragus oreotragus

1.0

Raphicerus campestris

Raphicerus melanotis

Ma 0

Temporal distribution of African fossil Antilopinae exluding Gazella. Earlier Antilopinae of uncertain tribal affiliation are Homoiodorcas tugenium at ~13.0–10.0 Ma and Homoiodorcas spp. back to the middle Miocene.

FIGURE 38.7

Remarks Earlier material has been assigned to Homoiodorcas (Gentry, 1994; Morales et al., 2003) e.g., Gebel Zelten horn core BMNH M26687 (“Protragocerus sp.” of Hamilton, 1973: plate 13, figure 1 [left]) and an unpublished Maboko frontlet BMNH M15544 (figure 38.8). Thomas (1983) also described a middle Miocene horn core, mandible and other remains from Al Jadidah, Saudi Arabia, as ?Homoiodorcas sp. The horn cores are more primitive than H. tugenium in having convex longitudinal profiles along their anterior edges rather than actual backward curvature. They are also appreciably bigger: basal DAP ⫻ DTs are 27.6 ⫻ 18.8 for Zelten, 23.0 ⫻ 22.3 for Maboko, and 23.4 ⫻ 19.7 for Al Jadidah. Gazella negevensis Tchernov et al. (1987) from Negev, Israel, is another probable Homoiodorcas. The teeth on the illustrated Negev mandible are as small as Namacerus or a large Homoiodorcas, and the premolar row appears to have been as long as in Namacerus, which makes it unlikely to be a hypsodontine (cf. Morales et al., 2003). Nothing as yet debars these earlier remains from being early Antilopini in which the horn cores were already larger than in extant Neotragini but not as long or backwardly curved as in Eurasian Turolian (late Miocene) Gazella. The Ngorora Formation species could be a smaller and late survivor of this stage of evolution.

of small diameter, set widely apart, and plausibly primitive. The back part of the braincase roof often curves downward. Supraorbital pits are small and the preorbital fossa is large. There are no basal pillars on the teeth, the lingual walls of lower molars are straight, central fossettes disappear early in wear, and upper molars have small styles but rarely vertical ribs in between. Neotragus contains the royal antelope, N. pygmaeus, often cited as the smallest known bovid (see appendix note 2).

Tribe NEOTRAGINI Sclater and Thomas, 1894

RAPHICERUS PARALIUS Gentry, 1980

Type Genus Neotragus H. Smith, 1827. Neotragini are African antelopes smaller than Gazella. Their horn cores are fairly upright and little divergent spikes, 764


Genus RAPHICERUS C.H. Smith, 1827

Type Species Raphicerus campestris (Thunberg, 1811). The short to moderately long horn cores have a slightly concave front edge. The back of the braincase roof is not very strongly curved downward, and temporal lines do not approach closely on the braincase roof. Raphicerus campestris, the steinbok, is in many ways the standard or most familiar of the Neotragini. The genus also includes the Cape and Sharpe’s grysboks (R. melanotis and sharpei), the latter being the smallest and shortest horned and thereby more like a Madoqua.

Synonymy Raphicerus paralius Gentry, 1980:300, figures 52–3, 55–7.

Localities and Age *Langebaanweg. Early Pliocene.

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*RAPHICERUS CAMPESTRIS (Thunberg, 1811)

Synonymy Antilope campestris Thunberg, 1811, Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersbourg 3:313. Extant; Raphicerus campestris Vrba, 1976: 29, plates 23–25. Localities and Age Swartkrans 2. Remarks Vrba (1976) assigned a female skull from Swartkrans 2 to the living steenbok species. She assigned two larger horn cores from Swartkrans 2 to “cf. Raphicerus sp.” RAPHICERUS spp.

Localities and Age Many localities from late Miocene onward.

Remarks Neotragine horn cores and teeth larger than Madoqua have often been called “Raphicerus sp.” Such identifications are quite likely to be correct for Pleistocene fossils, but less likely for earlier ones. Koobi Fora horn cores (Harris, 1991: table 5.75) are mostly large, about the size of the Elandsfontein R. melanotis, but backwardly curved unlike other Raphicerus. A Sahabi horn core (Lehmann and Thomas 1987: figure 1E) is almost as big as at Langebaanweg. The Kanapoi record (Harris et al., 2003: figure 31) is not a Raphicerus; its horn cores are too large relative to their width apart, too inclined and with slight backward curvature. If it were a female gazelle, it would be a large species. Horn cores from Baard’s Quarry, Langebaanweg (Gentry, 1980) are as small as in living R. campestris and melanotis. A Menacer m3 (Thomas and Petter, 1986: figure 5) is the size of R. sharpei or Neotragus moschatus (suni), but without the large third lobe of the latter. Genus OREOTRAGUS A. Smith, 1834

Type Species Oreotragus oreotragus (Zimmermann, 1783). *OREOTRAGUS OREOTRAGUS (Zimmermann, 1783) Cranial roof of Homoiodorcas sp. from Maboko, BMNH M15544, in dorsal (A) and right lateral (B) views. Anterior to the right. Scale in millimeters.

FIGURE 38.8

Remarks This species is the largest known neotragine. It has short, thickened horn cores, often keeled posterolaterally and with other irregular ridges. Insertions are more inclined than in living Raphicerus. Raphicerus paralius need not be close to living Raphicerus or any other neotragine genus. It cannot be a gazelle, so Raphicerus functions as a default generic name. A Makapansgat Limeworks neotragine horn core (“Cephalophus” pricei of Wells and Cooke, 1956: figure 6; from Member 3 according to Vrba, 1995) is as big as R. paralius but slightly compressed anteroposteriorly.

Synonymy Antilope oreotragus Zimmermann, 1783, , Geogr. Gesch. Mensch. Vierf. Thiere 3:269. Extant; Palaeotragiscus longiceps Broom, 1934:477, figure 6. Localities and Age Taung. Late Pliocene; Oreotragus major Wells, 1951, S. Afr. J. Sci. 47:167, figure 1. Localities and age: Makapan Valley. Plio-Pleistocene; Oreotragus major Wells and Cooke, 1956:35, figures 17–18. Localities and age: Makapansgat Limeworks. Late Pliocene; Oreotragus oreotragus Watson and Plug, 1995:183. Remarks Oreotragus horn cores are more tapered from base to tip and more upright than in Raphicerus. The original maxilla fragment recorded by Broom (1934: figure 6) from Taung looks like an Oreotragus. Oreotragus from the South African Plio-Pleistocene caves was discussed by Vrba (1976) and Cooke (1990) and was considered to be indistinguishable from the living species by Watson and Plug (1995). This would make it the earliest record of an extant bovid in Africa.

RAPHICERUS MELANOTIS (Thunberg, 1811) Genus OUREBIA Laurillard, 1842

Synonymy Antilope melanotis Thunberg, 1811, Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Petersbourg 3: 312. Extant. Remarks Careful analysis by Klein (1976) demonstrated the presence of both Raphicerus campestris and R. melanotis early in the late Pleistocene of the southern Cape Province. An earlier and larger Raphicerus at Elandsfontein was also put into R. melanotis by Klein and Cruz-Uribe (1991), who attributed its large size to lack of competing species and not as a response to climate.

Type Species Ourebia ourebi (Zimmermann, 1783). An extant monospecific genus with some reduncine similarities. *OUREBIA OUREBI (Zimmermann, 1783)

Synonymy Antilope ourebi Zimmermann, 1783, Geogr. Gesch. Mensch. Vierf. Thiere 3:268. Extant. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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Localities and Age Swartkrans Mb 3, ? Kanjera. Early Pleistocene.

Remarks Ourebia dentitions were found in the Swartkrans collections (Vrba, 1976, 1995). An upper molar from Kanjera is also probably an oribi (Gentry and Gentry, 1978). Genus MADOQUA Ogilby, 1837

Type Species Madoqua saltiana (Desmarest, 1816). Madoqua is made up of neotragines substantially smaller than Raphicerus, Oreotragus or Ourebia. Several very small species live in the Horn of Africa, and M. kirki and damarensis are more widespread. MADOQUA AVIFLUMINIS (Dietrich, 1950)

Synonymy Praemadoqua avifluminis Dietrich, 1950:34, figures 3–4, 25–26. Localities and Age *Laetoli; Madoqua avifluminis Gentry and Gentry, 1978:425. Localities and age: Laetoli; Madoqua avifluminis Gentry, 1987:392. Localities and age: Laetolil Beds. Middle Pliocene. Remarks Madoqua kirki still lives at Laetoli, and its remains are common among the fossils. The fossilized Madoqua of the Laetolil Beds is a different species. Horn cores are shorter and more thickened basally than in M. kirki and have a slight curvature; m3s have a reduced rear or third lobe, but it is not absent as in two of the living species; metatarsals are slightly shorter and relatively thicker. The syntypes of M. avifluminis are composite tooth rows, possibly of different dates. Madoqua in the Ndolanya Beds is less different from M. kirki. Gentry (1981) thought a Hadar KHT Madoqua horn core was closer to Ndolanya than to Laetolil Beds morphology. Harris (1991) noted a Madoqua maxilla in the KBS Member of the Koobi Fora Formation. Madoqua is listed for the late Miocene of Mpesida and the Adu-Asa Formation (Thomas, 1980: figure1:10; HaileSelassie et al., 2004). ASSESSMENT OF NEOTRAGINI

Neotragini are not morphologically unified and could be a miscellany of small antelopes surviving in niches that are no longer within the grasp of larger bovid species. Fossil horn cores cited as Neotragini or Raphicerus are not always distinguishable from cephalophines, but one can be reassured by an absence of Cephalophus teeth at nearly all African localities. The less distinctive teeth of the bush duiker Sylvicapra might be confused with Ourebia but perhaps not with other Neotragini. The past existence of large species or variants of Raphicerus will need analysis, especially if they ever coexisted with R. campestris as seemed possible at Swartkrans 2 (Vrba, 1976). Small size in some Neotragini may be a secondary characteristic. A possible neotragine outside Africa is the late Miocene Tyrrhenotragus gracillimus at Baccinello, Italy (Weithofer, 1888; Thomas, 1984b). Tribe ANTILOPINI Gray, 1821 Table 38.1

Type Genus Antilope Pallas, 1766. This tribe contains the Indian blackbuck and its many relatives in the Eurasian late Miocene, as well as the widespread Gazella and some other genera. Molecular and genetic studies endorse the relationship of spiral-horned and non-spiral-horned 766


species (Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2005), and hybridization between Antilope and Gazella has been claimed (Ranjitsinh, 1989: sixth plate, figure 3). Hitherto, a majority of recent cladistic studies have placed Aepyceros in an unresolved position close to the base of groups (B) and (C) in table 38.1. (See table 38.1 caption for references.) In this chapter I revert to placing it inside the Antilopini. Genus GAZELLA Blainville, 1816 Figure 38.9

Type Species Gazella dorcas (Linnaeus, 1758). Gazella is common from the late Miocene onward in Europe and China, and seemingly from the middle Miocene in the Siwaliks and Africa. Probably an unknown ancestor passed through a Homoiodorcas-like stage, acquired backward curvature of its horn cores, shortened its premolar rows, and became Gazella. In Europe some larger-sized descendants from a similar process became the genus Tethytragus. Gazella species are small to moderate sized with moderate to long horn cores, the level of maximum mediolateral width lying at or slightly behind the anteroposterior midpoint, without keels or torsion, of subcircular or elliptical cross section, the lateral surface often flatter than the medial, moderately upright insertions, backwardly curved, and insertions moderately wide apart and placed above the back of the orbits. Some other characters are strong postcornual fossa, very limited sinuses within the frontals, horned females in most extant species, frontals between the horn bases at the same level as the dorsal orbital rims, large triangular supraorbital pits around the supraorbital foramina, braincase not shortened, its roof not greatly angled downward on the plane of the face, occipital surface with each half facing partly laterally as well as backward, moderate to large auditory bullae, m3s of living species often with an enlarged third lobe. The type species is one of a number found across drier habitats of the southern Palaearctic. Other modern species are sometimes split off as Procapra (East Asia), Nanger (three large African species), and Eudorcas (two sub-Saharan species larger than dorcas and living in slightly less dry conditions than G. dorcas or Nanger). In the following account, early and subsaharan Gazella will be listed before the later north African Gazella starting with G. psolea. The temporal distribution of African fossil Gazella species is shown in figure 38.9. GAZELLA sp. (1)

Localities and Age Fort Ternan. Middle Miocene. Remarks Several horn cores, a female partial skull and dental remains come from Fort Ternan. The complete horn core (Gentry, 1970: plate 15, figures 3–4 [appendix note 3]) is a member of the Antilopini lacking characters sufficient to remove it from Gazella. The female skull was hornless in life. Its temporal lines approach one another closely toward the back of the cranial roof, which is unusual in Antilopini and probably primitive. The teeth have occlusal lengths exceeding Namacerus by about 10% and shorter premolar rows than in that genus. Teeth are close in size and morphology to the European Turolian gazelles, but P2 is less shortened. Hypsodonty is little advanced, and upper and lower molars still have basal pillars. The p4 shows a metaconid growing forward toward the paraconid on the lingual side, which is not primitive.

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3.0

Gazella rufina

Gazella cuvieri

Gazella dorcas

Gazella tingitana

Gazella atlantica

Gazella dracula

Gazella pomeli

Gazella setifensis

Gazella thomasi

Gazella psolea

Gazella granti?

Gazella thomsoni Gazella vanhoepeni

Gazella janenschi

2.0

Gazella praethomsoni

Gazella sp. 3

1.0

Gazella aff. rufifrons

Ma 0

5.0

Gazella sp. 2

4.0

6.0

Temporal distribution of African fossil Gazella. Earlier records are Gazella sp. (1) at 14.0 Ma and G. praegaudryi at ~10.0–.0 Ma.

FIGURE 38.9

GAZELLA sp. (2)

Localities and Age Langebaanweg. Early Pliocene. Remarks A larger gazelle at Langebaanweg (Gentry, 1980) has more robust and more compressed horn cores with flattened lateral surfaces, strong backward curvature, and a degree of divergence increasing distally. The lowest part of the horn cores often has a slight inward tilt as if deflected from an anterolateral direction (see Homoiodorcas tugenium, described earlier). GAZELLA PRAEGAUDRYI Arambourg, 1959

Synonymy Gazella praegaudryi Arambourg, 1959:123, plate 17 figures 9–11. Localities and Age *Bou Hanifia. Late Miocene. Remarks This little-known small species is much like that at Fort Ternan but seemingly without the p4 specialization. Similar remains have been found at Lothagam and in the Namurungule Formation. GAZELLA JANENSCHI Dietrich, 1950

Synonymy Gazella janenschi Dietrich, 1950:25, figure 22. Localities and Age *Laetoli; Gazella janenschi Gentry, 1987:393, plate 10.9. Laetolil Beds, Ndolanya Beds. Middle–late Pliocene. Remarks This is a small gazelle with horn cores little changed from the Fort Ternan species, but horn cores attributed to females have been found. The degree of divergence of

the horn cores decreases distally. The species is common in the Laetolil Beds and survived little changed in the Ndolanya Beds; it has also been reported from the Nachukui Formation (Harris et al., 1988). GAZELLA sp. (3) Figure 38.10

Synonymy Antilopini sp.1 Gentry and Gentry, 1978:444, plate 39, figure 2. Localities and Age Olduvai, Beds I–II. Early Pleistocene; Antilopini sp. indet. Gentry, 1985:180. Localities and age: Shungura Fm, Mbs K–L. Early Pleistocene; Gazella praethomsoni (in part, Omo 33 70.2680 ⫹ 70.2993) Gentry, 1985:179. Localities and age: Shungura Fm, Mb F. Late Pliocene; Antilopini “sp. 1” Gentry, 1987:401, plate 10.12. Localities and age: Laetoli, Ndolanya Beds. Late Pliocene. Remarks Most of these fossils have not been previously referred to Gazella. The horn cores have some compression, divergence increasing from the base, backward curvature above fairly upright insertions, perhaps a faint anterior keel, and insertions probably close. Pedicels are low. The postcornual fossa is large, no sinuses are visible within the frontals, frontals are not raised between the horn bases, and the supraorbital pit is close below the anterior base of the horn core. The horn core in figure 38.10 is small and long and has a lyrated appearance. Most of these characters would fit Gazella, but the more upright insertions, strong initial divergence, possible lyration distally, and perhaps the less pronounced flattening of the lateral surface differ from G. janenschi or the Olduvai G. aff. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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southern Africa, except that Klein (1984) had earlier mentioned late Pleistocene gazelles in Zambia and Malawi. It would be interesting to know if these were more like rufifrons or thomsoni. GAZELLA THOMSONI Günther, 1884

FIGURE 38.10

Frontlet of Gazella sp. (3) from Shungura Member F, Omo

33 70.2680 ⫹ 70.2993, in (A) anterior and (B) right lateral views. Scale in millimeters.

rufifrons. The horn cores are about the size of G. aff. rufifrons but with more compression.

Synonymy Gazella thomsoni Günther, 1884, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 5, 14:427. Extant; Gazella praethomsoni (in part) Harris, 1991:222, plate 5.72. Localities and Age Galana Boi Fm. Holocene. Remarks Because of their late date, the Galana Boi horn cores may already be G. thomsoni. Since this species has or had a geographically separated subspecies G. t. albonotata in the southern Sudan and since it is a species of less arid country than G. granti, its past distribution is of much ecological interest. The descent of G. thomsoni is uncertain. Being related to G. rufifrons (Gentry, 1964), it could have descended from the Olduvai G. aff. rufifrons by acquiring more compressed horn cores and shorter premolar rows. Then again, the smaller praethomsoni in the Koobi Fora and Shungura Formation already had strongly compressed horn cores. Geraads et al. (2004a) appear to regard a gazelle at Asbole as intermediate between praethomsoni and thomsoni. GAZELLA VANHOEPENI (Wells and Cooke, 1956)

GAZELLA PRAETHOMSONI Arambourg, 1947

Synonymy Gazella praethomsoni Arambourg, 1947:387, plate 32 figures 4, 4a.

Localities and Age *Shungura Fm.; Gazella praethomsoni Gentry, 1985:179. Localities and age: Shungura Fm, Mbs F–H. Late Pliocene; Gazella praethomsoni Harris, 1991:221, figure 5.71. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, Lokochot Mb, Upper Burgi Mb to Okote Mb. Middle Pliocene–early Pleistocene. Remarks This is a smaller species than extant G. thomsoni, and with horn cores only slightly less compressed. The holotype is a horn core base in poor condition and perhaps subadult, and the paratype mandible (Arambourg, 1947: plate 27, figure 1) may not be Gazella. G. praethomsoni is the most common gazelle in the upper part of the Koobi Fora Formation, and Harris (1991) comments that upper Burgi horn cores were shorter than in G. thomsoni.

Synonymy Phenacotragus vanhoepeni Wells and Cooke, 1956:43, figures 22–24. Localities and Age *Makapansgat Limeworks. Late Pliocene; Gazella gracilior Wells and Cooke, 1956:37, figures 20–21. Localities and age: Makapansgat Limeworks; Gazella vanhoepeni Wells, 1969, S. Afr. J. Sci. 65:162. Remarks This large gazelle from Makapansgat Limeworks Member 3 (Vrba, 1995) had compressed horn cores curved backward fairly sharply in their mid course, and was a browser (Sponheimer et al., 1999). Thereafter it becomes encased in speculation. It may have been related to the three large living subsaharan gazelles sometimes placed in a separate genus Nanger and including G. granti. Gazella gracilior is probably its female. The Langebaanweg Gazella sp., with its rather large horn cores and teeth, could be linked with it. Gentry (1985) thought that an Usno Formation horn core, B377, could have belonged to the Nanger group.

GAZELLA aff. RUFIFRONS GAZELLA GRANTI Brooke, 1872

Synonymy Gazella sp. Gentry and Gentry, 1978:438. Localities and Age Olduvai Beds I–II, Peninj, Elandsfontein. Late Pliocene–middle Pleistocene; ?(Gazella cf. G. janenschi Harris, 1991:223, figures 5.73–5.74. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, Upper Burgi Mb to KBS Mbs. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene); Gazella cf. janenschi Geraads, Eisenmann and Petter, 2004a:190, plate 12, figure2. Localities and age: Melka Kunturé. Early Pleistocene. Remarks The Gazella hitherto recognized at Olduvai is larger than most G. janenschi and like the living West African G. rufifrons in short horn cores with little divergence, well inclined backward and with little backward curvature. The Olduvai horn cores have less compression than in rufifrons, and a mandible SHK II 1957.793 probably had a premolar row as long as in G. rufifrons. This species may descend from or be connected with the more northern and partly earlier G. praethomsoni (in contrast to my own earlier opinion). Melka Kunturé gazelle horn cores may also belong here. The Elandsfontein gazelle (Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1991: figure 18) could have been the latest in

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Synonymy Gazella granti Brooke, 1872, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.:602. Extant. Remarks This is the large East African gazelle of dry country. Fossil Gazella granti horn cores have been claimed at Laetoli from the Upper Ndolanya Beds and from both the upper and lower Laetolil Beds. I cannot believe that G. granti occurred in those faunas. but others with field experience remain adamant. Harris (1991: figure 5.75) similarly claims Gazella aff. G. granti from the Okote Member of the Koobi Fora Formation. A gazelle of the Nanger group at Asbole (Geraads et al., 2004a: figure 10:2) did have a much compressed horn core like G. granti, but it was a little smaller, and its backward curvature was like G. vanhoepeni or the modern G. soemmerringi. GAZELLA PSOLEA Geraads and Amani, 1998

Synonymy Gazella psolea Geraads and Amani, 1998: 200, figure 5.

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Localities and Age *Ahl al Oughlam. Late Pliocene. Remarks This gazelle has very large and little-compressed horn cores. The skull shows an inflated nasal opening flanked by the maxilla and a correspondingly reduced premaxilla, very like the condition of Saiga tatarica on the Eurasian steppes. Females are horned and the premolar rows are long for a gazelle. Subgenus Deprezia was founded for this specialized species. GAZELLA THOMASI Pomel, 1895

Synonymy Gazella atlantica P. Thomas, 1884:17, plate 1 figure 9.

Localities and Age Aïn Jourdel. Late Pliocene; Gazella thomasi Pomel, 1895:18. Localities and age: *Aïn Jourdel, Ahl al Oughlam. Late Pliocene. Remarks Pomel gave a new name thomasi to a horn core misidentified by P. Thomas. This small gazelle has compressed horn cores and short premolar rows. Arambourg (1979) rightly regarded the type horn core as immature. Geraads and Amani (1998) put the smaller gazelle coexisting with G. psolea at Ahl al Oughlam into G. thomasi. GAZELLA SETIFENSIS Pomel, 1895

Synonymy Gazella setifensis Pomel, 1895:15, plate 10, figures

similarities to the geologically earlier European Villafranchian G. borbonica. GAZELLA ATLANTICA Bourguignat, 1870

Synonymy Gazella atlantica Bourguignat, 1870:84, plate 10, figures 14–15. Localities and Age *Djebel-Thaya. Late Pleistocene. Remarks This species is slightly larger than earlier North African gazelles, and has robust horn cores, little compressed and backwardly curved. For probable female horn cores, see Pomel (1895: plate 3, figures 1–5, and plate 10, figures 12–13) and appendix note 4. The geologically older “Gazella atlantica” of P. Thomas, 1884, is a homonym. GAZELLA TINGITANA Arambourg, 1957

Synonymy Gazella tingitana Arambourg, 1957:68, plate 1, figures 1–4, and plate 2, figures 6, 8. Localities and Age *Mugharet el Aliya. Late Pleistocene. Remarks The long slender horn cores are like the earlier and slightly smaller G. dracula but more backwardly curved and with degree of divergence increasing distally. The backward curvature is stronger than in extant G. leptoceros. *GAZELLA DORCAS (Linnaeus, 1758)

14–15.

Localities and Age *La route des Beni Fouda (⫽ St. Arnaud, now El Eulma). Late Pliocene; Gazella setifensis Arambourg, 1979:56. Localities and age: Aïn Boucherit. Late Pliocene. Remarks Arambourg (1979) used setifensis for the gazelle of Aïn Boucherit and took the G. thomasi type as a conspecific immature example. The Aïn Boucherit gazelles are larger than extant G. dorcas and have compressed and backwardly curved horn cores. Females are horned. Geraads (1981) restricted setifensis to Pomel’s figured and slightly larger type horn core that he related to the recently exterminated G. rufina. He thought that several species could be present at Aïn Boucherit. GAZELLA POMELI Arambourg, 1979

Synonymy Gazella pomeli Arambourg, 1979:62, plate 41 figures 8–9, plate 42. Localities and Age *Aïn Hanech. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene. Remarks Gazella pomeli is another larger gazelle living somewhat later than G. setifensis. It has backwardly curved horn cores, but these are little compressed (ca. 82% for DT/DAP ⫻ 100 as against 67% at Aïn Boucherit) and more like the later and larger Gazella atlantica. The lateral surfaces of the horn cores are more obviously flat, and the degree of divergence increases toward the tips. It was probably at Mansourah (ChaîdSaoudi et al., 2006). GAZELLA DRACULA Geraads, 1981

Synonymy Gazella dracula Geraads, 1981:75, plate 5, figures 1–2.

Localities and Age *Tighenif. Early–middle Pleistocene. Remarks This species shows long, compressed and parallel horn cores with little backward curvature. Females have less compressed horn cores. Teeth are about the size of G. atlantica, although horn cores are somewhat smaller. The species has

Synonymy Capra dorcas Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1: 69. Extant. Remarks This once common living gazelle of north Africa has been reported from late Pleistocene localities (Arambourg, 1939, 1957). Many late fossils under various names might also belong here (Hopwood and Holleyfield, 1954:167). GAZELLA CUVIERI (Ogilby, 1841)

Synonymy Antilope cuvieri Ogilby, 1841, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1840:35. Extant. Remarks The larger upland gazelle of northwest Africa has been reported from late Pleistocene localities (Arambourg, 1957). GAZELLA RUFINA O. Thomas, 1894

Synonymy Gazella rufina O. Thomas, 1894, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1894:467. Extant until 19th century AD; Antilope pallaryi Pomel, 1895:9, 27, plate 12, figures 1, 2. Localities and Age ?near Oran.; Gazella rufina Arambourg, 1957:63, plate 2, figures 3, 3a, 4. Localities and age: Mugharet el Aliya. Late Pleistocene. Remarks Arambourg (1957) claimed a fossil record for this ghostly species founded on a skull and skin bought in Algiers in 1877. The holotype is in London and a few more specimens in Paris and Algeria (Lavauden, 1930), but no traveler ever wrote of sighting a living wild group. The holotype skull is like a large G. rufifrons (short and inclined horns, pointed central anterior tips on nasals, large preorbital fossa, and triangular supraorbital pits. Also the one surviving anterior tuberosity on the basioccipital is a localized structure as in rufifrons and thomsoni [Gentry, 1964]). Gazella rufifrons is a subsaharan West African species of more mesic habitats than any other gazelle, so G. rufina was probably a northern subspecies stranded in similar habitats amenable to human exploitation and threatened by desert advance from the THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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south. Hernández Fernández and Vrba (2005) related it to G. rufifrons and G. thomsoni.

that A. bondi dates back to the early Pleistocene. It survived into the Holocene ca 7,500 BP (Brink and Lee-Thorp, 1992).

Genus ANTIDORCAS Sundevall, 1847

ANTIDORCAS AUSTRALIS Hendey and Hendey, 1968

Type Species Antidorcas marsupialis (Zimmermann, 1780). Antidorcas is like Gazella but with sinuses in the frontals, the frontals raised between the horn core bases, supraorbital pits small, braincase shorter, premolar rows shorter and p2s often absent. The horn cores often diverge distally, usually bend backward, and sometimes show a sign of homonymous torsion. Lower molars have noticeably flat lingual walls. All extinct species are smaller than the extant South African one. No reliable records predate the Ndolanya Beds at Laetoli. ANTIDORCAS RECKI (Schwarz, 1932)

Synonymy Adenota recki Schwarz, 1932:1, plates 1–2. Localities and Age *Olduvai. Early–middle Pleistocene; Phenacotragus recki Schwarz, 1937:53, plate 1, figure 1; Gazella wellsi Cooke, 1949:38, figure 11. Localities and age: Vaal River Gravels. (?A. recki or A. bondi); Gazella hennigi Dietrich, 1950:25, plate 1, figures 1–2. Localities and age: Laetoli. Late Pliocene; Antidorcas recki Vrba, 1976:35, plates 32–35. Localities and age: Kromdraai A. Early (–middle?) Pleistocene; Antidorcas recki Gentry and Gentry, 1978:428, plate 39, figures 1 and 4, plate 40, figure 6. Localities and age: Olduvai Beds I–IV, Elandsfontein. Late Pliocene–middle Pleistocene; Antidorcas recki Gentry, 1985:177. Localities and age: Shungura Fm Mbs B–H. Late Pliocene; Antidorcas recki Harris, 1991:217, figures 5.67–5.70. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, lower Tulu Bor–Okote Mbs. Nachukui Fm, Lomekwi, Kalachoro and Kaitio Mbs. Middle Pliocene–early Pleistocene; Antidorcas recki Geraads et al., 2001:342, figures 2I, 5F. Localities and age: Koro Toro. Middle– late Pliocene. Remarks The holotype skull, figured by Schwarz (1932, 1937), was the first Antidorcas to be known outside southern Africa. Some populations may be separable as the A. hennigi of the Ndolanya Beds at Laetoli. Horn cores are often sharply bent backward in their distal parts, and upper molars have concave labial walls behind their mesostyles. Metatarsals are relatively less elongated than in living springbok. It was seemingly present in South Africa as far back as Sterkfontein Member 4, but its separation from the next two species can be problematic (Cooke, 1949; Vrba, 1976, 1995). ANTIDORCAS BONDI (Cooke and Wells, 1951)

Synonymy Gazella bondi Cooke and Wells, 1951:207, figure 3. Localities and Age *Chelmer. Also Vlakkraal. Late Pleistocene; Antidorcas bondi Vrba, 1973:288, plates 16–24. Localities and age: Swartkrans. Pleistocene; Antidorcas bondi Vrba, 1976:13, 28. Localities and age: Swartkrans SKb (⫽ Mb 2). Early Pleistocene; Antidorcas bondi Brown and Verhagen, 1985:102. Localities and age: Kruger Cave 35/83, Olifantsnek, Rustenburg. Holocene; Antidorcas bondi De Ruiter, 2003:34. Localities and age: Swartkrans Mbs 1–2. Early Pleistocene. Remarks A small, markedly hypsodont Antidorcas was found at many Pleistocene sites of southern Africa north of the Cape zone (Klein, 1980) and was the most numerous bovid in Swartkrans 2 (Vrba, 1976). It was a specialized small grazer with teeth so hypsodont that the lower edge of the mandible in almost mature individuals is incompletely ossified. This condition does not quite come to pass in A. recki. De Ruiter (2003) claimed

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Synonymy Antidorcas marsupialis australis Hendey and Hendey, 1968:56, plates 3–4. Localities and Age *Swartklip. Also Melkbos, Elandsfontein, Swartkrans. Early Pleistocene–early Holocene. Remarks This form is smaller than living springbok, with horn cores more compressed and without a sharp bend backward. An Antidorcas sp. frontlet from Olduvai IV (Gentry and Gentry, 1978: plate 38) looked transitional from A.recki to marsupialis and may fall within the bounds of A. australis. The founders and most subsequent authors doubt that A. australis is separate from A. marsupialis. The analyses of Vrba (1976) and De Ruiter (2003) do not eliminate the scarcely believable possibility of coexistence of A. recki, bondi and australis at Swartkrans. *ANTIDORCAS MARSUPIALIS (Zimmermann, 1780)

Synonymy Antilope marsupialis Zimmermann, 1780, Geogr. Gesch. Mensch. Vierf. Thiere 2:427. Extant. Remarks This large Antidorcas with large m3s with noticeably enlarged third (hypoconulid) lobes, and long metatarsals was present at Florisbad (Brink, 1987) and other late sites in South Africa. Genus DYTIKODORCAS Bouvrain and Bonis, 2007

Type Species Dytikodorcas longicornis Bouvrain and Bonis, 2007.

Localities and Age *Dytiko 3, Greece, late Miocene (MN13). DYTIKODORCAS LIBYCUS (Lehmann and Thomas, 1987)

Synonymy Prostrepsiceros libycus Lehmann and Thomas, 1987:330, figure 7. Localities and Age *Sahabi. Late Miocene. Remarks This is a species with weakly to moderately lyrated horn cores showing strong longitudinal grooves posteriorly and sometimes a shallow longitudinal groove on the front surface. It differs from the gazelle-sized D. longicornis by its much larger size and shorter horn pedicels. The generic reattribution of Bouvrain and Bonis (2007) may be preferable to Prostrepsiceros in that the Greek type species of Dytikodorcas has very similar horn cores and is more nearly contemporaneous with the Sahabi species. The closest Prostrepsiceros was the Samos P. fraasi (Andree, 1926: plate 15, figure 1) which was closer in size to D. libycus but more different morphologically and probably from an earlier time in the Turolian. Dytikodorcas (as Prostrepsiceros) is also listed for the Adu-Asa Formation (Haile-Selassie et al., 2004). Genus ANTILOPE Pallas, 1766

Type Species Antilope cervicapra (Linnaeus, 1758). Antilope was the first genus of the Bovidae to be added to Linnaeus’s original Bos, Ovis, and Capra, and was used for many bovids in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (Ogilby, 1841). Later it became restricted to the Indian blackbuck alone, Antilope cervicapra, but the corresponding English word antelopes continues to mean bovids beyond Europe and not in or closely related to Bos, Ovis, or Capra. Antilope cervicapra

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probably descends from a Prostrepsiceros species. Its horn cores are uncompressed, spirally horned, and absent in females. ANTILOPE sp.

Synonymy Antilope aff. subtorta Gentry, 1985:180, plate 11, figure 3.

Localities and Age Shungura Fm Mb. Ca. Late Pliocene. Remarks A right and a left horn core probably from different individuals are the only record of Antilope in Africa. They are less twisted than in living A. cervicapra and with traces of a posterolateral keel, but the same size as that species and without compression. They are not conspecific with the larger-sized Pinjor A. subtorta Pilgrim, 1937. Genus AEPYCEROS Sundevall, 1847

Type Species Aepyceros melampus (Lichtenstein, 1812). Horn cores are long, little compressed, often with transverse ridges, backwardly curved, and lyrated rather than spiraled. Females are hornless. The frontals contain sinuses and are slightly elevated between the horn pedicels. The postcornual fossa is large and supraorbital pits small. Cheek teeth are of antilopine aspect: quite high crowned, basal pillars absent on upper molars and tiny or absent on lowers, premolar rows short in comparison with molar rows. Upper molars have a fairly prominent mesostyle and only a weak rib on the labial wall of the paracone, the labial wall of the metacone is even flatter, and the M3 metastyle takes the form of a strong flange. Lower p2s are small, and p4s have paraconid-metaconid fusion to close the anterior part of the lingual wall and have a hypoconid tending to project labially. The teeth and limb bones of the living species have a number of unique or distinctive characters. Aepyceros shares lack of horn core compression with Antilope, some extinct spiral-horned species and some earlier Gazella. Temporal ridges on the cranial roof are less wide apart posteriorly than in Antilope, Gazella or Antidorcas. AEPYCEROS PREMELAMPUS Harris, 2003

Synonymy Aepyceros premelampus Harris, 2003:551, figures 11.5G, 11.19–20. Localities and Age *Lothagam, upper Nawata Fm. Also lower Nawata and Nachukui Fms, Apak and Kaiyumung Mbs. Late Miocene–middle Pliocene. Remarks This is the commonest bovid at Lothagam—an interesting contrast to its absence at Langebaanweg. The horn cores are reminiscent of an impala but seem to lack a flattened lateral surface or transverse ridges and are well inclined, the cranium is wide and rather long for an Aepyceros, and the supraorbital pits are large. The size of the species declines from the lower to the upper Nawata Formations. As with the Lothagam boselaphine, one wonders whether we have here an entrant to Africa from Eurasia, but this one would have had long-lasting success if its lineage really did turn into more fully evolved Aepyceros. The Aepyceros at Lukeino (Thomas, 1980) may be conspecific. AEPYCEROS sp. nov.

Synonymy Aepycerotinae gen.et sp. indet. Dietrich, 1950:30, figure 45.

Localities and Age Laetoli.; Gazella kohllarseni (partim) Dietrich, 1950:25, figures 16, 49. Localities and age: Laetoli;

?Hippotragini sp. (partim) Gentry and Gentry, 1978:351, 62. Localities and age: Laetolil Beds, Laetoli. Middle Pliocene; ?Hippotragini sp. nov. (partim) Gentry, 1987:388, plate 10.8. Localities and age: Laetolil Beds, Laetoli; sp. indet. aff. Pelea Gentry, 1987:394, plate 10.10. Localities and age: Laetolil Beds, Laetoli. Remarks Confusion has long surrounded a Laetoli antelope, which Dietrich (1950: figure 45) first described. More details and a name will be given in a coming publication on Laetoli. The horn cores are substantially larger than in extant impala, and newly assigned teeth slightly larger. The species was outlasted in East Africa by smaller-horned relatives. AEPYCEROS, sp. or spp. unknown

Localities and Age Karmosit, Mursi Fm, Hadar Fm, Nkondo Fm, Warwire Fm. Early–middle Pliocene. Remarks Aepyceros at the first three localities (Gentry, 1978, 1981, 1985) show only modest lyration of their horn cores. The Aepyceros in the Nkondo and Warwire Formations (Geraads and Thomas, 1994) was thought to resemble the Mursi Aepyceros. All these occurrences probably coincide with the time span of the earlier and smaller A. premelampus at Lothagam. Lokochot horn cores attributed to A. shungurae (Harris, 1991: figure 5.65, table 5.64) also show the poor lyration and reportedly weak or absent transverse ridges appropriate for the Mursi species and are as small or smaller than the Karmosit and Hadar horn cores. AEPYCEROS SHUNGURAE Gentry, 1985

Synonymy Aepyceros shungurae Gentry, 1985:171, plate 10, plate 11, figures 1–2, 7–8. Localities and Age *Shungura Fm, Mbs B–G. Usno Fm. 3.0– 2.0 Ma. Middle–late Pliocene; Aepyceros shungurae Harris, 1991:306. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, Moiti–Tulu Bor Mbs. Middle–late Pliocene; Aepyceros shungurae Geraads and Thomas, 1994:399, plate 3, figure 3. Localities and age: Kaiso Village Beds. ?Late Pliocene. Remarks This species is smaller and more primitive than living Aepyceros melampus. The horn cores are becoming larger, more lyrated, and with more detectable transverse ridges than in the middle Pliocene Aepyceros of the preceding entry. The “cf. Aepyceros sp.nov.” of Gentry (1985:175, plate 8, figures 1, 2) from Shungura F and lower G is not A. shungurae; it was slightly larger and with less lyrated horn cores and other minor differences. It occurred only in the more southerly area investigated by the French team of the 1967–74 Omo expedition. The “cf. Aepyceros sp.” of Harris (1991:215, figure 5.66) from the Upper Burgi and KBS Members of the Koobi Fora Formation is strongly lyrate, but only as large as a smaller A. shungurae. It may be a small species living alongside the larger Aepyceros at the time of its transition to A. melampus (appendix note 5). The horn cores of Harris’s “cf. Aepyceros sp.” differ from the Gazella sp.3 above by having transverse ridges and less compression. *AEPYCEROS MELAMPUS (Lichtenstein, 1812)

Synonymy Antilope melampus Lichtenstein, 1812, Reisen Sudl. Africa 2, plate 4, opp. p. 544. Extant. Remarks It is possible that in the KBS Member of the Koobi Fora Formation and in levels above the top of Shungura Member G, impala attributable to Aepyceros melampus are found. In the East Turkana sequence, the Upper Burgi skull 1657 (Harris, THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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1991:211, figure 5.62) appears to be like melampus in having a straight parietofrontal suture and wider separation of supraorbital pits; it is less advanced in the distance of the supraorbital pits in front of the horn pedicels, and in facial length as judged by the relative anteroposterior positions of back of M3 to front of orbit. It continues to be like shungurae in smaller size, less widened back half of nasals, vestige of a preorbital fossa, and median indent at back of palate set further back. We should remember here that the holotype skull of A. shungurae is from Member B and that shungurae higher in the Shungura succession might have been like 1657. A pair of large and medially compressed horn cores from Shungura K (“cf. Aepyceros sp.” of Gentry, 1985: 176) might be a temporal or geographic variant within melampus. Gentry and Gentry (1978) noted A. melampus at Peninj. Occurrences of Aepyceros prior to the late Pleistocene are rare and uncertain in South Africa—for example, the horn core piece from Makapansgat Limeworks (Wells and Cooke, 1956: figure 19) thought by Vrba (1987b) to be conspecific with the species in the Laetolil Beds. The genus may never have occurred south of its present-day distribution. Tribe ?PELEINI Gray, 1872

Type Genus Pelea Gray, 1851. Genus PELEA Gray, 1851

Type Species Pelea capreolus (Forster, 1790). Extant. South Africa Pelea is the only genus in its tribe and contains the single gazelle-sized species Pelea capreolus, the Vaal rhebok of southern Africa. It was long accepted by naturalists as a reduncine, but its skull is less robustly constructed than a reduncine, it has upright small-diameter horn cores, its teeth are like Antilopini, and the premolars are very small. Oboussier (1970) suggested membership in the Antilopini because of its large brain size, pattern of cerebral sulci, and neocortical development. Molecular and other studies have associated it with Reduncini (Vrba and Schaller, 2000) and sometimes with other tribes near to the Antilopini. It can best be taken as a survivor of early Antilopinae close to the origin of Reduncini. *PELEA CAPREOLUS (Forster, 1790)

Synonymy Antilopa capreolus Forster, 1790, In Levaillant, Erste Reise Afrika:71. Extant; Pelea capreolus Vrba, 1976:13, 27, 35, plates 17–20. Localities and age: Swartkrans a and b (⫽ Mbs 1 and 2), Kromdraai A. Early (–middle?) Pleistocene. Remarks Late Pleistocene Pelea capreolus is cited in Plug and Badenhorst (2001). In addition to Vrba’s earlier records, there are more doubtful horn cores and teeth of “?Pelea” or “gen. indet. aff. Pelea” from Makapansgat 3 (Vrba, 1987b, 1995). Neither Pelea nor any other putative peleine comes from Laetoli, in contrast to the opinions of Gentry (1987). Tribe Indet., ?aff. ANTILOPINI Gen. indet., “GAZELLA” KOHLLARSENI Dietrich, 1950

Synonymy Gazella kohllarseni Dietrich, 1950:25, plate 1 figure 7.

Localities and Age *Laetoli; ?Hippotragini sp. (partim) Gentry and Gentry, 1978:351, 62. Localities and age: Laetolil Beds, Laetoli. Middle Pliocene; ?Hippotragini sp.nov. (partim) Gentry, 1987:388. Localities and age: Laetolil Beds, Laetoli. 772


Remarks This is a hypothetical grouping of Laetoli antilopine-like teeth, larger than in Gazella janenschi but smaller than the large Aepyceros, and some more or less straight, littlecompressed, and divergent horn cores. The pedicels of the horn cores contain sinuses. PARANTIDORCAS Arambourg, 1979

Type Species Parantidorcas latifrons Arambourg, 1979. *PARANTIDORCAS LATIFRONS Arambourg, 1979

Synonymy Parantidorcas latifrons Arambourg, 1979:65, plates 46–47, plate 48, figures 1–11. Localities and age: *Aïn Boucherit, Aïn Brimba. Late Pliocene; Cephalophus leporinus (Pomel); Arambourg, 1979:78, plate 45, figure 4. Localities and age: *Aïn Boucherit. Remarks The frontals of this gazelle-like species are not raised between the horn core bases, making it unlike Antidorcas. The horn cores are slightly spiraled, and with the torsion clockwise on the right or homonymous. This condition is present in Menelikia and the middle Miocene Benicerus, and sometimes detectable in Antidorcas and other genera. The species is like the Eurasian late Miocene Oioceros and its possible relatives, taken in table 38.1 as probably a separate tribe from Antilopini. Dentitions are slightly smaller than the Gazella at Aïn Boucherit, the labial lobes of the lower molars more bluntly pointed and the mandibular ramus relatively deeper posteriorly. The “Cephalophus leporinus” partial lower dentition figured by Arambourg is a fairly well-worn P. latifrons. ASSESSMENT OF ANTILOPINAE

Although a middle Miocene appearance of Gazella appears to be demonstrated at Fort Ternan, it is possible that the species there is in a phylogenetically earlier genus also ancestral to Aepyceros and other Antilopinae and perhaps even to Caprinae. (Any claims for Siwaliks middle Miocene Gazella will need similar questioning.) By the late Miocene, Gazella itself was in existence and by the middle Pliocene G. janenschi is probably a typical African gazelle. In the later Pliocene of East Africa, at least two species are known: (1) the Gazella sp. 3 with longer, backwardly curved horn cores and (2) the Olduvai and Koobi Fora Gazella aff. rufifrons with little compression or backward curvature. The second may descend from G. praethomsoni and be close to living G. rufifrons and thomsoni, but this is speculative. In north Africa no gazelle is known between G. praegaudryi and the remarkable G. psolea, with the most specialized face structure known in a gazelle. The later late Pliocene produces G. thomasi (small), setifensis (larger and with compressed horn cores), and pomeli (larger and with less compressed horn cores). These are succeeded in the early–middle Pleistocene by dracula (long, compressed and straight horn cores), and in the late Pleistocene by atlantica (larger than pomeli, robust and little-compressed horn cores), and tingitana (larger than dracula and horn cores more curved backward). There are late Pleistocene occurrences of extant G. cuvieri, rufina (probably ⫽ rufifrons) and dorcas, but only rufina has been linked with an earlier fossil, namely the setifensis type horn core (Geraads, 1981). No likely ancestor of G. leptoceros has been found. It will be necessary to see if G. cuvieri and any of the late Pleistocene fossils are related to G. gazella of Israel and its fossil forms (Davis, 1980).

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Antidorcas is not known much before the late Pliocene, and its last known occurrence in East Africa may be at Lainyamok at ~0.36 Ma (Potts and Deino, 1995). I could envisage A. recki of the middle Pleistocene evolving via A. australis into A. marsupialis, with A. bondi also appearing in the middle Pleistocene as a South African specialized side lineage, but the scrupulous analyses of the South African cave faunas do not support this story. No reliably identified fossils of Litocranius or Ammodorcas are known, although Gentry (1981: figure 2) plotted the dimensions of a notably gracile metacarpal from Hadar SH. The Antilope sp. in Shungura C is likely to be either temporally or geographically restricted in Africa, or both. My former interpretation of Aepyceros melampus being descended from smaller ancestors with less lyrated horn cores and less specialized teeth or limb bones now looks like part of a bigger story involving earlier and other larger Aepyceros species. Both the Dytikodorcas/Prostrepsiceros libycus at Sahabi and the Aepyceros premelampus of the Nawata Formation are rather curious members of their genera, and my present expectation is that they are related to one another and more doubtfully to later Aepyceros. More solid information is required. Subfamily REDUNCINAE Knottnerus-Meyer, 1907 Tribe REDUNCINI Knottnerus-Meyer, 1907 Figure 38.11

Type Genus Redunca H. Smith, 1827. Reduncini contain two living genera, Redunca, reedbucks, and the larger-sized Kobus, kob, lechwes, and waterbuck. They live in habitats near water. Although the tribe is named Reduncini, Kobus species are more often and easily seen in African wildlife reserves and are commoner as fossils. A third main fossil lineage was Menelikia, which survived until the late Pliocene or just into the Pleistocene. The tribe appeared in the late Miocene and African Reduncini have to be considered in relation to their long-known Siwaliks record. Asian Pliocene (–Pleistocene?) reduncines are reminiscent of lechwes or kobs, but with stronger temporal ridges on their cranial roofs. Earlier Siwaliks reduncines were found back to the Dhok Pathan and possibly earlier (Pilgrim, 1939). Gentry (1980, 1997) added to them the small Dorcadoxa porrecticornis (Lydekker, 1878). The occlusal complexity of present-day reduncine teeth agrees with the Bovini, Boselaphini and Hippotragini, and Pilgrim (1939) tentatively listed Reduncini close to those tribes. The temporal ridges of the Pliocene (–Pleistocene?) Siwaliks reduncines also prompted Gentry and Gentry (1978) to accept a reduncineboselaphine relationship. This view did not last. The simpler and more antilopine-like characters of the reduncine teeth at Langebaanweg were a surprise, and eventually Gentry (1980, 1992) moved Reduncini away from Boselaphini and Bovini. Molecular and other studies led to the view that Reduncini were associated with Antilopinae and Cephalophini (Vrba and Schaller, 2000; Marcot, 2007), the next step up the cladistic ladder. This resurrected the possibility of Pelea being an interesting survival from close to the reduncine ancestry. Extant forms show horn cores without keels or torsion, usually little compressed mediolaterally, and often with transverse ridges on the front. Some have a more upright insertion and backward curvature like most other bovids, while others are set at a low inclination in side view with upward and forward curvature. Postcornual fossae are present. Females are hornless. Frontals have no or limited development of internal sinuses and fail to become appreciably elevated between the

horn insertions. A maxillary tuberosity is prominent in ventral view of the skull, the infraorbital foramen is placed low and anteriorly, and the palatal ridges on the maxillae in front of the tooth rows come close together. Temporal ridges on the cranial roof approach closely posteriorly, the basioccipital has large anterior tuberosities, and foramina ovalia are moderate to large. Teeth are moderately hypsodont, rather small in relation to skull and mandible size, upper and lower molars with basal pillars, P2s small, upper molars with small but marked ribs between the styles, lingual lobes of upper molars constricted, lower premolars with the appearance of anteroposterior compression, p2s small, p4s with strongly projecting hypoconid and often a deep and narrow labial valley in front of it, p4s without paraconid-metaconid fusion to form a closed lingual wall, labial lobes of lower molars constricted, and lower molars with goat folds. The teeth of early reduncines differed from later ones in showing poorer ribs on labial walls of upper molars or lingual walls of lower molars, no basal pillars on upper molars and only tiny ones on lowers, P2 and P3 rather large relative to P4. These and other characteristics were similar to other early bovids, although a few features like small goat folds at the front of the lower molars foreshadowed later reduncines. The occipital bone and mastoids vary among fossil reduncines and may be significant for making identifications, but too few are known within any one species to be certain of the infraspecific variation. The temporal distribution of African fossil species is shown in figure 38.11. ?REDUNCINI spp.

Synonymy ?Reduncini gen. et sp. indet. Thomas, 1981:362, plate 3 figures 4–5, text figure 9. Localities and age: Ngorora Fm. Late Miocene; ?Antidorcas sp. indet. Thomas, 1981:377, plate 3 figures 1–3, text figure 14. Localities and age: Ngorora Fm. Middle and late Miocene; Pachytragus aff. solignaci. Thomas, 1981:393, text figures 19–20. Localities and age: Ngorora Fm. Late Miocene. Remarks These early remains may not belong to one species. Some of their characters suggest Reduncini. The cranium of “Pachytragus aff. solignaci” has horn cores too inclined backward and an insufficiently sloping cranial roof to fit that caprine species. No sinuses could be seen in the frontals or horn pedicel. Its horn cores are more compressed and perhaps larger than in Kobus subdolus. At least one of the “?Antidorcas sp.” predates hipparionine horses and is therefore middle Miocene and all the more notable if it were reduncine. Genus ZEPHYREDUNCINUS Vrba and Haile-Selassie, 2006

Type Species Zephyreduncinus oundagaisus Vrba and HaileSelassie, 2006. *ZEPHYREDUNCINUS OUNDAGAISUS Vrba and Haile-Selassie, 2006

Synonymy Zephyreduncinus oundagaisus Vrba and HaileSelassie, 2006:214, figure 2. Localities and Age * Middle Awash, Adu-Asa Fm, Alayla Vert. Paleont. Locality 2. Late Miocene. Remarks The only known species was described on some small, strongly mediolaterally compressed horn cores including a short-horned holotype. Their compression is notable in a reduncine and at a pre-Pliocene date (5.8–5.5 Ma). THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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6.0

FIGURE 38.11

Kobus laticornis

Type Species Kobus ellipsiprymnus (Ogilby, 1833). In extant faunas, it is difficult to pinpoint characters known in all Kobus and not in Redunca. Waterbuck and lechwes have long horns with moderate to much divergence and no or very little backward curvature. Kob and puku have backwardly curving horn cores with little divergence. The following account of Kobus lists ten named Pliocene species before beginning the Plio-Pleistocene and modern species with Kobus kob. KOBUS aff. PORRECTICORNIS (Lydekker, 1878)

Synonymy Antilope porrecticornis Lydekker, 1878:158, plate 25, figure 4.

Localities and Age *?Hasnot, Siwaliks. Late Miocene; Gazella porrecticornis Lydekker, 1886:11, figure 2; Dorcadoxa porrecticornis Pilgrim, 1939:44, plate 1, figure 9. African Localities and Age Adu-Asa Fm, Mpesida, Lukeino, Manonga. Late Miocene. Remarks The horn cores of this Siwaliks species look reduncine in their transverse ridges, wide divergence, inclined insertions, a deep localized postcornual fossa, and low pedicels (Gentry, 1970). Early reduncines or apparent reduncines exist in the Siwaliks well back into the late Miocene. Their appearance gradually becomes more suggestive of small kobs than of gazelles. Similar forms have been found in the latest Miocene of Africa (Thomas, 1980; Gentry, 1997; Haile-Selassie et al., 2004). Two of the Ngorora horn cores (Thomas, 1981: plate 3, figures 4–5), listed earlier under “?Reduncini spp.”, might be an


Menelikia lyrocera

Redunca fulvorufula

Redunca arundinum

Redunca darti

Menelikia leakeyi

Redunca redunca

Thaleroceros radiciformis Kobus ancystrocera

Kobus sigmoidalis

Temporal distribution of African fossil Reduncini. Kobus aff. porrecticornis and K. presigmoidalis go back to ~7.0Ma.

Genus KOBUS A. Smith, 1840

774

Kobus korotorensis

Kobus oricornus

Kobus tchadensis

Kobus basilcookei Kobus subdolus

5.0

Kobus presigmoidalis

4.0

Kobus aff. porrecticornis

Zephyreduncinus oundagaisus

3.0

Kobus khroumirensis

2.0

Kobus barbarus

1.0

Kobus ellipsiprymnus

Kobus leche

Kobus kob

Ma 0

earlier record of K. aff. porrecticornis. A claim for Baard’s Quarry at Langebaanweg (Gentry, 1980) is temporally anomalous and presumably the species is a later small kob. KOBUS PRESIGMOIDALIS Harris, 2003

Syno nymy Kobus presigmoidalis Harris, 2003:541, figure 11.9.

Localities and Age Lothagam: *Upper Nawata Mb, also Lower Nawata; Nachukui Fm Apak and Kaiyumung Mbs. Late Miocene–middle Pliocene. Remarks This more completely known species is not very different from a large K. porrecticornis (Vrba and Haile-Selassie, 2006; I agree but have not seen the material). It is smaller and has stronger backward curvature than K. subdolus. The illustrated holotype cannot be an impala because the slight torsion is in the opposite direction. The species could span 7.0 to 4.5 Ma or younger, with the holotype ~6.0–5.0 Ma. KOBUS SUBDOLUS Gentry, 1980

Synonymy Kobus subdolus Gentry, 1980:248, figures 18–19, 23–25.

Localities and Age *Langebaanweg. Early Pliocene; Redunca aff. darti Lehmann and Thomas, 1987:327, figures 9B, 9C. Localities and age: Sahabi. Late Miocene. Remarks Kobus subdolus is larger than K. porrecticornis, the horn cores short, their widest mediolateral diameter lying rather anteriorly, and the cross section narrowing behind to a posterolateral angle, often with deep grooves medially to this angle or edge,

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little compressed, with a flattened lateral surface, well-inclined backward and slightly curved backward, inserted close together and above the back of the orbits. The anterior edge of the horn pedicels is sometimes upright in side view and thus meets the anterior edge of the horn core at an angle. There is a large postcornual fossa and large supraorbital pits. Gentry (1980:261, figures 26–27) also postulated a smaller species, “Kobus sp. 2,” at Langebaanweg. Reduncine teeth at Langebaanweg are more antilopine-like than are those of other early reduncines (Gentry, 2008), and this may necessitate the separation from K. subdolus of the reduncines at Sahabi, Manonga, and other localities. KOBUS BASILCOOKEI Vrba, 2006

Synonymy Kobus basilcookei Vrba, 2006:64, figures 1–6. Middle Awash.

Localities and Age *Sagantole Fm, Aramis Mb. Early Pliocene, ~4.4 Ma. Remarks The horn cores are quite long, little compressed, and about the size of a larger K. presigmoidalis. They are longer than in K. subdolus and also have transverse ridges, very little divergence, and the supraorbital foramina are not in large or deep pits. The last character is also seen in the line or group of species, which may lead to K. oricornus but which have strongly divergent horn cores. KOBUS LATICORNIS Harris, 2003

Synonymy Kobus laticornis Harris, 2003:542, figures 11.5E, 11.10.

Localities and Age Lothagam: *Upper Nawata Mb., also Nachukui Fm Apak Mb. Late Miocene–early Pliocene. Remarks The size probably overlaps and is larger than K. presigmoidalis, horn cores long, very divergent, widely inserted, with slight homonymous torsion, cranial roof inclined. The horn cores are said in the diagnosis to be anteroposteriorly compressed, although the measurements indicate slight lateromedial compression of ~75–80%. The species is most suggestive of K. oricornus among later Pliocene Kobus. Vrba (2006) questioned the tribal allocation of the holotype. KOBUS KHROUMIRENSIS (Arambourg, 1979)

Synonymy Redunca khroumirensis Arambourg, 1979:72, plate 43, figures 3–4; plate 44, figures 1–3; plate 45, figures 1–3. Localities and Age *Lac Ichkeul. Early Pliocene. Remarks This fairly small species has a wide cranium, horn cores strongly divergent, well inclined backward, and without backward curvature. The cranial roof slopes little but does curve downward posteriorly. Kobus khroumirensis is not likely to be related to K. kob but could be an early relative of either K. oricornus or ancystrocera. KOBUS TCHADENSIS Geraads et al., 2001

Synonymy Kobus tchadensis Geraads et al., 2001:338, figures 2F–2H, 3A–3D. Localities and Age *Koro Toro. Middle Pliocene. Remarks Like the earlier Kobus laticornis, this species is again and more decisively suggestive of Kobus oricornus. It has notably large and long horn cores, some of which reach almost to the size of the biggest K. sigmoidalis and ellipsiprymnus. The horn cores have anteroposterior compression, strong divergence, strong backward inclination in side view with some upward and forward

curvature distally, insertions wide apart (perhaps in consequence of the large horns being so divergent), a cranial roof that is not far off horizontal and slopes only very slightly downward posteriorly, the braincase widening posteriorly, a rounded occipital edge. KOBUS ORICORNUS Gentry, 1985

Synonymy Kobus sp. A Gentry, 1981:9. Localities and age: Hadar Fm Mbs SH-3–DD-3. Middle Pliocene; Kobus oricornus Gentry, 1985:155, plate 5, figures 1–4. Localities and age: *Shungura Fm, Mb B. Middle Pliocene; Kobus oricornis Harris, 1991:176, figure 5.37. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, Lokochot and Tulu Bor Mbs. Nachukui Fm, Kataboi to Lokalalei Mbs. Middle–late Pliocene. Remarks This species in Shungura B appears to represent the last of the tchadensis group at a date not younger than 2.65 Ma. It is very likely that the Kobus sp. A of Gentry (1981) is an earlier and overlapping subspecies. The p4s at Hadar are more advanced than are those of later reduncines in lingual approach and fusion of paraconid with metaconid. KOBUS BARBARUS Geraads and Amani, 1998

Synonymy Kobus barbarus Geraads and Amani, 1998:194, figures 3C–3D. Localities and Age *Ahl al Oughlam. Late Pliocene. Remarks The horn cores are large and long, not compressed in either direction, divergent, and inclined backward. They show slight backward curvature and a suggestion of a posterolateral keel. The species fails to have resemblances to Kobus oricornus, K. ancystrocera, or K. kob and the authors can only suggest a plausible survival of the Sahabi reduncine here included in K. subdolus. KOBUS KOROTORENSIS Geraads et al., 2001

Synonymy Kobus korotorensis Geraads et al., 2001:336, figures 2B–2C, 3E–3I. Localities and Age *Koro Toro. Middle Pliocene. Remarks This species is smaller but overlapping in size with K. tchadensis and with shorter and less diverging horn cores. It is little different from K. subdolus but lacks even the minimal mediolateral compression of that species. Kobus korotorensis might become a useful name for many koblike fossils in the middle or late Pliocene—for example, the K. aff. patulicornis in the Chiwondo Beds (Kaufulu et al., 1981). KOBUS KOB (Erxleben, 1777)

Synonymy Antilope kob Erxleben, 1777: Syst. Regni Anim. 1:293. Extant kob; Kobus kob Gentry and Gentry, 1978:332, plate 7, figure 1, plates 8–9. Localities and Age Olduvai Beds II–III. Early Pleistocene; Kobus kob Gentry, 1985:150. Localities and age: Shungura Fm J–L, probably G, possibly B–E. (?Pliocene)–early Pleistocene; Kobus kob Harris, 1991:171, figure 5.34. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, KBS and Okote Mbs. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene; Kobus aff. kob Chaîd-Saoudi et al., 2006:969. Localities and age: Mansourah. Lower Pleistocene. Remarks This extant species, taken here to include the puku, K. vardoni, is smaller than the waterbuck, K. ellipsiprymnus, and has horn cores with some mediolateral compression, less divergence, curving backward, and inserted close together. The skull is narrower than in waterbuck, the cranial roof more THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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sloped, the occipital with a rounded edge, mastoids narrow, and with some limb bone characters more cursorial than in other reduncines. Gentry (1985) noted that K. kob horn cores had little basal backward curvature while coexisting with K. sigmoidalis, but more of it after the advent of K. ellipsiprymnus. The kob is the most common antelope at Mansourah, an unusual situation for a fossil reduncine in North Africa. KOBUS SIGMOIDALIS Arambourg, 1941

Synonymy Kobus sigmoidalis Arambourg, 1941: 346, figure 5. *Shungura Formation; Kobus sigmoidalis Arambourg, 1947: 411, plate 27, figure 4; plate 28, figure 3, and others. Shungura Formation; Kobus sigmoidalis Gentry and Gentry, 1978: 324, plates 5–6. Olduvai Bed I. Late Pliocene; Kobus sigmoidalis Gentry, 1985: 145, plate 5, figures 5–6. Shungura Fm D–G with a likely ancestral variant in Mb C. Late Pliocene; Kobus sigmoidalis Harris, 1991: 163, figures 5.21–5.25. Koobi Fora Fm, Upper Burgi and KBS Mbs. Also Moiti to Tulu Bur and ?Okote Mbs. Remarks This is the size of a lechwe, but enlarging from Shungura G to Olduvai I (Gentry and Gentry, 1978: figure 11). The horn cores are long, with mediolateral compression, transverse ridges, and more divergence than in K. ellipsiprymnus. They curve weakly backward at the base in side view and then more upward, this being optimistically seen by Arambourg as a sigmoid course. Mastoid exposure is mostly within the occipital surface. Gentry (1985: figures 9–11) showed variation in size, divergence, and compression of horn cores through the Shungura sequence, either as a result of continuous change in the local norms or from movements of populations at intervals of 200,000 years or less. Gentry also thought that most reduncine teeth in Shungura D–G belonged to this species and noted differences from extant species in upper molars with simpler central fossettes, ribs between the styles not very localized or accentuated, and lower molars more frequently with less constricted labial lobes. Harris (1991) found Koobi Fora K. sigmoidalis to be mainly an Upper Burgi and KBS species but that a smaller and shorter-horned version was present as early as the Moiti Member. KOBUS LECHE Gray, 1850

Synonymy Kobus leche Gray, 1850, Gleanings, Knowsley Menagerie 2, p. 23. Extant lechwe; Cobus venterae Broom, 1913:15, figure 3. Localities and Age Florisbad. Late Pleistocene; Kobus aff. leche Harris, 1991:170, figures 5.31–3. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, Upper Burgi-Okote Mbs; Nachukui Fm Nariokotome Mb. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene. Remarks Kobus leche is probably descended from K. sigmoidalis with less change than was seen in the line giving rise to K. ellipsiprymnus. Gentry and Gentry (1978) redescribed K. venterae from Florisbad and referred it to K. leche, and Brink (1987) added further comments. The species is also present at other and earlier sites in South Africa (Lacruz et al., 2002; De Ruiter, 2003). Harris (1991) linked Koobi Fora horn cores with K. leche. The other extant lechwe, K. megaceros of the southern Sudan and Ethiopia, may not be closely related within the Reduncini to K. leche (appendix note 6). *KOBUS ELLIPSIPRYMNUS (Ogilby, 1833)

Synonymy Antilope ellipsiprymnus Ogilby, 1833, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.:47. Extant waterbuck; Kobus ellipsiprymnus Gentry and Gentry, 1978:330, plate 7, figure 2. 776


Localities and Age Olduvai Beds III–IV. Early–middle Pleistocene; Kobus ellipsiprymnus Gentry, 1985:149. Localities and age: Shungura Fm G, J–K. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene; Kobus ellipsiprymnus Harris, 1991:162, figure 5.20. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, KBS Mb; Nachuikui Fm, Nariokotome Mb. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene. Remarks The modern waterbuck replaces Kobus sigmoidalis within Shungura G and appears in Olduvai Bed III and possibly earlier. It was very common at Buia (Martínez-Navarro et al., 2004). It is present but rare in the KBS Member at Koobi For a, while K. sigmoidalis seems to continue into higher levels. Kobus ellipsiprymnus eventually differs in its larger size, less compressed horn cores, and loss of the basal backward curvature of the horn cores (which survived in K. leche), but the change appears to be gradual. Hadjouis (1986) illustrated a battered late Pleistocene frontlet from the Gisement des Phacochères near Algiers that looked like K. ellipsiprymnus but was too wide for the species. KOBUS ANCYSTROCERA (Arambourg, 1947)

Synonymy Redunca ancystrocera Arambourg, 1947:416, plate 29, figure 4; plate 31, figures 2, 4, 4a; text figure 62. Localities and Age *Shungura Fm.; Kobus ancystrocera Gentry, 1985:152, plate 6. Localities and age: Shungura Fm B–C, E, G, J. Late Pliocene; Kobus ancystrocera Harris, 1991:166, figures 5.26–5.30. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, Upper Burgi–KBS Mbs. Late Pliocene. Remarks Horn cores are well inclined, divergent, with tips strongly recurved forward almost like a hook (the “crochet” of French texts), and an approach to a posterolateral keel. The species is smaller than Kobus barbarus and with more compressed horn cores. Harris (1991) also listed Tulu Bor horn cores that he considered closer to this than to other reduncine species, but with the following plausibly primitive differences: smaller size, shorter horn cores, less divergence, less backward curvature at their bases, less of a distal hook. The Tulu Bor skull Kobus aff. K. kob of Harris (1991: figure 5.36) could be related to the ancestry of K. ancystrocera. Gentry (1985) thought that the distribution of K. ancystrocera in Shungura G localities showed avoidance of K. sigmoidalis. Genus THALEROCEROS Reck, 1925

Type Species Thaleroceros radiciformis Reck, 1925. *THALEROCEROS RADICIFORMIS Reck, 1925

Synonymy Thaleroceros radiciformis Reck, 1925:451; Reck, 1935:218, figure 2; Reck, 1937, Wiss. Ergebn. Oldoway-Exped. 1913 (n.f.) 4:142, plate 8. Localities and Age * Olduvai Upper Beds II–IV. Early Pleistocene. Remarks The only known specimen is a frontlet of a large and bizarre antelope with massive uncompressed horn cores, diverging little, and with an upward and anteriorly concave curvature from a large unitary pedicel. Gentry and Gentry (1978) took it as descended from Kobus ancystrocera via an intermediate pair of horn cores BMNH M15925 from Kanam. Genus MENELIKIA Arambourg, 1941

Type Species Menelikia lyrocera Arambourg, 1941.

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These medium-sized Pliocene–early Pleistocene reduncines have horn cores with transverse ridges, divergence that is sometimes considerable, backward inclinations, insertions close together, and clockwise torsion on the right side. The homonymous torsion helps to distinguish isolated horn cores from Aepyceros. Sinuses within the frontals are more extensive than in any other reduncine. Postcornual fossae are small or absent. MENELIKIA LEAKEYI Harris, 1991

Synonymy Menelikia sp. Gentry, 1985:162, plate 7, figures 2–3. Localities and Age Shungura Fm Mb C, perhaps D. Late Pliocene; Menelikia leakeyi Harris, 1991:183, figures 5.44–5.45; 2003:544, figure 11.11. Localities and age: * Koobi Fora Fm, Moiti Mb. Also Lothagam, Lower Nawata Fm; Koobi Fora Fm Lokochot to Tulu Bor Mbs; Nachukui Fm, Upper Lomekwi and Lokalalei Mbs. Late Miocene–late Pliocene. Remarks This species has long horn cores, little compressed, divergent in their upper parts, long axis of basal cross section at a wide angle to the skull longitudinal midline, and inserted above the back of the orbits. The sinus system within the frontals is limited. Irregular deep longitudinal grooving on the horn cores has been noted but may be a postmortem change. The species may occur in the Warwire Formation (Geraads and Thomas, 1994: plate 1, figure 3). The Lothagam record (Harris, 2003: figure 11.11) is startlingly early. *MENELIKIA LYROCERA Arambourg, 1941

Geraads and Thomas, 1994:395, plate 3, figure 1) looks like specimens from the Shungura G time level in horn cores rising from their insertions, tapering rapidly, not having a good backward curvature, and the cranial roof angled and not becoming more horizontal as it approaches the occipital top (Gentry, 1985:158–159). Genus REDUNCA H. Smith, 1827

Type Species Redunca redunca (Pallas, 1767) Redunca is frequently smaller and shorter horned than Kobus. Horn cores have little mediolateral compression, sometimes even becoming anteroposterior compression in later evolution, often with a medial or, again later, a posteromedial surface near the base, with an upward and anteriorly concave curvature in side view, frontals without internal sinuses, anterior tuberosities of the basioccipital very large and outwardly splayed. In South Africa, fossils of Redunca are more common than elsewhere on the continent, while Kobus is rare or absent between the early Pliocene and the appearance of K. leche and perhaps ellipsiprymnus in the late Pleistocene. Vrba and Haile-Selassie (2006) favored placing the Langebaanweg Kobus subdolus and the early Pliocene reduncines from Sahabi and Wadi Natrun in Redunca. Further discussion can be found in Haile-Selassie et al. (2009). REDUNCA DARTI Wells and Cooke, 1956

Synonymy Redunca darti Wells and Cooke, 1956:17, figures 7–9.

Synonymy Menelikia lyrocera Arambourg, 1941, Bull. Mus. Natn. Hist. Nat. 2, 13:341, figures 1–3. Localities and Age *Shungura Fm.; Menelikia lyrocera Arambourg, 1947:392, plate 23; plate 24, figure 4; plate 29, figure 2; Menelikia lyrocera Gentry, 1985:157, plate 7, figure 1. Localities and age: Shungura Fm C, E–J, perhaps K. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene; ?Caprini sp. A Harris et al., 1988:112, figure 58. Localities and age: Nachukui Formation, Lokalalei Mb. Late Pliocene (Harris, 1991:183); Menelikia lyrocera Harris, 1991:179, figures 5.39–5.42. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm, Upper Burgi–KBS Mbs (rare in Okote Mb). Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene. Remarks Horn cores are moderately long (shortening later in the time span of the species), strongly curved backward and then diverging, postorbital insertions, frontals with extensive sinuses and raised high between the insertions, braincase short, basioccipital with strong longitudinal ridges behind the anterior tuberosities. Mediolateral compression of horn cores in Member F of the Shungura Formation almost disappears in Member G. From Member H onward the final stage of the species exhibits much shortened horn cores. Gentry (1985) noted resemblances of M. lyrocera to the extant Nile lechwe, Kobus megaceros, but that species also has very long horns, and the existence of sinuses has not been decided. Gentry (1985), followed by Harris (1991), saw M. lyrocera as inhabiting drier habitats than Kobus sigmoidalis, but Spencer (1997) suggested much soft and seasonally unvarying grass in its diet, prompting the thought that it could have been feeding aquatically like K. megaceros in the Sudanese sudd (Kingdon, 1990:232). Small horn cores in the Tulu Bor and Shungura C may be an early variant within or ancestral to M. lyrocera (Harris, 1991: figure 5.43; Gentry, 1985: plate 7, figure 2); they do not have a texture appropriate for immature examples of M. leakeyi. Menelikia lyrocera of Kaiso Village (Cooke and Coryndon, 1970;

Localities and Age *Makapansgat Limeworks (Mb 3; Vrba, 1995). Late Pliocene. Remarks It differs from extant Redunca arundinum and R. redunca by its horn cores being less laid back in side view and the posteromedial flattened surface lying more medially than posteriorly. Sparse dental remains possibly of this species are present at other Sterkfontein Valley localities (Vrba, 1976). The antecedents of this animal are unknown. *REDUNCA REDUNCA (Pallas, 1767)

Synonymy Antilope redunca Pallas, 1767, Spicil. Zool. 1:8. Extant reedbuck or behor reedbuck; Antilope (Oegoceros) selenocera Pomel, 1895, not mentioned in text, plate 6, figures 1–3; Antilope (Dorcas) triquetricornis Pomel, 1895:28, plate 11, figures 1–2; Antilope (Nagor) maupasii Pomel, 1895:38, plate 10, figures 1–11. Remarks Arambourg (1939: plate 8, figures 1–2; 1957) documented this species from the late Pleistocene and Holocene of northwest Africa where it no longer occurs. REDUNCA ARUNDINUM (Boddaert, 1785)

Synonymy Antilope arundinum Boddaert, 1785, Elench. Anim. 1:141. Extant southern reedbuck; Redunca arundinum Hendey, 1968:110. Localities and Age Melkbos. Late Pleistocene; Redunca arundinum Hendey and Hendey, 1968:51, plate 2. Localities and age: Swartklip. Early Holocene; Redunca arundinum Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1991:36. Localities and age: Elandsfontein. Middle Pleistocene. Remarks This species was found at South African localities back to the middle Pleistocene (Lacruz et al., 2002), but absent historically from the southwestern cape. Late Pleistocene Western Cape Province fossils are larger (Klein and Cruz-Uribe, THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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1991: figure 7) and believed to differ slightly from present-day R. arundinum (Hendey, 1968; Hendey and Hendey, 1968). The earlier Elandsfontein representative had horn cores more anteroposteriorly compressed, less divergent, and perhaps shorter, the last two characters making it appreciably more like R. redunca in the north. REDUNCA FULVORUFULA (Afzelius), 1815

Synonymy Antilope fulvorufula Afzelius, 1815, Nova Acta Reg. Soc. Sci. Upsala, 7:250. Extant mountain reedbuck. Remarks This species shows less tendency to anteroposterior compression of the horn cores than in the other two living species. It is known by appropriately small teeth from some South African localities, such as the middle Pleistocene of Gladysvale (Lacruz et al., 2002). ASSESSMENT OF REDUNCINI

It is probable that early reduncines were somewhat koblike, but Zephyreduncinus is significant in showing the extent of morphological diversity among early species. Vrba and HaileSelassie (2006) believed there were at least four reduncines in the Adu-Asa Formation. By the middle of the Pliocene, there was one lineage centered on Kobus tchadensis (larger, longhorned, divergent horn cores, curving upward and forward distally, with minimal lateromedial compression becoming slightly anteroposterior, and advanced p4s) and another centered on Kobus korotorensis, continuing to look more or less like kobs, and perhaps eventually evolving into K. kob. Menelikia and Kobus ancystrocera constituted additional mid-Pliocene lineages. Later on, Kobus sigmoidalis and ellipsiprymnus superseded K. tchadensis, while both Menelikia and Thaleroceros (a likely descendant of K. ancystrocera) went extinct, unless the Nile lechwe should have a connection with Menelikia after all. Vrba and Haile-Selassie (2006) thought that Redunca could have existed among the reduncines present around the start of the Pliocene, but otherwise it is unknown until the late Pliocene. In contrast to the picture just presented, a molecular phylogeny like that of Birungi and Arctander (2001) would imply that living kob and waterbuck differentiated from one another after the stem of both had diverged from lechwe, thereby disconnecting modern kob from any early koblike species. Other molecular phylogenies, however, may not agree (Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2005: figure 6). Interestingly, Vrba et al. (1994) showed how allometrically corrected osteological characters suggested that Redunca originated within Kobus, but that adding nonosteological characters and allowing for paedomorphosis made Kobus as a whole more derived than Redunca. The timing and morphological changes involved in the differentiation of Kobus and Redunca remain problematical. Subfamily indet., ?aff. HIPPOTRAGINAE and/or ALCELAPHINAE Genus GENTRYTRAGUS Azanza and Morales, 1994

Type Species Gentrytragus gentryi (Thomas, 1981). Horn cores are long, without keels, transversely compressed, fairly uprightly inserted and backwardly curved. Supraorbital foramina are very small and situated close or adjacent to the bases of the horn pedicels. Primitive skull characters include: frontals not raised between the horn bases or pneumatized and the cranial roof very little inclined.

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A winding but instructive history of nomenclature needs elucidating. Pilgrim (1939) named a Siwaliks frontlet, quite large for its period, as Hippotraginae gen. indet. (cf. Tragoreas) potwaricus. It may have come from the type section of the Nagri Formation (Barry, 1995), although a second horn core, AMNH 96648 (Thomas, 1984a), was thought to be from the Chinji. Gentry (1970, 1978) referred similar material from Fort Ternan to the same species (using “?Pseudotragus” in place of “cf. Tragoreas”), included some notably hypsodont teeth, and later described material of a second species from the Ngorora Formation. He rejected Pilgrim’s hippotragine affiliation and suggested congeneric status with the middle Miocene European “Gazella” stehlini, rescued from confusion with late Miocene gazelle species by Thenius (1951) but wrongly left within Gazella. Thenius (1979) founded Caprotragoides for these antelopes with potwaricus as type species (appendix note 7). Gentry (1990) was disconcerted when teeth of Caprotragoides stehlini at Pas¸alar, Turkey, turned out to be much smaller and less hypsodont than at Fort Ternan, gravely weakening the generic identity between stehlini and potwaricus. Azanza and Morales (1994) founded Tethytragus for European and Turkish middle Miocene species with teeth little different from Eotragus, and Gentrytragus for African and possibly Arabian (Thomas, 1983) species, some of which appear to have had hypsodont teeth and much longer M2s and M3s than in Tethytragus, and to have lasted into the late Miocene. They confined Caprotragoides to the Siwaliks fossils. This tortuous story arose because backward curvature of horn cores is probably an advanced character that appeared several times among early bovids. Tethytragus could be an antilopine, the earliest of the Caprinae, or something else, and Gentrytragus is probably unrelated to it; neither genus is boselaphine. GENTRYTRAGUS THOMASI Azanza and Morales, 1994

Synonymy Gen. indet. (?Pseudotragus) potwaricus Gentry, 1970:284, plates 12–14; plate 16, figures 4–5. Localities and Age *Fort Ternan. Middle Miocene. Remarks Assigned teeth are more hypsodont than in the sympatric Hypsodontus tanyceras. This species is also claimed for the Hofuf Formation in Saudi Arabia (Thomas, 1983: plate 1, figure 4). *GENTRYTRAGUS GENTRYI (Thomas, 1981)

Synonymy ?Pseudotragus sp. nov. Gentry, 1978:297. Localities and Age Ngorora Fm.; Pseudotragus? gentryi Thomas, 1981:381, plates 5–6, text figures 15–18. Localities and age: *Ngorora Fm Mb D3, loc. 2/11. Also Mbs B–C, E. Middle–late Miocene. Remarks The holotype skull gives much of the morphological information about this species. It is slightly larger than G. thomasi and with less compression of the horn cores. Assessment of Gentrytragus Without information on its teeth it would be unwise to make the Siwaliks Caprotragoides potwaricus again conspecific with either of the African Gentrytragus species. Gentrytragus existed over a long time period from Fort Ternan at 14.0 Ma until Ngorora levels postdating the appearance of hipparionine horses (which are not present at loc.2/11 itself, the type locality for G. gentryi). The long and straight cranial roof and rather upright horn insertions are less suggestive of Hippotragus than is the late Miocene Tchadotragus (discussed later), but the short premolar

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rows agree. Some advanced characters suggest an alcelaphine relationship, especially for G. gentryi: no ethmoidal fissure, hypsodont cheek teeth, semicircular upper tooth arcades with M3s less widely apart than M1s or M2s, very short premolar rows. However, it would be premature to extend Alcelaphini back into the middle Miocene on the basis of Gentrytragus.

It was less abundant than Tchadotragus sudrei in the same deposits. The horn cores were shorter than in T. sudrei and slightly less compressed; the braincase was also shorter. No pneumatization existed in the frontals or horn pedicels, and the supraorbital pits were large. There was no indication of a relationship to Oryx. Some of the hippotragine teeth at TorosMenalla are likely to belong to Saheloryx.

Subfamily HIPPOTRAGINAE Sundevall, 1845. Tribe HIPPOTRAGINI Sundevall, 1845

Genus HIPPOTRAGUS Sundevall, 1845

Type Genus Hippotragus Sundevall, 1845. Living Hippotragini contain Hippotragus, Oryx, and Addax. They are large and stocky antelopes with long horns and hypsodont teeth, feeding mostly by grazing. The two Hippotragus species live in or near the edges of woodland, Oryx in dry open, even semidesertic areas, and the little-studied Addax within the bounds of the Sahara Desert. Hippotragini are largely an African tribe but there is an Oryx in Arabia and Pliocene (–Pleistocene?) hippotragines in the Siwaliks. The long horn cores have no keels or transverse ridges, diverge little, have hollowed pedicels, and are present in both sexes. They are spiraled in Addax. Postcornual fossae are shallow when present. Despite their sinuses, frontals between the horn bases are substantially raised only in the extant H. niger. Braincase roofs are little sloped downward. Molar teeth have basal pillars and some sign of vertical ribs between the styles or stylids. Genus TCHADOTRAGUS Geraads et al., 2008

Type Species Tchadotragus sudrei Geraads et al., 2008. *TCHADOTRAGUS SUDREI Geraads et al., 2008

Synonymy Tchadotragus sudrei Geraads et al., 2008:231, figures 1–2.

Localities and Age *Toros-Menalla, Late Miocene. Remarks The type species is the only one known and is abundant at the type locality and outstandingly informative as an early hippotragine. The close resemblance to modern Hippotragus is unmistakeable (perhaps arising from the inclination and proportionate length of the cranial roof and the course of the horn core curvature), but it has primitive characters like smaller size, tooth row less anteriorly positioned, an extensive and shallow preorbital fossa, and the lower-crowned and occlusally simpler teeth. The premolar rows are short and thereby different from modern Hippotragus and from the Miotragocerus at that time still alive in Africa. Hippotragine remains from Djebel Krechem (Geraads, 1989) could turn out to be this species. So, too, could the later hippotragine at Sahabi (Lehmann and Thomas, 1987; Gentry, 2008) with an even shorter premolar row. Genus SAHELORYX Geraads et al., 2008

Type Species Saheloryx solidus Geraads et al., 2008. *SAHELORYX SOLIDUS Geraads et al., 2008

Type Species Hippotragus equinus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803). See ICZN Opinion 2030, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 60:90–91, 2003. The horn cores show lateromedial compression, varying between different species, and sometimes flattening of the lateral surface. They curve backward and are inserted fairly uprightly above the back of the orbits. Supraorbital pits are small and quite close together at the very base of the horn pedicels. Boödonty of the teeth becomes intensified late in the history of the genus. HIPPOTRAGUS sp.

Locality Laetolil Beds. Middle Pliocene. Remarks A Hippotragus is common in the Laetolil Beds in contrast to the more restricted representation of Hippotragus species in later faunas. It has smaller horn cores than in Tchadotragus sudrei, but the size of the teeth, the premolar/molar row length ratio, and the degree of hypsodonty are similar or only slightly more advanced. It is smaller than later Hippotragus species. The horn cores show some mediolateral compression, and the premolar rows were as short as in living Oryx. The teeth do not show the occlusal complexity of modern Hippotragus and have been variably identified (Dietrich, 1950: plate 1, figures 11–12; plate 3, figures 37–40, 42; Gentry and Gentry, 1978: plate 22, figure 3). Their primitive appearance could allow assignment to Tragelaphini, Hippotragini, a Protoryx (Caprinae of the Eurasian late Miocene), or even Boselaphini. They can be differentiated from Laetoli alcelaphine teeth by basal pillars, stronger styles on the upper molars, more rugose enamel, and later joining up of the crescentic crests in the center of the molars. More detailed information about this species will appear in Harrison (in press). HIPPOTRAGUS COOKEI Vrba, 1987

Synonymy Hippotragus cookei Vrba, 1987a:49, figures 1–2. Localities and Age *Makapansgat Limeworks Mb 3, Sterkfontein Mb 4. Late Pliocene. Remarks This, a larger species than the one in the Laetolil Beds, shows horn cores similar to H. equinus but more divergent, tending to have a flattened lateral surface. Teeth are higher crowned than in earlier Hippotragus and with goat folds on lower molars, but otherwise not evolving toward the occlusal complexity and lengthened premolar rows of modern Hippotragus. It was possibly descended from the species in the Laetolil Beds or perhaps related to the sparingly known H. bohlini (Pilgrim, 1939: plate 2, figures 3–6, text figure 6; Gentry, 2000, figure 5.3) of the Siwaliks.

Synonymy Saheloryx solidus Geraads et al., 2008:236, figures 4A–4E.

Localities and Age *Toros-Menalla, Late Miocene. Remarks Only the type species is known, and it was thought to be near the base of the Hippotragini by Geraads et al. (2008).

HIPPOTRAGUS GIGAS Leakey, 1965

Synonymy Hippotragus gigas Leakey, 1965:49, plates 56, 58–61.



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Localities and Age *Olduvai Bed II. Also Olduvai Beds I and III, Elandsfontein. Late Pliocene–middle Pleistocene; Hippotragus gigas Vrba, 1987a:49. Localities and age: Makapansgat Limeworks Mb 5. Late Pliocene. Remarks This was close to Hippotragus cookei, but its size became very large in Olduvai Bed II and declined thereafter. The horn cores are less compressed than in living Hippotragus, especially H. niger, the braincase low and wide like roan and not as narrow as in H. niger, and the braincase and basioccipital both short. The teeth resemble those of H. cookei, and the premolar rows were as short as in the species of the Laetolil Beds. The final H. gigas at Elandsfontein (Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1991: figure 8) had teeth on which no evolutionary tendencies toward living species could be detected. Vrba (1976, 1987a) accepted H. gigas in Makapansgat Limeworks Member 5, but De Ruiter (2003) considered that all Hippotragus from the Gauteng and Limpopo Province caves belonged to H. gigas. If both names cookei and gigas continue in use, then the Olduvai Bed I and Elandsfontein occurrences might be better placed in cookei, leaving gigas as a localized large variant in Olduvai Bed II. If only one name is required, then gigas has seniority. Hippotragus cf. gigas at Tighenif (Geraads, 1981: plate 2, figures 2–3) was a rare record of Hippotragus in northern Africa, but “Hippotragus priscus” is not hippotragine (appendix note 8). *HIPPOTRAGUS EQUINUS (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803)

Synonymy Antilope equina É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803, Cat. Mamm. Mus. Natn. Hist. Nat.:259. Extant roan; Hippotragoides broomi Cooke, 1947:228, figure 2. Localities and age: Sterkfontein upper quarry (Cooke, 1938). ?Pleistocene. Remarks The roan antelope is identified from some South African localities—for example, Gladysvale (Plug and Keyser, 1994b), from where Lacruz et al. (2002) also cite H. niger. The Hippotragoides broomi of Cooke (1947) was discussed by Vrba (1976). The lengthened premolar rows and boödont (oxlike) teeth of the two living Hippotragus and H. leucophaeus (Klein, 1974: figure 1 [3–4]), with enlarged basal pillars and much occlusal complexity, appear only to have become fully evolved in or after the middle Pleistocene. HIPPOTRAGUS LEUCOPHAEUS (Pallas, 1766)

Synonymy Antilope leucophaea Pallas, 1766, Misc. Zool.:4. Extant until 1799. Cape Province, South Africa; Hippotragus problematicus Cooke, 1947:226, figure 1. Localities and Age Bloembos. ?Late Pleistocene. Remarks Hippotragus leucophaeus, the bluebuck of the southern Cape Province, was smaller than H. equinus and was hunted to extinction more than two centuries ago. Its coat was said to look like blue velvet in life (Pennant, 1781). Klein (1974) detailed its possible late Pleistocene range in the southern Cape Province where it coexisted with the larger roan antelope. Wells (1967) suggested that H. problematicus might be H. leucophaeus. Genus ORYX Blainville, 1816

Synonymy Praedamalis Dietrich, 1950:30. Type Species Oryx gazella (Linnaeus, 1758). Extant gemsbok. Horn cores show limited lateromedial compression and later acquiring slight anteroposterior compression. Compared with Hippotragus, the horn cores are set at a lower inclination

780


and (a linked character) more postorbitally, nearly straight or with much less backward curvature, and inserted more widely apart. The occipital surface is lower and flatter. The longitudinal ridges behind the anterior tuberosities of the basioccipital are weaker than in modern Hippotragus. Oryx is a rarer fossil than Hippotragus. Pliocene (–Pleistocene?) Siwaliks fossils, referred by Pilgrim (1939) to two species of his genus Sivoryx, are likely to be oryxes and referable to Oryx. ORYX sp. or spp.

Synonymy Praedamalis? sp. Harris, 2003:545, figures 11, 12. Localities and Age Nawata Fm, upper mb. Late Miocene. Remarks A Lothagam horn core may be an early Oryx. The horn cores among fragmentary hippotragine remains in the later Miocene at Manonga (Gentry, 1997) also suggested Oryx. ORYX DETURI (Dietrich, 1950)

Synonymy Praedamalis deturi Dietrich, 1950:30, plate 2, figure 23.

Localities and Age *Laetoli; Praedamalis deturi Gentry, 1981:12, plate 5. Localities and age: Hadar Fm., Mb. DD. Middle Pliocene; Praedamalis deturi Gentry, 1987:387 (in part, not plate 10.7). Localities and age: Laetolil Beds. Middle Pliocene. Remarks This, the type species of Praedamalis, was founded as a fossil alcelaphine. It has long, almost straight horn cores, with almost no compression of their cross section, more uprightly inserted than in living species of Oryx. I had thought of Praedamalis deturi as a mid-Pliocene morphological intermediate and possible common ancestor of Oryx and Hippotragus. But realizing that the common hippotragine in the Laetolil Beds is already a Hippotragus and that this is probably also true of earlier horn cores from North and East Africa, I have to change this view, and it becomes reasonable to put deturi into Oryx. Oryx deturi is present but rare in the Laetolil Beds. The specimen of Gentry (1987a: plate 10.7) comes from the Upper Ndolanya Beds and was wrongly assigned at species level. ORYX HOWELLI (Vrba and Gatesy, 1994)

Synonymy Praedamalis howelli Vrba and Gatesy, 1994:60, figures 1–3, 4a. Localities and Age *Maka. Middle Pliocene. Remarks This is a smaller species than Oryx deturi with very large sinuses and thin covering bone in the horn pedicels. The second Praedamalis? sp. of Harris (2003: figure 11.13) from the Nachukui Fm Kaiyumung Mb would probably be assignable to either Oryx deturi or howelli. ORYX sp. or spp.

Synonymy Oryx sp. Gentry, 1985:163, plate 7, figure 4. Localities and Age Shungura Fm, Mb G. Late Pliocene; Praedamalis deturi Dietrich; Gentry, 1987, plate 10.7. Localities and age: Laetoli, Upper Ndolanya Beds. Late Pliocene; Oryx sp. Harris, 1991:159, plates 5.18–5.19. Localities and age: Koobi Fora Fm: Upper Burgi and KBS Mbs. Late Pliocene. Remarks These are later fossils than Oryx deturi or howelli. The inclination of the horn cores remains more upright than in modern Oryx species and the cranial roof less inclined. The Koobi Fora material shows probable increasing transverse basal diameter of its horn cores from the Upper Burgi to the KBS Members. Some horn cores, like the Ndolanya Beds example,

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show slight backward curvature like the living O. leucoryx and dammah. The puzzling Cornelia horn core of “Gazella” helmoedi (Van Hoepen, 1932: figure 2) may be an oryx. ORYX ELEULMENSIS Arambourg, 1979

Synonymy Oryx eleulmensis Arambourg, 1979:82, plate 49, figures 1–4.

Localities and Age *Aïn Hanech. Early Pleistocene; Oryx cf. gazella Geraads, 1981:58, plate 2, figures 1, 1a. Localities and age: Tighenif. Early–middle Pleistocene; Oryx cf. gazella ChaîdSaoudi et al., 2006:969. Localities and age: Mansourah. Early Pleistocene. Remarks The horn core and dental remains of Arambourg may be accepted as an oryx perhaps attaining the size of extant African species. The horn core had no evident curvature and thus resembled O. gazella. Two horn cores from Mansourah (Chaîd-Saoudi et al., 2006) could be oriented and had cross sections closer to modern Oryx in their approach to wider transverse than anteroposterior diameters than are oryx horn cores in the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene of the Turkana Basin. The slight curvature of one of them might suggest O. dammah (or O. g. dammah if the species separation is not accepted). Genus WELLSIANA Vrba, 1987

Type Species Wellsiana torticornuta Vrba, 1987. *WELLSIANA TORTICORNUTA Vrba, 1987

Synonymy Damaliscus sp. (aff. albifrons) Wells and Cooke, 1956:23, figure 11. Localities and Age Makapansgat Limeworks. Late Pliocene; Wellsiana torticornuta Vrba, 1987a:53, figure 4. Localities and age: *Makapansgat Limeworks Mb 3. Late Pliocene. Remarks This was founded as a hippotragine but excluded by Vrba and Gatesy (1994), who regarded it as only “possibly related” to the tribe. The holotype and only specimen is a medium-sized frontlet with short and compressed horns, abrupt transition to an even thinner cross section just above the base, long axis of basal cross section widely angled on median line of the skull, slight heteronymous torsion, and short pedicels. ASSESSMENT OF HIPPOTRAGINI

An early hippotragine would be hard to characterize as different from an early gazelle, other than by larger size, or from an early caprine to which cladistic and molecular studies relate it. It looks as if the central arena for caprine evolution would have been Eurasia and for Hippotragini to the south in Africa. Oryx is more rarely fossilized than Hippotragus and would presumably always have come from sites sampling drier habitats than those with Hippotragus. Addax is closer to Oryx than to Hippotragus, for example, in its flatter occipital surface, but has no fossil history. Cranial lengths are variable in Hippotragini and await more precise analysis. The mid-Pliocene Hippotragus in the Laetolil Beds is too small to fit H. cookei, which is a close relative of H. gigas. Hippotragus gigas reached a large size in Olduvai Bed II but may never have done so anywhere else. Hippotragus gigas-cookei survived into the middle Pleistocene at Elandsfontein. The important question regarding South African sites is to decide

when Hippotragus teeth belong to the cookei-gigas lineage and when to the modern stock of H. leucophaeus, equinus, and niger. Did the modern species only evolve their boödont teeth and long premolars from the middle Pleistocene onward, while their once-larger cookei-gigas relative was finding it impossible to continue? Ecologically, modern Hippotragus are nowhere such a numerous component of the faunas as they were at Laetoli. Perhaps they evolved their new dental characters in response to their displacement from a dominant role. The most likely agents to have displaced them would be alcelaphines. Subfamily ALCELAPHINAE Brooke in Wallace, 1876:224 Figures 38.12 and 38.13

Type Genus Alcelaphus de Blainville, 1816:75. Alcelaphines are medium to large grazing antelopes of more open country. They carry their heads vertically, and their withers are often high. Their horn core morphology is more fluid than is convenient for delimiting species, but it is often easy to say whether a fossil is alcelaphine or not. Overall, they are the commonest bovid tribe in numbers of fossils and species, but not invariably so at every locality. Modern species show several patterns of character differences: Connochaetes taurinus and C. gnou are congeneric species with strong differences in size and in skull and horn core morphology, whereas another congeneric pair, Damaliscus lunatus and D. dorcas, differ in little but size. Again, the single species Alcelaphus buselaphus shows much geographic variation of horns, but Damaliscus lunatus has only a difference in horn divergence between two subspecies. The main features of alcelaphines are long skulls, horn cores often with transverse ridges but only rarely with keels, frontals raised between horn bases, frontals with extensive internal sinuses and one large sinus reaching up into the base of the horn core, frontals raised between horn bases, females horned. Supraorbital pits are small, ethmoidal fissures absent in adults, preorbital fossae are usually present and with an upper rim, and they are slightly deeper in males than females. The zygomatic arch deepens anteriorly under the orbits, and the jugal has two broad anterior lobes. Braincases are short and often strongly angled on the long face, mastoids are large, and the basioccipital has a central longitudinal groove. The upper tooth rows are set anteriorly and have curved arcades so that the P2s and M3s on opposite sides are closer to one another than are P4s or M1s. Teeth are hypsodont (sometimes very hypsodont), premolar rows short with p2s and sometimes P2s reduced or absent. Molars are without basal pillars. Upper molars have complicated central fossettes, lingual lobes of upper molars and labial lobes of lowers are rounded, ribs between the styles of upper molars are strong and rounded, lower molars have no goat folds, p4s have small hypoconids and paraconid-metaconid fusion to close the anterior part of the lingual wall. Mandibles are deep. Limb bones are cursorial and specialized to facilitate anteroposterior articulation. An early alcelaphine (Gentry, 1980: figures 31–33, 38) might have little-compressed horn cores, slightly divergent, moderately inclined in side view, curved backward, inserted close together and over the back of the orbits, supraorbital pits close together and also close to the horn pedicels, and fairly wide dorsal orbital rims, all much the same as in an early gazelle, hippotragine or caprine. Two characters more suggestive of Alcelaphini would be raising of the frontals between the horn



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Damalacra neanica

4.0

5.0

Damalacra acalla

Alcelaphus buselaphus Numidocapra porrocornutus

Numidocapra crassicornis

Numidocapra arambourgi

Damaliscus dorcas

Alcelaphini, small sp.

Damaliscus niro

Damaliscus agelaius

Damaliscus strepsiceras

?Damaliscus sp. nov.

Damaliscus eppsi

Damaliscus cuiculi

Damaliscus gentryi

Damaliscus ademassui

?Parmularius sp. Awashia suwai

Parmularius ambiguus

Parmularius parvus

Parmularius rugosus

Parmularius angusticornis

Parmularius sp. nov.

Parmularius atlanticus

Parmularius braini

3.0

Parmularius pandatus

2.0

Parmularius pachyceras

1.0

Parmularius altidens

Ma 0

6.0

FIGURE 38.12

Temporal distribution of African fossil Alcelaphini. Damalborea, Beatragus, Megalotragus, and Connochaetes are

excluded.

insertions and a sloping cranial roof. One frequent change from the primitive state, linked with the more vertical carriage of the head in alcelaphines, has been for the horn cores to become more backwardly inclined. This causes the insertion positions of the horn cores to look more posterior than they would otherwise have done, shortens the cranial roof and steepens its slope, increases the distance from the tops of the pedicels to the supraorbital pits and largely eliminates the possibility or need for projecting dorsal orbital rims. The bulkier horn cores of male animals have similar effects. The earliest Alcelaphini are in the late Miocene ca. 7.5–7.0 Ma, as at Lothagam. This means that the late Miocene north Italian alcelaphines (Thomas, 1984b; tribal identity doubted by Vrba, 1997) are no longer a temporal as well as a geographic anomaly. Some of the Lothagam horn cores might be hippotragine, but others (Harris, 2003: figure 11.17) are reliably alcelaphine. Interestingly, alcelaphines are absent in the latest Miocene AduAsa Formation (Haile-Selassie et al., 2004). Fortunately, Langebaanweg has provided the well-preserved remains of two early alcelaphine species. In the following account of Alcelaphini, there are two sequences of genera, the second one starting with Damalborea. The temporal distribution of African fossil species of the Parmularius-Damaliscus group is shown in figure 38.12. Outline views of a number of crania of species in this group are shown on figure 38.13. Genus DAMALACRA Gentry, 1980

The tribal identity of the genus is shown by the sinuses in the frontals and horn pedicels, both sexes horned, high frontals between the horn bases, small supraorbital pits, basioccipital with a central longitudinal groove having its sides formed by ridges behind the anterior tuberosities, hypsodont teeth, and short premolar rows, among other characters. The teeth are primitive for alcelaphines. After Langebaanweg, alcelaphine teeth become increasingly unlikely to be confused with Tragelaphini or early Hippotragini. Damalacra may have had a wide distribution in Africa—for example, at Kanapoi (Harris et al., 2003, but surely not figure 26), Manonga (Gentry, 1997), Sahabi (Lehmann and Thomas, 1987: figure 4B), and Wadi Natrun (Stromer, 1907; Gentry, 1980). *DAMALACRA NEANICA Gentry, 1980

Synonymy Damalacra neanica Gentry, 1980:265, figures 28–30, 34, 37.

Localities and Age *Langebaanweg. Early Pliocene. Remarks This species has straight and divergent horn cores with slightly postorbital insertions. The postorbital insertion seems to have evolved without making the inclination lower in side view, but it must be linked with the steep cranial roof. DAMALACRA ACALLA Gentry, 1980

Synonymy Damalacra acalla Gentry, 1980:272, figures 31–35, 37–38, 40.

Type Species Damalacra neanica Gentry, 1980:265. 782


Localities and Age *Langebaanweg. Early Pliocene.

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Remarks This Damalacra is more primitive and shows less divergence, backwardly curved horn cores, and insertions less postorbital. Pairs of species showing similar differences to the two Damalacra can be found at later time levels up to the living Damaliscus lunatus and Alcelaphus buselaphus, but routes of descent are not clear. Genus PARMULARIUS Hopwood, 1934

Type Species Parmularius altidens Hopwood, 1934:550. An extinct genus prominent in the later Pliocene and centered on Olduvai from where three species were described. Parmularius has high and narrow skulls. It shows the linked characters of much inclined horn cores, postorbital insertions, long pedicels, and short braincases with steep roofs. They often have posteromedial, posterior, or posterolateral swellings on the horn core bases, and often a median conical parietal boss on the cranial roof. The supraorbital pits remain relatively close. Preorbital fossae are small. Teeth are advanced on those of Damalacra, and the short premolar row is often without p2s. Many species have been named but, as with so many alcelaphines, a change in horn cores can indicate anything from an infraspecific variant up to an incoming pan-African novelty at genus level. Damalops palaeindicus (Falconer, 1859) of the late Pliocene Pinjor Formation, India (Lydekker, 1886: plate 4, figures 4–5) and Tadzhikistan (Dmitrieva, 1977) now seems likely to have been in or near Parmularius.

Left lateral views of alcelaphine crania. A) Parmularius pandatus. B) Damalops palaeindicus. C) Parmularius altidens. D) Damaliscus eppsi. E) Parmularius angusticornis. F) Parmularius rugosus. G) Numidocapra arambourgi. H) Damaliscus niro. Anterior to the left. Scale ⫽ 50 mm. FIGURE 38.13

Localities and Age *Ahl al Oughlam. Late Pliocene. Remarks This Parmularius is larger than P. pandatus, with long horn cores curving backward and showing increasing divergence until shortly before the tips. The long axis of the cross section is oblique to the sagittal plane. The authors note difficulty in deciding a generic attribution, and I note similarity to the Siwaliks Damalops palaeindicus.

PARMULARIUS PANDATUS Gentry, 1987 PARMULARIUS BRAINI Vrba, 1977

Synonymy Reduncini gen. et sp. indet. Dietrich, 1950:364, figure 21.

Localities and Age Laetoli; ?Parmularius sp. Gentry and Gentry, 1978:382, 62, plates 21, 22, figure 2. Localities and age: Laetoli; Parmularius pandatus Gentry, 1987:389. Localities and age: *Laetolil Beds, Laetoli. Middle Pliocene. Remarks This is a common species in the upper unit of the Laetolil Beds and probably present in the lower unit dating from before 4.0 Ma (and perhaps only about 1.0 myr after the Langebaanweg Damalacra). It differs from P. altidens by less inclined horn core insertions, posterolateral basal swellings on the horn cores, less shortened braincase, and a lower and less localized boss on the braincase roof. The fairly abrupt bending backward in the midcourse of the horn cores of the holotype is not found in all Laetoli horn cores. The occipital has a median vertical ridge so that the two flanking surfaces face partly laterally as well as backward, a character of earlier alcelaphines. The species may predate the origin of Damaliscus.

Synonymy Cf. Gorgon taurinus Wells and Cooke, 1956:24. Localities and Age Makapansgat Limeworks; cf. Alcelaphus robustus Wells and Cooke, 1956:25, figure 12. Localities and age: Makapansgat Limeworks; Parmularius braini Vrba, 1977:140, figures 3–5. Localities and age: *Makapansgat Limeworks, Mb 3. Late Pliocene. Remarks Parmularius braini is a larger species about 1.0 Ma younger than P. pandatus. The horn cores of the holotype frontlet are well compressed, with posteromedial basal swellings, backwardly curved and closely inserted. The cranial roof slopes steeply and has a parietal boss. Vrba (1977, 1987b) assigned the Connochaetes-sized teeth in Wells and Cooke (1956) to this species and excluded Connochaetes from the bovid list for Makapansgat Limeworks. Vrba (1997:131) noted a smaller Parmularius or Damaliscus in Makapansgat Limeworks Member 3. PARMULARIUS sp. nov. Gentry, in press

PARMULARIUS PACHYCERAS Geraads et al., 2001

Synonymy Parmularius pachyceras Geraads et al., 2001:339, figures 3O, 5D–5E.

Localities and Age *Koro Toro. Middle Pliocene. Remarks Another early species is larger than Parmularius altidens and shows specialized thick horn cores having a posterior surface toward their base. Such characters presumably prevent it being connected with later species elsewhere. Premolar rows are fairly short befitting a Parmularius of the period. PARMULARIUS ATLANTICUS Geraads and Amani, 1998

Synonymy Parmularius atlanticus Geraads and Amani, 1998:198, figures 1D–1E.

Synonymy Alcelaphini, small sp. Gentry, 1987:400; ?Pelea sp. Gentry, 1987:402; Parmularius sp. nov.Gentry, in Harrison (in press). Localities and Age *Upper Ndolanya Beds, Laetoli. Late Pliocene. Remarks This species is smaller than Parmularius altidens and with small-diameter, straight, and little-divergent horn cores. The braincase is primitive for Parmularius in being neither shortened nor well inclined. The species is perhaps an earlier relative of an alcelaphine with short and deep mandibles in the Shungura Formation and Olduvai Bed I (“Antidorcas sp.” of Arambourg [1947] and “Alcelaphini species 4” of Gentry and Gentry [1978]). However, two assigned horn cores at Olduvai are not very similar. THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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*PARMULARIUS ALTIDENS Hopwood, 1934

Synonymy Parmularius altidens Hopwood, 1934, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 10, 14:550. Localities and Age *Olduvai Bed I. Later recorded from Shungura G–H; Koobi Fora Fm, KBS Mb. Late Pliocene; Redunca eulmensis Arambourg, 1979:76, plate 44, figure 4. Localities and age: Aïn Boucherit. Late Pliocene. Remarks The holotype skull of the type species (Leakey, 1965: plate 70) is almost certainly female and shows well the boss on the cranial roof after which the genus was named. Excavations in the 1960s showed that the slender, backwardly curved horn cores gradually acquired a straighter profile in the higher horizons of Olduvai Bed I. The common alcelaphine of the Ndolanya Beds (a different species from the Parmularius sp. nov. in the same beds) is most probably an ancestor of P. altidens continuing from P. pandatus. The North African P. atlanticus, larger and slightly more primitive than altidens, is another possible ancestor. I follow Geraads (1981) in attributing Redunca eulmensis to P. altidens. PARMULARIUS ANGUSTICORNIS (Schwarz, 1937)

Localities and Age *Tighenif. Early–middle Pleistocene; Connochaetes prognu Pomel, 1894b, plate 3, figures 3–4; Parmularius ambiguus Geraads, 1981:64, plate 2, figure 6, plate 3. Remarks I follow Geraads’s (1981) analysis of the taxonomic confusion in Pomel (1894b) between this species and some Connochaetes specimens. As a result, the lectotype is a tooth rather than a previously misidentified and probably lost horn core. Parmularius ambiguus is the most common bovid at Tighenif and occurs also at Aïn Maarouf (Geraads and Amani, 1997), perhaps a slightly later site (Geraads, 2002). It is bigger than P. altidens. The strong angling of the planes of the frontals behind and in front of the horn bases indicate a steeply inclined cranial roof, and the supraorbital pits lie well anterior to the horn bases. Both characters suggest Parmularius. Moreover, the fairly localized backward bend of the horn cores can be found in earlier Parmularius and the marked thinning of their distal parts recalls P. angusticornis. The disturbing feature of this species is that the premolar rows are long for a Parmularius. The p2 is present in lower dentitions, but even examples of P.altidens and P. pandatus with p2s have p2–4/m1–3 ratios about 7% shorter than in P. ambiguus.

Synonymy Damaliscus angusticornis Schwarz, 1937:55, no

PARMULARIUS PARVUS Vrba, 1978

figure.

Localities and Age *Olduvai ?Bed II. Parmularius angusticornis Gentry and Gentry, 1978:382, plates 23, 24, 25, figure 3. Localities and age: Olduvai middle and later Bed II, Peninj, Isimila, Kanjera. Early (–middle?) Pleistocene; Parmularius angusticornis Vrba, 1997:168. Localities and age: Bouri-1. Early Pleistocene. Remarks Crania of this species are larger and more heavily built than in Parmularius altidens, its temporal predecessor and presumed ancestor at Olduvai, and with a much shorter braincase. The horn core bases are far behind the orbits (or high above them if a vertical carriage of the head is assumed). Gentry and Gentry (1978) refer to further synonyms and illustrations in Leakey (1965). Harris (1991: figure 5.59) refers to a partial cranium with similarities to P.angusticornis from an unknown horizon in the Koobi Fora Formation, but the species is otherwise unknown or very uncommon there. Ditchfield et al. (1999) locate the Kanjera record at Kanjera North. The species looks like the end of an evolutionary line.

Synonymy Parmularius parvus Vrba, 1978:23, plates 2–6. Localities and Age *Kromdraai A. Early (–middle?) Pleistocene.

Remarks This interesting species is as small as Damaliscus dorcas and is represented by dental remains and the top of a face back to the top of the horn pedicels. ?PARMULARIUS sp.

Locality and Age Elandsfontein. Middle Pleistocene. Remarks A frontlet and horn cores, EFT 20076, was possibly Parmularius for Gentry and Gentry (1978), possibly a new genus for Klein and Kruz-Uribe (1991: figures 12, 13), and possibly a caprine for Vrba (1997). Genus AWASHIA Vrba, 1997

Type Species Awashia suwai Vrba, 1997:172. *AWASHIA SUWAI Vrba, 1997

PARMULARIUS RUGOSUS Leakey, 1965

Synonymy Parmularius rugosus Leakey, 1965:59, plates 75–76.

Localities and Age Olduvai Bed III and * IV. Early–middle Pleistocene.

Remarks The holotype skull is about the size of Parmularius altidens. The horn cores are short, have a posterolateral basal swelling, and curve outward. The cranial roof boss is small. The curled and short horn cores seem to be almost the only difference from P. altidens. Some problematic specimens perhaps linked with this species came from other levels at Olduvai (Gentry and Gentry, 1978: plate 26, figures 1–2; plate 32, figures 2–3; plate 35, figure 2). PARMULARIUS AMBIGUUS (Pomel, 1894)

Synonymy Boselaphus ambiguus Pomel, 1894b:52, plate 6, figures 14–17.

784


Synonymy Awashia suwai Vrba, 1997:172, figures 14, 15. Localities and Age *Matabaietu 3. Late Pliocene. Remarks This moderately large alcelaphine has quite a wide skull. Horn cores are not compressed, diverging at their bases but less so distally, and quite well inclined with a backward bend shortly above the base. The maximum diameters are set widely to the skull midline. The postcornual fossa is deeper and more localized than in most alcelaphines. A steep cranial roof. Nasals are broad and flat. Some characters fit Parmularius: supraorbital pits close together and rather far in front of the horn core bases, a steeply inclined braincase roof, and perhaps the well-inclined horn core insertions. However the preorbital fossae are very large with marked upper rims and any parietal boss is unclear. Awashia is certainly a puzzling alcelaphine and was thought by Vrba to descend from near the origin of Damaliscus. One can wonder whether it was native to northeast Africa and whether it outlasted the Pliocene.

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Genus DAMALISCUS Sclater and Thomas, 1894

Type Species Damaliscus dorcas (Pallas, 1766). Extant. Damaliscus shares high and narrow skulls and backwardly curved horn cores with early Parmularius and shows signs of a parietal boss. It remains more primitive than Parmularius in the linked characters of horn cores inserted over the back of the orbits and more upright, pedicels shorter, frontals little raised between the horn insertions, dorsal orbital rims wider, supraorbital pits closer to the bases of the horn cores, and braincase longer. The preorbital fossa remains large, the premolar rows are not short for an alcelaphine, and p2s are often present. It is advanced in horn cores often compressed (rare in Parmularius) and, at the present day, in frontals being somewhat upbowed into a shallowly convex surface in front of the horn bases, and in the supraorbital pits becoming wider apart.

Remarks Damaliscus eppsi predates and temporally overlaps D. niro further south in Africa. The holotype is very like some Olduvai horn cores (“type A”) included in niro by Gentry and Gentry, 1978 (e.g. Leakey, 1965, plate 86, third from left) in having a localized backward bend in midcourse and a basal posterolateral swelling. The two species are certainly very close, although the nondivergent horn cores of another Koobi Fora specimen (Harris, 1991: figure 5.52) are different. Damaliscus eppsi may be conspecific with D. gentryi or may be a related and more completely known northern form. I agree with Harris that it is not related to the earlier Parmularius braini of Makapansgat Limeworks Member 3. ?DAMALISCUS sp. nov. Harris, 1991

Synonymy ?Damaliscus sp.nov. Harris, 1991: 200, figures 5.55a, 5.55b.

Localities and Age Koobi Fora Fm, Okote Mb. Early PleistoDAMALISCUS ADEMASSUI Vrba, 1997

Synonymy Damaliscus ademassui Vrba, 1997:170, figure 12a.

Localities and Age *Gamedah. Late Pliocene. Remarks This species is about the size of a large Damaliscus dorcas. The holotype cranium may be from a female. It is not greatly different from the earlier Parmularius pandatus but shows a plausible relationship with one or another Damaliscus in the compression of the horn cores (78%), their increased basal divergence, a flattened lateral surface, strong and widely spaced transverse ridges on the anterior surfaces, and their increased basal divergence. There are no localized basal swellings on the horn cores. The front of the horn pedicel looks quite long, suggesting that the short pedicels of later Damaliscus may be secondary. DAMALISCUS GENTRYI Vrba, 1977

Synonymy Damaliscus gentryi Vrba, 1977:143, figures 6–7. Localities and Age *Makapansgat Limeworks Mb 5. Late Pliocene.

cene.

Remarks The figured skull looks hippotragine by the length of its braincase, but Harris thought that the teeth were undoubtedly alcelaphine and observed the loss of both P2 and p2. Could such losses happen in an aged Hippotragus gigas? DAMALISCUS STREPSICERAS Geraads et al., 2004

Synonymy Damaliscus strepsiceras Geraads et al., 2004b:188, plate 13, figure 1. Localities and Age *Melka Kunture, Garba IV. Early Pleistocene. Remarks A species with slightly larger horn cores than a male Damaliscus agelaius and with an unusual somewhat spiraled course. The premolar row is also longer relative to the molar row and p2 can be present. The authors wrote of it as close to D. agelaius but not part of an ancestor-descendant sequence. DAMALISCUS AGELAIUS Gentry and Gentry, 1978

Synonymy Damaliscus agelaius Gentry and Gentry, 1978:402,

Remarks The holotype frontlet and only specimen was thought to resemble the informally designated type A variant of Damaliscis niro at Olduvai Gorge (Gentry and Gentry, 1978). This means that the horn cores appear to have had a more abrupt change in backward curvature not far above the base than is the case in “typical” D. niro. In this they are likely to resemble earlier Parmularius. DAMALISCUS CUICULI Arambourg, 1979

Synonymy Damaliscus cuiculi Arambourg, 1979:84, plate 50, figure 1.

Localities and Age *Aïn Boucherit. Late Pliocene. Remarks A large sinus in the pedicels and some transverse ridges suggest an alcelaphine, and the insertions only just above the orbits suggest Damaliscus. Vrba (1995: appendix 27.2, fn. 30) regarded it as conspecific with Parmularius braini and Damaliscus eppsi. No other Damaliscus is known from north Africa, and Parmularius is present at Aïn Boucherit. DAMALISCUS EPPSI Harris, 1991

Synonymy Damaliscus eppsi Harris, 1991:195, figures 5.51–2. Localities and Age *Koobi Fora Fm Okote Mb. Also KBS Mb. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene.

plates 29, 30.

Localities and Age *Olduvai Beds II–IV. Late Pliocene–middle Pleistocene. (“Late Pliocene” based on FLKW 1969.82a, Gentry and Gentry, 1978:404.) Remarks The holotype is a female skull from a herd excavated in 1962. The species is about the size of Damaliscus dorcas with little compressed, rather divergent, and more upright horn cores. It is more primitive than D. dorcas in absence of flattening of the side surfaces of the horn cores, frontals less upbowed in front of the horn bases, preorbital fossa deeper, and braincase longer. It is more advanced, however, in shorter premolar rows and no p2s. The supraorbital pits are wide apart as in D. dorcas. The preorbital fossa, although deep, is less extensive than in D. lunatus. DAMALISCUS NIRO (Hopwood, 1936)

Synonymy Hippotragus niro Hopwood, 1936, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 10, 17:640, no figure. Localities and Age *Olduvai Bed III. Also Middle–Upper Bed II and IV and many other sites in East and South Africa. Early– late Pleistocene; Hippotragus niro Leakey, 1965: plate 54, showing the holotype; Damaliscus niro Gentry, 1965:335. Remarks Damaliscus niro is large at Olduvai II and Peninj (perhaps larger than Damaliscus lunatus) and declines thereafter THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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(Gentry and Gentry, 1978). This long-term decline opens the possibility of ancestry to D. dorcas. Horn cores often show flattened sides, strong and widely spaced transverse ridges on the front surface (Cooke, 1974: plates 2C, 2D), and backward curvature that is sometimes sharp in midcourse. Compared with D. lunatus, the horn cores are more compressed, the widest part of the cross section placed more anteriorly, transverse ridges stronger and wider apart, the insertions more upright, and the braincase more angled on the face. *DAMALISCUS DORCAS (Pallas, 1766)

Synonymy Antilope dorcas Pallas, 1766, Misc. Zool.:6. Extant.

Remarks This species often appears in print as D. pygargus (see appendix note 9). The South African bontebok and blesbok (both of them D. dorcas) are present in late Pleistocene and later sites in South Africa. Descent from Damaliscus niro was denied by Gentry and Gentry (1978) but favored by Klein (1980). Brink (1987: figures 36. 37) claimed that both species were present in a Middle Stone Age assemblage at Florisbad. The interesting Lainyamok fauna in Kenya dates from ~0.36 Ma and contains a cranium unlike D. agelaius but like Damaliscus dorcas (Potts and Deino, 1995). Evidently a renewed wide survey of late smaller Damaliscus is needed, which would also have to take account of a short-horned Damaliscus at Cornelia and Elandsfontein (Cooke, 1974: plates 2A, 2B; Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1991: figure 11), which L. H. Wells once intended to name as hipkini.

cave edges anterior. It would have been a striking antelope in life. Geraads (1981) reallocated it from the Caprinae to the Alcelaphini. NUMIDOCAPRA ARAMBOURGI (Ennouchi, 1953)

Synonymy Rabaticeras arambourgi Ennouchi, 1953:126, figures 1–2.

Localities and Age *Quarry 8 on Rabat to Témara road. Middle Pleistocene. Remarks Vrba (1997) postulated a trend of decreasing size within Numidocapra, and this second species is later and smaller than N. crassicornis. It has divergent horn cores showing homonymous torsion. It was the type species of Rabaticeras and occurred throughout Africa: Rabat, ?Tihoudaïne (Thomas, 1977), Aïn Maarouf (Geraads and Amani, 1997), Olduvai Beds III–IV (?and Bed II, Gentry and Gentry, 1978: plate 31, figure 3; plate 32, figure 1) and Elandsfontein. Hitherto unidentified Olduvai Bed II horn cores (“Alcelaphini spp. 2 and 3”; Gentry and Gentry, 1978: plate 31, figure 3; plate 32, figure 1; plate 40, figures 1–2) could be earlier East African Numidocapra species or subspecies, smaller than N. crassicornis. The “sp. 3” has straight, compressed, and nondivergent horn cores. Gentry and Gentry saw N. arambourgi as an ancestor for Alcelaphus, but any likely time gap between the Elandsfontein record (Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1991: figures 14–15) and the Alcelaphus at Bodo is almost too tight. Vrba (1997) related Alcelaphus and its fossil relatives to Megalotragus and Connochaetes. NUMIDOCAPRA PORROCORNUTUS (Vrba, 1971)

ALCELAPHINI, Small spp.

Localities Semliki: Katwe Ashes; Lukenya Hill. Late Pleistocene and perhaps later. Remarks Teeth and horn cores of small alcelaphines have been noted at several late East African localities by Gentry (1990) and Marean (1992). The records at Lukenya Hill and sites in northern Tanzania run from 40,000–14,000 or later BP. Such small species no longer live in East Africa.

Synonymy Damaliscus porrocornutus Vrba, 1971, Ann. Transv. Mus. 27:59, pls.3–5. Localities and Age *Swartkrans Mb 1. Early Pleistocene. Remarks This is very similar to the preceding species and was discussed in Vrba (1976). Genus ALCELAPHUS de Blainville, 1816

Type Species Alcelaphus buselaphus (Pallas, 1766). Genus NUMIDOCAPRA Arambourg, 1949

Synonymy Rabaticeras Ennouchi, 1953:126. Type Species Numidocapra crassicornis Arambourg, 1949:290. These alcelaphines are moderate to large sized with skull proportions nearer to high and narrow than to low and wide. Horn cores curve upward and forward in side view. Frontals are little raised between horn bases, and the braincase roof is strongly sloping with a straight profile. *NUMIDOCAPRA CRASSICORNIS Arambourg, 1949

Synonymy Numidocapra crassicornis Arambourg, 1949, C. R. Somm. Séanc. Soc. Géol. Fr. 13:290, figured. Localities and Age *Aïn Hanech. Early Pleistocene; (?) Gorgon mediterraneus Arambourg, 1979:87, plates 51–54. Localities and age: Aïn Hanech; Numidocapra crassicornis Bonis et al., 1988:329, plate 2, figure 3. Localities and age: Anabo Koma. Early Pleistocene; Numidocapra crassicornis Vrba, 1997:141, figures 6–7. Localities and age: Bouri 1 and 6. Early Pleistocene. Remarks The type frontlet was refigured by Arambourg (1979, plate 38, figures 4–4b). It is large, much restored, and has long, upright, almost parallel horn cores with their con786


The horns in A. buselaphus are much inclined backward and appear from in front to be on united pedicels of moderate to extreme length, but the rear of the pedicel runs along the top of the cranium so that it is not freestanding. The laidback horn cores have therefore shortened and steepened the cranial roof. The length, course, and curvature of the horn cores are subject to great geographic variability, on which many subspecific names have been founded. The nominate subspecies, the bubal hartebeest of northern Africa, is now extinct. The supposed second species, Alcelaphus lichtensteini, is probably a geographic variety of A. buselaphus, closest to A. buselaphus caama (Kingdon, 1982; Flagstad et al., 2001), in which the pedicel has widened instead of lengthened; Kingdon (1990) saw its pedicels as secondarily shortened. The preorbital fossae of Alcelaphus are slightly smaller than in Damaliscus but larger than in Parmularius. *ALCELAPHUS BUSELAPHUS (Pallas, 1766)

Synonymy Antilope buselaphus Pallas, 1766, Misc. Zool.:7. Extant hartebeest. Remarks Vrba (1997: figure 7) described and illustrated a complete skull from Bodo 1 at 0.64 Ma. The site is within the historic range of Alcelaphus b. swaynei, and the fossil skull

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differs from the latter by having larger and less divergent horns mounted on a wider pedicel. Possible A. b. aff. lichtensteini was recorded from late in the middle Pleistocene of Kabwe, and from a probably slightly earlier level in the Lower Terrace Complex, Semliki, both to the north of the historic range of that subspecies (Gentry and Gentry, 1978; Gentry, 1990). Late Pleistocene records of proven or likely A. buselaphus have come from many sites in north Africa and into the Near East (CluttonBrock, 1970). Genus DAMALBOREA gen. nov.

Type Species Damalborea elisabethae sp. nov. The single species now placed in this genus needs a formal designation. It has already been extensively discussed by Vrba (1997) who intentionally used an unavailable informal name.

DAMALBOREA ELISABETHAE sp. nov. Figure 38.14

Synonymy ?Damalops sp. (in part) Gentry, 1981:12; (Damalops) “sidihakomae” Vrba, 1997:132 (table 2), 135, figures 2(a–b), 3, 4. Holotype AL 208–7, a skull with horn cores, right P4–M3, and left M2–3. See figure 38.14. Horizon The holotype is from the Hadar Fm, Mb SH-3. Middle Pliocene, ca. 3.3 Ma. It is in the National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. Name The generic name indicates an alcelaphine of the north in contrast to the original Damalacra near the Cape of Good Hope. The species is named for Dr. E. S. Vrba who has contributed so much to the study of African fossil bovids and to the phylogeny of Alcelaphini. Diagnosis A moderately large alcelaphine with high and narrow skull proportions. Horn cores moderately long, little

Holotype skull of Damalborea elisabethae, AL 208-7 from Hadar Formation Member SH-3. Shown in (A) dorsal, (B) right lateral, (C) ventral, and (D) posterior views. Scale in centimeters.

FIGURE 38.14



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compressed, without a flattened lateral surface, transverse ridges probably present distally. Horn cores taper markedly, diverge above the basal third of their length, curve slightly backward, and are inserted close together behind and above the orbits. No torsion. Frontals are raised between the horn bases. Supraorbital pits wide apart; nasals long, narrow and transversely domed; preorbital fossa large and shallow; zygomatic arch thick below the orbit; back of M3 forward of the vertical level of the front of the orbit; central rear palatal indentation forward of lateral ones. Braincase long for an alcelaphine, widening posteriorly, the roof slightly sloping downward and with a slight parietal bump. A large mastoid exposure on the occipital. Teeth differ from Damalacra in greater hypsodonty, further decline of already-minimal entostyles and ectostylids, more complicated central fossettes of molars, labial ribs stronger in relation to styles on upper molars, more rounded lingual lobes of upper molars and labial lobes of lower molars. Measurements of Holotype Anteroposterior diameter at base of horn core 48.5, lateromedial diameter at base of horn core 41.5, minimum width across lateral sides of horn pedicels 101.6, width across lateral edges of supraorbital foramina 63.7, length of frontals ca. 123.6, back of frontals to occipital top 67.2, skull width across mastoids behind external auditory meati 112.4, occipital height from dorsal edge of foramen magnum 48.9, width across anterior tuberosities of basioccipital 27.5, width across posterior tuberosities of basioccipital 36.7, occlusal length M1–3 67.9. Remarks The holotype (figure 38.14) differs from Damalacra by larger size, longer face and nasals, supraorbital pits wider apart, and tooth characters. Most of the changes are likely to be advances. However the braincase remains long and the horn cores show a slight backward curvature. It differs from earlier Parmularius by larger size, less backward curvature of its horn cores, and their distal attenuation and divergence. Gentry (1981) thought it resembled the Siwaliks Damalops palaeindicus—for example, in the large preorbital fossa—but it now seems better to associate Damalops with the ParmulariusDamaliscus group. Characters unlike Awashia include less basal divergence of horn cores, degree of divergence increasing distally, no sharp backward curve shortly above the base, maximum horn core diameters not set rather widely to the anteroposterior line of the skull, supraorbital pits perhaps wider apart, and cranial roof less steeply sloped. Damalborea elisabethae or related species occur at other localities: Aramis, Wee-ee and Maka in the Middle Awash deposits (Vrba, 1997); lower and upper units of the Laetolil Beds (Kakesio skull 82/270; Gentry and Gentry, 1978: plate 22, figure 1); Tulu Bor Member and an unknown horizon of the Koobi Fora Formation (Harris, 1991: figures 5.61, 5.59). I am inclined to follow Vrba (1997: figure 22) in relating this species to later Connochaetes and Megalotragus.

curvature is seen in the horn cores of early Connochaetes, which are longer and may have appeared only slightly later. Genus BEATRAGUS Heller, 1912

Type Species Beatragus hunteri (Sclater, 1889). Extant hirola, Hunter’s or Tana River hartebeest. Remarks These are large alcelaphines, later reducing to medium sized, with horn cores diverging near the base but with long straight distal parts directed upward and, in earlier times, outward. Any detectable torsion is heteronymous, so sufficiently complete horn core bases are distinguishable from Connochaetes. Supraorbital pits are wide apart, and p2 usually absent. The period of success for Beatragus may have preceded the rise of Connochaetes. Vrba (1997) postulated a relationship of Beatragus to Damalacra neanica. Two large fossil species have been described and the smaller living B. hunteri is a relic species. BEATRAGUS WHITEI Vrba, 1997

Synonymy Beatragus whitei Vrba, 1997:160, figures 10b–10c, 11. Localities and Age *Matabaietu levels 3–5. Late Pliocene. Remarks This is the largest and earliest Beatragus with the longest horn cores known in Alcelaphini. The distal straight parts of the horn cores are more divergent than in later Beatragus species. Beatragus antiquus remotus Geraads and Amani (1998: figures 2B–2E) from Ahl al Oughlam at about the same period looks very similar. BEATRAGUS ANTIQUUS Leakey, 1965

Synonymy Beatragus antiquus Leakey, 1965:61. Localities and Age *Olduvai Bed I; Shungura G; Koobi Fora Fm, KBS and Okote Mbs. Late Pliocene. Remarks This differs from B. hunteri by horn cores diverging immediately from their bases, a more gradual lessening of divergence distally, more upright insertions in side view, and frontals wider and more convex in front of the horn bases. Leakey (1965: plate 80) illustrated a complete left horn core, probably from the same individual as his holotype lower right horn core and frontal (Gentry and Gentry, 1978: plate 33).

DAMALBOREA sp. Figure 38.15

Synonymy ?Damalops sp. (in part) Gentry, 1981:12; (Damalops) “denendorae” Vrba, 1997:132 (table 2), 135. Remarks In higher Hadar levels, alcelaphine horn cores are more divergent and their curvature is stronger and upward and outward (figure 38.15). Both Gentry and Vrba implied that they evolved from the preceding species. Similar horn cores come from the Lokochot Member (Harris, 1991: figure 5.50) and Shungura Member B (“?Damalops sp.” of Gentry, 1985). Similar 788


FIGURE 38.15 Anterodorsal (A) and lateral (B) views of left horn core of Damalborea sp., AL120-2a from Hadar Formation, Member DD-3. Scale in centimeters.

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Other specimens are illustrated in Gentry (1985) and Harris (1991). Vrba (1997) thought that her “cf. Connochaetes sp.” from Swartkrans 1 (Vrba, 1976: plate 6) could be a Beatragus, probably B. antiquus. A Beatragus species may have survived in the Swartkrans 2 and Elandsfontein faunas as the “cf. Beatragus sp.”of Vrba (1976: plate 4B) and “Damaliscus aff. lunatus” of Klein and Cruz-Uribe (1991: figure 9). Vrba (1997) discussed the Elandsfontein record. Genus CONNOCHAETES Lichtenstein, 1814

Synonymy Oreonagor Pomel 1895:45. Type Species Connochaetes gnou (Zimmermann, 1780). This genus of unknown ancestry appears in the late Pliocene. It is characterized by its large size; skulls tending to be low and wide, especially postorbitally; horn cores diverging in earlier species and emerging transversely or forward in later species, and often with strong curvature. Horn insertions are postorbital. Connochaetes gnou contrasts strongly with C. taurinus in its shorter face, tooth rows set less anteriorly, nasals widening anteriorly, and zygomatic arch not deepened toward its anterior end, nasals widening anteriorly. The horn cores have much expanded bases that greatly diminish their width apart. Above the bases they turn sharply anteriorly but less downward (the tooth rows being horizontal) than in C. taurinus. Their distal parts are more attenuated, as also happens in muskoxen with expanded horn bases. Front limbs are probably less elongated than in C. taurinus. In general, C. gnou looks the more primitive species, but it is advanced in its horn cores and in the more reduced preorbital fossae. CONNOCHAETES TOURNOUERI (P. Thomas, 1884)

age: Nachukui Fm, Kaitio Mb.; Connochaetes gentryi Harris, 1991:192, figure 5.49. Localities and age: *Koobi Fora Fm, upper Burgi Mb. Also KBS and Okote Mbs. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene; Connochaetes gentryi leptoceras Geraads et al., 2004b:187, plate 13, figure 4. Localities and age: Melka Kunturé, Garba IV. Early Pleistocene. Remarks The holotype skull shows much similarity to C. taurinus. Harris noted that its wide muzzle already indicated a grazing antelope. Horn cores turn outward very close to the base and certainly at a lower level than in C. tournoueri. Compared with extant Connochaetes, they bend less downward as they turn outward, have tips not recurved inward, and are inserted less posteriorly. The subspecies C. g. leptoceras has a slender horn core with a long and straight terminal portion like an Olduvai horn core HWK EE II 2315 (Gentry and Gentry, 1978), here referred to the following species. CONNOCHAETES AFRICANUS (Hopwood, 1934) Figure 38.16

Synonymy Pultiphagonides africanus Hopwood, 1934, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 10, 14:549, no figure. Localities and Age *Olduvai Bed II. Early Pleistocene; Pultiphagonides africanus Leakey, 1965: plates 93, 94. Holotype illustrated; Connochaetes africanus (Hopwood); Gentry and Gentry, 1978:364. Remarks The holotype skull is a small Connochaetes with horn cores inserted less posteriorly than in either living species and then passing upward and backward more than outward. The face is short with nasals widening anteriorly and no preorbital fossa, and the cranial roof is steep. This is a puzzling skull with characters at variance with those of C. tournoueri, gentryi, and taurinus. The horn cores look subadult, but the permanent dentition is in place. Gentry and Gentry (1978) postulated

Synonymy Antilope tournoueri Thomas, 1884: 15, plate 7, figure 1.

Localities and Age *Aïn Jourdel. Late Pliocene; Oreonagor tournoueri (Thomas); Pomel, 1895:45; Oreonagor tournoueri Arambourg, 1979:95, plates 55–57. Localities and age: Aïn Boucherit. Late Pliocene. Remarks This species was founded on material of a primitive wildebeest including Thomas’s illustrated type skull top (appendix note 10), which I saw in the 1970s. Pomel (1895) followed Thomas in thinking it was reduncine and founded Oreonagor for it. Divergence of the horn cores is strong but less than in extant Connochaetes. They are inserted widely apart and behind the orbits but in front of the occipital. The horn cores at Aïn Jourdel are straight in anterior view and curve upward and forward in side view, but at Aïn Boucherit they are more lyrated, bending backward then outward and then upward. The somewhat raised frontals in front of the horn insertions, very evident at Aïn Boucherit, look as if C. tournoueri was approaching C. taurinus rather than C. gnou. A later cranium from Bouri, judiciously discussed by Vrba (1997: figures 8b, 9b), is like those of Aïn Boucherit but looks from the fairly low level at which the horn cores diverge as if it might be more advanced. CONNOCHAETES GENTRYI Harris, 1991

Synonymy Connochaetes sp. Gentry and Gentry, 1978:365, plate 15.

Localities and Age Olduvai Beds I–middle II; Connochaetes new species. Harris et al., 1988:97, plates 51–56. Localities and

Anterior view of right horn core of Connochaetes africanus from Olduvai Gorge, HWK EE II 2315. Anterior to the right for cross sections of the horn core. Drawn from BMNH cast M35173. Scale = 50 mm.

FIGURE 38.16



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ancestry to C. gnou of southern Africa, but the tooth row is relatively smaller than in C. gnou. An Olduvai horn core HWK EE II 2315 (figure 38.16) has a long and straight terminal portion like C. gentryi leptoceras, but a degree of lyration more befitting C. tournoueri. Perhaps it is a male of C. africanus.

closer than in Connochaetes. Torsion is homonymous and variably expressed. Premolar rows are short and legs long. MEGALOTRAGUS ISAACI Harris, 1991

Synonymy Megalotragus isaaci Harris, 1991:187, figures 5.46– CONNOCHAETES TAURINUS (Burchell, 1824)

Synonymy Antilope taurina (Burchell), 1824 Travels in the interior of southern Africa, 2:278 fn. (2:198 fn in the 1953 edition issued by Batchworth, London). Extant blue wildebeest.; Damaliscus njarasensis Lehmann, 1957:118, plate 9. figure 23; plate 10. figure 34. Localities and Age Mumba cave, Eyasi. Late Pleistocene; Gorgon olduvaiensis Leakey, 1965:45, plates 49–50, 52. Localities and age: Olduvai Beds III–IV junction; Connochaetes taurinus olduvaiensis Gentry and Gentry, 1978:368, plate 16, figure 3. Localities and age: Olduvai Beds II–III and possibly IV. Early– middle Pleistocene. Remarks Horn cores of C. t. olduvaiensis are inserted slightly less posteriorly and pass less downward than in modern C. taurinus. The similar and senior subspecies C. t. prognu Pomel, 1894b from Tighenif has been carefully discussed by Geraads (1981:64, 71, 74) and also by Arambourg (1939), Gentry and Gentry (1978:371), and Harris (1991:194). Connochaetes taurinus is also present at Kabwe and in South Africa (Lacruz et al., 2002—unless their material could be of the next species). Damaliscus njarasensis was thought by Gentry (1990) to belong to Connochaetes and would be too far north to be C. gnou. CONNOCHAETES LATICORNUTUS (Van Hoepen, 1932)

Synonymy Gorgon laticornutus van Hoepen, 1932:65, figure 3. Localities and Age *Cornelia. Middle Pleistocene. Remarks Wildebeest crania and horn cores from Cornelia and Elandsfontein look more or less like C. taurinus but a little less advanced in the course of their horn cores. The species was founded on a Cornelia specimen and placed in Gorgon, at that time the customary generic attribution for C. taurinus. Gentry and Gentry (1978) noted the expanded horn bases with rugose bone beginning to spread across the frontals (Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1991: figure 17), and they thought that this wildebeest might be an early form of C. gnou itself. Others might prefer the use of laticornutus to mark a reasonably distinct morphology and to avoid an awkward choice between the species names taurinus and gnou. *CONNOCHAETES GNOU (Zimmermann, 1780)

Synonymy Antilope gnou Zimmermann, 1780, Geogr. Gesch. Mensch. Vierf. Thiere 2:102. Extant gnu or black wildebeest; Connochaetes antiquus Broom, 1913:14, figure 2. Localities and Age Florisbad. Late Pleistocene. Remarks The living gnu or black wildebeest of South Africa south of 25°S is also known from late Pleistocene and later sites. Brink (1987) discussed the Florisbad subspecies C. g. antiquus which has less forwardly turned horn cores than exist today. Genus MEGALOTRAGUS van Hoepen, 1932

Type Species Megalotragus priscus (Broom, 1909). These are large extinct alcelaphines probably exceeding Beatragus whitei in size. The horn cores diverge and are inserted at a low inclination and postorbitally. Insertions are

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5.48.

Localities and Age *Koobi Fora Fm, KBS Mb. Also Upper Burgi and Okote Mbs. Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene. Remarks Horn cores are moderately long. This species confirms that the nasals and anterior parts of the frontals are domed upward to form an inflated structure (Harris, 1991: figure 5.47), an unusual specialization of unknown use to the animal. Megalotragus isaaci was regarded as a subspecies of the next species by Vrba (1997). Megalotragus is also in Shungura G, K, and L and the Ndolanya Beds. MEGALOTRAGUS KATTWINKELI (Schwarz, 1932)

Synonymy Rhynotragus semiticus Reck, 1925:451. Localities and Age Olduvai; Alcelaphus kattwinkeli Schwarz, 1932:4, no figure. Localities and age: *Olduvai Bed IV. Also Beds II and III. The name kattwinkeli has been preserved under Opinion 2029 of the ICZN and the rediscovered missing holotype has resumed the status of the name-bearing specimen (Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 60:88–89, 2003). Remarks This was the first described Megalotragus in East Africa, and the holotype is a right horn core in Munich (Gentry et al., 1995: figure 2). The species differs from M. isaaci in shorter and more curved horn cores, presumably the result of a simple transition. It continued to possess the inflated nasal region. Olduvai material (Gentry and Gentry, 1978) demonstrates that the front legs were relatively longer than in Connochaetes. Either this or the preceding species was present in the Chiwondo Beds (Kaufulu et al., 1981; Sandrock et al., 2007). *MEGALOTRAGUS PRISCUS (Broom, 1909)

Synonymy Bubalis priscus Broom, 1909, Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 7:280, figured. Localities and Age *Modder River, Free State Province, South Africa. Middle–late Pleistocene. Remarks This South African species has many synonyms (Gentry and Gentry, 1978). The horn cores are inserted above the occipital surface. Many records are based on teeth larger than appropriate for Connochaetes and sometimes with a simpler occlusal pattern. The horn cores may become very long and acquire a curvature like that of Pelorovis oldowayensis. The state of the nasals is unknown. Megalotragus priscus survived until the end of the Pleistocene or perhaps 7,500 BP (Klein, 1980; Thackeray, 1983). MEGALOTRAGUS ATOPOCRANION (Pickford and Thomas, 1984)

Synonymy Rusingoryx atopocranion Pickford and Thomas, 1984:446, figure 2. Localities and Age *Rusinga Island. Late Pleistocene or Holocene. Remarks This is a Megalotragus of greatly reduced size. It shows the inflated nasals of other East African Megalotragus, although the authors did not use Reck (1935: figure 1) to help identify and orient their finds.

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ASSESSMENT OF ALCELAPHINI

The nearly complete and often undistorted fossils at Langebaanweg reveal two species, Damalacra acalla and D. neanica, the latter being more specialized in its postorbitally inserted but still upright horn cores. By the middle Pliocene, alcelaphines acquired more advanced teeth. Parmularius pandatus is a good candidate for descent from a species like Damalacra acalla and for relationship and possible ancestry to later Parmularius and Damaliscus (a group that probably includes the Siwaliks Damalops). A slightly larger middle Pliocene species is Damalborea elisabethae. Early in the late Pliocene, the first Beatragus is known, very large for its period and perhaps descended from close to Damalacra neanica. Megalotragus and Connochaetes also appear. Their ancestry is not clear. If they are related, they could go back through a form like Damalborea to an early Pliocene or earlier basal alcelaphine, or they could have come from a Miocene form close to Gentrytragus thereby raising the spectre of alcelaphine diphyly. Connochaetes and Megalotragus fared better than Beatragus in the Pleistocene although Beatragus managed to outlast Megalotragus by a tiny margin. The relationships of Connochaetes africanus are an interesting problem. The great central Parmularius-Damaliscus group is a source of uncertainty about how many times Damaliscus-like forms evolved. Characters of larger size, inclined horn core insertions, divergence, and inclined cranial roofs can appear in Parmularius, but if they fail to do so, the more chance the fossil has to be classified within Damaliscus. So was D. ademassui the first true Damaliscus, or was it a false start? And, turning to late Pleistocene events, we know that the type species D. dorcas has to belong to Damaliscus, but if it evolved from either D. agelaius or D. niro, would the rejected ancestor still be congeneric? It still looks likely that Alcelaphus is linked with some smaller species of Numidocapra like N. arambourgi but the contemporaneous Parmularius rugosus, which appears to have supplanted P. angusticornis at Olduvai, had also acquired curly horn cores. Hence identifications of individual fossils may be difficult, and one can suspect that generic attributions for the post-angusticornis era may be problematic. The laid-back horn pedicels of A. buselaphus are visually striking and may have been a fast acquisistion. Hybridization is known between species of Alcelaphus and Damaliscus, some cited instances (Gentry and Gentry, 1978:354) involving Alcelaphus with D. dorcas and not with the more appropriately sized D. lunatus. Vrba (1997), however, has continued to relate Alcelaphus to Connochaetes and Megalotragus. It is interesting that three of the seven alcelaphines at Elandsfontein (Klein and Kruz-Uribe, 1991: figures 9, 11, 12, 13) are not known elsewhere and may be new species in South Africa. They were cited above as ?Parmularius sp., a Damaliscus species (in the account of D. dorcas), and Beatragus antiquus.

often live at higher altitudes. Many late Miocene bovids in Eurasia were acquiring characters of various later Caprinae (Gentry, 2000), and much parallel evolution seems to have occurred. Genus BENICERUS Heintz, 1973

Type Species Benicerus theobaldi Heintz, 1973. *BENICERUS THEOBALDI Heintz, 1973

Synonymy Benicerus theobaldi Heintz, 1973, Ann. Scient. Univ. Besançon Géol. (3), 18:245, plate 1. Localities and Age *Beni Mellal. Middle Miocene. Remarks The genus has only one species. A single left horn core is small, compressed, and has an anterior keel and heteronymous torsion. A few small teeth were also found (Lavocat in Choubert and Faure-Muret, 1961). It could be an antilopine (Bouvrain and Bonis, 1985) or connected with Tethytragus, a European genus already mentioned under Gentrytragus. The torsion of the horn core and its early date match Hypsodontinae, but its backward curvature does not. Genus DAMALAVUS Arambourg, 1959

Type Species Damalavus boroccoi Arambourg, 1959. *DAMALAVUS BOROCCOI Arambourg, 1959

Synonymy Damalavus boroccoi Arambourg, 1959:120, plate 18, figures 4, 4a. Localities and Age *Bou Hanifia. Late Miocene. Remarks This species is known from a skull top and other horn cores. It is medium sized, and the horn cores show some compression and are divergent, well inclined, and slightly curved backward. Arambourg thought it was alcelaphine, while Gentry (1970) related it to the later and larger Eurasian Turolian Palaeoryx. I list it here as possibly Caprinae. Genus PROTORYX Major, 1891

Type Species Protoryx carolinae Major, 1891. Localities and Age *Pikermi, Greece. Late Miocene. Protoryx and related genera are nonboselaphine antelopes long known from the classical Eurasian Turolian faunas of Pikermi, Samos, and Maragheh. They are moderate sized (moderate to large for their period), and with higher frontals between the horn bases than in the smaller middle Miocene Tethytragus. They have horn cores without much divergence, inserted fairly uprightly and curving backward, no torsion, and rarely keeled. The braincase roof is inclined, and the teeth are often mesodont or hypsodont. Characters akin to those of Caprini only become well expressed in later species.

Subfamily CAPRINAE Gray, 1821

Type Genus Capra Linnaeus, 1758. Caprinae are one of the great divisions of the Bovidae and are largely Eurasian. They are a coherent subfamily zoogeographically and in molecular cladistics (Gatesy et al., 1997; Marcot, 2007), but it is hard to characterize the genera as a group or to arrange them in tribes. Teeth never show boödont tendencies, central incisors remain small, metapodials are often short, and the animals may be agile jumpers. They

PROTORYX SOLIGNACI (Robinson, 1972)

Synonymy Pachytragus solignaci Robinson, 1972:75, figures 1–5, 7.

Localities and Age *Beglia Formation, Bled Douarah. (?Middle)–late Miocene. Remarks Much material came from the type locality in levels alongside and allegedly below hipparionine horses. This species predates many Eurasian Protoryx and is specialized in its very compressed horn cores. It was present at El Hamma du THIRT Y-EIGHT: BOVIDAE


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Djerid (Thomas, 1979) and perhaps also in the Namurungule Formation (Nakaya et al., 1984: plate 9, figure 4). A possible record in the Ngorora Formation (Thomas, 1981) may be a reduncine. A Vallesian Protoryx in Turkey has been identified with P. solignaci (Köhler, 1987; Gentry, 2000).

Genus AMMOTRAGUS Blyth, 1840

Type Species Ammotragus lervia (Pallas, 1777). Only the type species is known in Africa. Its common name is “Barbary sheep,” but it has often been seen as closer to or within Capra (Ansell, 1971).

Tribe CAPRINI Gray, 1821 *AMMOTRAGUS LERVIA (Pallas, 1777)

Type Genus Capra Linnaeus, 1758. This tribe contains those Caprinae which are more fully like sheep or goats. They show frontals raised between horn insertions and with internal sinuses, cranial roofs often angled downward on the line of the facial axis, high-crowned cheek teeth with an uncomplicated occlusal pattern and no basal pillars, p4s often with paraconid-metaconid fusion to form a closed lingual wall anteriorly, and often shortened metapodials. Genus BOURIA Vrba, 1997

Synonymy Antilope lervia Pallas, 1777, Spicil. Zool. 12:12. Extant Barbary sheep. Remarks The species is known from many North African late Pleistocene localities. It includes a pair of crushed horn cores from Wadi Derna attributed by Bate (1955) to the bovine Homoioceras. Unfortunately, her posthumous paper muddled right and left sides. Moreover, the real right horn core (BMNH, no number) shows that the insertion is too close behind the orbital rim to fit Bos or Pelorovis. Moullé et al (2004) claimed an earlier Ammotragus from the early Pleistocene of France.

Type Species Bouria anngettyae Vrba, 1997 *BOURIA ANNGETTYAE Vrba, 1997

Synonymy Bouria anngettyae Vrba, 1997:182, figure 16. Localities and Age *Bouri. Early Pleistocene. Remarks A cranium and other remains date from about 1.0 Ma. The horn cores are long, compressed, with an anterior keel, and backwardly curved, all as in Capra. However, the horn cores are more inclined backward than in Capra and more than would be expected for such long curving horns. Also the frontals between the horn bases are more elevated and the cranial roof shorter and more steeply sloped than in Capra. Such features are like the extant but short-horned Hemitragus jemlahicus and H. hylocrius, so comparisons will be needed with the early Pleistocene Hemitragus in Europe (Crégut-Bonnoure, 2007 and references therein). Alternatively, an independent evolution of a caprine or caprine-parallel in Ethiopia could be considered. The basioccipital is not expanded as in modern Caprini, and no teeth at Bouri could be recognized as caprine. Genus CAPRA Linnaeus, 1758

Type Species Capra hircus Linnaeus, 1758. Founded on domestic livestock. Capra aegagrus Erxleben 1777 is to be used for the wild goat (ICZN Opinion 2027, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 60: 81–84, 2003) contrary to Wilson and Reeder (2005). The ibexes and goats are mainly Eurasian but have two living species in northeastern Africa, one being in Ethiopia. CAPRA PRIMAEVA Arambourg, 1979

Synonymy Capra primaeva Arambourg, 1979:49, plate 36, figures 3–4; plate 37; plate 38, figures 1–3; plate 39. Localities and Age *Ain Brimba. Late Pliocene. Remarks The horn cores are without keels, variably compressed, backwardly curved, and inadequate to sustain a tribal identity. They are smaller than horn cores of Bouria anngettyae. However teeth, including those on the holotype palate, are hypsodont and caprine-like, and metapodials are rather short and somewhat flattened anteroposteriorly, again befitting Caprinae. 792


Tribe OVIBOVINI Gray, 1872

Type Genus Ovibos Blainville, 1816. Hitherto this tribe has included the Nearctic (formerly Holarctic) muskox, Ovibos moschatus, and Chinese takin, Budorcas taxicolor. Bouvrain and Bonis (1984) doubted their closeness and were followed by Gentry (1992, but not 1996). Groves and Shields (1997) and some other molecular phylogenies now suggest a Budorcas-Ovis relationship. Ovibos has a number of fossil relatives (no longer including the Eurasian late Miocene Urmiatherium or Criotherium). Horn cores do not curve backward and are often strongly divergent. Genus MAKAPANIA Wells and Cooke, 1956

Type Species Makapania broomi Wells and Cooke, 1956. *MAKAPANIA BROOMI Wells and Cooke, 1956

Synonymy Makapania broomi Wells and Cooke, 1956:26, figures 13–16.

Localities and Age *Makapansgat Limeworks. Late Pliocene; Makapania broomi Vrba, 1976:48, plate 40, figures A–B, D, G. Localities and age: Sterkfontein Type Site (⫽ Mb 4). Late Pliocene. Remarks This Makapansgat Member 3 species is close to Megalovis latifrons and Pliotragus ardeus in the late Pliocene of Europe. It has long horn cores, diverging almost transversely from an elevated transverse frontal ridge. The basioccipital, however, is very similar to that of Ovibos itself. It seems that the modern muskox is a relict in an extreme habitat of a tribe with a former wider distribution in the Holarctic and Africa (Gentry, 2001). Makapania may occur in Swartkrans Member 1 and the Shungura Formation (Vrba, 1976; Gentry, 1985), and it is also claimed for the Middle Pleistocene of Gladysvale (Lacruz et al., 2002). Tribe Indet. Genus BUDORCAS Hodgson, 1850

Type Species Budorcas taxicolor Hodgson, 1850. Extant takin. Unlike Ovibos, Budorcas has few fossil relatives. Three possible ones are in Africa.

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BUDORCAS CHURCHERI Gentry, 1996

Synonymy Budorcas churcheri Gentry, 1996:575, figure 1. Localities and Age *Hadar Fm Mb DD. Middle Pliocene; Ovibovini sp. aff. “Bos” makapaani Broom; Gentry, 1981:17, plates 3, 4. Remarks This is based on a single and distinctive skull dating from ~3.2 Ma. It shows some striking differences from living B. taxicolor: more massive and compressed horn cores mounted on very elevated frontals and emerging transversely at their bases. The height of the frontals necessitates a very steep slope for the cranial roof. Genus Indet. “BOS” MAKAPAANI Broom, 1937

Synonymy Bos makapaani Broom, 1937, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 10, 20:510, figured. Localities and Age *Buffalo Cave, Limpopo Province. Late Pliocene. Remarks The position of sutures on the frontlet figured by Broom suggests that the convex edge of the horn cores is anterior or anterodorsal and not posterior, so that a distant affinity with Budorcas is more likely than with Bos. Gentry and Gentry (1978: plate 41) thought a larger horn core from Olduvai Bed I was similar and also illustrated nonassociated caprine-like metapodials from Bed I (plate 19, figure 2). Kuykendall et al. (1995) regarded Buffalo Cave as Pleistocene, but this species might better fit the late Pliocene. Earlier enigmatic “ovibovine” remains occur at Langebaanweg (Gentry, 1980: figures 61–62). Genus NITIDARCUS Vrba, 1997

Type Species Nitidarcus asfawi Vrba, 1997. *NITIDARCUS ASFAWI Vrba, 1997

Synonymy Nitidarcus asfawi Vrba, 1997:177, figuress 5b, 6b. Localities and Age *Bouri. Early Pleistocene. Remarks This was founded on a cranium with highly distinctive horn cores inserted uprightly, diverging at their bases and then curving backward and becoming parallel, with homonymous torsion, compressed basally and with a posterolateral welt. There is a large sinus in the pedicel and horn core base, the braincase roof is strongly inclined (both characters being like Alcelaphini), and the basioccipital is triangular (unlike Alcelaphini). An alliance with Budorcas was rejected by Vrba. Assessment of Caprinae Looking at distributions of living Caprinae, one would take them as a fringe group in Africa, remaining largely within the Palaearctic realm. The fossil record suggests several penetrations of Ovibovini and possible Budorcas relatives, perhaps longer lasting in some cases. The only abundant occurrence is the “Bos” makapaani at Buffalo Cave. More fossils are needed, but in the interim we could muse on the possibility of Budorcas having entered Asia from Africa. Ovibos and Budorcas are probably not related, although both differ from Capra and Ovis by never having backward curvature in the basal sectors of the horn cores, and neither do their possible fossil relatives. Within the Caprini, Bouria is a striking animal that will be relevant to future analysis of the differences between Capra and Hemitragus. Ropiquet and Hassanin (2005) have already produced a molecular phylogeny in which Hemitragus species are not a

clade (although their new generic names need diagnoses before they can be used). No fossil Ovis have been found in Africa.

Discussion EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF BOVIDAE IN AFRICA

The main problem in giving an account of bovid origins in Africa is that we do not know whether any pre-Miocene pecorans existed on the continent. Other drawbacks are (1) the lack of a comprehensive survey of the east Asian and European Oligocene and early Miocene Pecora, against which to compare the more limited African record; (2) the questionably bovid status of Hypsodontinae; and (3) the presence of brachyodont pecorans alongside the hypsodont ones in the Mongolian Oligocene. It may also be pointed out that genetic studies have revealed, first, that genes controlling the basic structural organization of animal phenotypes (hox genes) are shared across many phyla, and, second, that changes in adult organs can result from simple switches from one developmental pathway to another (Dawkins, 2004). Such a system, operating in early Neogene pecoran relatives of Bovidae and in early bovids themselves, would favor repeated and parallel evolutions from an underlying stable body plan in response to environmental changes. The role of unique new mutations is much diminished. Pecorans are known in the early Miocene of Africa, and some have been thought to be bovids or their relatives (Cote, this volume, chapter 37). At the start of the middle Miocene, Namacerus is certainly a bovid and very informative. It does not fit into any later tribe within Bovidae. Hypsodontinae are present in Africa in the middle Miocene. Another appearance around that time (table 38.2) was the nonboselaphine Homoiodorcas with short and robust horn cores. It was probably a member of the Antilopinae, so this temporal order contrasts with most cladistic sequences in which Antilopinae follow Boselaphini. Fort Ternan produces the full representation of the four bovid groups A–D of table 38.1. It has a hypsodontine and the first African boselaphine, both species being common. In addition, there is the first member of the Antilopini, perhaps a Gazella, showing horn cores of a pattern frequently seen in postboselaphine bovid groups: a degree of mediolateral compression, no keels, backward curvature, and modest divergence. Finally it has the larger Gentrytragus of unknown subfamily or tribe but likely to be in group D. Premolar rows in all these bovids are shorter than in Namacerus, but teeth of Boselaphini and Antilopinae differ little at this time level. Little is known of African bovids between Fort Ternan and the end of the Miocene (Cote, 2004). Geraads et al. (2002) reported on meagre unidentified bovids in the Chorora Formation and warned that late Miocene ones might be more diverse than so far known. Almost the only substantial information on this period comes from the Ngorora Formation (Thomas, 1981) within the 12.0–8.0 Ma time range, wherein even the bovids alongside Hipparion retain a mid-Miocene aspect. This is the level at which a larger boselaphine comes in, coexisting with or replacing an earlier boselaphine, and neither of them belonging to the late Miocene Miotragocerus dominant in Eurasia. Homoiodorcas and Gentrytragus continue. There also arrives “Pachytragus aff. solignaci” (BN1747), which I suspect of being a reduncine. None of the Ngorora species are unambiguous members of the later African tribes



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Tragelaphini, Hippotragini, or Alcelaphini. We have to wait until the Adu-Asa Formation, Toros-Menalla, and Lothagam for these tribes to appear in the last 2 myr of the Miocene. Tragelaphini then appeared from within group B of the table 38.1 bovid classification, and Boselaphini disappeared. New Antilopinae appeared in group C, and Hippotragini and Alcelaphini also appeared in group D, perhaps superseding Gentrytragus. Then the Pliocene opened. COMPARISONS WITH EURASIA

This story offers some interesting comparisons with events on other continents. In the Miocene of Europe, Andegameryx, Amphimoschus, and Hispanomeryx have been seen as possible bovoids (Gentry, 1994). They are bigger or later than Namibiomeryx and perhaps less likely to be close to Bovidae. It will be more practicable in the near future to find out more about the relationship between Namacerus in Africa and the long-known Eotragus in Europe. With a keel sometimes visible on its horn cores, Eotragus may be boselaphine. So could Namacerus be the earliest nonboselaphine bovid? If so, how has it happened that it is on a different continent from Eotragus, and which continent was the bovid home? Moving on through the middle Miocene, we find Boselaphini and apparently a Gazella in the Siwaliks, a situation very like East Africa and contrasting with Europe wherein Boselaphini only appear near the end of the middle Miocene and Gazella in the early late Miocene. Before the end of the middle Miocene, Europe and perhaps the Siwaliks also have Tethytragus, a genus with the same basic nonboselaphine pattern of horn cores as Gazella, Gentrytragus, and Hippotragus and possibly belonging to group D of table 38.1 and related to later Caprinae. In the Tethyan-Paratethyan zone or realm bordering Africa to the north, a big change and increase in numbers and diversity of species took place in the late Miocene. Many new forms of Antilopinae and Caprinae appeared alongside hipparionine horses, but the zenith of the new fauna was delayed until the Turolian (later late Miocene). Less is known of the end-Miocene and Pliocene bovids that came to share the ecological room for pecoran ruminants with cervids. This is the reverse of our understanding of African bovids, which is weak for most of the late Miocene and improved for the end of the Miocene onward. FROM THE PLIOCENE TO THE PRESENT

From the start of the Pliocene, the history of bovids in Africa is that of the full range of modern tribes. One can see the broad outline, but it is usually difficult to pin down details. The Tragelaphini have an unknown origin, with their horn cores unlike the standard Tethytragus, Gazella, and Hippotragus model. The old idea of associating them with Boselaphini has been supported by molecular phylogenies, and keels on horn cores might be a significant character in common. The teeth became aegodont but without much tendency toward hypsodonty. One can only imagine the earliest tragelaphines coming from the boselaphines soon after Antilopinae had separated from the boselaphine ancestors. The main later innovations in the tribe were the appearance of kudus in the late Pliocene and, later again, of Taurotragus. Bovini are most likely to have originated among the enlarged boselaphines that were appearing through the late Miocene in the Siwaliks and perhaps elsewhere. They evolved teeth of large occlusal area and with more hypsodonty, but the full boödont pattern didn’t come until much later. Bovini

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present the conundrum of a succession of both smaller and primitive and larger and advanced morphologies that mask the lines of ancestry. An early bovine of closed habitats could well have looked like Ugandax gautieri, but how are we to relate it to the extant forest buffalo Syncerus caffer nanus? Were there separate long-lasting small forest and larger savanna bovine lineages or one that from time to time gave off more short-lived offshoots? Cephalophini are likely to have developed from within the Antilopinae, although they have sometimes been placed close to Boselaphini by authors back to Rütimeyer (1877–78). They are rare as fossils. The difficulty with Brabovus is to know whether to exclude it from Cephalophini. Could its resemblances to a small bovine have arisen from having a similar way of life? One would not think to relate it to Boselaphini or Tragelaphini, the other tribes related to Bovini. Neotragini are not well represented as fossils. They are rarer than larger bovids and have only received attention in exceptional cases such as the large Raphicerus at Langebaanweg or the abundant Madoqua at Laetoli. Gazella has always been the most common of the Antilopini, and it was joined at the end of the Miocene in sub-Saharan Africa by a species that might have belonged to Aepyceros. Antidorcas is most likely to have appeared near the start of the late Pliocene, and more Gazella species differentiated in the late Pliocene. Reduncini differentiated from Antilopini (or vice versa), which had scarcely advanced on primitive Boselaphini. They do not have keels on their horn cores like Boselaphini, but neither do most of them show horn cores like Gazella, Tethytragus, or Hippotragus. In the earlier part of the Pliocene, they were variably kob- or waterbuck-like, but the lineages of modern kob, lechwe, and waterbuck only become known in the late Pliocene. The teeth of reduncines gradually became boödont but remained small in relation to skull size. The split in Hippotragini between Hippotragus and Oryx had occurred early, and presumably the latter has always been an inhabitant of drier habitats than the former. They both retained an unspecialized tooth pattern late into their history, and Hippotragus only advanced to full or fuller boödonty long after it had given up sharing faunal predominance with Alcelaphini in the middle Pliocene Laetolil Beds. Addax may have evolved from Oryx at a relatively late date. The early alcelaphine Damalacra acalla at Langebaanweg has backwardly curved horn cores like many other bovids, but the accompanying species D. neanica has what must be a more advanced course of its horn cores. Once more the question concerns the descent of later members of the tribe. Would Damaliscus have come from an ancestor like acalla and other later genera from one like neanica? When are modernlooking characters in early fossils synapomorphies, and when are they parallels? This leads into the main classificatory question in Alcelaphini, which is to decide the limits of Damaliscus and Parmularius and how Alcelaphus is related to them. Alcelaphini gradually improved their teeth by increased hypsodonty, short premolars, and rounding of the external walls of the lobes of their molars. This is an obvious change from early bovid teeth but is not the same as either aegodonty or the boödonty of late Hippotragus and Bovini. Several new alcelaphines are notable in the later Pliocene, particularly the genera Beatragus, Connochaetes, and Megalotragus. Caprinae are associated in modern cladistic classifications with either Hippotragini or a conjoined Hippotragini ⫹ Alcelaphini. The fossil record of Caprinae suggests many early lineages in the late Miocene of Eurasia. At various times they

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ta b l e 3 8 . 4 Locations and approximate dates of some notable bovid appearances in the late or later Pliocene

Taxon

Age

Kobus sigmoidalis Antidorcas recki or sp. Megalotragus isaaci or sp. Gazella sp. 3 Tragelaphus gaudryi Beatragus whitei or sp. Pelorovis spp. Connochaetes spp. Gazella aff. rufifrons SOURCE:

Moiti Mb 3.6 Ma, Shungura C 2.64 Ma Lower Tulu Bor Mb 3.13 Ma, Shungura B 3.11Ma, Koro Toro 3.00 Ma, Ndolanya Beds 2.6 Ma Upper Tulu Bor Mb 2.79 Ma, Shungura D 2.46 Ma Ndolanya Beds 2.6 Ma Shungura C 2.64 Ma, Ahl al Oughlam 2.5 Ma Matabaietu 3–5 2.5 Ma, Ahl al Oughlam 2.5 Ma Ahl al Oughlam 2.5 Ma, Shungura D 2.45 Ma Aïn Boucherit 2.0 Ma, Upper Burgi 1.94 Ma Upper Burgi Mb 1.94 Ma, Olduvai Bed I 1.8 Ma

Gentry (1985, 1987); Gentry and Gentry (1978); Geraads and Amani (1998); Harris (1991), Vrba (1997).

NOTE:

Antidorcas in Shungura B is a mandible, that Tragelaphus gaudryi and Connochaetes are also known from Aïn Jourdel, and that Tragelaphus strepsiceros appears after 2.1 Ma, presumably from an ancestor like T. gaudryi.

have managed to reach into Africa, especially north of the tropic of Cancer, and older relatives of Budorcas and Ovibos may have been or were present farther south. Following this summary of tribal evolution, it may be repeated that recent findings in genetics show that it is simpler than formerly supposed to switch from one route to another in ontogeny. This reinforces suspicions that many of the characters used in this chapter could have evolved repeatedly and hence be unreliable indicators of relationship between species across different regions and time periods. The scope for future changes to current interpretations remains high.

Conclusions Almost every paragraph in this chapter and every sentence in the discussion has a question built into it. Several large-scale questions will continue to engage attention. One is the timing and causes of the emergence of Bovidae and later of the bovid tribes. How can the cladistic association between Alcelaphini and Caprinae be fitted to a zoogeographic story of faunal movements between the continents? Are the Siwaliks part of the arena for the evolution of African bovids? A second set of questions is the faunal changes around the late Pliocene. At Laetoli the contrast is particularly obvious between the mid-Pliocene bovid fauna in the Laetolil Beds and the new lineages or genera in the Ndolanya Beds and later Plio-Pleistocene faunas. Table 38.4 shows the first dates for quite a lot of new bovids in this period comprising kudus, an advanced bovine, two gazelles, springbok, waterbuck and lechwe, two new large alcelaphines, and wildebeest. The table is defective to the extent that dates are only broadly known, that identifications of first appearances are often less certain than of later occurrences where the species have become commonplace, and that any new arrival alters the conditions of life for other sympatric species and could lead to further species changes. Nevertheless, it looks as though something happened at that time. The link of these and other mammal changes with environmental change and climatic cooling has been discussed (Hernández Fernández and Vrba, 2006; Bobe and Behrensmeyer, 2004; Bobe et al., 2007). From the late Pliocene onward, hypsodont and cursorial antilopines

and alcelaphines often predominate in bovid faunas and can be taken as characterizing more open country faunas (Vrba, 1980; Geraads and Amani, 1998). A third question concerns the environmental or competitive pressures that called forth late intensifications of boödont teeth, and why alcelaphine teeth differ from the boödonty of Bovini, Hippotragus, and Reduncini. A final long-standing question is that of the timing of late Pleistocene extinctions. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Compiling this chapter taught me a lot. I thank my wife for support and advice on nomenclature and assorted other matters. I thank Bill Sanders and Lars Werdelin for their invitation to contribute to this book and for their editorial help, and Kaye Reed for her comments on the typescript. Susy Cote kindly supplied photographs and perceptive views on early bovids and Ngorora specimens. I thank Denis Geraads for information and guidance on north African locality and species names, Faysal Bibi for raising many significant points in conversations about fossil Bovidae, and Elisabeth Vrba, Maia Bukhsianidze, and Dimitris Kostopoulos for much help during a meeting in Addis Ababa when we all six came together. Chris Smeenk (Leiden) led me to some historical information. APPENDIX NOTES

1.

The holotype of Hypsodontus miocenicus Sokolov, 1949, is a shallow mandibular ramus with m2 and m3. Gabunia (1973: figure 33) assigned to the species a horn core from the same locality. This horn core showed slight twisting of its axis but its overall course was little curved. Gabunia (1973: figure 34, plate 8; figure 6) referred a similar but smaller and slightly compressed horn core to another new genus and species Kubanotragus sokolovi. Gentry (1970) thought the H. miocenicus holotype mandible might be a boselaphine. Thomas (1984a) concurred and referred some Siwaliks hypsodontines to Kubanotragus sokolovi. Köhler (1987:155), however, used the name Hypsodontus for a new, large species, pronaticornis, in Turkey and founded Turcocerus, with type species T. grangeri



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(Pilgrim, 1934) from Mongolia, for hypsodontines with shorter and more grooved horn cores than Hypsodontus and more curved horn cores than Kubanotragus. The outcome is that Hypsodontus is used for large forms, Kubanotragus for smaller forms with slender and overall straighter horn cores, and Turcocerus for shorthorned forms that, in western Eurasia, are also of small size. The assignment of “Oioceros” tanyceras from Fort Ternan remains undecided in such an arrangement while Hypsodontus pickfordi from Maboko resembles a Kubanotragus. I use only Hypsodontus in this chapter. 2.

Among fossil bovids or possible bovids, at least one Oligocene Palaeohypsodontus from Mongolia (Dmitrieva, 2002) could be close to the size of N. pygmaeus; the tiny Siwaliks middle Miocene boselaphine Elachistoceras khauristanensis Thomas, 1977 (Bull. Soc. Géol. Fr. 7, 19:375–383—not the 1977 paper listed in this chapter) is not as small; and an undescribed bovid from the late Miocene of Csákvár, Hungary (listed but not diagnosed as the cervid Lagomeryx celer by Kretzoi, 1954) could be close in size but perhaps with larger astragali. However it is very likely from a view of their skulls and some tooth lengths that another extant neotragine, Madoqua piacentini from the southeastern Somaliland coast (Yalden, 1978), is still smaller than Neotragus pygmaeus.

3.

This gazelle horn core and its partner were noticed on the back wall of the dormant Fort Ternan excavation during a short stop there in 1967. Despite the professional hesitations of J. A. Van Couvering, A. C. Walker, and W. W. Bishop who were also present, my wife insisted on freeing the horn core and took it back to Nairobi. Many years later it seems to me that it is a significant specimen for tracing bovid evolution, and I appreciate her resolution in saving it.

4.

Pomel’s monographs of the 1890s provided a multitude of new names for Algerian Plio-Pleistocene mammals. Arambourg (1939, 1957) and others have made reassignments of the gazelles in Pomel (1895). Thus, Gazella atlantica probably includes Antilope crassicornis p. 19, plate 1, figures 2–7, plate 4, figures 1–8; plate 13, figures 3–6; Antilope subgazella p. 10, plate 3, figures 1–5, plate 10, figures 12–13; Antilope massoessilia Pomel, 1895, p. 21, plate 1, figure 1, plate 9; Antilope nodicornis p. 18, plate 5, figures 1–4. Gazella cuvieri probably includes Antilope subkevella p. 14, plate 5, figures 5–7; Antilope kevella p. 12, plate 12, figure 3, plate 13, figures 1–2; Antilope oranensis p. 25, plate 2, figures 1–2. When using Pomel (1895), it is essential to note discrepancies between plate captions and the text references to the plates.

5.

6.

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Vrba (1995:421, n. 32) overcomes the problem of recognizing the shungurae-melampus transition by applying the one name melampus to the whole of the identified fossil lineage. Some of the skull differences of Kobus megaceros from K. leche are horn cores less compressed; the proximal backward curve on the horn cores is more drawn out and the distal upward curve is correspondingly shorter; horn insertions closer and dorsal orbital rims wider; paired swellings on frontals in front of the supraorbital pits; larger ethmoidal fissures; lateral flanges on the front of the nasals; premaxillae

contacting nasals; a more rounded anterior tip to the premaxillae; median indent at the back of the palate less narrowed anteriorly; stronger longitudinal ridges behind the anterior tuberosities of the basioccipital. 7.

In founding Caprotragoides, Thenius nominated a Fort Ternan horned cranium (Gentry, 1970: plate 12 and plate 13, figures 1, 2) as holotype of potwaricus, but under the rules of nomenclature, the holotype must remain Pilgrim’s frontlet.

8.

Arambourg (1979:80, plate 50, figures 6–8) founded Hippotragus priscus for two upper molars from Bel Hacel and a third from Ichkeul. One from Bel Hacel (early Pleistocene) was designated “type” and the Ichkeul one (?middle Pliocene) “syntype,” an impossible arrangement under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. I take the “type,” Arambourg’s figure 8, as a holotype. Geraads (1981) doubted that the Bel Hacel teeth were Hippotragini, which was also my opinion when I saw them in Paris.

9.

Linnaeus (1758) used Capra dorcas for the dorcas gazelle of Egypt. Pallas (1766) founded Antilope to include thenknown antelopes, among them his new species A. dorcas, the bontebok of South Africa. Pallas (1767) substituted Antilope pygargus for the bontebok, which corrected the secondary homonymy of his own A. dorcas with the dorcas gazelle. Harper (1940) reinstated Damaliscus dorcas (Pallas, 1766) for the bontebok on the grounds that since 1894 gazelles had been in Gazella and the bontebok in Damaliscus, homonymy no longer existed. The change was unnecessary and overturned 170 years of stable use of pygargus. Rookmaaker (1991) restored pygargus, because A. dorcas Pallas, 1766 was permanently invalid as a junior secondary homonym that had been replaced before 1961 (International Code for Zoological Nomenclature, 3rd ed., Article 59[b]). Even in the third edition, Article 59(b) was in awkward opposition to the requirement for stability of Article 23(b). Under the fourth edition of the Code (1999, Article 59.3), the 1991 change from dorcas would no longer have been required. I continue to use dorcas.

10. P. Thomas (1884) did not designate any of his material of Antilope tournoueri as a holotype. Arambourg (1979:95) wrote, “Le type d’ “Antilope” tournoueri décrit par Ph. Thomas fait partie des collections du Muséum. Il s’agit d’une portion frontale de crâne munie de ses chevilles osseuses.” This is a satisfactory lectotype designation, whereas his suggested neotype (Arambourg, 1979:101) is based on nonsyntypical material from Aïn Boucherit.

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dae), from the Late Miocene of the Middle Awash, Afar Rift, Ethiopia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26:213–218. Vrba, E. S., and G. B. Schaller. 2000. Phylogeny of Bovidae based on behavior, glands, skulls, and postcrania; pp. 203– 222 in E. S.Vrba and G. B.Schaller (eds.), Antelopes, Deer and Relatives: Fossil Record, Behavioral Ecology, Systematics and Conservation. Yale University Press, New Haven. Vrba, E. S., J. R. Vaisnys and J. E. Gatesy. 1994. Analysis of paedomorphosis using allometric characters: The example of Reduncini antelopes (Bovidae, Mammalia). Systematic Biology 43:92–116. Wang, B. 1992. The Chinese Oligocene: A preliminary review of mammalian localities and local faunas; pp. 529–547 in D. R. Prothero and W. A. Berggren (eds.), Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. Watson, W., and I. Plug. 1995. Oreotragus major Wells and Oreotragus oreotragus (Zimmermann) (Mammalia: Bovidae): Two species? Annals of the Transvaal Museum 36:183–191. Weithofer, K. A. 1888. Alcune osservaziioni sulla fauna delle ligniti di Casteani e di Montebamboli (Toscana). Bollettino del R. Comitato Geologico d’Italia 19:363–368. Wells, L. H. 1967. Antelopes in the Pleistocene of southern Africa; pp. 99–107 in W. W. Bishop and J. D. Clark (eds.), Background to Evolution in Africa. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Wells, L. H., and H. B. S. Cooke. 1956. Fossil Bovidae from the Limeworks Quarry, Makapansgat, Potgietersrus. Palaeontologia Africana 4:1–55. Whybrow, P. J., M. E. Collinson, R. Daams, A. W. Gentry, and H. A. McClure. 1982. Geology, fauna (Bovidae, Rodentia) and flora from the early Miocene of eastern Saudi Arabia. Tertiary Research 4:105–120. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed., 2 vols. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2,142 pp. Yalden, D. W. 1978. A revision of the dik-diks of the subgenus Madoqua (Madoqua). Monitore Zoologico Italiano Florence, NS (suppl.) 11, 10:245–264. Zeuner, F. E. 1963. A History of Domesticated Animals. Hutchinson, London, 560 pp.



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CHAP TER THIRT Y-NINE

Giraffoidea JOHN M. HARRIS, NIKOS SOLOUNIAS, AND DENIS GER A ADS

The extant giraffes are an iconic part of the African biota, their large size and elongate legs and neck providing an unmistakable silhouette against the African landscape. Their close relatives, the okapis, were among the latest of the large terrestrial mammals to be documented scientifically and are similarly iconic in terms of their rarity and cryptic nature. Giraffes are characterized by skin-covered ossicones attached to the frontals; only male okapis have ossicones, from which the skin may be worn off the distal portions in mature specimens. The nature of their relationship to each other and to the somewhat bewildering variety of African fossil pecorans is still a matter of debate. The origins of the Giraffoidea remain uncertain although Janis and Scott (1987) suggested they could have originated from the Gelocidae before the early Miocene. The Giraffoidea have been variously allied with the Bovoidea and/or Cervoidea, but Hernández Fernández and Vrba (2005) construe them as a sister group of a clade containing both the Bovidae and Cervidae and suggest they are conceivably most closely related to the antilocaprids.

Systematic Paleontology Superfamily GIRAFFOIDEA Gray, 1821 Figure 39.1 and Table 39.1 The giraffoids are ruminant artiodactyls with a bilobed lower canine (figure 39.1) but lacking first premolars. The stomach is four chambered in extant forms, but there is no gall bladder. Two families are recognized. The Climacoceratidae are known from the early and middle Miocene of eastern and southern Africa; early representatives of the Giraffidae first appear in the middle Miocene (table 39.1). Family CLIMACOCERATIDAE Hamilton, 1978 Climacoceratids differ from the Palaeomerycidae by their bilobed lower canines and by their loss of the upper canine and occipital median ossicones. They differ from the Giraffidae by the presence of branched appendages (ossicones with tines) on the frontal.

Genus CLIMACOCERAS MacInnes, 1936

Diagnosis Giraffoids possessing hypsodont teeth and large frontal ossicones with many tines. The premolar row is shortened and the lower molars lack a palaeomeryx fold. In the upper molars there is external fusion of the lingual and buccal lobes. Type Species Climacoceras africanus MacInnes, 1936. Other Recognized Species Climacoceras gentryi Hamilton, 1978. CLIMACOCERAS AFRICANUS MacInnes, 1936 Figure 39.2

Diagnosis Species of Climacoceras in which the thick, straight ossicones carry many short irregularly spaced tines (Hamilton, 1978). Holotype KB. A.A.1 relatively complete ossicone with tines broken off from Kiboko (now Maboko) Island, Kavirondo Gulf, Kenya; original conserved in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London. Remarks Climacoceras africanus is abundantly represented at Maboko Island, Kenya. Its ossicone has a central thick straight beam with tines irregularly distributed throughout the surface (figure 39.2). The distal part of the ossicone has a fork with two thicker tines. The dentition of Climacoceras is simple and resembles that of very primitive ruminants such as Propalaeoryx. KNM-WK 18272 from Kalodirr, Kenya, is also identified as C. africanus. CLIMACOCERAS GENTRYI Hamilton, 1978 Figures 39.3 and 39.4

Diagnosis Species of Climacoceras in which the ossicones have a slender curved beam bearing long tines (Hamilton 1978). Holotype KNM-FT 2946, left mandible (i3, c1, p2–m3) from the middle Miocene site of Fort Ternan, Kenya; conserved in the National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi (figure 39.3). Remarks The ossicones of Climacoceras gentryi have a slender curved beam (figure 39.4). At the base there is a long

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ta b l e 39 .1 Sites in Africa and the Middle East from which fossil giraffoids have been reported

algeria 1. Aïn Boucherit: Arambourg, 1979; late Pliocene 2. Aïn Hanech, near El Eulma, Constantine: Singer and Bone, 1960, Arambourg, 1979; early Pleistocene 3. Boulevard Bru, Mustapha Superieur, Algiers: Romer, 1928; late Pleistocene/Holocene 4. Bou Hanifia, Oran: Arambourg, 1959; late Miocene 5. Menacer (Marceau): Thomas and Petter, 1986; late Miocene 6. Oued Mya 1: Sudre & Hartenberger, 1992; late Miocene 7. Smendou, Constantine: Singer and Bone, 1960, Churcher, 1978; late Miocene to early Pleistocene 8. St Charles: Pomel 1892. Singer and Bone, 1960; late Pliocene 9. Tighenif (Ternifi ne): Arambourg, 1952, Geraads, 1981; mid-Pleistocene

chad 10. Koro-Toro: Coppens, 1960; Brunet et al., 1995; early Pleistocene 11. Kollé, Djourab: Brunet el al., 1998; early Pliocene 12. Kossom Bougoudi, Chad: Brunet and MPFT, 2000; early Pliocene 13. Toros-Menalla: Vignaud et al., 2002; Likius et al., 2007; late Miocene

djibouti 14. Anabo Koma: Geraads, 1985; early Pleistocene

egypt 15. Garet el Moluk Hill, Wadi Natrun: Stromer, 1907; early Pliocene 16. Wadi Moghara: Miller, 1999, Pickford et al., 2001; early Miocene

eritrea 17. Buia: Martinez-Navarro et al., 2004; early Pleistocene

ethiopia 18. Mehaietu Fm, Middle Awash: Kalb et al., 1982; Pliocene 19. Sagantole Fm: Kalb et al., 1982, Woldegabriel et al., 1994; Pliocene 20. As Duma, Gona: Semaw et al., 2005; early Pliocene 21. Adu-Asa Fm: Kalb et al., 1982; Mio-Pliocene 22. Asbole: Geraads et al., 2004; mid-Pleistocene 23. Bodo: Kalb et al., 1982; mid-Pleistocene 24. Bouri-Hata: de Heinzelin et al., 1999; late Pliocene 25. Bouri Daka: Asfaw et al., 2002; early Pleistocene 26. Chorora: Geraads et al., 2002; late Miocene 27. Dikika: Wynn et al., 2005; mid-Pliocene 28. Hadar Fm: Taieb et al., 1976; mid-Pliocene 29. Konso-Gardula: Suwa et al., 2003; early Pleistocene 30. Matabaeitu Formation, Middle Awash: Kalb et al., 1982; late Pliocene 31. Melka-Kunture: Geraads et al., 2004b; early Pleistocene 32. Omo, Shungura Fm: Arambourg, 1947; mid-Pliocene to early Pleistocene

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israel 35. Bethlehem: Bar-Yosef and Tchernov, 1972. 36. Ubeidiya: Haas, 1966, Bar-Yosef and Tchernov, 1972, Geraads, 1986b; early Pleistocene

kenya 37. Buluk: Leakey and Walker, 1985; early Miocene 38. Chepkesin: Aguirre and Leakey, 1974 39. Chiande Uyoma: Pickford, 1986; early Miocene 40. Fort Ternan: Hamilton, 1978; Churcher, 1970; mid-Miocene 41. Kagua: Kent, 1942b, Pickford, 1986; early Pleistocene 42. Kalodirr: Leakey and Leakey, 1986; early Miocene 43. Kanam, Homa Mountain: Pickford, 1986; early Pleistocene 44. Kanapoi: Harris et al., 2003; early Pliocene 45. Kanjera, Homa Mountain, Lake Victoria: Cooke, 1963; late Pliocene 46. Karungu: Pickford, 1986; early Miocene 47. Koobi Fora: Harris, 1976b; Harris, 1991; late Pliocene to early Pleistocene 48. Locherangan: Anyonge, 1991; early Miocene 49. Lothagam: Churcher, 1978, Harris, 2003; late Miocene 50. Lukeino: Pickford and Senut, 2001; late Miocene 51. Maboko: Thomas, 1984; MacInnes, 1936; Pickford, 1986; mid-Miocene 52. Majiwa: Andrews et al., 1981; early Miocene 53. Marsabit Road: Singer and Bone, 1960; late Pliocene 54. Mfwanganu: Pickford, 1986; early Miocene 55. Moruorot: Hamilton, 1978; Madden, 1972; early Miocene 56. Nachola Formation: Pickford et al., 1987; mid-Miocene 57. Nakali: Aguirre and Leakey, 1974; late Miocene 58. Ngorora: Hamilton, 1978, Bishop and Pickford, 1975 late Miocene 59. Nyakach Formation: Thomas, 1984 60. Olorgesaillie: Vaufrey, 1947; Cooke 1963; mid-Pleistocene 61. Ombo: Pickford, 1986; mid-Miocene 62. Rawe: Kent, 1942a; Leakey 1965, 1970; early Pleistocene 63. Rusinga: Whitworth, 1958; Hamilton, 1978; Pickford, 1986; early Miocene 64. Samburu Hills (Namurungule Formation): Nakaya et al., 1987; late Miocene 65. South Turkwell: Ward et al., 1999; late Pliocene 66. West Turkana: Harris et al., 1988; late Pliocene and early Pleistocene

libya 67. Gebel Zelten: Hamilton, 1973, 1978; early Miocene 68. Sahabi: Harris, 1982; late Miocene

malawi 69. Chiwondo Beds: Mawby, 1970; Schrenk et al., 1993; Bromage et al., 1995; late Pliocene

morocco 70. Ahl al Oughlam : Geraads, 1996; late Pliocene 71. Beni Mellal: Lavocat, 1961; Heintz, 1976; mid-Miocene 72. Lissasfa: Raynal et al., 1999; early Pliocene

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73. Mugharet el ‘Aliya, Cape Spartel, Tangier: Howe and Movius, 1947; late Pleistocene

namibia 74. Arrisdrift: Morales et al., 1999; Morales et al., 2003; basal middle Miocene 75. Elisabethfeld: Morales et al., 1999; early Miocene

niger 76. In Azaoua; Joleaud, 1936; Holocene

saudi arabia 77. Al Jadidah : Morales et al., 1987; mid-Miocene 78. Al-Sarrar: Thomas et al., 1985; mid-Miocene

south africa 79. Barkley West, Cape Province: Cooke, 1963; mid-Pleistocene 80. Bloembosch, Darling District, Cape Province: Cooke, 1955; mid-Pleistocene? 81. Cornelia, OFS: Singer & Bone 1960, Cooke, 1963; late Pleistocene 82. Elandsfontein, Cape Province: Hendey, 1968, 1969; early Pleistocene 83. Florisbad, OFS: Singer and Bone, 1960; Cooke, 1963; mid- to late Pleistocene 84. Kalkbank, near Pietersburg, Transvaal: Mason, Dart and Kitching, 1958; late Pleistocene 85. Langebaanweg: Harris, 1976; Hendey, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1981; early Pliocene 86. Makapansgat: Cooke, 1963; late Pliocene 87. Tierfontein, near Port Allen, Vet River, OFS: Cooke, 1974; mid-Pleistocene

90. Mkujuni Valley, Lake Manyara: Kent, 1942a 91. Manonga Valley: Gentry, 1997; late Pliocene 92. Mumba Hills: Cooke, 1963; late Pleistocene 93. Lake Natron: Geraads, 1987; early Pleistocene 94. Olduvai: Hopwood, 1934; Leakey, 1965; late Pliocene to early Pleistocene

tunisia 95. Aïn Brimba, near Chott el Djerid: Arambourg, 1979; Coppens, 1971; Pliocene 96. Bled Douarah, near Gafsa: Robinson and Black, 1974; mid to late Miocene 97. Djebel Krechem: Geraads, 1989; late Miocene 98. Djebel Sehib, south of Gafsa: Burrolet, 1956; late Miocene 99. Sud Tunisien, possibly near Djerid: Arambourg, 1948; Pleistocene 100. Douaria: Roman and Solignac, 1934, Churcher, 1978; late Miocene to early Pliocene 101. Garaet (Lake) Ichkeul, near Bizerté: Singer and Bone, 1960; Arambourg, 1979; Pliocene 102. Hamada Damous, near Grombalia: Coppens, 1971; Pliocene

uganda 103. Hohwa: Geraads, 1994; late Pliocene 104. Kaiso Fm: Cooke and Coryndon, 1970; late Pliocene 105. Napak: Bishop, 1962, 1967; early Miocene 106. Nkondo Fm: Geraads, 1994; early Pliocene 107. Oluka Fm: Geraads, 1994; late Miocene 108. Warwire Fm: Geraads, 1994; middle Pliocene

united arab emirates 109. Baynunah Fm, Abu Dhabi: Gentry, 1999; late Miocene

zaire sudan 88. Bahr el Ghazel, Sudan. Arambourg, 1960.

tanzania 89. Laetoli: Dietrich, 1942; Harris, 1983; mid-Pliocene

anteriorly directed tine, above which are shorter, anteriorly positioned tines. The main shaft curves to be anteriorly concave. The overall shape resembles the antler of the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). The C. gentryi mandible KNM-FT 2946 has a downturned angle, an unusual feature in ruminants but which is also shared by Prolibytherium. Hamilton (1978) records C. gentryi from both Fort Ternan near the Kavirondo Gulf and from the Kabarsero Beds of the Ngorora Formation in the Lake Baringo Basin. Pickford et al. (1987) also document this species from the Nachola Formation in the Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. Morales et al. (1999) interpreted Sperrgebietomeryx wardi Morales et al., 1999, Propalaeoryx austroafricanus Stromer, 1926, and P. nyanzae Whitworth, 1958 as climacoceratids that lacked frontal ossicones but had a palaeomeryx fold in the lower molars. However, as a bilobed canine has not yet been documented for any of these species, they do not qualify for inclusion in the Giraffoidea (see also Cote, this volume, chapter 37, regarding this taxon and the next).

110. Sinda Basin: Yasui et al., 1992; late Miocene? 111. Semliki Valley Russo Beds: Boaz, 1990; late Pliocene

zambia 112. Kabwe (Broken Hill): Cooke, 1963; late Pleistocene

Orangemeryx hendeyi from Arrisdrift is an early middle Miocene Namibian artiodactyl with cranial appendages that are short, slightly compressed, and conical in shape, have rounded tubercules at the base, and terminate distally in two or three points. Morales et al. (1999) interpreted O. hendeyi as a climacoceratid on the basis of its tined ossicones. The Arrisdrift sample of Orangemeryx includes about 50 incisiform teeth (Morales et al., 1999), but none of them is bilobed. Accordingly, until it can be demonstrated that O. hendeyi has bilobed canines, this species is excluded from the Giraffoidea. Thomas (1984) erected Nyanzameryx pickfordi on the basis of a partial cranium from Maboko and additional material from the Nyakach Formation of Kenya and attributed this species to the Giraffidae. The “ossicones” of Nyanzameryx are cylindrical like those of Climacoceras rather than conical like those of Orangemeryx, but, as in Orangemeryx and unlike in Climacoceras, the “ossicones” lack tines. Geraads (1986a) thought the lower dentition that Thomas attributed to N. pickfordi actually

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OM 2272; Giraffa camelopardalis mandibular symphysis showing bilobed lower canine. Scale = 5 cm.

FIGURE 39.1

belonged to Climacoceras and pointed out that there is no derived character that permits material currently assigned to Nyanzameryx to be included in the Giraffidae. McCrossin et al. (1998) suggested the cranium of N. pickfordi belonged to a bovid. Pickford et al. (2001) included Prolibytherium magnieri from Wadi Moghara and Gebel Zelten in the Climacoceratidae, but Prolibytherium lacks tined ossicones and the bilobed (or other) nature of its canine has yet to be determined (see also Cote, this volume, chapter 37). Family GIRAFFIDAE GRAY, 1821

Diagnosis Giraffoids in which the accessory lobe of the lower canine forms about one-third of the crown. Posterior region of the p4 separated from the central and anterior regions. Central lingual cuspid strongly developed on p4 and not usually joined to the central labial cuspid. Ossicones unbranched and attached to raised hollow bosses on the frontals (after Hamilton, 1978). Remarks Constituent members of the Family Giraffidae are united by their bilobed lower canines and by their unbranched and tineless ossicones. Here we treat them in terms of seven subfamilies: Canthumerycinae, Bohlininae, Okapiinae, Giraffokerycinae, Sivatheriinae, Palaeotraginae, and Giraffinae, following the recent revision of Solounias (2007). The ossicone bosses are less well developed in paleotragines and giraffokerycines. The ethmoidal fissure is reduced or closed in palaeotragines. The cervicals are short in okapiines, giraffokerycines, and sivatheres, moderately long in palaeotragines, and long in Giraffa and Bohlinia. Giraffids are for the most part larger than contemporaneous bovids. The deep thorax characteristic of extant giraffids is also documented (on the basis of the elongate scapula) in Honanotherium and Samotherium. Giraffid limbs are characteristically long but are proportionately shorter in the derived (and grazing) sivatheres and in the samothere-shansithere group of palaeotragines. They are also short in Okapia (Geraads, 1986a: figure 1; Solounias, 2007). 808


FIGURE 39.2 KNM-MB 36686; Climacoceras africanus right ossicone from Maboko Island, Kenya. Scale = 5 cm.

Subfamily CANTHUMERYCINAE Hamilton, 1978 This subfamily is represented by Canthumeryx sirtensis in the early Miocene of North and East Africa and by Georgiomeryx georgalasi (Paraskevaidis, 1940) in the middle Miocene of Greece. The ossicones take the form of small cones situated posterolaterally above the orbits. The occiput is narrow, suggesting a flexible neck. Lower p2 and p3 are shorter and more molariform than in the Climacoceratidae. The metapodials are of medium length; the posterior trough is moderately deep and extends down the proximal fourth of the shaft. Genus CANTHUMERYX Hamilton, 1973

Type and Only Species Canthumeryx sirtensis Hamilton, 1973.

Diagnosis Canthumerycid in which the skull has a wide roof with ossicones in the supreme supraorbital position (Hamilton, 1978). Holotype NHM M 26682, right mandibular fragment with d3, p2–4, m1–3 from Gebel Zelten, Libya; conserved in the Natural History Museum, London. Remarks The species is represented by cranial material from Gebel Zelten. Libya (Hamilton, 1973) and by dental and postcranial material from Moruorot and Rusinga Island in Kenya (Hamilton, 1978). The skull is flat and broad in dorsal view, and the ossicones are short, conical, and inserted at the supraorbital margin. The ossicones are directed strongly laterally. There is at least one lacrimal canal in the orbit and this is open. A possible second lacrimal canal could be a break on the orbital surface. This is in contrast to more advanced giraffids in which all lacrimal canals are closed. The median base

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B

A FIGURE 39.3 KNM-FT 2946; Climacoceras gentryi, holotype left mandible from Fort Ternan, Kenya: A) lateral and B) occlusal views. Scale = 5 cm.

of the occipital right above the foramen magnum is strongly developed and protrudes in lateral view. Canthumeryx sirtensis has been reported from Egypt (16), Kenya (37, 42, 48, 51, 55, 61, 63), Libya (67), Saudi Arabia (78), and Uganda (105) and at the generic level from additional sites in Kenya (39, 46, 54) Subfamily BOHLININAE Solounias, 2007 The subfamily includes Injanatherium species, “Palaeotragus” tungurensis, Bohlinia and Birgerbohlinia, none of which has yet been found in continental Africa although Injanatherium has been recovered from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. A giraffid from the late Miocene of Chad has been referred to Bohlinia (Likius et al., 2007), but its conical horns and long braincase are unlike this genus, and the identification is disputable. This subfamily is characterized by long slender metapodials with a deep posterior trough that extends for the proximal two-thirds of the diaphysis. In Birgerbohlinia, however, the metapodials are wide and lateral metacarpals II and V are well developed, and this genus could belong instead to the Sivatheriinae, as suggested by Crusafont (1952) and Montoya and Morales (1991). Genus INJANATHERIUM Heintz et al., 1981

Diagnosis Giraffoids of small to medium size with two pairs of ossicones that differ from those of most other giraffoids by their orientation. The conical posterior ossicones are inserted above the orbit in the postorbital region, are directed laterally, and diverge at an angle of between 150º and170°. The smaller anterior ossicones are triangular in transverse section, are inserted in front of the orbit and infraorbital canal level with M3, and diverge laterally and slightly upward. Type Species Injanatherium hazimi Heintz et al., 1981. Other Recognized Species Injanatherium arabicum Morales et al., 1987. INJANATHERIUM HAZIMI Heintz et al., 1981

Diagnosis A species of Injanatherium a little larger than I. arabicum. Posterior ossicones conical, laterally projecting, and terminal knob only faintly developed. Anterior ossicones not known. Holotype Calvaria with left ossicone from the late Miocene of Injana region, Gebel Hamrin, Iraq; conserved at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

KNM-FT 3365; Climacoceras gentryi, left ossicone from Fort Ternan, Kenya. Scale = 5 cm.

FIGURE 39.4

INJANATHERIUM ARABICUM Morales et al., 1987.

Diagnosis A species of Injanatherium a little smaller than I. hazimi and with two pairs of subhorizontal ossicones. Posterior ossicones smaller than in I. hazimi and terminate in distal knob. Nuchal surface narrower, more elevated, and less concave than in I. hazimi, and temporal and parietal lines less well marked. Posterior tuberosities of basioccipital weaker and anterior tuberosities scarcely visible. Holotype AJ 75, calvaria lacking left ossicone from the middle Miocene Hofuf Formation in Al Jadidah, Hasa Province, Saudi Arabia. Paratype AJ 617 frontal region of cranium with proximal anterior ossicone and right M3, from the middle Miocene Hofuf Formation in Al Jadidah, Hasa Province, Saudi Arabia. Remarks Although assigned to Injanatherium mainly on the basis of their ossicone orientation, it is possible that I. hazimi represents a species of Samotherium and that I. arabicum is close to Giraffokeryx. Subfamily OKAPIINAE Bohlin, 1926 This subfamily contains the extant okapi and a specimen formerly identified as Palaeotragus primaevus from Ngorora (Hamilton, 1978). These two species have large tympanic bullae, ossicones with internal canals or distal pits, medium length metapodials and a metacarpal with a moderately deep trough. Genus OKAPIA Lankester, 1901 Figure 39.5

Type and Only Species Okapia johnstoni (Sclater, 1901). Diagnosis In part after Bodner and Rabb (1992). Mediumsized extant giraffid; one pair of supraorbital frontal ossicones present only in male; ossicones positioned medially to the



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A

C

B

A

B

C

D

OM 2218; Okapia johnstoni skull: A) right lateral view; B) upper cheek teeth, occlusal view; and C) lower cheek teeth, occlusal view. Scale = 5 cm.

FIGURE 39.5

supraorbital margin; apices often bare of integument showing polished surfaces and with a constriction where the integument terminates. Apices often have pits and short canals, slightly smaller incisors and slightly larger permanent cheek teeth than in Palaeotragus; large palatine sinuses distinctive from other giraffids. Inferior margin of mandible uniformly convex. Cervical vertebrae not elongated (unlike in Giraffa) and five sacral vertebrae (vs. three or four in Giraffa). Naviculocuboid fused with cuneiform. Remarks The rarity of Okapia fossils is readily understandable given the ecological adaptations of the extant species. A small giraffine from Laetoli represented by upper and lower cheek teeth was diagnosed as an okapi with palaeotragine characteristics and named Okapia stillei by Dietrich (1942). Leakey (1965) recognized the same species from Olduvai, and a lower third premolar from Kaiso was assigned to Okapia cf. O. stillei by Cooke and Coryndon (1970) on the basis of its similarity to Okapia jacksoni (sic). Harris (1976a) pointed out that the lower premolars of giraffes were quite different morphologically from those of okapis and transferred Okapia stillei to Giraffa. A small triangular “horn core” from the Wayland Collection from Kaiso (BMNH M 12582) was identified as the left ossicone of an okapi by Cooke and Coryndon (1970). It was said to be flattened laterally with a deep concavity at its base and distinct sinuses below and lateral to the concavity. Genus AFRIKANOKERYX new genus Figures 39.6 and 39.7

Type and Only Species Afrikanokeryx leakeyi sp. nov. Diagnosis Ossicones flattened and oval in cross section with small bosses along the posterior margin, apex mediolaterally compressed and posterior margin sharper than anterior. Openings on the lateral and medial surface of the ossicone connect to the central canal. Auditory bullae large, auditory meatus long, retroarticular process of mandibular fossa is small, the mandibular fossa is convex, and the posterior basioccipital tuberosities are strongly developed. Mandibular symphysis very narrow and incisors tightly positioned. Lower fourth premolar with two buccolingually directed cuspids as in Okapia and Samotherium and with one central long lingual cuspid that is connected anteriorly; p4 cuspid crests thinner than those of Okapia. Curvature of the inferior jaw margin

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KNM-BN 1446; Africanokeryx leakeyi, holotype cranium from Ngorora, Kenya: A) anterior view, B) posterior view, C) left lateral view, and D) right lateral view. Scale = 5 cm.

FIGURE 39.6

B

A FIGURE 39.7 KNM-BN 950; Afrikanokeryx leakeyi paratype mandible from Ngorora, Kenya: A) left lateral view and B) occlusal view. Scale = 5 cm.

continues to the angle without a concave interruption as in Okapia. Holotype KNM-BN 1446 a brain case with two posterior ossicones from Ngorora, Baringo Basin, Kenya, conserved in the collections of the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi (figures 39.6A–39.6D). Paratype NMK-BN 950 left mandible (figures 39.7A, 39.7B). Etymology The species is named in honor of Louis Seymour Bassett Leakey (1903–1972). Remarks KNM-BN 1446 was referred to P. primaevus by Hamilton (1978: figures 38–40). The ossicones are unique. The left ossicone shows a clear contact with the cranium, but the right ossicone has been wrongly restored (glued backward so that the internal surface is external and vice versa). The left ossicone is flat in cross section and maintains such a shape all the way to the apex. The inner side is flatter than the outer. It also has small bosses (bumps) along its posterior margin. The edge of the posterior margin is sharper than the anterior. The edge of the anterior margin is straighter than the posterior. The anterior edge gently curves back, making an arc.

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Near the apex, a pronounced indentation occurs. The apex is a broad point. Surface grooving is present but not strongly developed. A canal runs through the middle of the ossicone that begins at a two-chambered supraorbital sinus and terminates a little higher than the middle of the ossicone’s length. There are openings on both the lateral and medial surface of the ossicone that connect to the central canal; a connection formed by a Y-shaped canal junction within the ossicone. There are no other ruminants with such a canal. The right ossicone is similar to the left except that most features described are reversed. The braincase is small and similar in size to that of the white-tailed deer. The bullae are large as in Okapia and the posterior basioccipital tuberosities are strongly developed. Other Giraffidae have small bullae. The mandibular fossa is convex, the retromandibular process is small, and the auditory meatus is long. Subfamily GIRAFFOKERYCINAE Solounias, 2007 Members of this subfamily are distinguished by crania with four ossicones, long metapodials, and a metacarpal with a moderately deep posterior trough that extends down the proximal two-thirds of the diaphysis. The subfamily is represented by Giraffokeryx punjabiensis in Asia, G. primaevus at Fort Ternan, and G. anatoliensis from Turkey. Genus GIRAFFOKERYX Pilgrim, 1910

Diagnosis After Colbert (1933, 1935). Medium-sized giraffid with two pairs of ossicones, one at the anterior extremities of the frontal bones in front of the orbits and the others on the frontoparietal region overhanging the temporal fossae. Teeth brachyodont with rugose enamel. Type Species Giraffokeryx punjabiensis Pilgrim, 1910. Other Recognized Species Giraffokeryx anatoliensis Geraads and Aslan, 2003; G. primaevus (Churcher, 1970). GIRAFFOKERYX PRIMAEVUS (Churcher, 1970) Figures 39.8 and 39.9

Diagnosis Medium-sized giraffid with four ossicones. The anterior pair is rounded in cross section, notably long and slender with fine surficial braided grooving ending in a rounded apex that is separated by two constrictions from the shaft below. The posterior pair is longer, more curved and

flatter at the base, and with a rounded apex. Their surface is covered with coarser surficial grooves and has two bosses (bumps) at the base. The location, either supraorbital or postorbital, of the posterior ossicone pair and their side is not certain. If the ossicone is a left, one boss is anterior and one medial. If the ossicone is a right, one boss is anterior and one posterior and in this manner the ossicone is more similar to Giraffokeryx punjabiensis. In either alternative, the posterior ossicones extend outward, curving either anteriorly or posteriorly. The choanae are situated posteriorly in relation to M3 and the orbit. The lower fourth premolar has a single separate central lingual cuspid—separate from the anterior transverse crests—the posterior cuspids are small and directed buccololingually. Upper second and third premolars are long. Holotype KNM-FT 3065 and 3066, mandible (left and right dentaries) from Fort Ternan, Kenya; conserved in the collections of the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi. Remarks The Fort Ternan species that Churcher (1970) assigned to Palaeotragus primaevus is closely allied to G. punjabiensis, but, pending detailed comparison, we prefer to keep them as distinct because of the few differences mentioned below. Gentry (1994) suggested that the two giraffids that Churcher described from Fort Ternan, P. primaevus and Samotherium africanus, may be conspecific and later (Gentry 1999) referred to the Fort Ternan species as Giraffokeryx primaevus. Giraffokeryx primaevus has very long anterior ossicones; those of G. punjabiensis are shorter and those of G. anatoliensis are shorter still. G. primaevus differs from Palaeotragus rouenii in shape and position of the four ossicones, posteriorly positioned choanae in relation to the third molar, a lower fourth premolar with a small posterior region, and elongate upper second and third premolars. The neck is short in Giraffokeryx punjabiensis but may be longer in the Fort Ternan G. primaevus. All known Giraffokeryx cervicals, however, are slightly longer than those of Okapia and the sivatheres. The metapodials resemble those of gazelline bovids. The anterior ossicones protrude laterally; the posterior pair lies behind the orbit, and each has a flange-like mass at its base. The surface of the ossicones is ornamented with irregular thick longitudinal ridges of secondary bone growth that are less prominent in G. primaevus. The ossicones

A A

B B

FIGURE 39.8 KNM-FT 3065; Giraffokeryx primaevus holotype left mandible from Fort Ternan, Kenya: A) left lateral view and B) occlusal view. Scale = 5 cm.

KNM-FT 3118; Giraffokeryx primaevus posterior ossicone from Fort Ternan, Kenya: A) anterior view and B) posterior view. Scale = 5 cm.

FIGURE 39.9



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terminate in small knobs that differ from the characteristically enlarged knobs of Giraffa and from the pointed apices of Palaeotragus species. Aguirre and Leakey (1974) recorded Giraffokeryx sp. nov. from the late Miocene Karbarsero Beds of Chepkesin, Kenya, based on three upper premolars, an upper molar, a mandible fragment with p3–4, and a poorly preserved metatarsal. However, Gentry (1997) reported the upper molar to be closer to Giraffa than to palaeotragines. Palaeotragus primaevus has been reported from Moruorot (Hamilton, 1978) and Ngeringerowa (Benefit and Pickford, 1986), but further examination is needed to establish if these specimens properly belong to Giraffokeryx primaevus, Afrikanokeryx leakeyi, or some other species.

Holotype Left mandible with p3–m3 from the “Upper Villafranchian” of Aïn Hanech, Algeria; specimen housed in the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. SIVATHERIUM HENDEYI Harris, 1976

This subfamily comprises the large short-necked giraffids with medium and short metapodials and a metacarpal with posterior trough of medium depth. The posterior pair of the two pairs of ossicones is compressed in transverse section. The subfamily includes Sivatherium, Bramatherium, and Helladotherium. Sivatherium and Bramatherium occur in the Siwaliks of Pakistan and India. Only Sivatherium has been recovered from continental Africa, although Gentry (1999) reported ossicone and molar fragments from Abu Dhabi that he assigned to ?Bramatherium; otherwise, the closest record of Bramatherium is from Turkey (Geraads and Güleç, 1999) if Bramatherium does not also include Helladotherium and Decennatherium—a possibility proposed by Gentry (2003). The type of Helladotherium is from Pikermi in Greece, and this genus was reported from a number of late Miocene sites in the eastern Mediterranean and Iran. Reports of cf. Helladotherium duvernoyi Gaudry, 1860 from North Africa (Joleaud, 1937; Roman and Solignac, 1934) and Iran (Bosscha Erdbrink, 1977) probably constitute misidentified Sivatherium remains.

Diagnosis A species of Sivatherium of similar size and dental morphology to the Asian S. giganteum Falconer and Cautley, 1836, or the later African species S. maurusium (Pomel, 1892), but the posterior ossicones are short, extending laterally and backward from the cranium, and are unornamented by knobs, flanges, or palmate digitations. The metacarpals are longer than those of S. giganteum or Pleistocene specimens of S. maurusium. Holotype SAM-PQ-L12730, left posterior ossicone from the Quartzose Sand Member of the Varswater Formation in “E” Quarry, Langebaanweg; conserved in the collections of the South African Museum, Cape Town. Remarks Sivatheres were widespread in Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, though only in Langebaanweg were they abundant elements of the local assemblages. Most can be attributed to the single species Sivatherium maurusium (Pomel, 1892). Although the posterior ossicones of S. maurusium vary greatly in shape (Harris, 1974), they differ fundamentally in their shape and orientation from those of S. giganteum. Earlier African forms with simple ossicones and long metapodials have been referred to S. hendeyi ( Harris, 1976b; Harris et al., 2003; Geraads, 1996; Vignaud et al., 2002), but Churcher (1978) thought this was just a variant of S. maurusium. Sivatheres have been reported from Algeria (1, 2, 3, 6, 8), Chad (10–13), Djibouti (14), Ethiopia (19–21, 24, 26, 28-30, 32), Kenya (41, 47, 49, 53, 60, 62, 66), Malawi (69), Morocco (70, 72), South Africa (79, 81–83, 85–87), Sudan (88), Tanzania (89, 91, 93, 94), Tunisia (96, 98–102), Uganda (106–108), the United Arab Emirates (109), Zaire (110), and Zambia (112).

Genus SIVATHERIUM Falconer and Cautley, 1836

Subfamily PALAEOTRAGINAE Pilgrim, 1911

Subfamily SIVATHERIINAE Bonaparte, 1850

Type Species Sivatherium giganteum Falconer and Cautley, 1836.

Diagnosis Gigantic giraffid; skull brachycephalic, face short, nasals retracted. Ossicones in two pairs in males, absent in females; anterior pair conical and arising from the frontals above the orbits. The larger posterior pair is compressed and appears to be arising from the posterior part of the frontals near the parietals. In males the frontals are broad, flat, or slightly dished; nasals short, convex; sinuses in base of ossicones. The skull of females is longer and lower, not markedly broadened, frontals convex. Deep muscular pits in temporal and supraoccipital areas, Facial region relatively short, anterior margin of orbit above M2. Cranial region deeper than facial, especially in males; basicranial and palatal planes not parallel. Teeth large, enamel coarsely rugose; lower premolars molariform. Body, neck and limbs heavy, neck and limbs not elongated (in part after Churcher, 1978). SIVATHERIUM MAURUSIUM (Pomel, 1892)

Diagnosis A species of Sivatherium with a shallower and narrower cranial region and a longer facial region than S. giganteum. Posterior ossicones less compressed and less palmate than those of S. giganteum and orientated in various directions. Anterior ossicone reduced to narrow flanges above and behind the orbits. 812


In palaeotragines, the ossicones are located medial to the orbital rim. The metapodials are long and the metacarpal has a shallow to moderately deep posterior trough that extends for the proximal two-thirds of the diaphysis. The subfamily includes Palaeotragus, Samotherium, and Mitilanotherium Samson and Radulesco, 1966 (⫽ Macedonitherium Sickenberg, 1967 and Sogdianotherium Sharapov, 1974 [after Kostopoulos and Athanassiou, 2005]). Genus PALAEOTRAGUS Gaudry, 1861

Type Species Palaeotragus rouenii Gaudry, 1861. PALAEOTRAGUS GERMAINI Arambourg, 1959

Diagnosis Large giraffid with long neck and elongate legs of which the anterior are the longer. Cranium with long and pitted supraorbital ossicone that is triangular in transverse section. Dentition primitive, very brachyodont, with compressed upper milk teeth that are elongate and primitive like those of Protragulidae. Molars and premolars sloping strongly on their labial surface and with strong internal cingula. Metacone separated from the paracone. Lower milk teeth primitive on the basis of the wide separation of paraconid and metaconid. Radius longer than tibia; femur short;

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metacarpals and metatarsals subequal, long, compressed laterally and subrectangular in transverse section. Tarsus with free ectocuneiform 1; cuneiforms II and III not fused with naviculocuboid. Naviculocuboid with lateral groove for the long peroneal tendon. Holotype No. 282, adult palate from Ouad el Hammam, Algeria. Paratypes No. 176, front leg (radius, carpals and metacarpal); no. 285 hind leg (tibia, tarsus and metatarsal). Remarks Palaeotragus germaini has been reported from Algeria (4, 5, 7; and Palaeotragus cf. P. germaini from Algeria (6), Morocco (70), South Africa (85), and Tunisia (95, 98). The primitive teeth and large size of this species make it quite distinct from other late Miocene Palaeotragus, most of which are later in age; its metapodials are almost as elongated as those of Bohlinia and Giraffa, but too little is known of its cranial anatomy to demonstrate a close relationship with either of them. Churcher (1979) and Harris (2003) identified teeth from Lothagam in Kenya as Palaeotragus germaini, but Geraads (1986a) thought Churcher’s tooth was closer to Giraffa. PALAEOTRAGUS LAVOCATI Heintz, 1976

Diagnosis Small Palaeotragus about the size of a red deer (Cervus elephas). Closer to Palaeotragus tungurensis than other species attributed to this genus. Distinguished from P. tungurensis by slightly smaller molars and slightly larger premolars, by the lesser development of anterior and posterior styles on the external face of the upper premolars, by the pinching of the lingual face of the protocone of M1, and by the less typically giraffoid form of the p4. Holotype BML 128, incomplete right mandible (p4–m3) from middle Miocene lacustrine limestone at Beni Mellal, Morocco. Remarks Heintz (1976) identified two giraffids from the middle Miocene locality of Beni Mellal; the larger he assigned to Palaeotragus lavocati, the smaller (and perhaps more primitive in terms of the external faces of its upper premolars) he identified only as Palaeotragus sp. PALAEOTRAGUS ROBINSONI Crusafont-Pairo, 1979

Diagnosis Small Palaeotragus species with very small ossicones; relatively short diastema, p4 very molarized; very aligned lower teeth; P3–P4 very wide, upper molars aligned but with very marked styles and very sinuous external walls; limbs dolichopodous. Holotype T. 3371, left mandible (p2–m3) from section 17 of the late Miocene Beglia Formation, Bled Douarah, Tunisia. Remarks Crusafont-Pairo (1979) described a small palaeotragine from Tunisia that he thought had affinities with Giraffokeryx primaevus, Palaeotragus rouenii Gaudry, 1861, and P. microdon Koken, 1885 but differed sufficiently to warrant a separate species. PALAEOTRAGUS sp. Haile Selassie (2001) illustrated a few teeth that he referred to Palaeotragus sp. from three Middle Awash sites at the MioPliocene boundary, but in the absence of an associated set of teeth, they could perhaps be better assigned to Giraffidae indet. cf. Giraffa sp. Robinson and Black (1974) recorded

?Palaeotragus sp. from the Beglia Formation at Bled Dourah in Tunisia, as did Andrews et al. (1981) from Majiwa Bluff, Bishop and Pickford (1975) from Ngorora, Nakaya et al. (1987) from the Namurungule Formation, and Gentry (1999) from Abu Dhabi. Bosscha Erdbrink (1977) and Campbell et al. (1980) recorded Palaeotragus coelophrys from Iran. Genus SAMOTHERIUM Forsyth Major, 1888

Diagnosis Medium-sized giraffids with long facial region, especially between P2 and orbit. Ossicones paired, simple, pointed, and widely separated; borne on frontals above supraorbital bar; directed laterally, dorsally, or posterodorsally; ossicones sexually dimorphic, better developed in males and poorly developed or absent in females. Rudimentary or small paired ossicones may lie anterior to the main ossicones. Forehead dished, nasals straight, orbit with superior margin at or above nasal-frontal plane and with anterior margin above or posterior to M3. Cheek teeth moderately hypsodont, with moderately rugose enamel. Neck and limbs elongate, metapodials usually broader than deep in middle. Type Species Samotherium boissieri Forsyth Major, 1888. Remarks Churcher (1970) defined Samotherium africanum on the basis of two isolated, tapered, recurved ossicones from Fort Ternan, but it is now clear that he misidentified ossicones of Giraffokeryx primaevus—the common giraffid from that locality. Large teeth and/or postcranial material attributed to Samotherium have been reported from Egypt (15), Kenya (42, 56, 58), Libya (68), and Tunisia (95), but these identifications need reevaluation. Bosscha Erdbrink (1977) reported S. boissieri from Iran. “?GIRAFFA” POMELI Arambourg, 1979

Diagnosis After Arambourg (1979). Giraffine characterized by its strongly brachyodont dentition, appearing to represent a species that is larger and had distinctly more robust limbs than the extant species. Holotype 1938-10:36, left m2 from Aïn Hanech. Syntypes 1938-10:33, left m3, and 1938-10:37; also from Aïn Hanech. Remarks This very poorly known species was recorded from Aïn Hanech (1.2–.4 Ma.) by Arambourg (1979). He only described three lower teeth and a phalanx, but there are also two tarsal bones. The teeth are slightly less brachyodont than those of Giraffa (contra Arambourg, although there is some variation in the modern form), and the lingual lobes have weaker pillars, but they are similar to those of Giraffa. However, an upper molar from the early/middle Pleistocene of Tighenif (⫽ Ternifine; Geraads, 1981) has flatter labial walls, while a metatarsal is slender but significantly shorter than that of G. gracilis. Two incomplete scapulae from Aïn Boucherit (1.8–2 Ma.), described by Arambourg (1979) as Libytherium, are probably too long and narrow for that genus and could also belong to “G.” pomeli (but the basioccipital illustrated under the same name is of a rhino). “Giraffa” pomeli is probably not a giraffine and could be a survivor of the Palaeotraginae, perhaps related to Mitilanotherium Samson and Radulesco, 1966, from the Plio-Pleistocene of the northern Mediterranean region. “Giraffa” pomeli has also been recorded from Aïn Brimba in Tunisia, and Giraffa cf. G. pomeli from Tighenif in Algeria (Geraads, 2002). THIRT Y-NINE: GIR AFFOIDEA


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Subfamily GIRAFFINAE Gray, 1821 Members of this subfamily are characterized by paired lateral ossicones with blunt posterior keels and one or more median unpaired ossicones. The ossicones are more robust in males. The cervical vertebrae are elongated. The limbs are long, and the astragalus is squared. The metapodials are long and slender metapodials and the metacarpal has a very shallow posterior trough. The extant genus Giraffa first appears in Africa at the beginning of the Pliocene. It could have been derived from Bohlinia or Palaeotragus rouenii. Genus GIRAFFA Brisson, 1756

Diagnosis Ossicones paired, short, on frontoparietal suture, sometimes with single frontal ossicone between or just behind level of orbits; all ossicones variable in form but usually straight and bluntly ended if paired and rounded or tumescent if single. Exostotic occipital “horns” may be developed from nuchal crest and azygous “horns” from the orbital boss. Lower canines and incisors robust, buccal enamel rugose; lower canine occasionally trifid. Cheek teeth variable in size and moderately brachyodont; premolars molariform and complex. Basicranial and basipalatal planes not parallel. Remarks In Africa, representatives of this genus first appear in the early Pliocene. Thereafter they are persistent but uncommon elements of the local assemblages in which the giraffine teeth often fall into two or more discrete size groups. Extant giraffes are sexually dimorphic, males are larger with more robust limbs and have stouter ossicones with more secondary bone apposition in mature specimens, but the cheek teeth of males and females do not differ significantly in size. Several fossil Giraffa species have been proposed on the basis of tooth size and of the shape and orientation of ossicones. This may be taxonomically convenient, particularly as even moderately complete skeletons are rare, but the validity of the different species is difficult to assess.

GIRAFFA CAMELOPARDALIS (Linnaeus, 1758) Figure 39.10

Diagnosis After Dagg (1971). Height of single extant species up to 6 m, females smaller than males; legs and neck each exceed 1.5 m; both sexes have two unbranched ossicones fused to the skull above the frontoparietal suture, an anterior median ossicone better developed in males than females; facial region covered with other bony growths in males. Skull up to 73 cm long; molars brachyodont; upper molars lack inner accessory columns; canine teeth bilobed or trilobed. Remarks Up to nine extant subspecies are recognized (Lydekker, 1904; Ansell, 1968; Dagg and Foster, 1981; Kingdon, 1997) and are separated on the basis of their coat pattern, ossicone morphology and geographic distribution:

. G. c. camelopardalis (Linnaeus, 1758), nubian giraffe; eastern Sudan, northeastern Congo

. G. c. antiquorum (Jardine, 1835), Kordofan giraffe; western and southwestern Sudan

. G. c. peralta Thomas, 1898, west African or Nigerian giraffe; Chad

. G. c. reticulata de Winton, 1899, reticulated or Somali giraffe; northeast Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia

. G. c. rothschildi Lydekker, 1903, Rothschild’s or Baringo or Ugandan giraffe; Uganda and north-central Kenya

. G. c. tippelskirchi Matschie, 1898, Masai or Kilimanjaro giraffe; central and southern Kenya, Tanzania

. G. c. thornicrofti Lydekker, 1911, Thorneycroft or Rhodesian giraffe; eastern Zambia

. G. c. angolensis Lydekker, 1903, Angolan giraffe; Angola, Zambia

. G. c. giraffa Schreber, 1784, southern giraffe; South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique Brown et al. (2007) analyzed mitochondrial DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellite loci and found at least six genealogically distinct giraffe lineages in Africa with little evidence of interbreeding. They postulated a mid to late Pleistocene radiation of extant giraffes and argued that the Angolan, West African, Rothschild’s, reticulated, Masai, and South African giraffes should be recognized as separate species. Specimens that are indistinguishable from equivalent parts of the extant species appear toward the end of the early Pleistocene, but the origin of the extant species is far from clear. Records of Giraffa camelopardalis older than Pleistocene are probably not valid. This species has been recorded from Algeria (2, 3, 9), Chad (12), Ethiopia (25), Israel (35, 36), Kenya (60), Malawi (69), Morocco (73), Niger (75), South Africa (79, 80, 82, 83), Tanzania (90, 92), and Zambia (112).

A

GIRAFFA JUMAE Leakey, 1965

B C

FIGURE 39.10 Giraffa camelopardalis skull: A) right lateral view; B) upper cheek teeth, occlusal view; and C) lower cheek teeth, occlusal view. Scale = 5 cm.

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Diagnosis A species of giraffe of similar size to the extant G. camelopardalis. The surface of the frontal bone between the external rims of the orbits is nearly flat. The width of the skull roof between the orbits is greater than in G. camelopardalis. The longitudinal median section from the posterior edge of the nasals to the lateral ossicone is flat or slightly concave. The lateral ossicones originate immediately above the orbit and project more posteriorly than in G. camelopardalis.

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A

B

KNM-ER 778; Giraffa pygmaea holotype right mandible: A) occlusal view and B) lateral view. Scale = 5 cm.

FIGURE 39.11

No secondary bone apposition is known to occur on the lateral ossicones. The median ossicone is poorly developed. The basilar process of the occipital is longer than the external width of the palatal area at M2. The ascending ramus of the mandible is wide and stout. The corpus is deep and long, the anterior portion of the corpus being inclined upward from the premolars to the symphysis and then downward in the incisive region (after Leakey, 1970). Holotype M. 14597, skull and partial skeleton from the middle Pleistocene of Rawi, Kenya; housed in the British Museum (Natural History). Remarks Giraffa jumae has been recorded from Ethiopia (27–29, 32), Kenya (41, 43, 45, 47, 62, 66), South Africa (85, 86), Tanzania (89, 94) and with less certainty from Chad (11), Eritrea (17), Ethiopia (18, 19, 31), Kenya (50), Tanzania (91, 93), and Turkey (Geraads, 1998). GIRAFFA PYGMAEA Harris, 1976 Figure 39.11

Emended Diagnosis A small species of Giraffa with teeth of similar morphology to those of G. camelopardalis but smaller than those of G. stillei. The lateral ossicones are similarly orientated to, but smaller than, those of the extant species and exhibit secondary bone apposition in male specimens (after Harris 1976a). Holotype KNM-ER 778, left mandible fragment (p4–m3) from the KBS Member of Area 8A at Koobi Fora (figure 39.11). Paratypes KNM-ER 656, frontlet with lateral ossicones from the Okote Member of Area 1 at Koobi Fora. Old 1960 F200, right mandible fragment (dp2–4, m1–2) from Bed I at site FLK in Olduvai Gorge, presently housed with the collections of the National Museums of Kenya. Remarks Giraffa pygmaea has been documented from Ethiopia (28, 30, 32), Kenya (47), Malawi (69), and Tanzania (94), and something close to G. pygmaea is known from Asbole in Ethiopia (Geraads et al. 2004) and west of Lake Natron in Tanzania (Geraads 1987). GIRAFFA STILLEI (Dietrich, 1942)

Emended Diagnosis A species of Giraffa with teeth that are often smaller than those of G. camelopardalis and G. jumae but always larger than those of G. pygmaea. The ossicones are uprightly inserted like those of G. camelopardalis but appreciably smaller than male specimens of the extant species and

often lack well developed terminal knobs; they are larger than specimens assigned to G. pygmaea but are not backwardly raked like those of G. jumae. Holotype Unfortunately, Dietrich (1942) omitted to select a holotype when naming “Okapia” stillei. Harris (1987) suggested using the upper and lower tooth rows illustrated in Dietrich’s description (Dietrich 1942:170, plate 21) as lectotypes without knowing that these were assembled from isolated teeth (D.G., pers. obs.). Perhaps it would be helpful to use Arambourg’s (1947) holotype of G. gracilis for this purpose as G. stillei and G. gracilis are evidently conspecific. Remarks Giraffa stillei is the senior synonym for Giraffa gracilis Arambourg, 1947, and is the most common of the three recognized African fossil species. It is known from Ethiopia (28, 32), Kenya (39, 47, 65, 66), Malawi (69), South Africa (82, 86), Tanzania (89, 94), and Uganda (103). Something close to G. stillei is known from Aramis in Ethiopia, and Giraffa cf. G. gracilis was reported by Boaz (1990) from the Pliocene Lusso Beds of Zaire.

Giraffoid Dietary Adaptations Extant giraffes and okapis are browsers, and their long limbs and necks enable them to exploit taller vegetation than most other African ruminants. Although some had similarly elongate limbs and necks, the extinct giraffoids exploited a wider range of feeding adaptations. Dietary adaptations of fossil herbivores can be inferred from several different features that characterize their extant representatives. The siliceous phytoliths found in the cell walls of grasses are very abrasive, and consequently the crowns of grazing mammal teeth are usually taller than those of browsers. This also has an impact on the wear shape of the tooth cusps (mesowear), those of browsers being taller and more pointed whereas those of grazers quickly wear flat. The okapi is a characteristic browser in this respect but cusps on extant giraffe teeth show more abrasion than might be expected from their reported diet (Fortelius and Solounias, 2000). The premaxillae of browsing mammals tend to be narrow and pointed for leaf selection, those of grazing mammals are square for grass feeding, and those of mixed feeders are intermediate in shape. Solounias et al. (1988) interpreted the broad premaxilla of Samotherium boissieri to indicate that this species may have been an intermediate feeder or a grazer, an interpretation that was supported by microwear analysis. A later study by Solounias and Moelleken (1993), also involving the dental arcade, determined that Honanotherium, Bramatherium megacephalum, Sivatherium giganteum, and Samotherium species were grazers, Palaeotragus rouenii was a mixed feeder, and Palaeotragus coelophrys, Giraffokeryx primaevus and Afrikanomeryx leakeyi were browsers. The tooth enamel of herbivorous mammals becomes scored from abrasion by phytoliths and pitted by contact with hard seeds. Examination of tooth wear scars under the scanning electron microscope documents a variety of abrasion features in extant mammals that can be used to distinguish browsers, grazers, mixed feeders and frugivores. Solounias et al. (1988) compared microwear on teeth of Samotherium boissieri with that of a range of different bovids and concluded that S. boissieri was a grazer. A later detailed study (Solounias et al., 2000) indicated that in the late Turolian assemblages from Samos, Samotherium species changed from mixed feeding at 8.5 MA (S. boissieri) to grazing at 7.2 MA (S. major). Based on tooth microwear, Solounias et al. (2000) postulated that Giraffokeryx primaevus and Helladotherium were browsers; Samotherium neumayri was a mixed feeder; Giraffokeryx punjabiensis, Paleotragus rouenii, and Samotherium boisserii



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were seasonal mixed feeders; and Samotherium major, Bramatherium, and Sivatherium were grazers. Franz-Odendaal and Solounias (2004) subsequently established that Sivatherium hendeyi from Langebaanweg was a mixed feeder. Additional information on giraffoid diets is provided by stable isotope analysis. Plants invoke two main methods of photosynthesis, and C3 plants have a different chemical composition from C4 plants. In Africa, C4 plants have been present in the form of grasses since the late Miocene, whereas most trees, shrubs, and forbs are C3 plants. Accordingly, it is possible to identify whether extant and Neogene African herbivores were grazers or browsers from the stable isotope geochemistry of their tooth enamel. Whereas the proportion of ␦13C indicates whether the diet was of C3, C4, or mixed vegetation, the proportion of ␦18O can be used to indicate if the animal was obtaining its water from a river or spring, or from a lake, or mostly from the vegetation that it ate (Cerling et al., 2005). As documented by Cerling et al. (2005), the middle Miocene African giraffoids Climacoceras africanus and Giraffokeryx primaevus both seem to have had a pure or nearly pure C3 diet. However, the ␦18O value for Giraffokeryx teeth indicated a more evaporated water source suggesting that, like extant giraffes, G. primaevus may have obtained much of the water it required from its food. Later specimens of Paleotragus from the Samburu Hills are slightly more positive than G. primaevus from Fort Ternan, although specimens from both localities plot as browsers. The difference may reflect a slight increase in the C4 dietary component but could also suggest that the later and more northerly locality was drier and more water stressed. Several species of Giraffa have been recognized in the East African Plio-Pleistocene. All plot out isotopically as dedicated browsers that obtain much of the water they need from their food. Although the samples are small, specimens of Giraffa jumae and G. stillei from Laetoli appear to be less negative in ␦13C and less positive in ␦18O than specimens from the Lake Turkana Basin; this may suggest that the Serengeti specimens drank more water and ate more grass but could also indicate that browse vegetation in the Laetoli region was stressed from lack of water at the time the giraffes were feeding on it. The consistency of their diets makes Giraffa species particularly valuable as evaporation-sensitive indicators when establishing stable isotope aridity indices for terrestrial environments (Levin et al., 2006). Two species of Sivatherium have been recognized from subSaharan Africa—Sivatherium hendeyi from early Pliocene and the later, more widely distributed Sivatherium maurusium. Isotopically, Sivatherium hendeyi plots out as a browser, as do the samples of Sivatherium from Kanapoi and from the lower portions of the Koobi Fora Formation. However, a change in diet is indicated by specimens from the Upper Burgi Member, one of which plots as a browser but another plots as a mixed feeder. Specimens from higher in the Koobi Fora Formation plot as grazers. Corroboration of the dietary change is seen in the lengths of the sivathere metatarsals—those of browsing individuals from the early Pliocene being substantially longer than those from grazing individuals in the late Pliocene/ early Pleistocene (Harris, 1976b; Geraads, 1996; Cerling et al., 2005). It is intriguing that African sivatheres adopted a grazing diet several millions of years after African proboscideans, perissodactyls, suids and bovids changed diets to exploit C4 grasses in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also interesting that the Siwalik sivatheres became grazers somewhat earlier than their African relatives (Cerling at al., 1997).

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CHAP TER FORT Y

Cervidae AL AN W. GENTRY

Cervidae are pecoran ruminants in which most species have branched deciduous antlers inserted on the frontals. They are usually found in mesic and/or somewhat wooded habitats, and their teeth tend to be lower crowned than those of bovids. They evolved in Eurasia and are known from the early Miocene onward (but not from the Indian subcontinent until soon after 3.0 Ma; Barry, 1995). They entered North America at the start of the Pliocene and spread into South America around the start of the Pleistocene. They are known back to the beginning of the late Pleistocene in North Africa (Geraads, 1982). Two or possibly three species are represented in the African cohort of this group. Genus MEGALOCEROS Brookes, 1828

Synonymy Megaceros Owen, 1844: 237; Megaceroides Joleaud, 1914:738.

Type Species Megaloceros giganteus, Blumenbach, 1799. ICZN Opinion 1566 (Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 46:219–220, 1989) validates the spelling of the generic name as given here and not as Megalocerus. Remarks This genus contains large Pleistocene deer with large and often palmated antlers. The best known species is the “giant” deer or so-called Irish elk, Megaloceros giganteus, with an antler span of up to 3.5 m. It survived until about 8,000 years ago (Stuart et al., 2004). MEGALOCEROS ALGERICUS Lydekker, 1890

Synonymy Cervus algericus, Lydekker, 1890:603, figured. Hammam Meskoutin (Joleaud, 1914a), near Guelma, Algeria. Late Pleistocene; Cervus pachygenys Pomel, 1892:213. Remarks This species was founded on a left maxilla, BMNH M10647, with P4–M3 in early middle wear. Pomel (1892, 1893) added more material from other late Pleistocene North African sites and noted that some partial mandibles had thickened horizontal ramuses, a character of Megaloceros species. Other finds in Algeria and Morocco came to light in later years, including antler remains and a cranium (Arambourg, 1939: plate 2, figures 2, 2a; Hadjouis, 1990). Abbazzi (2004) judged that the totality of the material revealed a rather small megalocerine deer showing a degree of endemism in its northwestern African range. Its characters include a strongly

ossified skull, flattened and widely divergent antler beams without proximal tines, a short muzzle, well-marked cingula on molar teeth, and the strongly pachyostotic mandibles. This might have been the end of the story, except that Joleaud (1914b and several later papers) had noted the megalocerine affinities of the fossils and placed algericus in a new subgenus Megaceroides. Ambrosetti (1967) then chose Megaceroides as a generic-level name for early–middle Pleistocene Eurasian species of megalocerine deer grouped around Megaloceros verticornis. Some subsequent authors, while agreeing with a generic-level separation from the predominantly late Pleistocene Megaloceros, preferred the name Praemegaceros Portis, 1920 in place of Megaceroides. The ensuing debate has expanded to include the number of lineages of megalocerine deer, whether any or all of them are related to the living fallow deer Dama, and whether their ancestry lies within or close to the Plio-Pleistocene Eucladoceros (Azzaroli and Mazza, 1993; Pfeiffer, 1999, 2002; Abbazzi, 2004; Lister et al., 2005). Some of the apomorphies of late Megaloceros are more upright pedicels in side view (their anterior edges descend more sharply to a more postorbital position), pedicels slightly closer together, a more localized transverse ridge between the two pedicels, and a more concave or scooped-out appearance of the frontals immediately anterior to the antler bases. Such characters must be functionally related to the mechanical support of the huge antlers. They are absent or less apparent in M. algericus. This situation could have arisen if this species were a late-surviving Megaceroides/Praemegaceros or secondarily if it were a Megaloceros of reduced size facing hard living conditions on the edge of its range. The first alternative would be strengthened if M. algericus were to be found in the earlier Pleistocene of North Africa. Hadjouis (1990) and Abbazzi (2004) discussed M. algericus in more detail and Hadjouis (1990) favored an East Asian origin for it. Genus CERVUS Linnaeus, 1758

Type Species Cervus elaphus Linnaeus 1758. CERVUS ELAPHUS Linnaeus, 1758

Remarks The red deer, Cervus elaphus, has survived into historical times in Algeria and Tunisia (Joleaud 1935: figure

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36) and until the present day in part of the border region between those two states. It is rather a small form, C. elaphus barbarus Bennett, 1833 (or 1837 or 1848; see Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1966), in which the bez tine (second one above the burr) is missing. Cervus elaphus and unidentified Cervus species are known from archaeological localities in Algeria and Tunisia back into the late Pleistocene. Laquay (1986) published a Moroccan record, but the illustrated teeth hint at belonging to Megaloceros instead—for example, in the relatively large p2 with well-formed transverse crests and in the basal pillars on the lower molars, said to be well marked.

Other Cervid Records and Claims in Africa Roman (1931: plate 4, figure 5) illustrated a tooth and astragalus from the late Miocene of Djérid, Tunisia, as belonging to a contemporaneous European cervid Pliocervus matheroni (a species still placed in Capreolus in Roman’s day). It is very likely that the tooth is a bovid dP4 (Dietrich, 1950:52, fn. 8) and perhaps conspecific with other bovid teeth at the locality. From the illustration of the tooth it appears to have an occlusal length of just over 16.0 mm, which is too large for upper molars or a dP4 of Pliocervus matheroni and P. aff. matheroni (Azanza, 1995: table 2; 2000: table 31). The possibility of a fallow deer having occurred in Africa was discussed at length by Joleaud (1935). He relied on pictorial representations from Egyptian antiquity, but one would expect the ancient Egyptians to have known of Dama mesopotamica in Mesopotamia and perhaps kept live examples. Zeuner (1963) discussed distribution of the fallow deer in classical times in southeast Europe and southwest Asia but mentioned no natural occurrence or introductions in Africa. The Natural History Museum in London contains an unregistered partial upper molar from either Singa or Abu Hugar, Sudan, which might be cervid (figure 40.1). With an occlusal length of ca. 15.0 mm, it could fit a fallow deer in size and is certainly too small for Cervus elaphus. A piece of deer antler from Wadi Halfa, Sudan, mentioned by participants in a discussion of a short paper by Lydekker (1887), could not be traced later (Bate, 1951).

Occlusal view of partial right upper molar of a possible cervid from either Singa or Abu Hugar, Sudan. Scale in millimeters.

FIGURE 40.1

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Denis Geraads gave advice on this chapter.

Literature Cited Abbazzi, L. 2004. Remarks on the validity of the generic name Praemegaceros Portis 1920, and an overview on Praemegaceros species in Italy. Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rendiconti Scienze Fisiche e Naturali (9) 15:115–132. Ambrosetti, P. 1967. Cromerian fauna of the Rome area. Quaternaria 9:267–284. Arambourg, C. 1939. Mammifères fossiles du Maroc. Mémoires de la Société des Sciences Naturelles Maroc 46:1–74. (Publication date usually given as 1938, but a note on p.74 refers to the printing being completed on September 30, 1939. The introduction is dated December 15, 1938.) Azanza, B. 1995. The vertebrate locality Maramena (Macedonia, Greece) at the Turolian-Ruscinian boundary (Neogene): 14. Cervidae (Artiodactyla, Mammalia). Münchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen A 28:157–166. Azzaroli, A., and P. Mazza. 1993. Large early Pleistocene deer from Pietrafitta lignite mine, Central Italy. Palaeontographia Italica 80:1–24. Barry, J. C. 1995. Faunal turnover and diversity in the terrestrial Neogene of Pakistan; pp. 115–134 in E. S. Vrba, G. H. Denton, T. C. Partridge, and L. H. Burckle (eds.), Paleoclimate and Evolution, with Emphasis on Human Origins. Yale University Press, New Haven. Bate, D. M. A. 1951. The mammals from Singa and Abu Hugar. Fossil Mammals of Africa: British Museum (Natural History), London 2:1–28. Dietrich, W. O. 1950. Fossile Antilopen und Rinder Äquatorialafrikas. Palaeontographica Abt. A 99:1–62. Ellerman, J. R., and T. C. S. Morrison-Scott. 1966. Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals 1758 to 1946. 2nd ed. British Museum (Natural History), London, 810 pp. Geraads, D. 1982. Paléobiogéographie de l’Afrique du nord depuis le Miocène terminal, d’après les grands mammifères. Geobios, Mémoire Special 6:473–481. Hadjouis, D. 1990. Megaceroides algericus (Lydekker, 1890), du gisement des phacochères (Alger, Algérie): Étude critique de la position systématique de Megaceroides. Quaternaire 3–4:247–258. Joleaud, L. 1914a. Notice géologique sur Hammam Meskoutin (Algérie). Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France (4) 14: 423–34. ———. 1914b. Sur le Cervus (Megaceroides) algericus Lydekker (1890). Comptes Rendus de la Société de Biologie de Paris 76:737–739. ———. 1935. Les ruminants cervicornes d’Afrique. Mémoires de l’Institut d’Égypte 27:1–85. Laquay, G. 1986. Cervus elaphus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) du Pléistocène supérieur de la carrière Doukkala II (Rabat—Maroc): Sa comparaison avec le cerf würmien de France. Revue de Paléobiologie 5:143–147. Lister, A. M., C. J. Edwards, D. A. W. Nock, M. Bunce, I. A. van Pijlen, D. G. Bradley, M. G. Thomas, and I. Barnes. 2005. The phylogenetic position of the “giant deer” Megaloceros giganteus. Nature 438:850–853. Lydekker, R. 1887. On a molar of a Pliocene type of Equus from Nubia. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 43:161–4. Pfeiffer, T. 1999. Die Stellung von Dama (Cervidae, Mammalia) im System plesiometacarpaler Hirsche des Pleistozäns. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 211:1–218. ———. 2002. The first complete skeleton of Megaloceros verticornis (Dawkins, 1868) Cervidae, Mammalia, from Bilshausen (Lower Saxony, Germany): Description and phylogenetic implications. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe 5:289–308. Pomel, A. 1892. Sur deux Ruminants de l’époque néolithique de l’Algérie. Comptes Rendus hebdomadaires de Séances de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris 115:213–216. ———. 1893. Caméliens et cervidés. Carte Géologique de l’Algérie Paléontologie Monographies, Algiers: 5–52. Roman, F. 1931. Description de la faune pontique du Djerid (El Hamma et Nefta). Annales de l’Université de Lyon (n.s. 1) 48:30–42. Stuart, A. J., P. Kosintsev, T. F. Higham, and A. M. Lister. 2004. Pleistocene to Holocene extinction dynamics in giant deer and woolly mammoth. Nature 431:684–9. Zeuner, F. E. 1963. A History of Domesticated Animals. Hutchinson, London, 560 pp.

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CHAP TER FORT Y-ONE

Camelidae JOHN M. HARRIS, DENIS GER A ADS, AND NIKOS SOLOUNIAS

Camels originated in North America in the middle Eocene (Uintan land mammal age) and the first 36 million years of their history is confined to that continent (Honey et al., 1998). They were a highly successful group in which some 95 species and 36 genera were distributed between five subfamilies: Stemomylinae, Floridatragulinae, Miolabinae, Protolabinae, and Camelinae (Honey et al., 1988), although McKenna and Bell (1997) also recognize Poebrodontinae, Poebrotheriinae, Pseudolabinae, and Aepycamelinae. The main radiation of this family took place in the Miocene, during which time at least 13 genera and 20 species were distributed over much of North America. Camelid generic diversity declined during the late Miocene, although camelids remained common elements of the North American biota until the late Pleistocene extinction event. Only the camelins (Camelinae) are known to have migrated into the Old World. Domesticated dromedaries occur today throughout North Africa, the largest populations being in Somalia and Sudan. Their southernmost limit is determined by the degree of humidity and incidence of trypanosomiasis and is demarcated by the 400 mm isohyet that follows 15°N from Senegal to Niger and 13°N in Chad and Sudan (Köhler-Rollefson, 1991). Dromedaries are also found throughout Arabia and in Asia extend from Turkey to the western part of India, reaching as far north as Turkmenistan (40°N)(FAO, 1984). Their versatility as a riding animal, a pack animal, and a source of meat and milk in arid and semiarid conditions owes much to their unique physiology. The dromedary has the lowest water turnover of all mammals (MacFarlane, 1977); up to 30% of its body weight can be lost through desiccation but can be replenished in a matter of minutes (Schmidt-Nielsen, 1964; Yagil et al., 1974).

Systematic Paleontology Family CAMELIDAE Gray, 1821 Early in their evolutionary history, camelids acquired long limbs and necks and lost the lateral metapodials. The proximal fibula fused to the tibia and the radius and ulna fused, but camelids differ from ruminants in the divergent pulleys of their fused central metapodials and in the unfused

nature of the navicular and cuboid. Although some Miocene camelids retained complete dentitions, extant camels and llamas have lost their upper first and second incisors plus one or more premolars. Their selenodont cheek teeth are hypsodont. Subfamily CAMELINAE Gray, 1821 Figures 41.1B and 41.1C The subfamily Camelinae appeared in the late early Miocene (Hemingfordian) of North America and is represented by two tribes: Camelini (Camelus plus giant camels) and Lamini (llamas). The dental formula for camelins is 1/3, 1/1, 3/2. 3/3 (figures 41.1B, 41.C), and that for lamins is 1/3, 1/1, 2/1, 3/3. Camelins and lamins are united by the absence of I2 and p2 and by raised posterolateral edges on the proximal end of the first phalanx (Harrison, 1979). Camels migrated to Eurasia during the late Miocene. Paracamelus, which may have been derived from the North American Procamelus Leidy, 1858 (Schlosser, 1903; Zdansky, 1926), has been documented from Afghanistan (Raufi and Sickenberg, 1973), China (Zdansky, 1926; Flynn et al. 1991), Romania (Stefanescu, 1910), Hungary (Kretzoi, 1954), Russia (Khavesson, 1954), and Turkey (Kostopoulos and Sen, 1999). The earliest European occurrences appear to be those documented from Spain in MN 13 (Morales et al., 1980; Pickford et al., 1995). With the recent discovery of fossil camels in Chad (Likius et al., 2003), their record in Africa now extends back to the latest Miocene. However, most of the documented records constitute fragmentary specimens and many of the Pleistocene or earlier specimens can only be identified to tribe or genus. Tribe CAMELINI Gray, 1821 The Camelini are united by an enlarged and strongly inflected angular process on the mandible, large postglenoid foramen, long postglenoid process with matching large facet on mandibular condyle, enlarged canines that are rounded in cross section (especially in males), ventrally flattened auditory bullae, low and rounded diastemal crest on the mandible, and reduced maxillary fossa (Harrison 1979).

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PARACAMELUS GIGAS SCHLOSSER, 1903

A

B

C

Extant Camelus dromedarius (after Smuts and Bezuidenhout, 1987). A) skeleton; B) cranium, palatal view; C) mandible, occlusal view.

FIGURE 41.1

Constituent genera include Camelus Linnaeus, 1758; Procamelus Leidy, 1858; Megatylopus Matthew and Cook, 1909; Titanotylopus Barbour and Schultz, 1934; and Megacamelus Frick, 1929 (McKenna and Bell, 1997). Paracamelus Schlosser, 1903, was considered a subgenus of Camelus by McKenna and Bell (1997) but has been treated as a genus in its own right by recent workers even though it has been diagnosed on mostly plesiomorphic characters. Genus PARACAMELUS Schlosser, 1903

Diagnosis After Likius et al. (2003). Large camelin with three elongate upper and lower premolars that are less reduced than in the extant Camelus where p3 is vestigial or absent. The metapodials are massive and one fourth larger than those of Camelus. Occurrence Paracamelus has been reported from the late Miocene of Chad and Egypt, and from the late Pliocene of Tunisia (table 41.1). Type Species Paracamelus gigas Schlosser, 1903. Other Recognized Species Paracamelus alexejevi Khavesson, 1954; P. aguirrei Morales, 1984; P. alutensis (Stefanescu, 1895). 824


Diagnosis After Likius et al. (2003). Paracamelus species larger than the extant Camelus bactrianus and C. dromedarius and characterized by the presence of p3, elongate metapodials with distinctive metacarpal proximal articular facets (subquadrangular in Mc IV and subtriangular in Mc III) and deep plantar gutters under the proximal epiphysis of the metatarsal. Lectotype Isolated molar from Tientsin, China, published by Schlosser (1903) and selected as lectotype by Made and Morales (1999). Remarks A fragmentary right mandible and two right metatarsals were recovered from latest Miocene sites at Kossom Bougoudi, Chad, by the Mission Paléoanthropologique Franco-Tchadienne (Likius et al., 2003). The mandible differs from those of Camelus species in depth, robusticity, and the presence of a well-developed p3. The metatarsals were much longer than those of extant camels. The Chad material is larger than that of P. alexejevi from the Pliocene (MN 15) of the Ukraine, and the mandible is deeper than that of P. alutensis from the early Pleistocene of Rumania (Stefanescu, 1910). The late Miocene P. aguirrei was described from elements that are not yet represented in the Chad sample, but the estimated length of the p3 in the Chad mandible is similar to that from Spain. The lengths of the tooth row and metatarsals fit into the range of variation documented for P. gigas from the late Miocene of China by Zdansky (1926) and Teilhard and Trassaert (1937), and therefore the Chad specimens were assigned to that species. Arambourg (1979) identified a camelid calcaneum from Lake Ichkeul as C. thomasi, but Pickford et al. (1995) reinterpreted it to represent Paracamelus. The calcaneum is similar in length to that of a large modern camel, but the bone is more robust, and the nonarticular part is relatively slightly longer, though much shorter than in P. aguirrei (Pickford et al., 1995: plate 80), to which it was erroneously referred by Made and Morales (1999). Made and Morales (1999) also interpreted the camelid cuboid reported by Stromer (1902) from Wadi Natrun as Paracamelus. Although poorly preserved, the cuboid (housed in the Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, Germany) is definitely camelid rather than anthracotheriid by the horizontal orientation of the calcanear facet. It resembles Paracamelus gigas from China in its dorsoplantar elongation and L-shaped dorsal metatarsal facet, but it differs in its large, weakly concave talar facet, almost lacking the plantar process, which is more reminiscent of the cuboid of P. aguirrei from the Mio-Pliocene of Venta del Moro, Spain (Morales et al., 1980). Genus CAMELUS Linnaeus, 1758

Diagnosis After Harrison (1979) and Orlov (1968). Camelin in which I1–2, P2, p2, and p3 are lost, I3 is present; P1, p1, and p4 reduced; internal crescent on P3 incomplete and molars hypsodont as in Paracamelus. Premaxilla moderate to heavy, lacrimal vacuity very reduced, maxillary fossa reduced or absent, nasals flattened, rostrum short, zygomatic arch straight, postglenoid foramen and process large. Postglenoid facet on mandibular condyle medially positioned and vertically elongated; diastemal crest on mandible reduced and rounded; angular process large and strongly inflected, dorsal surface of mandibular condyle convex, Metacarpal and metatarsal similar in length, metapodial elements III and IV fused as in Paracamelus, suspensory ligament scar on first phalanx extends to center of shaft, posterolateral edges

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ta b l e 4 1.1 African localities from which fossil camels have been collected

algeria 1. Alger: Arambourg, 1932; Camelus sp. 2. Chaachas: Gautier, 1966; Camelus sp.; late Pleistocene 3. San Roche, near Oran: Gautier, 1966; Camelus sp.; late Pleistocene 4. Sintes, near Algiers: Gautier, 1966; Camelus sp.; late Pleistocene 5. Ternifi ne: Thomas, 1884; Pomel, 1893; Vaufrey, 1955; Camelus thomasi; mid-Pleistocene

chad 6. Bochianga: Coppens, 1971; Camelus sp.; early Pliocene 7. Kossom Bougoudi: Likius et al., 2003. Paracamelus gigas; latest Miocene

malawi 18. Chiwondo Beds: Schrenk et al., 1993; Camelus sp.; late Pliocene

morocco 19. Ahl al Oughlam: Geraads et al., 1995; Camelus sp; late Pliocene 20. Oulad Hamida 1 (Rhinoceros Cave): Raynal et al., 1993; Geraads, 2002; Camelus cf. C. thomasi; mid-Pleistocene 21. Taza: Gautier, 1966; Camelus sp.; late Pleistocene

oman 22. Umm an-Nar: Hoch, 1979; Camelus sp.; Holocene

egypt saudi arabia 8. Wadi Natrun: Stromer 1902; Made and Morales, 1999: Paracamelus sp.; late Miocene or early Pliocene 9. Dakhleh Oasis: Churcher et al., 1999; Camelus sp.; midPleistocene

ethiopia

23. An Nafud: Thomas et al., 1999; Camelus sp.; early Pleistocene

sudan 24. Site 1040, Nile terrace near Egypt-Sudan border: Gautier, 1966; Camelus sp.; late Pleistocene

10. Omo Shungura: Howell et al., 1969; Camelus sp.; late Pliocene

syria israel 11. Mugharet-el-Emireh Cave: Bate, 1927: Camelus sp.; 840 ⫾ 80 BP 12. Tabun Cave: Payne and Garrard, 1983, Camelus sp.; 1060 ⫾ 70 BP 13. Ubedeiyah: Haas, 1966; Geraads, 1986: Camelus sp.; early Pleistocene.

jordan

25. Latamne: Hooijer, 1961; Camelus sp.; mid-Pleistocene 26. El Kowm: Reuters October 8, 2006; Camelus sp.; late Pleistocene

tanzania 26. Laetoli: Harris, 1987; Camelus sp.; mid-Pliocene 27. Olduvai: Gentry and Gentry, 1969; Camelus sp.; early Pleistocene

tunisia 14. Azraq Oasis: Clutton-Brock, 1970: Camelus sp.; 3340 ± 200 BP

kenya

28. El Guettar: Gautier, 1966; Camelus sp.; late Pleistocene 29. Lac Ichkeul: Arambourg, 1979; Pickford et al., 1995; Paracamelus sp.; late Pliocene

15. Koobi Fora: Harris, 1991; Camelus sp.; late Pliocene 16. Marsabit Road: Gentry and Gentry, 1969; Camelus sp.; late Pliocene 17. West Turkana: Harris et al., 1988; Camelus sp.; late Pliocene

and center raised. Facial region of skull considerably shorter and relatively broader than in Paracamelus; m3 relatively long, anteroexternal folds of m2 and m3 rudimentary and may be absent. Occurrence Camelus remains have been reported from the late Pliocene of Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, and Tanzania, and the Pleistocene of Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Tunisia (table 41.1). Type Species Camelus bactrianus Linnaeus, 1758. Other Recognized Species Camelus dromedarius Linnaeus, 1758; C. thomasi Pomel, 1893.

CAMELUS DROMEDARIUS Linnaeus, 1758 Figures 41.1A–41.1C

Diagnosis One-humped extant camelin differing from the two-humped C. bactrianus by a variety of characters including a U-shaped choana (vs. V shaped), several palatine foramina (vs. two pairs), more anteriorly extending palatine (to M2 vs. to M1), horizontal lower orbital border (vs. oblique), lingual crescent of P3 less complete, lingual wall of P4 absent, styles of upper molars stronger, p1 always present, and distal metacarpals and metatarsals less divergent. The two species FORT Y- ONE: CAMELIDAE


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are able to interbreed, although some first cross males may be sterile (Mayfield and Tinson, 1996). Remarks Although it is now widespread, the fossil history of the Arabian camel or dromedary is virtually unknown. Most of the late Pleistocene camels from Africa are too fragmentary to be identified to species, let alone to a domestic or wild form. A very large late Pleistocene camel from Sudan was referred to C. thomasi by Gautier (1966), who assumed that it was more closely related to the bactrian camel, but this relationship was rejected by Peters (1998), with whom we agree, although the differences between the calcanei of both modern species are far less clear-cut than he illustrated (Peters, 1998: figure 1). The very large size of the specimen, and its possible pre-Neolithic age, suggest that it was a wild form; if its age could be definitely established, this camel would be some of the best evidence for derivation of the dromedary from an autochthonous wild form. The specimen from Egypt that Churcher et al. (1999) questionably referred to C. thomasi might represent another individual. A large camel, 3 m tall and reputed to be 100,000 years old, was reported from El Kowm in Syria by J.-M. Le Tensorer of the University of Basel (Reuters, October 8, 2006). As discussed by Köhler-Rollefson (1991), the earliest tentative evidence for domestication of dromedaries comes from an archaeological site on a small island off the Abu Dhabi coast, where camel bones and two stelae depicting dromedaries and dating to about 4,000 BP were unearthed (Hoch, 1979). By about 3,100 years ago, northern Arabian tribes had adopted the dromedary as a riding animal and made use of it on raids. By about 2,900 years ago, dromedary caravans transported incense from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean Sea. Trade along the Silk Route started about 2,000 years ago. Although at first both bactrians and dromedaries were used, the Parthians bred hybrids that proved to be superior beasts of burden (Bulliet, 1975). Rock drawings of dromedaries hunted by horsemen are known from the Arabian Peninsula; dated to about 3,000 years ago, they provide the most recent evidence for wild dromedaries (Köhler, 1981). CAMELUS THOMASI Pomel, 1893 Figures 41.2A–41.2E

Diagnosis Species of Camelus slightly larger than the extant species but with relatively slender metapodials. Lower jaw pachyostotic. Teeth similar to those of the modern forms, but metastylid may be stronger (hence slightly convex lingual walls), and m3 hypoconulid more mesiodistally oriented. Occurrence Camelus thomasi is known only from the early Pleistocene of Tigenif (Ternifine), Algeria, although comparable remains have been recovered from the mid-Pleistocene Oulad Hamida 1 in Morocco. Holotype No. 7236001, maxilla from the early Pleistocene locality of Tighenif (Ternifine) figured by Pomel (1893: plate 3, figures 2, 3); housed in the Musée de Géologie, Algiers. Remarks This species was originally described from maxilla, mandible, and metapodial fragments from Tighenif by Pomel (1893), who interpreted C. thomasi as larger than but close to, C. dromedarius. Arambourg and Hoffstetter reexcavated the type locality from 1954 through 1956, and their additions to the camelid sample are now housed in the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris but are only partly available because of ongoing renovations of the collection facilities. This material has not yet been studied and the following notes are based upon preliminary observations by D.G. Unfortunately, neither the type nor a second maxilla show the shape of the choanae, one of the best distinguishing 826


FIGURE 41.2 Camelus thomasi, Ternifine. A) m3 TER-1688 (reversed from the right side); B) m3 TER-1900-27; C) m3 TER-1683; D) mandible TER-1685, lateral view; E) mandible TER-1685, occlusal view of the tooth row. Scale = 50 mm for A–C, 150 mm for D, 75 mm for E. All specimens in Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.

characters between C. bactrianus and C. dromedarius. On the type, the palatine extends back to the level of M1, but this is not a convincing resemblance with C. bactrianus (the palatine extends farther posteriorly in adult C. dromedarius) because the specimen is not fully adult. All mandibular specimens are characterized by pachyostosis of both the corpus and ramus (figure 41.2E); modern camels also have robust lower jaws, but they are never so thick. The teeth are very similar to those of modern Camelus, but on average stylids are better marked, so that the lingual walls of the metaconid and entoconid may appear slightly concave (figure 41.2E). The goat folds and styles of upper molars are also better indicated. On the m3s, the lingual wall of the hypoconulid (which varies in size) is usually in line with that of the entoconid (i.e., mesiodistally oriented), but on one m3, it is labially shifted in respect to the entoconid, with a marked step at the level of the entostylid (figures 41.2A–41.2C). In these features, the m3s definitely resemble the Turkana Basin camel teeth rather than the modern forms. The metapodials are slightly longer than those of the dromedary (themselves longer, on average, than those of the bactrian camel) and rather slender. Detailed study of the postcranials has yet to be performed. On the whole, using the criteria of Steiger (1990), they are more like those of the dromedary, but several features are unlike those of either extant species. Other fragmentary specimens from northern Sudan were later assigned to C. thomasi by Gautier (1966) who, on the basis of the Sudanese but not the Algerian material, interpreted C. thomasi as close to, but larger than, C. bactrianus—as did Howell et al. (1969). Gautier cited Vaufrey (1955) and Zeuner (1963) as having documented this species at the Mousterian sites of Saint Roche and Sintes in Algeria, the Aterian site of El Guettar in Tunisia, and the Iberomaurusian site of Taza in Morocco. He also mentioned a fragmentary cannon bone collected by Yves Coppens from Bochienga, near Koro Toro, in

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Chad (Coppens, 1971). Churcher et al. (1999) reported a camel questionably assigned to Camelus ?thomasi from a middle Pleistocene locality in Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. We have reservations about all these identifications, as they were not supported by morphological comparisons with the Tigenif material. Only the fragment of maxilla from the slightly younger locality of the “Grotte des Rhinocéros” near Casablanca (Raynal et al., 1993) merits an identification as Camelus cf. C. thomasi.

Camelus sp. was reported in faunal lists from the Chiwondo Beds of Malawi (Schrenk et al., 1993; Bromage et al., 1995), but no published description has yet appeared. In addition to the localities already mentioned, table 41.1 lists camelid remains that have been recovered from Algeria (1), Israel (11–13), Jordan (14), Morocco (19), Oman (22), Saudi Arabia (23), and Syria (25).

CAMELUS sp.

Although the hypsodonty of camel teeth has been interpreted as denoting a grazing diet (Made and Morales, 1999), hypsodonty is also a reflection of open habitat (Stirton, 1947; Janis, 1988). Extant camelids are opportunistic and feed on a mixture of grass and other plants or plant parts. The premaxillary shape index of extant bactrian and dromedary camels is consistent with a browsing or intermediate diet, as is that of extinct camelins for which the premaxilla is known (Dompierre and Churcher, 1996). Mesowear analysis of camel teeth showed that, based on occlusal relief and the percentages of sharp versus blunt cusps, C. dromedarius clustered with other hypsodont and open-adapted mixed feeders (Fortelius and Solounias, 2000). Stable isotope analysis of extant dromedary teeth from the Lake Turkana basin is consistent with these being C3 browsers that obtained the majority of their water requirements from their food. Dental enamel from Pliocene camels from Koobi Fora (Harris, 1991) and West Turkana (Harris et al., 1988) has yielded comparable results.

Occurrence Camelus specimens that cannot be identified to species have been recovered from the early Pliocene (Chad), late Pliocene (Morocco, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi), early Pleistocene (Israel, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania), mid-Pleistocene (Egypt and Syria), late Pleistocene (Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia), and Holocene (Israel, Jordan and Oman)(table 41.1). The late Pliocene locality of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco (Geraads et al., 1995), yielded a single Camelus phalanx that cannot be identified to species. Only a few specimens of Plio-Pleistocene camelids have been recovered south of the Sahara at localities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi. These were readily identifiable to genus on the basis of cheek tooth morphology (Gentry and Gentry, 1969), divergent distal metapodials (Howell at al., 1969), incisor morphology (Harris, 1987), and reduction of the premolars (Harris, 1991), but none were sufficiently complete to permit attribution to species. Gentry and Gentry (1969) reported a damaged upper right molar from the early Pleistocene locality of BKII at Olduvai Gorge I Tanzania and a left lower third molar from the late Pliocene locality of Marsabit Road in Kenya. They interpreted the two fossil teeth to be morphologically identical to the equivalent teeth of C. dromedarius but large enough to belong to C. thomasi. Howell et al. (1969) reported a left lower Camelus molar from Shungura Member B in the lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia, and a distal right camelid metatarsal from Member F at the same locality that was similar in size to that of C. bactrianus. Additional specimens from Shungura Members B, D, F, and G were reported by Grattard et al. (1976) but could only be identified to genus. No camel has been reported from the Middle Awash, and there is no camel in the Hadar Formation of Ethiopia, but an unpublished incomplete m3, probably from Amado, could be of middle Pliocene age. The southernmost camelid fossil yet described from sub-Saharan Africa is an isolated lower left incisor from the Laetolil Beds at Laetoli in Tanzania, and, at ca. 3.5 Ma, it is also one of the oldest. Although its root is of similar size to that of a Sivatherium incisor, its asymmetrical lanceolate shape with typical cameline torsion and the smoothness of its enamel preclude its assignation to anything other than a camel (Harris, 1987). Harris (1991) reported a premaxilla, mandible and postcranial elements from the Tulu Bor Member of the Koobi Fora Formation (east of Lake Turkana, Kenya) and an isolated molar from the KBS Member. The mandible lacks a p3, indicating that it is Camelus rather than Paracamelus. The lower cheek teeth are superficially similar to, but appreciably larger than, those of C. dromedarius. Two somewhat younger and more fragmentary mandibles were recovered from the upper Lomekwi Member of the Nachukui Formation in the western part of the Lake Turkana basin, one of which was reported by Harris et al. (1988). All the Lake Turkana basin specimens seem to represent a single species.

Dietary Adaptations

Summary Camels migrated into Africa during the late Miocene and reached as far south as Tanzania, or perhaps Malawi, but remained rare and ephemeral elements of the East and North African assemblages throughout their known history. Today, the southernmost limit of their distribution is defined by annual precipitation and the incidence of insect-borne disease. Their rarity in the African fossil record may reflect their preference for (and adaptation to) arid habitats, rendering them less likely to be preserved than mesic-adapted species and, perhaps, less able to compete successfully in the kind of periaquatic assemblages that normally preserve as fossils. The earliest arrivals are attributed to Paracamelus. Specimens representing one or more large Camelus species are known from the late Pliocene onward but their relationship, if any, with either of the extant species remains elusive.

Literature Cited Arambourg, C. 1932. Note préliminaire sur une novelle grotte à ossements des environs d’Alger. Bulletin de la Société d’Histoire Naturelle d’Afrique du Nord, Alger 23:154–162. . 1979. Vertébrés Villafranchiens d’Afrique du Nord (Artiodactyles, Carnivores, Primates, Reptiles, Oiseaux). Fondation Singer Polignac, Paris, 141 pp. Bate, D. M. A. 1927. On the animal remains obtained from the Mugharet-el-Emireh in 1925; pp. 9–13 in F. Turville-Petre (ed.), Research in Prehistoric Galilee 1925–26. British School of Archaeology in Israel, London. Bromage, T. G., F. Schrenk, and Y. M. Juwayeyi. 1995. Paleobiogeography of the Malawi Rift: Age and vertebrate paleontology of the Chiwondo Beds, northern Malawi. Journal of Human Evolution 28:37–57. Bulliet, R. W. 1975. The Camel and the Wheel. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 352 pp. Churcher, C. S., M. R. Kleindeinst, and H. P. Schwartz. 1999. Faunal remains from a Middle Pleistocene lacustrine marl in Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 124:301–312.

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CHAP TER FORT Y-T WO

Suoidea L AUR A C. BISHOP

The superfamily Suoidea, to which pigs (Suidae), peccaries (Tayassuidae), and the extinct family Sanitheriidae belong, most likely originated in Europe and Asia during the Oligocene. All suoids possess small incisors and have relatively enlarged canines (particularly the uppers) that are usually convex laterally. Their first premolars are triangular in shape, while the second, third, and fourth premolars are more molariform. The Suoids are the sister group of all other Artiodactyls, including Hippopotamidae (Boisserie et al., 2005). There were several movements of suoids from Eurasia; the earliest detectable one left identifiable pigs behind in Africa by the early Miocene. Two of the families of Suoids will be discussed here, the Sanitheriidae (now extinct) and the Suidae, which were the dominant family of Suoids in Africa during the Cenozoic. The Tayassuidae are an exclusively American family, although early research originally attributed some small African suid specimens to this family (Hendey, 1976; Made, 1997). The true pigs, or Suidae, are far more common and are widespread through both time and space. The earliest known pigs are from Asia—the upper Eocene genera Siamochoerus from Thailand (Ducrocq et al., 1998) and Oidochoerus from China (Tong and Zhao, 1986). Pigs do not make their way to Africa until much later. The earliest true Suidae known from Africa are the Kubanochoerinae, which make their first appearance at the beginning of the Miocene in Namibia, in deposits that are approximately 21 Ma (Pickford, 1986, et seq.; Pickford, 2006). Subsequent appearances of the other suid subfamilies results from evolutionary change from this original founder sounder (group) as well as from a series of later migrations from Eurasia. Pigs are medium-sized mammals. The largest living African suid weighs about 220 kg; skeletal evidence suggests that some extinct forms were much larger. Everyone has a platonic ideal of a pig—usually large, pinky white, with a corkscrew tail—but this domesticated Porky Pig lookalike has come a long way from the wild swine of the geological past. In general, pigs are ectomorphic animals with thick, torpedo-shaped bodies and relatively short legs and a short tail. The entire group has short, thick necks supporting more or less robust skulls, which are long, large, and flat on the dorsal surface. They have large snouts with a moist

rhinarium, supported by a terminal cartilaginous disk that is pierced by their nasal openings. There is a prenasal bone that supports this snout as well. The flat back of the skull has a pronounced occipital crest. The eyes are framed by small, dorsally placed orbits; pigs in life have more use for their sense of smell than for their relatively poor eyesight. The external, fleshy ears of pigs are usually small and pointed; however, these ears are very mobile (and expressive), and pigs’ sense of hearing is quite good. The primitive dental formula for pigs is (I3/3 C1/1 P4/4 M3/3), although there is considerable variation in this formula, particularly in more derived pigs. The upper central incisors are usually considerably larger than their lateral neighbors. All upper incisors are often curved toward the midline, with diagonally emplaced roots, giving isolated teeth a characteristically clubbed appearance. The lower incisors are usually emplaced in a strong V shape across a fused mandibular symphysis, oriented slightly procumbently. These teeth are usually long, straight, and narrow. Short incisors are probably primitive for pigs, with longer ones more derived in species that rootle for food (Made, 1996). Pig canines are continuously growing through life, and pig canine size and to a lesser extent shape can be quite considerably sexually dimorphic, with males having larger and sometimes more robust and ornate canines. In fact, pig body size can also be sexually dimorphic. In some modern species the male is can be 50% larger than females of the species (Phacochoerus, the warthog), while in the other two extant taxa there is sexual dimorphism in form if not obviously in body size. There are indications that sexual dimorphism was pronounced in some fossil species. Upper canines project laterally and posteriorly as curved “tusks”; they can be honed against the lower canines in occlusion, and sharp edges and points can result from this. The first and second molars in suids are bunodont (rounded) or cuspidate, with pointed cusps. They are not in general high crowned, except in the third (and, very occasionally, the second) upper and lower molars of highly derived forms. The third molars, both upper and lower, have numerous cusps; it is the elaboration of this tooth in length, crown height, and number of cusps that forms the basis of biostratigraphic analyses for Pliocene and Pleistocene suids.

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Unlike their fellow artiodactyls the Selenodontia, in pigs the metapodials are generally separate bones. There is also reduction of the digits and metapodials. Digit I is absent from both the forefoot (manus) and the hindfoot (pes). All remaining digits (II–V) terminate in ungules or hooves. Although pigs retain four digits, in modern pigs only the central two (Digits III and IV) and their articulating metapodials (III and IV) truly function in locomotion; the other digits are not weight bearing. Pig skin is thick and tough with relatively sparse, coarse hair. Their stomachs are relatively simple among artiodactyls, having only two chambers—they do not ruminate. In general, pigs have omnivorous diets; however, the modern warthog eats a very high proportion of grass (not only leaves but seeds) in its diet, and there are indications from isotopic analyses of tooth enamel to suggest that some extinct species may have eaten grass almost exclusively (Harris and Cerling, 2002). With the exception of the warthog, pigs today are primarily nocturnal. Pigs and their close allies are unusual among the ungulates in giving birth to litters rather than to individual offspring. The individual offspring are altricial but develop very quickly. Pig taxonomy is bewildering in its complexity. This is at least partially because the evolution of suids through time is characterized by rapid evolution and involved numerous parallel developments through time and space. Earlier suid evolution was rationalized, in the first instance, by Wilkinson (Wilkinson, 1976; Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). Later efforts have also lead to simplified, if conflicting, perspectives on the Miocene suids, which largely retain species and reorganize on the higher taxonomic levels (Pickford, 1986, et seq.; Made, 1996; Liu, 2003). Made (1996) suggests that some of the taxa that Pickford (1995, et seq.) recognizes as subfamilially distinct (e.g., the Namachoerinae) are best considered as examples of parallel evolution within the Lopholistriodontinae, the subfamily erected by the former. African suids from the latest Miocene into the Pleistocene (and those who study them) have benefited from a series of revisions and rationalizations, starting with the work of Cooke, who was principally responsible for the recognition of later suid evolution as a biostratigraphic and correlative indicator across the continent (Cooke, 1976, et seq.). Subsequent work by Harris and White (White and Harris, 1977; Harris and White, 1979) revised the taxa further and removed some of the chronological and geographic species that Cooke retained. However, further discoveries and the continuing field research of several groups has lead to resurrection of some of the species sunk by Harris and White, and also the naming of several new species in recent years. Pigs, which have changed relatively rapidly in evolutionary time, are a valuable biostratigraphic indicator and are frequently used in the field to approximate the age of fossil deposits. In-depth analysis of the taxonomic identity and morphology of fossil pigs has proven more reliable than initial reports of radiometric “absolute” dates for fossil deposits in several cases. Perhaps the most famous of these was the KBS tuff controversy, centering around fossil deposits from the famous Koobi Fora sites in Kenya. This episode is particularly notorious in palaeoanthropology because the age of a new and different hominid skull, KNM ER 1470, which had a particularly large brain size, hinged on the date of this tuff. Work by the eminent palaeontologist H. B. S. Cooke showed that the faunal context of the skull correlated well with fossils from 1.8-Ma deposits from the Omo, in Ethiopia,

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contradicting an initial radiometric potassium-argon date from the overlying tuff of 2.6 Ma. Subsequent redating of the tuff showed that the faunal “age” determined by Cooke was completely accurate. This biostratigraphic correlation was probably facilitated by the fact that the Omo deposits and the Koobi Fora ones were both part of the same basin during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene; geographically the deposits were not that far away from one another.

Modern African Pigs The classification of the living African suids is a topic of some debate in neontology. Although traditionally considered as monospecific, the genera of living pigs have been subdivided into several species, primarily for reasons of conservation (Oliver, 1993). Dividing the suid genera into several species (and subspecies) relies on population variations in characters (primarily pelage) invisible in the fossil record, which has interesting ramifications for the taxonomy of fossil suids. Worldwide, there are five genera of true pigs (or six, if the pygmy hog Sus salvanius is put in its own genus, Porcula). Sus is found throughout Asia, Europe, and North Africa and elsewhere when it is a domesticate or introduced species. It is the most speciose genus of living pigs. The one species of the genus Babyrousa is found only on Sulawesi and nearby islands. There are at present three indigenous suid genera in sub-Saharan Africa. HYLOCHOERUS: THE (GIANT) FOREST HOG

Hylochoerus meinertzhageni, the giant forest hog, is the largest African suid. While there are differences of opinion as to whether the three genera of African suid are monospecific, all authorities seem to agree that there is only one species of Hylochoerus, Hylochoerus meinertzhageni Thomas, 1904 (Sjarmidi and Gerard, 1988). This taxon is distributed patchily throughout central Africa (e.g., Kingdon, 1979; d’Huart 1978, 1993; Grubb, 1993). A recent revision of the taxonomy of living suids concludes that there are three valid subspecies of Hylochoerus: the nominate H. m. meinertzhageni or giant forest hog, H. m. rimator, the Congo forest hog and H. m. ivoriensis, the West African forest hog (Grubb, 1993). These subspecies are geographic, and the status of populations in Tanzania, Sudan, and Ethiopia is as yet unknown. It is acknowledged that there is an east-west cline in body size in this species (d’Huart, 1978, 1993) but, nonetheless skull size is the primary differentiating character presented for separation of these subspecies. There are also differences in the distribution and density of hair accorded the different subspecies. Exactly how giant this pig is has been a matter of some debate; some authors express wonderment at the animals’ great size (Edmond-Blanc, 1960), while others merely accuse “the natives” and each other of exaggeration (Rothschild and Neuville, 1906). Any generalizations are confused by the east-west cline in body size; H. m. ivoriensis, the diminutive western subspecies, has a maximum recorded weight of 150 kg (Rode, 1944 in d’Huart, 1993). Only the easternmost races, with recorded body weights of up to 220 kg, can be truly considered “giant” (d’Huart, 1978, 1991, 1993). That an animal of this size remained undescribed until 1904 is testimony to the density of the tropical forest it inhabits in much of its range. Although it may become partly diurnal where it is unharassed, the forest hog is generally nocturnal and shy (d’Huart, 1978, 1993).

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The patchy distribution of H. meinertzhageni is best attributed to the patchy distribution of its preferred habitats throughout Africa (Sjarmidi and Gerard, 1988). The forest hog ranges in a variety of forested ecotones, including bush and thickets, woodland savannas, gallery forests, lowland humid forests (including marshy areas), secondary forests, escarpment forests, lowland and montane dry forest, montane mosaics, and altitudinous montane forests (d’Huart, 1978). This testifies to a certain adaptability; however, in East Africa, the species is exclusively found in forests, which are generally confined to high altitudes (Thomas, 1904; Rothschild and Neuville, 1906; Edmond-Blanc, 1960; Stewart and Stewart, 1963; Sale et al., 1976; Kingdon, 1979). Aspects of its eye morphology are well suited to a forest habitat, indicating a long-standing adaptation to this zone (Luck, 1965). Throughout the range of potential habitats, it is most likely to be living where there is a variety of vegetation, a permanent source of water, and thick understory cover in a portion of its home range (d’Huart, 1978). d’Huart considers it to be an ecotonic species, which thrives in the gradations between habitat types, where there is maximum “edge effect” (d’Huart, 1993). Hylochoerus makes runs in vegetation throughout its range but is not known to use underground burrows (Copley, 1949). Our understanding of this taxon is very incomplete: only one full-length study has been undertaken, and this on a population which spent considerable time on the savanna surrounding the Parc National des Virunga (d’Huart, 1978). Most information on the species behavior and ecology in the forest is anecdotal. Few individuals have survived in captivity; no examples are currently held in zoos (Leister, 1939; d’Huart, 1993). There appears to be some measure of variety in the diets and habits of the different H. meinertzhageni subspecies. It browses nocturnally and diurnally on soft vegetation, grass, fallen fruits, berries, and roots (Ewer, 1970; Dorst and Dandelot, 1972; Cooke, 1976). Its forest foods can be considered to be far softer and less abrasive than the diet of the warthog (d’Huart, 1978). It is questionable whether H. meinertzhageni excavates vegetable foods. The soft rhinarium of the forest hog would seem to preclude using the snout to dig (Ewer, 1970). Some authorities say it does not dig (Copley, 1949), while others assert that it is a powerful digger (Leister, 1970). Excavations, which are characterized as “scrapes,” are probably made by using the lower incisors, which show unusual wear (Ewer, 1970). At any rate, excavation of food is not a frequent occupation of H. meinertzhageni, which sets it apart from other living pigs (d’Huart, 1978). Animal foods are also consumed by the forest hog; they have been observed eating carcasses of reptiles and mammals, and the eggs of ground-nesting birds (d’Huart, 1978). It has been suggested that the dentition of the forest hog is more suitable to eating insects than that of other pigs (Ewer, 1970; d’Huart, 1978). They have been observed turning over rotten logs, perhaps in search of insects, and eating maggots (Ewer, 1970). Insect remains have also been found in the feces of H. meinertzhageni, Coprophagy is uncommon in the forest hog, but they have been observed eating elephant feces (d’Huart, 1978). Salt licks are also important to some forest hogs, particularly in the Parc National des Virunga, and soil that has been found in fecal samples is attributed to eating at salt licks (d’Huart, 1978). Although the fossil evidence for the origin of this species is very scant, some specimens from Behanga, Uganda,

are found in a biostratigraphic context, suggesting an early Pleistocene first appearance for this taxon (Pickford, 1994). Similar material found by Leakey at Kanjera, Kenya, was initially assigned to a different species, Hylochoerus antiquus, subsequently sunk. However, this material may also support a relatively early origin for this taxon, which otherwise seems to arise from the Kolpochoerus lineage. PHACOCHOERUS: THE WARTHOG

Phacochoerus aethiopicus, the warthog, is the most commonly seen Afrotropical suid, a fact that is attributable to its visibility in the open habitats it favors and its diurnal habits (Tookey, 1959). Warthogs are characterized by a large head, longish limbs, and a short neck. Their characteristic feeding posture is a sort of “kneel”; the animals rest on their carpometacarpal joint (Cumming, 1975; Kingdon, 1979). Animals are capable of walking along on their wrists from patch to patch. This stance characterizes most Phacochoerus feeding. Cumming (1975) considers this animal to be specialized for arid habitats, where its ability to rootle for underground resources allows it to compete successfully with ruminants. Warthog are sexually dimorphic and possess many specializations for grazing in the open savanna zones (Luck, 1965; Delaney and Happold, 1979). Warthog are rare among ungulates in having a clearly divided day/night activity pattern (Leuthold, 1977). Their 12-hour work day corresponds with the daylight hours (Clough, 1969), although they have been observed grazing on moonlit nights (Copley, 1949). The number of species and subspecies comprising the genus Phacochoerus Cuvier, 1817, is the subject of a lively neontological debate. Some authors consider there to be only one species of living warthog, Phacochoerus aethiopicus (Gmelin, 1788)(e.g., Dorst and Dandelot, 1972; Kingdon, 1979; Sjarimidi and Gerard, 1988). Although this view holds that there are no species-level differences between the various geographical morphs of Phacochoerus, numerous regional subspecies are acknowledged (e.g., Sjarmidi and Gerard, 1988). This classification is disputed by some authorities (Ewer, 1957; Grubb, 1993) and others who believe there is evidence of two distinct warthog species—if not living, then recently extinct. This view is common in paleontology (e.g. Ewer, 1958; Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). It has a complicated history linked to the recent extinction of the Cape warthog, for which the taxon Ph. aethiopicus was named by Pallas (1766). This form was never fully studied in life, nor was its geographic range determined, and no specimens have been obtained since the mid19th century (Grubb, 1993). Following its local extinction, the designation was applied to all warthogs, and the species Ph. africanus (Gmelin, 1788), or common warthog, was collapsed into it. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA and extensive studies of crania from museum collections suggest that the original range of Ph. aethiopicus sensu strictu was discontinuous and that a relict population survives in the arid portions of East Africa (Lönnberg, 1908; Grubb, 1993; d’Huart and Grubb, 2001). The characteristics that are said to distinguish the two species are dental and cranial (Lönnberg, 1908). The most obvious difference is the absence of upper incisors in specimens attributed to Ph. aethiopicus. Ph. aethiopicus is also considered to be smaller than the common warthog and to have a broader, more specialized cranium. The difference with most significance for paleontology is in the M3. The anterior roots of the M3 in Ph. africanus form early, preventing any further

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height increase along the anterior border of the tooth before the entire surface of the tooth is in occlusion. In the desert form, the third molar roots remain unfused and growing until the entire tooth is in occlusion (Ewer, 1958; Grubb, 1993). These characteristics are tantalizing hints of diversity in the genus Phacochoerus. However, it might be premature to give Cape and common warthogs separate specific status. This is especially true given several potential stumbling blocks to the recognition of species from osteological collections made in the last century, including the lack of adequate geographical provenance. There is a tremendous amount of variability in the dental formulae of warthogs (Shaw, 1939; Child et al., 1965). Many warthogs lose their incisors early in life (Tookey, 1959). Additionally, there is evidence in the literature that the presence or absence of incisors in the common warthog is an unstable characteristic due not only to attrition but also to phenotypic variability. For example, Cumming (1975) reports that a tame warthog he studied had no upper incisors and that this had no detectable functional correlate. Furthermore, another member of the same litter had its full complement of incisors. That warthog dentition and cranial characteristics are notoriously variable is attested to repeatedly in the literature (see especially Shaw, 1939). It is true that Ph. aethiopicus and Ph. africanus were considered separate species in the past, but many variants that are widely accepted as subspecies today were also accorded specific status by early authors (Lönnberg, 1908; Ansell, 1971). The significance of any populational differences in the context of overall suid variation must be considered. The warthog is considered to be primarily a savanna animal, preferring the plains and thorn scrub and avoiding forest (Copley, 1949; Cumming, 1975; Kingdon, 1979). They inhabit woodland to arid areas (Sale et al., 1976). In southern Africa, a range of habitats is occupied in different densities, with seasonal differences (Cumming, 1975). Warthog are unique among ungulates in their dependence on subterranean burrows (Kingdon, 1979). Holes are an important part of warthog home ranges, along with open water and adequate food (Cumming, 1975). These shelters are used as refuge from harassment, predators, weather, and also for sleeping and giving birth (Clough and Hassam, 1970; Bradley, 1971). Lions have been observed attempting to unearth warthogs from their burrows (Bradley, 1971). Underground burrows also maintain temperatures that are stable compared to the often violent daily fluctuations on the savanna; one study found that temperatures within burrows varied only 3°C as compared with 8°C externally (Bradley, 1971). Since warthog juveniles are extremely poor thermoregulators, the climatic stability of the holes may be necessary to their survival (Fradrich, 1965; Sowls and Phelps, 1966; Bradley, 1971). How Phacochoerus comes upon these holes is contested in the literature. Some authors consider the warthog to be a capable digger of its own holes (Geigy, 1955; Clough, 1969) or modifier of the holes of the aardvark (Bradley, 1971). Others consider the warthog to be dependent on hyena, aardvark, and porcupine burrows for shelter (Thomas and Kolbe, 1942; Copley, 1949). In East Africa, burrows are usually located near the top of watersheds or in the area of Acacia drepanolobium (Bradley, 1971). Bradley suggests three reasons for this. First, higher ground is less susceptible to flooding. Second, since the black cotton soil is more compressed in these areas, it is more difficult for predators to dig out a warthog. Third, it may be more difficult to excavate a burrow of sufficient size in the plains areas.

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Warthog diets are markedly seasonal; they eat primarily grass leaves during the wet season and, in the dry season, dig for grass rhizomes while “kneeling” on their carpals (Cumming, 1975). The few comprehensive studies on diet in the warthog reveal that this animal specializes in the exploitation at all stages of the grass plant, while remaining open to the possibility of locally or seasonally available nongrass resources (Cumming, 1975). The proportion of different grass plant parts varies throughout the range: in East Africa, warthogs concentrate on leaves rather than underground rhizomes, as in South Africa (Fradrich, 1965). In West Africa, however, Ph. aethiopicus is reported to be more omnivorous, eating roots of aquatic and land plants as well as grasses (Bigourdan, 1948; Ewer, 1958). In parts of Tanzania where it raids unripe rice crops, Phacochoerus has become a pest (Geigy, 1955). The extent to which Ph. aethiopicus excavates vegetable foods is reported to differ seasonally (Cumming, 1975). The prevalence of rooting also differs geographically throughout the considerable geographic range of these animals. Rooting is nonetheless an important method of food procurement (Leister, 1939; Cumming, 1975; contra Ewer, 1958). Cumming (1975) describes the characteristic marking of the warthog rootle as a shallow and wide depression. Rhinarium digging by warthog in his study was primarily a cold, dry season activity, so it is not surprising that the animals would excavate hard, baked soil in addition to softer earth. Warthog rootling has only been observed to uncover grass rhizomes and the roots of other monocotyledons (Cumming, 1975; Leuthold, 1977). Warthogs also eat dicotyledonous plants, although apparently not as often. There is also anecdotal evidence that warthogs will opportunistically consume animal foods. Tame free-ranging warthog would sometimes eat raw meat offered to them (Cumming, 1975). A litter of rats found in a grain store was consumed by one female warthog, while another ignored them (Cumming, 1975). Small animals and large animal carcasses are also consumed; in one case a warthog group made forays on three successive days to feed on a carcass (Geigy, 1955; Cumming, 1975). The antiquity of the warthog is unclear. There is fossil evidence for its presence in eastern Africa from at least the middle Pleistocene of Uganda (Pickford, 1994). POTAMOCHOERUS: THE BUSHPIG OR RED RIVER HOG

The bushpig Potamochoerus is the smallest indigenous African pig. Current thinking on the genus Potamochoerus Gray, 1854, is leaning toward the presence of two forms, which are considered as separate species by some workers (Grubb, 1993) and as subspecies by others (Sjarmidi and Gerard, 1988). In the neontological literature, there is support for the view that Potamochoerus is a strictly monospecific genus (see Stewart and Stewart, 1963; Ansell 1971). The two species view holds that Potamochoerus porcus (Linnaeus, 1758), the red river hog, is restricted to the gallery forests and humid forests of western Africa. Potamochoerus larvatus, the bushpig, is found in eastern and southern Africa, where it occupies drier forest and savanna woodland. Po. porcus and Po. larvatus are also indicated to be parapatric throughout their ranges, although this might not be the case in the Aberdare National Forest in Kenya or in the Kibale forest of Uganda (Ghilgieri et al., 1982). Indeed, there is potential for contact between the two forms throughout much of their range (d’Huart, 1993; Grubb, 1993).

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In one classification scheme that gives Po. porcus and Po. larvatus specific status, no subspecies of Po. porcus are recognized (Grubb, 1993). Instead, all formerly recognized subspecies are collapsed into one highly variable species (Grubb, 1993). In the same scheme, Po. larvatus is divided into five subspecies, two of which, Po. l. larvatus and Po. l. hova, are endemic to Madagascar. The other three proposed subspecies of Po. larvatus are geographic subspecies. The alternative to this is the sinking of all named subspecies into the species with priority, Potamochoerus porcus (Ansell, 1971). The differences between these taxa are primarily based on details of coat color, which ranges from bright red with black “spectacles” and white dorsal stripe, to black or gray with white face (Forsyth Major, 1897; Grubb, 1993). There appears to be a geographic gradient in coloration, as well as substantial variation in coloration within individual populations. Ghiglieri et al. (1982) state that in the Kibale forest of Uganda, 49% have a “porcus” coat, 38% are “larvatus,” 7% are intermediate, and 6% are a blond phenotype that may be a hybrid. The authors hypothesize that larvatus and porcus may be separated by pre- rather than postzygotic mechanisms (Dobzhansky, 1937). However, they suggest that work with captive hybrids is necessary to determine whether hybrids are themselves capable of reproduction. “Morphological differences” have been cited as distinguishing larvatus and porcus on a specific level (Grubb, 1993). However, the only evidence presented for morphological difference other than coat color is overall skull size. Since available sample sizes are small, variability large, and there is potential for geographic size clines, differences in skull dimensions in the absence of discrete morphological differences will not be treated as significant here. The bushpig is the most vividly colored of all pigs (Bigourdan, 1948). It occurs all over sub-Saharan Africa wherever the country is suitably dense and broken (Copley, 1949; Maberly, 1966; Cooke, 1976; Kingdon, 1979). In eastern Africa, these habitats include highland forest to 3,700 m above sea level, tree-grassland, riverine woodland, bush, and coastal bush (Stewart and Stewart, 1963; Sale et al., 1976). Favored habitats in southern Africa are similar, consisting of patches of forest or thicket, dense reedbeds, or rocky and well-wooded ravines (Maberly, 1966). A permanent source of water is necessary for the presence of bushpigs, and they are able to swim across even large rivers (Bigourdan, 1948; Maberly, 1966). Potamochoerus is a nocturnal or crepuscular feeder, ranging into more open areas for its preferred foods (Copley, 1949; Maberly, 1950; Dorst and Dandelot, 1972; Cooke, 1976). Several morphological characteristics of the eye suggest that nocturnality is a recent habit for Potamochoerus (Luck, 1965). This is supported by its more diurnal habits in areas where it is undisturbed (Maberly, 1950; Scotcher, 1973; Kingdon, 1979). It is thus possible that nocturnality in this creature is a relatively recent adjustment to harassment by humans, which also enables it to raid crops more conveniently. Potamochoerus occasionally uses underground burrows of hyenas and more often makes “tunnels” through dense undergrowth (Copley, 1949). These tunnels are used as refuge from their main predator, the leopard, for sleeping, and for nesting during farrowing (Copley, 1949). Bushpig juveniles are better thermoregulators than warthogs, which may explain their lesser reliance on shelter (Sowls and Phelps, 1966). Their denser body hair may also play a role in their thermal efficiency (Sowls and Phelps, 1966).

Although this pig is cosmopolitan in its distribution throughout Africa, surprisingly few studies have been made of it. Accounts of its diet and habits remain largely anecdotal despite its reviled and persecuted status as a devastating crop raider in sub-Saharan Africa (Maberly, 1950, 1966; Skinner et al., 1976). The principal vegetable foods of the bushpig in southern Africa are wild fruits, roots, tubers, rhizomes of forest and swamp ferns, mushrooms, grass, wild arum lilies, other bulbs, and the bark of some trees (Thomas and Kolbe, 1942; Maberly, 1966). Fallen figs are a particularly popular food (Maberly, 1950). In eastern Africa, roots, berries, and wild fruit form the main vegetable components of its diet (Copley, 1949). In western Africa, they favor fruits and leaves, only turning to crops when pickings are slim in the forest (Bigourdan, 1948). Bushpig are accused of destroying a staggering variety of domestic crops, including but not limited to sweet potato, maize, and papaya (Phillips, 1926; Thomas and Kolbe, 1942; Copley, 1949; Maberly, 1950; Sowls and Phelps, 1968; Milstein, 1971; Dorst and Dandelot, 1972; Skinner et al., 1976). During drought, bushpig eat succulents back to the point from which they cannot recover (Skinner et al., 1976). Bushpig are inveterate rootlers, capable of plowing up and destroying the macadam bottom of cages in captivity (Leister, 1939). In the wild, they are ceaselessly excavating foods with their snouts and tusks, a task for which their rhinaria are ideally suited (Maberly, 1950; Ewer, 1958, 1970; Deane, 1962). They are capable of turning over the soil to a depth of 40 cm to obtain mainly buried seeds, roots, rhizomes, and insects (Phillips, 1926; Thomas and Kolbe, 1942; Skinner et al., 1976). Rootling has a positive outcome for the forest; soil is aerated, and seeds are passed in droppings and sown (Phillips, 1926; Maberly, 1950). As Po. porcus is characterized as the most omnivorous of an omnivorous bunch, it is no surprise that reports of animal foods in their diet are legion (Maberly, 1966; Cumming, 1975; Skinner et al., 1976). They will eat insects, reptiles, bird’s eggs, young birds and mammals, disabled small antelope, carrion, domestic livestock, and poultry (Phillips, 1926; Thomas and Kolbe, 1942; Copley, 1949; Maberly, 1950; Milstein, 1971; Breytenbach, unpub. obs. in Skinner et al., 1971; Skinner et al., 1976). There are also interesting polyspecific relations associated with bushpig feeding and habits. In southern Africa, chacma baboons and grey vervets follow rootling bushpigs in order to eat “choice tidbits” ignored by the swine (Phillips, 1926; Maberly, 1950). The association with Cercopithecus aethiops is mutually profitable; bushpig follow vervets to eat tree fruit, usually inaccessible to the pigs, which the vervets discard after eating only a few bites (Skinner et al., 1976; Durrell, 1993). Potamochoerus also follow the paths of the Knyssa elephant in southern Africa, eating their feces as well as plant and insect material dislodged by the elephants (Phillips, 1926). It bears reiterating that the characters used to separate subspecies of the living Afrotropical suids are essentially invisible to paleontologists. The coat color of the possessors of isolated fossil teeth is not preserved. Even in the case of the proposed division between Phacochoerus africanus and Ph. aethiopicus, where there are postulated differences in anterior dentition (Grubb, 1993), it would be difficult to discern a difference between fossil specimens, since premaxillae are not particularly common in the fossil record. The temporal and geographic constraints imposed on paleontological research by limited fossil exposures usually preclude the consideration of even geographic variation. Moreover, within the constraints of the fossil record, it is difficult to separate temporal variation from geographic.



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The geographic “species” discussed here do not usually exhibit ecological differences greater than those that are present within the habitat range of any one subspecies.

Order ARTIODACTYLA Owen, 1848 Superfamily SUOIDEA Gray, 1821 Family SUIDAE Gray, 1821 Subfamily LISTRIODONTINAE Simpson, 1945

MODERN SUID ECOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTIONS

The distribution of suids throughout sub-Saharan Africa today is at best an approximation of what is was two or three centuries ago. All wild suids have been found to be susceptible to swine fever, a fact that has certainly affected their distributions and population sizes during historic times (Thomas, 1904; Tookey, 1959). Hylochoerus was perhaps more numerous before the European-imported bovine plague of 1890 (Thomas, 1904; Bigourdan, 1948). Warthogs have been systematically exterminated to eliminate them as a reservoir for tsetse-borne trypanosomiasis (Child et al., 1965, 1968). Bushpigs have been persecuted by farmers to prevent crop destruction by these persistent raiders (Thomas and Kolbe, 1942; Maberly, 1950). Habitat destruction and hunting for city “bush meat” markets are also threatening the survival of African suids (d’Huart, 1993). The habitats and distributions of living suid taxa are largely constrained to particular habitats; they appear to range together only when these habitats are in close proximity (Behrensmeyer, 1975; Kingdon, 1979; Delaney and Happold, 1979). There appear to be few cases of habitat or resource overlap in modern suids. Potamochoerus is listed in some sources as sympatric with Hylochoerus; but there is never a question of their exploiting similar resources (Sjarmidi and Gerard, 1988). Apparently overlapping geographic ranges of suids are a function of scale; habitats favorable to different species are often interspersed on a level too small to be represented on a map (Thomas and Kolbe, 1942). While specializing in a particular habitat or vegetational type, suids retain the ability to successfully exploit a wider range of habitats than those most favored. In some rare examples, one species of pig colonizes an area usually inhabited by another species. The invasive form assumes habits typically associated with the pigs more commonly found in that area (Bigourdan, 1949; d’Huart, 1978). The two cases mentioned in the literature, where forest hogs exploit savanna grasses and where warthogs eat soft roots and tubers, may be historical accidents. Population densities readily reveal which habitat is preferred by these animals; for Hylochoerus, the forest figure is 50 times that on the savanna (d’Huart, 1978). Another possibility is that population pressure in the primary habitat causes this and other cases of ecological expansionism. Suids, especially juveniles, are intolerant of temperature extremes and high winds, and require standing water (Thomas and Kolbe, 1942; Sowls and Phelps, 1966). In historical times, the East African Plio-Pleistocene paleontological sites have fallen within the current range of a single taxon, Phacochoerus. In southern Africa, some palaeontological sites are currently in the range of both bushpigs and warthog. In the past these regions were host to many suid paleospecies at any one time (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978; Harris and White, 1979). Changes in the environments of Africa since the Pliocene are reflected in the evolution and distribution changes of the Suidae.

SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY What follows summarizes the available material on the African fossil suoid record. This chapter follows the higher taxonomy (to subfamily) of Harris and Liu (2008) but enumerates more species than in that work.

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Listriodontinae have incisors with low crowns and I1s that are oriented transversely and straight (as opposed to placement in a V shape; Made, 1996). Postcanine teeth in this subfamily are lophodont or nearly lophodont. Although Made (1996) includes some more bunodont taxa in his Listriodontinae, in this summary those taxa are considered Kubanochoerinae, where their cingula and pyramidal, bunodont molar cusps are a uniting feature. Listriodontinae replaced Kubanochoerinae in eastern Africa during the later part of the middle Miocene. Genus LISTRIODON von Meyer, 1846 LISTRIODON AKATIKUBAS Wilkinson, 1976

Holotype KNM-MG 2, left m3 from Mbagathi, Kenya. Distribution Middle Miocene of Kenya (including Maboko, Fort Ternan, Nyakach) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (Sinda). Remarks Listriodon akatikubas is very similar to the slightly smaller Eurasian Listriodon splendens and distinguished chiefly by virtue of the labial cingula on the molars of the former taxon. Also, the loph structure is imperfect and the ridges connecting the cusps are relatively large and bunodont; even when the teeth are worn the separate cusps of the molars are visible (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). The m3 talonid is asymmetrical, and the dental enamel is smooth and without crenulations. The teeth have no accessory tubercles and weak or absent cingula. This species is slightly larger than Listriodon akatidogus. LISTRIODON AKATIDOGUS Wilkinson, 1976

Holotype KNM-MG 9, left M3 from Mbagathi, Kenya. Distribution Middle Miocene, Kenya. Remarks Somewhat smaller than Listriodon akatikubas, this pig otherwise resembles it in morphology. P3 has a more strongly developed cingulum that encircles the tooth. The dental enamel is relatively thick. Upper molars can flare considerably, and the talonid of m3 is better developed. Pickford (2007) questions the assignment of this species to the genus Listriodon. LISTRIODON BARTULENSIS Pickford, 2001

Holotype Mandible recovered from Ngorora Fm. Distribution Middle Miocene of Kenya. LISTRIODON JUBA Ginsburg, 1977

Holotype Bml 187, right p3 from Beni Mellal, Morocco. Distribution Middle Miocene of Morocco. Remarks There is little known about the two aforementioned taxa, and they are included here for completeness. Made (1992) places Listriodon juba within the genus Lopholistriodon and has it as ancestral to Lo. kidogosana, indicating trends in increased crown height and decreased body size. Genus LOPHOLISTRIODON Pickford and Wilkinson, 1975 Pigs attributed to this genus are very small in size and have well-developed lophodont teeth, with strong, broad transverse crests in P4–M3. The cheek teeth do not generally have

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accessory cusps, which contributes to the lophodont appearance. The upper premolars have large and wide cingula. The talonid of m3 is well developed, and the small lower canines rest in depressions in the maxillae. The lower incisors are narrow. The taxon has a combination of relatively primitive cranial morphology combined with a specialized dentition (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). LOPHOLISTRIODON PICKFORDI Made, 1995

Holotype KNM WS 115, right and left mandible fragments, each with m2 and m3 from West Stephanie (Buluk), Kenya. Distribution Early–middle Miocene of Kenya. Remarks A larger species than Lopholistriodon kidogosana, which has less well-developed lophodonty in the molars. LOPHOLISTRIODON KIDOGOSANA Pickford and Wilkinson, 1975 Figure 42.1

Holotype KNM BN 992, male cranium with right and left C, M2–M3 from the Ngorora Fm, Kenya. Distribution Middle Miocene of Kenya. Remarks The cranium is gracile and slender, and smaller than Eurasian Listriodon. Weak development of the areas of

attachment for the muscles of the rhinarium suggests that this taxon was not a rootler. Instead, a developed mm. levator lateralis may have helped gather food along the cheektooth row when the lip was raised (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). This, combined with the lophodont dentition and elevated postion of the glenoid, indicates this suid was feeding on soft plant material that required cutting rather than grinding by its dentition (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). The upper canines are short and relatively straight (Made, 1995). Subfamily KUBANOCHOERINAE Gabunia, 1958 Kubanochoerinae are the earliest known true pigs in Africa. Movements from Eurasia likely precipitated their appearance in the African fossil record around 21 Ma. The closest European relatives to these early African pigs are probably to be found in the genus Aureliochoerus from Europe (Pickford, 2006). While the subfamily was erected by Gabunia (1958) to contain the “horned” pig from the Caucasus, Kubanochoerus robustus, the African forms share with their Eurasian cousins bunodont molars with labial cingula on their upper teeth (Pickford, 2006). At least some of the African forms are thought to have the bony facial horns characteristic of the Caucasian Kubanochoerus, but relevant parts of the skull are not known for all taxa. It

FIGURE 42.1 Inferior (A) and lateral (B) views of KNM-BN 992, Lopholistriodon kidogosana. Note extreme development of lophodont crests on postcanine teeth. After Pickford 1986:67–68, figures 63 and 64.



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is also possible that the presence of these facial horns is a sexually dimorphic trait in the African taxa (Turner and Anton, 2004). Made (1996) includes the Kubanochoerinae in the Listriodontinae, but my view is that they should remain distinct at the subfamilial level because of morphological discontinuities between what are described here as two different subfamilies. Kubanochoerinae increase in size with time, and this, along with some other morphological developments, may allow the group to be useful as biostratigraphic indicators in the Miocene of Africa (Made, 1996, Pickford, 2001). However, the material is far too scanty to fully test this idea at present. It appears possible that the kubanochoerines moved from Africa into Eurasia; this also fits with the temporal trend for increased body size (Pickford, 1986). Once they arrived in Eurasia, they appear to have spread both rapidly and widely. While kubanochoerines were the dominant suid during the middle Miocene, they were replaced comprehensively by the tetracondontine suids in the later part of the Miocene. Harris and Leakey (2003) have described material from the late Miocene Nawata Formation at Lothagam that they attribute to the genus Kubanochoerus. This material may provide evidence of both late survivorship of this subfamily and co-occurrence of Kubanochoerinae and Tetraconodontinae. However, it has been considered elsewhere as Nyanzachoerus due to its massive premolars (Hill et al., 1992). It seems better accommodated in the Tetraconodontinae than the Kubanochoerinae, unless there is a subsequent migration of the latter from the Eurasia, undetected except for this example. The Kubanochoerinae otherwise disappear from the African fossil record in the middle Miocene. Genus NGURUWE Pickford, 1986 NGURUWE NAMIBENSIS (Pickford, 1986)

Holotype SAM PQ 20, cranium and mandible with dentition (left I2, C, P4–M3, right P3–M3, left i2, c, p3–m3, right p4–m3 from Langental (⫽ Bogenfels), northern Sperrgebiet, Namibia. Distribution Early–middle Miocene of Namibia. Remarks The genus Nguruwe (from the Kiswahili for pig) refers to small species known only from the early–middle Miocene. These are the smallest of the kubanochoeres, weighing only 10–15 kg (Made, 1996) and having narrow incisors and bunodont molars. The known upper incisors are robust and triangular. The upper fourth premolar has a complete cingulum around the tooth. Enamel on the molars is very thick, and they have a labial cingulum and a weakly developed lingual cingulum. The third molars are unelaborated, having simple talon/ids and a complete labial cingulum. This suid is relatively poorly known and the species was originally put in the genus Kenyasus, but subsequent finds from further sites in the same region of Namibia allowed it to be characterized as Nguruwe ( Pickford, 1997, 2001). NGURUWE KIJIVIUM (Wilkinson, 1976)

Holotype Nap I’64, left maxilla fragment with M1–3 from Napak, Uganda. Distribution Early Miocene of Uganda and Kenya. Remarks Material originally described as Hyotherium kijivium (Wilkinson, 1976) has subsequently been reassigned to the newer, African genus Nguruwe by Pickford (1986). Like 836


its congener from southern Africa Ng. namibensis, Ng. kijivium is a small suid, known from middle Miocene localities of eastern Africa. At most of these sites, it is the only suid species, known from fragmentary dental remains. At Rusinga Nguruwe is joined by Kenyasus rusingensis and Libycochoerus jeanelli from which Nguruwe kijivium is separable on the basis of both size and morphology (Pickford, 1986). Nguruwe kijivium differs from subsequent Kubanochoerinae in having a small and narrow I1 and a relatively high crowned i1. It also has a simple m3 with the four individual cusps closely arranged in transverse pairs, and a symmetrical taper to the talonid. The M3 is also simple, having a very small (or missing) talon (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). The canine enamel is thin but rugose, and the cingula of the premolars can have crenulations on their edges (Pickford, 1986). Once again, this suid is poorly known, with a small distribution in time and space. Genus KENYASUS Pickford, 1986 KENYASUS RUSINGENSIS Pickford, 1986

Holotype KNM RU 2701 articulated subadult cranium and mandible (with associated skeleton) from Rusinga, Kenya. Distribution Early Miocene of Kenya (Rusinga, Karungu and Arongo) and Namibia. Remarks These pigs are small to medium sized, with the upper molar row approximately 50 mm in length (Pickford, 1986). Their I1 is not spatulate but peglike, differentiating them from other kubanochoerines. Their lower incisors are relatively small and thin. Like all kubanochoerines this pig has cingula on its molars and premolars, however, on the molars these can be relatively weak. The molars do not flare as much as some other species of kubanochoerines, and the enamel is thinner than in some examples. The molars also have cusps in pairs separated by a deep transverse valley and a centrally positioned hypoconulid (Pickford and Senut, 1997). The cingula have accessory cusplets. Pickford separated this taxon from Hyotherium soemmeringi because it lacks both a prezygomatic shelf and canine flange, and also the upper central incisors do not make contact mesially, all of which features are found in kubanochoerines but not in listriodonines. Made (1997) places this genus in Cainochoerinae, but Pickford (2006) lists it within the Kubanochoerinae, preferring to stress instead that the taxon may have given rise to the Namachoerinae, small suids with lophodont dentitions. KENYASUS NAMAQUENSIS Pickford and Senut, 1997

Holotype SAM-PQ RK 1399, an upper left molar from Ryskop, Namaqualand, South Africa. Distribution Early–middle Miocene Kenya, Uganda, and South Africa Remarks This taxon is little known but has teeth larger than those of Kenyasus rusingensis from Kenya. The holotype molar has four main cusps and accessory cusplets, with a strong cingulum. The other referred specimen in the description, a right P4, is similarly larger than Ke. rusingensis with a single large lingual cusp surrounded by a cingulum; there are two labial cusps (Pickford and Senut, 1997). This species is thought to have a frugivorous /omnivorous diet (Pickford and Kunimatsu, 2005). It has very bunodont cheek teeth, separating it from the bunodont listriodontine pigs (Pickford, 2007).

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Genus LIBYCOCHOERUS Arambourg, 1961 The genus Libycochoerus Arambourg, 1961 was subsequently sunk into Kubanochoerus but then revived by Pickford (1986) to accentuate the difference between Eurasian and African forms. Other authors consider this genus to be a synonym of Kubanochoerus but refer material assigned to species of the latter genus to Bunolistriodon and other taxa (Made, 1996). Libycochoerus are medium- to large-sized pigs with very robust teeth that are mesiodistally long. They also have stout canines and simple molars, with a small talon on the M3. The m3 has a large and continuous cingulum that is crenulated around its edge. The front of the face and zygomatic arches are large (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). LIBYCOCHOERUS ANCHIDENS (Made, 1996)

Holotype KNM-RU 2785, mandible with left i1, partial c, p1–m3 and right i1–2, partial c and p1–p3 from Rusinga, Kenya. Distribution Early Miocene of Kenya. Remarks This taxon is thought to have derived from Nguruwe and is similar to it in morphology, although larger (Made, 1996). The incisors are narrow but higher crowned than in Nguruwe, and the postcanine teeth are bunodont. Material contained in it was formerly assigned to Bunolistriodon jeanneli, but it is much smaller than that species. It is unknown whether the skull of Libycochoerus would have possessed the “horn” between the frontals that characterizes other members of the Kubanochoerinae. The p4 of this taxon is more derived because it has a larger metaconid. Libycochoerus anchidens is known from a short period only, and occurrences are restricted to the sites of Rusinga and Karungu in Kenya. LIBYCOCHOERUS JEANNELI (Arambourg, 1943) Figure 42.2

Holotype MNHN (Paris) No 1933-9, Maxilla with left and right P3–M3 from Moruorot (Losodok), Turkana, Kenya. Distribution Early–middle Miocene of Kenya. Remarks While the original author thought this species was a Listriodon due to premolar morphology, Pickford (1986) ascribed it to Kubanochoerinae on the basis of its affinity to the more primitive members of that subfamily, Nguruwe and Kenyasus, which it is larger than. The P4 has a strong, encircling cingulum. The lower molars are bunodont and the teeth do not tend toward lophodonty, as is the case in Listriodontinae. The postcanine teeth possess cingula that are ridged with small cuspules. This species may have a distribution beyond Africa; a specimen from Fategad in India that has similar size and morphology to specimens from Moruorot may also be assigned to it (Made, 1996).

FIGURE 42.2 Dentition of Libycochoerus jeanelli (KNM-RU 2782 and KNM-RU 2780). After Pickford 1986:41, figure 37.

LIBYCOCHOERUS MASSAI Arambourg, 1961 Figure 42.3

Holotype MHNH (Paris) No. 1961–5–8, left mandible with p2–m3 from Jebel Zelten, Libya. Distribution Early middle Miocene of Libya and middle Miocene of Kenya. Remarks This type species of the genus Libycochoerus is based on relatively complete material from Jebel Zelten, Libya. It has relatively robust P1 with strong roots, in contrast with Listriodon, to which it is sometimes referred. Like most kubanochoerines, this taxon also has bunodont teeth that are strongly cingulated. A male skull from Jebel Zelten has a bony “horn” on the frontal, and there appear to be bony bosses on the postorbital bars (figure 42.3); facial “horns” are a characteristic of this subfamily (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978; Pickford, 1986). A specimen from the Tugen Hills, Kenya, has recently been attributed to this species, its first documented occurrence outside the type locality (Pickford, 2001). This species appears to be derived relative to the smaller Libycochoerus jeanneli in having larger third molar talon/ids. Genus MEGALOCHOERUS Pickford, 1993 Megalochoerus is distinguished from Libycochoerus chiefly on the basis of its size and the flaring of its molars. The genus is also characterized by relatively large talonids on the lower third molars. Megalochoerus increases in size through time. MEGALOCHOERUS MARYMUUNGUAE (Made, 1996)

Holotype KNM WS 12595, right and left p2–m3 from Buluk (West Stephanie), Kenya. Distribution Early–middle Miocene of Kenya. Remarks This early representative of Megalochoerus is probably the smallest species of the genus in size; it was originally attributed to Kubanochoerus but is now considered as the early part of a small radiation of the genus Megalochoerus. The molars are large but relatively wide and flare out from the cervix, and the premolars are large. The lower premolars are also wide, and the incisors and premolars are relatively larger than in other species of this subfamily (Made, 1996). MEGALOCHOERUS KHINZIKEBIRUS (Wilkinson, 1976)

Holotype BU 6416–82 a–e, right p2–p4 and m2–m3 from Jebel Zelten, Libya.

Reconstruction of Libycochoerus massai based on specimens from Gebel Zelten, Libya, by Mauricio Antón. Used with permission.

FIGURE 42.3



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Distribution Middle Miocene, Jebel Zelten, Libya; Maboko, Kenya.

Remarks This extremely large suid, originally attributed to the genus Kubanochoerus by Wilkinson (1976) has now been referred to Megalochoerus, appropriately because of its enormous size. In other respects, this species is similar to others in the subfamily, with longer, simple premolars and fully bunodont molars, of which the upper molars are relatively wide. Once again this species is poorly known, although there appears to be a diastema between the robust P1 and P2 in the upper dentition. The P1 is relatively small, and the talons of the P3 and P4 are poorly developed (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). Based on material from Maboko, the lower incisors appear to be very large and the uppers both large and spatulate (Pickford, 1986). In addition to the material from Libya and Kenya, some fossils from Turkey have also been assigned to this species, making it one of the rare African forms to be found outside the continent in the Miocene (Pickford, 1986). This species is thought to be a very large-bodied omnivore (Pickford and Kanimatsu, 2005). MEGALOCHOERUS HUMONGOUS Pickford, 1993

Holotype GSI B 450, right mandible with p4 through fragmentary m3 from Bugti, Baluchistan, Pakistan. Distribution Middle Miocene of Kenya and Libya. Remarks This truly huge member of the kubanochoerines was chiefly responsible both for the generic and trivial names of this species. Pickford (1993, 2001) interprets these animals as being very large, commensurate in size with some contemporaneous Proboscidea, with which they were initially confused. This is the terminal species in the genus found in Africa although there is evidence of its occurrence in Turkey and in Pakistan, from whence the type specimen derives. Made (1996) believes the type specimen to be an anthracothere. The species illustrates the trend in increased body size in kubanochoerines; it is both the latest and the largest of Megalochoerus species. Subfamily TETRACONODONTINAE Lydekker, 1876 Genus NYANZACHOERUS Leakey, 1958 In Asia, tetraconodonts are widely represented by Sivachoerus (S. prior, not S. giganteus, which contra Pilgrim [1926] is a suine and not a tetraconodont; Pickford, 1986). There are early, unattributed specimens representing perhaps more primitive tetraconodont species found in the Ngorora Formation (and also at Maboko) that have very enlarged posterior premolars (e.g. KNM BN 1491-2). Although the exact nature of the phylogenetic relationship of Nyanzachoerus to the Asian Sivachoerus is still debated, there are several craniodental characteristics that link the members of Nyanzachoerus to one another (Pickford, 1986; Bishop and Hill, 1999; Made, 1999). Nyanzachoerus has been identified in Arabia, which may provide a clue as to the movement of this subfamily between Africa and Eurasia (Bishop and Hill, 1999). In Africa, the Tetraconodontinae are represented by two genera: Nyanzachoerus and its descendant Notochoerus. Like all tetraconodonts, nyanzachoeres are suids that possess enlarged posterior (fourth and third) premolars relative to their anterior (second and first, when preserved) premolars. All possess deep and robust mandibles, especially anteriorly, where the massive symphysis may extend as far posteriorly as the level of the premolars. Tooth enamel is relatively thick. Although there is a trend toward increasing elaboration of the third molars

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with time, through most of its temporal range Nyanzachoerus is characterized by simple and bunodont M3s, with cusps which, when worn, show dentine lakes having a star shape. Evolutionary trends in the African tetraconodonts have made them useful for biochronology; several subspecies have been proposed to compartmentalize biogeographic and temporal variation (Made, 1999). Nyanzachoerus is a Mio-Pliocene genus. NYANZACHOERUS DEVAUXI (Arambourg, 1968)

Holotype Right mandibular fragment from Oued el Hammam in Algeria’s Bou Hanifia region. (originally Propotamochoerus devauxi). Distribution Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Chad, Kenya. Remarks Ny. devauxi is the most primitive of the described species of Tetraconodontinae known from Africa. Recently recovered specimens from the lowest stratigraphic levels at Lothagam are very primitive representatives of Nyanzachoerus. They most closely resemble the type of Ny. devauxi (Harris and Leakey, 2003). The species may also be present in the Tugen Hills sequence, although remains are fragmentary. Ny. devauxi has also been recovered from Sahabi, Libya (Cooke, 1987). This taxon is the most likely ancestor for the later Nyanzachoerus species in East Africa. The original description of the species presented a specimen with relatively larger posterior than anterior premolars, although the disparity was not huge, as with later Ny. tulotus (Arambourg, 1968). The molars are all relatively bunodont. The third molars possess an unelaborated, true talon/id, the posterior cusps of which are not in full occlusion. There appears to be slight cingulum formation on the cheek teeth. In contrast, Sivachoerus prior Pilgrim, 1926, illustrated in Pickford (1988), appears to have pronounced cingulum development. The specimen of Propotamochoerus devauxi illustrated in Arambourg (1968) appears to differ in size between its p3 and p2. Despite the apparent possession of this diagnostic tetraconodont feature of relatively large posterior premolars, Arambourg allied this specimen with a species, Propotamochoerus hysudricus Pilgrim, 1926, which is now considered to be Suinae (Pickford, 1988). Leaving nomenclatural differences aside for a moment, the important thing to note is that Ny. devauxi, with its relatively generalized tetraconodont features, makes a very plausible ancestral taxon for the East African Nyanzachoerus-Notochoerus lineage. And, with its possible recognition at Lothagam, it is in the right place at the right time. Since there are few known occurrences of this taxon in East Africa, it would be difficult to deduce any time range for the taxon. A study of the postcranial ecomorphology of Ny devauxi suggests that this taxon preferred habitats intermediate between forest and open grasslands, such as bushland (Bishop, 1994; Bishop et al., 1999). These pigs were browsers to mixed feeders, as confirmed by carbon stable isotope analysis of their tooth enamel to reconstruct their diets (Harris and Cerling, 2002). NYANZACHOERUS SYRTICUS (Leonardi, 1954) Figures 42.4A and 42.5

Holotype Nearly complete mandible from Sahabi, Libya. Distribution Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Chad, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda.

Remarks Although also a tetraconodont, Ny. syrticus represents an extreme, with massive and broad P3/p3 and P4/p4 in the most derived specimens. Later Ny. syrticus specimens also

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A

mm10

B

20

30

40

C

50

M3 in Tetraconodontinae: A) Nyanzachoerus syrticus; B) Nyanzachoerus kanamensis; C) Notochoeurus jaegeri. Note the increase in anterior cingulum area and elaboration in the talon through evolutionary time. After Made 1996:12, figure 7.

FIGURE 42.4

Ny. syrticus has one named subspecies, Ny. s. tulotus, based on an incomplete cranium from Lothagam, Kenya (KNMLT 316, the original holotype of Ny. tulotus Cooke and Ewer, 1972, subsequently demoted to subspecific status). With a much larger sample size of the species now available for study, the Lothagam form seems more properly attributed to a subspecies. In North Africa, Ny. syrticus is known from the type locality in Sahabi, Libya, and has also been reported from Tunisia, Algeria, and Toros-Menalla, Chad (Vignaud et al., 2002). Harris and White (1979) report this taxon from the Afar region; further details are not available. In Kenya, it has been recognized in deposits from Lothagam, Kanam East, Kanam West, Ekora, and the Lukeino and Chemeron Formations of the Tugen Hills. Ny. syrticus has not been reported from southern Africa. A study of diet in Ny. syrticus from the Tugen Hills suggests that they were mixed feeders to browsers (Bishop et al., 1999). Specimens from Lothagam show a similar range of dietary adaptations (Harris and Cerling, 2002). Although isotopic values suggest at least one specimen was consuming significant quantities of grass, they may also have focused on the more wooded end of the browsing spectrum, or perhaps ate fruit fallen from trees. NYANZACHOERUS WAYLANDI (Cooke and Coryndon, 1970)

Holotype M26324, a left m3 from Nyaburogo Valley, Toro District, Uganda housed at the Natural History Museum, London. Distribution Latest Miocene of Uganda. Remarks The type specimen and small initial collection was originally described as Sus and then sunk into Ko. limnetes (Cooke, 1978b; Harris and White, 1979). More complete material was subsequently found at the type site in Uganda that suggested that Sus waylandi had tetraconodont features and was more properly attributed to Nyanzachoerus (Pickford, 1989). Like other tetraconodonts, it has large third and fourth premolars. Ny. waylandi is distinguished principally on the basis of its small size, which it shares with Ny. devauxi. However, compared with Ny. devauxi, Ny. waylandi has relatively smaller premolars and relatively longer m3s (Pickford, 1989).

FIGURE 42.5 Lower cheek teeth in Tetraconodontinae: A) Nyanzachoerus syrticus (KNM-LT 295); B) Notochoeurus jaegeri (Omo 1967[71]); C) Notochoerus euilus (KNM-ER 2773). Note the decrease in size in the posterior premolars, p3 and p4 co-occurring with the increased size, and elaboration in m3. After Harris and White 1979:18, 21, and 30, figures 13, 22, and 43.

possess well-developed molar cingula around the circumference of the tooth. This species occurs quite early in the temporal range of the Nyanzachoerus lineage (Harris and White, 1979), but it may be too derived to have been ancestral to later populations of Ny. kanamensis and No. jaegeri for reasons more fully explained below. At Lothagam, a large sample of Nyanzachoerus syrticus shows strong sexual dimorphism; males are larger and have more “ornamented” skulls with conspicuous bony bosses on their skull muzzle and widely flaring cheekbones that were probably enhanced by thick skin pads in life (Turner and Anton, 2004). Unlike later suine pigs, Ny. syrticus did not have very large canines.

NYANZACHOERUS KANAMENSIS Leakey, 1958 Figure 42.4B

Holotype BM M15882, a partial left mandibular corpus from Kanam, Kenya, housed at the Natural History Museum, London. Distribution Egypt, Ethiopia, Chad, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa. Remarks The genus Nyanzachoerus was founded on this taxon, a sexually dimorphic tetraconodont that has enlarged third and fourth premolars. Premolars of Ny. kanamensis are not as markedly large as in Ny. syrticus. There are also differences in emphasis in the development of the third molar. Ny. syrticus has low relief, compact, bunodont teeth with cingulum formation surrounding the tooth. There is no formation of an encircling cingulum on the posterior cheek teeth of Ny. kanamensis. Rather than being compact, the main cusps (or pillars) of Ny. kanamensis teeth are isolated and columnar. They are joined by small, cuspule-lined basins that rise approximately one-fourth of the height of the tooth above the cervix. Ny. kanamensis possesses an elaborated talon/id, which is trigonized—the talon/id pillars are at the FORT Y-T WO: SUOIDEA


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same occlusal height as those of the trigon/id. There is also no waisting of the crown at the trigon/talon junction. The enamel is thick, but some derived specimens show increased crown height. Finally, enamel crenulation on the tooth cusps is more complex in Ny. kanamensis than in Ny. syrticus or Ny. devauxi. When worn down through occlusion, dentine lakes exposed on the cusps are a simple star shape. A subspecies, Ny. k. australis Cooke and Hendey, 1992, which retains some primitive characteristics, has been recognized at Langebaanweg. Following Made (1999), this taxon was elevated to the species level based on material from Lothagam (Harris and Leakey, 2003). However, Bishop (1999) found that M3 metrics for known specimens of Nyanzachoerus kanamensis sensu lato were essentially continuous. Some authors have confined the name Ny. kanamensis to specimens from the western Rift Valley, citing relatively narrower premolars in western versus eastern forms. In this case, Ny. pattersoni Cooke and Ewer, 1972 is used to describe the eastern form with wider premolars (Harris and Leakey, 2003; Harris et al., 2003). Specimens from Ethiopia have also been assigned to Ny. pattersoni (Kullmer et al., 2008). However, in light of the fact that the type of Ny. kanamensis is not from the western rift and following metric studies of third molar size through time, it may be more appropriate to use pattersoni, as now done for australis, as a subspecies of Ny kanamensis (Bishop, 1999). This suid is very well distributed in East African Pliocene localities. It has been recovered from sites with and without the potential for radiometric age determination. Ny. kanamensis is known from the Omo and Afar, both east and west of Lake Turkana and from the Tugen Hills sequence. In addition, it is found at Kanam West, Kanapoi, Kanjera, Lothagam, and the Manonga Valley, Tanzania. It has been reported from Langebaanweg, South Africa as well. The earliest welldated specimens of Ny. kanamensis derive from Tabarin, a Chemeron Formation site from the Tugen Hills of Kenya, in sediments that date to 4.3 Ma (Hill et al., 1985). Other specimens from the Tugen Hills may extend the radiometrically determined range further back in time. The youngest welldated examples come from Ethiopia, from Upper Member B–Lower Member C of the Omo Shungura Formation, dated to approximately 2.85 Ma. As inferred from their dentitions and from carbon stable isotope studies of their tooth enamel, Ny. kanamensis were probably browsers to mixed feeders, at least during the later part of their time range (Bishop et al., 1999; Harris and Cerling, 2002). Studies of fossil postcrania identified to this taxon suggest that they preferred intermediate habitat types such as woodlands or bushland (Bishop, 1994; Bishop et al., 1999). Genus NOTOCHOERUS Broom, 1925 This genus is thought to have evolved from the genus Nyanzachoerus and its most primitive member is Notochoerus jaegeri. Originally named from South African material, Notochoerus are large suids with long crania. They exhibit progressive reduction in premolar size and most markedly a trend toward increasing hypsodonty and expansion of the third molars. Viewed laterally, m2s of Notochoerus flare markedly from the cervix to the crown. The lateral pillars of the elaborated third molars have greater mesial and distal folding of the enamel. On the later, more derived forms of Notochoerus, dentine lakes on worn cusps have an H-shaped appearance.

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NOTOCHOERUS JAEGERI (Coppens, 1971) Figures 42.4C and 42.5

Holotype Partial mandibular corpus with p2–m3 from Hamada Damous, Tunisia, housed at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. Distribution Tunisia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, South Africa. Remarks No. jaegeri was originally thought to be the most advanced species of the genus Nyanzachoerus when it was first recognized in deposits from northern Africa. Similar specimens from East Africa were assigned to a new species Ny. plicatus by Cooke and Ewer (1972), but jaegeri was the taxon with nomenclatural precedence, as has been recognized thereafter (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978; Harris and White, 1979). Study of recently recovered material from Lothagam and Kanapoi in Kenya has led Harris and Leakey (2003, 2004) to conclude that No. jaegeri possesses several advanced features allying it more closely with the genus Notochoerus than to Nyanzachoerus. The posterior premolars are reduced in size, and there is increasing relative tooth length in the molar row. The third molars are more elaborate than in earlier nyanzachoeres. In particular, the tooth is relatively long and hypsodont, the latter being accomplished by the addition of a variable number of talon pillars, which rise to the occlusal level. Additionally, there is pronounced invagination of the enamel surface on the lateral pillars of the tooth; when worn, these cause the cusps to take on a complex star-shaped appearance. A broad mandibular symphysis is similar to the condition of Notochoerus euilus, to which No. jaegeri is doubtless closely related. The presence of zygomatic knobs in some crania has led to the conclusion that No. jaegeri was a sexually dimorphic species. It is often difficult to distinguish advanced specimens of No. jaegeri from early No. euilus. No. jaegeri has been reported from a variety of localities, presumably those that have sediments formed during what may be a restricted time range. Although widely distributed in space, No. jaegeri has few known absolute dates associated with it. This is partially because many places where the species is found, such as Lothagam and Ekora, do not have firm radiometric dates, but it is also a relatively rare taxon (Kullmer, 2008). It has also been reported from Galili in Ethiopia (Kullmer et al., 2008). Specimens from dated sediments derive from Tabarin, a site in the Chemeron formation of the Tugen Hills sequence dating between 4.3 Ma and about 4.0 Ma, and from the Mursi Formation, dated to between 4.35 and 3.99 Ma. Numerous additional specimens derive from the Chemeron Formation and have yet to be fit into that chronostratigraphic framework. It has been recovered from the Chiwondo Beds of Malawi (Kullmer 2008) and is known from Langebaanweg in South Africa (Cooke and Hendey, 1992). These specimens will doubtless increase our knowledge of the temporal range of No. jaegeri. Based on carbon stable isotope studies of its diet, No. jaegeri is thought to have been a mixed feeder, with both grass and browse components consumed by the Tugen Hills specimens (Bishop et al., 1999). Specimens from Kanapoi appear to be more grass dependent, with isotopic values in the grazing end of the dietary spectrum (Harris and Cerling, 2002). This accords well with the trend seen in its molar morphology, with expansion of the third molar talon/ids linked to diets containing more grass.

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NOTOCHOERUS EUILUS (Hopwood, 1926) Figures 42.5 and 42.8

In South Africa, it is well-known from Makapansgat and the Vaal River Gravels (Harris and White, 1979).

Holotype M.12613A, a talonid of a right m3, from the Kaiso Formation of Uganda housed at the Natural History Museum, London. Distribution Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa. Remarks This species is more derived than its presumed ancestor No. jaegeri by virtue of expanded third molars and posterior premolars that are even further reduced relative to those of the genus Nyanzachoerus. There is greater expansion of the talon relative to Nyanzachoerus, with at least two of the lateral talon/id pillars equal in size and occlusal height with those of the trigon/id. The pillars are widely separated to the base and taper steeply. The species is variable in third molar size, but M3 tooth height and length have been said to increase with time. Crania are considered to be sexually dimorphic, with large zygomatic knobs on some (male) examples. The species has a wide range in space and time, being found at most Pliocene localities. Particularly, No. euilus is present in Ethiopia in the Omo Shungura Formation, the Hadar Formation and Galili. In Kenya, the species is known from the Chemeron Formation, Lothagam, Karmosit Beds, the Nachukui and the Koobi Fora Formations. It is also known from the Laetolil Beds of Tanzania. Recently it was reported from the Chiwondo Beds of Malawi (Kullmer, 2008). It is well distributed temporally. The oldest well-dated specimen derives from Area 250 at Koobi Fora, within the Moiti Tuff dated at approximately 3.89 Ma. Specimens from the Tugen Hills may be older. No. euilus is reconstructed to have stood approximately 120 cm at the shoulder, based on skeletons from Koobi Fora, Kenya (Turner and Anton, 2004). Based on postcranial locomotor ecomorphology, it appears that this taxon preferred closed habitats, such as forests (Bishop, 1994; Bishop et al., 1999). Carbon stable isotope analyses of several specimens from Kanapoi and Koobi Fora suggest that some specimens were consuming some nongrass plants, but the majority of them were grazing on tropical grasses (Harris and Cerling, 2002).

NOTOCHOERUS SCOTTI (Leakey, 1943) Figure 42.6

NOTOCHOERUS CAPENSIS Broom, 1925

Holotype Talon of a right M3 from an unrecorded locality in the Vaal River Gravels, South Africa. Located in the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, Johannesburg, South Africa. Distribution Likely restricted to Southern Africa. Remarks Notochoerus capensis is advanced relative to No. euilus, with larger teeth and bigger crania. Particularly, there is an increased number of elaborated talon/id pillars in No. capensis, and enamel is both more crenelated and more hypsodont. Decreased emphasis on premolars continues with this taxon, which is considered intermediate in many ways between No. euilus and No. scotti (Harris and White, 1979). This species is extremely rare in East Africa, and specimens that have been assigned to it from Koobi Fora might more properly belong to the recently recognized No. clarkei Suwa and White, 2004 (Harris and White, 1979; Harris, 1983). If No. capensis occurred only in South Africa, it would be the only Plio-Pleistocene suid species with such a restricted geographic range. If it does occur in eastern Africa, it is rare, offering limited opportunity to define its temporal range.

Holotype KNM OS 5, left maxillary fragment with M2 and M3 from the Omo Shungura Formation, Ethiopia, housed in the National Museums of Kenya. Distribution Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi. Remarks Notochoerus scotti is both the most advanced and the last species of its genus, and of the tetraconodont Nyanzachoerus-Notochoerus lineage. Crania are wider and more massive than is the case in the largest examples of No. euilus and No. capensis. However, the largest individuals of No. scotti are not as big as the largest individuals of the former species (Harris and White, 1979). Molar elaboration is distinctive, however. No. scotti possesses third molars that are extremely hypsodont and elongate, having between four and six pairs of major talon/id pillars. In advanced specimens there can be a thick cementum layer surrounding the crenellated enamel of the circumference of the tooth. Notochoerus scotti is known from numerous Pliocene and Early Pleistocene sites in East Africa: the Omo Shungura Formation, the Chemeron Formation, the Koobi Fora, and Nachukui formations. It has also been reported from the Chiwondo Beds of Malawi (Kullmer, 2008) Specimens from the Tugen Hills may predate its currently known temporal range, which extends from just above the Tulu Bor tuff, dated at 3.36 Ma (West Turkana LO5) to the latest known specimen at 1.79 Ma (Koobi Fora Area 104). During all but the last 200,000 years of its long range, it coexisted with its presumed ancestor, Notochoerus euilus. It appears that No. scotti was a grazer, as suggested by molar morphology, which is extremely long, hypsodont, and complex and confirmed by carbon stable isotope analysis of their dental enamel (Bishop et al., 1999; Harris and Cerling, 2002). NOTOCHOERUS CLARKEI Suwa and White, 2004

Holotype GAM-VP-1/20 cranium with dentition from Gamedah Vertebrate Palaeontology Locality One, Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Distribution Ethiopia. Remarks This late member of the genus Notochoerus is in many ways the most derived. Unlike other Notochoerus, its cheek teeth are small and gracile, although it shares with them the

FIGURE 42.6 LM3 of Notochoerus scotti (KNMER 3438). This is the most extreme example of third molar elaboration in the tetraconodonts. Numerous, well-developed pillar pairs characterize the talon, and the anterior complex of the tooth is enlarged. The crown is also very high in this example. After Harris and White 1979:29, figure 41.



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characteristic shape and arrangements of the cusps. The species has hypsodont third molars, which appear to be more organized and sharply folded in their cusp morphology. The third molars also have relatively thin enamel compared to other members of the genus. They are smaller than the most derived No. scotti and have less derived third molars (White and Suwa, 2004). This recently described species has a known time range of 2.5–1.8 Ma in the localities from which it has currently been recognized, including the Hata Member of the Bouri Formation, the Middle Awash, Members D–H of the Omo Shungura Formation, and the Konso Formation, Ethiopia (White and Suwa, 2004). A thorough examination of the African Notochoerus hypodigm is required to determine the extent to which it is present in other sites of similar time periods. Subfamily NAMACHOERINAE Pickford, 1995 Genus NAMACHOERUS Pickford, 1995 NAMACHOERUS MORUOROTI (Wilkinson, 1976)

Holotype KNM-MO 5 Mandible with left m1–m3 and roots of i1–i2, p3 and p4, and right i1–i2, c, p2–m3, and root of i3 from Moruorot, Kenya. Distribution Early–middle Miocene of Kenya and Namibia. Remarks This is a small pig with sublophodont cheek teeth and narrow central incisors (Made, 1996). The enamel on the teeth is smooth, and the m2s are simple in morphology (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). Originally ascribed to Lopholistriodon on the basis of its tooth morphology and tendency toward a loph structure in molar cusp arrangement, it has since been referred to a new genus Namachoerus on the basis of new material from Arrisdrift, Namibia. This new material established the extent of lophodonty on the postcanine teeth, which is not so developed in the holotype. Made (1996) considered it intermediate in morphology between Nguruwe kijivium, on the one hand, and Lopholistriodon kidogosana, on the other, and proposes that this species is more properly ascribed to Listrodon. Namachoerus demonstrates parallel evolution of lophodont dentition in the middle Miocene Suidae. Subfamily CAINOCHOERINAE Pickford, 1995 The Cainochoerinae are a group of suids with extremely small body size. They persist into the latest Miocene/early Pliocene of Africa, providing a contrast to the very large tetraconodonts that otherwise dominate the suid fauna. Genus ALBANOHYUS Ginsburg, 1974 Some specimens from Kenya with bunodont teeth have been attributed to Albanohyus, which is otherwise a Eurasian taxon (Pickford, 1986, 2006). This species is considered a more primitive member of the Cainochoerinae by Pickford (2006); however, the material is scanty, and no distinctly African taxon has been erected for it. Harris and Liu (2008) consider it to be a primitive genus of suid but do not assign it to a subfamily. Genus CAINOCHOERUS Pickford, 1988 CAINOCHOERUS AFRICANUS (Hendey, 1976)

Holotype South African Museum PQ-L 31139, fragmented skull with complete upper and lower left dentition from Langebaanweg, South Africa. Distribution Late Miocene–?early Pliocene of Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Africa. 842


Remarks Originally described as a tayassuid ?Pecarichoerus Colbert, 1933, a new genus was erected to hold the specimens from Langebaanweg by Pickford (1988), who determined that this species was not a peccary but a true pig. Additional material from Lothagam, Kenya, has confirmed this observation; Cainochoerus is a small, cursorial pig as confirmed by its postcrania, which converge with peccaries and bovids (Pickford, 1988; Harris and Leakey, 2003; Turner and Anton, 2004). This species is very small, both cranially and postcranially, and the teeth are very simple and peccary-like, having single-cusped anterior premolars and four-cusped anterior molars. The m3, and to a lesser extent the other lower molars have slight development of an additional terminal cusp (Cooke and Wilkinson, 1978). It is unique in lacking postcanine diastemas in the the upper and lower jaws (Hendey, 1976). Although most frequently compared with peccaries, a modern suid analogue might also be found in the diminutive Sus (Porcula) salvanius, the pygmy hog which is an endangered species of the Indian forest. Subfamily SCHIZOCHOERINAE Thenius, 1979 Genus MOROTOCHOERUS Pickford, 1998 MOROTOCHOERUS UGANDENSIS Pickford, 1998

Holotype MOR 177-178 right mandible with p4–m3 from Moroto, Uganda. Distribution Middle Miocene sites in Kenya (Muruyur, Maboko, Ngorora, Kirimun) and Uganda (Moroto). Remarks The presence of Morotochoerus is documented from the earliest middle Miocene. Although when originally described, the species was thought to be a peccary, revision first placed the species within the Palaeochoeridae (Made 1997; Pickford, 1998, 2006). Subsequent analyses have found Palaeochoeridae to be a paraphyletic group that is therefore taxonomically invalid (Liu, 2003). Most recently it has been assigned to the Schizochoerinae within the family Suidae (Harris and Liu, 2007). The species is small with a number of peccary-like features, including relatively unspecialized third molars, canines that are oval in cross section and molars that are sublophodont. The maxillary cheek teeth abut the canine so that there is not a gap in the tooth row. The orbits are positioned forward on the skull. The species is relatively poorly known because there are few fossils currently attributed to Morotochoerus ugandensis. Subfamily SUINAE Zittel, 1893 Genus POTAMOCHOERUS Gray, 1854 POTAMOCHOERUS AFARENSIS (Cooke, 1978)

Holotype AL 147-10, a partial cranium with P3–M3 housed in the Ethiopian National Museum, Addis Ababa. Distribution Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia. Remarks Cooke (1978b) distinguishes Po. afarensis from both Po. porcus and Ko. heseloni on the basis of several cranial and dental characteristics. Po. afarensis possesses the characteristic heavy, downward-oriented sweeping zygomatics that ally the species with the genus Kolpochoerus. Mandibles are also inflated in the manner of Kolpochoerus. Premolars in Po. afarensis are not so reduced as is the case in the bushpig, and p1 (and sometimes P1) is retained. Third molars are larger in Po. afarensis, and the pillars tend to be columnar and distinct, giving the tooth a somewhat lophodont appearance. Unlike Ko. heseloni, there is little talon/id development in Po. afarensis; the only major pillars in the third molars are the two pairs from the trigon/id.

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Originally attributed to the genus Kolpochoerus, this species was subsequently sunk into the modern bushpig genus Potamochoerus (Cooke, 1997). Pliocene specimens having small, simple, and bunodont third molars are attributed to the modern species by Cooke, but other workers attribute them solely to the genus Potamochoerus. With fragmentary material, there is the additional potential pitfall of attributing late Ny. devauxi (such as some of the tiny BC material; BC57, BC1306, BC1462) specimens to Ko. afarensis (or indeed Po. porcus) in error. There are plesiomorphic similarities in molar morphology in these primitive examples of three genera. Cranial and dental material from Laetoli and Hadar is attributed to Po. afarensis. Additionally, there is material from the Shungura, Nachukui, Koobi For a, and Chemeron Formations that can be assigned to this taxon. The time range of this taxon is from approximately 4.3 Ma at Aterir (and other Chemeron sites) to 3 Ma (the Hadar material). More recent specimens from the Middle Awash have been reported (White, 1995). This species is primarily responsible for the long apparent history of the bushpigs in the African fossil record. Genus KOLPOCHOERUS Van Hoepen and Van Hoepen, 1932 After years of confusion in the literature, Harris and White (1979) sank this genus into the later “Mesochoerus” Shaw and Cooke, 1941. According to the rules of zoological nomenclature, Kolpochoerus Van Hoepen and Van Hoepen, 1932, had priority, and this taxon was revived by Cooke (1974 et seq.). The genus is now uniformly known as Kolpochoerus. Cooke and Wilkinson (1978) consider Ko. paiceae Broom, 1931 the type species of the genus, but this taxon was sunk into Ko. limnetes by Harris and White (1979) and then considered to be the type species of the genus. However, Pickford (1994) reexamined the type material of “Sus” limnetes and concluded, on the basis of preservation and morphology, that this specimen was more likely a tetraconodont than a suine pig. Cooke (1997) agreed with this analysis and suggested the species Kolpochoerus heseloni was the more correct type species for this important genus. Members of the genus Kolpochoerus are unified by their laterally and inferiorly expanded zygomatic arches. Their mandibles are narrow anteriorly, but they usually have a robust lateral prominence as far anteriorly as the p3. Anterior cheek teeth usually resemble in size and shape those of the modern bushpig Potamochoerus. KOLPOCHOERUS DEHEINZELINI (Brunet and White, 2001)

Holotype ARA VP 1/986, maxillae with left C, P2–P3, M2–3, and right C, P2– P4 from Aramis, Ethiopia, housed at the National Museums of Ethiopia. Distribution Ethiopia and Chad. Remarks This is a small and primitive species of Kolpochoerus that is probably close in morphology to the earliest suines of this lineage to arrive in Africa, probably via Arabia (Bishop and Hill, 1999; Brunet and White, 2001). Similarly to Po. Afarensis, it possesses P1 and p1. It has a short diastema between the first and second lower premolars. It also has relatively large premolars and a short molar row. The molars are bunodont and low crowned. This species has been described from Mio-Pliocene sediments in Ethiopia and Chad that span an age from approximately 5.5 Ma to 3.8 Ma (Brunet and White, 2001; Kullmer et al., 2008). KOLPOCHOERUS HESELONI (Leakey, 1943) Figure 42.7

FIGURE 42.7 A reconstruction of Kolpochoerus heseloni based on a cranium from Koobi Fora (shown, inset) by Mauricio Antón. Used with permission.

Holotype (Syntypes) M17118a, left mandibular fragment with p4–m3 and M17118b, right mandibular fragment with p4–M3 from the Shungura Formation, Omo, Ethiopia, housed at the Natural History Museum, London. Distribution Morocco, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa. Remarks This species encompasses a large amount of morphological variation during a long temporal and wide geographic range. It is plausible that there is more than one species represented in the variety of taxa and forms sunk into Ko. limnetes (and subsumed thereafter by Kolpochoerus heseloni) by Harris and White (1979; see, e.g., Cooke, 1985; White, 1995). It is the most common species in their monograph. According to their uniform definition, all attributed specimens have third molars in which the trigon/id–talon/ id junction is formed by two triangular median pillars that, when the tooth is very worn, appear to be one. The upper third molar talon has between one and three pairs of major lateral pillars. The m3 talonid has between one and four pairs of major lateral pillars. Cheek teeth of advanced members of this species often have a cementum cover. The mandibles are narrow toward the symphysis but have robust lateral flaring that starts as far anteriorly as the level of the p3. The zygomatic arches are laterally and inferiorly expanded. Males, particularly in more advanced forms, have facial ornamentation, including enlarged zygomatics with projecting knobs. This diverse species is known from every major late Pliocene and Pleistocene assemblage. Specimens have been recovered from Koobi Fora and West Turkana, the Chemeron Formation, the Omo, the Konso Formation, Olduvai Gorge, FORT Y-T WO: SUOIDEA


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FIGURE 42.8 Comparison (L-R) of Phacochoerus africanus, Metridiochoeurus andrewsi, and Notochoerus euilus. The size of Notochoerus is inferred from two excellent specimens from Koobi Fora, but Metridiochoerus size and proportions are estimated based on their cranial measurements and modern suid body plan. By Mauricio Antón, used with permission.

and Laetoli (Harris and White, 1979; Suwa et al., 2003). The species also occurs at the sites of Chesowanja, Marsabit Road, and Isimila. It has also been found at numerous South African fossil localities such as Cornelia, Elandfontein, and the Vaal River Gravels. It is possible that Kolpochoerus is the only Plio-Pleistocene genus to expand its range back into Eurasia; there is evidence of its presence in Israel (Geraads et al, 1986). The known time range spans from the earliest welldated specimen from LO5 at West Turkana, 3.26 Ma, to the latest well-dated occurrences, in Bed IV at Olduvai Gorge, ca. 0.70 Ma. Specimens from the Tugen Hills may predate this range. This taxon shows shifts in morphology through time that have been mirrored in studies of its palaeobiology. Ko. heseloni appears to exhibit change in both its diet (from more browse to more graze) and in its habitat preference, which shifts from more closed to more intermediate habitats during its long time range (Bishop, 1994; Bishop et al., 1999; Cerling and Harris, 2002; Bishop et al., 2006). Furthermore, the dental micowear of this taxon is significantly different from that of other pig species both living and dead, suggesting that niche partitioning among the Plio-Pleistocene species of pigs was at least partially dietary (Bishop et al., 2006). KOLPOCHOERUS COOKEI (Brunet and White, 2001)

Holotype L116-14, a right m3 from Omo, Ethiopia site L-116, housed at the National Museums of Ethiopia. Distribution Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia. Remarks This is another small and little known species of suid, with low-crowned molars and bunodont cheek teeth. Currently recognized from only two fossil sites in the Omo, Ethiopia, it is described as having higher crowns than Ko. deheinzelini, similar to those of Po. afarensis. KOLPOCHOERUS MAJUS (Hopwood, 1934)

Holotype M.14682, a partial mandibular corpus with left p3–m1. From Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, housed at the Natural History Museum, London. Distribution Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia. Remarks This late species of Kolpochoerus possesses several derived characteristics which set it apart from the rest of the genus. Ko. majus is in many respects more primitive than 844


Ko. heseloni. There is no talon/id elaboration, but the cheek teeth are slightly more high crowned, while maintaining a basically bunodont aspect. Relative to smaller Ko. heseloni specimens, the enamel on the cheekteeth of Ko. majus is more rugose and thick, especially on the buccal aspect, where there is a protrusion of the crown elements. Although long known from Olduvai, this species has more lately been recovered from numerous Pleistocene localities in East Africa, such as Olorgesailie, the Kapthurin Formation, the Nachukui Formation, the Konso Formation and Asbole in the Lower Awash, Bouri-Daka, and Garba IV (Suwa et al., 2003; Geraads et al., 2004). The known time range is from FLK I at Olduvai, 1.8 Ma, to Bed IV Olduvai, 0.70 Ma. One specimen from West Turkana, an M3 crown dated to 2.6 Ma, (800,000 years earlier than the next earliest example), has been attributed to this species by Harris et al. (1988) but may belong to Ko. heseloni instead. Another possible early example is from the Nyabosi Fm of Uganda (Pickford, 1994; Geraads et al., 2004). KOLPOCHOERUS PHACOCHOEROIDES (Thomas, 1884)

Holotype Mandible with m1–m3 and canine from Ain el Bey, Constantine, Algeria. Distribution Morocco, Algeria. Remarks This species is known primarily from North Africa, where a large sample from Ahl al Oughlam has been discovered and described by Geraads (1993). Problematically, this species overlaps in size with much of the material ascribed to Ko. heseloni but has some unique characteristics that some workers believe entitle the hypodigm to species status (Geraads, 1993; Cooke, 1997). Distinguishing it from the eastern and southern African forms are smaller premolars, a shortened muzzle and large canines in both males and females (Cooke, 1997). A thorough study of all the material would be important to understand the extent to which these characteristics are mirrored, if less common, in the hypodigm of Ko. heseloni, but at this point the species seems valid for, and restricted to, the North African examples. Genus METRIDIOCHOERUS Hopwood, 1926 A number of genera were ultimately sunk into Metridiochoerus by Harris and White (1979). Confusion over the attribution

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of species and specimens was a result of the marked radiation undergone by this genus during the later part of the Pliocene and Pleistocene. In addition, many researchers failed to consider the apparent variations in cusp morphology that could be introduced by occlusal wear. Metridiochoerus is the most advanced suid as related to a potential Sus-like suine ancestor. Species in the genus vary in size from small to the largest of East African extinct suids. Crania exhibit a variety of elaborations from none to an impressive array of cranial knobs and huge tusks. The length of the premolar row is reduced in all members of the genus, as is the size of the premolar teeth. In the most advanced specimens, the premolars are shed early in life, presumably as a result of wear and overcrowding. By the time the third molar has come into full occlusion, it is often the only postcanine tooth remaining in each quadrant. Increasing hypsodonty of the third molar is perhaps the most unifying trend in Metridiochoerus; fusion of their roots is usually delayed, often until the crown is in complete wear. Talon/id elaboration is often striking, with third molars having a highly variable number of main lateral pillars. Occlusal wear gives the dentine lakes on worn pillars a T- or mushroom-shaped appearance. METRIDIOCHOERUS ANDREWSI Hopwood, 1926 Figures 42.8 and 42.9

Holotype M. 14007, a right M3 from near Homa Mountain, Kenya, housed at the Natural History Museum, London. Distribution Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, South Africa. Remarks This species encompasses a wide range of morphological variation. However, the continuum of morphological characters that unite this species and separate them from the other Metridiochoerus species appear to be robust. Many of these characteristics are primitive for the genus. Crania of Met. andrewsi are sexually dimorphic, with male crania having zygomatic knobs. The mandibular corpus of Metridiochoerus is neither as flared nor as constricted as in Kolpochoerus. Upper canines have enamel only in bands. The length and height of the premolar row are reduced in later forms. The molar row demonstrates an increase in hypsodonty coupled with a delay in fusion of the roots. Third molar length increases through the addition of talon/id lateral pillars and increased elaboration of the anterior cingulum trigon/id complex. The definition and separation of molar pillars does not persist throughout the crown height of the tooth, so that wear joins them together and gives the occlusal surface a complex and disorganized appearance. Metridiochoerus andrewsi is a common suid at Pliocene and Pleistocene sites in eastern Africa and is known from the Shungura Formation, the Konso Formation, the Koobi Fora Formation, the Nachukui Formation, Chesowanja, western Kenya at Kanjera, Homa Mountain, and Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania (Harris and White, 1979; Suwa et al., 2003). Although some of these localities have not been radiometrically dated, numerous well-dated specimens from the others firmly establish a temporal range for this species. The earliest dated specimens come from the Usno Formation of Ethiopia, dated at approximately 3.4 Ma (White et al., 2006), and the youngest specimens are found at both West Turkana and Koobi Fora until 1.66 Ma. One surface specimen from Bed II Olduvai may postdate the latest Koobi Fora specimens. It has also been reported from the Chiwondo Beds of Malawi,

m3 elaboration in Metridiochoerus andrewsi. A) M.2013 from Makapansgat; B) KNM-ER 1169; C) KNM-ER 1089. The wear in the most recent specimen, KNM-ER 1089, has obliterated the borders of the pillars in the m3. This illustrates the difficulties in comparing cusp patterns between teeth of different wear stages. After Harris and White 1979:60 and 61, figures 102, 108, and 110. FIGURE 42.9

Bolt’s Farm, Swartkrans, Coopers, Makapansgat, and the Vaal River Gravels of South Africa (Harris and White, 1979; Kullmer, 2008) Carbon stable isotope studies of Met. andrewsi diet have demonstrated that its diet might have changed during its time range, with earlier examples apparently a grass- dominated mixed feeder, while later examples were completely dependent on grazing tropical C4 grasses (Bishop et al., 1999, Harris and Cerling, 2002). METRIDIOCHOERUS MODESTUS (Van Hoepen and Van Hoepen, 1932)

Holotype C576, associated right and left M3s from Cornelia, RSA. Nasionale Museum, Bloemfontein. Distribution Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa. Remarks Met. modestus, as the name implies, is the smallest of the Metridiochoerus species, resembling the modern warthog in size. The single known cranium is short and does not possess the zygomatic modifications of Phacochoerus. Third molars are very hypsodont, especially in relation to their crown area. In mature specimens, these are worn to a distinctly Metridiochoerus pattern, with obliteration of the internal pillar walls. This suid is rare in numbers but well distributed geographically in the fossil record. It is found at Olduvai Gorge, West Turkana, Koobi Fora, the Konso Formation, the Omo, and Asbole in the Lower Awash (Harris and White, 1979; Suwa et al., 2003; Geraads et al., 2004). Its established temporal range is from Member G of the Shungura Formation, 2.21–0.70 Ma for the latest known specimens at Bed IV at Olduvai Gorge. It is known in South Africa from Cornelia and the Vaal River Gravels (Harris and White, 1979). A study of the postcranial locomotor ecomorphology of Met. modestus has concluded that this diminutive member FORT Y-T WO: SUOIDEA


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of the genus Metridiochoerus probably preferred more closed habitats (Bishop, 1999; Bishop et al., 1999). This contrasts with results of a study of its diet using carbon stable isotopes, which concludes that it was a tropical grass grazer (Harris and Cerling, 2002). This apparent discordance may be explained by more patchiness in past environments than is present today. METRIDIOCHOERUS HOPWOODI (Leakey, 1958)

Holotype M.14685, a partial left mandible with m2–m3 from the surface of Bed III, Olduvai Gorge. Housed at the Natural History Museum, London. Distribution Eastern Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia. Remarks Met. hopwoodi is another relatively rare species. The species is thought to be medium to large in size, although there is not enough cranial material to determine the extent of sexual dimorphism. The lower canine is verrucose. Molars are relatively narrow and hypsodont. Lateral pillars on the M3 display an unusual degree of symmetry about the central axis of the tooth. Third molar pillars are also separate and well defined to the base of the tooth root. When worn, the dentine lakes in third molar enamel pillars appear to be T shaped. This taxon is found at Olduvai Gorge, Olorgesailie, Kanjera, Koobi Fora, West Turkana, the Konso Formation, and the Shungura Formation (Harris and White, 1979 [but not in list of specimens]; Suwa et al., 2003). The earliest specimen attributed to Met. hopwoodi is from site KL4 in the Nachukui Formation, dated to approximately 2.1 Ma. The youngest specimen is from Bed IV, Olduvai Gorge, and dates to 0.7 Ma. Examples of Met. hopwoodi analysed for carbon stable isotope values have suggested that it was a C4 grass grazer (Bishop et al., 1999; Cerling and Harris, 2002). METRIDIOCHOERUS COMPACTUS (Van Hoepen and Van Hoepen, 1932) Figure 42.10

Holotype C801, a right M3 from Cornelia, South Africa, Nasionale Museum, Bloemfontein. Distribution Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Africa. Remarks Met. compactus is the largest and most advanced of the Metridiochoerus lineage. Its extremely derived and various nature—particularly the variation in tooth appearance caused by different stages of wear—was probably responsible for the number of generic and specific names given to this hypodigm. Cranial remains are very rare. The canines are laterally projecting, relatively straight, and frequently a foot (ca. 30 cm.) or more in length. In immature specimens, the premolar row is reduced; but in mature individuals, all postcanine teeth but the third molars are shed. The third molars are the largest of any Metridiochoerus species, and root fusion is very delayed, so the teeth are extremely hypsodont. The isolation of the talon/ id pillars is not complete to the roots, so that worn teeth have a continuous outer margin of enamel. Worn, the dentine lakes exposed in the enamel pillars have a flattened Y shape. In the talon (but not the talonid), main lateral pillars pairs are often separated by a double row of minor medial (central) pillars. This species is also well represented in space and time. It is known from the Shungura Formation, the Konso Formation, the Koobi Fora Formation, the Nachukui Formation, and Olduvai Gorge, as well as Kanjera, Chesowanja, and Olorgesailie (Harris and White, 1979; Suwa et al., 2003). The majority of the earlier specimens come from Koobi Fora, while the most numerous sample is from Olduvai. Dated specimens range in age from the earliest at 1.92 Ma, from Bed I Olduvai, to the youngest 0.70 Ma ago from Bed IV Olduvai. There is only one Bed I Met. compactus, a M3 from DK I; the next oldest specimens derive from below the KBS tuff at Koobi Fora. Met. compactus has been recovered from Cornelia, Elandsfontein, and the Vaal River Gravels (Harris and White, 1979). Not surprisingly, given the extent of third molar elaboration in this taxon, carbon stable isotope analysis suggests that Met. compactus was an obligate grazer on tropical grasses (Harris and Cerling, 2002). Associated skeletons have not been attributed to this species, so to establish habitat preference has not so far been possible. However, the assumption since this species was identified has been that it preferred open grassland habitats. Family SANITHERIIDAE Simpson, 1945

FIGURE 42.10 Examples of third molars in Metridiochoerus compactus. A) RM3 KMN-ER2659; B) LM3 KNM-ER 2271; C) lm3 KNM-ER 751. All examples from Koobi Fora, Kenya. After Harris and White 1979:57 and 62, figures 98, 99, and 120.

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The sanitheres are a widely distributed but poorly understood family of small bodied suoids. Their patchy fossil record extends throughout the Miocene of Africa, Europe, and subcontinental Asia (Pickford, 1984, 1993, 2004). This group is first known from Africa in the early Miocene and survives there until ca. 14 Ma (Pickford, 2004). They are known from Eurasian contexts during the middle Miocene, persisting until the late Miocene in the Chinji Formation of Pakistan. The Sanitheriidae have unusual morphologies that separate them from other suoids. While the preserved basicrania have features similar to the Suidae, their facial and dental anatomy are unique, with a mosaic of features that recall various artiodactyl taxa (Harris and Liu, 2008). Enigmatic and poorly known, the taxonomic position of sanitheres has been disputed by recent research. They have been relegated to a subfamily of the Palaeochoeridae (Made, 1997); however, recent discoveries (Pickford, 2004) and a phylogenetic analysis of Liu (2003) suggest that sanitheres are a distinct family within the Suoidea. Recently described fossil remains from Kenya and Namibia have greatly enhanced the understanding of the African sanitheres (Pickford, 2004). Currently there is only one genus of

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sanithere, Diamantohyus, recognized from African deposits; no African fossils are considered sufficiently derived to be attributed to the later genus Sanitherium von Meyer, 1886. Sanitheres have sexually dimorphic canines. The postcanine teeth of sanitheres are bunoselenodont. Upper molars have lingual cusps that are selenoid, an appearance enhanced by wear. Lingual cusps are separated only slightly by weak “furchen” or grooves. The enamel on the lingual side of the tooth has a wrinkled appearance. The buccal cusps are bunodont and can appear more conical, and they are aligned obliquely to the long axis of the molar. There is a buccal cingulum that has a distinctive, beaded appearance on its edge. Premolars are molarized and have extra cusps. This unique dentition in emplaced with an occlusal curvature which appears more like those of selenodont artiodactyls; the overall tooth row convex ventrally rather than dorsally as is the case for other suoids. This contradictory appearance is enhanced by various other features of sanithere dentition, such as the curvature of the inferior border of the mandible, wrinkled enamel, and a “Palaeomeryx fold” (a short enamel ridge running from the posterior of the protoconid) on the lower molars. (Harris and Liu, 2008). However, despite the ruminant appearance of these gnathic features, the postcranial anatomy firmly allies sanitheres with the suoids (Pickford, 1984, 2004). Another significant feature is in the orientation of their crania as indicated by the position of their occipital condyles. Sanithere heads were perhaps held in a more horizontal orientation (Pickford and Tsujikawa, 2004). Sanithere ecology might differ from many Suidae; Pickford (2004) suggests that they may have been more cursorial than pigs on the basis of their elongated and gracile limb anatomy. The presence of a “carnassial-like” shearing morphology on the buccal main cusps of P2 and P3 has lead to the suggestion that sanitheres may have been more carnivorous than their fellow suoids (Pickford, 2004). Genus DIAMANTOHYUS Stromer, 1926 Diamantohyus is defined relatively; it has less molarization of the premolars than Sanitherium von Meyer, 1866, a more derived genus. The P4 has three main cusps and two subsidiary cusps. Postcanine teeth have relatively undeveloped lingual cusps. Diamantohyus incisors are low crowned and short rooted. Extensive new material attributed to this genus has been described recently (Pickford and Tsujikawa, 2005). Short of repeating the descriptions of this material, some general observations to enable identification of these two rare Miocene taxa are made here. DIAMANTOHYUS AFRICANUS Stromer, 1926

Holotype Right maxilla fragment with P3, M1, and M2 (Stromer 1922:332; after Pickford, 2004). Distribution Namibia. Remarks Diamantohyus africanus has relatively undeveloped premolars and molars for this family, although the sanithere tendency toward polycuspy and polycristy are already apparent. The anterior origin of the zygomatic arch lies far anterior to those of other suoids. DIAMANTOHYUS NADIRUS Wilkinson, 1976

Holotype KNM OM 40 from Ombo, Kenya, housed at the National Museums of Kenya.

Distribution Kenya. Remarks Diamantohyus nadirus is more derived than D. africanus and has more complex molars with defined and separated crests and cusplets. Lower molars have a well-defined metastylid.

Suoid Evolutionary Relationships For the most part, the evolution of African suoids during the Miocene is dominated by influxes of Eurasian taxa that subsequently evolve in situ in the African continent and then either die out there without issue or migrate back into Eurasia in slightly modified form. During the Miocene, Pickford (2006) estimates that there were at least five migrations of suoids into Africa from Eurasia and probably two back in the other direction; both the later Miocene Kubanochoerinae and the Pliocene Tetraconodontinae in Asia appear to have African forebears. In the case of the Listriodontinae, the picture is even more complicated, with similarities in the timing and degree of lophodonty development between African and Eurasian forms suggesting frequent, if not continuous, gene flow between populations on both continents (Pickford, 2006). The Sanitheriidae seem to originate in Africa in the early Miocene and then spread to Eurasia; this latter radiation considerably outlasts the known African examples, which disappear from the record ca 14 Ma. While the patchiness of the fossil record in the Miocene of Africa limits the extent to which biogeography and phylogenetic relationships can be reconstructed, the situation happily improves during the latest Miocene and Pliocene. Only two of the suid lineages, the Cainochoerinae and the Tetraconodontinae, survive across the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. For both of these unrelated lineages, this success is relatively short-lived. Cainochoerinae are rare in the fossil record; earlier bunodont forms are found in a few middle Miocene localities, and then the later, more lophodont but still tiny Cainochoerus africanus has only been described from a few very large faunal samples—primarily from Langebaanweg (the type site) and Lothagam. So while this subfamily was present for a long time in the fossil record, it has never been a common element. The Tetraconodontinae have a large Pliocene radiation and are extremely common in Pliocene African sites but go extinct without issue in the early part of the Pleistocene with the disappearance of the last and most specialized member of the subfamily, Notochoerus scotti. The real success story of suoid evolution in African is the large flourishing of species of suine pig following their arrival in Africa, sometime before ca. 4.5 million years ago. There were most probably two migrations of these pigs around or after this time, one founding the Potamochoerus/Kolpochoerus lineage (first appearance ca. 4.3 Ma) and another founding the Metridiochoerus radiation, the earliest record for which is from the 3.4 Ma Usno Formation of Ethiopia (White et al., 2006). Metridiochoerus is relatively uncommon during the earlier part of its known range but after 2.5 Ma experiences both speciation events and also, in the most primitive species Met. andrewsi, increases in both third molar complexity and crown height through time. These two aspects of the Metridiochoerus radiation make it a very valuable biostratigraphic indicator. Potamochoerus/Kolpochoerus arrives in Africa from Eurasia perhaps slightly earlier than Metridiochoerus and also experiences a significant evolutionary radiation. Kolpochoerus is consistently present at late Pliocene and Pleistocene sites, and Potamochoerus makes only occasional tantalizing appearances.



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While both the Pliocene emigrants experience radiations characterized by speciations and rapid increase in hypsodonty, Potamochoerus/Kolpochoerus always maintains a primitive streak; the modern relicts of this radiation (Potamochoerus and Hylochoerus) are closer to the primitive than to the craniodentally derived forms of this radiation. The same is true of the last surviving member of the Metridiochoerus lineage; the modern warthog Phacochoerus most closely resembles the diminutive Met. modestus, a slightly more specialized form than the basal Metridiochoerus andrewsi. The more derived (and much larger) extreme results of both Kolpochoerus and Metridiochoerus evolution went extinct some time in the later Pleistocene, and the smaller and more primitive forms survive to this day. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This review relies heavily on work by suid taxonomists who have been working in this field for years: Basil Cooke, John Harris, Martin Pickford, and Jan van der Made. Without them and other pig palaeontologists, little of suoid taxonomy would make any sense to me. Thanks are due to the editors, both for asking me to contribute to this volume and for patiently awaiting this chapter. I would also like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for their continued support, and Andrew Hill for getting me interested in pigs in the first place.

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CHAP TER FORT Y-THREE

Anthracotheriidae PATRICIA A . HOLROYD, FABRICE LIHORE AU, GREGG F. GUNNELL , AND ELLEN MILLER

Anthracotheriidae Leidy, 1869, are a group of bunodont to selenodont artiodactyls distributed throughout the Old World and North America. The earliest anthracotheriids appear in the latest middle Eocene in Asia, and they survive into the late Miocene in Africa and Asia. Because members of the family are widespread, the group has often been important for interpretations of biogeography. Anthracotheres have also been pivotal in discussions of mammalian phylogeny, as some work suggests that the origin of Hippopotamidae may be rooted within Anthracotheriidae (Colbert, 1935a, 1935b; Black, 1978; Boisserie et al., 2005; Boisserie and Lihoreau, 2006), although this conclusion is not universally accepted (e.g., Pickford, 2007b, 2008). In Africa, members of the family are first recorded from the late Eocene Qasr el Sagha Formation, Egypt (Holroyd et al., 1996), and the family persists through the late Miocene (Pickford, 1991b; Vignaud et al. 2002; Delmer et al., 2006). During the Miocene, anthracotheres had an extended range across eastern, central, southern, and northern Africa, although their diversity in Africa appears to have always been greatest in North Africa (figure 43.1). Black (1978) provided the first review of the entire African record of this family. The Paleogene forms have since been considerably revised by Ducrocq (1997) and the Neogene ones by Pickford (1991b). Other important sources that have expanded knowledge of the systematics, paleoecology, and biogeographic relationships of African anthracotheres include Gaziry (1987a, 1987b), Ducrocq et al. (2001), Lihoreau and Ducrocq (2007), Lihoreau et al. (2006), Miller (1996), and Pickford (2006). NOTE ON ANTHRACOTHERE SYSTEMATICS

Within Anthracotheriidae, species differ from each other primarily in size, specializations of the anterior dentition, and degree of brachydonty versus selenodonty. Anthracothere genera differ in molar morphology, but molar morphology can be conservative even when the size differences and specializations of the anterior dentition are considerable. Also, a large degree of sexual dimorphism has been documented for some anthracothere species, but the extent of sexual dimorphism in other species is not as clear.

FIGURE 43.1 Map showing distribution of anthracotheriids in Afro-Arabia. For specific occurrences, see table 43.1.

Family ANTHRACOTHERIIDAE Leidy, 1869 Genus BOTHRIOGENYS Schmidt, 1913 Figures 43.2A, 43.2B, 43.2D–43.2G, and 43.2I

Selected Synonymy Brachyodus Schmidt, 1913, Mixtotherium Schmidt, 1913. Included Species B. fraasi Schmidt, 1913 (Brachyodus [Bothriogenys] fraasi Schmidt, 1913); B. andrewsi Schmidt, 1913; B. gorringei (Andrews and Beadnell, 1902); B. rugulosus Schmidt, 1913. Age and Occurrence Late Eocene to Oligocene of North Africa; see table 43.1. Diagnosis After Lihoreau and Ducrocq (2007), with additional differential characters. Small to medium-sized anthracothere, no angular process on the shallow mandible, complete dental formula, no incisor enlargement, simple and elongated premolars, small canines, five-cusped upper molars with flattened parastyle and mesostyle, lower molars with short

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FIGURE 43.2 Examples of Bothriogenys and Qatraniodon. Dentary of B. gorringei, Yale Peabody Museum (YPM) 30548, in dorsal (A) view. Maxilla of B. gorringei, University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) 41548, in occlusal view (B). Comparison of dentaries in lateral view of Qatraniodon parvus, YPM 18167 (C) and B. gorringei, YPM 18097 (D). Outline drawings of left P3 of B. andrewsi, YPM 18065 (E); right M2 of B. gorringei, UCMP 41548 (F); right p4 of B. gorringei, YPM 18097 (G); right m2 of Q. parvus (H); and right m2 of B. gorringei, UCMP 41492 (I).

preprotocristid and prehypocristid. Differs from Qatraniodon in larger size, more bulbous lower molars, deeper dentaries. Differs from Libycosaurus and Afromeryx by its five-cusped upper molars (i.e., retaining paraconule) and its reduced canine. Differs from Sivameryx and Libycosaurus by its short preprotocristid and prehypocristid. Differs from Brachyodus in generally smaller size and retaining noncaniniform incisors. Description All described species are from the late Eocene Qasr el Sagha Formation and overlying late Eocene to early Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation in the Fayum Province of Egypt. Most species are known primarily from dental and some partial cranial remains. Abundant postcrania are also known (see, e.g., Schmidt, 1913), although since there are few associations in the Jebel Qatrani Formation, assigning any of these to a particular species can only be attempted based on size. Species of Bothriogenys are primarily distinguished based on differences in size and cusp shape. The detailed differential diagnoses that follow are based on Ducrocq (1997). Bothriogenys fraasi differs from other Bothriogenys spp. in its deeper lower jaw with lingual convexity under molars

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and lingual concavity under premolars, labial convexity of tooth row, strong increase in size from m1–m2, lower molars slightly bulbous and labially salient external wall, Y-shaped prehypocristid, strongly developed mesial and distal cingulids; upper molars as wide as long (as in B. rugulosus) but with more slanted cusps, interpremolar diastemata lacking, long diastema between C and P1; symphysis reaching p1. Bothriogenys gorringei is a medium-sized species; differing from B. fraasi and B. andrewsi in smaller size and from B. rugulosus in larger size. Further differs from B. fraasi in having relatively smaller increase in size from m1–m3; more vertical distal wall of labial cusps, and poorly developed labial cingulid. Further differs from B. rugulosus in less bulbous labial walls of m1–m3 and more poorly developed premetacristid, m3 with longer and narrower hypoconulid lobe; upper molars wider than long and less wrinkled enamel. B. andrewsi is the largest species of the genus, possessing quadratic upper molars with strong labial styles; labial wall

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ta b l e 43 .1 Major occurrences and ages of African anthracotheriids

Taxon


Stratigraphic Unit

Age

Bothriogenys sp.

Fayum, Egypt

Dir Abu Lifa Mbr., Qasr el Sagha Fm.

Late Eocene

B. fraasi

Fayum, Egypt

Upper sequence, Jebel Qatrani Fm.1

Early Oligocene

B. andrewsi

Fayum, Egypt

Jebel Qatrani Fm.

Early Oligocene

B. gorringei

Fayum, Egypt

Lower sequence, Jebel Qatrani Fm.1

Early Oligocene

cf. Zellah, Libya

Early Oligocene

B. rugulosus

Fayum, Egypt

Jebel Qatrani Fm.

Qatraniodon parvus

Fayum, Egypt

lower sequence, Jebel Qatrani Fm.1

Brachyodus depereti

Wadi Moghra and Siwa, Egypt Sperrgebeit, Namibia

18–17 Ma

B. mogharensis

Wadi Moghra, Egypt

18–17 Ma

B. aequatorialis

Kalodirr, Maboko, Rusinga, Loperot, Losodok, Baragoï, and Locherangan, Kenya Moroto, Uganda

Early Miocene

Sivameryx moneyi

Wadi Moghra, Egypt

18–17 Ma

S. africanus

Karungu, Rusinga, and Kalodirr, Kenya Oued Bazina, Tunisia Jebel Zelten, Libya

Early Miocene

Afromeryx zelteni

Jebel Zelten, Libya Ombo, Nachola, Loperot, Buluk, and Wayondo, Kenya Ghaba, Sultanate of Oman

Miocene

A. africanus

Wadi Moghra, Egypt

18–17 Ma

Libycosaurus petrocchii

As Sahabi, Libya Agranga and Toros-Ménalla, Chad

Anthracotheriid Unit

L. anisae (including L. algeriensis)

Bir el Ater 2, Algeria Bled Douarah, Tunisia Uganda NY 32 and 33, Uganda

Nementcha Fm. Beglia Fm. Kisegi Fm. Kakara Fm.

Anthracotheriidae, indet.

Bir el Ater, Algeria Meswa Bridge, Kenya

19 Ma

Late Miocene

Muhoroni Agglomerates

Rusinga Island, Kenya Koru, Kenya

Late middle Miocene Late middle Miocene 10 Ma Early late Eocene 23.5 Ma Early Miocene

Moroto, Uganda Kulutherium kenyensis

Early Oligocene

Kulu Fm. Chamtwara Fm.

20–18 Ma Early Miocene

SOURCES:

Distribution based on Ducrocq et al. (2001), Pickford and Andrews (1981), Pickford et al. (1986), Pickford (1991a, 2003, 2007a), Jeddi et al. (1991), Roger et al. (1994), Miller (1996), Lihoreau (2003), Lihoreau et al. (2006), Delmer et al., (2006), and Holroyd and Gunnell (unpublished data). Ages based on Miller (1996) for Wadi Moghara.

1. Precise

type localities not known; stratigraphic distribution based on referred material.

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of paracone steeper than that of metacone; P4 with oblique mesiolabial corner. Differs from B. fraasi and B. rugulosus in “more slender” lower molars and finely crenulated enamel. Bothriogenys rugulosus differs from other Bothriogenys spp. by its smaller size, upper molars as wide as long (as in B. fraasi), no marked increase in size from M1 to M3, paracone steeper than metacone, deeper hypoflexid between trigonid and talonid on m1–m3; more rectilinear m3 hypoconulid lobe, almost complete labial cingulid, and strongly wrinkled enamel. Remarks Originally described as a subgenus of Brachyodus, Black (1978) raised Bothriogenys to genus rank. Records of Bothriogenys sp. include postcrania from the Qasr el Sagha Formation, Egypt (Simons, 1968; Holroyd et al., 1996), and Schmidt’s (1913) “Mixtotherium mezi” (Holroyd, 1994). Indeterminate anthracotheriid records from the Oligocene? of Gebel Bou Gobrine, Tunisia (Arambourg and Burollet, 1962), and an undescribed anthracothere from L-41 of the Jebel Qatrani Formation, Egypt (Liu et al., 2008), may also represent records of Bothriogenys. Genus QATRANIODON Ducrocq, 1997 Figures 43.2C and 43.2H

and from Sivameryx in having a more compressed (“pinched”) rather than looplike mesostyle. Description Brachyodus aequatorialis is a medium- to largesized species, similar in size to the type species, European B. onoideus, but having small, spatulate lower incisors with wrinkled enamel rather than being caniniform. B. depereti is larger than B. mogharensis and differs in having a weaker labial cingulum on upper teeth and lower cusps on p3–4. Brachyodus mogharensis differs from other species of genus in having shorter upper premolars; smaller than B. depereti; differs from B. aequatorialis in having stronger labial cingulum on upper teeth, higher cusps on p3–4, m1–2 of more equal size (after Pickford, 1991b). Discussion Brachyodus is best known from North African and East African sites. The single possible record of Brachyodus from southwest Africa is based on the presence of several large-sized artiodactyl postcranial elements from Namibia (Pickford, 2003). Most authors have suggested that Brachyodus stems from within the genus Bothriogenys, implying an African origin of the genus. This genus is considered to be hydrophilic based on taphonomic evidence. (Pickford 1983). Genus SIVAMERYX Lydekker, 1877 Figures 43.4A–43.4F

Type and Only Species Qatraniodon parvus (Andrews, 1906).

Age and Occurrence Jebel Qatrani Formation, Egypt, type locality unknown but referred specimen from late Eocene lower sequence (Holroyd and Gunnell, unpub. data). Diagnosis After Ducrocq (1997). Very small anthracotheriid; longer teeth relative to width than in other African anthracotheriids; cusps subselenodont. Description The holotype is a right dentary with m1–m2 of unknown provenance. Additional specimens have been identified by two of us (P.A.H., G.F.G.) in collections at the American Museum of Natural History, Yale Peabody Museum, and University of California–Berkeley. All these specimens were found in the lower sequence of the Jebel Qatrani Formation, permitting us to establish an early Oligocene age for the taxon. Remarks Qatraniodon is the smallest and one of the rarest of the Fayum anthracotheriids and is the most selenodont of Paleogene taxa. Genus BRACHYODUS Depéret, 1895 Figure 43.3

Selected Synonymy Masritherium Fourtau, 1918, MacInnes, 1951, Bothriogenys (Black, 1978 in part). See Pickford (1991b) for full species level synonymies. Included African Species B. depereti (Andrews, 1899), B. aequatorialis (MacInnes, 1951), B. mogharensis Pickford, 1991b. Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, Libya, Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, and Namibia. Diagnosis Modified after Pickford (1991b). Large size; tusklike upper central and lower lateral incisors, sexually dimorphic; lower and upper canine premolariform; short i–c diastema; canine-P1/p1 diastema long; fused mandibular symphysis; pentacuspidate upper molar with styles pinched rather than looplike; pentadactyl manus. Differs from Bothriogenys by its anterior teeth reduction and morphology. Differs from Afromeryx and Libycosaurus in retaining a paraconule. Differs from the latter two genera 854


Selected Synonymy Hyoboops Trouessart, 1904, Black, 1978; Brachyodus Fourtau, 1918, 1920; Merycops Pilgrim, 1910. Included Species S. moneyi (Fourtau, 1918); S. africanus (Andrews, 1914; = cf. S. palaeindicus Lydekker, 1877; Lihoreau and Ducrocq, 2007). Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, North and East Africa; see table 43.1. Diagnosis From Pickford (1991b); Lihoreau (2003). Medium to small in size; quasi-pentacuspidate upper molars with looplike parastyles and mesostyles; two distal crests from protocone; paraconule almost fused with protocone and of similar height; canines sexually dimorphic; lower molars selenodont with anterior crests of labial cusps reaching lingual surface of crown, often ending in a small cuspule; four crests from the metaconid; postcanine diastema long, with a flange-like protuberance leaning laterally; p1 double rooted; symphysis reaches back to level of p1; no genial spine; lingual cusps of lower molars mediolaterally compressed; talonid of m3 looplike and strongly obliquely oriented (figure 43.4). Description Sivameryx is restricted to the early Miocene, with distinct species in North and East Africa. Sivameryx moneyi (Egypt) appears to be a smaller version of S. africanus (East Africa, Libya)(Pickford, 1991b) Discussion East African representatives of the genus Sivameryx have been considered members of S. africanus (Andrews, 1914), although all authors recognize strong morphological and metric similarities between S. africanus (Africa) and S. palaeindicus (Asia). The presence of Sivameryx in both Asian and African faunas is a result of early Miocene intercontinental dispersion events occurring around or before ca. 18 Ma. Sivameryx moneyi, which is a smaller species, may be related to possible isolation of the fauna from Moghra, Egypt (Pickford, 1991b; Miller, 1999). Genus AFROMERYX Pickford, 1991b Figures 43.4G–43.4I

Selected Synonymy Brachyodus Andrews, 1899 (in part); Bothriogenys (Black, 1978, in part).

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Main generic features of Brachyodus. Cast of the holotype of Brachyodus aequatorialis Kenyan National Museum (KNM) RU 1009 from Kenya, skull in dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views; scale bar equals 10 cm. Cast of the mandible of B. aequatorialis KNM RU 1014 in occlusal view (C); scale bar equals 5 cm. Occlusal outlines of P3 (D), M3 (E), p4 (F), and m3 (G) of Brachyodus; scale bars equal 1 cm. Curved arrows are mesiolingually orientated. Small arrows indicate main diagnostic features of Brachyodus: tusklike lower lateral incisor (C), two mesial crests on upper premolar (D), pinched mesostyle on upper molar (E), large lingually orientated distal crest on p4 (F), no anterior cristid from metaconid, and junction of posthypocristid and postentocristid (G).

FIGURE 43.3

Included African Species A. zelteni Pickford, 1991b (Type species); A. africanus (Andrews, 1899). Age and Occurrence Early to middle Miocene, Libya, Egypt and Kenya; see table 43.1. Diagnosis (modified after Pickford 1991b)—Medium to small in size, upper molars with four cusps (lacking paraconule); two distal crests from the protocone; p1–4 low crowned with cuspate crests; anterior crest of labial cusps of m1–m3 do not reach lingual margin of tooth; p1 single rooted; genial spine on mandible present; short c–p1 diastema (figure 43.4). Description The two described species differ primarily in size, with Afromeryx zelteni approximately one-half the size of A. africanus. Additionally, A. zelteni is characterized by I3–C diastema lacking; upper incisors separated by small gap; incisive foramen very large, sexually dimorphic canines; symphysis reaching to p1–p2; and m3 talonid centrally placed and only slightly obliquely oriented. By contrast, A. africanus possesses a c-p1 diastema of ca. 15mm; m3 talonid higher than proto- and metaconid; and the distal ridge of p4 is strong and reaches a centrally positioned central cusp. Remarks A. africanus is known from only a few specimens recovered from Wadi Moghra, Egypt, while A. zelteni is

more broadly distributed in Libya, Kenya, and Oman. Pickford (1991b) noted that Afromeryx (Africa) appears to share morphological and metric similarities with members of the Gonotelma-Telmatodon group (Asia), although this latter group is poorly known. Lihoreau and Ducrocq (2007) have suggested that Afromeryx may stem from an Eurasian group morphologically close to Elomeryx. All authors agree that Afromeryx represents an immigrant taxon that arrived in Africa from Eurasia, as part of the early Miocene faunal exchange. Genus LIBYCOSAURUS Bonarelli, 1947 Figure 43.5

Selected Synonymy Merycopotamus Falconer & Cautley, in Owen, 1845 (in part), Gelasmodon Forster-Cooper in Hopwood and Hollyfield, 1954; Merycopotamus Black, 1978; Gaziry, 1978. Included Species L. petrocchii Bonarelli, 1947; L. anisae (Black, 1972), and possibly L. algeriensis (Ducrocq et al., 2001). Age and Occurrence Middle to late Miocene, Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Chad, and Uganda; see table 43.1. FORT Y-THREE: AN THR ACOTHERIIDAE


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Main generic features of Sivameryx. Mandible of Sivameryx africanus from Gebel Zelten in lateral (A) and occlusal (B) views; scale bar equals 5 cm. Occlusal outlines of P3 (C), p4 (E), and m3 (F) and reversed photograph of M1, KNM WK 17109 (D), in occlusal view of Sivameryx africanus; scale bars equal 1 cm. Main generic features of Afromeryx. Reversed photograph of M3, KNM OM13287 (G) in occlusal view and, occlusal outlines of p4 (H) and m3 (I) of Afromeryx zelteni; scale bars equal 1 cm. Curved arrows are mesiolingually orientated. Small arrows (B–F) indicate main diagnostic features of Sivameryx: dorsal protuberance on mandible (B), accessory cusps on upper premolar (C), reduced paraconule (D), lingually situated distal crest on p4 (E), anterior cristids of labial cusps that reach the lingual margin on m3, and hypoconulid labially positioned (F). Small arrows (G–I) indicate main diagnostic features of Afromeryx: second distal crest from protocone on tetracuspidate upper molar (G), centrally situated distal crest on p4 (H), short anterior cristid from labial cusps, and hypoconulid centrally positioned (I).

FIGURE 43.4

Diagnosis After Pickford (1991b, 2006) and Lihoreau (2003). Differs from all anthracothere genera by displaying a fifth upper premolar and the presence of an entoconid fold in lower molar (figure 43.5G). Differs from Sivameryx, Brachyodus and Bothriogenys by the lack of paraconule. Differs from Afromeryx by anterior aperture of the main palatine foramina, the lack of a second postprotocrista (also different than in Sivameryx), biradiculate p1, preprotocristid and prehypocristid that reach the lingual margin of the lower molar (also different than in Brachyodus, Bothriogenys and Qatraniodon; figure 43.5). Differs from Sivameryx in lacking premetacristid. Description Large, sexually dimorphic anthracotheres with tetracuspidate upper molars in which the looplike mesostyles are undivided; sexually dimorphic canines; anterior palatal modifications include curved diastema folded inward over hard palate to form open-sided, tubelike structure; main palatine foramina open at canine level; smaller I3 than I1–2; upper and lower incisors with long roots; cuspate crests on premolars well developed; additional upper premolar anterior to P1 (Lihoreau et al., 2006); variable number of lower incisors; no anterior crests from the metaconid; developed entoconid fold (figure 43.5G); tetradactyl manus. Libycosaurus species are known by cranial, dental, and postcranial remains from a number of sites in North, Central, and East Africa. Libycosaurus petrocchii differs from L. anisae in being approximately 30% larger and in having a single cusped hypoconulid (looplike in L. anisae). Discussion Libycosaurus and its constituent species have had a complex taxonomic history. Libycosaurus was long 856


synonymized with Merycopotamus (see, e.g., Black, 1978). However, Pickford (1991b), Vignaud et al. (2002), and Boisserie et al. (2005) recognized Libycosaurus as valid and restricted Merycopotamus to Asian species. Gaziry (1987b) erected the species Merycopotamus ? maradensis for a specimen from the Marada Fm., Jebel Zelten, Libya, but Pickford (1991b) synonymized this species with Sivameryx moneyi. ANTHRACOTHERIIDAE indeterminate In addition to the many records of Afromeryx, Brachyodus, and Sivameryx from Miocene localities, anthracothere generic diversity in the early Miocene is still likely to be underestimated (E.M. and G.F.G., pers. obs.). In addition, Hill (1995) has noted indeterminate anthracotheriids at Baringo, Ngorora Fm., and Pickford and Andrews (1981) have noted anthracotheres at Meswa Bridge locality 36 in the Muhoroni Agglomerate, which has been dated to approximately 23.5 Ma. An m3 from the early Miocene of Malembe, Democratic Republic of Congo, was reported as an anthracothere smaller than Brachyodus (Hooijer 1963), although it is more likely that this specimen represents Bunohyrax instead (F.L., pers. obs.). Family ANTHRACOTHERIIDAE? Genus KULUTHERIUM Pickford, 2007

Included Species K. kenyensis Pickford, 2007a. Age and Occurrence Early Miocene, East Africa, Kenya; see table 43.1.

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Main generic features of Libycosaurus. Skull of Libycosaurus petrocchii from Chad (TM90–00–68) in lateral (A) and dorsal (B) views; scale bar equals 10 cm. Skull of Libycosaurus petrocchii from Chad (TM134–01–06) in ventral view (C); scale bar equals 10 cm. Occlusal outlines of P1 (D), M3 (E), p4 (F), and m3 (G) of Libycosaurus petrocchii; scale bars equal 1 cm. Curved arrows are mesiolingually orientated. Small arrows indicate main diagnostic features of Libycosaurus: elevated orbits above the cranial roof (A), presence of a fifth premolar (C), several accessory cusps on distal crest of upper premolar (D), undivided looplike mesostyle (E), several accessory cusps on mesial crest of lower premolar (F), and absence of mesial crest on the metaconid and small mesiodistal crest between entoconid and hypoconid (entoconid fold) on lower molar (G).

FIGURE 43.5

Diagnosis From Pickford (2007a). Differs from Brachyodus in having thinner and smoother upper molar enamel, reduced paraconule, lacking para-, meta-, and mesostyles and labial flare; differs from Hippopotamidae in possessing an anterolingual ridge on metaconule, thinner enamel, and nontrefoliate cusp morphology. Discussion Kulutherium is represented by only two specimens, both juveniles. We tentatively follow Pickford (2007a) in assigning Kulutherium to Anthracotheriidae. However, the lack of any stylar development and the molariform dP4 suggest that its affinities may lie elsewhere.

Discussion Anthracotheriid artiodactyls first appear in the African fossil record as an immigrant group, arriving in Africa from Holarctic continents sometime during the Eocene. North Africa has been the primary area of anthracothere differentiation throughout most of their evolution on the continent. The oldest records of African anthracotheriids are species in the genus Bothriogenys from the late Eocene Qasr el Sagha Formation, Egypt. By the earliest Oligocene, anthracotheres had diversified into at least two genera, Bothriogenys and Qatraniodon, but Bothriogenys remained the most common and speciose. Bothriogenys persisted into the Oligocene and probably gave rise to Brachyodus, which flourished in the early Miocene. Around 20 Ma, Brachyodus invaded Europe and then reached Asia around 15 Ma (Ducrocq et al., 2003).

A second immigration of anthracotheres into Africa occurred during the early Miocene, as part of a larger, welldocumented episode of faunal exchange permitted by the collision of Afro-Arabian and Turkish plates. This second wave included species with clear relatives on the Indian subcontinent, such as Afromeryx and Sivameryx. These forms persisted for about 3 Ma, making the early Miocene the time when African anthracotheres reached their greatest diversity, with a minimum of three genera and several species present. The third dispersal event is documented by the arrival of Libycosaurus in Africa, probably around 15–13 Ma. The last record of an anthracothere in Africa is from deposits in the 6–5 Ma range, after which anthracotheres appear to have gone extinct (figure 43.6). Many authors have noted that the demise of anthracotheres in the late Miocene appears concomitant with the appearance and radiation of the Hippopotamidae, leading some researchers to suggest that anthracotheres may have been “hippo-like” in their adaptation and were outcompeted by hippopotamids (e.g., Coryndon, 1978; Pickford, 1991b). Based on phylogenetic analyses, other researchers have suggested that hippopotamids are derived from within anthracotheres, such that ancient anthracotheres live today in the form of the modern hippopotamus (Boisserie et al., 2005; Boisserie and Lihoreau, 2006). In contrast, Pickford (2007b, 2008) notes that Neogene anthracothere cranial and postcranial anatomy is divergent from that of hippopotamids, and that the functional morphology and behavior of Miocene anthracotheres was more



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Possible relationships of anthracotheres in geographic and chronologic context (after Lihoreau and Ducrocq, 2007). Arrows indicate the main dispersal events of anthracotheres into Africa.

FIGURE 43.6

likely akin to that of swamp dwelling artiodactyls such as the Marshbuck (Tragelaphus spekei), Marsh Deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), or Lechwe (Kobus leche). However, no similar studies have examined Paleogene anthracothere postcrania. Two recent papers have examined the hypothesis of semiaquatic habits in anthracotheres from examination of oxygen and carbon isotopes. Clementz et al. (2008) found that at least Bothriogenys gorringei from the early Oligocene part of the Jebel Qatrani Formation, Egypt, had low variation in oxygen isotopic values consistent with semiaquatic habits, while Liu et al. (2008) judged a slightly older undescribed anthracothere from the late Eocene portion of the Jebel Qatrani Formation to be terrestrial based on its carbon isotopic values. Multiple lines of evidence will need to be examined in all Old World anthracotheres to test these hypotheses more thoroughly.

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. 1999. Faunal correlation of Wadi Moghara, Egypt: Implications for the age of Prohylobates tandyi. Journal of Human Evolution 36:519–533. Pickford, M. 1983. On the origins of Hippopotamidae together with descriptions of two new species, a new genus and a new subfamily from the Miocene of Kenya. Geobios 16:193–217. . 1991a. Late Miocene anthracothere (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from tropical Africa. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Série II, 313:709–715. . 1991b. Revision of the Neogene Anthracotheriidae of Africa. Geology of Libya 4:1491–1525. . 2003. Early and middle Miocene Anthracotheriidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Sperrgebiet, Namibia. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Namibia 19:283–289 . 2006. Sexual and individual morphometric variation in Libycosaurus (Mammalia, Anthracotheriidae) from the Maghreb and Libya. Geobios 39:267–310. . 2007a. A new suiform (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from the early Miocene of East Africa. Comptes Rendus Palevol 6:221–229. . 2007b. Suidae and Hippopotamidae from the middle Miocene of Kipsaraman, Kenya and other sites in East Africa. Paleontological Research 11:85–105. . 2008. The myth of the hippo-like anthracothere: The eternal problem of homology and convergence. [El mito de la similitud entre antracoterios e hipopótamos: El eterno problema entre

homología y convergencia.] Revista Española de Paleontología 23:31–90. Pickford, M., and P. Andrews. 1981. The Tinderet Miocene sequence in Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 10:11–33. Pickford, M., B. Senut, D. Hadoto, J. Musisi, and C. Kariira. 1986. Recent discoveries in the Miocene sites at Moroto, North-East Uganda: Biostratigraphical and palaeoecological implications. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, Série II, 9:681–686. Roger, J., M. Pickford, H. Thomas, F. de Lapparent de Broin, P. Tassy, W. Van Neer, C. Bourdillon-de-Grissac, and S. Al-Busaidi. 1994. Découverte de vertébrés fossils dans le Miocène de la region du Huqf au Sultanat d’Oman. Annales de Paléontologie 80:253–273. Schmidt, M. 1913. Ueber Paarhufer des fluviomarinen Schichten des Fajum, odontographisches und osteologisches Material. Geologische und Paläontologische Abhandlungen 11:153–264. Simons, E. L. 1968. Early Cenozoic mammalian faunas, Fayum Province, Egypt: Part I. African Oligocene mammals: Introduction, history of study, and faunal succession. Bulletin, Peabody Museum of Natural History 28:1–22. Vignaud, P., P. Duringer, H. T. Mackaye, A. Likius, C. Blondel, J.-R. Boisserie, L. de Bonis, V. Eisenmann, M.-E. Etienne, D. Geraads, F. Guy, T. Lehmann, F. Lihoreau, N. Lopez-Martinez, C. MourerChauviré, O. Otero, J.-C. Rage, M. Schuster, L. Viriot, A. Zazzo, and M. Brunet. 2002. Geology and paleontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad. Nature 418:152–155.



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CHAP TER FORT Y-FOUR

Hippopotamidae ELE ANOR WESTON AND JE AN-RENAUD BOISSERIE

Africa is both the place of emergence and the main center of hippopotamid evolution. Hippopotamidae is an exclusively Old World taxon that dispersed from Africa to Eurasia on several occasions (Coryndon, 1978b; Kahlke, 1990; Boisserie, 2005). The earliest hippopotamids have been found in Kenya dating back to the middle Miocene (Pickford, 1983; Behrensmeyer et al., 2002), and although today the family is only represented by two African species, Hippopotamus amphibius and Choeropsis liberiensis, it had a much greater past diversity with around 40 species known (Coryndon, 1978b; Boisserie, 2005). In Africa, hippos are often the most frequently preserved mammals in Neogene fossil assemblages (e.g., Coryndon, 1970b; Harris, 1991; Faure, 1994; Leakey et al., 1996; Harrison, 1997; Brunet et al., 1998). This abundance of fossil remains is in part linked to the animals’ semiaquatic habit, but this unusual mode of life for a large mammal must also have contributed to the success of the group. There has recently been a resurgence of interest in hippopotamid evolution and palaeoecology, following the indication by molecular-based phylogenies that Cetacea form the extant sister group of the Hippopotamidae (Gatesy, 1997; Nikaido et al., 1999). This raises the intriguing possibility that the association with a semiaquatic habit is in fact ancient. The origin of hippos has been much debated (e.g., Pickford, 1983), with a number of contributions favoring the evolution of hippos from certain anthracotheres based on fossil evidence (Colbert, 1935; Gentry and Hooker, 1988; Boisserie et al., 2005a, 2005b). For many years, however, in spite of the wealth of fossil data available, the contribution of hippo research to broad scale palaeoecological and -biogeographic studies has been seriously hindered by their poorly resolved phylogeny. In the last decade the plethora of new fossil material that has been recovered from the Chad Basin (Boisserie et at., 2003, 2005c) and the Afar, Ethiopia (Boisserie, 2004; Boisserie and White, 2004), has radically broadened our knowledge of this group. Previous work in Africa had mainly focused on fossils from the Turkana Basin and the Western Rift of East Africa (e.g., Cooke and Coryndon, 1970; Gèze, 1980, 1985; Pavlakis, 1990; Harris, 1991; Faure 1994; Weston, 2003b). The first cladistic revision of the group (Boisserie, 2005) has had a major impact on the classification of the African hippopotamids, with many taxa now assigned to different

genera. This resulted partly from the discovery of new material and partly from the necessity of splitting the paraphyletic genus Hexaprotodon (sensu Coryndon, 1977). Recent work on the growth and development of hippos, addressing issues linked with body size adjustment, has also contributed to the reevaluation of some morphological characteristics (Weston, 2003a). In particular, trends in mandibular form corresponding to shifts in ontogeny have been identified as taxonomically informative (Weston, 2000; Boisserie, 2005). Our current understanding of these mammals’ African evolutionary history is indebted to the contributions of many authors (e.g., Dietrich, 1928; Hopwood, 1939; Arambourg, 1947; Coryndon, 1977, 1978b; Pickford 1983; Gèze 1980, 1985; Stuenes 1989; Harris 1991; Harrison, 1997). Here we review the recent revisions to African hippopotamid taxonomy and phylogeny in the light of past contributions made to this field.

Systematic Palaeontology This overview of systematic palaeontology follows the revised taxonomy proposed by Boisserie (2005). The previous usage of the genus Hexaprotodon (e.g., Coryndon, 1977; Harris, 1991; Weston, 2003b) is not applied here. Hippopotamus is abbreviated Hip., and Hexaprotodon is abbreviated Hex. MAMMALIA Linnaeus, 1758 CETARTIODACTYLA Montgelard et al., 1997 CETANCODONTA Arnason et al., 2000 HIPPOPOTAMOIDEA Gray, 1821 (sensu Gentry and Hooker 1988) Family HIPPOPOTAMIDAE Gray, 1821 Subfamily KENYAPOTAMINAE Pickford, 1983 Genus KENYAPOTAMUS Pickford, 1983

Type Species Kenyapotamus coryndonae Pickford, 1983, from the late Miocene (10–8 Ma) of Kenya (figure 44.1). Other Species Kenyapotamus ternani Pickford, 1983. Diagnosis Upper molars bunodont with strong lingual cingula; P4 with two main cusps with strong cingulum except labially; P3 with large distolingual cusp, outer enamel surface projects further rootward than lingual enamel, and with pustular enamel tubercles; P1 with two fused roots; lower molars 861


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by Pickford (1983) as tayassuid-like, but this interpretation is disputed by Boisserie et al. (2005a, 2005b). Subfamily HIPPOPOTAMINAE Gray, 1821 Genus ARCHAEOPOTAMUS Boisserie, 2005 Figures 44.2A and 44.3

A) Occlusal view of a right M3 KNM-BN 1321 from Ngeringerowa, holotype of Kenyapotamus coryndonae, preserved at the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi (NMK); scale bar is 2 cm. B) Dorsal view of mandible KNM-SH 15857 from Samburu Hills, Kenyapotamus coryndonae, preserved at the NMK; scale bar is 10 cm.

FIGURE 44.1

with distinct median accessory cusps strongly joined to hypoconids by a large crest; lower premolars triangular in side view; m3 with talonid; M3 without talon; astragalus with navicular facet smaller than cuboid facet (after Pickford, 1983). Age Middle to late Miocene, between 15.6 and 8 Ma. African Occurrence Kenya (Pickford, 1983; Nakaya et al., 1984, 1987; Behrensmeyer et al., 2002), possibly Ethiopia (Geraads et al., 2002) and Tunisia (Pickford, 1990). Remarks Pickford (1983) created a separate subfamily Kenyapotaminae for the earliest hippopotamids that are now known from the middle and late Miocene of East and North Africa (Pickford, 1983; Nakaya et al., 1984, 1987; Pickford, 1990; Behrensmeyer et al., 2002). These fossils constitute the first record of the Hippopotamidae and should be pivotal in the debate over hippo origins. Unfortunately, they are fragmentary and include mostly isolated teeth or postcranial elements. The affinity of some of this material is not evident (Boisserie et al., 2005a, 2005b). Two species have been described. The older remains from Fort Ternan (ca. 14 Ma), possibly Maboko Island (ca. 15 Ma), and Kipsaraman (ca. 15.6 Ma) in Kenya were originally assigned to Kenyapotamus ternani (Pickford, 1983; Behrensmeyer et al., 2002). In a contribution published during the review process of this chapter, Pickford (2007) erected a new genus name Palaeopotamus for K. ternani on the basis of new material from Kipsaraman (Behrensmeyer et al., 2002). However, this species, the smaller of the two kenyapotamines, with a body weight estimated to be less than the extant pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis) (Pickford, 1983) remains poorly known (Pickford, 2007). Most of the kenyapotamine material dated between 8 and 10 Ma is attributed to Kenyapotamus coryndonae and is recorded from Kenya at Ngeringerowa, Ngorora, Nakali (Pickford, 1983), and the Namurungule Formation in the Samburu Hills (Nakaya et al., 1984, 1987). Isolated teeth of K. coryndonae have also been recorded from the Beglia Formation, Tunisia, dated at about 10–9 Ma (Pickford, 1990) and possibly at Chorora, dated at about 11–10 Ma, Ethiopia (Geraads et al., 2002). The most complete fragment assigned to K. coryndonae is from the Samburu Hills, Kenya (Nakaya et al., 1987). This mandible (KNM-SH 15857, figure 44.1B), though very damaged, clearly has a narrow muzzle, and the lower jaw morphology is particularly reminiscent of the late Miocene hippopotamus, Archaeopotamus lothagamensis, from Lothagam, Kenya (Weston, 2000). However, all detail of the lower molar cusp morphology is not preserved, precluding the establishment of its precise taxonomic affinities. Kenyapotamus molars are extremely brachydont and exhibit a mixture of more derived hippopotamid and more general suiform characteristics. These suiform affinities are interpreted more specifically

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Synonymy “Ancestral hexaprotodont” Coryndon, 1976:248, figure 9; Hexaprotodon Coryndon, 1977:70, figure 6. Type Species Archaeopotamus lothagamensis (Weston, 2000), from the upper Miocene (8.0–6.5 Ma) of Lothagam, Kenya (figure 44.2A). Other Species Archaeopotamus harvardi (Coryndon, 1977); Archaeopotamus aff. lothagamensis (Hex. aff. sahabiensis in Gentry, 1999); Archaeopotamus aff. harvardi (Boisserie, 2005) (Hex. imaguncula Hopwood, 1926 in Kent, 1942). Diagnosis After Boisserie (2005). Hexaprotodont with very elongate mandibular symphysis relative to its width; incisor alveolar process strongly projected frontally; very procumbent incisors; canine processes poorly extended laterally and not extended anteriorly; length of lower premolar row approaching length of molar row; horizontal ramus height is low compared to its length but tends to increase posteriorly; gonial angle of the ascending ramus is not laterally everted. Age Late Miocene–late Pliocene. African Occurrence Kenya (Coryndon, 1977; Weston, 2000, 2003b; Boisserie, 2005). Remarks The genus Archaeopotamus Boisserie, 2005, includes the oldest hippopotamines known from East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. These hexaprotodont species (see earlier discussion) are all characterized by a sagittally long mandibular symphysis relative to their symphyseal breadth across the lower canines (Boisserie, 2005). In light of the considerable size variation that exists across fossil hippopotamid species, this difference in mandibular form is best illustrated when ontogenetic series of modern and fossil species are compared (figure 44.3). The ontogenetic trajectory of A. harvardi is displaced laterally relative to the ontogenetic trajectories of the extant hippopotamids that possess relatively short symphyses for their breadth (Weston, 2000, 2003b).

A) Dorsal view of mandible KNM-LT 23839 from Lothagam, holotype of Archaoepotamus lothagamensis, preserved at the NMK; B) lateral view of cranium KNM-LT 4 from Lothagam, holotype of Archaoepotamus harvardi, preserved at the NMK. Scale bars are 10 cm.

FIGURE 44.2

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Relationship between the sagittal length of the mandibular symphysis and the width across the lower canines in hippopotamids. The slopes represent growth trajectories calculated from postnatal ontogenetic series of Hip. amphibius and A. harvardi mandibles, respectively. For comparison, specimens from all other hippopotamine genera have been included. Representatives of Archaeopotamus appear to plot on a separate ontogenetic trajectory relative to other hippopotamines, possessing relatively longer and narrower mandibular symphyses. Hip. amphibius: slope ⫽ 0.95, r ⫽ 0.82; A. harvardi: slope ⫽ 0.94, r ⫽ 0.96. For results of regression analyses that corroborate this ontogenetic trend see Weston (2003a: table 10.3). The included hippopotamids are Choeropsis liberiensis, Hex. garyam, Hex. bruneti, Hex. ? cf. imaguncula (UMP 6202 from Kazinga, Uganda), aff. Hip. dulu (A), aff. Hip. afarensis, aff. Hip. coryndonae, aff. Hip. protamphibius, aff. Hip. cf. protamphibius, aff. Hip. aethiopicus, aff. Hip. karumensis, S. mingoz, S. cf. mingoz, Hip. amphibius, Hip. gorgops; A. harvardi, A. aff. harvardi (B: M15939 from Rawi, Kenya), A. aff. lothagamensis (C: M496464 from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), and A. lothagamensis (D). FIGURE 44.3

ARCHAEOPOTAMUS HARVARDI (Coryndon, 1977) Figure 44.2B A relatively large, gracile hippopotamus with unelevated, laterally facing orbits is by far the best-known species of Archaeopotamus, being represented at Lothagam, Kenya, by over 200 specimens from the late Miocene Nawata Formation (McDougall and Feibel, 2003; Weston, 2003b). Remains from other late Miocene and early Pliocene localities in East Africa, notably the Manonga Valley, Tanzania (Harrison, 1997), and the Middle Awash, Adu-Asa Formation, and the lower Sagantole Formation, Ethiopia (Kalb et al., 1982; Haile-Selassie et al., 2004), have also been attributed to A. harvardi. Boisserie (2004) considered the late Miocene hippopotamid material from the Adu-Asa Formation (5.2–5.8 Ma) as too fragmentary for accurate identification, whereas the material from the lower part of the Sagantole Formation (4.9–5.2 Ma) has now been assigned to a new species, aff. Hip. dulu (Boisserie, 2004). The Manonga Valley hippopotamids from Tanzania (Harrison, 1997) are also too incomplete for definite identification. A strong similarity between hippopotamid remains from the Lukeino Formation and the Mpesida Beds, Baringo, Kenya, and those from Lothagam has been reported (Coryndon, 1978a, 1978b; Harrison, 1997), but the presence of A. harvardi at Baringo needs to be clarified. The A. harvardi hypodigm is morphologically variable and may include more than one species. A small partial adult cranium from the lower Nawata (KNM-LT 26236) differs markedly from the holotype (KNM-LT 4, figure 44.2B) from the upper Nawata; the zygoma is more rounded, the occipital is short, and the occipital condyles are small relative to the

breadth of mastoid (Weston, 2003b). Likewise, a mandibular symphysis (KNM-LT 23105) from the upper Nawata is very shallow in relation to its length and breadth, whereas KNMLT 108 from the lower Nawata is much deeper and narrower (Weston, 2003b). The latter specimens are both subadult suggesting this distinction is not linked with ontogeny. In A. harvardi the upper and lower incisors are arranged in a shallow arc. The dorsal surface of the alveolar mandibular shelf is mediolaterally convex as opposed to flat or furrowed (concave; see Weston, 2003b: figure 10.15). This characteristic of the lower jaw is not shared by other Archaeopotamus species. ARCHAEOPOTAMUS LOTHAGAMENSIS (Weston, 2000) Figures 44.2A and 44.3 A narrow-muzzled small hippopotamus known only from the late Miocene lower Nawata member of Lothagam, Northern Kenya (Weston, 2000, 2003b). The holotype (KNM-LT 23839, figure 44.2A) is a mandibular symphysis with c and p4–m3. The cranium is not known. The symphysis is shallow with equal sized procumbent incisors arranged horizontally. Figure 44.3 indicates that the length-to-breadth symphyseal proportions of the holotype scale ontogenetically relative to A. harvardi. However, the shallow depth of the symphysis is noteworthy as this feature distinguishes A. lothagamensis from the Arabian Archaeopotamus where even in an immature specimen (AUH 481: Gentry, 1999) the symphysis is relatively deep. The Arabian hippopotamid has a narrow, deep, and furrowed symphysis with a concave upward alveolar shelf with subequal incisors projecting obliquely from the front of the jaw (Gentry, 1999; Weston, 2000). The m3 of the holotype

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of A. lothagamensis has a central accessory cusp positioned between the mesial crest of the hypoconid and distal crest of the metaconid. Only one other hippopotamid m3 out of 21 examined from the Nawata Formation at Lothagam has a small but clearly demarcated central cusplet. Three other lower third molars have grooves cutting the prehypocristid (mesial crest of hypoconid), but no development of a centrally positioned accessory cusp on the m3 comparable to that of A. lothagamensis (KNM-LT 23839) is evident. ARCHAEOPOTAMUS aff. Harvardi Figure 44.3 A mandible of a pygmy hippopotamus (M15939: NHM, London) collected in 1935 from the base of the late Pliocene Rawi beds, Homa Peninsula, Kenya (Ditchfield et al., 1999), has been referred to as Archaeopotamus aff. harvardi by Boisserie (2005). Figure 44.3 illustrates the similarity of the symphyseal proportions of M15939 with those of A. harvardi. The small Rawi hippo was initially identified by A. T. Hopwood as Hip. imaguncula (see incertae sedis later; Hopwood, 1926; Kent, 1942). The Rawi mandible (M15939) can be distinguished from A. harvardi by the differentiation of the incisors: the i2 and i3 are reduced in size in relation to i1, and the i2 is raised above the level of i1 and i3. The alveolar shelf is concave upward in anterior aspect reflecting the strongly furrowed symphysis. The m3 is small (mesiodistal length ⫽ 5.57 cm) falling below the range of A. harvardi (Weston, 2003b) and within that of Hex. ?imaguncula. The symphysis is deep and robust compared with some but not all of the material attributed to the A. harvardi hypodigm but differs from the Ugandan specimen (UMP 6202) from the Kazinga Channel (Hex. ? imaguncula; see figure 44.3), which has an extremely shallow symphysis (Cooke and Coryndon, 1970). Genus CHOEROPSIS Leidy, 1853 Figure 44.4A

Synonymy Hippopotamus Morton, 1844, p. 15; Choeropsis Leidy, 1852:213; Hexaprotodon Coryndon, 1977:70, figure 6. Type Species Choeropsis liberiensis (Morton, 1844), extant and only species known (figure 44.4A). Diagnosis After Boisserie (2005). Small-sized genus; downwardly bent nasal anterior apex; orbits clearly below the cranial roof; strong posterior nasal spine of the palatine; large and elongated tympanic bulla that is apically rounded and without marked muscular process; presence of a lateral notch on the basilar part of the basioccipital; down-turned sagittal crest. Age Genus exclusively known in the present.

African Occurrence West Africa: Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria (probably extinct), and possibly Guinea Bissau (Eltringham, 1993, 1999). Remarks The extant pygmy hippopotamus from West Africa was originally described as a species of Hippopotamus (Morton, 1844) but was later assigned to its own genus Choeropsis Leidy, 1853. The specific name minor (Morton, 1844) was changed to liberiensis by Morton (1849) because of its earlier attribution to a fossil form (Desmarest, 1822) that was recognized much later by Major (1902) to be the extinct pygmy hippopotamus from Cyprus. Coryndon (1977) considered the extant pygmy hippo to have close affinities with Mio-Pliocene fossil taxa and transferred this modern species together with most of the extinct African hippopotamine species to the genus Hexaprotodon Falconer and Cautley, 1836. Subsequent workers have either followed Coryndon (1977), referring to the modern pygmy hippopotamus as Hexaprotodon liberiensis (e.g., Harris, 1991; Gentry, 1999; Weston, 2000, 2003b), or have chosen to maintain Choeropsis, differentiating it at the generic level from fossil representatives of the family Hippopotamidae (Pickford, 1983; Harrison, 1997, Boisserie, 2005). In the first cladistic revision of the Hippopotamidae, the genus Choeropsis is maintained and the generic diagnosis emended (Boisserie, 2005). CHOEROPSIS LIBERIENSIS (Morton, 1844) Figure 44.4A C. liberiensis, the sole representative of the genus, with a body weight between 180 and 275 kg (Eltringham, 1993, 1999), is one of the smallest hippopotamids with only the dwarf Cypriot hippo, Phanourios minor (Boekschoten and Sondaar, 1972), and the earliest kenyapotamine estimated to be smaller in body size. C. liberiensis, is restricted today to the dense rain forests of Liberia with small populations also occurring in neighboring Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Guinea (Eltringham, 1993). Corbet (1969) identified a distinct subspecies from Nigeria, C. liberiensis heslopi, now believed to be extinct. The crania of the Nigeria subspecies are slightly smaller relative to those of C. liberiensis liberiensis (Weston, 1997). The skull of Choeropsis has orbits positioned well below the cranial roof and a sagittal crest that is down-turned (figure 44.4A). These seemingly primitive traits occur only in Choeropsis, but it is noteworthy that such features do characterize the neonate Hip. amphibius skull and are potentially paedomorphic (Weston, 2003a). Choeropsis also exhibits some derived features (diprotodont mandible with short upright symphysis and laterally everted gonial angle, and single-cusped P4) that are likely convergences shared by some other hippopotamids (Boisserie, 2005). The postcranial elements (long bones, carpals, and tarsals)

FIGURE 44.4 A) Lateral view of cranium M09.5.005.A of unknown provenience, Choeropsis liberiensis, preserved at the LGBPH/UMR CNRS 6041, University of Poitiers; B) lateral view of cranium KL09-98-049 from Kollé, holotype of Saotherium mingoz, preserved at the Centre National d’Appui à la Recherche, Ndjamena (CNAR). Scale bar is 10 cm.

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are more gracile (slender for their length) than those of Hip. amphibius, although the metapodials compare more closely in relative length and robustness to the common hippopotamus (Weston, 1997, 2003b). A more gracile skeleton and extended curvature of the troclear facets of the metapodials and astragali typify Choeropsis and Archaeopotamus spp. (Weston, 1997, 2003a; Gentry, 1999). This type of postcranial variation can in terms of function be linked with varying hippopotamid lifestyles, but equally these postcranial characteristics appear to be plesiomorphic features of the hippopotamines that have yet to be analyzed in the context of phylogeny. Genus SAOTHERIUM Boisserie, 2005 Figure 44.4B

Synonymy Hexaprotodon Boisserie, 2003:16. Type Species Saotherium mingoz, from the early Pliocene of Kollé, Chad (Boisserie et al., 2003; see figure 44.4B). Other Representative Saotherium cf. mingoz (Boisserie et al., 2003). Diagnosis After Boisserie (2005). Hexaprotodont; antorbital angle of cranial roof present; high skull above the molars; slender mandibular symphysis in sagittal plane; orbits below cranial roof; slender zygomatic arches; laterally developed occipital plate; nasal and lacrimal separate; short extension of canine processes; lingual border of lower cheek tooth alveolar process lower than the labial border. Age Early Pliocene (5–4 Ma). African Occurrence Chad. Remarks Saotherium is a new genus including two Pliocene hippopotamine forms from the Djurab Desert of Chad (Boisserie et al., 2003; Boisserie, 2005). Saotherium mingoz (Boisserie et al., 2003), a hexaprotodont hippopotamid with a unique antorbital angle characterizing the lateral profile of the cranial roof, was provisionally assigned to Hexaprotodon (sensu Coryndon, 1977) prior to the systematic revision of the family Hippopotamidae by Boisserie (2005). S. mingoz is known from abundant craniomandibular remains (and as yet undescribed postcranial elements) from the Kollé area of the Djurab Desert that is estimated to be between 5 and 4 Ma in age (Brunet et al., 1998). S. cf. mingoz is slightly larger with a more developed premolar row and was recovered from the neighboring Kossom Bougoudi area of the Djurab Desert, a site with a vertebrate fauna estimated to be 5 Ma in age (Brunet and MPFT, 2000). SAOTHERIUM MINGOZ Boisserie, 2003 and SAOTHERIUM cf. MINGOZ Figures 44.3 and 44.4 These early Pliocene hippos from Chad exhibit a mixture of features considered to be derived (short premolar row, incisor differentiation, lateral expansion of the gonial angle), more primitive (low orbits, weak development of canine processes), and unique (antorbital angle, high skull above molars). As with Choeropsis the diagnostic aspects of Saotherium lie mainly in the “form” of the cranium (figure 44.4) and not in that of the mandible. Figure 44.3 indicates that the proportions of the symphysis of the Saotherium taxa lie between those of A. harvardi and the modern Hip. amphibius, relative to some hippopotamids from other genera. However, the cranium is more similar to that of Choeropsis (orbit position and size; cylindrical braincase) than to crania of other hippopotamine taxa (Boisserie, 2005).

Genus HEXAPROTODON Falconer and Cautley, 1836

Synonyms Hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon) Falconer and Cautley, 1836:51. Type Species Hexaprotodon sivalensis (Falconer and Cautley, 1836), from Mio-Pliocene strata of the Siwalik Hills, India/Pakistan. Other Species Africa: Hex. bruneti (Boisserie and White, 2004) and Hex. garyam (Boisserie et al., 2005c). Asia: several species known from India, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Indonesia; most were considered to be subspecies of Hex. sivalensis by Hooijer (1950), whereas other authors confer specific rank on them (Lydekker, 1884; Boisserie, 2005). Diagnosis After Boisserie (2005). Hexaprotodont; very high, robust, relatively short mandibular symphysis with canine processes not particularly extended laterally; dorsal plane of symphysis angled obliquely; thick incisor alveolar process frontally projected; small differences in incisor diameter, i2 usually the smallest; laterally everted but not hooklike gonial angle; orbit with well-developed supraorbital process and deep narrow notch on anterior border; transversely thick zygomatic arches; elevated sagittal crest on a transversely compressed braincase. Age Africa, late Miocene and late Pliocene (ca. 2.5 Ma); Asia, late Miocene–late Pleistocene. African Occurrence Chad (Boisserie et al., 2005c), Ethiopia (Boisserie and White, 2004). Remarks Hexaprotodon was first proposed as a subgenus (Falconer and Cautley, 1836) of Hippopotamus for the Siwalik material from Pakistan and India to signify the possession of six incisors (hexaprotodont) in the Asian hippopotamids as opposed to the four incisors (tetraprotodont) in the extant Hippopotamus. Owen (1845) elevated Hexaprotodon to full generic rank. Lydekker (1884) regarded incisor number alone to be an inadequate basis for generic distinction but Colbert (1935) recognized a list of other mainly cranial features that could distinguish Hexaprotodon from Hippopotamus. Coryndon (1977) showed that Colbert’s (1935) traits characterized several East African hippopotamid taxa, and the genus Hexaprotodon was expanded further to include African (including the extant Choeropsis) as well as Asian representatives (Coryndon, 1977). This classification was adopted by subsequent workers (but see Pickford, 1983, and Stuenes, 1989) even though the integrity of genus Hexaprotodon (sensu Coryndon, 1977) was questioned given its probable paraphyletic nature (Harris, 1991; Harrison, 1997; Weston, 1997, 2000; Gentry, 1999). Boisserie’s (2005) cladistic revision of the family Hippopotamidae confirmed that the genus Hexaprotodon sensu Coryndon (1977) was paraphyletic and Boisserie recognized a distinctive Asian hippopotamid clade (Hexaprotodon sensu Boisserie, 2005). This phylogenetic revision of the Hippopotamidae has resulted in the further emendation of the diagnosis of Hexaprotodon (Boisserie, 2005); the genus now excludes the taxa transferred to Hexaprotodon by Coryndon (1977). Hexaprotodon sensu Boisserie (2005) includes Hex. sivalensis Falconer and Cautley (1836), to which Hooijer (1950) attributed eight subspecies (specific rank is conserved by Boisserie, 2005) from the Indian subcontinent and the Indonesian archipelago (Bergh et al., 2001), Hex. iravaticus Falconer and Cautley, 1847, and related specimens from Myanmar (Colbert, 1938, 1943; Hooijer, 1950) and two new species from Africa, Hex. bruneti (Boisserie and White, 2004) and Hex. garyam (Boisserie et al., 2005c). FORT Y-FOUR: HIPPOPOTAMIDAE


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HEXAPROTODON GARYAM (Boisserie et al., 2005) Figures 44.5A and 44.5B A hexaprotodont hippopotamid known from the late Miocene levels of the Toros-Menalla region in Chad (Boisserie et al., 2005c). The holotype is an incomplete mandible that has a massive, high, furrowed symphysis with a projected incisor alveolar shelf bearing a smaller and more dorsally positioned i2 relative to the i1 and i3 (figures 44.5A, 44.5B). Uniquely, this species has laterally isolated lower canine processes that are separated from the incisor alveolar shelf by steep dorsal grooves while the mandibular corpus decreases in height posteriorly (Boisserie et al., 2005c). The symphyseal morphology of Hex. garyam is most similar to that of Hex. sivalensis from Asia. Boisserie et al. (2005c) suggested that Hex. garyam could be the first representative of a hippo lineage mostly known in Asia. The possible earliest appearance of Hexaprotodon in Asia was proposed to be ca. 6 Ma (Barry et al., 2002). However, a reappraisal of the Asian hippos, coupled with the discovery of more complete cranial fossils of Hex. garyam, as well as a comparison with late Miocene hippopotamid remains from southern Europe, are necessary to establish the exact affinities between Hex. garyam and the pre-Pleistocene Asian hippopotamids. HEXAPROTODON BRUNETI Boisserie and White, 2004 Figures 44.5C and 44.5D A hexaprotodont late Pliocene (ca. 2.5 Ma) hippo known from the Hata Member of the Bouri Formation and from upper Maka, Middle Awash, Ethiopia (Boisserie and White, 2004). The holotype consists of a partial cranium, a subcomplete mandible that has a high, massive, short symphysis with overhanging incisor alveolar process, and vertebrae of a single individual (figures 44.5C, 44.5D). Uniquely, Hex. bruneti has a

greatly enlarged i3 relative to the first and second lower incisors. Hex. bruneti is more similar to the Asian Hex. sivalensis than any known African hippo, having identical symphyseal and anterior palatine proportions and many dental affinities (Boisserie and White, 2004). Even the tendency to develop an enlarged i3 relative to i1 has been noted in two Asian forms from the Pleistocene levels of central India (Hooijer, 1950), though the i3 in those hippopotamids never attained the exaggerated proportions observed in Hex. bruneti (Boisserie and White, 2004). The relatively small m3 and shallow distal groove on the upper canine further distinguish Hex. bruneti from Hex. sivalensis and its Asian relatives. Hex. bruneti is considered to be a likely Asian migrant (Boisserie and White, 2004). Genus HIPPOPOTAMUS Linnaeus, 1758 Figure 44.6A

Type Species Hip. amphibius Linnaeus, 1758, extant (figure 44.6A).

Other Species Africa: Hip. gorgops Dietrich, 1926, Hip. kaisensis Hopwood, 1926, Hip. lemerlei Grandidier in Milne Edwards, 1868, Hip. madagascariensis Guldberg, 1883 and Hip. laloumena Faure and Guérin, 1990. Eurasia: several species known (Faure 1983, 1986; Vekua, 1986; Mazza, 1995) including most of those from the Mediterranean islands (Reese, 1975). Diagnosis Tetraprotodont; elongated muzzle; upper canines with longitudinal and shallow posterior groove, narrow and enamel coated; lower canines with strong convergent enamel ridges; deep and widely open notch on the anterior orbital border; limbs short and robust with very large quadridigitigrade feet. Age Ca. 5 Ma–present. African Occurrence Africa including Madagascar.

A) Dorsal view of mandible (canines have been removed to illustrate canine apophyses) TM337-01-001 from Toros-Menalla, holotype of Hexaprotodon garyam, preserved at the CNAR; B) rostral view with canines of TM337-01-001; C) dorsal view of mandible BOU-VP-8/79 from Bouri Hata, holotype of Hexaprotodon bruneti, preserved at the National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Abeba (NME); D) rostral view of BOU-VP-8/79. Scale bar is 10 cm. FIGURE 44.5

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HIPPOPOTAMUS KAISENSIS Hopwood, 1926 This hippopotamus, first described from two lower molars and postcranial elements from the Plio-Pleistocene Kaiso Formation, Uganda (Hopwood, 1926), is still a poorly known species with a partial tetraprotodont mandibular symphysis from Kaiso Village figured by Cook and Coryndon (1970) being the most complete specimen known. Hippopotamid material very similar to Hip. kaisensis has also been recovered from the Lusso Beds (2.3–1.8 Ma; Pavlakis, 1990), in the Zaire portion of the Western rift. However, Pavlakis (1990) demonstrated that this material was indistinguishable from the modern Hip. amphibius and referred to it as Hip. aff. Hip. amphibius, possibly with more archaic molars, as Gentry (1999) noted their similarity to those of aff. Hip. protamphibius and Hex. sivalensis. However, material from Kaiso Village (Cook and Coryndon, 1970) and West Turkana (Harris et al., 1988) is usually associated with strongly ribbed lower canines, confirming the occurrence of the genus Hippopotamus. More problematic is the distinction between Hip. kaisensis and the much more completely known Hip. gorgops (Dietrich, 1926, 1928), a hippopotamus recorded from many Pleistocene localities in East Africa and at Cornelia in South Africa (Hooijer, 1958; Coryndon, 1978b). HIPPOPOTAMUS GORGOPS Dietrich, 1926 Figure 44.6B

A) Lateral view of cranium MVZ 77804 of unknown provenience, Hippopotamus amphibius, preserved at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley; B) left lateral view of cranium M15162, Hippopotamus gorgops, from Rawi, Kavirondo Gulf, Kenya, preserved at the Natural History Museum, London (image reversed); C) lateral view of subadult cranium M7093, Hippopotamus madagascariensis from Antsirabé, Madagascar, preserved at the Natural History Museum, London; D) lateral view of cranium VA3, Hippopotamus lemerlei from Ampoza, Madagascar, preserved at the Natural History Museum, London. Scale bar is 10 cm. FIGURE 44.6

Remarks The tetraprotodont genus Hippopotamus, with a derived anterior dentition, can be distinguished relatively easily from other hippopotamines, and the monophyly of this taxon is well supported (Boisserie, 2005). Boisserie (2005) modified previous diagnoses of the genus (Gèze, 1980; Harris, 1991), listing, in particular, apomorphies linked with the canines (upper canine with shallow, narrow posterior groove; lower canine with strong convergent enamel ridges) and the presence of a deep and widely open notch on the anterior border of the orbit. However, the number of species and their relationships within the genus are not clearly established (Boisserie, 2005). The earliest record of Hippopotamus, Hip. kaisensis (Hopwood, 1926, 1939), is possibly from the lowest levels of the Nkondo Formation in the Western Rift, Uganda, at ~5 Ma (Faure, 1994). In the Turkana Basin, Hip. cf. kaisensis is first recorded from the Nachukui Formation West Turkana, Kenya, between 3.9 and 3.4 Ma (Harris et al., 1988; Leakey et al., 2001), and a Hippopotamus sp. similar to Hip. kaisensis is also reported from the Pliocene Chemeron Formation, Baringo, Kenya (Coryndon, 1978a; Gèze, 1985).

In the Turkana Basin this species has been documented potentially as early as 2.5 Ma and up to around 0.7 Ma (Gèze 1985; Harris et al., 1988; Harris, 1991), in the Western Rift from 1.8 Ma (Faure, 1994), and from the middle Pleistocene at Cornelia in South Africa (Hooijer, 1958; Bender and Brink 1992). Hopwood (1939) first questioned the synonymy of Hip. kaisensis and Hip. gorgops and later formally stated that if these species proved to be synonymous, Hip. gorgops had priority (Hopwood and Hollyfield, 1954). Nevertheless, rather smaller specimens of Hippopotamus from the lower portion of the West Turkana sequence have been distinguished from larger material derived from higher levels of the same Formation and assigned to Hip. cf. Hip. kaisensis and Hip. gorgops, respectively (Harris et al., 1988; Harris, 1991). Faure (1994) also identified Hip. kaisensis from lower levels and Hip. gorgops from the highest level of the Albertine Rift Valley sediments in Uganda. Hippopotamus gorgops was first described by Dietrich (1926, 1928) from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania where it is recorded throughout the sequence, between 1.9 and 0.6 Ma (Bed I–Bed IV; Coryndon, 1970a). Coryndon (1970a, 1970b) described an evolutionary trend within Hip. gorgops at Olduvai, distinguishing a less specialized variety, more similar to Hip. amphibius, at the base of the sequence from a highly specialized more amphibious form, with very elevated orbits, high occipital crest, long diastema between p2 and p3, elongate and flattened rostrum and very shortened postorbital region, from the top of the sequence (figure 44.6B). In spite of this morphological variation typifying Hip. gorgops, early representatives of this taxon have been distinguished from Hip. amphibius in terms of their greater size, greater degree of orbit elevation, high-crowned molars with a less convoluted wear pattern and relatively low cingula, and upper molars with splayed multiple roots (Coryndon, 1970a; Harris, 1991). Dietrich (1928) and Harris (1991) describe the orbital roof as thickened or swollen, and this trait, though not unique to



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Hip. gorgops, is not evident in Hip. amphibius. However, more comparative studies are necessary to resolve the relationship between Hip. kaisensis, Hip. amphibius, and Hip. gorgops, and it is probable that some material currently assigned to separate taxa is conspecific. In addition to the relatively complete material known from the Turkana Basin (Shungura Fm. Omo, Nachukui Fm., Koobi Fora Fm.), other records of Hip. gorgops or similar forms in Africa include: Olorgesailie, Kenya, between 1.0 and 0.6 (Isaac, 1977), a highly specialized form of Hip. gorgops comparable with material from Bed IV, Olduvai (Coryndon, 1970a); Rawi and Kanjera, Plio-Pleistocene, southwestern Kenya (Ditchfield et al., 1999); Pleistocene deposits from Baringo, Kenya (Coryndon, 1978a; Gèze, 1985); Melka Kunturé, Ethiopia between 1.6 and 0.8 (Gèze, 1980, 1985); Buia, Eritrea ca. 1 Ma (MartínezNavarro et al., 2004); Bouri (Daka Member), Ethiopia ca. 1 Ma (Heinzelin et al., 2000; Boisserie and Gilbert, 2008); ca. 0.6 Ma Bodo, Ethiopia (Gèze, 1980, 1985); and the middle Pleistocene material from Cornelia, South Africa (Hooijer, 1958). HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBIUS Linnaeus, 1758 This extant hippopotamus has been identified from the Nariokotome Member at the top of the West Turkana sequence (Harris et al., 1988) and in the Omo Shungura Formation from Member L, (1.38 Ma; Harris, 1991), but it has not been reported from East Turkana. Hip. amphibius has also been recorded from various other middle Pleistocene sites in East Africa, including Lainyamok and Isenya, Kenya and Asbole, Ethiopia (Geraads et al., 2004: table 3) but the earliest firm occurrence is from Gafalo, Djibouti dated at 1.6 Ma (Faure and Guérin, 1997). Pavlakis (1990) suggests that fossils from the Western Rift represent a single evolving lineage from Hip. kaisensis to Hip. amphibius, making the oldest record of Hip. aff. Hip. amphibius to be around 2.3 Ma (Pavlakis, 1990). HIPPOPOTAMUS LEMERLEI Grandidier, 1868, HIPPOPOTAMUS MADAGASCARIENSIS Guldberg, 1883, and HIPPOPOTAMUS LALOUMENA Faure and Guérin, 1990 Figures 44.6C and 44.6D Three species of recently extinct (within the last 1,000 yrs) Hippopotamus have been described from Madagascar (Stuenes, 1989; Faure and Guérin, 1990). All hippopotamus material that has been dated is of Holocene age (Burney et al., 2004), and no earlier fossil record of hippopotamus exists on the island. Hip. lemerlei from the island’s coastal lowlands, is more amphibious and expresses marked sexual dimorphism (Stuenes, 1989; figure 44.6D). A second more terrestrial species, Hip. madagascariensis, has been identified by Stuenes (1989) from the island’s central highlands (figure 44.6C). A third species, Hip. laloumena, from Mananjary on the east coast of Madagascar, is close in size to the smallest Hip. amphibius (Faure and Guérin, 1990) and was initially described as a subspecies of the latter, Hip. amphibius standini (Monnier and Lamberton, 1922). Hip. lemerlei and Hip. madagascariensis are dwarfed relative to the modern Hip. amphibius; their crania are approximately two-thirds the size of the cranium of the extant common hippopotamus. The taxonomic interpretation of insular island forms is complicated by the correlated effects of size reduction, the tendency of certain adaptive traits to evolve in parallel, the timing of isolation of the species, and the potential number of invasions over time (Sondaar, 1977). Unlike the relatively small Mediterranean islands, Madagascar is a large landmass

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that supports a diversity of habitats. It is, therefore, possible that hippo populations were exposed to different evolutionary pressures on the island, explaining the diversity of Malagasy species reported. The timing of arrival of hippos on Madagascar is not known (Stuenes, 1989). Judging from the similarity of Hip. laloumena to the modern Hip. amphibius, relative to the distinctiveness of the two dwarf species, there were at least two separate invasions. Hip. lemerlei and Hip madagascariensis both possess upper canines with a very shallow posterior groove and lower canines with strong and convergent ridges, features considered to be apomorphic traits of Hippopotamus (Boisserie, 2005). Hip. lemerlei has more elevated orbits with thickened supraorbital margins relative to those of Hip. madagascariensis (Stuenes, 1989). There are a suite of other cranial characteristics listed by Stuenes (1989) that distinguish the dwarf Malagasy species from each other and these features appear to be linked with adaptations to different lifestyles and diet. PLIO-PLEISTOCENE ENDEMIC FORMS FROM THE TURK ANA AND AWASH BASINS WITH AFFINITY TO THE GENUS HIPPOPOTAMUS

In Boisserie’s (2005) systematic revision of the family Hippopotamidae, hippopotamine taxa that had previously been assigned to Hexaprotodon (sensu Coryndon, 1977), showing some evolutionary trends that well developed in Hippopotamus, and not included in the Asian hippopotamid clade, were provisionally reclassified as aff. Hippopotamus, in anticipation of thorough examination of their phylogenetic relationships. In Africa these include Plio-Pleistocene hippopotamid species from the Turkana Basin, Ethiopia, and Kenya (aff. Hip. protamphibius [Arambourg, 1944a], aff. Hip. cf. protamphibius (Weston, 2003a), aff. Hip. karumensis (Coryndon, 1977), and aff. Hip. aethiopicus (Coryndon and Coppens, 1975), and Pliocene species from the Afar depression, Ethiopia (aff. Hip. afarensis (Gèze, 1985), aff. Hip. coryndonae (Gèze, 1985) and aff. Hip. dulu (Boisserie, 2004)]. Aff. HIPPOPOTAMUS PROTAMPHIBIUS Arambourg, 1944 Figures 44.7A and 44.7B This species was originally described from the Shungura Formation, Omo, Ethiopia, as a tetraprotodont hippopotamus of average size, with among other features, slightly elevated orbits and a lacrimal separate from the nasal (Arambourg, 1944a; figures 44.7A, 44.7B). Subsequently, much hippo material collected from the lower Omo Valley of southwestern Ethiopia, derived from the Mursi, Usno, and Shungura Formations (ca. 4–ca. 1.9 Ma) has been attributed to aff. Hip. protamphibius (Arambourg, 1947; Coryndon and Coppens, 1973; Gèze, 1985). Gèze (1985) recognized an early hexaprotodont variant from the lower part of the Shungura Formation and from the Mursi and Usno Formations (figured by Coryndon and Coppens,1973; Gèze, 1980) as a separate subspecies, aff. Hip. protamphibius turkanensis. Gèze (1985) also recognized a second slightly smaller species, aff. Hip. shungurensis from the Shungura Formation (equivalent to Hip. sp. A; Coryndon and Coppens, 1973), but Harris (1991) and Harrison (1997) considered aff. Hip. shungurensis to be a probable female aff. Hip. protamphibius morphotype. Aff. Hip. protamphibius has also been recovered from the Koobi Fora Formation, East Turkana, Kenya, and from the Nachukui Formation, West Turkana, Kenya (Harris et al., 1988; Harris, 1991). In East Turkana, analogous to the situation

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A) Dorsal view of mandible Omo 75-69-2798 from the Shungura Formation, aff. Hippopotamus protamphibius, preserved at the NME; B) dorsal view of the mandibular symphysis of KNM-ER 2738 from Koobi Fora, aff. Hippopotamus protamphibius, preserved at the NMK; C) dorsal view of mandible KM-ER 798 from Koobi Fora, holotype of aff. Hippopotamus karumensis, preserved at the NMK; D) dorsal view of mandible P997-5 from the Shungura Formation, holotype of aff. Hippopotamus aethiopicus, preserved at the NME. Scale bar is 10 cm.

FIGURE 44.7

in the Ethiopian Omo succession, both hexaprotodont and tetraprotodont mandibular symphyses attributed to aff. Hip. protamphibius have been recovered from the Tulu Bor Member of the Koobi Fora Formation (Harris, 1991; figure 44.7B). Aff. HIPPOPOTAMUS cf. PROTAMPHIBIUS Weston, 2003 Figure 44.3 Kenyan hippopotamids from the Apak Member of the Nachukui Formation at Lothagam, from Kanapoi and from the base of the Koobi Fora Formation, Allia Bay, have been referred to aff. Hip. cf. protamphibius (Weston, 2003a). However, Harris et al. (2003) distinguish the Kanapoi hippo as aff Hip. protamphibius. The Kanapoi material was initially identified by Coryndon (1977) as an “advanced” form of A. harvardi, but a suite of features including the shorter, wider symphysis (figure 44.3), differentiation of incisor size, laterally compressed lower canine, depressions in frontal and maxilla/lacrimal region of cranium linked with orbit elevation, simple P4 with a highly reduced lingual cusp, and a less gracile skeleton distinguish aff. Hip. cf. protamphibius. The degree of orbit elevation, extent of incisor differentiation, and relative reduction in size of the premolars are typically more advanced in aff. Hip. protamphibius. It is noteworthy that variation in the aff. Hip. protamphibius hypodigm from the Omo succession (distinguished as aff. Hip. shungurensis and aff. Hip. protamphibius turkanensis; Gèze, 1985) includes specimens with a proportionately longer mandibular symphysis (Coryndon and Coppens, 1973; Gèze, 1985; Harris, 1991). In contrast, aff. Hip. cf. protamphibius, although from slightly earlier Pliocene sediments, appears to possess a relatively shorter mandibular symphysis compared to the latter forms. A full revision and further description of the Omo material is necessary to further resolve some of the taxonomic issues evident in the Turkana Basin material.

Aff. HIPPOPOTAMUS KARUMENSIS Coryndon, 1977 Figure 44.7C A hippopotamus first described by Coryndon (1977) from the upper members of the Koobi Fora Formation (~ 2–1.4 Ma) and Ileret, East Turkana, Kenya. The holotype (KNM-ER 798: figure 44.7C) of this large hippopotamus had markedly elevated orbits and a striking, two pronged “diprotodont” lower jaw (Coryndon, 1977; Harris, 1991). Though originally diagnosed with two lower incisors, Harris (1991) also recognized a less progressive tetraprotodont form of aff. Hip. karumensis from the upper Burgi and lower KBS Members of the Koobi Fora Formation. Aff. Hip. karumensis is also reported from the Kaitio and Natoo Members of the Nachukui Formation of West Turkana, Kenya (Harris et al., 1988), and Gèze (1980) has identified tetraprodont material from the Omo Shungura Formation as aff. Hip. cf. Hip. karumensis. The mandible of aff. Hip. karumensis differs from that of aff. Hip. protamphibius, the large incisors are widely separated by a protruding shelf of bone, and the much smaller canines are set in long slender alveolar processes that project anteriorly beyond the midline of the symphysis. However, Harris (1991) interprets aff Hip. karumensis as a progressive form of aff. Hip. protamphibius, and some of the early aff. Hip. karumensis material is difficult to assign to one or the other species. Aff. HIPPOPOTAMUS AETHIOPICUS Coryndon and Coppens, 1975 Figure 44.7D A pygmy hippopotamus comparable in size to Choeropsis liberiensis (Coryndon and Coppens, 1975) that is exclusively known from the Turkana basin (Ethiopia and Kenya) and described originally from material from the upper part of the



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Shungura Formation (~2.3–1.0 Ma), Ethiopia (Coryndon and Coppens, 1973, Hip. sp. B; Coryndon and Coppens, 1975). Although Coryndon and Coppens (1975) referred to pygmy hippopotamus material from East Turkana as aff. Hip aethiopicus, Gèze (1980, 1985) did not recognize it as the same species. Subsequently, Harris (1991) assigned further material from the Koobi Fora and Nachukui Formations to aff. Hip. aethiopicus (Harris et al., 1988; Harris, 1991). Coryndon (1977) placed aff. Hip aethiopicus in the genus Hippopotamus based on the position of the lacrimal bone, but Harris (1991) recognized its close affinities with aff. Hip. karumensis and aff. Hip. protamphibius, a position now confirmed by Boisserie’s (2005) systematic revision. The tetraprotodont short, broad symphysis is robust with the anterior face vertically oriented and relatively deep for its length (figure 44.7D). Although substantially scaled down, the mandibular morphology of this dwarf species resembles the “less progressive” aff. Hip. karumensis and the most progressive aff. Hip. protamphibius forms. Coryndon and Coppens (1975) describe the molars as lophodont, linking this development to the diet of a more forest adapted hippopotamus that potentially occupied a niche similar to Choeropsis, the living pygmy hippo. Aff. HIPPOPOTAMUS AFARENSIS Gèze, 1985, and aff. HIPPOPOTAMUS CORYNDONAE Gèze, 1985 Figures 44.8B and 44.8C Aff. Hip. afarensis (originally assigned to the monospecific genus Trilobophorus Gèze, 1985) and aff. Hip. coryndonae (Gèze, 1985) from the Afar, Ethiopia, are known from Hadar and Geraru between 3.4 and 2.33 Ma (Gèze, 1980; Boisserie, 2004). Gèze (1985) considered aff. Hip. afarensis to warrant placement in a separate genus based on the unique arrangement of the bony contacts of the facial bones. However, Boisserie (2005) on reexamination of the Hadar fossils established the presence of a contact between the lacrimal and the nasal, suggesting that Gèze’s initial diagnosis was based on a misinterpretation of the anatomy. Aff. Hip. afarensis had a large robust muzzle of comparable size to that of Hip. amphibius (figure 44.8B), whereas aff. Hip. coryndonae was smaller and more similar in size to aff. Hip. protamphibius (Gèze, 1985; figure 44.8C). The characters Gèze (1985) listed to distinguish aff. Hip. coryndonae from aff. Hip. protamphibius (variation in the lacrimal region, three incisors with the i2 more reduced than the i3, canine cross section, and mandibular form) do not adequately separate aff. Hip. coryndonae from aff. Hip. cf. protamphibius or the early hexaprotondont representatives of aff. Hip. protamphibius known from the Turkana basin (Harris, 1991; Weston, 2003a), and revision of the Afar and Turkana Basin Pliocene hippos is still required to establish their taxonomic affinities. Aff. HIPPOPOTAMUS DULU Boisserie, 2004 Figures 44.3 and 44.8A Boisserie (2004) described another Afar hippo, aff. Hip. dulu, from the lower part of the Sagantole Formation (5.2–4.9 Ma). This species can be clearly distinguished from the later Pliocene Afar hippos and has closer affinities with A. harvardi. Aff. Hip. dulu is slightly smaller than A. harvardi, the mandibular symphysis is shorter relative to its width (figure 44.3), the premolar rows are relatively shorter in comparison to the molar rows and the mandibular angular processes are laterally shifted (figure 44.8A). The occipital condyles of aff. Hip. dulu

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A) Dorsal view of mandible AMEVP-1/33 from Middle Awash, holotype of aff. Hippotamus dulu, preserved at the NME; B) dorsal view of cranium AL109-3B from Hadar, paratype of aff. Hippopotamus afarensis, preserved at the NME; C) dorsal view of mandible AL170-1A from Hadar, holotype of aff. Hippopotamus coryndonae, preserved at the NME. Scale bar is 10 cm. FIGURE 44.8

are also larger than those of A. harvardi, but a relative increase in occipital condyle size relative to breath of the posterior cranium is an evolutionary trend noted by Weston (1997, 2003a) in the A. harvardi sample from the late Miocene Nawata Formation, Kenya. The recovery of further material particularly indicating lower incisor size and arrangement is required to clarify the generic status of aff. Hip. dulu, which is provisionally left in open nomenclature. Incertae Sedis HEXAPROTODON ? HIPPONENSIS (Gaudry, 1876) A hippopotamus that was first described by Gaudry (1876) from a selection of isolated lower teeth of probable association and likely upper Pliocene age, from Pont de Duvivier, south of Bône, Algeria (Joleaud, 1920; Arambourg, 1944b). This small hippopotamine with lower canines lacking ridged enamel was the first evidence of a hexaprotodont hippopotamus to be found in Africa, although Pomel (1890) did question whether the six incisors were derived from the same jaw. Further fragmentary hippopotamid remains recovered from the Pliocene (~4 Ma; Geraads, 1987) of Wadi Natrun (Gart el Muluk), Egypt have also been attributed to Hex. ? hipponensis (Andrews 1902; Stromer, 1914). Stromer (1914:5), however, considered the Egyptian hippopotamid to be tetraprotodont (possessing a first and second incisor of roughly equal size)

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based on the collection of associated incisors from a weathered lower jaw that was not illustrated. Subsequently, Arambourg (1947) disputed the allocation of the Egyptian material to Hex. ? hipponensis and referred to it as a new subspecies (andrewsi) of aff. Hip. protamphibius. Cooke and Coryndon (1970) considered the teeth described by Gaudry (1876) and Andrews (1902) to resemble closely those of Hex. ? imaguncula from the Kaiso deposits of Uganda, and Erdbrink and Krommenhoek (1975) considered Hex. ? imaguncula and Hex. ? hipponensis to be synonymous. In light of the incomplete nature of the North African Pliocene hippopotamine fossils, the identity of this relatively small hippopotamus remains indeterminate, although the dental remains can be clearly distinguished from those of Hippopotamus. HEXAPROTODON ? IMAGUNCULA (Hopwood, 1926) Figure 44.3 A hippopotamus that was first described by Hopwood (1926) as Hip. imaguncula from a sample of relatively small teeth and isolated postcranial elements from the Plio-Pleistocene Kaiso Formation, Kaiso Village, Uganda. Cooke and Coryndon (1970) emended the diagnosis of this species and the specific name to imagunculus. However, this emendation of the specific name, although adopted by nearly all subsequent workers with the exception of Erdbrink and Krommenhoek (1975) is not valid. “Imaguncula,” meaning “little image,” is a noun in apposition and not an adjective, so there is no requirement for the gender of the specifical name to agree with that of the generical name. In accordance with the international rules of zoological nomenclature, “imaguncula” should be preserved and is adopted by the current authors. Fragmentary remains of a relatively small hippopotamine species referred to as imaguncula have been reported from the Western Rift of Uganda (Erdbrink and Krommenhoek, 1975; Faure, 1994), the Upper Semliki Valley of Zaire (Pavlakis, 1990), and from Rawi, Homa Peninsula, Kenya (Kent, 1942), a site located between the two branches of the East African Rift. The only relatively complete mandibular symphyses referred to Hex. ? imaguncula are specimens from the Kaiso Formation, Kazinga Channel, Uganda (UMP 6202; Erdbrink and Krommenhoek, 1975), and the Rawi hippo from Kenya, A. aff. harvardi. The symphyseal proportions of these two hexaprotodont mandibles indicate that two different species are represented (figure 44.3). Cooke and Coryndon (1970) also recognized a discrepancy between some of the smallersized hippopotamine craniomandibular remains recovered from the Kaiso Formation. A partial cranium (M14801) recovered from Behanga I retained primitive features such as low orbits, whereas the Kazinga Channel mandible (UMP 6202) possessed a relatively wide symphysis, considered a more derived condition (Cooke and Coryndon, 1970: figure 16, plate 14A). In light of this inconsistency, both specimens were referred by Cooke and Coryndon (1970) to Hippopotamus sp. as opposed to Hippopotamus imaguncula. The canines of Hex. ? imaguncula from the Kaiso Formation, with thin, finely rugose but nonridged enamel (Cooke and Coryndon, 1970), can be distinguished from Hippopotamus. Boisserie (2005) questioned the validity of Hex. ? imaguncula as a taxon given that it is heterogeneous and is probably represented by several relatively small-sized species from the Western rift basins during the Pliocene or even extending back to the late Miocene (Faure, 1994). Some of the Hex. ? imaguncula material, such as the Rawi mandible from Kenya,

has been classified as an Archaeopotamus and distinguished from other material (Boisserie, 2005). The exact status of Hex. ? imaguncula is still a taxonomic issue of some importance as it was one of the earliest named hippopotamid species from East Africa, and awaiting a revision of this material, Pavlakis (1990) and Boisserie (2005) favor the restriction of the nomen imaguncula to the material found at the type locality (Kaiso Village, according to Cook and Coryndon, 1970) from the Ugandan Kaiso Formation. HEXAPROTODON ? SAHABIENSIS Gaziry, 1987 A medium-sized hippopotamus known only from fragmentary remains from the late Miocene of Sahabi, Libya (Gaziry, 1987). The most complete specimen now known is a mandibular corpus fragment with p4–m3, although a report by Petrocchi (1952) recorded the discovery of a “hexaprotodont” hippopotamid skull from the Sahabi. The Sahabi hippopotamus was considered by Gaziry (1987) to have closest affinities with the late Miocene A. harvardi, but subsequently Gentry (1999) showed that the Libyan material more closely resembled the narrow-muzzled Abu Dhabi hippopotamus from the Baynunah Formation of the United Arab Emirates, initially referring the material to Hex. aff. sahabiensis (reclassified as A. aff. lothagamensis by Boisserie, 2005). Notably, the mandibular ramus is low, and the bulging profile of the lower margin of the corpus beneath the molar row is typical of Archaeopotamus but is found in some Saotherium, Hexaprotodon (sivalensis and garyam) and aff. Hip. protamphibius specimens. The dimensions of the cheek teeth and corpus height compare with the Abu Dhabi hippo but are smaller than those of A. harvardi. In contrast, the upper incisors are larger than those of A. harvardi though not of the magnitude reported by Gaziry (1987; see Harrison, 1997:183). Based on a platelike, shallow premaxilla fragment bearing three relatively small incisor alveoli, the I3 is larger than the I1 and I2 (Gaziry, 1987). However, the small I1 diameter recorded from the premaxilla fragment contrasts strongly with the diameter taken from a much larger isolated I (1?). The premaxilla fragment may represent a young individual, but its size still exceeds that of the adult holotype of A. harvardi. Contrary to Coryndon (1977) the I1 and I2 of A. harvardi can be oval as opposed to cylindrical in cross section, and the premolar morphology is more variable than originally reported and comparable to that described for the Libyan hippo (Weston, 2003a). The isolated M1 described by Gaziry (1987), with a rudimentary protoconule and metaconule, is particularly uncommon among hippopotamines but has been reported in the molariform DP4 (Boisserie et al., 2005b). Overall, the fragmentary condition of Sahabi material makes it difficult to decipher its real affinities. It is hoped that additional material will be retrieved from Sahabi, given the interest in this hippopotamid’s geographic and chronologic placement. MISCELLANEOUS REMAINS FROM SOUTH OF THE EQUATOR

Late Miocene (ca. 6 Ma) hippopotamine remains were found at Lemudong’o, southern Kenya (Boisserie, 2007). These dental and postcranial isolated remains exhibit primitive features common to other late Miocene hippopotamine. Although some minor distinctive features were noted (Boisserie, 2007), the material is for now too fragmentary to allow more accurate identification. A small and rare species of Pleistocene



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Hippopotamus of uncertain identity was found together with the large Hip. gorgops in Bed II at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania (Coryndon, 1970a; Harris 1991). Fragmentary dental and postcranial remains of potentially two species of hippopotamus have been reported from the Plio-Pleistocene Chiwondo Beds of Malawi (Coryndon, 1966, 1978b; Bromage et al., 1995). Postcranial elements including a complete tibia were initially identified as Hippopotamus by Hopwood (Dixie, 1927; Hopwood, 1931). Subsequently, Coryndon (1966) described some associated mandibular fragments with left and right m3’s from Uraha as representing a hippopotamus that was slightly smaller than the modern Hip. amphibius but similar in size to Hip. kaisensis from the Western Rift of Uganda (Cooke and Coryndon, 1970). These two specimens of m3 from Malawi, accessioned in the NHM, London, possess a unique extension of the posterior cingulum that has not been recorded in any other Hippopotamus. In addition, Mawby (1970) distinguished a small hippopotamid maxillary fragment with molars found at Mwenirondo, from the more abundant remains of the larger hippopotamus, and assigned it to Hex. ? imaguncula. Like many other African Plio-Pleistocene fossil localities, two coeval species of large and small hippopotamus potentially occurred in Malawi, but prior to the full description and examination of the Malawi hippopotamid specimens, including new material (Bromage et al., 1995), their inferred closer affinity to the Western Rift hippopotamids cannot be verified. Finally, an important collection of undescribed hippopotamid remains is known from the early Pliocene at Langebaanweg, South Africa (Franz-Odendaal et al., 2002). This assemblage represents the first significant pre-Pleistocene record of Hippopotamidae in southern Africa.

General Discussion PHYLOGENETIC AND TA XONOMIC ISSUES

Previous Taxonomy In the past, fossil and modern hippopotamus species have been classified into three genera. Hippopotamus was created first for the large extant Hip. amphibius, followed by Hexaprotodon (Falconer and Cautley, 1836; Owen, 1845) for the Siwalik fossil hippos from Asia, distinguished by having six as opposed to four incisors, and finally Choeropsis was created by Leidy (1853) for the extant Liberian pygmy hippopotamus, C. liberiensis (Morton, 1844, 1849). The original distinction between the Asian fossil taxa (Hexaprotodon) and African/ European taxa (Hippopotamus) based on incisor number was contested by Lydekker (1884), but Colbert (1935), based on a suite of cranial distinctions, maintained this generic separation. Coryndon (1977) expanded the genus Hexaprotodon further to include African (including Choeropsis) as well as Asian representatives, the position of the lacrimal bone considered key in separating Hexaprotodon from Hippopotamus. Coryndon’s (1977) classification was largely adopted by most subsequent authors, even though the integrity of the genus Hexaprotodon (sensu Coryndon 1977) was questioned given its probable paraphyletic nature (e.g., Harris, 1991; Weston, 1997, 2000; Gentry, 1999). Likewise, although some authors (e. g., Harris, 1991; Gentry, 1999; Weston, 2000, 2003a, 2003b) retained Choeropsis in a paraphyletic Hexaprotodon (sensu Coryndon, 1977), others chose to maintain Choeropsis as a distinct genus (Pickford, 1983; Harrison, 1997).

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Current Taxonomy The systematic palaeontology outlined here follows Boisserie’s (2005) phylogenetic revision of the family Hippopotamidae. This cladistic analysis of cranial and dental features included 14 hippopotamine taxa (12 African and 2 Asian) and used as an outgroup a primitive anthracothere (Anthracokeryx ulnifer Pilgrim, 1928). Species known only from mandibles, such as the narrow-muzzled A. lothagamensis, the Arabian A. aff. lothagamensis, and the Chadian Hex. garyam, were not included. Also, due to difficulties in coding for continuous variables, the proportions of the mandibular symphysis (e.g., figure 44.3) did not form part of the character matrix (Boisserie, 2005). To circumvent some of these difficulties, Boisserie (2005) also performed a separate comparison of mandibular morphologies that to a large extent supported the clades identified in the parsimony analysis. On the basis of this phylogenetic analysis, Boisserie (2005) proposed some taxonomic changes. This work clarified that the genus Hexaprotodon (sensu Coryndon, 1977) was paraphyletic and necessitated the splitting of the genus, with the name retained in the context of its initial usage for the Asian hippopotamids. Most remaining East African taxa previously assigned to Hexaprotodon form part of the same clade as the clearly defined genus Hippopotamus and are referred, prior to the further revision of these taxa, to aff. Hippopotamus (Boisserie, 2005). On the other hand, the genus Choeropsis was maintained, the modern pygmy hippo inferred to be part of an ancient independent lineage. Together with the Chadian hippos (Saotherium), Choeropsis may have formed the sister group of all other hippopotamines (Boisserie, 2005). In addition to the Chadian Saotherium, another new genus, Archaeopotamus was created, mainly for the late Miocene narrow muzzled hippopotamuses but notably including A. harvardi, an anatomically well-known species not previously grouped with the narrow-muzzled species (Weston, 2000). It must be noted that there is still some discrepancy between evolutionary trends identified in the cranium (rostrum and neurocranium) and those that have been identified in the mandible that complicates phylogenetic analysis and interpretation. As a consequence, further improvement of hippopotamid phylogeny and taxonomy is still required.

Emergence of Hippopotamidae The origin of the family has been vigorously debated since the 19th century. The principal hypotheses postulated that the first hippopotamids were derived from anthracotheriids (notably Falconer and Cautley, 1847; Colbert, 1935; Gentry and Hooker, 1988) or from suoids (e.g., Joleaud, 1920; Matthew, 1929; Pickford, 1983). This debate has acquired a new dimension in the last decades with numerous molecularbased phylogenies indicating that hippopotamids and cetaceans form a clade within Artiodactyla (e.g., Sarich, 1993; Gatesy et al., 1996; Gatesy, 1997; Arnason et al., 2004). This implies the paraphyly of Artiodactyla, and accordingly, a new name, Cetartiodactyla, was coined for the clade grouping artiodactyls and cetaceans (Montgelard et al., 1997). Part of the criticism of this molecular hypothesis came from the earliest cetaceans being known from the early Eocene (Bajpai and Gingerich, 1998), whereas the earliest hippopotamids are no older than the middle Miocene (Pickford, 1983; Behrensmeyer et al., 2002). The identification of the lineage that led to the Hippopotamidae is in this regard critical to

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resolve this issue and to better harmonize the molecular and paleontological data. On the basis of fossil data, Gingerich et al. (2001) and Geisler and Uhen (2003) have strengthened the idea that hippopotamids and cetaceans could have close affinities. Further morphological analyses favor the evolution of hippopotamids from certain anthracotheriids (Boisserie et al., 2005a, 2005b; Boisserie and Lihoreau, 2006) and have shown that this hypothesis represents a complementary step in closing the fossil gap between a still putative, early Cenozoic common ancestor to hippopotamids and cetaceans and the earliest hippopotamids (Boisserie et al., 2005b).

Affinities between Mio-Pliocene Hippopotaminae The current phylogeny, here focusing on the African representatives of the Hippopotaminae, is outlined in figure 44.9. One of the main differences between this phylogeny and that proposed by Weston (2000) is the grouping of A. harvardi and A. aff. harvardi (Rawi, Kenya) with the extremely narrow-muzzled hippos A. lothagamensis and the Arabian hippopotamus. Weston’s (2000) phylogeny considered the narrow-muzzled hippos as the sister group of all other hippopotamines separating A. lothagamensis, the Arabian hippo, and potentially a poorly known Spanish species Hex. crusafonti (Lacomba et. al, 1986; Made, 1999) from A. harvardi. The position of Archaeopotamus in light of Boisserie’s (2005) cladistic appraisal is determined solely on the affinities of A. harvardi as the other Archaeopotamus spp. are not known

from crania. Boisserie (2005) based Archaeopotamus on the symphyseal proportions (ratio of symphysis length vs. symphysis width) that differ from other hippopotamids and can be shown to scale ontogenetically (Weston, 2000; Boisserie 2005; figure 44.3). However, it is equally true that C. liberiensis has symphyseal proportions similar to those of Hip. amphibius that can also be shown to scale ontogenetically (Weston 2000: figure 5; figure 44.3). As the cranium of C. liberiensis is completely known and strikingly primitive for a number of traits, the more derived features attributable to the mandible are best interpreted as convergences (Boisserie, 2005). However, the crania of all Archaeopotamus spp. except A. harvardi are completely unknown and a comparable evaluation to that of C. liberiensis is not possible. Also of note is the single symphyseal specimen attributed to Kenyapotamus, though not preserved anteriorly, the overall form of this partial lower jaw suggests it was narrow (Nakaya et al., 1987; fig. 44.1B). In Boisserie’s (2005) phylogeny, Choeropsis is shown to represent a lineage distinct from all other hippopotamids, potentially diverging from its closest relatives the Chadian hippopotamines (Saotherium) before 5 Ma. Prior to the discovery of the Chadian hippos, the fossil record had appeared to lack any forms closely related to the extant C. liberiensis, although this affinity between Saotherium and Choeropsis is weakly supported by only one synapomorphy, the large size of the orbit (Boisserie, 2005). The inclusion of hippos from Chad has greatly enhanced our knowledge of the evolutionary

Western

Central

Northern

Eastern &

Pan-African

Phylogenetic relationships between African hippopotamines, with temporal and geographic placement. aet.: aff. Hippopotamus aethiopicus; afa.: aff. Hip. afarensis; aff. har.: Archaeopotamus aff. harvardi; aff. lot.: A. aff. lothagamensis; amp.: Hip. amphibius; bru.: Hexaprotodon bruneti; cf. min.: Saotherium cf. mingoz; cf. pro.: aff. Hip. cf. protamphibius; cor.: aff. Hip. coryndonae; dul.: aff. Hip. dulu; gar.: Hex. garyam; gor.: Hip. gorgops; har.: A. harvardi; hip.: Hex. ? hipponensis; ima.: Hex. ? imaguncula; kai.: Hip. kaisensis; kar.: aff. Hip. karumensis; lal.: Hip. laloumena; lem.: Hip. lermelei; lib.: Choeropsis liberiensis; lot.: A. lothagamensis; mad.: Hip. madagascariensis; min.: S. mingoz; pro.: aff. Hip. protamphibius; sah: Hex. ? sahabiensis. FIGURE 44.9



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history of the Hippopotamidae, but there are still some issues in relation to previous phylogenetic interpretations that deserve consideration. The early Pliocene Chadian hippos appear to represent a distinct lineage of hippopotamids reflecting African faunal provincialism at that time (Boisserie et al., 2003), but the exact relationship of these Saotherium taxa and the recently discovered late Miocene Hex. garyam, with closer affinities to Asian taxa than to African (Boisserie et al, 2005c) and known from the same Chad Basin, still needs to be carefully examined. The predominantly Asian distribution of Hexaprotodon (sensu Boisserie, 2005) could be challenged by a growing number of Hexaprotodon spp. (sensu Boisserie, 2005) being discovered in Africa. It remains uncertain whether poorly known taxa, based on material insufficient to allow accurate phylogenetic placement, such as that from Sahabi of Libya and those from the late Miocene of Europe (Made, 1999), have closer affinities with Hexaprotodon or Archaeopotamus. A close relationship between the three Plio-Pleistocene Turkana hippos, aff. Hip. protamphibius, aff. Hip. Aethiopicus, and aff. Hip. karumensis, as previously suggested by Harris (1991), was confirmed by Boisserie’s (2005) systematic study, although the relationships between these taxa are still unresolved. Historically, a close relationship between aff. Hip. protamphibius and Hippopotamus was envisaged (Arambourg, 1944a, 1947), and this is still supported by cladistic analysis, with Hippopotamus forming the sister group of this “protamphibius” clade (protamphibius-aethiopicus-karumensis) (Boisserie, 2005). However, the inferred relationships of the other aff. Hippopotamus taxa from the Afar (aff. Hip. coryndonae and aff. Hip. afarensis) and from the Turkana Basin, Kenya (aff. Hip. cf. protamphibius), are more problematic. The position of the recently discovered aff. Hip. dulu from the Mio-Pliocene boundary of the Afar, Ethiopia (Boisserie, 2004), possessing affinities with A. harvardi is also uncertain, and extensive reexamination of the Plio-Pleistocene Turkana Basin taxa and those of the Afar depression, Ethiopia, is still required to better resolve the phylogenetic relationships between these East African Pliocene hippopotamids.

Affinities of and within Hippopotamus The monophyletic genus Hippopotamus shares with related taxa from the Pliocene of eastern Africa a short and globular braincase, less than three lower incisors, and the possession of developed and anteriorly projecting canine processes (Boisserie, 2005). One incongruous character of note in relation to the position of Hippopotamus is the degree of lacrimal-nasal contact. A long contact between the medial border of the lacrimal and nasal bone was in the past considered diagnostic of Hippopotamus and important in separating Hippopotamus from Hexaprotodon (sensu Coryndon, 1977). However, Boisserie (2005) showed that such a long contact between these cranial bones was shared between Hippopotamus and aff. Hip. afarensis, a condition at odds with the inferred transition to minimal or variably developed contact in the “protamphibius” group. In addition, the Malagasy Hippopotamus spp. also exhibit variation in the development of the lacrimal-nasal contact, where in some specimens the contact is short or eliminated altogether by the presence of a supernumerary (intercalary) bone (Stuenes, 1989). Similar intercalary bones associated with the lacrimal have been noted in the Cypriot pygmy hippo and young Hip. amphibius (Reese, 1975), suggesting a possible link between their

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development and the phenomenon of island dwarfing within Hippopotamus. The taxonomic value of bone contacts in the lacrimal area of the hippopotamus cranium is increasingly questionable and functionally poorly understood. The origin of Hippopotamus is problematic mainly because Hip. kaisensis, the earliest record of the genus, is poorly known. The evolutionary relationships within Hippopotamus are not yet established. In Africa, by the basal Pleistocene, Hip. gorgops had become the most ubiquitous hippopotamus replacing all other large hippopotamids. By the middle Pleistocene, Hip. amphibius, apparently dentally more advanced than gorgops but cranially more archaic, appears to have supplanted the earlier species in Africa, where it is still common today. Several Pleistocene Hippopotamus spp. also colonized Europe and Western Asia prior to their final extinction by the Holocene.

EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS AND PALAEOBIOLOGY

Ontogenetic Scaling and Dwarfism Hippopotamids vary greatly in body size, as exemplified by the two living taxa, the large common hippopotamus being about six times heavier than the pygmy hippo (Eltringham, 1999). The range of body size encountered in fossil taxa is even greater. Growth-related variation is quite striking in hippos (Weston, 2003b), and interpreting the effects of ontogenetic scaling can be critical to establish correct taxonomic affinities. The assumption, however, that all small species of hippo are “dwarfed” in relation to a larger coeval taxon is not accurate (contra Gould, 1975). The extant pygmy hippo is not a dwarfed common hippopotamus and many cranial traits can be shown to deviate from an hypothesis of ontogenetic scaling (Weston 2003b). Nevertheless, Choeropsis may be an example of a secondarily adapted “dwarf” of an undetermined larger ancestral hippopotamus that was potentially less well adapted to a rain forest habitat. Sondaar (1977, 1991) first recognized a suite of parallel adaptations common to the Pleistocene and Holocene insular dwarf hippos from the Mediterranean islands and Madagascar (Reese, 1975). Size decrease in island mammals is generally accompanied by postcranial adjustments, the hippos acquiring a more erect, shortened, stable foot and lengthened radius (Sondaar, 1977; Houtemaker and Sondaar, 1979). This has been interpreted as a cursorial adaptation to mountainous regions (Spaan, 1996; Caloi and Palombo, 1996) and not just a correlate of dwarfism peculiar to rapid phyletic evolution. Madagascar provides further support for hippos adopting different lifestyles, with two different dwarf species present, that are of similar cranial size but have different limb proportions (Stuenes, 1989; Faure and Guérin, 1990). Taxon-specific allometric changes do, however, characterize the growth of the skeleton in modern hippos (Weston, 1997; Weston 2003a,b). A better understanding of these developmental size adjustments and how they relate to dwarfism is still needed before these apparent affinities to a semiaquatic or terrestrial habit can be clarified.

Sexual Dimorphism Hippopotamus amphibius is a sexually dimorphic species with male body weight and trunk length substantially exceeding those of the female (Kingdon, 1979). This type of size dimorphism results from bimaturism in which females attain

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physical majority earlier than males. It has been demonstrated that male and female skulls scale ontogenetically (Weston, 1997, 2003a). Allometric variation of skull form between the sexes is striking (Weston, 1997, 2003a). For example, the breadth of the lower jaw grows with positive allometry (Weston 2003b), the male’s relatively broad, deep symphysis contrasting with the female’s relatively narrow, shallow one. This jaw form corresponds to the sexually dimorphic anterior tusks (canines and incisors) that in males grow continuously throughout life (Weston, 1997). The cheek teeth (premolars and molars), in contrast, are not dimorphic in size and are similar in males and females (Laws, 1968; Weston, 1997, 2003a). The extant pygmy hippo is not sexually dimorphic in terms of body weight, but shape changes in the skull are evident, and cranial breadth relative to skull length is greater in the male compared to that of the female (Weston, 2003a). In addition a reverse trend in dimorphism is apparent in the orbit, with females possessing larger eye sockets than males (Weston, 1997, 2003a). Neither of the latter sexually dimorphic features characterise Hippopotamus amphibius. The tusks of the pygmy hippo are also dimorphic in size (Weston, 1997). Weston (2003a) noted that the crania of the late Miocene A Archaeopotamus harvardi exhibited similar cranial shape dimorphism to that of Choeropsis, but A. harvardi was not similar to the latter with regard to its orbit form. Stuenes (1989) described sexual variation in Hip. lemerlei from Madagascar that conforms to that of Hip. amphibius. Most fossil taxa are not complete enough to gauge sexual dimorphism but based on the evidence from modern species it is probable that a great deal more of the variation noted in fossils is sex linked. Sexual dimorphism of the hippopotamid postcranium has not been fully studied, but provisional data indicate that trends in the pes, manus, and long bones differ (Weston, 1997, 2003a).

habit. Of all osteological characters, the only one undoubtedly linked to life in water is the orbit elevation. This character clearly indicates living at the interface between water and air, but its absence does not necessarily indicate a lack of affinity for an aquatic habitat. Second, physiological features of C. liberiensis seem in contradiction with its more terrestrial habits. It exhibits a skin similar to that of Hip. amphibius, devoid of sweat glands and retaining few hairs (Olivier, 1975), features that are also found in aquatic mammals such as cetaceans. Like Hip. amphibius, it is also able to obstruct its external nasal and auditory conducts when diving (Robinson, in press). These adaptations, clearly linked to an aquatic habit, were probably inherited from a semiaquatic forerunner, and the occurrence of these physiological traits in phylogenetically distant taxa suggest their early evolution in the family. Third, the independent development of orbit elevation in various hippopotamid lineages (Hexaprotodon, Plio-Pleistocene hippopotamids from the Turkana, Hippopotamus), and the likely evolution of the family from anthracotheriids showing semiaquatic adaptations reinforces the idea of a primitive semiaquatic condition for the Hippopotamidae. Fourthly, fossil hippopotamines are generally abundant and well preserved in African late Neogene sites in close association with aquatic taxa such as crocodilians and osteichthyans. With a likely predominant semiaquatic ecology, hippopotamids are particularly interesting tools for paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic reconstructions (Jablonski, 2003; Lihoreau et al., 2006). Such predominance does not exclude that some hippopotamids had, like Choeropsis, more terrestrial habits. This has clearly been the case for some insular Mediterranean hippopotamids, and this was also suggested for Hippopotamus madagascariensis (Stuenes, 1989) and Archaeopotamus lothagamensis (Weston 2003a).

Diet Semiaquatic Habitat In general, environmental reconstructions based on fossil faunas uncritically classify hippopotamids among “aquatic” taxa. This assumption is largely based on the ecology of the living Hippopotamus amphibius (Elthringham, 1999), which spends most of its time in water except during periods of feeding, a way of life better depicted as “semiaquatic” or amphibious. Although its ecology is still imperfectly understood, Choeropsis liberiensis is reputedly more terrestrial than Hip. amphibius. Some of the morphological traits found in Hippopotamus and absent in Choeropsis have consequently been interpreted as adaptations to an aquatic environment: elevated orbits, robust limbs, large lachrymal in contact with nasal, elongated muzzle. On this basis, previous authors (Coryndon, 1972; Gèze, 1980; Harris, 1991) suggested a more terrestrial ecology for fossil hippopotamids not exhibiting these features (i.e., for most species classified here in Hexaprotodon, Archaeopotamus, Saotherium, and aff. Hippopotamus). Several arguments can be made against this view. First is the inadequacy of the features selected to accurately characterize habitat preferences. There are no well-established functional interpretations of variation in lacrimal size and elongation of the muzzle in hippopotamids. Graviportalism, a condition typifying Hip. amphibius, is usually associated with terrestrial locomotion in other large mammals and hence the limb morphology of the specialist Hip. amphibius may not be representative of a generalized semiaquatic

Prior to the last decade, fossil hippopotamid diets were essentially interpreted on the basis of hypsodonty indices, incisor and canine morphology (Coryndon, 1977; Gèze, 1985), and general morphological comparisons with the modern species (Coryndon, 1972). However, their craniodental morphology does not favor dietary assessments. Hypsodonty indices are weakly variable in hippopotamids and quite low even in the extant Hip. amphibius, which is predominantly a grazer (Janis and Fortelius, 1988). Intraspecific competition considerably influences rostral dentition and cranial morphology, which is heavily specialized for biting/fighting (Herring, 1975; Kingdon, 1979). This is likely to obscure possible cranial adaptations to grazing or browsing as described for other ungulates (e.g., Janis, 1995). Until now, the most reliable data on fossil hippopotamid diet have been provided by carbon isotope analyses of tooth enamel (Morgan et al., 1994; Bocherens et al., 1996; Kingston, 1999; Zazzo et al., 2000; Franz-Odendaal et al., 2002; Cerling et al., 2003; Schoeninger et al., 2003; Boisserie et al., 2005d). Most of these studies indicate that fossil hippopotamids ate a large amount of C4 plants, with the notable exception of those from Langebaanweg (early Pliocene, South Africa) that show a pure C 3 diet. The debate on ecological differences between hippopotamid species contemporaneously populating the same area (e.g., Plio-Pleistocene forms from Turkana) could greatly benefit from similar analyses, combined with the study of dental microwear.



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PALAEOBIOGEOGRAPHY AND PALAEOBIOCHRONOLOGY

The origin of the Hippopotamidae can be securely placed within Africa, with the earliest remains being found in eastern Africa. Around 10 Ma, Kenyapotamus is also found in Tunisia (Pickford, 1990), indicating a distribution that includes currently hyperarid Saharan areas (Boisserie and Lihoreau, 2006; Lihoreau et al., 2006). The origin of the Hippopotaminae is much more uncertain, as they appear abruptly in the fossil record already diversified and as a particularly abundant component of the terminal Miocene faunas of central and eastern Africa. The earliest certain evidence of the Hippopotaminae is from the Lower Member of the Nawata Formation and from Toros-Menalla in Chad—that is, younger than 7.5 Ma (Weston, 2000; Boisserie, et al. 2005c). It is tempting to link this “hippopotamine event” to the contemporaneous development of grass ecosystems boosted by the late Miocene expansion of C4 plants in Africa (Boisserie et al., 2005d; Boisserie and Lihoreau, 2006). After the first expansion into southern Eurasia at the end of the Miocene, the Pliocene distribution of hippopotamids is marked by basinal endemism (Boisserie et al., 2003; Boisserie and White, 2004; Boisserie, 2004; figure 44.9). This is probably related to the dependence of hippopotamids on water, limiting their ability to disperse. This situation makes Pliocene hippopotamids less useful for broad-range temporal correlation. However, they have locally experienced rapid evolution, such as in the Lake Turkana and Afar Basins, and could serve as good intrabasin chronological markers. In contrast, the Plio-Pleistocene transition recorded a dramatic expansion of Hippopotamus species (Kahlke, 1990), invading the whole continent and then western Eurasia for the second time. With the notable exception of Choeropsis, whose biogeographic history remains unknown, the last continental endemic forms apparently disappeared around 1 Ma, leaving the continent largely dominated by Hippopotamus.

Conclusions In the later part of the Cenozoic, hippos are one of the bestrepresented mammal groups in the African fossil record, with abundant remains known from East, Central, and North Africa. Despite their abundance, hippopotamid evolution has received very little attention until recently. Although the taxonomic revisions outlined here are an essential first step in tackling this formidable task, much work remains to be done. Hippo remains continue to be unearthed and there are an increasing number of taxa awaiting description. The resurgence of interest in the origin of the family and growing recognition of its value as a tool for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction will hopefully encourage future studies and reveal more about the evolutionary history of this unusual group of predominantly semiaquatic large mammals. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to W. J. Sanders and L. Werdelin for the invitation to contribute to this volume. We would like to thank the following institutions for granting us access to their collections: Centre National d’Appui à la Recherche, Ndjamena, Chad; Institut International de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine: Evolution et Paléoenvironnements (IPHEP)/UMR CNRS 6046, University of Poitiers, France; Iziko Museums of Cape Town, South Africa; Museum of

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Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Natural History Museum, London; National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Abeba; National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi; University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, USA; University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, UK. We are deeply indebted to all contributors (field and lab work participants, assistance, and funding) to the following projects: Mission Paléoanthropologique Franco-Tchadienne (directors, M. Brunet, P. Vignaud); Middle Awash research project (directors, T. D. White, B. Asfaw, G. WoldeGabriel, Y. Beyene); Lothagam/Koobi Fora/Nachukui research projects (directors M. G. Leakey, J. M. Harris, L. N. Leakey). Support from BBSRC Research Grant and Balfour Fund, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge (E.W.), and from Fondation Fyssen research grant (J.-R.B.). We would like to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments on this chapter. We would like to dedicate this chapter to the memory of S. C. Coryndon.

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Milne Edwards, A. 1868. Sur des découvertes zoologiques faites récemmment à Madagascar par M. Alfred Grandidier. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l’Académie des Sciences Naturelles— Zoologie et Paléontologie 10:375–378. Monnier, L., and C. Lamberton. 1922. Note sur des ossements subfossiles de la region de Manajary. Bulletin de l’Académie Malagache 3:211–213. Montgelard, C., F. M. Catzefl is, and E. Douzery. 1997. Phylogenetic relationships of artiodactyls and cetaceans as deduced from the comparison of cytochrome b and 12s rRNA mitochondrial sequences. Molecular Biology and Evolution 14:550–559. Morgan, M. E., J. D. Kingston, B. D. Marino. 1994. Carbon isotopic evidence for the emergence of C4 plants in the Neogene from Pakistan and Kenya. Nature 367:162– 165. Morton, S. G. 1844. On a supposed new species of hippopotamus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia 2:14–17. . 1849. Additional observations on a new living species of hippopotamus. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 2:231–239. Nakaya, H., M. Pickford, Y. Nakano, and H. Ishida. 1984. The late Miocene large mammal fauna from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. African Study Monographs 2:87–131. Nakaya, H., M. Pickford, K. Yasui, and Y. Nakano. 1987. Additional large mammalian fauna from the Namurungule Formation, Samburu Hills, northern Kenya. African Study Monographs 5:47–98. Nikaido M, A. P. Rooney, and N. Okada 1999. Phylogenetic relationships among cetartiodactyls based on insertions of short and long interpersed elements: Hippopotamuses are the closest extant relatives of whales. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 96:10261–10266. Olivier, R. C. D. 1975. Aspects of skin physiology in the pygmy hippopotamus Choeropsis liberiensis. Journal of Zoology 176:211–213. Owen R. 1845. Odontography. Bailliere Hyppolite, London, 655 p. Pavlakis, P. P. 1990. Plio-Pleistocene Hippopotamidae from the Upper Semliki; pp. 203–223 in N. T. Boaz (ed.), Results from the Semliki Research Expedition. Virginia Museum of Natural History Memoir, Martinsville. Petrocchi, C. 1952. Notizie generali sul giacimento fossilifero di Sahabi: Sotria de scavi-risultati. Rendiconti della Accademia Nazionale Quaranta 3:9–34. Pickford, M. 1983. On the origins of Hippopotamidae together with descriptions of two species, a new genus and a new subfamily from the Miocene of Kenya. Geobios 16:193–217. . 1990. Découverte de Kenyapotamus en Tunisie. Annales de Paléontologie 76:277–283. . 2007. Suidae and Hippopotamidae from the middle Miocene of Kipsaraman, Kenya and other sites in East Africa. Paleontological Research 11:85–105.

Pomel, A. 1890. Sur les Hippopotames fossiles de l’Algérie. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris 110:1112–1116. Reese, D. S. 1975. Dwarfed hippos: Past and present. Earth Science 28:63–69. Robinson, P. T. In press. Choeropsis liberiensis (Morton). In J. S. Kingdon and M. Hoffmann (eds), The Mammals of Africa. Academic Press, Amsterdam. Sarich, V. M. 1993. Mammalian systematics: Twenty-five years among their albumins and transferrins; pp. 103–114 in F. S. Szalay, M. J. Novacek, and M. C. McKenna (eds.), Mammal Phylogeny. Springer, Berlin. Schoeninger, M. J., H. Reeser, and K. Hallin. 2003. Paleoenvironment of Australopithecus anamensis at Allia Bay, East Turkana, Kenya: Evidence from mammalian herbivore enamel stable isotopes. Journal of Anthropological Archeology 22:200–207. Sondaar, P. Y. 1991. Island mammals of the past. Science Progress 75:249–264. . 1977. Insularity and its effect on mammal evolution; pp. 671– 707 in M. K. Hecht, P. C. Goody, and B. M. Hecht (eds.), Major Patterns in Vertebrate Evolution. Plenum, New York. Spaan, A. 1996. Hippopotamus creutzburgi: The case of the Cretan hippopotamus; pp. 99–110 in D. S. Reese (ed.), Pleistocene and Holocene fauna of Crete and its first settlers. Monographs in World Archaeology 28. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisc. Stromer E. 1914. Mitteilungen über Wirbeltierreste aus dem Mittelpliocän des Natrontales (Ägypten). Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft 66:1–33. Stuenes, S. 1989. Taxonomy, habits, and relationships of the subfossil Madagascan Hippopotami Hippopotamus lemerlei and H. madagascariensis. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 9:241–268. Vekua, A. 1986. The lower Pleistocene mammalian fauna of Akhalkalaki (Southern Georgia, USSR). Palaeontographia Italica 74:63–96. Weston, E. M. 1997. A biometrical analysis of evolutionary change within the Hippopotamidae. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Cambridge University, Cambridge, 141 pp. . 2000. A new species of hippopotamus Hexaprotodon lothagamensis (Mammalia: Hippopotamidae) from the late Miocene of Kenya. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20(1):177–185. . 2003a. Evolution of ontogeny in the hippopotamus skull: Using allometry to dissect developmental change. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 80:625–638. . 2003b. Fossil Hippopotamidae from Lothagam; pp. 380–410 in J. M. Harris, and M. G. Leakey (eds.), Lothagam: The Dawn of Humanity in Eastern Africa. Columbia University Press, New York. Zazzo, A., H. Bocherens, M. Brunet, A. Beauvilain, D. Billiou, H. T. Mackaye, P. Vignaud, and A. Mariotti. 2000. Herbivore paleodiet and paleoenvironmental changes in Chad during the Pliocene using stable isotope ratios of tooth enamel carbonate. Paleobiology 26:294–309.



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CHAP TER FORT Y-FIVE

Cetacea PHILIP D. GINGERICH

Cetacea, comprising the great whales and the smaller dolphins and porpoises, have special interest in mammalian evolution as one of the two orders of mammals that became fully aquatic. The whole 200-million-year-long history of mammals is a history of life on land. Cetacea and Sirenia are exceptions and, of the two aquatic groups, Cetacea is the more diverse and broadly successful. Fifty years ago the transition linking cetaceans to a land-mammal ancestor was still largely hypothetical. Adaptation to life in water made cetacean morphology sufficiently different to preclude direct comparison to potential land-mammal ancestors. There were morphological and immunological suggestions that cetaceans might be related to Artiodactyla, but none of these claims was convincing by itself. In recent years, the fossil record has helped to clarify both the artiodactyl ancestry of cetaceans among land mammals, and also the nature of the transition (figure 45.1). Several comprehensive reviews of cetacean evolution have been published in recent years by authors who are experts on Mysticeti and Odontoceti (Barnes and Mitchell, 1978; Fordyce and Barnes, 1994; Fordyce and Muizon, 2001; see also Gingerich, 2005). These are recommended for a general overview of the fossil record of cetacean evolution. Here I shall focus on Eocene Archaeoceti. Readers interested in scientific progress are encouraged to compare the review here with the Barnes and Mitchell (1978) review of African Cetacea. Much has been learned in the past 30 years, especially about the Eocene and about Archaeoceti.

Classification Cetacea as an order is commonly divided into three suborders, Archaeoceti, Mysticeti, and Odontoceti. The first of these, Archaeoceti (“archaic cetaceans”), contains 5 families and about 30 genera, all of which are now extinct (or “pseudoextinct” in the sense that one or more archaeocetes undoubtedly gave rise to later mysticetes and odontocetes). Archaeocetes are more primitive than other cetaceans, both in being older geologically and in retaining more generalized mammalian morphology. Archaeocetes made their first appearance and flourished during the Eocene epoch. Mysticeti and Odontoceti, sometimes grouped as Neoceti, are younger than Archaeoceti, and each is more evolved in

exhibiting greater specialization for life in water. Following Fordyce and Muizon (2001), the suborder Mysticeti (“mustache whales”) contains 7 families and about 50 genera, living and extinct, and the suborder Odontoceti (‘toothed cetaceans’) contains 15 families and about 130 genera (more have been added since 2001, but none of these is known from Africa). Mysticetes and odontocetes made their first appearances in the very latest Eocene or early Oligocene, then diversified in the Oligocene, and flourished through the subsequent Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene epochs. The three groups can be characterized in general terms as follows. Archaeoceti is the group that made the transition from life on land to life in the sea. Mysticeti is the group that abandoned teeth in favor of baleen and filter feeding. Odontoceti is the group that retains simplified teeth, but developed innovative echolocation enabling them to image or visualize their environment and virtually “see” using high-frequency sound. The African fossil record is very important for understanding the evolution of Archaeoceti, but less so for understanding the evolution of Mysticeti and Odontoceti. Stratigraphic ranges of African Archaeoceti, Mysticeti, and Odontoceti are summarized in figure 45.2. Solid black bars show the temporal and systematic representation of Cetacea in the African fossil record, which are first middle and late Eocene, representing Archaeoceti, and second late Miocene to Holocene Mysticeti and Odontoceti. Eocene archaeocetes are known in several instances from complete skeletons, while later cetaceans are generally known from skulls and more fragmentary bones and teeth.

Fossil Record of African Cetacea The geological history of the African continent dictates where marine mammal fossils are preserved. The continent as a whole has been a stable craton through much of Cenozoic time. This means, generally, that marine mammal fossils are found on the periphery of the continent (figure 45.3), where marine mammals were preserved during times of flooding by rising oceans. The most important exception is on the northern margin of the continent from Tunisia to Egypt, where passive subsidence of the continental

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A

B

C

D

E

FIGURE 45.1 Skeletal drawings of a representative artiodactyl and archaeocete, mysticete, and odontocete cetaceans. A) Aquatic Recent physeterid odontocete Physeter macrocephalus (Gregory, 1951; ca. 12–19 m); B) aquatic Recent balaenid mysticete Balaena mysticetus (Eschricht and Reinhardt in Flower, 1866; ca. 14–18 m); C) aquatic late Eocene basilosaurid archaeocete Dorudon atrox (Gingerich and Uhen, 1996; ca. 5 m); D) semiaquatic early middle Eocene protocetid archaeocete Rodhocetus balochistanensis (Gingerich et al., 2001; ca. 3 m); E) terrestrial early Oligocene anthracotheriid Elomeryx armatus (from Scott, 1894; body length ca. 1.5 m). Elomeryx is representative of the primitive Artiodactyla from which Cetacea evolved. Rodhocetus and Dorudon are intermediate in geological age and morphology between early Artiodactyla and later Cetacea like modern Balaena and Physeter.

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PA L E O G E N E EOCENE OLIGOCENE Yp r e s i a n

Middle Lutetian

Bar t.

Late

Early

Late

Pria.

Ru p.

Chat.

Early Aq.

Burd.

Middle L a . S e.

PLIO.Q.

Late To r t .

E. L. M e. Zan. P. G.

ARCHAEOCETI

Early

NEOGENE MIOCENE

Pakicetidae Ambulocetidae Remingtonocetidae Protocetidae Basilosauridae Kekenodontidae Llanocetidae

M YS T I CE T I

Aetiocetidae Mammalodontidae Cetotheriidae sensu lato Balaenopteridae Eschrichtiidae Balaenidae Neobalaenidae Agorophiidae Xenorophus group Squalodontidae Waipatiidae Squalodephinidae Dalpiazinidae Platanistidae

O D ONTOCE T I

Physeteridae Kogiidae Ziphiidae Eurhinodelphinidae Eoplatanistidae Kentriodontidae Delphinidae Phocoenidae Albireonidae Monodontidae Odobenocetopsidae Pontoporiidae Iniidae Lipotidae 50

40

30 20 Million years before present (Ma)

10

0

Stratigraphic range chart showing the distribution of most families of Archaeoceti, Mysticeti, and Odontoceti through geological time. Black bars are records from the African continent. Archaeoceti have a denser stratigraphic record in Africa than that of other cetaceans and are generally represented by better preserved and more complete remains. The geological time scale is from Gradstein et al. (2004). Stratigraphic ranges are modified from Fordyce and Muizon (2001; additional families of Cetacea have been described since 2001, but none involve African Cetacea).

FIGURE 45.2

margin during the middle and late Eocene allowed first extensive flooding and deposition of marine limestones, and later progradation and deposition of marginal-marine and fluvial sandstones and shales. Another exception is in the Miocene when a single fossil whale is known from freshwater sediments in the rift valley of Kenya (site 39 in figure 45.3). The rift itself provided a possible corridor into the interior of the continent, and caused the subsidence required for burial. The greatest concentration of known cetacean-bearing fossil localities is in Egypt (figure 45.4). Most are Eocene in age, but two are Miocene. The oldest Egyptian archaeocete geologically is Protocetus atavus (discussed later) from Gebel Mokattam in Cairo (site 1 in figures 45.3 and 45.4), while the youngest is the small collection of fragmentary remains from Miocene localities in the vicinity of Wadi Moghara in the Western Desert (sites 36 and 37 in figure 45.4). The most important fossil cetaceans, from a morphological and evolutionary point of view, are those found in the northern and western parts of Fayum Province in Egypt (figure 45.5). All cetaceans found in Egypt lived and were buried on the

shallow marine shelf of a passively subsiding continental margin. Documentation for the maps in figures 45.3–45.5 is summarized in table 45.1. Entries are organized by geological epoch and subepoch (where known) and within each subepoch by the publication date of the site. ABBREVIATIONS

Museum abbreviations: AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York, U.S.A.; BSPM, Paläontologische Museum, Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Munich, Germany; CGM, Egyptian Geological Museum, Cairo, Egypt; MNB, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany; NHML, Natural History Museum, London; SFNF, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Frankfurt; SMNS, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart, Germany; UCMP, University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley, U.S.A.; UM, University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, Ann Arbor, U.S.A.; YPM, Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven, U.S.A.

FORT Y-FIVE: CETACEA


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1,000

1,500 km

Geographic distribution of fossil cetaceans known from Africa. Site numbers correspond to those in table 45.1. See figures 45.4 and 45.5 for maps showing greater detail for Egypt and for Fayum Province in Egypt.

FIGURE 45.3

History of Study of African Cetacea

EOCENE ARCHAEOCETI

Most of the fossil cetaceans of Africa are Eocene Archaeoceti, and the history of their discovery is rich. Archaeoceti is the subordinal name proposed by Flower (1883) to include Basilosaurus and other archaic cetaceans first found in North America, while Basilosauridae is a family name coined by Cope (1868) for Basilosaurus and other archaic whales. Basilosaurids are fully aquatic, having lost any bony connection of the pelvic girdle with the vertebral column, and are found in the late middle Eocene (Bartonian) and late Eocene (Priabonian). Protocetidae is a second family of Archaeoceti known from Africa. This was named by Stromer (1908) and includes geological older early middle Eocene (Lutetian) and late middle Eocene (Bartonian) archaeocetes that retain hindlimbs and pelves connected to the vertebral column by a distinct sacrum. Protocetidae were semiaquatic and able to come out of the water to rest and reproduce (Gingerich et al., 2008).

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Schweinfurth in Egypt The first fossil cetaceans found in Africa are basilosaurid archaeocetes found by Georg Schweinfurth in 1879. Schweinfurth himself was a botanist by training. He is best known for the years he spent from 1863 to 1871 exploring the Nile from Egypt to Sudan, and eventually into Central Africa. Schweinfurth lived in Cairo for 14 years from 1875 through 1889. Here he continued to explore locally, and in 1879 he discovered the first vertebrate fossils in Fayum and the first archaeocete cetaceans from Africa (and indeed the first from the whole eastern hemisphere). These were found in what is now termed Birket Qarun Formation on the island of Geziret el-Qarn (site 13 in figure 45.4 and 45.5) in the middle of lake Birket Qarun. The first descriptions of these were published by Dames (1883a, 1883b). Schweinfurth visited Qasr el-Sagha temple (sometimes called Schweinfurth’s temple) and the Qasr el-Sagha escarpment on the north side of Birket Qarun, first in 1884 and again in 1886. The most important of Schweinfurth’s fossils, the type dentary of Zeuglodon osiris (figure 45.6; now

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300 km

Geographic distribution of fossil cetaceans known from Egypt. Site numbers correspond to those in table 45.1. See figure 45.3 for a map of all African sites and figure 45.5 for greater detail in Fayum Province, Egypt.

FIGURE 45.4

Saghacetus osiris), came from what is now Qasr el-Sagha Formation at “Zeuglodonberg” (site 28 in figure 45.5). ‘Zeuglodon’ osiris was described and named by Dames (1894). The genus name Zeuglodon Owen, 1839, is a junior synonym of Basilosaurus Harlan, 1834. Owen proposed Zeuglodon as a replacement name when he reidentified Basilosaurus as a whale rather than a reptile (Owen, 1841), but Basilosaurus retains priority. Zeuglodon was so widely used as a name for so many different early-described archaeocetes that it retains no clear meaning today. Schweinfurth published two studies important for Egyptian stratigraphy and archaeocete paleontology: “On the Geological Stratification of Mokattam Near Cairo” (1883), where he mentions cetacean remains, and “Travel in the Depression Circumscribing Fayum in January, 1886” (1886). On the expedition described in the latter, Schweinfurth came within a few kilometers of discovering Wadi Hitan, one of the most productive fossil whale sites in the world, but he was forced to turn back before entering the valley because of difficulties with his camels and staff.

Beadnell and Andrews in Egypt Hugh J. L. Beadnell was British and employed by the Egyptian Geological Survey from 1896 to 1906. Beadnell started work in Fayum in October 1898. Much of Fayum is at or below sea level, and Beadnell’s charge was to investigate the feasibility of storing Nile flood water in the Fayum Depression. He worked first in eastern Fayum, then extended exploration and mapping to

the escarpments north of Birket Qarun. Exploration extended west to Garet Gehannam during the spring of 1899. Charles W. Andrews of the British Museum (Natural History) published the first note on Beadnell’s paleontological discoveries (Andrews, 1899), and Beadnell himself (1901) provided a summary of Fayum stratigraphy that has guided most subsequent work. Andrews joined Beadnell in the field for the first time in April 1901, to investigate bone beds discovered in 1898. Many new specimens including archaeocetes were found during this expedition (Andrews, 1901). Collecting continued during the winters of 1901–1902, 1902–1903, and 1903–1904. Sometime in this interval Beadnell collected a large dentary for the Cairo Geological Museum specimen that became the type of Zeuglodon isis Beadnell in Andrews, 1904 (now Basilosaurus isis; species name is from the Beadnell manuscript published in 1905). According to Beadnell (1905) the type of “Zeuglodon” isis came from the Birket Qarun Formation in the Birket Qarun escarpment near the west end of the lake (site 15 in figure 45.5). Beadnell carried out a second phase of mapping in the winter of 1902–1903. This is when he made a traverse from Garet Gehannam west and southwest 12 kilometers into the desert to a valley where large skulls and other remains of fossil cetaceans were abundant (site 18 in figure 45.5). Beadnell (1905) coined the term “Zeuglodon Valley” for the area west of Garet Gehannam, but this has been modernized as Wadi Hitan or Wadi Al Hitan: Arabic for “Valley of Whales.” Beadnell collected very little, but one skull of an immature whale was recovered for the Cairo Geological Museum,



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30 km

FIGURE 45.5 Geographic distribution of fossil cetaceans known from Fayum Province, Egypt. Wadi Hitan (site 18) is a UNESCO World Heritage site featuring hundreds of Basilosaurus, Dorudon, and other vertebrate skeletons, many of which are visible in natural stratigraphic position in the field. Site numbers correspond to those in table 45.1. See figure 45.3 for a map of all African sites and figure 45.4 for a map of all Egyptian sites.

and this was made the type of Prozeuglodon atrox by Andrews (1906). This taxon is now properly called Dorudon atrox (Uhen, 2004). Most fossils from Wadi Hitan come from the Birket Qarun Formation, and the type of Dorudon atrox almost certainly did as well. The fossil cetaceans collected by Beadnell and Andrews were first studied in detail by Andrews (1906), where new specimens of “Zeuglodon” osiris were described, description of “Zeuglodon” isis Beadnell was augmented, and “Prozeuglodon” atrox was named. Andrews diagnosed “Prozeuglodon” as “intermediate between Protocetus and Zeuglodon proper,” but he seemingly did not recognize that the type is a juvenile with deciduous premolars (Andrews, 1908). This led to confusion when the type later was recognized to be juvenile, and for some time Prozeuglodon atrox was thought to be the juvenile form of Zeuglodon isis. Kellogg (1936), for example, combined these and referred to both as Prozeuglodon isis (see also Barnes and Mitchell, 1978). Surprisingly, following Beadnell’s discovery of Zeuglodon Valley in 1902–1903, another 80 years would pass before anyone attempted systematic investigation of the fossil cetaceans that are so abundant there. Recovery of skeletons of mature Dorudon atrox (discussed later) showed that Dorudon atrox is clearly different from contemporary Basilosaurus isis (Gingerich et al., 1990). G. Elliott Smith (1903) was the first to study a natural stone endocast of the brain of an archaeocete, based on a specimen of Saghacetus (“Zeuglodon”) osiris collected in Fayum by Beadnell and Andrews. Later, Raymond Dart (1923) studied

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a series of natural stone endocasts collected in Fayum by Beadnell and Andrews, together with plaster endocasts made from skulls in the Beadnell-Andrews collection. From these Dart described three new species: “Zeuglodon” sensitivus, “Zeuglodon” elliotsmithii, and “Zeuglodon” intermedius. He then focused on three endocasts forming what he termed a “phyletic series,” with the provenance of the specimens corroborated by Andrews (1923). Dart (1923:635) concluded that the phyletic series showed a “dwindling in brain substance,” supporting an idea popular at the time that “devolutional potentialities” might accompany specialization. Dart then argued that “devolution of the brain” precluded archaeocetes from giving rise to later cetaceans. This whole specious argument could have been avoided if Dart had been more cautious and worked with endocasts associated with more complete skeletons. Dart’s “devolution” was a result of comparing brains of successively smaller cetaceans through time (Gingerich, 1998). Remington Kellogg (1936) reviewed the Beadnell-Andrews collection, but his interpretation was handicapped somewhat by his lack of familiarity with the stratigraphic relationships of source localities. Stromer and Fraas in Egypt Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach of Munich organized a Royal Bavarian Academy of Science expedition to Egypt in 1901–1902. This, like the work of Beadnell mentioned earlier, was carried out in cooperation with the Geological Survey of Egypt, represented in this instance by geologist Max Blanckenhorn. Egypt was governed

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ta b l e 45 .1 Localities of African fossil Cetacea Localities numbered here are shown geographically on the maps in figures 45.3–45.5.

Location

Locality

Age and geological formation

North latitude ( ⬚N )

East longitude ( ⬚E )

Reference

Taxon (current identification)

early middle eocene (lutetian) 1 2

Schweinfurth XII, Cairo, Egypt Klein Rajan, Fayum, Egypt

3

Kpogamé, Togo

4

Qusour el Arab, Egypt

M. Eocene, Mokattam Fm. M. Eocene, Midawara Fm. M. Eocene, Phosphate Bed M. Eocene, Midawara Fm.

30.036

31.272

Fraas (1904)

29.097

30.472

6.309

1.334

29.080

30.119

Stromer (1908, 1914) Gingerich et al., (1992) Gingerich et al. (unpub. ms.)

Protocetus atavus (Protocetidae) Protocetid(?) Protocetid Protocetid

late middle eocene (bartonian) 5

8

Schweinfurth XXIII, Cairo, Egypt Schweinfurth VII, Cairo, Egypt Schweinfurth IV, Cairo, Egypt Ameke, Nigeria

9

Tiavandou, Senegal

10

Oued Kouki, Tunisia

11

Khashm el-Raqaba, Egypt

12

Wadi Gehannam, Egypt

6 7

M. Eocene, Giushi Fm.

30.043

31.295


30.030

31.275


30.042

31.283

5.550

7.515

Andrews (1920)

14.050

–16.050

Elouard (1981)

35.578

9.403

Protocetid(?)

28.451

31.834

29.357

30.158

Batik and Fejfar (1990) Bianucci et al. (2003) Gingerich et al. (unpub. ms.)

Dorudon atrox (Basilosauridae) Dorudon atrox (Basilosauridae) Basilosaurus isis (Basilosauridae) Basilosaurus isis (Basilosauridae) Basilosaurus isis (Basilosauridae) Basilosaurus isis (Basilosauridae) Dorudon atrox (Basilosauridae) Basilosaurus isis (Basilosauridae) Masracetus markgrafi (Basilosauridae) Dorudon atrox (Basilosauridae) Basilosaurus isis (Basilosauridae) Cetacea indet.

M. Eocene (Bartonian?), Ameki Fm. ‘Lutétien inf.’ (Bartonian?), Eocene Lutétien sup. (Bartonian), Eocene M. Eocene, Gebel Hof Fm. M. Eocene, Gehannam Fm.

Schweinfurth (1883) Blanckenhorn (1900) Fraas (1904)

Cetacea (Basilosauridae?) Basilosaurus sp. (Basilosauridae) Eocetus schweinfurthi (Protocetidae) Pappocetus lugardi (Protocetidae) Basilosaurid

Protocetid Protocetid

late eocene (early priabonian) 13 14 15 16 17 18

Geziret el Qarn, Fayum, Egypt El Kenissa, Fayum, Egypt Garet el Naqb, Fayum, Egypt Dimeh SW, Fayum, Egypt Garet Gehannam, Fayum, Egypt Wadi Hitan, Fayum, Egypt "

19 20 21 22 23

W. corner B. Qarun, Fayum, Egypt Dimeh, Fayum, Egypt

L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. "

L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. N. of Qasr Qarun, Fayum, L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Egypt Fm. UCMP 6788, Fayum, Egypt L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. Dor el Talha, Libya L. Eocene, Evaporite Unit

29.482

30.631

Dames (1883)

29.526

30.723

Dames (1894)

29.466

30.394

Andrews (1904)

29.522

30.632

Beadnell (1905)

29.314

30.151

Beadnell (1905)

29.270

30.020

Beadnell (1905)

"

"

Andrews (1906)

29.470

30.424

Fraas (1906)

29.536

30.669

Kellogg (1936)

29.540

30.402

Kellogg (1936)

29.285

30.062

Phillips (1948)

25.779

18.694

Savage (1969)



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29.283

30.050

Pilleri (1991)

29.274

30.023

26

UCMP 6789, Fayum, Egypt L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. WH-81, Fayum, Egypt L. Eocene, Birket Qarun Fm. Qattara Depression, Egypt L. Eocene

29.168

27.163

27

Tabaghbagh, Egypt

29.158

26.428

Gingerich and Uhen (1996) Morrison (unpubl.) Vliet and Paymans (unpub. ms.)

Location 24 25

Locality


L. Eocene (Priabonian)

Reference

Taxon (current identification) Dorudon atrox (Basilosauridae) Ancalecetus simonsi (Basilosauridae) Masracetus markgrafi (Basilosauridae) Basilosaurids

late eocene (middle priabonian) 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Zeuglodonberg, Fayum, Egypt Gebel Hameier W, Fayum, Egypt Gebel Achdar, Fayum, Egypt Gebel Hameier, Fayum, Egypt Tamariskenbucht, Fayum, Egypt Beadnell Section, Fayum, Egypt Qasr el-Sagha West, Fayum, Egypt Garet el-Esh, Fayum, Egypt

L. Eocene, Qasr el Sagha Fm. L. Eocene, Qasr el Sagha Fm. L. Eocene, Qasr el Sagha Fm. L. Eocene, Qasr el Sagha Fm. L. Eocene, Qasr el Sagha Fm. L. Eocene, Qasr el Sagha Fm. L. Eocene, Qasr el Sagha Fm. L. Eocene, Qasr el-Sagha Fm.

29.575

30.569

29.580

30.614

29.664

30.740

29.586

30.632

29.690

30.793

29.616

30.692

29.593

30.662

29.572

30.566

Dames (1894)

Saghacetus osiris (Basilosauridae) Stromer (1902) Saghacetus osiris (Basilosauridae) Stromer (1903) Saghacetus osiris (Basilosauridae) Stromer (1903) Saghacetus osiris (Basilosauridae) Stromer (1903) Stromerius nidensis (Basilosauridae) Beadnell (1905) Saghacetus osiris (Basilosauridae) Kellogg (1936) Saghacetus osiris (Basilosauridae) Gingerich (2007) Stromerius nidensis (Basilosauridae)

early miocene 36

Wadi Faregh, Egypt

37

Wadi Moghara "

E. Miocene, Moghara Fm. E. Miocene, Moghara Fm. "

30.300

30.000

Stromer (1907)

30.348

28.932

Fourtau (1918)

"

"

"

Schizodelphis aff. sulcatus (Eurhinodel.) Delphinus vanzelleri (Delphinidae?) Cyrtodelphis aff. sulcatus (Eurhinodel.)

middle miocene 38 39

Malembo, Cabinda Loperot, Kenya

Miocene, Malembe beds M. Miocene

–5.333 2.333

12.183 35.833

Dartevelle (1935) Cetacea indet. Mead (1975) Ziphiid (Ziphiidae)

30.028

20.788

"

"

29.952

20.812

Petrocchi (1941, Balaenoptera sp. 1951) (Balaenopteridae) Whitmore (1987) Cf. Lagenorhynchus sp. (Delphinidae) White et al. Odontoceti (1983) Whitmore (1987) Iniidae Muizon (1981) Odontocete (Physeteridae) Pickford and Cetacea indet. Senut (1997) Pickford and Cetacea indet. Senut (1997) Pickford and Cetacea indet. Senut (1997)

late miocene 40

P8, Qasr as Sahabi, Libya

L. Miocene, Sahabi Fm.

"

"

41

P4A, Qasr as Sahabi, Libya

L. Miocene, Sahabi Fm.

42 43

" Raz-el-Ain. Algeria Langklip, S. Africa

L. Miocene L. Miocene

" 35.698 30.359

" –0.709 17.328

44

Somnaas 2, S. Africa

L. Miocene

30.168

17.235

45

Swartlintjies 2, S. Africa

L. Miocene

–30.285

17.290

888


"

LAUR ASIATHERIA

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Location

Locality




Reference


miocene-pliocene 46

47

Agulhas Bank, S. Africa

Mio-Pliocene

–35.400

21.200

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

" "

" "

" "

" "

–34.000 "

17.500 "

Cape West Coast, S. Africa "

Mio-Pliocene "

"

"

"

"

" "

" "

" "

" "

" "

" "

" "

" "

"

"

"

"

" "

" "

" "

" "

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

48

Cape Columbine, S. Africa

Mio-Pliocene

–33.000

17.000

49

Cape Town SW, S. Africa

Mio-Pliocene

–34.750

18.100

50

South Coast, S. Africa

Mio-Pliocene

–35.100

23.750

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

"

Barnard (1954)

Eubalaena australis (Balaenidae) " Balaenoptera physalis (Balaenopteridae) " cf. Orcinus orca (Delphinidae) " Cf. Ziphius cavirostris (Ziphiidae) " Mesoplodon sp. (Ziphiidae) Bianucci et al. Khoikhoicetus agulhasis (2007) (Ziphiidae) Haughton (1956) Balaena sp. (Balaenidae) " Balaenoptera sp. (Balaenopteridae) " Megaptera sp. (Balaenopteridae) " Orca sp. (Delphinidae) " Mesoplodon spp. (Ziphiidae) " Ziphius? sp. (Ziphiidae) Ross (1986) Mesoplodon cf. M. hectori (Ziphiidae) " Tasmacetus or Berardius (Ziphiidae) " Ziphius sp. (Ziphiidae) Bianucci et al. Africanacetus ceratopsis (2007) (Ziphiidae) " Ihlengesi saldanhae (Ziphiidae) " Mesoplodon slangkopi (Ziphiidae) " Nenga meganasalis (Ziphiidae) " Pterocetus benguelae (Ziphiidae) Bianucci et al. Ihlengesi saldanhae (2007) (Ziphiidae) Bianucci et al. Izikoziphius angustus (2007) (Ziphiidae) Bianucci et al. Africanacetus ceratopsis (2007) (Ziphiidae) " Xhosacetus hendeysi (Ziphiidae) " Ziphius sp. (Ziphiidae)

early pliocene 51

Quarry E, Langebaanweg, S. Afr. "

E. Pliocene "

–32.963

18.111

"

"

Hendey (1976) "

Mysticeti Odontoceti

late pliocene 52

Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco "

L. Pliocene, Messaoudian Fm. "

33.579

–7.519

"

"

Geraads et al. (1998) "

Delphinus or Stenella sp. (Delphinidae) Kogia sp. (Physeteridae)

Gutierrez et al. (2001)

Balaenoptera sp. (Balaenopteridae)

early pleistocene 53

Baia Farta, Angola

Calabrian, e. Pleistocene –12.600

13.205



889

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Location


Locality



Reference


late pleistocene 54

55

Klasies River Mouth, S. Africa " Sea Harvest Site, S. Africa

L. Pleistocene, Middle Stone Age " L. Pleistocene, Middle Stone Age

–34.106

24.390

Klein (1976)

Delphinid

" –33.023

" 17.950

" Grine and Klein (1993)

Cetacea indet. Delphinid

Gill (1928)

holocene 56

Yzerplaats, South Africa

Holocene clay

–33.898

18.483

57

Holocene

33.570

–7.692

58

Sidi Abderrahman, Morocco Nelson Bay Cave, S. Africa

–34.100

23.400

59

Site H, Tarfaya, Morocco

Holocene, Late Stone Age Holocene

Balaenoptera sp. (Balaenopteridae) Ennouchi (1961) Balaenoptera physalis (Balaenopteridae) Klein (1972) Delphinid

27.730

–13.090

Saban (1974)

60

Kasteelberg B, S. Africa

Holocene, Prehistoric

–32.804

17.930

61

Die Kelders Cave 1, S. Africa " Elands Bay Cave, S. Africa

Holocene, Late Stone Age " Holocene, Late Stone Age

–34.533

19.375

" –32.300

" 18.333

62

Klein and Cruz-Uribe (1989) Grine et al. (1991) " Grine and Kein (1993)

Physeter macrocephalus (Physeteridae) Delphinid

Delphinid Cetacea indet. Delphinid

A

B

0

10 cm

C

FIGURE 45.6 Left dentary of small basilosaurid Saghacetus osiris (holotype; Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, MNB Ma.28388). Total length of dentary is 51 cm. Specimen is shown in lateral (A), medial (B), and occlusal (C) views. Note unfused mandibular symphysis; large mandibular canal making much of the dentary hollow (margin of medial foraminal opening not preserved); retention of a generalized placental-mammal dental formula of 3.1.4.3; simple anterior teeth (represented here by p2); and complex, multicusped cheek teeth (represented here by p2–4 and m1–3). Specimen was found in 1886 by Schweinfurth at “Zeuglodonberg” (site 28 in figure 45.5; middle Priabonian late Eocene), and the species was named in 1894 by Dames (see Gingerich, 1992:73). Illustration is from Dames (1894).

890


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at the time by a British-French-German consortium, and offices like the Geological Survey were staffed by representatives of all three countries. There is no indication that the work of Stromer and Blanckenhorn was coordinated in any way with that being carried out by Beadnell and Andrews. Stromer and Blanckenhorn spent about 15 days of January 1902, engaged in paleontological field work north of Birket Qarun. Blanckenhorn (1902) provided a detailed description of many of the sites yielding the fossil cetaceans collected by Stromer. Important fossils included a new skull and lower jaw of Saghacetus (“Zeuglodon”) osiris (Dames) from what is now the middle Qasr el-Sagha Formation (Stromer, 1902). Stromer (1903) named a new species Zeuglodon zitteli that was collected at or near the type locality of Saghacetus osiris, but this has proven indistinguishable from Dames’ species. I described (Gingerich, 2007) a series of vertebrae collected by Stromer at “Tamariskenbucht” (site 32 in figure 45.5) and a new specimen from Garet el-Esh (site 35 in figure 45.5) as Stromerius nidensis. Another German paleontologist, Eberhard Fraas of Stuttgart, visited Egypt several times, starting in 1897. His

greatest contribution may have been engaging Richard Markgraf as a private collector who worked first in the stone quarries of Gebel Mokattam and later in Fayum. Markgraf’s contributions started in 1903 when he found the cranium and associated postcranial remains of a small archaeocete from the Mokattam Limestone of early middle Eocene age, near the base of the Gebel Mokattam section (site 1 in figures 45.3 and 45.4). This was described by Fraas (1904a) as a new genus and species Protocetus atavus. The skull is primitive, compared to later basilosaurids, in retaining the full complement of three upper molars and in having upper molars that retain medial roots and swellings of the crown in the position of a protocone (figures 45.7A, 45.7B). Associated vertebrae include a partial sacrum with auricular processes indicating retention of an articulation with left and right innominates of the pelvis (figure 45.7C, 45.7D). A second skull of a different whale from Gebel Mokattam was described as Eocetus (“Mesocetus”) schweinfurthi (Fraas, 1904a, 1904b). Protocetus, the better preserved of the two genera, became the type of the new family Protocetidae (Stromer, 1908).

A

0

10 cm

B

C

D

0

10 cm

Cranium and anterior centrum of sacrum of Protocetus atavus (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart, SMNS 11084, holotype, and associated SMNS 11087). Cranium is shown in oblique dorsal (A) and palatal (B) views. Note external nares opening in the normal mammalian position above P1 (premaxillae extended far in front of this); broad frontal shield; retention of a generalized placental-mammal dental formula of 3.1.4.3 (incisors reconstructed); anteroposteriorly elongated and possibly double-rooted c1; retention of protocones on upper molars; and large and densely ossified tympanic bullae. Anterior centrum of sacrum is shown in anterior (C) and ventral (D) views. Note the welldeveloped auricular process for articulation with the ilium of a pelvis, and broken surfaces (dashed lines) showing that the anterior centrum was originally part of a larger sacrum (contemporary protocetids generally have three or four centra solidly fused in the sacrum). Both were found together as a partial skeleton, recovered by Markgraf at Gebel Mokattam (site 1 in figures 45.3 and 45.4; Lutetian early middle Eocene) in 1903. Illustrations are from Fraas (1904a).

FIGURE 45.7



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Following publication of his 1903 monograph, Stromer made a second trip to Egypt to collect Eocene cetaceans and other vertebrates for the Senckenberg Museum of Frankfurt, starting in November 1903. This was a 3-month expedition employing Markgraf and ranging widely. Two large archaeocete vertebrae were collected at Gebel Mokattam, and an archaeocete skull, jaws, and vertebrae were collected north of Birket Qarun (Stromer, 1904; the skull was presumably SFNF 4451). SFNF 4451 was studied by Pompeckj (1922) and Uhen (2004). Markgraf continued to collect fossil cetaceans in Fayum after the 1903–1904 expedition, and later in 1904 he sent another specimen from the Qasr el-Sagha escarpment to Munich. Stromer (1908) first identified this as Zeuglodon osiris, and it eventually became the type of Dorudon stromeri (Kellogg, 1928). Eberhard Fraas made a final trip to Egypt to work with Markgraf in 1906. The two left Cairo on March 11, and they reached Qasr el-Sagha on March 13. Within days they moved to the west end of Birket Qarun (site 19 in figure 45.5), where they excavated much of the skeleton of a large “Zeuglodon” (Basilosaurus isis) with a 1.3-m skull and a 10-m sequence of vertebrae and ribs (Fraas, 1906). This specimen, described by Stromer (1908) and Slijper (1936), is in the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde in Stuttgart (SMNS 11787). The skull was illustrated by Heizmann (1991). Stromer (1908:126, 128, 136) described a dark brown humerus and radius as “Zeuglodon” zitteli (SMNS 11951b; “St. 14”), and disarticulated pieces of a large immature cranium as Prozeuglodon atrox (SMNS 11951a; “St. 10”), stating that these came from Wadi Rayan. Later, after discussing the finds again with the collector (Markgraf), Stromer (1914:8) corrected the locality as being in a place translated as Klein Rajan (site 2 in figure 45.5), rather than Wadi Rayan some 10 km farther to the southwest. This is important as cetaceans from the middle Eocene are rare in Egypt.

Osborn and Granger in Egypt Henry Fairfield Osborn and Walter Granger of the American Museum of Natural History in New York organized a 1907 collecting expedition to Fayum to follow in the footsteps of Schweinfurth, Beadnell, Andrews, Stromer, and Fraas. Following publication of Andrews’s 1906 “Descriptive Catalog of the Tertiary Vertebrata of the Fayum, Egypt,” Andrews himself encouraged Osborn to carry out further studies. The Egyptian Geological Survey assigned Hartley T. Ferrar (1879–1932), recently returned from Robert F. Scott’s British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1903, to accompany and assist Osborn. The area that the American Museum party worked included Beadnell and Andrews’s principal localities in continental beds above the Qasr el-Sagha escarpment. From here, Osborn and Ferrar made a 3-day camel march west to Garet Gehannam and Wadi Hitan on February 14–16, 1907. Osborn called this “the most famous fossil locality in the Fayum” and wrote, “We found [Wadi Hitan] strewn with the remains of monster zeuglodonts, including heads, ribs and long series of vertebrae, most tempting to the fossil hunter, yet too large and difficult of removal from this very remote and arid point” (Osborn, 1907). On February 16, 1907, Granger had a chance meeting with Richard Markgraf, who was collecting fossils in the same area. Osborn met Markgraf on February 17 after his return from Wadi Hitan. At this time negotiations started for Markgraf to work the remainder of the season for the American Museum

892


team. Two archaeocete specimens in the American Museum collection, a braincase and frontal of Basilosaurus isis (AMNH 14381) and a fine skull of Saghacetus osiris (AMNH 14382), were collected by Markgraf. Both are illustrated in Kellogg (1936). The Markgraf specimens came from the Birket Qarun and Qasr el-Sagha escarpments, respectively, but nothing more is known of their provenance. The only archaeocete that the American Museum party found themselves was a partial skull of Saghacetus osiris (AMNH 13720) collected on April 23 from 1–2 kms west of Qasr el-Sagha temple.

Lugard in Nigeria The first African fossil cetaceans found outside Egypt were sent to the British Museum by Frederick Lugard, then governor-general of Nigeria. These comprised two left dentaries with teeth erupting, and an axis vertebra, all from middle Eocene strata near Ameke in Nigeria (site 8 in figure 45.3). Andrews (1920) described and illustrated all three specimens and named them Pappocetus lugardi. Kellogg (1936) classified Pappocetus in Protocetidae, where it has remained ever since. Halstead and Middleton (1974, 1976) revisited the type locality and described a number of additional vertebrae of P. lugardi.

Kellogg 1936 Remington Kellogg’s (1936) “Review of the Archaeoceti” was a milestone in understanding Eocene cetaceans. Kellogg reviewed virtually all of the specimens and taxa of Archaeoceti known at the time. Emphasis was placed on North American specimens that were the most complete skeletons known at the time, but Kellogg included the African specimens known from Egypt and Nigeria, many of which he was able to study during a 1930 trip to Europe, when he visited Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, and London. The only substantial collection that he was unable to study firsthand was that in Cairo.

Denison and Deraniyagala in Egypt A University of California African Expedition worked in the field in northern Fayum during the autumn of 1947 (Phillips, 1948). Most of the expedition’s effort was concentrated on land mammal fossils, but on November 15–17, Robert H. Denison and Paules Deraniyagala worked in Wadi Hitan. Here they collected a partial skull of Basilosaurus isis (UCMP 93169; site 22 in figure 45.5) and an endocranial cast of Dorudon atrox (UCMP 41329). Deraniyagala (1948:3) reported finding 20 skeletons within a mile of the camp in Wadi Hitan and speculated that this represented a mass stranding (it is more likely to represent the passage of time in an interval with little sediment accumulation). The Dorudon endocranial cast was described by Pilleri (1991).

Simons and Meyer in Egypt Elwyn Simons of Yale University sponsored Grant Meyer to work in Wadi Hitan on two occasions, once for several days during the winter of 1964–1965 and again for a week or so during the winter of 1966–1967. Meyer worked with Jeff Smith and Tom Walsh in 1964–1965, and with Lloyd Tanner and John Boyer in 1966–1967. The principal find collected in the first season was a skull of “Prozeuglodon” isis (presumably YPM 38454; YPM records indicating that this came from the Qasr el-Sagha Fm. are almost certainly wrong). A number of

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partial skulls were collected in 1966–1967, and these were divided equally between the Cairo Geological Museum and Yale Peabody Museum. None of these specimens has ever been described. Simons (1968:3) mentioned that “many additional archaeocete whales” were collected from the Qasr el-Sagha Formation but gave no details. Moustafa (1954) described the partial skull of a subadult Prozeuglodon isis (almost certainly Dorudon atrox) from the Birket Qarun Formation, and later (Moustafa, 1974) designated a “Prozeuglodon” zone for this and for other archaeocetes from the “lower Qasr el-Sagha Formation” (almost certainly Birket Qarun Formation).

Savage and Wight in Libya R. J. G. Savage led two expeditions to the Dor el Talha escarpment in Libya, in 1968 and 1969 (Savage, 1969, 1971; Wight, 1980). Fragmentary cetacean remains were interpreted as late Eocene in age. Wight (1980) reported a cetacean from site 68-1 in his stratigraphic section 4, and there is another from site 69-51 in adjacent section 1 (J. Hooker, pers. comm.). These have not been studied in any detail, but they are almost certainly archaeocetes.

Barnes and Mitchell Lawrence Barnes and Edward Mitchell did not collect any new African archaeocetes, but they did study collections in Cairo and London while preparing their review of African Cetacea (Barnes and Mitchell, 1978). They included Protocetus atavus, Eocetus schweinfurthi, and Pappocetus lugardi in Protocetidae, as I do here. However, they included “Dorudon” osiris and five other species of Dorudon, together with Prozeuglodon isis and “Zeuglodon” brachyspondylus, in Basilosauridae. Reasons for revising the content of Basilosauridae developed as new specimens were collected in Fayum and compared to types and previously known specimens (see later discussion).

Elouard in Senegal Pierre Elouard (1981) reported a partial skeleton of an archaeocete from limestone in a water well at Tiavandou near Kaolack in Senegal (site 9 in figure 45.3). The specimen included teeth, 18 vertebrae, and rib fragments published as “Lutetian” in age (however, the teeth are clearly basilosaurid and, based on these, the age is more likely to be Bartonian or even Priabonian). The only sense of scale given for the Tiavandou whale is an unsubstantiated inference that it measured 8–10 m in length. Several years ago ornithologist Robert Payne attempted to locate and measure the specimen for me in the Laboratoire de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences, Dakar, but was unable to find it. Elouard identified the specimen as “Zeuglodon” cf. osiris, but it was clearly larger and seems to have had the proportions of Dorudon atrox.

Cappetta and Traverse in Togo In 1985, Henri Cappetta and Michel Traverse made a large collection of Lutetian-age selachian teeth at KpogaméHahotoé in Togo (site 3 in figure 45.3). This material included teeth and fragments of bone identified as Pappocetus (Cappetta and Traverse, 1988:362). However, it appears that several archaeocetes are present in this collection, and the most common is more the size and form of Protocetus atavus, with the distinction of retaining relatively long cervical centra (Gingerich et al., 1992).

Gingerich in Egypt A new series of expeditions was initiated in 1983, with the support of Elwyn Simons, to investigate cetaceans of the Birket Qarun Formation in Zeuglodon Valley (Wadi Hitan), and of the Qasr el-Sagha Formation on the Qasr el-Sagha Escarpment (figure 45.5). The initial purpose was to collect one or two skulls and jaws for comparison with archaeocetes collected in Pakistan. However, it soon became clear that exceptionally well-preserved skeletons were abundant in both the Birket Qarun and Qasr el-Sagha formations. Thus the focus changed to a survey to map, identify, and count specimens. Collecting was targeted to document (1) form and ontogenetic development of archaeocete skulls and dentitions; (2) form, number of vertebrae, and total length of archaeocete skeletons; (3) morphology of the archaeocete hand; and (4) morphology of the archaeocete tail to determine whether a fluke was present. Morphology of archaeocete hindlimbs, feet, and toes became a fifth objective when it was discovered that these were retained (Gingerich et al., 1990). Two archaeocetes are common in the Birket Qarun Formation of Wadi Hitan, and some 500 skeletons or partial skeletons have been mapped to date. The larger is a Basilosaurus, with a large cranium and dentary (figures 45.8A–45.8C), and posterior thoracic, lumbar, and anterior caudal vertebrae that are long relative to their diameter (figure 45.8D). Dentaries match that described by Andrews (1904) as the type of Zeuglodon isis Beadnell, and the correct name for this species is now Basilosaurus isis (Beadnell). All B. isis from Wadi Hitan are mature specimens with permanent teeth in place in the jaws. These were the first cetaceans to be found retaining hind legs, feet, and toes (figures 45.8D–45.8G). The smaller archaeocete common in Wadi Hitan has posterior thoracic, lumbar, and anterior caudal vertebrae that are short relative to their diameter (figure 45.9B). For this the correct name was first thought to be Prozeuglodon atrox Andrews (1906); however, comparison with the type of Dorudon serratus (Gibbes, 1845), and with figures of vertebrae referred to this (Gibbes, 1847), indicated that Prozeuglodon is a junior synonym of Dorudon. Thus the correct name for the smaller archaeocete in Wadi Hitan is Dorudon atrox (Uhen, 2004). About one-half of the Dorudon atrox specimens from Wadi Hitan are mature adults, while the remainder, including the type (figures 45.9E, 45.9F), are immature. Basilosaurus isis and D. atrox are represented in Wadi Hitan by approximately equal numbers of specimens. Because of their smaller size, it has been possible to collect whole skeletons of Dorudon atrox, and this is now one of the best known of all archaeocetes osteologically (Uhen, 2004). The hand skeleton of Basilosaurus isis (Gingerich and Smith, 1990) is larger but otherwise essentially the same as that of D. atrox. The hindlimb and foot skeleton of D. atrox is smaller, but otherwise essentially the same as that of B. isis (Gingerich et al., 1990). Morphology of the periotic and surrounding cranial bones has been described and analyzed by Luo and Gingerich (1999). Morphologically it is clear that D. atrox and B. isis were both fully aquatic, which is confirmed by analysis of stable isotopes (Clementz et al., 2006). Several cetaceans are known in Wadi Hitan in addition to B. isis and D. atrox. These include D. atrox–sized Ancalecetus simonsi Gingerich and Uhen (1996), with fused elbows and unusual carpals (figures 45.9C, 45.9D), and Masracetus markgrafi Gingerich (2007). Masracetus is a larger whale, still incompletely known, that has Dorudon-like vertebral proportions but large vertebral centra approaching those of Basilosaurus isis in height and width.



893

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A

0

B

50 cm

C

D 0

1m

F Illium

E Femur Obturator foramen Calcaneum Fibula

Cuboid

V IV III

G

Phalanges Metatarsals Navicular Astragalus II

Patella Tibia Pubic symphysis

0

5 cm

Skull of early Priabonian, late Eocene, Basilosaurus isis. Cranium in dorsal (A) and lateral (B) views (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart, 11787, St-9). C) Dentary in lateral view (Paläontologische Museum, Munich, BSPM, Mn-14, destroyed). These were first described and illustrated as Zeuglodon isis Beadnell by Stromer (1908; see also Heizmann, 1991). D) Graphical reconstruction of skeleton of B. isis, adapted from Gidley’s (1913) reconstruction of B. cetoides, with the vertebral count taken from specimens in the field in Wadi Hitan (Egypt). E) Articulated hindlimb and foot of B. isis (based on CGM 42176 and UM 93231). Articulated hind limb and foot in left lateral (F) and anterior (G) views. Hindlimb has two positions, folded against the body wall (black) and extended (white). Hindlimbs and feet described in Gingerich et al. 1990 (©American Association for Advancement of Science; used by permission). FIGURE 45.8

We were able to determine that one archaeocete is common in the middle part of the Qasr el-Sagha Formation on the Qasr el-Sagha escarpment. This is a small “Zeuglodon” for which the correct name is Saghacetus osiris (Dames). It is known from skulls, brain endocasts, and partial skeletons, and it differs postcranially from other small archaeocetes in having relatively longer posterior lumbar and anterior caudal vertebrae (Gingerich, 1992). Three Qasr el-Sagha species are synonyms of S. osiris: Z. zitteli, Z. sensitivus, and Z. elliotsmithii. In addition, there is at least one larger but still relatively small archaeocete from the middle Qasr el-Sagha escarpment: Stromerius nidensis Gingerich (2007).

Batik and Fejfar in Tunisia Batik and Fejfar (1990) described an archaecete skull and partial vertebral column from Oued Kouki (site 10 in figure 45.3), some 65 km west-southwest of Kairouan in Tunisia. This was

894


found in a hard, compact shell bed and never extracted or collected. My own attempt to relocate the specimen in the field in 1997 failed. The age, based on ostracods, is interpreted as “upper Lutetian,” which would be Bartonian, late middle Eocene on the current timescale. From the published description it could be a protocetid or a basilosaurid. It was intermediate in size between Saghacetus osiris and Dorudon atrox, but little more can be said about it.

Bianucci and an Archaeocete from Egypt An interesting archaeocete was discovered recently when a block of marbleized limestone imported from Egypt was cut into slabs for surfacing. It contained an archaeocete skeleton, identified by Giovanni Bianucci (Bianucci et al., 2003). This was published as coming from Shaikh Fadl, but further investigation shows that it came from the Gebel Hof Formation near Khashm el-Raqaba, north of Wadi

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A B

0

1m

C

E

D F

0

10 cm

0

10 cm

Comparison of skeletons of Egyptian late Eocene basilosaurids with short vertebral centra. A) Early attempt to reconstruct a composite skeleton of Priabonian Zeuglodon osiris or Dorudon stromeri (Paläontologische Museum, Munich, BSPM, 1904 XII 134e, “Mn 9,” type of D. stromeri, now destroyed; and Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart, SMNS, 11237a, “St. 11,” now placed in Saghacetus osiris). Skeleton was fi rst described and illustrated as Z. osiris by Stromer (1908), and then the skull and anterior skeleton were made the type of D. stromeri by Kellogg (1928). B) Virtually complete skeleton of early Priabonian Dorudon atrox (Andrews, 1906) based on UM 101222 and 101225 described by Uhen (2004). Photograph shows the skeleton as mounted in the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum. C) Partial skeleton of early Priabonian Ancalecetus simonsi (Egyptian Geological Museum, Cairo, CGM 42290). This was described and named by Gingerich and Uhen (1996). Known elements are shown in black, superimposed on an outline of the skeleton of Dorudon atrox. D) Right scapula and forelimb of Ancalecetus simonsi (CGM 42290), showing immobile elbow characteristic of this genus and species. Cranium of immature type specimen of Dorudon atrox (CGM 9319), in lateral (E) and dorsal (F) views. Teeth shaded here are deciduous except for M1. Approximately one-half of the specimens of D. atrox found in Wadi Hitan are immature. Mature specimens of D. atrox, like UM 101222 and 101225, have vertebrae of distinctly smaller size and different proportion than those of contemporary Basilosaurus isis (figure 45.8D). FIGURE 45.9

Tarfa in the Eastern Desert of Egypt (site 11 in figure 45.3 and 45.4). This is early Bartonian in age, equivalent to the Sath el-Hadid and Guishi formations elsewhere in Egypt (Gingerich et al., 2007).

New Sites in Egypt In recent years several new areas have been found to yield archaeocete skeletons in Egypt. These include (1) Qusour el Arab in western Fayum Province (site 4 in figure 45.5) yielding early middle Eocene protocetid archaeocete skulls and skeletons with limb bones from the Midawara Formation; (2) an area north of Garet Gehannam (site 12 in figure 45.5) yielding skeletons of late middle Eocene protocetids and basilosaurids

from the lower part of the Gehannam Formation; (3) Qattara Depression (site 26 in figure 45.4) yielding vertebrae of late Eocene Masracetus markgrafi (David Morrison, pers. comm., 2006); and (4) Tabaghbagh near Siwa in the Western Desert of Egypt (site 27 in figure 45.4) yielding numerous skeletons of late Eocene Basilosaurus isis and other archaeocetes (H. J. van Vliet and T. Paymans, pers. comm., 2008).

Neogene Mysticeti and Odontoceti The African fossil record of Mysticeti and Odontoceti is not as rich as that of Archaeoceti, but there are nevertheless important records of both modern suborders that are of interest. These have generally been added to museum collections



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incrementally and opportunistically rather than resulting from directed expeditions, and most represent taxa compared to living cetaceans rather than new taxa. Hence it makes sense to summarize the Neogene finds stratigraphically. MIOCENE

Early Miocene cetaceans are known from two localities, Wadi Faregh and Wadi Moghara in Egypt (sites 36–37 in figure 45.4). The first was a fragmentary dentary described by Stromer (1907) and referred to Schizodelphis aff. sulcatus. Fourtau (1920) described two cetaceans from Wadi Moghara, both fragmentary dentaries. One specimen Fourtau, like Stromer, referred to “Cyrtodelphis” aff. sulcatus, and the other he named “Delphinus” vanzelleri. Hamilton (1973) described fossils in the NHML collection purchased from a Lady Moon and said to have come from Siwa Oasis. This included a dentary fragment Hamilton identified as Schizodelphis aff. S. sulcatus. The “Siwa” fossils almost certainly came from Wadi Moghara (E. Miller, pers. comm.). Schizodelphis is now included in Eurhinodelphinidae (Lambert, 2005). Middle Miocene cetaceans are known from two specimens from two sites on the African continent. The first specimen, an uninformative vertebral fragment, was described by Dartevelle (1935) in a report on Miocene mammals of Malembe in the Cabinda Enclave, Angola (site 38 in figure 45.3). The second specimen, from Loperot in Kenya (site 39 in figure 45.3), is a weathered ziphiid rostrum described by Mead (1975). This was found on a 1964 Harvard University expedition to northern Kenya led by Bryan Patterson. The specimen represents a normally open-ocean form, here found far inland in freshwater deposits. It is consequently interpreted as having strayed up a large river (Mead, 1975). Late Miocene cetaceans are known from many sites. The first to be discovered was found in 1937 by Carlo Petrocchi at Sahabi in Libya. Petrocchi (1941) reported a skeleton of a “cetaceo quasi completo” from Sahabi in Libya (site 40 in figure 45.3). This was subsequently illustrated in Petrocchi (1943, 1951), and identified as “balenottera” (rorqual Balaenoptera), but the specimen was never identified to species or described in detail. It came from locality P8 in Member U-2 of the Sahabi Formation (Heinzelin and Arnauti, 1987). This is presumably the skeleton on display in the museum in Tripoli. Noel Boaz (1980) described a bone from locality P4A in Member T of the Sahabi Formation as a hominoid clavicle. This was reinterpreted by White et al. (1983) as the rib of an odontocete the size of Tursiops or Lagenorhynchus. Whitmore (1982, 1987) reported a periotic from P8A that he referred to the family Delphinidae as cf. Lagenorhynchus, and then skull fragments and vertebrae from locality P4A that he referred to the family Platanistidae, subfamily Iniinae (Whitmore, 1987). Raz-el-Ain, near Oran in Algeria (site 42 in figure 45.3), is a late Miocene site that has yielded a whale. Muizon (1981) mentions that teeth and vertebrae of a physeterid were found here. Additional late Miocene sites are known from the west coast of Namaqualand in northern Cape Province, South Africa (Pickford and Senut, 1997). These have yielded vertebrae, ribs, and teeth of unidentified cetaceans. MIOCENE-PLIOCENE

The largest collection of Miocene-Pliocene African cetaceans is that dredged from the sea bottom at numerous sites off the western and southern shores of South Africa. The material was first mentioned by Keppel H. Barnard (1954), who

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listed a number of cetaceans found in phosphatic and glauconitic nodules on the floor of the sea of the Agulhas Bank off the south coast of South Africa (site 46 in figure 45.3). These included the balaenid Eubalaena sp., balaenopterid Balaenoptera physalis, delphinid cf. Orcinus orca, and ziphiids cf. Ziphius cavirostris and Mesoplodon sp. Sidney H. Haughton (1956) listed additional specimens identified as Balaena sp., Balaenoptera sp., Megaptera sp., Orca sp., Mesoplodon spp., and Ziphius? sp. from the west coast of Cape Province, South Africa (see also Ross, 1986). The first intensive study of this material, by Bianucci et al. (2007, 2008), involved strap-toothed cetaceans or Ziphiidae. Eight genera and 10 species were described as new: Microberardius africanus, Izikoziphius rossi, Izikoziphius angustus, Khoikhoicetus agulhasis, Ihlengesi saldanhae, Africanacetus ceratopsis, Mesoplodon slangkopi, Nenga meganasalis, Xhosacetus hendeysi, and Pterocetus benguelae. These came from five areas, some broadly defined, that border South Africa: (1) Agulhas Bank offshore from Cape Agulhas; (2) off the west coast of Cape Province north and west of Cape Agulhas; (3) off Cape Columbine on the west coast of South Africa; (4) southwest of Cape Town on the west coast of South Africa; and (5) off the south coast of South Africa east of Agulhas Bank. Haughton (1956) considered material dredged offshore of South Africa to represent a composite geological history, with nodular fragments themselves being older, possibly early Miocene, and glauconitized specimens being younger. He included cetacean fossils in the later glauconitic greensand phase. From their preservation, Bianucci et al. (2007) considered that the ziphiid skulls they described to have undergone at least one phase of reworking on the seafloor. Bianucci et al. concluded that no precise age can be given for any of the skulls, and attributed all to a Miocene-Pliocene range of ages (followed here). PLIOCENE

The principal site yielding cetaceans known to be Pliocene is Langebaanweg in South Africa (site 51 in figure 45.3). Here Hendey (1976, 1981, 1982) reported early Pliocene mysticetes and odontocetes, both being represented by largely undiagnostic postcranial bones. These specimens have never been studied. Another Pliocene site yielding cetaceans is at the cave site of Ahl al Oughlam, in Morocco (site 52 in figure 45.3), where Geraads et al. (1998) indicate that small cetaceans, probably stranded, were scavenged and brought into the caves by carnivores. Two cetaceans are represented, one a delphinid, Delphinus or Stenella sp., represented by a dozen specimens including petrosals and fragments of jaws; and the other a pygmy sperm whale Kogia sp., represented by a petrosal. PLEISTOCENE

The only early Pleistocene fossil cetacean known from Africa is the almost complete skeleton of a large rorqual (Balaenoptera sp.) found closely associated with lower Palaeolithic artefacts near Baia Farta near Benguela in Angola (site 53 in figure 45.3), 65 m above sea level and 3 km from the present shoreline (Gutierrez et al., 2001). It is reported to represent the oldest evidence of human exploitation of a stranded whale. Late Pleistocene fossil cetaceans are represented by fragmentary remains of delphinids and indeterminate whales in archaeological sites at Klasies River Mouth and Sea Harvest in South Africa (Klein, 1976; Grine and Klein, 1993).

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HOLOCENE

Edwin L. Gill, director of the South African Museum in Capetown, was the first to report an African Neogene whale (Gill, 1928). This was a skeleton of a rorqual the size of a full-grown sei whale Balaenoptera borealis that was discovered at Yzerplaats near Capetown in South Africa in 1927. It was found in the middle of an extensive deposit of pure clay several meters thick, on a raised beach of Holocene age. Charon et al. (1973) and Saban (1974) reported a single tooth of a sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalis, from a Neolithic archaeological site, site H, near Tarfaya in Morocco (site 59 in figure 45.3). Additional remains of Holocene delphinids and indeterminate cetaceans are included in reports on archaeological sites at Nelson Bay Cave, Kasteelberg B, Die Kelders Cave, and Elands Bay Cave in South Africa (Klein, 1972; Klein and Cruz-Uribe, 1989; Grine et al., 1991; and Grine and Klein, 1993).

Systematic Paleontology More than half of all published records of Cetacea in the fossil record of Africa are archaeocetes classified in the family Basilosauridae. The greatest number of mysticetes known to date belong in Balaenopteridae, and the greatest number of odontocetes are Ziphiidae. The dominance of Basilosauridae is a result of favorable geological conditions in terms of a passive continental margin subsiding and accumulating sediment through the late Eocene. It is also a result of both favorable living conditions for cetaceans on the resulting shallow marine shelf, and excellent exposure of fossil beds today in relatively accessible desert in Fayum Province, Egypt. When other areas receive the same attention, it is likely that they will prove to be productive as well, and younger deposits are sure to yield a better representation of mysticetes and odontocetes than that known today. Higher taxa are listed here from older and more primitive to younger and more derived. Where several within a family appear equally derived, genera and species are discussed in the order in which they were described. Order CETACEA Brisson, 1762 Suborder ARCHAEOCETI Flower, 1883 Archaoceti are early, primitive cetaceans that retain generalized mammalian skulls with nares on the rostrum, cheek teeth with complex crowns and multiple roots, and periotics attached to surrounding bones. Skeletons range from semiaquatic to fully aquatic, with fore- and hindlimbs variably modified for swimming. The elbow joint is generally mobile. Early semiaquatic forms have skeletons with double-pulley astragali and other features indicating evolutionary derivation from early Artiodactyla (Gingerich et al., 2001). Family PROTOCETIDAE Stromer, 1908 Protocetidae are early semiaquatic archaeocetes that retain the full complement of three molar teeth in both upper and lower jaws, but lack the anteriorly developed pterygoid sinuses seen in Basilosauridae. Protocetids known from articulated skeletons have 7 cervical vertebrae, 13 thoracics, 6 lumbars, 4 sacrals, and 21 caudals (Gingerich et al. 2009; the number of sacrals is sometimes reduced to 1). The sacrum retains

auricular processes for articulation with innominates of more or less normal proportions for a generalized mammal. Genus PROTOCETUS Fraas, 1904 PROTOCETUS ATAVUS Fraas, 1904 Figures 45.3, 45.4, and 45.7

Age and Occurrence Lutetian (early middle Eocene) of Schweinfurth’s locality XII in the Mokattam Formation of Gebel Mokattam near Cairo (site 1 in figures 45.3 and 45.4). Diagnosis When Protocetus atavus was first described, two of the principal differences distinguishing it from later archaeocetes were (1) retention of three molars in left and right maxillae, and (2) retention of more primitive upper molars having three roots, distinct paracone and metacone cusps, and a lingual swelling of the crown reminiscent of a protocone. The postcranial skeleton was recognized to be primitive in retaining cervical centra longer than those of later basilosaurids, and in retaining a well-developed auricular process on a single centrum interpreted as the sacrum. Now the combination of relatively small size, narrow cranial rostrum, P1 apparently double rooted, and molars lacking a distinct protocone cusp distinguishes Protocetus from other protocetids, but interpretation of the sacrum as consisting of a single centrum is dubius (discussed later). Description The holotype of Protocetus atavus, SMNS 11084-11086, includes an incomplete but well-preserved cranium (figures 45.7A, 45.7B) and a series of associated vertebrae including part of the sacrum (figures 45.7C, 45.7D). The cranium has an anteroposteriorly elongated rostrum; external nares opening above P1; a broad frontal shield; a relatively long, posteriorly extended nuchal crest; broadly flaring squamosals enclosing large temporal fossae; and somewhat enlarged and thickened tympanic bullae. The latter cover little-developed pterygoid sinuses. The anterior position of the external nares is sometimes cited as a distinctively primitive characteristic of Protocetus and other protocetids, but here the nares open over P1 as it does in basilosaurids (and many land mammals). Protocetus retains three molars in left and right maxillae, and retains more primitive upper molars with three roots, distinct paracone and metacone cusps, and a lingual swelling of the crown reminiscent of a protocone. Cervical centra are longer relative to their diameter than those of most later cetaceans, with centrum length being about two-thirds of centrum width and height. Anterior thoracics have long, posteriorly inclined neural spines, the 12th thoracic appears to be anticlinal, and anterior lumbars have relatively short anteriorly inclined neural spines. Lumbar vertebrae are on the order of 4.0–4.8 cm long. The sacrum was originally interpreted to comprise a single centrum with transversely expanded auricular processes, surmounted by a distinctively bifurcated neural spine (Fraas, 1904a). Stromer (1908) attributed the bifurcated neural spine to breakage and faulty reconstruction. My own comparisons indicate that the inferred reduction of the sacrum to comprise a single centrum is also an artifact of breakage (dashed lines in figure 45.7D). Remarks Protocetus atavus was for many years the oldest and most primitive archaeocete known. This is no longer true, as older and more primitive cetaceans have been identified in Pakistan and India (Gingerich et al., 1983; Bajpai and Gingerich, 1998). Protocetus has also been supplanted as the best known protocetid by new specimens of Rodhocetus and related forms from Pakistan (Gingerich et al., 2001). FORT Y-FIVE: CETACEA


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Genus EOCETUS Fraas, 1904 EOCETUS SCHWEINFURTHI (Fraas, 1904) Figures 45.3 and 45.4

Age and Occurrence Bartonian (late middle Eocene) of Schweinfurth’s locality IV in the Giushi Formation of Gebel Mokattam near Cairo (site 7 near site 1 in figures 45.3 and 45.4). Diagnosis The type skull of Eocetus schweinfurthi cannot be identified with certainty to Protocetidae or Basilosauridae because it lacks diagnostic characteristics. As presently conceived (Uhen, 1999, 2001), Eocetus is a protocetid with distinctively elongated, pachyostotic vertebrae. Description The type specimen is SMNS 10986, a poorly preserved cranium that has not been fully prepared. This has the rostrum better preserved than the rest of the skull. Crowns of I1 and I2 are present. These are conical and simple, with I1 being smaller and I2 larger in size. Alveoli for I3 indicate that it was small like I1, while the single-rooted C1 was large like I2. Part of the crown of P2 is preserved, and this has a well developed posterobasal cusp. The P4 in the type skull has a large posteromedial buttress, like a deciduous tooth, and it may even be three rooted. This is unlike the tooth referred to “Mesocetus” as a P4 by Fraas (1904a: 10, plate 2). External nares open above P1 in the type skull. Remarks Eocetus schweinfurthi was first published as Mesocetus schweinfurthi by Fraas (1904a) and then moved to the new genus Eocetus by Fraas (1904b) when he realized that Mesocetus had been used previously. As mentioned, the type skull of E. schweinfurthi cannot be identified with certainty as either protocetid or basilosaurid. Eocetus is listed here as a protocetid because this is where it is usually classified, but evidence for this is weak. Inference that Eocetus had three molars (and hence is protocetid) is based on identification of an isolated tooth as M3 (Fraas, 1904a:11, plate 2), but its very isolation means that identification as M3 is uncertain, as is its attribution to E. schweinfurthi. Stromer (1903) described two large vertebrae (SMNS 10934) and then an additional two vertebrae (SFNF 4470; Stromer, 1908), all thought to come from the same stratigraphic interval as the type of Eocetus schweinfurthi. Uhen (1998) interpreted the former pair to represent Basilosaurus drazindai, and attributed the latter pair to E. schweinfurthi (Uhen, 1999). This is a reasonable inference, but it also assumes that the type skull of Eocetus is protocetid rather than basilosaurid. A clear determination will have to await discovery of skeletons with associated skulls and skeletons. Genus PAPPOCETUS Andrews, 1920 PAPPOCETUS LUGARDI Andrews, 1920 Figures 45.3 and 45.3

Age and Occurrence Middle Eocene (Lutetian in the old sense, almost certainly Bartonian on a modern time scale). Type was found in the Ameki Formation 2 km southeast of Ameke (Ameki) in Nigeria (site 8 in figure 45.3). Diagnosis The type and referred dentaries, both subadult, indicate a large archaeocete, much larger than Protocetus and most other protocetids. The type has portions of left and right dentaries joined so perfectly as to suggest fusion of the mandibular symphysis (Andrews calls these “united”; Andrews, 1920:309). However the referred specimen, ontogenetically older than the type, appears to indicate the opposite. Pappocetus is so poorly known that it cannot be clearly distinguished from other protocetids.

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Description The holotype of Pappocetus lugardi, NHML 11414, includes much of a left dentary with crowns of deciduous premolars, the crown of a left m1 fully erupted, and m2 partially erupted. The right dentary, seemingly fused to the left at the mandibular symphysis, includes two deciduous premolars. The referred dentary, NHML 11086, is a left lower jaw with alveoli and/or broken roots for di1–3, dc1, a singlerooted dp1 or p1, double-rooted dp2–4, much of the crown of m1,a partial crown of m2 nearly fully erupted, and m3 partially erupted. This has the mandibular symphysis well preserved and open (unfused). Molars are typically protocetid, with a large trigonid cusp (protoconid) seemingly lacking accessory trigonid cusps, and a prominent laterally compressed talonid cusp (hypoconid). The anterior base of each lower molar crown is flattened and very slightly indented to accommodate the posterior base of the preceding tooth, while the posterior base of each crown is rounded where it fit into the indentation of the following tooth. A faint cingulid surrounds the entire crown. The molars are like those of protocetids rather than basilosaurids. Andrews (1920) described an axis vertebra of Pappocetus lugardi (C2), and Halstead and Middleton (1974) described six vertebrae collected more recently. All are from subadult animals, and possibly part of the holotype. The most interesting are in a block consisting of three that are probably T13-L1-L2 or T12-T13-L1. All have centra that are short anteroposteriorly for their diameter (width and height). Anterior lumbar vertebrae are on the order of 4.8–5.6 cm long and have centra with length-to-width and length-to-height ratios of about 0.63 and 0.91, respectively. Remarks African Pappocetus is much larger but, considering what is known of the dentaries and teeth, possibly most like South Asian Babiacetus (Gingerich et al., 1995). PROTOCETIDAE indet. Additional Protocetidae are known from several other African sites. A possible protocetid is known from a locality that Stromer (1908) first called Uadi Rojan and later changed to Klein Rajan (Stromer, 1914). Protocetids are known from the phosphate mine at Kpogamé in Togo (Gingerich et al., 1992), and a Babiacetus-like protocetid is known from Khashm elRaqaba (Bianucci et al., 2003; Gingerich et al., 2007). Protocetids have been found in recent years in the Midawara Formation near Qusour el Arab, and in the Gehannam Formation near Garet Gehannam in western Fayum Province, Egypt. Family BASILOSAURIDAE Stromer, 1908 Basilosauridae are generally later, more derived, and fully aquatic archaeocetes with only two molar teeth in the maxilla. Basilosaurids generally lack evidence of a distinct sacrum in the vertebral column and have innominates of reduced size and altered proportions. It is useful to separate Basilosaurus with extreme vertebral elongation from more typical basilosaurids. The former are sometimes classified in Basilosaurinae and the latter in Dorudontinae. However, the relative size of carpal bones and other differences cut across this simple dichotomy, and a better understanding of basilosaurid morphology in more taxa will be required before reliable subdivision will be possible. Six genera and species of Basilosauridae are known from the African late Eocene, and all were described from Fayum Province, Egypt. It is useful to consider these in terms of overall

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size, and on a spectrum of relative length of lumbar vertebral centra relative to their width and height. Saghacetus osiris is the smallest of the Fayum basilosaurids, Stromerius nidensis is next, Dorudon atrox and Ancalecetus simonsi are medium sized, Masracetus markgrafi is larger, and Basilosaurus isis is largest. In terms of shape, Masracetus markgrafi has the anteroposteriorly shortest lumbar centra compared to their diameter, Dorudon atrox and Ancalecetus simonsi are next, Stromerius nidensis has more or less equidimensional centra, Saghacetus osiris has centra longer than their diameter, and Basilosaurus isis has the longest centra. Lumbar centrum size and shape vary independently, and they are thus useful for distinguishing taxa. Genus SAGHACETUS Gingerich, 1992 SAGHACETUS OSIRIS (Dames, 1894) Figures 45.5 and 45.6

Age and Occurrence Middle Priabonian (middle late Eocene) of the middle Qasr el-Sagha Formation, northern Fayum, Egypt. Type was found at site 28 in figure 45.5, but the species is common from this level the whole length of the Qasr el-Sagha escarpment. Diagnosis Saghacetus osiris is distinctive as the smallest of the Fayum archaeocetes. Posterior thoracic and anterior lumbar vertebrae are relatively long in comparison to centrum height and width (but these vertebrae are not nearly so long as those of Basilosaurus). Saghacetus differs from Dorudon and Basilosaurus in having only 14 thoracic vertebrae. Description Many specimens of Saghacetus osiris are known, but most are skulls and jaws, and few include good vertebral series. Much of the skeleton is not yet known, and this includes the full lumbus, cauda, forelimb, and hindlimb. The holotype, MNB Ma.28388, is the well-preserved dentary described by Dames (1894; figure 45.6). Three of the best-preserved skulls are BSPM 1902.XI.59 (Mn. 1) described by Stromer (1902, 1903); SMNS 11786 (St. 3; juv.) described by Stromer (1908), and AMNH 14382 described by Kellogg (1936). The best endocast is NHML 12123, type of Zeuglodon sensitivus Dart (1923). UM 83905 and 97550 are good axial skeletons, with crania, a complete series of cervical and thoracic vertebrae, ribs, and several associated lumbar and caudal vertebrae. The cranium of Saghacetus osiris is like that of other basilosaurids in having a dental formula of 3.1.4.2/3.1.4.3 (Stromer, 1903). Well-developed pterygoid sinuses separate left and right middle ear in the basicranium (Pompeckj, 1922; Luo and Gingerich, 1999). There are 7 cervical vertebrae and 14 thoracics (UM 83905 and 97550), but the number of lumbars and caudals is not known. Crania of Saghacetus osiris average about 67 cm in condylobasal length. If we take the natural logarithm of this length and make the common assumption of a 0.05-unit standard deviation on a natural-log scale, then, when exponentiated, the expected range of condylobasal length is 61–74 cm. Middle lumbar vertebrae are on the order of 5.2–5.3 cm long and have centra with length-to-width and length-to-height ratios of about 1.10 and 1.19, respectively. Body weight is estimated to have been 350 kg and brain weight 388 g, yielding an encephalization quotient of 0.49 by comparison to a baseline of terrestrial mammals as a class (Gingerich, 1998; meaning brain size is about one-half that expected for an extant terrestrial mammal of the same body weight). Remarks Saghacetus osiris is the common archaeocete in the much-collected Temple Member in the middle part of the Qasr el-Sagha Formation, Fayum Province, Egypt. Several

species described from this interval are synonyms: Zeuglodon zitteli Stromer (1903); Zeuglodon sensitivus Dart (1923), and Zeuglodon elliotsmithii Dart (1923). The specimen described as “Dorudon Osiris” and said to have come from Wadi Natrun in northern Egypt (Pilleri, 1985) is almost certainly as specimen of Dorudon atrox from an unknown locality in Fayum (Gingerich, 1991). Genus BASILOSAURUS Harlan, 1834 BASILOSAURUS ISIS (Beadnell in Andrews, 1904) Figures 45.5 and 45.8

Age and Occurrence Late Bartonian (late middle Eocene) and early Priabonian (early late Eocene) of the Gehannam and Birket Qarun formations, northern Fayum, Egypt. Type was found somewhere near site 15 in figure 45.5. The species is found at several sites north of Birket Qarun but is best known from Wadi Hitan (site 18 in figure 45.5). Diagnosis Basilosaurus isis is distinctive as the largest of the Fayum archaeocetes. Posterior thoracic and anterior lumbar vertebrae are very long in comparison to centrum height and width (longer than those of any other Fayum archaeocete). Basilosaurus resembles Dorudon and differs from Saghacetus and Stromerius in having a larger number of thoracic vertebrae (18 in Basilosaurus). Description Here again, many specimens of Basilosaurus isis are known, but those in collections are almost all skulls and jaws, and only two include reasonable vertebral series. Virtually the entire skeleton has been observed in the field, and the full vertebral series is known. Forelimbs including hands have been collected (Gingerich and Smith, 1990), and the pelvis and hindlimb are virtually completely known (figure 45.8; Gingerich et al., 1990). The holotype, CGM 10208, is the well-preserved dentary described by Andrews (1906). Three of the best-preserved skulls are SMNS 11787 (St. 9) described by Stromer (1908), CGM 42225 (not prepared), and UM 97507. The best endocast is UM 94800. SMNS 11787 and UM 97503 each include much of a vertebral column (the former being that described by Slijper, 1936). The cranium of Basilosaurus isis is like that of other basilosaurids in having a dental formula of 3.1.4.2/3.1.4.3 (Stromer, 1908). Pterygoid sinuses are well developed in the basicranium (Luo and Gingerich, 1999). The number of vertebrae in a Basilosaurus isis skeleton is 7 cervicals, 18 thoracics, ca. 21 lumbars, and ca. 21 caudals, for a total of ca. 67 vertebrae; and the total length of the skeleton is approximately 18 m (Gingerich et al., 1990). Crania of Basilosaurus isis average about 120 cm in condylobasal length, with an expected range of about 109–133 cm. Middle lumbar vertebrae are on the order of 33 cm long and have centra with length-to-width and length-to-height ratios of about 1.57 and 1.83, respectively. Body weight is estimated to have been 6,480 kg and brain weight 2,520 g, yielding an encephalization quotient of 0.37 by comparison to a baseline of terrestrial mammals as a class (Gingerich, 1998; meaning brain size is a little more than one-third that expected for an extant terrestrial mammal of the same body weight). Remarks Basilosaurus isis is the common larger archaeocete in the Gehannam and Birket Qarun formations of northern and western Fayum Province, Egypt. Several authors (Kellogg, 1936; Barnes and Mitchell, 1978) recognized that the type specimen of Prozeuglodon atrox Andrews (1906) is a subadult and interpreted it as a young individual of “Zeuglodon” isis. However, new collections made in Egypt in recent FORT Y-FIVE: CETACEA


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years include adults of numerous individuals of both species, which are distinct, and it is clear that Zeuglodon isis Beadnell in Andrews (1904) belongs in Basilosaurus. Prozeuglodon atrox Andrews (1906) is a species of Dorudon. Genus DORUDON Gibbs, 1845 DORUDON ATROX (Andrews, 1906) Figures 45.5, 45.9B, 45.9E, and 45.9 F

Age and Occurrence Late Bartonian (late middle Eocene) and early Priabonian (early late Eocene) of the Gehannam and Birket Qarun formations, northern Fayum, Egypt. Type was found at Wadi Hitan (site 18 in figure 45.5), where it is common. Diagnosis Dorudon atrox is distinctive as a medium-sized Fayum archaeocete with blocky posterior thoracic, lumbar, and anterior caudal vertebrae. Posterior thoracic and anterior lumbar vertebrae have centra that are approximately equal in length to their height and width. Dorudon resembles Basilosaurus and differs from Saghacetus and Stromerius in having a larger number of thoracic vertebrae (17 in Dorudon). Description Dorudon atrox is the best-known species morphologically of all basilosaurids. It is represented by several exceptionally complete skeletons described by Uhen (2004; figure 45.9B). The holotype, CGM 9319, is the subadult skull described by Andrews (1906). Three of the best-preserved skulls are SFNF 4451, CGM 42183, and UM 101222. A wellpreserved endocast is UM 94795. CGM 42183 and UM 101222 each include much of a vertebral column. The cranium of Dorudon atrox is like that of other basilosaurids in having a dental formula of 3.1.4.2/3.1.4.3 (Uhen, 2004). Pterygoid sinuses are well developed in the basicranium (Pompeckj,1922; Luo and Gingerich, 1999). The number of vertebrae in a Dorudon atrox skeleton is 7 cervicals, 17 thoracics, 20 lumbars, and 21 caudals, for a total of ca. 65 vertebrae; the total length of the skeleton is approximately 5 m (Uhen, 2004). Crania of Dorudon atrox average about 95 cm in condylobasal length, with an expected range of about 84–105 cm. Middle lumbar vertebrae are on the order of 7.6 cm long and have centra with length-to-width and length-to-height ratios of about 0.79 and 0.88, respectively (Uhen, 2004). Body weight is estimated to have been 1,140 kg and brain weight 960 g, yielding an encephalization quotient of 0.51 by comparison to a baseline of terrestrial mammals as a class (Gingerich, 1998; meaning brain size is close to one-half that expected for an extant terrestrial mammal of the same body weight). Remarks Dorudon atrox is the common smaller archaeocete in the Gehannam and Birket Qarun formations of northern and western Fayum Province, Egypt. The type is a subadult with deciduous teeth (figures 45.9E, 45.9F), as are many specimens of this species referred to other taxa by Stromer (1908) and Kellogg (1936). Many described skulls with a condylobasal length in the range of 65–85 cm are subadult D. atrox. Two named species are synonyms of D. atrox: Zeuglodon intermedius Dart (1923) and Prozeuglodon stromeri Kellogg (1928; see Uhen, 2004:14). Genus ANCALECETUS Gingerich and Uhen, 1996 ANCALECETUS SIMONSI Gingerich and Uhen, 1996 Figures 45.5, 45.9C, and 45.9D

Age and Occurrence Early Priabonian (early late Eocene) of the Birket Qarun Formation, northern Fayum, Egypt. Type was found at site 25 near site 18 in figure 45.5. 900


Diagnosis Ancalecetus simonsi is similar to Dorudon atrox in size and the form of its cranium and vertebrae. It differs conspicuously from D. atrox and all other basilosaurids in having anteroposteriorly narrow scapulae, very limited mobility of the humerus relative to the scapula at the shoulder joint, and fusion of the humerus, ulna, and radius at the elbow joint. Carpal bones of the wrist are small like those of Zygorhiza, but Ancalecetus differs from Zygorhiza in having the magnum and trapezoid conjoined as a single bone. Description Ancalecetus simonsi is known from a single partial skeleton, the type CGM 42290 (Gingerich and Uhen, 1996; figure 45.9C). The basicranium is preserved, but the top of the braincase and anterior parts of the cranium were missing when the skull was collected. Pterygoid sinuses are well developed in the basicranium (Luo and Gingerich, 1999). Several vertebrae of A. simonsi are well preserved, but the number of vertebrae, conformation of the vertebral column as a whole, and total length are not known. The weight of the animal in life was probably about 1,140 kg, based on similarity in preserved parts to those of D. atrox, and we can imagine that relative brain size was similar as well. The most distinctive characteristics of Ancalecetus simonsi are in its unusual forelimbs (figure 45.9D). The scapula is primitively narrow anteroposteriorly; the scapulohumeral articulation is mobile but greatly restricted in mobility compared to the shoulder of other archaeocetes; and the elbow joint has lost its mobility entirely, with the distal humerus, radius, and ulna forming a tight-fitting joint. The carpals are small compared to those of Dorudon, but the rest of the hand has not been recovered. Remarks From a functional point of view, it is difficult to comprehend how a basilosaurid like Ancalecetus simonsi could have been an active swimmer without having had greater mobility of the forelimbs for stabilization and guidance. However, well-developed masticatory wear on teeth, and fusion of cranial bones and vertebral epiphyses, show that the one known individual of A. simonsi lived to adulthood. Hence, however poorly we understand its forelimb function, Ancalecetus appears to have represented a viable evolutionary experiment. Genus STROMERIUS Gingerich, 2007 STROMERIUS NIDENSIS Gingerich, 2007 Figure 45.5

Age and Occurrence Middle Priabonian (middle late Eocene) of the middle Qasr el-Sagha Formation, northern Fayum, Egypt. Type was found at Garet el-Esh (site 35 near site 28 in figure 45.5). Diagnosis The most distinctive feature of Stromerius nidensis is the presence of unusually long, anteriorly directed metapophyses on lumbar vertebrae. The penultimate thoracic vertebra has a vertical neural spine and appears to be anticlinal. The lumbus is short, comprising only 12 vertebrae, the last four of which are possibly identifiable as sacrals. Description Stromerius nidensis is known from two specimens, one a group of associated vertebrae described by Stromer (1903), and the other, the type, UM 100140, a second group of associated vertebrae described by Gingerich (2007). The latter was found with a posteriormost thoracic and anterior lumbar neural spine showing on the surface. Tracing these into the outcrop yielded an articulated series of dorsal vertebrae comprising 11 additional lumbar vertebrae and 2 proximal caudals. The penultimate thoracic, described by

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Stromer (1903), has a vertical neural spine, while all of the more posterior neural spines, starting with the last thoracic, are anteriorly inclined. Many of the lumbars have distinctive, well-preserved, long, and anteriorly inclined metapophyses different from those described for other archaeocetes. Retention of transverse processes that enclose a pleurapophyseal space on lumbar vertebrae L9 and L10, and retention of posteroventral processes lacking chevron facets on L12 identify the last four lumbars as likely homologues of sacral vertebrae S1–S4 (morphologically the vertebrae are lumbars and they are not sacral in form). Middle lumbar vertebrae of Stromerius nidensis are on the order of 6.1 cm long and have centra with length-to-width and length-to-height ratios of about 0.94 and 1.14, respectively Remarks Stromer (1903) described the referred specimen, MNB 1902.XI.60a, as Zeuglodon osiris, and Kellogg (1936) identified this as Dorudon zitteli. Stromerius nidensis differs from both in having lumbar centra that are larger, longer, and at the same time both wider and less high relative to centrum length. Stromerius nidensis complements Saghacetus osiris in being the second archaeocete known from the Temple Member in the middle of the Qasr el-Sagha Formation.

from all of these. It has vertebral proportions most similar to “Zeuglodon” brachyspondylus, and the latter may belong in this genus.

Genus MASRACETUS Gingerich, 2007 MASRACETUS MARKGRAFI Gingerich, 2007 Figure 45.5

Age and Occurrence Late Miocene locality P8, U2 member of Sahabi Formation, at Sahabi in Libya (site 40 in figure 45.3; age is from Bernor and Scott, 2003); early Pleistocene of Baia Farta in Angola (site 53); and Miocene-Pliocene or Holocene of Agulhas Bank (site 46), and Holocene of coastal Yzerplaats, South Africa. Description Each of the rorquals known from Libya (Petrocchi, 1941, 1951), Angola (Gutierrez et al. (2001), and Yzerplaats in South Africa (Gill, 1928) is represented by a partial skeleton. The record from Agulhas Bank off the coast of South Africa is based on isolated periotic and/or tympanic ear bones, and this is the only one identified to species (Balaenoptera physalis; Barnard, 1954).

Age and Occurrence Early Priabonian (early late Eocene) of the Birket Qarun Formation, northern Fayum, Egypt. Type was found at or near Dimeh in northern Fayum (site 20 in figure 45.5). Diagnosis Masracetus markgrafi is distinguished from other archaeocetes by the size and shape of its lumbar vertebrae. These are large, but relatively short compared to their width and height. Lumbar centra are nearly the diameter (width and height) of lumbar centra of Basilosaurus isis, but less than half the length of the latter. Masracetus markgrafi lumbar centra are similar to those of North American late Eocene “Zeuglodon” brachyspondylus Müller (1849: 26), but the centra are not as large and they also differ in being less wide relative to their height. Description There are several good series of large but short lumbar vertebrae representing an archaeocete different from any described thus far int his chapter. The best of these is SMNS 11413 and 11414 (St. 8 of Stromer, 1908:129). Little can be said about the skull (SMNS 11413), which is substantially reconstructed in plaster. The vertebral column of the same specimen (numbered SMNS 11414) is described by Slijper (1936:319), who provides a good set of measurements of all of the vertebral centra. Following Slijper, middle lumbar vertebrae of Masracetus markgrafi are on the order of 13–14 cm long and have centra with length-to-width and length-to-height ratios of about 0.77 and 0.94, respectively. These vertebrae also have centrum width to height ratios of about 1.20, making them relatively wider than centra of Zeuglodon brachyspondylus reported by Müller (1849:26). Remarks Stromer (1908:129) identified the type specimen, SMNS 11413-11414, as Zeuglodon isis. Kellogg (1936:76) included SMNS 11413-11414 in Prozeuglodon isis. Slijper (1936:319) considered SMNS 11413-11414 to represent Zeuglodon brachyspondylus, and Uhen (2005) included it in Cynthiacetus maxwelli. However, Masracetus markgrafi is different

BASILOSAURIDAE indet. Basilosauridae are also known from Dur et Talhah in Libya (Wight, 1980), Tiavandou in Senegal (Elouard, 1981), Oued Kouki in Tunisia (Batik and Fejfar, 1990), the Qattara Depression in Egypt (David Morrison, pers. comm. 2006), and Tabaghbagh near Siwa in Egypt (H. J. van Vliet and T. Paymans, pers. comm. 2008). Suborder MYSTICETI Cope, 1891 Mysticetes known from African localities all come from late Miocene to Holocene deposits, and none has been referred to an extinct species. Hence diagnoses are omitted here. Family BALAENOPTERIDAE Gray, 1864 Genus BALAENOPTERA Lacépède, 1804 BALAENOPTERA sp. Figure 45.3

Family BALAENIDAE Gray, 1821 Genus BALAENA Linnaeus, 1758 BALAENA sp. Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene of Agulhas Bank off the coast of South Africa (site 46 in figure 45.3). Description Isolated periotic and/or tympanic ear bones of right whales (Barnard, 1954). MYSTICETI indet. Mysticete remains are reported from the early Pliocene of Langebaanweg in South Africa (Hendey, 1976), but these have not been studied. Suborder ODONTOCETI Flower, 1869 Odontocetes known from African localities come from early Miocene through Holocene deposits. Two have been referred to extinct species, and one is a species type. Diagnoses are omitted except in the two cases of specimens referred to extinct species. Family PHYSETERIDAE Gray, 1821 Genus PHYSETER Linnaeus, 1758



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PHYSETER MACROCEPHALUS Linnaeus, 1758 Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Holocene of archaeological site H near Tarfaya in southwestern Morocco (site 59 in figure 45.3). Description The only record of a sperm whale is a single tooth found in a coastal Paleolithic site (Charon et al., 1973; Saban, 1974). PHYSETERIDAE indet. Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Late Miocene of Raz-el-Ain in Algeria (site 42 in figure 45.3). Description Muizon (1981) mentions teeth and vertebrae of a Physeterid from Raz-el-Ain in a report on a Miocene seal from Algeria but gives no further information about the cetacean. Family KOGIIDAE Gill, 1871 Genus Kogia Genus KOGIA Gray, 1846 KOGIA sp. Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene of Ahl al Oughlam, near Casablanca in Morocco (site 52 in figure 45.3). Description A pygmy sperm whale is represented by a periotic ear bone characteristic of Kogia (Geraads et al., 1998). Family ZIPHIIDAE Gray, 1865 Genus MICROBERARDIUS Bianucci et al., 2007 MICROBERARDIUS AFRICANUS Bianucci et al., 2007

trawled off the south coast of South Africa at a depth of 1,000 m in the Indian Ocean. Description Partial skulls. Specimen described by Bianucci et al. (2007) is a fragment of a cranium with most of the vertex and parts of premaxillary sac fossae. Genus KHOIKHOICETUS Bianucci et al., 2007 KHOIKHOICETUS AGULHASIS Bianucci et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Holotype was found offshore from Cape Agulhas. Description Partial skull including much of the rostrum, anterior part of the cranium, and the vertex. Genus IHLENGESI Bianucci et al., 2007 IHLENGESI SALDANHAE Bianucci et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Type specimen was trawled off Saldanha Bay on the west coast of South Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. Referred specimen was trawled off the coast of Cape Columbine. Description Type is a partial skull including the base of the rostrum, anterior part of the cranium, and the vertex. Referred specimen is a rostrum with the anterior part of the cranium. Discussion Haughton (1956) identified the referred specimen as cf. Mesoplodon. Genus AFRICANACETUS Bianucci et al., 2007 AFRICANACETUS CERATOPSIS Bianucci et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. No data with specimen: trawled off the South African coast. Description The type and only specimen is a partial skull including a worn rostrum, much of the dorsal surface of the cranium, and a nearly complete vertex.

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Type specimen was trawled off the coast southwest of South Africa at a depth of less than 600 m in the Atlantic Ocean. Referred specimens are from various localities off the coast of South Africa. Description Type is a partial skull including the rostrum and dorsal surface of the cranium with the vertex. Most referred specimens are rostra with the anterior cranium but no vertex.

Genus IZIKOZIPHIUS Bianucci et al., 2007 IZIKOZIPHIUS ROSSI Bianucci et al., 2007

Genus MESOPLODON Gervais, 1850 MESOPLODON SLANGKOPI Bianucci et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. No data with specimens: trawled off the South African coast. Description The type specimen is a partial skull with rostrum, the anterior part of the cranium, and the vertex. A referred specimen is a second partial skull.

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Type specimen was trawled off Slangkop on the west coast of Cape Province, South Africa. Description Type specimen is a partial skull including the base of the rostrum, and the dorsal surface of the cranium with the vertex. Referred specimen is a deeply worn rostrum base with the maxillary sac fossae and the vertex. Discussion It is not clear whether any of the specimens referred to Mesoplodon by Barnard (1954), Haughton (1956), and Ross (1986) belong to this species. One was included above in Ihlengesi saldanhae.

IZIKOZIPHIUS ANGUSTUS Bianucci et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Type specimen was trawled southwest of Cape Town, South Africa, at a depth of 450 m in the Atlantic Ocean. Description The type specimen is a partial skull with the rostrum, much of the dorsal surface, and vertex. Genus ZIPHIUS Cuvier, 1823 ZIPHIUS sp.

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Specimens described by Barnard (1954) were trawled off the coast of South Africa at Agulhas Bank and Cape West in the Atlantic Ocean. Specimen described by Bianucci et al. (2007) was 902


Genus NENGA Bianucci et al., 2007 NENGA MEGANASALIS Bianucci et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Type specimen was trawled west of Cape Town in the Atlantic Ocean. Referred specimens were all trawled off the coast of South Africa. Description Type is a partial skull including the rostrum, premaxillary sac fossae, and vertex. Referred specimens are partial skulls and rostra.

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Genus XHOSACETUS Bianucci et al., 2007 XHOSACETUS HENDEYSI Bianucci et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Type specimen has no data. This was trawled off the South African coast. Description Type is a partial skull with most of the rostrum, anterior part of the cranium, and vertex. Genus PTEROCETUS Bianucci et al., 2007 PTEROCETUS BENGUELAE Bianucci et al., 2007

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene. Type specimen was trawled of the west coast of South Africa, south of Saldanha Bay, at 700 m depth in the Atlantic Ocean. Referred specimens were trawled off the coast of South Africa. Description Partial skull with most of the rostrum, anterior part of cranium, and vertex. Referred specimens are partial skulls with parts of the rostrum and anterior cranium. ZIPHIIDAE indet. Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Late middle Miocene fluvial sediments of Loperot in Kenya (site 39 in figure 45.3). Description The oldest record of a beaked whale is the rostral part of a cranium found in inland riverine sediments in association with a freshwater and terrestrial fauna (Mead, 1975). Family EURHINODELPHINIDAE Abel, 1901 Genus SCHIZODELPHIS Gervais, 1861 SCHIZODELPHIS aff. SULCATUS Gervais, 1853 Figure 45.4

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene of the Moghara Formation at Wadi Faregh (site 36 in figure 45.4) and Wadi Moghara (site 37) in northern Egypt. Description The specimens from each site are pieces of mandibular symphysis broken where the fused dentaries separate behind the symphysis. Remarks Eurhinodelphinids are an extinct group of late Oligocene to Miocene, small- to moderate-sized, long-necked, and long-snouted odontocetes. They are interesting in having a longer neck than is seen in most odontocetes, and edentulous premaxillae that extended well in front of the maxillae, making the rostrum longer than the dentaries. Such a specialized feeding apparatus suggests a coastal or even estuarine habitat (Lambert, 2005), which is consistent with recovery in estuarine deposits of the Moghara Formation. Family DELPHINIDAE Gray, 1821 Genus DELPHINUS Linnaeus, 1758 DELPHINIS VANZELLERI Fourtau, 1920 Figure 45.4

Age and Occurrence Early Miocene of the Moghara Formation at Wadi Moghara in northern Egypt (site 37 in figure 45.4). Diagnosis A dolphin with relatively large and long teeth. Teeth having crowns flattened transversely, with the flattening being a little more on the lingual surface. Each tooth has a pointed crown, but the apex of the crown is noticeably rounded. Description The type and only specimen is a mandible fragment with crowns or alveoli for nine teeth. This was illustrated by Fourtau (1920:36, figure 25).

Remarks It is difficult to say much about a species based on a specimen representing so little of the animal. Hence little is known, and little has been written about this species. Making the species meaningful would require discovery of more complete specimens in the Moghara Formation. Genus DELPHINUS or STENELLA Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Late Pliocene fissure fillings in continental cave deposits overlying Messaoudian Pliocene marine beds at Ahl al Oughlam in Morocco (site 52 in figure 45.3). Description Geraads et al. (1998) report periotics and jaw fragments of Delphinus sp. or Stenella sp. that they interpret as stranded cetaceans scavenged and brought into caves by carnivores. Genus LAGENORHYNCHUS Gray, 1846 Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Late Miocene locality P8, U2 member of Sahabi Formation, at Sahabi in Libya (site 40 in figure 45.3). Age is from Bernor and Scott (2003). Description An isolated periotic is known from the site that yielded the rorqual skeleton mentioned earlier. This was identified as cf. Lagenorhynchus sp. by Whitmore (1987). Genus ORCINUS Fitzinger, 1860 Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Miocene-Pliocene of Agulhas Bank (site 46 in figure 45.3) and off the west coast of South Africa Description Partial mandibles of killer whales are reported by both Barnard (1954) and Haughton (1956). Family INIIDAE Gray, 1846 Figure 45.3

Age and Occurrence Late Miocene of Sahabi in Libya (site 41 near site 40 in figure 45.3). Description Whitmore (1987) described a number of skeletal elements of a single individual odontocete specimen. These are fragmentary individually but informative when considered together. Whitmore interpreted them to represent a Pontoporia-like iniid with unfused cervical vertebrae and a relatively flexible neck. Remarks Pontoporia and Iniia are “river dolphins: living in South America today, but they evidently had a more cosmopolitan distribution in the late Miocene. ODONTOCETI indet. Figure 45.3 White et al. (1983) described a rib fragment identified only to suborder Odontoceti that came from locality P4A at Qasr as Sahabi in Libya (site 41 near site 40 in figure 45.3). This may represent the iniid from the same site described by Whitmore (1987). Odontocete remains are reported from the MiocenePliocene off the coast of South Africa (Bianucci et al., 2007) and from the early Pliocene of Langebaanweg in South Africa (Hendey, 1976), but these have not been studied in any detail. CETACEA indet. Figure 45.3



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Cetacean remains of unknown affinities are reported from the Miocene site of Malembe in the Cabinda Enclave, Angola (site 38 in figure 45.3; Dartevelle, 1935).

Discussion Thirty-two of the 46 African localities listed in table 45.1 (70%) have yielded archaeocete cetaceans, as compared to only 14 (30%) yielding mysticetes and odontocetes. The African fossil record has always been important for understanding archaeocete diversity, morphology, and adaptations, but it has had relatively little importance for understanding either mysticetes or odontocetes. Hence I will concentrate on African Archaeoceti in summarizing what is important about the African record of Cetacea. The last review of the fossil record of Cetacea in Africa (Barnes and Mitchell, 1978) focused on Protocetus, Eocetus, and Pappocetus within Protocetidae, and on Dorudon and “Prozeuglodon” within Basilosauridae. Protocetids remain poorly known, but there are promising new discoveries awaiting study. Our understanding of basilosaurids has changed substantially as a result of new discoveries in Egypt. Many specimens previously referred to Dorudon are now placed in Saghacetus. The differences became clear with recovery of new skulls and associated axial skeletons. Specimens formerly called Prozeuglodon are now divided among Dorudon and Basilosaurus, and here, too, recovery of new skulls with associated axial skeletons was required to enable adequate comparison of the genera. Dorudon atrox is now known from dozens of partial skeletons, of which about half are immature individuals with deciduous teeth virtually identical to those of the type of North American Dorudon serratus and to the type of Egyptian Prozeuglodon atrox (figures 45.9E, 45.9F), while the other half are fully adult (figure 45.9B). Adult D. atrox are medium in overall size, having a skeleton about 5 m long, with relatively short posterior thoracic and lumbar centra. (Uhen, 2004). Basilosaurus isis (figure 45.8D) is not represented by any immature individuals, but adult specimens are all large, having a skeleton about 18 m long, with relatively long posterior thoracic and lumbar centra. The Barnes and Mitchell (1978) review of the fossil record of African cetaceans includes a table indicating that skeletal parts for each known species were represented by fewer specimens than could be counted on one hand. Forelimbs were known in a few specimens, but none preserved the hand or manus. The only hand bones known for archaeocetes were those described for North American Zygorhiza by Kellogg (1936). Hindlimbs were not represented by a single innominate, and archaeocetes were not known to have had a foot or pes. The only hindlimb elements known for archaeocetes at the time were two innominates and a partial femur of one North American Basilosaurus (Lucas, 1900). This changed in 1989 when fore- and hindlimb elements were found for Dorudon and Basilosaurus, and virtually complete hindlimbs were found for the latter (Gingerich et al., 1990). Barnes and Mitchell (1978) traced the origin of Archaeoceti back to the archaic cursorial and hoofed mammals called Mesonychidae. Mesonychids had large but simple, laterally compressed teeth like those of early cetaceans, and they were thought at the time to be the land-mammals ancestral to cetaceans (Van Valen, 1966). Recovery of feet in Egyptian Basilosaurus in 1989 inspired a renewal of field work in Pakistan, which eventually led to discovery skeletons of older and more primitive archaeocetes. Skeletons of the early protocetids

904


Rodhocetus and Artiocetus were found to have had associated hindlimbs that retained characteristically artiodactyl ankle morphology with a double-pulley astragalus (Gingerich et al., 2001). Thus the ancestry of cetaceans is now generally understood to be from early artiodactyls rather than mesonychids (but see O’Leary and Gatesy, 2008). The Pakistan specimens show that protocetids like Rodhocetus were semiaquatic, foot-powered swimmers, in contrast to basilosaurids like Dorudon that were fully aquatic, tail-powered swimmers (Gingerich, 2003). Protocetus of Lutetian age (early middle Eocene) from the Mokattam Formation of Egypt is similar to Rodhocetus, and was undoubtedly a semiaquatic, foot-powered swimmer as well. The later middle Eocene (Bartonian) cetaceans Eocetus schweinfurthi and Pappocetus lugardi are larger and more advanced in some respects. It is possible that when they are better known postcranially they will prove to be transitional in some way from semiaquatic to fully aquatic. The Birket Qarun Formation of early Priabonian (late Eocene) age is the only African geological formation that has been prospected extensively for cetaceans. Here four archaeocetes are known from partial to complete skeletons. These are, from smallest to largest: Ancalecetus simonsi, Dorudon atrox, Masracetus markgrafi, and Basilosaurus isis. One or two additional cetaceans are represented by vertebrae that seem to differ from all others, but these are not yet known from diagnostic specimens. Five to six species is the greatest archaeocete diversity known from any single formation in Egypt. The overlying Qasr el-Sagha Formation of late Priabonian (late Eocene) age has two named archaeocetes. These are, from smaller to larger, Saghacetus osiris and Stromerius nidensis. Neither is well enough known postcranially to enable interpretation of their differences from Dorudon in terms of swimming locomotion, but they were presumably fully aquatic like Dorudon. The northern part of the African continent is ringed by Eocene strata that have yielded a good fossil record of archaeocete cetaceans in the past. New localities in these beds promise to produce many cetaceans in the future as well. Egyptian localities are particularly important for having produced the most completely known representatives of Basilosauridae, which include the earliest known fully aquatic cetaceans and early tail-powered swimming cetaceans. Some, like Dorudon, provide an important link between earlier semiaquatic Protocetidae and later Mysticeti and Odontoceti (figure 45.1). Others, like Basilosaurus, are so divergently specialized that they are not likely to be related to later whale evolution. A 2005 excavation of the largest archaeocete from Egypt, Basilosaurus isis, is shown in figure 45.10. Even the largest fossil cetaceans are small in comparison to the scale of the North African desert, and many stratigraphic intervals offer great promise for recovery of new archaecete taxa represented by well preserved skeletons. Recovery of Neogene cetaceans in Africa appears less promising, but even here there is potential. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted to Elwyn Simons for encouragement and help in initiating a field project studying marine mammals of the Eocene of Egypt. This has been carried out in recent years under the auspices of the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency. Many people helped with fieldwork in Egypt and Tunisia over the past 20 years, but sustained contributions by B. Holly Smith,

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FIGURE 45.10 Photograph of 2005 Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency and University of Michigan excavation of Basilosaurus isis in the Birket Qarun Formation, late Eocene, of Wadi Hitan (Egypt). Skeleton was found by A. V. H. van Nievelt in 1987 when only a partial scapula was visible. Skull was collected in 1989 from lower right of photograph. Excavation shown here revealed an almost fully articulated skeleton, lying on a bed of sandstone overlain by shale. Workers are excavating the thorax. The lumbus and tail have been encased in white plaster jackets to protect them during transportation.

William J. Sanders, M. Sameh Antar, and Iyad S. Zalmout stand out. Over the years I have been privileged to study virtually all of the known African archaeocete material, for which I am indebted to museums and curators too numerous to list. I thank colleagues Giovanni Bianucci, Ewan Fordyce, and Mark Uhen for reading the manuscript and providing many suggestions for improvement. Bonnie Miljour helped greatly in preparing the illustrations. Expert preparation of new archaeocete specimens by William J. Sanders at the University of Michigan underlies much of what we have learned since the last review of African Cetacea. Fieldwork on African archaeocetes has been supported by the National Geographic Society (3424-86, 4154-89, 4624-91, 5072-93, and 7726-04), and in recent years by the U.S.-Egypt Joint Science and Technology Program and U.S. National Science Foundation (EAR-0517773 and OISE-0513544).

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BROADER PERSPECTIVES


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CHAP TER FORT Y-SIX

Systematics of Endemic African Mammals ROBERT J. ASHER AND ERIK R . SEIFFERT

Shortly after the death of his coauthor, C. F. Sonntag, Sir Wilfred Le Gros Clark published a collaborative monograph on the anatomy and relationships of the aardvark, Orycteropus afer (Le Gros Clark and Sonntag, 1926), completing a series of monographs on this animal initiated by his senior colleague (Sonntag, 1925; Sonntag and Wollard, 1925). Le Gros Clark was 30 years old at the time; and together with Sonntag, he reached some startlingly prescient conclusions about the affinities of an animal that in subsequent years received much less precise treatment. Despite the fact that during the 1920s many of their colleagues considered aardvarks to be closely related to other “edentates,” Le Gros Clark and Sonntag stated clearly that “Orycteropus is quite unrelated to living Pholidota and Xenarthra” (1926:478). Based on the “anatomy of the unguiculate extremities, the axis, sacral vertebrae, carpus, tarsus, tongue, muscles and some features in the placenta . . . [aardvarks] should be placed beside the Hyracoidea and Proboscidea” (1926:483). This conclusion differed considerably from those given in other treatments of Orycteropus during most of the 20th century (e.g., Broom, 1909; Gregory, 1910; Winge, 1941; Patterson, 1975; Thewissen, 1985). Only after the widespread application of molecular data to mammalian systematics (e.g., DeJong et al., 1981, 1993; Porter et al., 1996; Stanhope et al., 1998; Murphy et al., 2001a, 2001b) did a plurality of zoologists accept an expanded, “African” version of Le Gros Clark and Sonntag’s evolutionary proposal regarding the aardvark. To varying degrees, a similar history can be traced for two other groups of African mammals: sengis (elephant shrews) and golden moles. For both taxa, much disagreement and uncertainty characterized discussions of their interordinal relations throughout the 20th century; see, for example, Carlsson (1909), Evans (1942), Patterson (1965), and Sarich (1993) on sengis; Broom (1916), Butler (1988), and MacPhee and Novacek (1993) on golden moles; and Roux (1947) on both. While not all applications of molecular data have uniformly supported the African clade (cf. Sarich 1993; Corneli 2002), consensus regarding their membership in an “African clade” has in fact now been reached (cf. Springer et al. 2004; Wildman et al. 2007). Africa is home to a number of diverse, endemic radiations besides Afrotheria, including cetartiodactyls (e.g., bovids, hippopotamids, giraffids), primates (e.g., lorisiform strepsirrhines,

catarrhine anthropoids), rodents (e.g., bathyergids, thryonomyids, anomalurids, pedetids), and carnivorans (e.g., euplerines). However, these groups do not share a common ancestry with one another to the exclusion of other mammals. Those African mammals that do share a unique bond of common descent, recently called the Afrotheria (Stanhope et al., 1998), form the focus of this chapter. This group consists of seven living radiations, all but two of which have been for many years accorded their own Linnean orders (Nowak, 1999): aardvarks (Tubulidentata), sengis (Macroscelidea), elephants (Proboscidea), hyraxes (Hyracoidea), sea cows (Sirenia), golden moles (Chrysochloridae), and tenrecs (Tenrecidae). In the following text, we explore the systematics and fossil history of those endemic African mammals that share a unique bond of phylogenetic history, fully appreciated only during the last 10 years, and that comprise one of the most novel hypotheses of animal classification since 1758.

Content and Distribution EXTANT AFROTHERIA

Among the living members of the seven extant afrotherian clades, three are completely restricted to Africa (sengis, golden moles, and aardvarks), and two (hyraxes and tenrecs) have a distribution extending only slightly beyond the African mainland. Elephants and sea cows are widely distributed outside mainland Africa. Living aardvarks, golden moles and tenrecs are unknown north of the Sahel, although aardvarks may have existed in ancient Egypt (Kingdon, 1974). Despite the relative abundance of Chryoschloris asiatica in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, and of Amblysomus hottentotus in Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and Kwazulu-Natal provinces, the remaining estimated 16 species of golden moles have extremely limited and discontinuous ranges throughout sub-Saharan Africa (Meester et al., 1986; Bronner, 1995; Asher, this volume, chapter 9). Only two of these species, Chrysochloris stuhlmanni and Calcochloris leucorhinus, are known from the African tropics; the remainder are distributed primarily in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, and adjacent, subtropical countries. An isolated record from an owl pellet is known as far north as Somalia (Simonetta, 1968).

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Tenrecs comprise the most morphologically diverse living afrotherian radiation due to the geographic isolation afforded to the eight tenrecid genera (and about 30 species) on the island of Madagascar. Within Madagascar, most taxa can be found in forest habitats along the east coast and in the central and northern highlands (Eisenberg and Gould, 1970; Goodman, 2003). Two species, the diminutive, shrewlike Geogale aurita (Stephenson, 2003) and the semiarboreal Echinops telfairi, are best known in the relatively arid regions of the Malagasy west and southwest. The mainland African Tenrecidae consists of three species in two genera (Micropotamogale and Potamogale) that occupy the very specialized niche of semiaquatic carnivory (Vogel, 1983; Nicoll, 1985). Both have been reported from discontinuous localities in western and central Africa, including the Ivory Coast and Democratic Republic of Congo. Potamogale appears to have at least some populations farther east, near the Ugandan-Kenyan border. It may also be the only mammal, large or small, that shows a teleost-like style of locomotion, propelling itself through the water with lateral undulations of its tail (Kingdon, 1974). Sengis are most diverse south of the Sahel, but “Elephantulus” rozeti (actually more closely related to Petrodromus than to other Elephantulus species) is present in the northwest, occupying much of Morocco, northern Algeria, and Tunisia (Douady et al., 2003). The remaining 3 genera and 14 species are subsaharan, with a few species of Elephantulus extending into southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and northern Somalia (Nowak, 1999). Hyraxes are known throughout the African continent and Procavia extends into the Arabian Peninsula and Asia Minor. Following Nowak (1999), they consist of seven species in three genera: Procavia, Heterohyrax, and Dendrohyrax. Heterohyrax extends as far north as Algeria and Egypt; Dendrohyrax is sub-Saharan. Elephants have historically occupied all but the most extreme habitats. The two extant genera, Loxodonta and Elephas, are traditionally accorded a single species each: africana and maximus, respectively. The former has, until recent times, been widely distributed throughout Africa, from the Mediterranean to South Africa. Presently, the range of the African elephant is much smaller due to human activity and includes Central and West African forests and more arid savannas and grasslands from Ethiopia to Namibia and northern South Africa. Loxodonta encompasses both forestand savanna-adapted forms. Recently, Grubb et al. (2000), Roca et al. (2001), and Shoshani (2005) have recognized the forest elephant L. cyclotis as a full species, although controversy on this point persists (Sanders et al., this volume, chapter 15; Debruyne, 2005). Elephas has had historical records throughout Asia but is now restricted to India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and the islands of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, and Borneo (Nowak, 1999). Sea cows also have an extensive distribution outside of Africa and comprise four species in two extant genera (Trichechus and Dugong). Trichechus manatus is found in the Atlantic coastal regions of North and South America including the Caribbean; T. inguinus is known throughout the Amazon River basin. The remaining two species are known from riverine and coastal regions of West-Central Africa, the Indian Ocean and Oceania: T. senegalensis in the Congo River basin and Dugong dugon off the coasts of Africa, Madagascar, India, Taiwan, and Australia. A third genus and species (Hydrodamalis gigas) appears to

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have existed into the 18th century in the northern Pacific (Nowak, 1999). EXTINCT AFROTHERIA

Each of the seven extant lineages of afrotherians has a fossil record (figures 46.1, 46.2), though these records vary tremendously in quality. For more extensive discussion, see the respective chapters in this volume.

Paenungulates By far the most geographically and taxonomically diverse fossil record is that of the Proboscidea, dating from the early Eocene and including nearly 50 genera from all continents except Australia and Antarctica (McKenna and Bell, 1997; Shoshani and Tassy, 2005). The Ouled Abdoun locality in Morocco, which was originally reported to have produced proboscidean fossils from the Paleocene (Gheerbrant et al., 1996), is now considered to be early Eocene in age (Gheerbrant et al., 2001). Both of the other paenungulate clades (sirenians and hyracoids) also show a fossil record exceeding the geographic and taxonomic diversity of their living representatives (table 46.1). Fossil hyracoids are more geographically restricted than extinct proboscideans and sirenians, but later Neogene forms are nevertheless known outside of Africa in southern Europe, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and East Asia. In the past, they were also much more morphologically diverse. Their fossil record during the late Eocene–early Oligocene in northern Egypt alone includes cursorial taxa such as the springbok-like Antilohyrax, which resembles the extant bovid Antidorcas in (for example) its cranial shape, edentulous premaxilla, and cursorial hindlimb (Rasmussen and Simons, 2000). Also present was the massive Titanohyrax ultimus (Matsumoto, 1926), which rivaled the Sumatran rhinoceros in size, possibly exceeding 1,000 kg in body mass (Schwartz et al., 1995). There are a number of condylarth-grade fossils that may nest within crown Afrotheria (Asher et al. 2003; Zack et al. 2005a; Tabuce et al. 2007). As has been noted in recent discussions of macroscelidean phylogeny (discussed later), some (i.e., Phenacodus, Meniscotherium, and Hyopsodus) have first appearances that predate any definitive record of fossil Afrotheria (figure 46.2) and raise the interesting possibility that this clade may not in fact be historically African. However, other data sets place these “condylarths” among northern ungulate radiations (e.g., Wible et al., 2007); and broadly speaking, a northern condylarth-afrotherian relationship must remain speculative until more is known about the continental African Cretaceous and Paleocene (see Robinson and Seiffert, 2004), including, for example, the affinities of Paleocene palaeoryctids and Todralestes from Morocco (Gheerbrant, 1991, 1992; Seiffert, 2007) and potential afrotherian relatives such as endemic South American litopterns and notoungulates. The latter groups are both known from the Paleocene and have yet to be examined in a modern cladistic framework that also includes the molecular data responsible for defining Afrotheria. Although missing for the fossils, molecular data shape major components of the mammalian tree and may indirectly influence the placement of these and/or other fossil taxa (Asher et al., 2005). Furthermore, extinct South American taxa are particularly important as they have implications for the hypothesis of placental mammal biogeography proposed by Murphy et al. (2001b).


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ta b l e 4 6 .1 Summary of the fossil record for each living afrotherian radiation Only undisputed crown-group fossils and/or immediate sister taxa are included. Based on Seiffert et al. (2007), the record of tenrecids and chrysochlorids may include two and one additional genera (respectively) from the Eocene-Oligocene boundary of Egypt.

Number of Extinct Genera

Clade

Age Range

Proboscidea Sirenia Hyracoidea

48 32 18

Eocene–Pleistocene Eocene–Pleistocene Eocene–Pleistocene

Macroscelidea Tubulidentata Tenrecidae Chrysochloridae

9 2 3 2

Eocene–Pleistocene Miocene–Pleistocene Miocene Miocene

SOURCES:

Distribution Global Global Africa, Southwest and South Asia, Mediterranean islands Africa Africa, Southern Europe, South Asia Africa Africa

McKenna and Bell (1997), the Paleobiology Database (http://paleodb.org), and references given in the text.

Horovitz (2004) has made a good start to understanding the phylogeny of endemic South American ungulates by providing a large morphological matrix sampling several of these taxa, such as the early Eocene toxodont Thomashuxleya. Her study, which sampled morphological characters of the postcranium, did not support a sister group relation between “condylarths,” and the two included paenungulates (Numidotherium and Procavia); but she did recover a clade with Phenacodus, Meniscotherium and Hyopsodus comprising successively distant sister taxa to notoungulates and litopterns. Requirements for further testing of this result include, for example, additional extant afrotherians and expansion of the data set to include DNA sequences (for living taxa) and craniodental characters. Importantly, a hyopsodontid origin for litopterns and other South American taxa, such as kollpaniines and didolodontids, has already been suggested by phylogenetic analysis of dental characters (Muizon and Cifelli, 2000).

Tenrecs and Golden Moles A clade consisting of tenrecs (Tenrecidae) and golden moles (Chrysochloridae) was referred to as the “Afrosoricida” by Stanhope et al. (1998). This name, and not the arguably more suitable nomen “Tenrecoidea,” has recently been used by Bronner and Jenkins (2005) in the third edition of Mammal Species of the World (Wilson and Reeder, 2005). In addition, some authors (Salton and Szalay, 2004; Seiffert et al., 2007) use the term “Tenrecoidea” to refer to mainland African otter shrews and Malagasy tenrecs, with both groups taxonomically elevated to family-level nomina: Potamogalidae and Tenrecidae. Debate on intra-afrotherian nomenclature has been detailed elsewhere (Malia et al., 2002; Bronner et al., 2003; Douady et al., 2004; Bronner and Jenkins, 2005; Asher, 2005). We will not repeat this discussion here beyond noting that, as used by McDowell (1958), “Tenrecoidea” indicates a clade consisting of the Recent families Tenrecidae and Chrysochloridae and is synonymous with “Afrosoricida” as used by Bronner and Jenkins (2005) or “African insectivorans” as an informal designation. In contrast to the taxonomic and geographic diversity of fossil paenungulates, extinct tenrecs and golden moles have

for many years been known from just a handful of fragmentary specimens from Miocene to Pleistocene localities in Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa (cf. Butler, 1984; Avery, 2001; Mein and Pickford, 2003). Most recently, Seiffert et al. (2007) assigned several specimens from the Eo-Oligocene of Egypt to new taxa in both families. To the extent that their adaptive diversity can be understood from isolated craniodental material, none of these fossils indicates a departure from the niches occupied by their modern, insectivorangrade relatives. Through 2007, there were three genera and four named species of fossil tenrecs: Protenrec butleri, P. tricuspis, Erythrozootes chamerpes, and Parageogale aletris (table 46.1; Butler, 1984; Mein and Pickford, 2003; Asher and Hofreiter, 2006). The latter three are restricted to the early Miocene of Kenya (Butler, 1984). The oldest tenrec fossils have been identified by Seiffert et al. (2007), who placed the North African EoOligocene fossils Widanelfarasia and Jawharia closer to living tenrecs than to any other mammal. Fragmentary dental remains of Protenrec butleri, as well as a golden mole (Prochrysochloris cf. miocaenicus), have been recovered from the Miocene of Namibia (Mein and Pickford, 2003). Poduschka and Poduschka (1985) proposed the generic name “Butleriella” for Parageogale aletris, a nomen rendered synonymous by Butler (1984). In addition, Poduschka and Poduschka (1985) disputed Butler’s interpretation that Parageogale was a tenrecid, but they did not offer a taxonomic alternative. Furthermore, they did not add to the material described by Butler (1984), and the recent phylogenetic analysis of Asher and Hofreiter (2006) supports the original interpretation of Butler and Hopwood (1957) and Butler (1984, 1985) that Parageogale is in fact a tenrecid, closely related to the living genus Geogale. An anterior jaw fragment that had been called a “giant” fossil tenrec (Ndamathaia kubwa) by Jacobs et al. (1987) was regarded as a junior synonym of Kelba quadeemae by Morales et al. (2000), considered by the latter authors to be a viverrid carnivoran. More recently, Cote et al. (2007) suggested Kelba may belong to the enigmatic group Ptolemaiida, possibly also part of the afrotherian radiation. On this interpretation, Ndamathaia is unlikely to have anything to do with viverrid carnivorans or with Kelba.

FORT Y-SIX: SYSTEMATICS OF ENDEMIC AFRICAN MAMMALS


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Trichechus

Loxodonta

Arsinoitherium Protosiren Prorastomus

Barytherium Moeritherium

Thyrohyrax* Saghatherium* Selenohyrax Thyrohyrax litholagus*

Phiomia

Numidotherium Daouitherium Phosphatherium

Todralestes

*1

Seggeurius Microhyrax

Chambius

Herodotius

Metoldobotes

Widanelfarasia

*1

Paleocene

Eocene

Oligocene

*4

Antilohyrax Titanohyrax Pachyhyrax Bunohyrax* Geniohyus Megalohyrax

Afrohyrax

Myorycteropus

Procavia

Orycteropus

Petrodromus Elephantulus Macroscelides

Rhynchocyon Parageogale

Protenrec Erythrozootes

Geogale

Potamogalinae Tenrecinae Oryzorictinae*

Proamblysomus

other Chrysochloridae Prochrysochloris

Plio-Pleistocene Miocene

*3

*2

Cretaceous

*1 Record non-African Record both African and non-African Record African *2 Afrotherian phylogeny adapted from Seiffert (2003: figure 3.8), summarizing afrotherian stratigraphic range and geographic distribution. Placement of fossil tenrecs is based on Asher and Hofreiter (2006); that of fossil golden moles on McKenna and Bell (1997).

FIGURE 46.1

Asterisk, paraphyletic taxon; *1, divergence dates for crown tenrecids and tenrec ⫹ golden mole based on Poux et al. (2005). Note that following Seiffert et al. (2007), Widanelfarasia and Jawharia from the Eo-Oligocene boundary of Egypt are stem tenrecs and Eochrysochloris is a stem golden mole. *2, divergence dates for Paenungulata and Afrotheria from Springer et al. (2003); *3, not included are remains of Archaeorycteropus and Palaeorycteropus from Quercy, France, noted as questionable Oligocene tubulidentates by McKenna and Bell (1997); *4, depicted as dotted line to indicate uncertain result in phylogeny of Asher and Hofreiter (2006).

ABBREVIATIONS

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Tenrecidae

Chrysochloridae

Tubulidentatta

Macroscelididae

Hyracoidea Arsinoirtheriidae

Desmostylia

*8

Apheliscus*9

*10

Haplomylus*9 *6

*5

*2

Cretaceous

Paleocene

Sirenia

Procavia

Trichechus

Phenacolophidae

*1

*3

Hyopsodus Meniscotherium Phenacodus

*7

Moeritherium Arsinoitherium

*1

Paleoparadoxia

Loxodonta

Geogale*4

Protenrec Erythrozootes

Parageogale*4

Potamogalinae Malagasy Tenrecidae*

Proamblysomus

Amblysomus Prochrysochloris

Elephantulus Macroscelides Plesiorycteropus Orycteropus

Plio-Pleisticene Miocene

Leptictis

*4

Eocene

Oligocene

*3

Proboscidea

B

A

Record non-African Record both African and non-African *2

Record African

FIGURE 46.2 Afrotherian biostratigraphic distribution adapted from (A) Asher et al. (2003: figure 5) and (B) McKenna and Bell (1997), with additions as noted.

As in fi gure 46.1 plus *5, fossil hyracoids represented here by early Eocene Seggeurius from Morocco; *6, fossil proboscideans represented here by early Eocene numidotheriids from Morocco and anthracobunids from Pakistan; *7, fossil macroscelidids represented by Metoldobotes. Note that Eocene Chambius and Herodotius are not consistently recovered as macroscelidid relatives by Seiffert (2007). Also, *8, McKenna and Bell (1997) support inclusion of late Eocene Herodotius in Macroscelididae; *9, Haplomylus and Apheliscus association with macroscelidids based on Zack et al. (2005a) but questioned by Seiffert (2007); *10, mid-Eocene palaeoamasiine arsinoitheres from Turkey. Note also that following Seiffert et al. (2007) the Eo-Oligocene Fayum mammals Widanelfarasia and Jawharia comprise stem tenrecs, and Eochrysochloris is a stem golden mole. ABBREVIATIONS



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Extinct species of golden moles include five taxa: Prochrysochloris miocaenicus (Butler, 1984), Proamblysomus antiquus, Chlorotalpa spelea (Broom, 1941, 1948), Amblysomus (“Chrysotricha”) hamiltoni (DeGraaff, 1957), and the recently named Eochrysochloris tribosphenus from the early Oligocene of northern Egypt, which comprises the oldest published record of the group (Seiffert et al., 2007). Proamblysomus, C. spelea, and A. hamiltoni are known from South African Plio-Pleistocene cave deposits at Sterkfontein and Makapansgat; Prochrysochloris is from the Miocene of Kenya and possibly Namibia (Mein and Pickford, 2003). Numerous, isolated remains of fossil Chrysochloris sp. have been recovered from the Miocene/Pliocene of Langebaanweg in Western Cape Province, South Africa (Avery, 2000). Furthermore, at least some extant golden mole species have a fossil record dating from the late Pliocene in South Africa (Pocock, 1987; Avery, 1998, 2001). Avery (2001) reports, for example, remains of Amblysomus julianae throughout all recorded Members of Sterkfontein and Swartkrans except one (Sterkfontein Member 4), indicating that this species has been present at least from ca. 2.6 to 0.1 Ma. Avery also notes the presence of Chlorotalpa sclateri from Sterkfontein Member 5E-O (2–1.7 Ma) and Chrysospalax villosus from Swartkrans Member SKX1, SKX2, and SKX3, spanning 1.7–1 Ma. Golden mole fossils are not common but are often found in faunal lists in Pleistocene localities throughout South Africa (e.g., Klein, 1977; Pickford and Senut, 1997). Other references to fossil tenrecs and/or golden moles in Cretaceous through Miocene deposits of North America and Asia can be found sporadically in the literature. Trofimov (in Beliajeva et al., 1974:20), for example, referred the early Cretaceous eutherian Prokennalestes to the Tenrecidae. In fact, Prokennalestes is not a tenrecid but an endemic central Asian eutherian outside of the crown placental radiation (Wible et al., 2001, 2007). Hough (1956) referred to specimens of several insectivoran-grade genera (e.g., Oligoryctes and Apternodus) from North America as part of the “Oligocene Tenrecoidea”. The phylogenetic analysis of Asher et al. (2002) indicates that these taxa, best known from the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in Wyoming and Montana, are more closely related to modern soricids. Matthew (1906) made reference to “fossil Chrysochloridae in North America” based on isolated humeri (see also Turnbull and Reed, 1967) and some cranial material of Epoicotherium ( “Xenotherium” Douglass), a taxon now regarded as a member of the extinct, fossorial Palaeanodonta and that appears to be related to extant pangolins (Rose and Emry, 1983). The fauna and flora of Madagascar was even more extraordinary 1,000 years ago than it is today (Burney, 2003), yet specimens of “subfossil” tenrecs there are rare. Unlike other elements of the recently extinct Malagasy fauna (e.g., primates), they do not appear to be generically distinct from any modern tenrecid. To our knowledge, subfossil tenrecs are rarely encountered in museum collections and remain almost entirely undocumented in the literature (Goodman 2003; but see Muldoon, 2006). In sum, the recent publication of the Eo-Oligocene tenrecs and golden moles from the Fayum (Seiffert et al., 2007) comprises the oldest, published record of the group, followed by the occurrence of undisputed craniodental material of both groups in the early Miocene of Kenya (Butler, 1984). As pointed out by Seiffert and Simons (2000) and Seiffert et al. (2007), older insectivoran-grade material from other North African localities (e.g., Gheerbrant, 1992) may comprise tenrecoid relatives at some level. Importantly, afrotherian insectiv-

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orans from Egypt do not share the fully zalambdodont molar occlusal pattern (loss of upper molar metacones, extreme reduction of lower molar talonids) that is seen in modern tenrecs and golden moles (discussed later). Zalambdodonty does not appear in the African fossil record until the early Miocene, implying either an extensive ghost lineage for tenrecs and golden moles that may extend back as far as the K-T boundary (figure 46.1), or convergent evolution of zalambdodonty in tenrecs and golden moles (a hypothesis favored by Seiffert, this volume, chapter 16). More evidence from the nonmolar dentition, cranium, and postcranium of Paleogene genera such as Widanelfarasia, Todralestes, and Chambilestes will be needed to test the latter hypothesis. In the meantime, bona fide fossil tenrecs and golden moles do exist by the early Miocene, but they remain very limited in their taxonomic and geographic diversity.

Tubulidentates Two species of Orycteropus have been recorded from the middle/late Miocene Siwaliks of Pakistan: O. pilgrimi and O. browni (Moonen et al., 1978). Additional late Miocene remains of O. gaudryi are known from Turkey, Italy, Moldavia, and Iran (Kazanci, 1999; Lehmann, 2006) and the Mediterranean island of Samos (Lehmann, 1984). There are approximately nine other species of extinct Orycteropus, primarily in Africa (Avery, 2000; Lehmann, 2006). Two other genera of fossil aardvarks, both monotypic, are known from the early and late Miocene of Kenya (respectively): Myorycteropus and Leptorycteropus (Lehmann, 2006). Patterson (1975) listed the Malagasy subfossil Plesiorycteropus as a fourth genus of fossil aardvark; indeed, recent phylogenetic analyses including this taxon (e.g., Asher et al., 2003; Horovitz, 2004) have supported its position as the sister taxon to Orycteropus. However, the monographic study of MacPhee (1994) on Plesiorycteropus favored the hypothesis that it comprised an independent order, Bibymalagasia, incertae sedis relative to other placental mammals. The oldest undisputed aardvark remains appear to be from the early Miocene of Kenya (Patterson, 1975; Pickford, 1975; Lehmann, 2006), although older material has been mentioned in the literature (e.g., Pickford and Andrews, 1981), including two Oligocene fossil “aardvarks,” each of which is based on a single, isolated postcranial element from Quercy, France: Archaeorycteropus (based on a tibia; Ameghino, 1905) and Palaeorycteropus (based on a humerus; Filhol, 1894). Patterson (1975) argued that neither was a tubulidentate. Analysis of new and previously described remains of Miocene and later Paleogene ptolemaiids from Kenya and Egypt suggest the possibility of a distant relationship with Tubulidentata (Cote et al., 2007; Seiffert, 2007).

Macroscelideans Fossil sengis are found with some frequency in Miocene or younger deposits throughout southern Africa (Avery, 2000). Late Eocene Metoldobotes is now universally considered to be a primitive macroscelidean (Patterson, 1965; Simons et al., 1991; Seiffert, 2007), but Seiffert (2003, 2007) questioned the alleged macroscelidean affinities of the Eocene African herodotiines Chambius, Herodotius, and Nementchatherium (e.g., Hartenberger, 1986; Simons et al., 1991) on the basis of available dental material, which is strikingly similar to that of primitive paenungulates. Tabuce et al. (2001) had earlier


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presented a dental character matrix for these taxa as well as a variety of other extinct placentals, including genera of “hyopsodontid”-grade, and found the African genera to be sister taxa of Metoldobotes and other macroscelidids. Interestingly, the European louisinine apheliscid (sensu Zack et al., 2005b) Microhyus was also placed as a basal macroscelidean, but other Laurasian hyopsodontids and apheliscids were placed far outside the afrotherian clade. McKenna and Bell (1997) place Chambius within the Louisininae. Zack et al. (2005a) and Tabuce et al. (2007) have presented the most recent argument for a phylogenetic link between “hyopsodontids” and macroscelidids (but see Seiffert, 2007). Zack et al. (2005a) focused on postcranial similarities between the North American apheliscids Haplomylus and Apheliscus, both of which are known from the late Paleocene and early Eocene, and suggested that these “condylarths” share a common ancestry with macroscelidids to the exclusion of other afrotherians as well as ungulate-grade mammals, rodents and lagomorphs. They also highlighted the proposal that the so-called African clade may in fact not be African, as these Holarctic fossils have an older record than any undisputed afrothere (see Asher et al., 2003, and the earlier section on paenungulates). However it is important to emphasize that there are no placental mammal localities in Africa that are older than ~56 Ma, whereas the Paleocene fossil records of Asia, Europe, and particularly North America are relatively well-known. Without older records from Africa, and if apheliscids are in fact afrotherians, it will be difficult to determine whether they represent out-migrants from Africa, as has been envisioned for adapisoriculids during the later Paleocene (Gheerbrant, 1992).

The Evidence MORPHOLOGICAL SUPPORT

From an anatomical standpoint, characters that support Afrotheria in its entirety are rare, but several possibilities have recently been discussed (cf. Werdelin and Nilsonne, 1999; Asher, 2001; Mess and Carter, 2006; Seiffert, 2007; Sánchez-Villagra et al., 2007; Tabuce et al., 2007; Asher and Lehmann, 2008). Among morphologically based phylogenetic investigations of endemic African taxa, four character complexes are particularly notable: testicondy (Werdelin and Nilsonne, 1999), placentation (Mess and Carter, 2006), vertebral formula (Sánchez-Villagra et al., 2007), and dental eruption (Asher and Lehmann, 2008). One soft-tissue complex (the vomeronasal organ) deserves further investigation; and finally there are a number of potential osteological synapomorphies for Afrotheria (Seiffert, 2007; Tabuce et al., 2007).

Soft-Tissue Characters Werdelin and Nilsonne (1999) were among the first to recognize the significance of the testicular descent character complex in the context of an explicit hypothesis of placental mammal phylogeny. Although the most recent consensus on the interrelationships of Placentalia (cf. Wildman et al., 2007) differs in several respects from the phylogeny figured in Werdelin and Nilsonne (1999: figures 2 and 3), their conclusion in terms of character support for Afrotheria remains timely. They noted variation in the position of the

male gonads and categorized this variation into three states: (1) “testicond” (i.e., testicles located intra-abdominally at or near the kidneys, (2) testicles descended but ascrotal, and (3) testicles descended and scrotal. Hyraxes, sea cows, elephants, sengis, and at least some tenrecs and golden moles are testicond (Werdelin and Nilsonne, 1999: figure 1). They also acknowledged variation: as pointed out by Sonntag (1925) and Whidden (2002), the aardvark does not have a scrotum but possesses “testes that protrude through the ventral abdominal wall” (Whidden, 2002:162). Whidden (2002) further noted the observations of Dobson (1883:86e, 125), which distinguished the testicond condition of the Malagasy hedgehog-tenrec Setifer setosus and the South African golden mole Chrysospalax trevelyani with the descended but intrapelvic position of the testes in another tenrecid, Microgale dobsoni. The extent to which golden moles show variation remains undocumented. Nevertheless, among all extant placental mammals, “true testicondy” with testicles and kidneys adjacent to one another occurs only among members of Afrotheria and remains an intriguing, likely morphological synapomorphy for the group. Carter et al. (2006) and Mess and Carter (2006) have noted that extant afrotherian groups share several anatomical details regarding nutrition to the developing embryo. Specifically, they hypothesized that the placenta of the afrotherian common ancestor exhibited a large allantoic sac, a free, uninverted yolk sac, branching of allantoic vessels above the placental disk, and, perhaps of most interest, a partitioning of the allantois into four lobes by septa that carry umbilical blood vessels. According to these authors, the fourfold partitioning of the allantois would have most distinguished the afrotherian common ancestor from other placental mammals. Some diversity within Afrotheria does exist; for example, Mess and Carter (2006: figure 4A) note that Echinops and Eremitalpa show an undivided allantoic vesicle, not the four sacs present in other afrotherians. Nevertheless, Echinops still retains division of umbilical cord blood vessels (Mess and Carter, 2006:157); and furthermore, the fourfold division of the allantois still optimizes unambiguously as an afrotherian synapomorphy on virtually all recently proposed intraafrotherian phylogenies. Asher (2001) noted that Chrysochloris, Procavia, Orycteropus, Setifer, and potamogalines (but not Echinops, Geogale, Tenrec, or Elephantulus) possess a vomeronasal organ exhibiting a diffuse pattern of vascularization, without a single, large vessel traversing the organ anteroposteriorly (figure 46.3). However, because most afrotherian taxa are represented by only few or even single histological preparations (cf. table 2 of Asher, 2001), which to date represent the only means by which to code this character, it is not yet possible to rule out intraspecific variability in the distribution of the “diffuse” character state. Furthermore, the state identified in most afrotherian taxa is also evident in certain carnivorans, soricids, and Solenodon. In spite of this homoplasy, vomeronasal organ vasculature pattern (figure 46.3) was identified as the only unambiguously optimized afrotherian synapomorphy in the largest morphological data set yet assembled to investigate afrotherian systematics (Seiffert, 2007). A number of other morphological changes regarding the dentition, petrosal, tarsal, and carpal anatomy and testicondy can also be reconstructed as afrotherian synapomorphies in Seiffert’s (2007) study, but they are more dependent on how assumptions of character coding



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Coronal sections through the anterior nasal capsule of (A) Echinops telfairi (ZIUT collection, slice 12.3.2) and (B) Micropotamogale lamottei (UG 2273/3, slice 13.1.8) contrasting the large, anteriorposteriorly running blood vessel just lateral to the vomeronasal organ in Echinops with a more diffuse pattern, lacking a single, large anteroposteriorly directed blood vessel in Micropotamogale.

FIGURE 46.3

and optimization technique affect topology (tables 4.1, 4.2 in Seiffert, 2007). It is also worth noting resemblances between the stridulating organ of Hemicentetes and juvenile Tenrec (Eisenberg and Gould, 1970) with the skin and hairs surrounding the dorsal gland in hyracoids (Fischer, 1992). Investigation into the morphology and development of the dorsal integument throughout afrotherians may comprise a productive avenue by which the group may be better characterized morphologically.

Skeletal and Dental Characters Seiffert (2003, 2007) and Robinson and Seiffert (2004) have highlighted the importance of resolving intra-afrotherian relationships for reconstructing character evolution at its base. Assuming, for example, that Murphy et al. (2001b) have correctly resolved the interrelationships of extant afrotherians, with the “Afroinsectiphillia” (i.e., tenrecs, golden moles, sengis, and aardvarks) comprising the sister group of paenungulates with elephant basal to hyrax-sea cow, several additional morphological characters (as coded by Seiffert, 2007) optimize unambiguously at the afrotherian base (table 46.2). These include a p4 talonid and trigonid of similar breadth, a prominent p4 hypoconid, presence of a P4 metacone, absence of parastyles on M1–2 and presence of a naviculocalcaneal facet. Two additional osteological characters used in the analyses of Asher et al. (2003, 2005) may be optimized as afrotherian synapomorphies: a carotid arterial sulcus on the petrosal and a fenestrated distal humerus. However, none of these characters is without homoplasy (table 46.2), and they result from a different intra-afrotherian phylogeny (figure 46.4) than those figured by Seiffert (2007) and Murphy et al. (2001b). Of particular note among the possible but ambiguously optimized, afrotherian synapomorphies is proximal fusion of

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the tibia and fibula, which is otherwise rare in placentals but present in hyracoids, aardvarks, sengis, golden moles, and potamogaline tenrecs, and the cuplike cotylar fossa of the astragalus, which is present in proboscideans, hyracoids, aardvarks, and sengis. Although Zack et al. (2005a) argued that a cotylar fossa is present in Haplomylus, this genus appears to bear only a very slight concavity of the medial aspect of the trochlea similar to that seen in numerous other nonafrotherians; the fossa observable in other louisinines, such as Apheliscus, Paschatherium (Godinot et al., 1996), and Microhyus (Tabuce et al., 2006) is somewhat more cuplike than that of Haplomylus but still does not approach the condition observable in the aforementioned afrotherians. Interestingly, Haplomylus also lacks proximal tibio-fibular fusion. Sánchez-Villagra et al. (2007) have identified thoracolumbar vertebral count as a potential afrotherian synapomorphy. Remarkably, marsupial mammals apparently do not deviate from the single value of 19 thoracolumbar vertebrae. This number is a bit more variable among placental mammals, but with a few exceptions these, too, do not exceed 19. Most of these exceptions are found among afrotherians: Sánchez-Villagra et al. (2007) report at least 23 thoracolumbar vertebrae in elephants, 28–31 in hyraxes, 24 in the fossil sirenian Pezosiren, 21 in aardvarks, 21–24 in tenrecids, 22–24 in golden moles, and 20 in sengis. Carnivorans and erinaceids overlap the value of 20 present in sengis, but beyond Afrotheria, only certain primates, perissodactyls, and the bradypodid Choloepus exceed 21 or 22 thoracolumbar vertebrae. Seiffert (2007) also found an increased number of lumbar vertebrae (7 as opposed to 6 or fewer) to be a potential (ambiguously optimized) afrotherian synapomorphy. The delayed eruption of the permanent dentition in elephants, hyraxes, and some sea cows is well documented;


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ta b l e 4 6 . 2 Potential morphological synapomorphies for Afrotheria

Publication Werdelin and Nilsonne, 1999 Asher, 2001: character #18

Character

Homoplasy

Testicondy (abdominal testicles, lack of scrotum) Diffuse vascularization of vomeronasal organ

Descended but ascrotal in Orycteropus and some tenrecids (e.g., Microgale) Also present in several non afrotherians (e.g., Canis, Crocidura, Solenodon); central blood vessel in Echinops, Geogale, Microgale (Tenrecidae), and Elephantulus Elephantulus, paenungulates, Phenacodus, Meniscotherium, numerous nonafrotherians Tethytheres including desmostylians, tenrecoids, numerous nonafrotherians Tenrecs, golden moles, Orycteropus, primitive hyracoids, numerous non afrotherians Tenrecs, golden moles, Orycteropus, numerous nonafrotherians Tenrecs, golden moles, Orycteropus, numerous nonafrotherians Tenrecs, golden moles, numerous nonafrotherians Potamogalines, procaviid hyracoids Single lobe in Echinops and Eremitalpa; not completely documented in all species of golden moles, tenrecs, sengis, and Asian elephants Sengis and some golden moles show 20, overlapping with carnivorans and erinaceids. Some primates, perissodactyls, and xenarthrans also exceed 21 thoracolumbar vertebrae. Absent in tenrecs and golden moles; present in some cercopithecoid primates, creodonts, and endemic South American “ungulates” Some delay in eruption among terrestrial cetartiodactyls, perissodactyls, and anthropoid primates

Asher et al., 2003: character #11

Carotid sulcus on petrosal

Asher et al., 2003: character #138

Fenestrated olecranon fossa of the humerus p4 talonid-trigonid similar in width

Seiffert, 2007 Seiffert, 2007

Seiffert, 2007 Seiffert, 2007 Carter et al., 2006 and Mess and Carter, 2006

p4 hypoconid present, >50% height of protoconid P4 metacone present, not well differentiated from paracone M1–2 parastyles absent Naviculocalcaneal articulation Four-lobed allantois, divided by septa carrying umbilical vessels

Sánchez-Villagra et al., 2007

>21 thoracolumbar vertebrae

Tabuce et al., 2007

Concave cotylar facet on astragalus

Asher and Lehmann, 2008

Complete eruption of permanent cheek teeth well after sexual maturity and attainment of adult body size

Seiffert, 2007

these taxa may spend well over half of their life span without a completely erupted adult dentition (see Asher and Lehmann 2008). Reports of aberrant eruption patterns in small afrotherians are also known in the literature (Leche, 1907; MacPhee, 1987). However, the notion that delayed eruption of the permanent dentition comprises an afrotherian synapomorphy has only recently been made explicit (Asher and Lehmann, 2008). With the exception of dugongs and aardvarks, afrotherians tend to reach adult body size well in advance of the complete eruption of all permanent cheek teeth. While intriguing, this hypothesis requires further scrutiny of ontogenetic data from small afrotherians as well as an examination of the extent to which fossil clades (e.g., desmostylians, basal proboscideans) also exhibit delayed eruption of the permanent dentition. In sum, although morphological phylogenies have not yet on their own recognized Afrotheria, there are several characters that, when mapped onto molecular phylogenies of placental mammals, can be viewed as morphological synapomorphies for the group (table 46.2). MOLECULAR SUPPORT

As previously noted, support from molecular studies for the inclusion of African insectivorans in Afrotheria has been

strong since 1996. Immunodiffusion and protein sequence studies of previous decades (e.g., DeJong et al., 1981, 1993; Rainey et al.; 1984; Kleinschmidt et al., 1986) supported a pared-down “African clade” including elephants, sea cows, hyraxes, sengis, and/or aardvarks; but no publication at that time argued that African insectivorans were also part of such a group. Inclusion of tenrecs and/or golden moles in molecular analyses began with comparisons of alpha and beta hemoglobin chains (Piccinini et al., 1991) and 12S rRNA sequences (Allard and Miyamoto, 1992; Douzery and Catzeflis, 1995). However, these studies still did not foreshadow the Afrotheria due primarily to limited taxon sampling. The analysis by Lavergne et al. (1996) of 12S rRNA sequences recovered a golden mole–paenungulate clade with moderate support; however, they sampled only two other insectivoran-grade taxa: one of which (Blarina) was unresolved, and the other (Atelerix) was recovered with low support adjacent to murids at the base of Placentalia. Perhaps because of this, Lavergne et al. (1996) did not elaborate upon the golden mole–paeunungulate clade in the text of their paper. The first molecular investigations broadly sampling ungulate- and insectivoran-grade taxa to test competing hypotheses of Afrotheria versus Insectivora (Springer et al., 1997;



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FIGURE 46.4 Recent phylogenetic hypotheses for internal relationships of Afrotheria based on the following: A) mtRNA, vWF, and A2AB (Stanhope et al., 1998); B) 19 nuclear genes and mtRNA ( Murphy et al., 2001b); C) mtRNA, ND6, GHR, g-fibrinogin, RAG1 (Waddell and Shelley, 2003: fi gure 10); D) protein-coding mtDNA (Nikaido et al., 2003); E) retroposons (Nishihara et al., 2005; who favored Tethytheria in their text but recovered a SINE insertion supporting hyrax sirenian); F) 20 nuclear genes and mtRNA (Amrine-Madsen et al., 2003); G) 19 nuclear genes, mtRNA, and 196 morphological characters (Asher et al. 2003: fi gure 5A); H) 378 morphological characters (Seiffert, 2003: fi gure 3.8), with afrotherian monophyly constrained. Image of hyrax (A–G) or tenrec (H) at base of each tree indicates reconstruction of “ungulate-like” or “insectivoran-like” anatomy of afrotherian common ancestor, respectively.

Stanhope et al., 1998) included approximately 2,200 nucleotides of the mitochondrial 12S and 16S ribosomal RNA genes and valine, a short transfer RNA (ca. 70 bases), in addition to slightly over 1 KB each of two nuclear genes: von Willebrand Factor (vWF) and alpha-2B adrenergic receptor (A2AB). For most of the 1990s, the genes with the best mammalian taxonomic representation were 12S and 16S rRNA, for which Stanhope et al. (1998) had just over 40 representatives, including seven afrotherians. By 2001, the sequence diversity of mammals was much better understood: the sample in

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the landmark study of Murphy et al. (2001b) was over four times larger than that of Stanhope et al. (1998) and included approximately 20 KB from a similar set of 42 mammals, primarily from the nuclear genome. The mitogenomic studies of Mouchaty et al. (2000), Arnason et al. (2002), Murata et al. (2003), and Nikaido et al. (2003a) did not overlap at all with the data from Stanhope et al. (1998) or Murphy et al. (2001b), yet strongly supported their conclusions regarding afrotherian monophyly (but see Corneli, 2002). Nikaido et al. (2003a) included ca. 10 KB of mitochondrial, proteincoding genes for 69 mammals, including representatives of 7 distinct afrotherian genera. Waddell and Shelley (2003) analyzed sequences for ca. 90 mammalian taxa, of which 11 afrotherians were variably represented by sequences for the nuclear genes RAG1, gamma-fibrinogin, c-MYC, GHR, and epsilon-globin, plus mitochondrial sequences from ND-6, 12S and 16S rRNA. Many of the studies listed in table 46.3 represent multiple applications of a single molecular data set to mammal phylogeny reconstruction. For example, the first GHR data set with a good sample of afrotherians was published by Malia et al. (2002). This data set was subsequently reanalyzed and expanded on by Douady et al. (2004) and Asher and Hofreiter (2006). In fact, the analysis of Douady et al. (2004) was highly critical of Malia et al. (2002); among other differences, Douady et al. emphasized a different tree-building methodology. Both Douady et al. (2004) and Asher and Hofreiter (2006) benefited greatly from the initial work of Malia et al. (2002) by incorporating their GHR sequences with a number of novel taxa, including all genera of the Tenrecidae in Asher and Hofreiter (2006). Importantly, as is the case in other instances where similar data are analyzed using different methods (e.g., the 19-gene nuclear data set first concatenated in Murphy et al., 2001b, and later reanalyzed in Asher et al., 2003, and Seiffert, 2007), each study emphatically supports the Afrotheria, despite substantial methodological differences. Also impressive is the number and functional diversity of the genetic loci that support afrotherian monophyly. The data set of Stanhope et al. (1998) consisted of mitochondrial genes specifying the large (16S) and small (12S) ribosomalRNA subunits and the transfer RNA valine, as well as two nuclear protein-coding genes: one involved in blood clotting (von Willebrand Factor or vWF) and the other linked to sympathetic nervous transmission (alpha 2 adrenergic receptor or A2AB). Adding to this diverse functional array, the studies of Madsen et al. (2001) and Murphy et al. (2001a) included sequences from a total of 17 additional nuclear genes, with functions (often poorly understood) that relate to DNA transcription regulation (BRCA1), sensitivity to marijuana (CNR1), cell differentiation (EDG1), vision (PLCB4), pigmentation (TYR), and cardiac tissue maintenance (ADORA3), to name a few. Most recently, genomic analyses including thousands of loci, with over a million nucleotides sampled across placental orders, support Afrotheria as well (e.g., Wildman et al. 2007). In sum, the functional spectrum of genetic data that show support for Afrotheria is exceedingly broad. The Afrotheria hypothesis is supported not only from the aforementioned mitochondrial and nuclear genes, and the insertions and deletions (indels) present in those genes, but also from retroposons, chromosome morphology and Short Interspersed Nuclear Elements (SINEs; see table 46.3 and summaries in Robinson and Seiffert, 2004, and Springer et al., 2004).


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ta b l e 4 6 .3 Partial list of phylogenetic analyses relevant to the Afrotheria hypothesis that incorporate molecular data and include representatives of diverse placental orders, including at least one tenrec or golden mole The “Data” and “Afrotherian DNA” columns are based on the most inclusive tree figured in the essay. The former lists those genes/taxa identified as contributing to that tree; the latter includes recent taxa only.

Publication Piccinini et al., 1991 Allard and Miyamoto, 1992 Douzery and Catzefl is, 1995 Lavergne et al., 1996 Springer et al., 1997 Stanhope et al., 1998 Emerson et al., 1999 Mouchaty et al., 2000 Madsen et al., 2001 Murphy et al., 2001a Murphy et al., 2001b Scally et al. 2001 Malia et al., 2002 Lin et al., 2002 Corneli, 2002 Douady et al., 2002a Douady et al., 2002b Arnason et al., 2002 Madsen et al., 2002 Amrine-Madsen et al., 2003 Asher et al., 2003 DeJong et al., 2003 Douady et al., 2003 Murata et al., 2003 Nikaido et al., 2003a Nikaido et al., 2003b Seiffert, 2003 Waddell and Shelley, 2003 Douady et al., 2004 Roca et al., 2004 Robinson et al., 2004 Nishihara et al., 2005 Asher and Hofreiter, 2006 Seiffert, 2007

Data

Afrotherian DNA

Alpha and beta haemoglobin 12S 12S 12S 12S-16S-valine, vWF, A2AB 12S-16S-valine, vWF, A2AB

Tenrec(1) Chryso(1) Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Chryso(1), Hyrac(2), Probo(2), Siren(2) Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tubul(1) Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) 12S Chryso(1), Hyrac(2), Macro(1), Probo(2), Siren(2), Tenrec(2), Tubul(1) 12 mitochondrial genes Probo(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) BRCA1 Chryso(1), Hyrac(2), Macro(2), Probo(2), Siren(2), Tenrec(2), Tubul(1) 15 nuclear genes, 12S-16S-valine Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) 19 nuclear genes, 12S-16S-valine Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) BRCA1 Chryso(1), Hyrac(2), Macro(2), Probo(2), Siren(2), Tenrec(2), Tubul(1) GHR Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(4), Tubul(1) 12 mitochondrial genes Probo(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) 12 mitochondrial genes Probo(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1), Siren(1), Macro(1) A2AB, BRCA1, IRBP, vWF Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(3), Tubul(1) vWF, 12S-16S Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(2), Siren(1), Tenrec(3), Tubul(1) 12 mitochondrial genes Probo(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1), Siren(1), Macro(1) A2AB Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(2), Tenrec(3), Tubul(1) 20 nuclear genes, 12S-16S-valine Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) 19 nuclear genes, 12S-16S-valine, Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(2), 196 morphological characters Tubul(1) SCA1 sampled for both Chryso and Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tenrec Tubul(1) A2AB, BRCA1, vWF Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(2), Tenrec(3), Tubul(1) 12 mitochondrial genes Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) 12 mitochondrial genes Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) SINEs Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) 19 nuclear genes, 12S-16S-valine, Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), 378 morphological characters Tubul(1) RAG1, gam-fibrinogen, ND6, Chryso(2), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(2), Tenrec(1), mtRNA, GHR Tubul(1) GHR Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(2), Tenrec(4), Tubul(1) 19 nuclear genes, 12S-16S-valine Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) Chromosome painting Chryso(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Tubul(1) Retroposons Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(2), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) GHR Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(2), Siren(1), Tenrec(10), Tubul(1) Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), 19 nuclear genes, 12S-16S-valine, Tubul(1) 400 morphological characters, 18 chromosomal and rare genomic events



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Publication Asher, 2007 Wildman et al., 2007 Kjer and Honeycutt, 2007 Poux et al., 2008

Data 19 nuclear genes, 12S-16S-valine, 196 morphological characters 1.4 million bases from ca. 1.7 thousand genes Coding and noncoding mitochondrial genes ADRA2B, AR, GHR, and vWF

Phylogeny In contrast to the near-unanimous support by molecular data of afrotherian monophyly, relations within the group remain ambiguous in several ways (figure 46.4). The best-supported intra-afrotherian taxon is the Paenungulata (Simpson, 1945), consisting of elephants, sea cows, and hyraxes. With the caveat that some anatomists favored a hyrax-perissodactyl clade into the 1990s (e.g., Fischer and Tassy, 1993), recognition of Paenungulata long predates support for Afrotheria itself (cf. Gill, 1870; Simpson, 1945; Novacek, 1986; Rasmussen et al., 1990). In addition, two other intra-afrotherian clades have enjoyed at least some level of support from several anatomical and/or sequence-based sources: Tethytheria (elephants and sea cows) and Tenrecoidea (tenrecs and golden moles). Recent discussions of molecular data (Roca et al. 2004; Springer et al., 2004; Nishihara et al. 2005; Kjer and Honeycutt, 2007) have divided Afrotheria into paenungulate and nonpaenungulate clades, the latter named “Afroinsectiphillia” by Waddell et al. (2001) and consisting of (in order of increasing nestedness) aardvarks, sengis, tenrecs and golden moles (figure 46.4B). Waddell et al. (2001) named the two more-nested nodes “Afroinsectivora” and (following Stanhope et al., 1998) “Afrosoricida,” the latter being equivalent to Tenrecoidea as used by McDowell (1958). These intra-afrotherian hypotheses have major consequences for reconstructing the adaptations of the afrotherian common ancestor (Robinson and Seiffert, 2004). Was, for example, the ancestral afrotherian an “ungulate” or an “insectivoran”? Stated differently, did it possess cursorial and dental adaptations as in modern herbivores, or was it a small, terrestrial generalist with some faunivorous habits? Given, for example, a topology of modern taxa with aardvarks followed by sengis at the base of Afroinsectiphillia, comprising the sister taxon of paenungulates (figure 46.4B, following Murphy et al., 2001b), a parsimony algorithm would reconstruct an ungulate-grade afrotherian ancestor. Such an ancestor would lack the zalambdodont dentition, basisphenoid bulla, reduced pubic symphysis, small size and plantigrade posture that characterize African insectivorans (figures 46.4A–46.4F). The combined DNA-morphology analyses of Asher et al. (2003; but see Asher et al., 2005) and Seiffert (2007) do not support Afroinsectiphillia. When Seiffert (2007) constrained afrotherian monophyly, but not that of Afroinsectivora or Afroinsectiphillia, in a parsimony analysis of morphological data alone, tenrecs and golden moles were placed (figure 46.4H)

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Afrotherian DNA Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(2), Tubul(1) Probo(1), Tenrec(1) Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(2), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(1), Tubul(1) Chryso(1), Hyrac(1), Macro(1), Probo(1), Siren(1), Tenrec(9), Tubul(1)

as the sister group of a clade containing aardvarks, sengis, and paenungulates, compatible with the hypothesis of an insectivoran-grade afrotherian common ancestor. Macroscelidids combine some features of both “insectivorans” (e.g., small size and mobile proboscis) and “ungulates” (quadritubercular upper molars, cursorial skeletal adaptations and a caecum). If the paenungulate-afroinsectiphillian dichotomy is accurate, then macroscelideans comprise an interesting morphological intermediate between the two groups. This intermediate position is topologically supported in the phylogenies of Waddell and Shelley (2003: figure 10) and Nishihara et al. (2005). Orycteropus is hard to pigeonhole into this dichotomy but to some extent can also be viewed as intermediate, possessing, for example, an insectivorous diet but with large size and unguligrade posture (Lehmann et al., 2005). Aardvarks’ mesiodistally elongate, bilobed upper and lower molars, which lack any occlusal features, potentially also indicate that these teeth have been modified from a quadritubercular plan. Interestingly, when occlusal dental features of Orycteropus and Myorycteropus are scored as missing (and thus optimized based on the scorings for its near relatives), the quadritubercular Eocene genus Herodotius is placed as the sister group of aardvarks in Seiffert’s (2007) phylogenetic study. The addition of fossil taxa to phylogenetic reconstructions of Afrotheria clearly has the potential to drastically alter morphological and ecological reconstructions of early members of this clade. The extreme diversity of fossil proboscideans (e.g., the dog-sized Phosphatherium and semiaquatic Moeritherium) and hyracoids (e.g., the springbok-like Antilohyrax) make it clear that living afrotherians are taxonomically impoverished compared to their extinct relatives. However, such material does not yet compel us to alter our perception of Paenungulata as historically consisting of primarily herbivorous, ungulate-grade mammals. Nor does the fossil record of African insectivorans provide evidence that this group previously occupied a noninsectivorous niche, although their fossil record is much worse than that of paenungulates, rendering any such statements of past diversity without much weight. PAENUNGULATA

No one has seriously debated the validity of this clade for more than a decade. The most recent studies to do so include Fischer (1989), Fischer and Tassy (1993), and Prothero and Schoch (1989). At issue was the then-contentious hypothesis


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that hyracoids were more closely related to perissodactyls than to sea cows and elephants. Indeed, dating to Owen (1848) and briefly revived by Fischer (1989), hyracoids have even been classified within the Perissodactyla. Anatomical support for this concept came in part from the dentition: fossil perissodactyls and Recent (but not Paleogene) procaviids both possess a distinctive “pi”-shaped pattern of crests on their cheek teeth (Radinsky, 1969). Fischer (1989) further identified a number of anatomical characters such as the eustachian sack, which comprises a similarity between equids, tapirids, and hyracoids. This diverticulum of the nasopharynx is exceedingly large in some taxa (Fischer, 1989: figure 4.3); however, it is notably absent in rhinocerotids. In addition, both hyracoids and perissodactyls are “mesaxonic”; that is, their distal hind- and forelimbs show an axis of support passing through a central digit, as opposed to the “paraxonic” condition in, for example, artiodactyls. There is even a biblical precedent for the emphasis on hyracoid distal limb morphology in its classification. Leviticus 11 identifies the hyrax (or “coney”) as “unclean” for consumption by the Israelites because it is mesaxonic—it “cloveth not the hoof” (Gregory, 1910:7). Although the horse is not mentioned by name in Leviticus as nonkosher, it lacks a “cloven hoof” (not to mention rumination) and is thereby in clear violation of the Jewish law of kashrut—another, early intimation of similarity with the hyrax. Nevertheless, although without biblical precedent and with its other members similarly nonkosher, Paenungulata has had a long history among vertebrate biologists. This history dates to Gill (1870) and much later Simpson (1945), who coined the superordinal name. Simpson envisioned Paenungulata as including a number of extinct taxa that are no longer considered to have a close relationship with hyraxes, sea cows, or elephants. A number of publications based on morphological data during the 1980s and 1990s strongly supported paenungulate monophyly (e.g., Novacek and Wyss, 1986; Rasmussen et al., 1990; Shoshani, 1993). The application of large molecular data sets in recent years has essentially solved this phylogenetic problem in their favor (cf. Murphy et al., 2001b; Waddell and Shelley, 2003). TETHYTHERIA

While paenungulate monophyly was debated by morphologists into the 1990s, the monophyly of a sea cow–elephant clade had until recently never been seriously questioned. The designation Tethytheria dates to McKenna (1975). However, Linnaeus (1758) himself included both taxa in his “Bruta,” along with a sloth, an anteater, and a pangolin. Although many 18th- and early 19th-century classifications placed sea cows with whales and/or pinnipeds, they were more frequently grouped with elephants, starting with Blainville (1834) and more commonly among post-Darwinian authors (see review in Gregory, 1910). In his monograph on Fayum mammals, Andrews (1906) detailed numerous similarities in the skeletons of Moeritherium (Proboscidea) and Eosiren (Sirenia), setting the tone for the general acceptance of an elephant–sea cow clade for the remainder of the 20th century. Tethytheria has garnered some support in recent phylogenetic analyses, including several based on sequence data (e.g., Nikaido et al., 2003; Kjer and Honeycutt, 2007) and the combined morphology-DNA analyses of Seiffert (2007) and Asher (2007). However, many other sequence-based studies do not support this clade (Amrine and Springer, 1999; Murphy et al.,

2001b), with some recent studies favoring sirenian-hyracoid (e.g., Nishihara et al., 2006) over Tethytheria. The third permutation of this trichotomy, hyrax-elephant, has also been figured in a fairly recent DNA concatenation (Amrine-Madsen et al., 2003). Morphological support for a close elephant–sea cow relationship has continued to surface in recent years. For example, Gaeth et al. (1999) noted the presence of nephrostomes in the kidneys of elephants throughout development. These structures are common throughout aquatic vertebrates, but not among placental mammals except for sirenians and, as Gaeth et al. (1999) noted, elephants. Hence, they argued not only for a close relationship between the two taxa but also that elephants have a semiaquatic ancestry. Such a hypothesis would also be consistent with functional interpretations of testicondy (see earlier discussion) and even of the proboscidean trunk, both of which have been related to a semiaquatic lifestyle (Shoshani and Tassy, 2005). However, Gaeth et al. (1999) did not make explicit comparisons with hyraxes. Furthermore, at least some of the similarities of modern elephants and sea cows did not characterize some of the earliest members of each clade. For example, the persistent perilymphatic foramen and lack of a fenestra cochleae in living tethytheres do not characterize the fossil proboscideans Numidotherium (Court, 1994), Phosphatherium (Gheerbrant et al., 2005), or the fossil sirenian Prorastomus (Court, 1994), which instead resemble most other mammals in possessing a fenestra cochleae in adults. While the distribution of this character demonstrates the abundance of homoplasy, it does not invalidate the hypothesis that elephants and sea cows share a common ancestor, perhaps even a semiaquatic one, to the exclusion of other mammals. Indeed, stem proboscideans such as Moeritherium have been considered to show signs of an aquatic life for many years (Andrews, 1906; Matsumoto, 1926; Sanders et al., this volume, chapter 15), and the possible stem sirenian or tethythere group Desmostylia (Gingerich, 2005) also exhibits adaptations for some degree of existence in water (Clementz et al., 2003). Stable isotopes preserved in the tooth enamel of the primitive late Eocene genera Moeritherium and Barytherium have recently provided additional support for the hypothesis that these early proboscideans were semiaquatic (Liu et al., 2008). In sum, although recent molecular analyses yield surprisingly ambiguous results, the morphological case for tethythere monophyly remains strong. TENRECOIDE A

Besides paenungulates and tethytheres, golden moles and tenrecs comprise the only other high-level clade of afrotheres that has had a relatively long taxonomic history. However, this has usually been in the context of their position within the “Lipotyphla” sensu Butler (1988) as members of a larger clade including hedgehogs, shrews, moles, and Solenodon. One of the most conspicuous similarities between tenrecs and golden moles concerns the dentition. Both groups show “zalambdodont” cheek teeth (Asher and Sánchez-Villagra, 2005), in which the occlusal surface of the upper molars comprises a simple triangle, with a lingual cusp at its apex. Lower molars show a reduced trigonid, which lacks the mortar-pestle occlusion with the protocone seen in functionally tribosphenic mammals. In tenrecs and golden moles, the paracone comprises the main upper cusp and the protocone is reduced to a cingular structure or is absent altogether.



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Since the mid-19th century, most zoologists have emphasized the dentition in classifying tenrecs and golden moles not only with each other but also with the zalambdodont Caribbean Solenodon and numerous North American fossils (see Asher et al., 2002). However, these taxa do not share unique nondental characters. Hence, long before anyone suspected that these “insectivores” might be related instead to elephants, the exceedingly autapomorphic anatomy of golden moles compelled Broom (1916) to recommend placing them in their own Linnean order, the Chrysochloridea, a recommendation also taken seriously by MacPhee and Novacek (1993). In recent sequence-based and combined analyses of Afrotheria, tenrecs and golden moles are frequently supported in their own clade (e.g., Murphy et al., 2001b; Amrine-Madsen et al., 2003). However, in a few publications this has not been the case; for example, Murata et al.’s (2003) phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA sequences placed tenrecs as the sister group of a clade containing aardvarks, sengis, and golden moles (within which the latter two were sister taxa). Waddell and Shelley (2003: figure 10 based on their concatenated sequences) recovered an aardvark-tenrec clade to which their two golden mole genera comprised the sister taxon (figure 46.4C). Such an arrangement has no precedent in the literature and is highly dependent on the sampled genetic data and tree reconstruction methodology. Waddell and Shelley (2003) also figure a tenrec sengi clade alongside golden moles aardvarks (their figure 3 based on RAG1 plus G-fibrinogen) as well as a tree favoring golden moles tenrecs (their figure 9 based on GHR). The latter arrangement remains the most common result across DNA-based studies and is the only one with some kind of taxonomic precedent. Although the weight of the morphological and molecular evidence favors a tenrec–golden mole clade, the instability of this grouping in some molecular phylogenetic analyses nevertheless suggests a relatively ancient divergence and brief period of common ancestry for the two lineages and leaves open the possibility that their shared zalambdodonty evolved independently (Seiffert, this volume, chapter 16).

require more complete cranial and/or postcranial evidence. There is little indication as to how (or if) the few known extinct tenrecs and golden moles were adaptively different from their modern relatives; nor are there hints as to which of the other modern afrotherians might comprise their near relatives. Fortunately, the fossil record of paenungulates is better; and insights from the living radiations may also inform our understanding of afrotherian paleobiology (e.g., Poux et al., 2005, 2008). One of the most drastic improvements to the “African” fossil record in recent years has been in the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar (Krause, 2003). However, as noted by Robinson and Seiffert (2004), Madagascar has had an independent history from the African mainland since the late Jurassic, and its Cretaceous fauna does not necessarily bear directly on biogeographic questions regarding the mainland. Fortunately, improved sampling of the continental African record is also underway, such as the Cretaceous (Krause et al., 2003), middle Eocene (Gunnell et al., 2003), and Oligocene (Stevens et al., 2006) of Tanzania; the Cretaceous of Mali (O’Leary et al., 2004); and the Oligocene of Ethiopia (Sanders et al., 2004). Ongoing work in the Paleocene/Eocene of North Africa (e.g., Gheerbrant et al., 2003, 2005; Tabuce et al., 2007) and Eocene/ Oligocene of Egypt (e.g., Seiffert et al., 2007) continues to yield important discoveries that form the baseline of our growing understanding of Tertiary mammals of the African continent.

Conclusions and Summary

Allard, M. W., and M. M. Miyamoto. 1992. Perspective: Testing phylogenetic approaches with empirical data, as illustrated with the parsimony method. Molecular Biology and Evolution 9:778–786. Ameghino, F. 1905. Les édentés fossiles de France et d’Allemagne. Annales du Muséum National de Buenos Aires 13:175–250. Amrine, H. M., and M. S. Springer. 1999. Maximum-likelihood analysis of the tethythere hypothesis based on a multigene data set and a comparison of different models of sequence evolution. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 6:161–176. Amrine-Madsen, H., K.-P. Koepfli, R. K. Wayne, and M. S. Springer. 2003. A new phylogenetic marker, apolipoprotein B, provides compelling evidence for eutherian relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 28:225–240. Andrews, C. W. 1906. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of the Fayum, Egypt. British Museum (Natural History), London, 324 pp. Arnason, U., J. A. Addegoke, K. Bodin, E. W. Born, Y. B. Esa, A. Gullberg, M. Nilsson, R. Short, X. Xu, and A. Janke. 2002. Mammalian mitogenomic relationships and the root of the eutherian tree. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 99:8151–8156. Asher, R. J. 2001. Cranial anatomy in tenrecid insectivorans: Character evolution across competing phylogenies. American Museum Novitates 3352:1–54. . 2005. Insectivoran-grade placental mammals: Character evolution and fossil history; pp. 50–70 in K. D. Rose and J. D. Archibald (eds.), The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origin and Relationships of the Major Clades. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. . 2007. A web-database of mammalian morphology and a reanalysis of placental phylogeny. BMC Evolutionary Biology 7:108.

High-level interrelationships of living mammals have never been so well understood as they are today. There is currently an unprecedented level of agreement among specialists on very specific hypotheses of mammalian phylogeny, including the placement of African insectivorans in a larger African clade, the Afrotheria. Intra-afrotherian relationships remain in comparison poorly understood. It is likely that additional sequence-based work will further improve the resolution of at least some nodes within Afrotheria; although the uncertainty regarding intrapaenungulate relations (for example) appears frustratingly impervious to molecular data sets of ever increasing size (cf. Waddell and Shelley, 2003 vs. Amrine-Madsen et al., 2003). There remains in any event a large body of data (anatomical, behavioral, genetic) with which competing hypotheses of living afrotherian phylogeny can be tested. The same cannot be said for extinct afrotherians. The Paleogene fossil record of insectivoran-grade afrotherians is very poor and open to interpretation, and what does exist from the Miocene is not terribly informative. A strong case has been made for the recognition of new, insectivoran-grade fossils as stem tenrecs and golden moles from the Eo-Oligocene of Egypt (Seiffert et al., 2007); but even here decisive evidence for their placement will

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For financial support R.J.A. thanks the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant AS 245/2-1), the European Commission’s Research Infrastructure Action via the SYNTHESYS Project (GB-TAF 218), and the National Science Foundation USA (DEB 9800908). E.R.S.’s research has been funded by the Leakey Foundation and the U.S. National Science Foundation (BCS 0416164). For help with the manuscript and citations we thank Margaret Avery and Thomas Lehmann.

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CHAP TER FORT Y-SEVEN

Mammal Species Richness in Africa PE TER ANDREWS AND EILEEN M. O’BRIEN

The distribution and diversity of mammals across Africa have long been attributed to differences in vegetation or climate (Pianka, 1966; Begon et al., 1990; Rosenzweig, 1997). Our earlier empirical study of southern African mammals strongly supports this interpretation (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000), even at the gross scale of spatial resolution needed to empirically measure differences in climate. In southern Africa, variability in woody plant species richness alone accounts for 75% of the variability in mammal species richness (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000). Of the climatic variables, only thermal seasonality approached this figure, accounting for 69% of mammal richness variability, while annual measures of temperature, precipitation and energy account for only 14 to 35% of variability. O’Brien (1993; O’Brien et al., 2000) has shown that 85% of the spatial variation in southern Africa’s woody plant richness, and thus vegetation, is explained by the spatial variation in climate. In our analyses, we investigated total mammal richness (termed all mammals here) and we also considered mammal distributions excluding bats. Bats are not commonly found in fossil deposits, so for comparison with fossil faunas they are normally excluded from analysis. We have further distinguished between different subsets of mammals based on size, spatial, and dietary guilds, as it is likely that some subsets are better indicators of change in vegetation and mammal diversity than others. The majority of mammal species are small (⬍10 kg) and have restricted foraging/distributional ranges, so that their diversity patterns should be affected differently by climate change compared with large mammals. Similarly, woody plants are a primary source of food and shelter for frugivorous and arboreal species, but less so for grazing mammals. Insect species richness increases as vegetation shifts from desert to rain forest (Mound and Waloff, 1978), and so the distribution of insectivorous mammals may co-vary with vegetation type. Overall we expect mammal richness to co-vary most strongly with differences in vegetation (woody plant richness) in a fashion similar to that observed for southern Africa, increasing as woody plant richness increases and as vegetation shifts from desert to lowland rain forest. Woody plant richness, however, is most strongly correlated with rainfall and energy (minimum potential evapotranspiration). Therefore, the mapped spatial variation in mammal richness should manifest a pattern broadly similar to that seen in

maps of Africa’s woody plant richness, floristic zones, and, to a lesser extent, energy and rainfall. Given the significance of such findings for understanding and modeling the potential effects of environmental change on the distribution and diversity of mammals, both today and in the past, we have expanded our focus to the whole continent of Africa, following same methods and protocols of the southern African study. The aim is threefold: (1) to describe present-day patterns in mammal richness across Africa, in terms of both mammals in general and between ecologically meaningful subsets of mammals, and to compare these patterns with those for Africa’s vegetation, woody plant richness, annual rainfall, and topography; (2) to evaluate data quality (e.g., whether it is representative); and (3) to test the implications of variations in mammal richness arising from the southern Africa study. Statistical analyses of how African mammal richness relates to geographic differences in (woody) plant species richness and climate will be reported elsewhere.

The Study Area The study area encompasses the whole of continental Africa, extending from roughly 37°N to 35°S (figure 47.1). Its physiography is diverse (Moreau, 1966; O’Brien and Peters, 1999). Its most pronounced physical feature is the elevational division into High Africa (⬎1,000 m a.s.l.) and Low Africa (⬍200 m a.s.l.)(figure 47.1B). High Africa encompasses most of eastern, east-central, and the eastern half of South Africa. Low Africa encompasses the rest of Africa, with scattered uplands reaching elevations ⬎500 m. In both cases, the terrain is further modified in three ways: first by tectonic features, including mountain ranges, volcanoes, plateaus, interior drainage basins (e.g., Lake Chad), tectonic rift zones (Ethiopia to Malawi), and so forth; second by drainage systems (e.g., Nile River), perennial (lakes/rivers, e.g., Lake Tanganyika, Congo River), seasonal (Sand River), or ephemeral (pans); and third by edaphic (soil) conditions that range from extremely fertile to extremely poor and even toxic (soils derived from serpentine rock), and from extremely wet to extremely dry soil (i.e., wetlands to bare rock and sand seas). This physiographic diversity, when combined with differences in climate, weather, and microclimate conditions,

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determines the abiotic environmental conditions limiting the distributional ranges of Africa’s flora and fauna. CLIMATE

Throughout Africa, the amount and timing of solar energy and rainfall (figure 47.1A) determine the timing and capacity for plant activity (photosynthesis). This in turn determines the availability of vegetation to support mammalian faunas and hence determines trophic structure. Year-round or bimodal rainfall occurs in low latitudes (e.g., west Central Africa and eastern Highland Africa, respectively). Summer rainfall (monsoon) conditions are present throughout the midlatitudes both north and south of the equator. Winter rainfall occurs along the northernmost and southwestern coastal regions of the continent (e.g., lands bordering the Mediterranean and Namibia, respectively). The range in annual rainfall is from close to zero to greater than 1,800 mm. (see figure 47.1A; Thornthwaite and Mather, 1955, 1962). The geographic location of Africa means that virtually the whole continent (35°N and S) is located within the zone of surplus energy. Energy from the sun is always sufficient for plant growth within the tropics (23.5°N and S), and as a result the demand for water for transpiration/evaporation is high year-round. Poleward of the tropics, the intensity of insolation decreases while seasonal oscillations increase, contributing to near-freezing minimum (winter) temperatures at Africa’s highest latitudes. In contrast, maximum insolation is almost the same throughout Africa. This is not the case for maximum temperatures, however, for temperature decreases as elevation increases above sea level; and evaporation cools air, with geographic differences in the amount and duration of rainfall causing differences in the capacity for atmospheric cooling. In High Africa (figure 47.1B), for example, elevation results in decreased temperatures year-round. For all of Africa, temperatures can vary dramatically at the same latitude. In equatorial latitudes, for example, annual temperature ranges from 25°C (equatorial wet) to greater than 45°C (equatorial dry), with variations depending on the interaction between Africa’s topographic relief and atmospheric-oceanic thermodynamics. Precipitation may be either year-round or bimodal, or seasonal with most rain during the hot season (i.e., summer rainfall) or during the cold season (i.e. winter rainfall)(Thornthwaite and Mather 1955, 1962). VEGETATION

Africa has more than 40,000 plant species, with more than 24,000 of them in southern Africa alone (White, 1983). As elsewhere in the world, woody plants (trees, shrubs, etc.) are

FIGURE 47.1 A) Mean annual precipitation in Africa. Areas shaded black have precipitation ⬎1,800 mm. B) African physiognomic vegetation regions: 1, tropical lowland rainforest; 2, deciduous woodland; 3, Acacia bushland and woodland savanna; 4, desert; 5, Mediterranean sclerophyllous woodland; 6, Karoo desert; 7, highveldt grassland; 8, eastern coastal evergreen forest; 9, Afromontane vegetation. Based on White (1983). C) Species richness of woody plants based on predictions from IGM 2 (Field et al., 2005) based on climate station data from Thornthwaite and Mather (1962, 1965)(N ⫽ 980). These data are applied to the equal area grid as shown in figure 47.2. Modified from O’Brien and Peters, 1999.

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the dominant and longest-living component of the vegetation (at least decades, usually hundreds of years), making this plant life form a good indicator of prevailing vegetation structure and environmental conditions. Based on empirical data for southern Africa (IGM-1 and 2; Field et al., 2005), woody plant richness (counted in 25,000 km2 sampling units) varies across Africa following predictions from IGM-2 (figure 47.1C), increasing from near zero in absolute desert to greater than 1,100 species in equatorial lowland rain forest (O’Brien, 1998). These predictions were tested empirically in Kenya and in southern Africa, where woody plant distributions have been well recorded (15°–35°S), with species richness ranging from less than 10 to more than 450 species per unit area (Field et al., 2005, and O’Brien, 1993, respectively). Ecophysiognomic vegetation zones from desert to tropical lowland rain forest are present in Africa (figure 47.1B). Excluding the Sahara, the dominant vegetation zone in Africa is deciduous forest and woodland (zone 2 in figure 47.1B: Sudano-Zambezian woodlands north and south of the equatorial zone), followed by lowland ⫹ coastal rain forest (zones 1 and 8), bushland, shrubland, and xeric scrubland (zones 3, 6, and 7). In mountainous areas and along escarpments, there is vertical zonation in vegetation, as well as leeward and windward differences, due to orographic rainfall and rainshadows. Throughout Africa, woody plant richness, structure, and complexity increase across Africa in a fashion similar to that of annual precipitation (compare figure 47.1A with 1C). The same pattern can be seen in the distribution of floristic zones, or phytochoria (White, 1981, 1983). While vegetation physiognomy informs about vegetation structure (rain forest, bushland, etc.), phytochoria indicate their floristic complexity. For example, the Congo-Guinean phytochorion coincides with lowland rain forest (zone 1, figure 47.1B) and has the greatest number of floristic elements (species), many of which are endemics. The Congo-Guinean is surrounded by the Zambezian phytochorion in the Southern Hemisphere and its counterpart, the Sudanian, in the Northern Hemisphere. Both are characterized by deciduous forest and woodland (and coincide with zone 2, figure 47.1B). They are also floristically similar to each other, but the Sudanian has fewer species and fewer endemics than the Zambezian (White, 1983). All three phytochoria share some floristic elements with each other, but none of them have endemics in common. Similar relationships apply between other phytochoria and their associated vegetation zones. However, for reasons not yet established, there appear to be fewer plant species in the Northern Hemisphere of Africa than in the Southern Hemisphere, even when comparing analogous vegetation/floristic zones and climatic conditions Within each vegetation/floristic zone, heterogeneity of vegetation type (and thus habitat diversity) is indexed by differences in woody plant richness. A striking feature of African plant physiognomy is the existence of a major ecotone complex in eastern High Africa (White, 1983). Roughly speaking, it stretches west to east from the Western Rift to Mt. Kenya, northward into Ethiopia and southward into Tanzania. In this region, several ecophysiognomic vegetation zones converge, as do five phytochoria: the CongoGuinean, Zambezian, and Sudanian (mentioned earlier), plus Afromontane (zone 9, figure 47.1B, vertical vegetation zonation), and Somali-Masai Steppe (zone 3, low woodland and thicket). When coupled with this region’s edaphic, hydrological, physiographic, and climatic complexity, the results are a complex and diverse mosaic of vegetation types that range from rain forest to semiarid scrub, and edaphic grasslands (e.g., Serengeti), with

a north-south corridor enabling dispersal of plant/animal species adapted to seasonal/arid climate conditions (Van Zinderen Bakker, 1969). In western Africa, the east-west stretch of lowland rain forest is a dispersal barrier to arid-adapted plants.

Methodology This study follows the same methods and sampling strategy used to study mammal richness in southern Africa (detailed in Andrews and O’Brien, 2000). Our intention is also to provide data for future quantitative analyses of climate’s relationship to the distribution and diversity of African mammals. At the present time, species range maps available for approximately half of Africa’s mammal species are either incomplete or nonexistent. It is expected, however, that species richness values derived from these maps are sufficiently representative for describing general trends and relationships in mammal richness. MAMMAL RICHNESS DATA

Species richness is the number of species per unit sampling area. It takes no account of relative abundance, which can only be measured at very discrete (local) scales of spatial resolution (i.e., ground sampling within a habitat). At the macroscale, it describes “geographic” richness, the richness resulting from differential overlap in the distributional ranges of extant species (cf. O’Brien, 1993). To allow systematic comparisons of climate data, plant richness, and mammal richness, the same methodology and sampling strategy employed by O’Brien (1993; Andrews and O’Brien 2000) has been used here to determine mammal richness patterns. A grid matrix of 1,236 equal-area grid cells (each cell equal to 25,000 km2, cf. Griffiths, 1976) was laid out cartographically across continental Africa (figure 47.2), and this was overlain by mammal species range maps to determine the presence or absence of a mammal species per cell. Presence-absence data were then compiled to determine the total number of species, or species richness, per cell. Only 1,079 cells are truly equal-area, for 157 cells overlap the sea or large lakes. Our analyses of richness data are limited to these 1,079 equal-area cells. Richness data for higher taxonomic levels were compiled by aggregating species data per cell to generate genus richness values per cell, aggregating genus data per cell to obtain family richness values per cell, and so forth. The layout of the grid is shown in figure 47.2. The sources of range maps for African mammals were Kingdon (1971–1982, 1997) and Smithers (1983), with additional data from Wilson and Reeder (1992), Frandsen (1992), and Stuart and Stuart (1988). These maps include only present-day ranges for each mammal species. No attempt has been made to take account of possible human impact beyond what has been done by the original sources. All exotic species and humans are excluded. Lastly, distribution maps for many of the smaller mammals are known to be incomplete, because some parts of Africa have been less intensively studied than others, the exceptions being Kingdon’s (1971–1982, 1997) work in East Africa and Smithers’s (1983) for southern Africa. Recognizing this problem, we recorded mammal species suspected or known to have incomplete distribution data by genus, with genus ranges being used in both species and genus-level analyses.

The Effects of Missing Distribution Data Our results are based on the distributions of 562 taxa of mammals in Africa. The total number of species recorded by Kingdon (1997) is more than double that figure at 1,198,

FORT Y-SEVEN: MAMMAL SPECIES RICHNESS IN AFRICA


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FIGURE 47.2 Equal-area grid for Africa. Coordinates were denoted by letters, from A in the west to tt in the east, and by numbers from 1 in the south to 50 in the north. The total numbers of mammal species excluding bats are shown for each grid cell. The position of the equator is shown along the top of row 24.

which includes 745 species in 163 genera of small-sized mammals of bats, rodents, and insectivores (table 47.1). Kingdon provides distributions for only 109 of these species, and for the remaining 636 species he provides distribution maps for the genus only (N ⫽ 73 genera). Some of the 636 species have recorded distributions for those parts of Africa that have been well investigated, but many studies do not record the entire distribution of the species concerned. In order to avoid bias in favor of these well-studied areas and against poorly studied areas, we have used the equivalent genus distributions

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for these species. In other words, the 636 “species distributions” are represented in our data by the 73 equivalent genus distributions (table 47.1). For example, Kingdon (1997) lists 103 species of the shrew genus Crocidura, known throughout Africa in all habitats and at all altitudes, but the distributions of most species are poorly known. Localities where distributions of Crocidura species are known almost certainly do not represent their full range, and to include such data in our records would bias results toward well-studied areas and reduce species richness in areas less well collected.


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ta b l e 47.1 Estimation of the effects of missing distribution data

Species with no Genera

Species

distribution maps

Megachiroptera Microchiroptera Insectivora

16 33 25

28 174 179

18 in 6 genera 162 in 21 genera 180 in 14 genera

Rodentia

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Totals

Ranges of habitat types for the species with no distribution maps based on genus distributions 44% woodland, 56% forest 2% arid/desert, 11% forest, 87% wide range of habitats 5% semiarid, 10% dry sandy soils, 75% wide range of habitats 42% semi-arid, 5% upland grass, 9% swamp, 16% wood, 9% forest, 19% all 20.5% semiarid, 10.3% woodland, 13% forest, others 6.6%, wide range 49.6%

NO T E : Rodents and insectivores: 456 species represented by their 46 genera. These 456 species of rodents and genera out of a known total of 543 have no species distribution data—that is, 84%.

Extending the example of the genus Crocidura, Smithers (1983) records seven species in the southern African subregion. Two of these, C. hirta and C. cyanea, have distributions that cover most of the subregion, the former in the north and east (which also includes five of the other species), the latter in the south and west (which also includes two of the other species). These single species distributions were used in our earlier work on southern Africa (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000), which showed that some parts of southern Africa has 6 species present, other parts 3, and these contributed to the 285 species mammal fauna by 2.1% and 1.1%, respectively. This difference is lost in the present study, which combines all species of Crocidura so that the whole of the southern Africa subregion (except for the west coast littoral) is represented by one entry for the genus. By recording presence/absence of the genus Crocidura rather than individual species, we reduce this bias at the expense of loss of information (which in any case is not presently available). In order to estimate the likely effect this missing information may have on different habitat types represented in Africa, we have summarized the habitat distributions of the 73 genera lacking species distributions (Kingdon, 1997). These are shown in the right-hand column of table 47.1, which shows the averaged values of habitat distributions for the four orders of small mammals. For example, there are 180 species of Insectivora in 14 genera that have no species ranges, and these 14 genera have habitat ranges of 1 genus (5%) exclusive to semiarid habitats, 2 genera (10%) requiring dry sandy soils, and 11 genera (75%) found in a wide range of habitats. Overall, half the genera with no comprehensive species distributions are found in wide ranges of habitats, and there is no clear preference for specific habitat types, whether forest, woodland, or semiarid, in the rest of the distributions. It may be concluded from this that there is no indication that any particular habitat is or is not favored by the substitution of genera for species. It will be seen later that the plotted distribution patterns of bats and insectivores are deficient in West and Central Africa, but rodents are better represented in these regions. There is every reason to believe, however, that distributions of both genera and species of small mammals will be extended and refined as more collections are made (Denys, pers. comm.), but at our present state of knowledge, the 73 genera must stand proxy both for distribution and habitat for the 636 species with no comprehensive distribution data.

These genus-for-species substitutions need to be kept in mind when interpreting results. First, in the following text, richness patterns will be designated species richness to avoid lengthy circumlocutions to the effect that they also include some genus distributions. Second, the substitutions introduce a bias toward lower than actual species richness values that is most likely to be a factor in poorly collected areas (e.g., Congo Basin) and for small mammals (those easiest to miss during field surveys). Unfortunately, it is at present impossible to distinguish between these two factors and genuinely low species richness. This bias should diminish at higher taxonomic levels, except where undercollection is a contributing factor to low richness. Future collections will increase the known numbers of species, so that current totals cannot be taken as final. Third, the substitutions should slightly inflate correlations between species and genus richness. However, given the large sample size and areal extent of study, general trends should swamp idiosyncratic ones between ecologically meaningful subsets of species richness, except where species richness is grossly underrepresented. SCALE OF ANALYSIS

In accord with the southern African study, the scale of spatial analysis is macroscale, each sampling unit being 158 × 158 km or an area of ~25,000 km2. This scale has been shown to be reasonable for measuring how climate and woody plant richness vary across Africa, as well as elsewhere in the world (O’Brien, 1993, 1998; Field et al., 2005). ECOLOGICAL CATEGORIES OF MAMMAL RICHNESS

The ecological categories by which mammal richness has been analyzed follow Andrews and O’Brien (2000), with each species distinguished by three ecological parameters: size (body weight), dietary guild (primary diet), and space occupied (locomotor adaptations). The classes within each of these categories are depicted in table 47.2. Assignment to a size class was determined using the common size range (not extremes) for each species, and no species was assigned to more than one size class. Most mammals are small (⬍10 kg, N ⫽ 434), and large mammals (⬎90 kg) comprise only 33 species, with 95 species falling between these extremes.



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ta b l e 47. 2

N Total no. of species Total species Xbats

562 477

spatial categories Terrestrial Semiarboreal Arboreal Scansorial Aerial Aquatic Fossorial Arboreal/terrestrial Scansorial/terrestrial Semiarboreal/terrestrial

213 112 92 45 90 11 29 3 8 6

dietary categories Insectivore Frugivore Browser Grazer Carnivore Omnivore Frugivore/herbivore Insectivore/frugivore Carnivore/frugivore Carnivore/insectivore

221 155 182 62 61 9 22 15 4 12

body weights 0–100 g 100g–1 kg 1–10 kg 10–45 kg 45–90 kg 90–180 kg 180–360 kg ⬎360 kg

205 117 112 65 30 10 15 8

The seven space classes are based on the habitat space occupied and associated locomotor adaptations of each species. Terrestrial mammals are those that are restricted to the surface of the ground and lack digging, climbing, or flying adaptations. The class semiterrestrial applies to those mammals (usually small ones) that lack specialized digging, climbing, or flying adaptations, and they occupy both subsurface and above-surface spaces as if they were continuous with the surface of the ground. They use tunnels below the surface and rocks and trees above the surface to the same extent as the ground surface. Arboreal mammals are those having specialized anatomical or physiological adaptations for climbing trees, such as gripping feet. Scansorial mammals also climb trees but differ in having claws and reversible feet. Aquatic, fossorial, and aerial mammals are anatomically specialized for swimming, digging, and flying, respectively (Andrews et al., 1979). The majority of species were assigned to a single class based on their most common locomotor behavior, but in some cases, species were assigned to more than one spatial

934


class. For example, a number of felid and viverrid carnivores (e.g., leopards and genets) were assigned to both scansorial and terrestrial categories. In the primates, baboons were assigned to arboreal and terrestrial categories, since both habitats fulfill important requirements of their lifestyles. In all cases, shared classes were on a 50-50 basis. Six classes of dietary guild were distinguished (cf. Andrews et al., 1979; Janis, 1988; Shepherd, 1998). Although few mammals are exclusive to one dietary class, most fall primarily into one of them. Herbivores were divided into browsers eating mainly leaves and herbs and grazers eating mainly grass, and no attempt was made to distinguish mixed feeders. Species eating more than 50% fruit were designated frugivores, and where there was still a substantial element of fruit but mixed with herbage, such as baboons, they were entered as mixed herbivore-frugivores. Many rodent species are also mixed feeders of insects and plants, and they were similarly designated mixed insectivore-herbivore. Some species of Carnivora eat significant proportions of fruit or insects, and they were designated carnivore-frugivores or carnivore-insectivores. All such combinations were made on a 50-50 basis, and no species was assigned to more than two classes (see table 47.2). Only those mammal species with unequivocally mixed diets, such as Potamochoerus and civets, were designated as omnivores. Numbers of species per equal-area grid cells were mapped for the 21 ecological subsets. Species richness isoclines were calculated to show their patterns of geographic variation, as far as possible to the same scale, but since some ecological categories have much greater numbers of species than others, the potential loss of information rendered this impractical. Correlations within and between ecological categories were calculated (Pearson’s product moment), as well as with all-mammal richness. Some of the ecological subsets have few species (⬍10 species), in which case they were either combined with one or more similar classes (e.g., the three largest size classes were combined into one: ⬎90 kg) or ignored in results/discussion of statistical analyses (e.g., omnivory, which has only 9 species). Other combinations include “small” species (e.g., ⬍45 kg) and scansorial-arboreal (which are strongly correlated with each other), plus others that are self-explanatory.

Results Mammal species richness per cell is presented in figure 47.2 and ranges from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 179 species. Noteworthy is the north-south discrepancy in mammal richness. In effect, mammal richness differs markedly between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, being lower in the Northern Hemisphere and higher in the Southern Hemisphere, even in analogous vegetation and floristic zones (e.g., deciduous forest/woodland; Sudanian and Zambezian phytochoria, respectively; compare figures 47.1 and 47.2). The north-south discrepancy is greatest between arid areas (e.g., Sahara vs. Kalahari/Namib deserts). GEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS IN MAMMAL RICHNESS IN RELATION TO VEGETATION

In order to illustrate the species richness patterns, we have mapped taxon richness by drawing isoclines connecting grid cells with similar species richness values. Figure 47.3 illustrates the general pattern of mammal species richness across Africa. The general tendency is for mammal richness to increase across Africa as vegetation (physiognomically and


2/1/10 2:47:51 PM

All Species

Total Genera

150–180

100–120

120–150

80–100

90–120

60–80

60–90

40–60

30–60

20–40

0–30

0–20

Isoclines of species and genus richness per unit area for the equal-area grid shown in figure 2. A) Total numbers of mammal species; B) total numbers of mammal genera. FIGURE 47.3

floristically) shifts from desert to evergreen forest, as woody plant richness increases and as annual rainfall increases. This trend applies whether bats are excluded. The general pattern is consistent with findings for southern Africa with the exception of two differences in the equatorial zone. In the first place, maximum mammal species richness occurs in east High Africa, in two major peaks that are neither associated with areas having the highest annual rainfall or greatest woody plant richness, nor associated with lowland rain forest. Comparison with figure 47.1 indicates that the westernmost of these two peaks lies in an area that encompasses the eastern perimeter of the Congo Basin and the Western Rift zone where three major vegetation types and four phytochoria converge (Congo-Guinean, Sudanian, Zambezian, and Afromontane). In this area annual rainfall and predicted woody plant richness can be high, but not highest; topographic relief is high; the growing season is year-round; and vegetation ranges from lowland rain forest to deciduous forest/woodland and to alpine. The easternmost peak is also associated with a macroecotone complex where four phytochoria converge (Sudanian, Zambezian, Somali-Masai, Afromontane). Vegetation zones range from scrubland to evergreen forest/woodland or alpine, annual rainfall and predicted woody plant richness are variable, topographic relief is highly variable, and plant growth is seasonal (bimodal/summer rainfall). The eastern peak forms a crescent that stretches southeastward from roughly Mt. Kenya to the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania; then southward, skirting the 600-mm rainfall isoline; and then westward to Lake Tanganyika, through Selous National Park. and Lake Ruaha to the Western Rift (compare figure 47.3 with figure 47.1). The southern portions of this crescent coincide with a narrow strip of annual rainfall greater than 1,000 mm (figure 47.1A), and with evergreen to deciduous forest/woodland belonging to the Zambezian floristic zone and disjunct patches of Afromontane vegetation. The entire crescent borders the central plateau and part of the Eastern Rift zone in Tanzania where mammal richness, woody plant richness, and annual rainfall are lower; and where vegetation is mainly deciduous, low woodland, and thicket (bushland),

with floristic elements belonging mainly to the Somali-Masai phytochorion. The disjunction between these two peaks of maximum richness is a sampling artifact since the cells within or bordering Lake Victoria fall mainly over water, making them unequal area samples. The second difference from our southern African study is the abrupt decrease in mammal species richness west of High Africa that is sustained across equatorial Low Africa and the Congo Basin. Unlike equatorial High Africa, this part of equatorial Africa is confined to a single vegetation and floristic zone, tropical forest; and, moreover, parts of the Congo basin are floristically impoverished (Aubreville, 1938; Richards, 1952). This decrease in mammal richness is inconsistent with the trend in annual rainfall and predicted woody plant richness (compare figures 47.1 and 47.4), but it is consistent with recognized undercollection of animals and plants in this part of Africa. Further support for mammal richness being underrepresented in this region emerges when we examine ecological subsets (discussed later). At the genus level of analysis, the pattern for mammal richness is similar to that of species richness (figure 47.3). There is still a decrease in richness west of High Africa, but it is less marked and is associated with a new peak in maximum richness. At the family level (figure 47.5), the pattern is very diffuse, with overall high richness in tropical Africa, again extending further to the south than in the north, but with no prominent peaks at any point. This is seen also in figure 47.4 where similar family richness values occur in cells along a longitudinal transect across the entire continent at 1°N (row 25 in figure 47.2). Consistent with findings for southern Africa, the general similarity in richness gradients between taxonomic levels is supported by a correlation of r ⫽ 0.986 between species and genus richness. Correlations between genus and family (r ⫽ 0.913), and between species and family (r ⫽ 0.886) are also high (p ⬍ 0.0001). The longitudinal pattern of variation in species richness in African mammals in relation to plants is shown for westeast transects at 1°N in figure 47.4 (discussed later). The profile for projected numbers of woody plant species (O’Brien, 1998; Field et al., 2005) shows a west to east decline in plant species



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Number of species

WEST 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0

EAST

Woody plants S

U

180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

W

Y

aa

cc

ee

gg

ii

kk mm oo

Mammals

Species richness

140 120 100 80

Number of species

60 40 20

Species richness no bats

0 120 100 80 60

virtually identical to that of all mammal richness. The statistical synonyms for all-mammal richness, from strongest to weakest, are browsing herbivore, insectivory, aerial, body size 1–10 kg, terrestrial, body size ⬍100 g, omnivory, and body size 45–90 kg. Essentially the same findings apply when bats are excluded (Nxbats). With the exception of the small size, aerial, and insectivore subsets, these results differ from those obtained for southern Africa. The weakest correlates (r ⬍ 0.7) are fossorial and body size 90–180 kg. The ecological subsets that are statistically synonymous with mammal richness are also statistically synonymous with each other (table 47.4): the browsing herbivore subset is highly correlated with the insectivorous (r ⫽ 0.921) and terrestrial (r ⫽ 0.913) subsets; the aerial subset is highly correlated with the 1–10 kg (r ⫽ 0.904) and insectivorous (r ⫽ 0.915) subsets; and most strongly of all, the ⬍100 g subset with the insectivorous subset (r ⫽ 0.980). Therefore, the ecological categories most representative of the mammalian fauna as a whole are the browsing, insectivorous, and aerial subsets. Another major pattern in richness is indicated in table 47.4 by the high correlations between the frugivory subset and the arboreal (r ⫽ 0.94) and scansorial (r ⫽ 0.93) subsets. In addition, the arboreal subset is also highly correlated with the 100 g–1 kg (r ⫽ 0.94) and 1–10 kg (r ⫽ 0.91) subsets and less strongly correlated with the 10–45 kg (r ⫽ 0.741) subset. Such correlates are consistent with findings for southern Africa.

40

Genus richness

20

ta b l e 47.3 Ecological correlates of mammal richness

0 120 100

All mammals

N excluding bats

1 0.993

1

80 60

N all mammals N excluding bats

40 20

Family richness

0

S

U

W

Y

aa

cc

ee

gg

ii

locomotor categories

kk mm oo

Grid reference letters: see figure 47.2 9° 12° 15° 18° 21° 24° 27° 30° 33° 36° 39° 42°

Degrees east latitude FIGURE 47.4 Profiles of woody plant and mammalian taxonomic richness from west to east at 1°N latitude across Africa. From top to bottom, species richness of woody plants, species richness of mammals, species richness of mammals excluding bats, genus richness of mammals, and family richness of mammals. The vertical scale gives numbers of taxonomic units; the horizontal scale shows the column letters indicated in figure 47.2 and degrees of longitude.

numbers, which reflects the high plant species richness in the lowland evergreen rain forests in western Africa and the lower projected numbers in the drier environments of eastern Africa. For the mammals, however, there is an opposite trend from east to west, with peaks as the profile crosses the western and eastern rift valleys as described above. This pattern is similar when bats are excluded and for numbers of genera (although the curve is smoother with less differentiation), and on the scale used here the family pattern varies little longitudinally. ECOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF MAMMAL RICHNESS

All-mammal richness is positively correlated with richness of all of the ecological subsets (table 47.3). Most correlations are very strong (collinear; r ⱖ 0.8) and some indicate statistical synonymy (r ⱖ 0.9) in that trends of richness are

936


Terrestrial Semiterrestrial Arboreal Scansorial Aerial Aquatic Fossorial

0.925 0.697 0.827 0.712 0.950 0.741 0.541

0.929 0.722 0.823 0.715 0.908 0.723 0.582

dietary categories Insectivore Frugivore Browser Grazer Carnivore Omnivore

0.954 0.679 0.967 0.835 0.791 0.910

0.936 0.677 0.976 0.832 0.782 0.908

body weights 0–100 g 100 g–1 kg 1–10 kg 10–45 kg 45–90 kg 90–180 kg 180–360 kg ⬎360 kg

0.912 0.878 0.933 0.871 0.899 0.584 0.693 0.773

0.901 0.876 0.928 0.865 0.889 0.575 0.698 0.780


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Scans Aerial Aquat

0.263 0.586 0.795 0.67

0.477 0.672 0.711 0.489

0.373 0.915 0.711 0.877 0.745 0.737 0.866 0.849

0.764 0.413

0.517 0.829 0.626

0.658 0.333 0.58

⬎360kg

180–360 kg

90–180 kg

45–90 kg

10–45 kg

1–10 kg

100–1,000 g

0–100 g

Omnivore

Carnivore

Grazing herbivore

Browsing herbivore

Frugivory

1

0.5 1 1

0.83

0.73

0.410

1 1

1

0.775

0.703 0.636

0.694 0.713 0.878

0.734 0.867 0.895

0.627 0.269 0.41

0.921 0.874 0.698 0.824 0.980

1

1

0.722

0.829 0.198 0.519 0.93

0.782 0.45

0.813 0.173 0.739 0.783 0.376 0.554 0.892

0.824 0.253 0.703 0.94

0.61

0.817

1

0.707

0.843

0.582

0.603

0.844

0.886

0.781

0.323

0.775

0.864

0.857

0.937

0.524

0.713

1

0.923

0.742

0.901

0.745

0.696

0.892

0.820

0.828

0.4

0.829

0.904

0.854

0.913

0.496

0.855

1

0.841

0.747

0.674

0.773

0.856

0.642

0.838

0.651

0.752

0.375

0.77

0.833

0.725

0.741

0.403

0.863

1

0.817

0.822

0.711

0.801

0.828

0.852

0.838

0.863

0.494

0.851

0.46

0.646

0.849

0.59

0.647

0.576

0.92

1

0.669

0.648

0.461

0.316

0.531

0.460

0.730

0.761

0.561

0.134

0.559

0.303

0.394

0.532

0.278

0.262

0.347

0.717

1

0.471

0.673

0.519

0.572

0.457

0.683

0.638

0.564

0.742

0.716

0.259

0.690

0.623

0.375

0.599

0.317

0.412

0.558

0.765

1

0.67

0.582

0.756

0.667

0.707

0.566

0.678

0.763

0.712

0.769

0.765

0.420

0.705

0.58

0.621

0.685

0.514

0.541

0.499

0.844

Brow Graz Carn Omni 0–100 g 100 g–1 kg 1–10 kg 10–45 kg 45–90 kg 90–180 kg 180–360 kg ⬎360 kg

0.623 0.865 0.501 0.913 0.852 0.902 0.85

Insect Frug

0.553 0.136 0.583 0.547 0.482 0.537 0.604

1

0.716

0.882 0.83 1

0.189

Foss

Insectivory

1

0.398 0.149 0.55

0.642 0.615 0.836 0.662

Arb

Fossorial

Aquatic

Aerial

Scansorial

Arboreal

1

0.597

1

Terrestrial

Semiterrestrial

Terr Semiter

Ecological categories

ta b l e 47. 4

Arboreal and Scansorial

Terrestrial

40–48

65–78

32–40

52–65

24–32

39–52

16–24

26–39

8–16

13–26

0–8

0–13

Families

Aerial

35–42

40–48

28–35

32–40

21–28

24–32

14–21

16–24

7–14

8–16

0–7

0–8

FIGURE 47.5 Isoclines of species richness for the equal area grid shown in figure 47.2: arboreal/ scansorial mammals (A), terrestrial mammals (B), family richness (C), and aerial mammals (D).

In order to illustrate the species richness patterns and make comparisons between ecological categories more apparent, we have mapped each category separately. Isoclines connect grid cells with similar species richness values, and the following sets of figures compare subsets of ecological variables. Figure 47.5 shows three spatial categories, and two distinct patterns are evident when we juxtapose the species richness map for the terrestrial subset with the map for a combined arboreal-scansorial subset. The latter are strongly correlated with each other (r ⫽ 0.882), but less so with the terrestrial subset (r ⫽ 0.642 and 0.615, respectively). In figure 47.6, we again see two distinct patterns when the browsing herbivore subset is compared with the map for the frugivore (excluding bats) subset, which are also less strongly correlated with each other (table 47.4). Two distinct equatorial maxima are evident in figures 47.5 and 47.6, one in west Low Africa, the other in High East Africa. Maximum species richness for the browsing herbivore and terrestrial subsets occurs in High Africa in the northern part of the peak described for all mammal richness (compare figures 47.5 and 47.6 with figure 47.3). Gradients of decreasing richness extend north from this area in a gradual, latitudinal fashion that reaches further into northern Africa than do other subsets. This contrasts with the species rich-

938


ness pattern for carnivores in that high richness extends far to the south into South Africa (figure 47.6) while retaining a pattern similar overall to that of terrestrial species. South of Ethiopia/Somalia and the Congo Basin, gradients are longitudinal, tending to decrease from the east to the west and southwest, as described for southern Africa (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000). The north-south discrepancy in richness is evident in all ecological subsets. For the arboreal-scansorial and frugivore subsets (figures 47.5 and 47.6), the greatest richness occurs in two disjunct peaks. One is in the western portion of the lowland rain forest/CongoGuinean floristic zones. The other is in the eastern portion of this vegetation/floristic zone in the same area where the western peak in all-mammal richness occurs (compare with figures 47.1 and 47,3). Richness decreases east, north, and south of this area—steeply so to the north, more gradually so to the east and south. Again, the north-south discrepancy in richness is evident. This pattern is found only in arboreal frugivores, and it relates more clearly to the Congo-Guinean lowland forests than do any other of the ecological subsets. The more common pattern is that seen in terrestrial browsers (and grazers), the insectivorous subset (which nevertheless has a minor peak in the Congo basin) and small mammals (figures 47.5–47.7).


2/1/10 2:47:52 PM

Frugivores (excluding bats)

Browsers

35–42

35–42

28–35

28–35

21–28

21–28

14–21

14–21

7–14

7–14

0–7

0–7

Insectivores

Carnivores

60–72

25–30

48–60

20–25

36–48

15–20

24–36

10–15

12–24

5–10

0–12

0–5

FIGURE 47.6 Isoclines of species richness for the equal-area grid shown in figure 47.2: frugivores (excluding frugivorous bats, A), browsing herbivores (B), insectivores (C), and carnivores (D).

Aerial mammals, mainly but not exclusively bats, show a richness belt running east-west just north of the equator (also present in all mammals and several other groups) and a richness peak in southeast Africa similar to the southerly peak in the 1–100 g subset. This distribution for aerial mammals is also the pattern for all-mammals (figure 47.3), hence the high correlations between them and these ecological subsets. The greater contribution from small mammals rather than from large ones in generating the pattern for all-mammal richness is exemplified by figure 47.7, which compares the ⬍100 g subset map with the ⬎90 kg subset map (combination of three size subsets). The latter differs from all previous patterns, being more diffuse and with relatively high richness extending further northward than any other subset. The ⬍100 g subset also shows a large area of maximum richness, but it extends southward into southern High Africa (Zimbabwe). Thereafter small mammal richness decreases to the south, north, and west. This decrease is consistent with decreasing annual rainfall and predicted woody plant richness and with associated changes in vegetation/floristic zones. The decrease to the west in equatorial Africa was unexpected, but it is a pattern matched by aerial, insectivorous, carnivorous, and all-species. It would be expected that the diversity of insects should increase to maximum values in lowland rain forest

and that the species richness of small mammals should correspondingly increase, and the fact that it does not indicates that small mammals, and thus all mammal richness, is underrepresented for the Congo-Guinean lowland rain forest zones. It is not clear at present whether this is a real feature or due to lack of collecting in these areas, and it may be that both are implicated. The same patterns can be seen in figure 47.8, which presents east-west transects of species richness for various ecological subsets in equatorial regions (1°N, row 25 in figure 47.2). Two distinct trends in all mammal richness are apparent. First, the richness profiles for the insectivore and herbivore subsets (the latter combines browsers with grazers because they have similar distributions) are least across the lowland rain forest/ Congo-Guinean floristic zone and then abruptly triples with the transition to High Africa. Thereafter, it slightly decreases eastward. A similar, but somewhat more gradual, richness profile can be seen for the terrestrial subset, and a hint of this trend can be seen in the richness profile for the ⬎90 kg subset. None of these profiles matches the richness profiles for predicted woody plant species richness (shown at the top of figure 47.8) or for all-mammal richness across this transect (compare with figure 47.4). Second, richness profiles similar to that of predicted woody plant richness (and thus climate



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1–100 g

> 90 kg

60–72

15–18

48–60

12–15

36–48

9–12

24–36

6–9

12–24

3–6

0–12

0–3

100–1,000 g

1–45 kg

30–36

45–54

24–30

36–45

18–24

27–36

12–18

18–27

6–12

9–18

0–6

0–9

FIGURE 47.7 Isoclines of species richness for the equal-area grid shown in figure 47.2: body weight categories as follows: small mammals 1–100 g (A), large mammals ⬎90 kg (B), small mammals 100–1000 g (C), and mammals 1–45 kg (D).

and vegetation) are seen for the frugivore, arboreal, and 100 g–1 kg subsets. The last of these is noteworthy because it contradicts the richness profile for the ⬍100 g subset, which is instead similar to the richness profile for the insectivore and browsing herbivore subsets (not shown; see figure 47.7). This discrepancy suggests that the ⬍100 g subset is likely to be underrepresented in our data set. Again, however, none of these profiles are similar to that described for all-mammal richness across this transect (compare with figure 47.4). CORRELATIONS OF TA XONOMIC DIVERSITY WITH ECOLOGICAL PATTERS OF SPECIES RICHNESS

Table 47.5 shows the correlations between the taxonomic groupings and the ecological ones described here. Highest correlations between taxonomic groupings and total numbers of species per grid cell are found for bats (r ⫽ 0.916), bovids (r ⫽ 0.915), and rodents (r ⫽ 0.952). These are the three largest groupings taxonomically, and the taxonomic groups with few species have correspondingly

940


low correlations with total species numbers. The highest correlations of Primates are with arboreal and frugivorous species (r ⫽ 0.930–0.962, table 47.5) and also with the scansorial species (r ⫽ 0.900), an interesting observation since none of the Old World primates are scansorial. Richness peaks in west central Africa (figure 47.9), and this differs dramatically from the all-species pattern (figure 47.3), as it does in arboreal (figure 47.5), scansorial, and frugivorous (figure 47.6) ecological subsets. Bovidae is most highly correlated with herbivorous and terrestrial species and with 45–90 kg weight classes, and when the distribution of bovid species richness is mapped (figure 47.9), the pattern is seen to be similar to these ecological subsets (figures 47.5–47.7) and to the all-species distribution shown in figure 47.3. Chiroptera is of course correlated with small body size, aerial locomotion, and insectivory (table 47.5), and their distribution pattern is again like that of all-mammals (figure 47.3). Bats are poorly known for the Congo Basin, and this is probably another reason why there is a marked drop in mammal species richness in that region (figure 47.3).


2/1/10 2:48:21 PM

Number of species

WEST

1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0

Woody plants S

U

W

Y

aa cc ee gg

ii

EAST

kk mm oo

Grid reference letters: see figure 47.2 9° 12° 15° 18° 21° 24° 27° 30° 33° 36° 39° 42°

Degrees east latitude 70

60

60

50

50

40

40

30

30

20

20 10

10

Insectivores

Number of species

0

50

50

40

40

30

30

20

20

10

Herbivores

0

10

Frugivores

0

Arboreal

0

Mammals 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

40 30 20 10

Terrestrial

100–1,000 g

0

S

60

U W Y aa cc ee gg ii

kk mm oo

15

50 40

10

30 20 10

5

1–45 kg

> 90 kg

0

S U W Y aa cc ee gg ii

kk mm oo

0

S

V

Y

bb

ee

kk

hh

nn

Profi les of woody plant and mammalian species richness from west to east at 1°N latitude across Africa. At the top is the profi le of woody plant species richness from Figure 47.4 for reference with mammalian patterns; second row, profi les for insectivorous and herbivorous mammals; third row profi les for frugivorous and arboreal mammals; fourth row, profi les for terrestrial and small (100to 1,000-g) mammals; and bottom row, profi les for medium-sized (1- to 45-kg) and large (⬎90-kg) mammals. The vertical scale gives numbers of taxonomic units; the horizontal scale shows the column letters indicated in Figure 47.2 and degrees of longitude.

FIGURE 47.8

The same pattern is seen in species of Insectivora (figure 47.9). Rodentia correlates most highly with small body size, semiterrestrial locomotion, and browsing species richness patterns (table 47.5). The mapped distribution of rodents is generally similar to that of total species, corresponding to their higher correlations with total species, but it differs in having a secondary peak in west Central Africa. Richness is not as high as in eastern Africa, but it is high enough to suggest that undercollecting is not the sole cause of low richness values of small mammals in western Africa and the Congo basin.

Discussion The aims of this chapter have been to document the distribution of mammals in Africa today, to evaluate the quality of the data involved, and to test some of the implications for mammal richness arising from the southern Africa study (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000). Most animal and plant taxa show species richness gradients at the regional or continental scale (Macarthur, 1964, 1965; Pianka 1966; for North American mammals, see Simpson, 1964; Badgley and Fox 2000), and these have been interpreted either in terms of



941

2/1/10 2:48:31 PM

Primates

20–24 16–20 12–16 8–12 4–8 0–4

Bovidae

20–24 16–20 12–16 8–12 4–8 0–4

Rodentia

50–60 40–50 30–40 20–30 10–20 0–10

Insectivora

20–24 16–20 12–16 8–12 4–8 0–4

Isoclines of taxonomic species richness for the equal area grid shown in figure 47.2: A) Primates and Bovidae; B) Rodentia and Insectivora.

FIGURE 47.9

physical factors, such as latitude or climate and their effects on habitat productivity, or as a result of biological interactions, such as competition or predation (MacArthur, 1965; Thiery, 1982; Begon et al., 1990). We have reviewed these factors in our earlier paper (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000; and see Badgley and Fox 2000), and few if any of the hypotheses explaining predictable richness gradients are independent of climate (Currie and Paquin, 1987; Currie, 1991; Kerr and Packer, 1997; Lawton et al., 1998). This will be discussed in a second paper (O’Brien and Andrews, unpub.), but it should be noted that variation in species richness also varies with such factors as area and time. For example, as unit area increases the amount of habitat variability increases, speciation rates may increase, and extinction rates decrease (Mayr, 1963; Van Valen, 1973, 1975; Kerr and Packer, 1997), leading to increase in species numbers. Limiting effects of area have had little effect on a large island continent such as Africa, and since our sampling has been based on an equal-area grid, area is not a major source of variation in our analyses. On the other hand, time is always a factor, for the accumulation of species as a result of the differential effects of speciation and extinction take time to affect species richness patterns. As a

942


result, species numbers may be modified by historical factors resulting from evolutionary processes and geological or topographic processes (Rosen, 1984). In these terms, the African continent has had a long and stable history at least since the early Miocene, with most if not all of the extant mammalian families established on the continent since that time. It has, however, undergone various perturbations of climate and tectonic movements that have had dramatic effects on faunal diversity, in particular the periodic loss of extensive areas of rain forest and the retreat of fauna and flora into limited refugia (Moreau, 1966). In our earlier work on mammal richness patterns in southern Africa, we found that woody plant richness, and thus vegetation, alone accounts for 75% of the variation in all mammal richness (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000), and in a like fashion genus and family richness. Most in turn of the variation in woody plant species richness (85%; adj. r 2), and thus vegetation, is accounted for by climate (O’Brien et al., 1998, 2000). The same has been predicted for Africa in general (O’Brien, 1998); empirically so, for Kenya (Field et al., 2005). Following on from this, we have found or made predictions as follows.


2/1/10 2:48:31 PM

ta b l e 47.5

I

P

Ch

Ca

Eq

RH

H

Total No. species

.761

.803

.916

.875

.600

.268

.748

Su

Tr

Gir

Bo

L

Rod

.808

.332

.195

.915

.303

.952 .960

No. exclud. bats

.760

.814

.877

.866

.608

.281

.752

.792

.363

.204

.904

.305

0–100 g

.855

.463

.907

.833

.585

.263

.613

.820

.008

.147

.829

.506

.766

100–1,000 g

.699

.874

.830

.705

.502

.092

.655

.758

.546

.015

.754

.145

.925

1–10 kg

.722

.866

.864

.825

.557

.218

.717

.782

.446

.165

.853

.269

.938

10–45 kg

.539

.755

.732

.833

.448

.218

.660

.633

.319

.261

.829

.259

.805

45–90 kg

.674

.585

.846

.899

.561

.293

.639

.799

.075

.303

.905

.405

90–180 kg

.308

.264

.524

.694

.378

.298

.371

.511

–.152

.388

.672

.463

.786 .446

180–360 kg

.603

.322

.636

.661

.693

.432

.566

.599

–.060

.249

.786

.319

.585

>360 kg

.593

.450

.680

.728

.518

.563

.730

.621

.006

.493

.801

.429

.693

Terrestrial

.738

.532

.827

.941

.656

.427

.678

.766

.026

.344

.917

.522

.797

Semiterrestrial

.890

.620

.885

.818

.674

.213

.653

.816

.175

.133

.810

.447

.911

Arboreal

.550

.962

.698

.546

.390

.103

.634

.623

.689

.023

.67

–.024

.885

Scansorial

.422

.900

.569

.516

.334

.133

.608

.503

.677

.041

.58

–.065

.820

Aerial

.699

.776

.952

.819

.518

.195

.696

.794

.312

.133

.874

.227

.889

Aquatic

.539

.818

.703

.639

.384

.198

.726

.604

.455

.137

.711

.121

.841

Fossorial

.585

.048

.337

.446

.523

.445

.438

.335

–.155

.117

.418

.425

.410

Insectivorous

.856

.577

.950

.876

.613

.246

.662

.856

.087

.157

.876

.464

.825

Frugivorous

.436

.930

.583

.426

.291

.085

.579

.516

.785

–.040

.565

–.146

.806 .906

Browsing

.809

.686

.887

.877

.659

.301

.714

.833

.228

.243

.916

.422

Grazing

.752

.374

.840

.854

.645

.320

.589

.784

–.151

.292

.869

.642

.716

Carnivorous

.505

.527

.691

.900

.494

.308

.570

.560

.042

.348

.753

.37

.704

Omnivorous

.709

.744

.800

.749

.515

.363

.732

.806

.335

.161

.829

.272

.885

Mammal richness patterns were expected to be broadly similar at all taxonomic levels: robustly so in the case of species and genus richness, diffusely so in the case of family richness. This has been found to be true for all-Africa, particularly in the comparison of species and genus distributions. In this case, however, it must be remembered that 636 small mammal species lacking recorded species distributions have been represented by their genus distributions (table 47.1). Statistical correlations between taxonomic levels should be strong and ideally collinear (r ⱖ 0.8), especially between mammal species and genus levels, which should exhibit statistical singularity (r ⱖ 0.9). Again this is confirmed by our analyses but with the same caveat that some groups are represented by genus distributions (table 47.1). Mammal richness was expected to be greatest in the CongoGuinean lowland rain forest of Central and West Africa. Species richness of woody vegetation and insects is greatest in these habitats (Aubréville, 1938; Richards, 1952; Mound and Waloff, 1978), and they extend in a great swathe across the equatorial region of Africa west of the western rift valley. Our results, however, show species richness to be anomalously low, although this is less marked at the genus and family levels of analysis. Clearly there is underrepresentation of species known from this region, and while this might be expected for Bovidae, which is predominantly a family adapted to nonforest environments, it is strikingly evident for Insectivora (figure 47.9) and Chiroptera (not shown here). For example, the genus Crocidura has over 100 species so far described, but most lack comprehensive distribution records, and so in our analyses we have represented them with a single entry at the

genus level (table 47.1). While much information is lost in the process, it removes the likelihood of bias in favor of wellcollected areas and against remoter parts of Africa that have yet to be investigated. The same is true for many species of bats and rodents, and it is accepted that small mammals in general are underrepresented, which may be a major factor in the richness lows in Central and West Africa. On the other hand, rodent species are well represented in west Central Africa, which is reflected in figure 47.9 by a diversity peak in this region. Since rodents are not usually collected to the exclusion of other small mammals, this indicates that that other issues may be important—for example, the fact that the entire area in Central and West Africa is represented by a single phytochorion, the Congo-Guinean rain forest. Moreover, parts of the rain forest in the central Congo basin are relatively poor in tree species (White, 1983), with extensive swamp forest that would not be a suitable environment for small mammals. Mammal richness was expected to be lower in Africa north of the Congo-Guinean lowland rain forest than south of it, even in analogous vegetation/floristic zones. This prediction is based on the fact mentioned earlier that vegetation richness is higher south of the equator, even when comparing analogous vegetation zones (Werger, 1978; White, 1983; Cowling et al., 1997). Most ecological subsets of mammals exhibit a similar north-south discrepancy in richness, including mammals greater than 90 kg, and it is particularly marked in the family distribution (figure 47.5) and the carnivorous and terrestrial ecological subsets. It is surprising that this pattern is observed in large mammals, given their greater foraging, migratory, and/or distributional ranges, but such has been found to be the case (figure 47.7)



943

2/1/10 2:48:42 PM

This difference in mammal richness is evident from the specieslevel distribution is even greater in the genus distribution (figure 47.3) and is greatest in the family distribution, where the difference is quite marked (figure 47.5). Since the higher the taxonomic level, the longer in time the taxon has existed, this progression appears to show southern Africa as the center of dispersal of much of the present-day African mammalian fauna. This hypothesis could be tested by investigating the phylogenetic record of African mammals and their centers of endemism. Mammal richness was expected to be greater in eastern Africa than would be predicted by woody plant richness (which is based on climate) or climate (annual rainfall) alone. Habitat heterogeneity in this part of Africa is high because of tectonic activity associated with the rift valleys, resulting in the convergence of several phytochoria within a limited geographic space, and species richness has been shown to increase with habitat heterogeneity (Kerr and Packer, 1997). This runs counter to the fact that predicted woody plant richness and precipitation are less than that of the rain forests in West and Central Africa, and therefore mammal richness should also be less as it is highly correlated with these factors. However, based on our southern Africa work, the habitat heterogeneity engendered by topographic relief results in an increase in mammal richness in that area (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000; O’Brien et al., 2000). We have found this to be the case for eastern Africa in our analyses for all-mammals and for many of the ecological subsets (figures 47.5–47.7). All-mammal species richness was expected to be positively and significantly correlated with all ecological subsets, but most strongly correlated with small mammals and with insectivorous, aerial, arboreal, and frugivorous subsets. These were all shown to be the case for southern Africa (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000), with lowest correlations for fossorial (not significant), scansorial (not significant), and aquatic subsets. Our results here show high correlations between all-Africa and small (ⱕ100 g, r ⫽ 0.91, 1–10 kg r ⫽ 0.93), insectivorous (r ⫽ 0.95), and aerial (r ⫽ 0.95) subsets, but the arboreal (r ⫽ 0.83), and frugivore (r ⫽ 0.68) subsets have lower than expected correlations (table 47.3). On the contrary, the terrestrial subset, which had a slightly lower correlation with all-mammals in southern Africa, is highly correlated in the all-Africa sample (r ⫽ 0.93). The ecological subsets of mammals that support the richness peaks in eastern High Africa are terrestrial, browsers, grazers, carnivores, insectivores, small mammals (⬍100 g) and small to medium-sized mammals (1–45 kg). These also show richness lows in Central Africa, expected in the case of terrestrial species but arising from other factors for the rest (as discussed earlier). Increase in woody plant species richness within a limited geographic area is the product of convergence or diversity in vegetation zones. This leads to heterogeneity of the habitat (Kerr and Packer, 1997), and structural complexity of vegetation in turn is strongly related to mammalian faunas, in terms of both numbers of species and their adaptations (Fleming, 1973; Andrews et al., 1979). Habitat complexity in southern Africa was found to be most closely matched in the arboreal (r ⫽ 0.88), insectivore (r ⫽ 0.85), frugivore (r ⫽ 0.82) and small mammals (ⱕ45 kg; r ⫽ 0.78) subsets. It was most poorly matched by large mammal subsets (⬎45 kg and ⬎90 kg; r ⫽ 0.21 and 0.13) and by fossorial (r ⫽ –0.08), scansorial (r ⫽ –0.25), and aquatic (r ⫽ 0.35) subsets. Since the plant richness values used in the present study are based on predictions, we have not calculated correlations with mammal richness values.

944


SPECIES RICHNESS AND SPECIES ABUNDANCE

It has been observed that animal species richness may either increase or decrease with increased habitat productivity (Rosenzweig, 1997). It is necessary here to distinguish between species richness and species abundance (biomass), and distinction must also be made between different food chains in assessing the effects productivity may have on any one part of it. Ecosystems such as grasslands may be less productive than forests in terms of standing biomass, but they may have up to 50% of net primary production passing through the animal grazing food chain (Odum, 1983). As grasses and herbs grow on an annual cycle, with new resources available on a yearly basis, productivity for mammals may be high even where overall productivity is low. Forests carry a greater plant biomass and higher productivity, but most of it is locked up in long-lived trees, and 90% of net production may pass through the detritus food chain (Odum, 1983). The yearly production of leaves and fruit that is available for mammals to eat is only a small fraction of total biomass. Thus, animal biomass is greater in open, grassland habitats, because large amounts of plant food are available on an annual basis, but species richness is low because the lack of variety of plant types and habitat do not provide the niches for species with differing requirements. As a result, mammal species richness is not and should not be expected to be highly correlated with annual net primary productivity (Rosenzweig, 1997). CORRELATIONS AT HIGHER TA XONOMIC LEVELS

Variation in woody plant species richness accounts for 77% of the variation in mammal species richness in southern Africa and nearly as much for mammal genus richness (70%), but it accounts for only 35%–50% of the variation in mammal family richness. It is usually the case that at higher taxonomic levels the distributional ranges of mammal taxa increase absolutely, including within them the distributional ranges of all subordinate taxa, and thus encompassing a wider range of climatic, vegetational (plant richness), and topographic conditions. The same applies with regard to the ecological and physiological characteristics of the taxa themselves. Such blending tends to homogenize the variations in climate, vegetation, and terrain and should result in lower correlations between mammal richness and these parameters at higher levels. Moreover, nearly 80% of family variability is accounted for by terrestrial species, with omnivores, insectivores, and frugivores only accounting for 63%–65%, a pattern distinct from that of species diversity. This blending only appears to be a significant factor at the family level of analysis for mammals, and it should caution against the use of familylevel identifications for palaeoecological interpretation in the fossil record. OMISSION OF BATS FROM ANALYSES

Most mammal faunas in the fossil record do not include bats for a variety of reasons. Their lifestyle is different, their manner of death and preservation are different, and their bones are more fragile than the majority of other mammal bones. It is only in cave deposits that bats are commonly found, and even there their mode of preservation is likely to be different (Andrews, 1990). Multiple regression of all mammal species on plant species richness in data from southern Africa reduced the R2 value from 75% to 68% when bats were excluded (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000). In addition, multiple


2/1/10 2:48:42 PM

regression of different ecological guilds against the total mammalian fauna showed a distinct difference when bats were excluded. Over 93% of species richness variability is accounted for in the southern African mammalian faunas by insectivorous species, the great majority of which are bats, and 85% is accounted for by bats alone. Arboreal species account for 82% of variability in mammal species richness, and when bats are excluded, these remain as the best predictor of variability. In the models we put forward (Andrews and O’Brien, 2000), insectivorous and terrestrial species accounted for 97% of mammal species richness; but when bats were excluded, it was the combination of terrestrial and semiterrestrial species that accounted for the highest variability at 95%. In another model, we found that terrestrial and semiterrestrial species and bats account for nearly 99% of variability in mammal species richness; whereas when bats were excluded, arboreal species replaced bats with a similar R2 value. Considering just the dietary guilds, frugivores accounted for the highest variability of mammal species richness when bats were excluded from the analysis, accounting for 75% compared with 81% when the small number of southern African frugivorous bats are included. It is clear that inclusion of bats adds greatly to the discriminatory power of mammalian faunas, but their absence from most fossil faunas would be unlikely to alter their ecological interpretation. This is reinforced by the fact that multiple regression values between mammals and woody plants decrease by only about 7% when bats are excluded, by 10% between mammals and separate dietary and spatial guilds, and by little or no change with many climatic variables. APPLICATIONS TO CONSERVATION

Species richness patterns in Africa have been investigated in the past mainly as a tool for conservation, seeking hot spots with high diversity in order to preserve them (Williams, 1996; Williams et al., 2000; Brooks et al., 2001). The patterns obtained in these investigations are extremely similar to the all-mammal map presented here in figure 47.3, with species richness peaks in eastern Africa along the rift valley highlands, greater diversity south of the equator than north, and relative richness lows in the central African forests in the Congo Basin. This similarity, obtained using different sampling techniques, corroborates our results, but in addition we can show that some areas are more important for different ecological categories of mammals. For example, the forests of Guinea and Cameroon have high species richness of arboreal (figure 47.5) and frugivorous (figure 47.6) mammals, while for aerial mammals, including bats, the diversity hot spot is further south in southern Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia (figure 47.5). Other categories of mammal have distributions corresponding to that for all-mammals, such as medium sized and very small mammals (figure 47.7), while others have widely dispersed distributions, such as carnivores (figure 47.6) and large mammals (figure 47.7). There is no one part of Africa that preserves all types of mammal, and clearly conservation should be geared to the type of mammal to be preserved. APPLICATIONS TO PALAEOECOLOGY

There is increasing interest in reconstructing the habitats of fossil mammals and their ancestors, and methodology is being increasingly refined. There are issues of taphonomic biases introduced into all fossil faunas by taphonomic processes,

but these will not be considered here (Behrensmeyer, 1975; Brain, 1981; Andrews, 1990; Lyman, 1994). Alternative approaches such as isotopes (Kingston and Harrison, 2007), pollen (Bonnefille et al., 2004), and vegetation reconstruction (Andrews and Bamford, 2008) provide independent evidence on environment, but these also are beyond the scope of this chapter. Our main concern here is that there is insufficient attention being paid to the range of habitats present today in Africa that could serve as a comparative base for reconstructions based on mammalian faunas, still one of the most common forms of environmental reconstruction (Andrews and Bamford, 2008). Different mammal species are used on an opportunistic basis to indicate past environments, often because they are the taxa that are most abundant or are most familiar to the workers concerned. Two groups of mammal have been targeted in particular for environmental reconstruction, bovids and rodents ( Kappelman, 1984, 1988; Avery, 1990, 1991; Plummer and Bishop, 1994; Gentry, 1996; Kappelman et al., 1997; Fernandez-Jalvo et al., 1998; DeGusta and Vrba, 2005; Kovarovic and Andrews, 2007). Both bovids and rodents are abundant in many fossil sites and have high species richness, and both have distributions of species richness very similar to that of all-mammals (compare figure 47.7 with figure 47.3, and see table 47.5). As such, they might appear to be good proxies for mammals as a whole, but they are less well suited as proxies for vegetation reconstruction. The highest levels of species richness in Africa are not in the areas of greatest plant diversity, such as in the rain forests, but they are in areas where several vegetation types converge in one geographic area, this convergence being the consequence of topographic relief. Woody plant richness in southern Africa (data are not currently available for Africa as a whole) is most highly correlated with arboreal and aerial frugivores and insectivores (r ⫽ 0.79–0.88) but less highly correlated with terrestrial browsers and grazers (r ⫽ 0.61–0.69). If these results are corroborated for Africa as a whole, it indicates that while terrestrial bovids and semiterrestrial rodents may be good indicators for habitat complexity, they are not such good indicators for vegetation richness compared with primates, bats, and insectivores (i.e., arboreal and aerial frugivores and insectivores). The application of species richness analysis to fossils has limitations, for the fossil record is too scattered for this to be possible at present. In addition, the assignment of ecological variables to fossils is problematic unless fossils are available that provide evidence on diet (from the dentition), locomotion, and size (both from postcranial remains). Some of these ecological variables can be determined through ecomorphology of fossil taxa, especially on bovid postcrania (Kappelman, 1988; Plummer and Bishop, 1994; DeGusta and Vrba, 2005; Kovarovic and Andrews, 2007), bovid teeth (Janis, 1988; Hunter and Fortelius, 1994), and carnivore postcrania (Van Valkenburgh, 1987; Turner 1989). In addition, microwear (Walker et al., 1978), mesowear (Fortelius and Solounias, 2000), and tooth structure (Jernvall and Fortelius, 2004) provide interpretations of diet on a wide range of taxa. Ecomorphology of small mammals has yet to be attempted with any success, but it is likely that useful results will be obtained in the future. When these measures of ecomorphology are combined with community analysis of fossil faunas, they will provide evidence of habitat structure in greater detail than is possible at present (Andrews et al., 1979; Andrews, 1996; Fernandez-Jalvo et al., 1998).



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Conclusions In the present study, patterns of species richness have shown marked differences between ecological categories of mammal, with some varying with vegetation but most varying with other factors. For example, arboreal frugivores and mammals in the small size class 100 g–1 kg have distribution patterns tracking woody plant distributions, with greatest richness in the West African lowland rain forests. Most mammals, however, have greatest richness where the habitat is most variable, as in East High Africa where five plant phytochoria converge as a result of high topographic relief. Variations in richness for the extant faunas provide a basis for interpreting fossil faunas to reconstruct past environments. This indeed is the basis for the community ecology approach, whereby relatively high proportions of one group or another is used as evidence of habitat. For example, arboreal frugivores have been shown here to be highly correlated with vegetation and to have greatest richness tropical forest, and so their presence in a fossil fauna indicates an environment rich in trees, with fruit available for much of the year. This is making a readily understandable statement about the environment (Andrews et al., 1979). Similarly, high richness of terrestrial browsers in a fossil fauna provides less strong evidence of vegetation, for they are poorly correlated with distribution patterns of vegetation; but, on the other hand, they are highly correlated with patterns of species richness as a whole, and they may therefore be representative of a fossil fauna, particularly with reference to the degree of complexity of the environment. Small mammals are also highly correlated with all-mammal species richness, and like terrestrial herbivores, they may be representative of environmental complexity; but they are less highly correlated with vegetation. The end conclusion of this work is that different ecological categories of mammals have different relationships with the environment, vegetation, and climate, and analyses of palaeoecology should take these differences into account. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to Sylvia Hixson, Brian Rosen, and Rob Whittaker for comments on this work. We are also glad to acknowledge the help of Jessica Pearson, Jennifer Scott, and Martin Strawbridge in the data analyses. We are also grateful to the editors of this volume for the invitation to submit a chapter to the volume, for their comments on the manuscript, and in particular to the anonymous referee who put much time and effort into improving the quality of this chapter.

Literature Cited Andrews, P. 1990. Owls, Caves and Fossils. Natural History Museum, London, 231 pp. ———. 1996. Palaeoecology and hominoid palaeoenvironments. Biological Reviews 71:257–300. Andrews, P., and M. Bamford 2008. Past and present vegetation ecology of Laetoli, Tanzania. Journal of Human Evolution 54:78–98. Andrews, P., J. Lord, and E. M. N. Evans. 1979. Patterns of ecological diversity in fossil and modern mammalian faunas. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 11:177–205. Andrews P., and E. M. O’Brien. 2000. Climate, vegetation and predictable gradients in mammal species richness in southern Africa. Journal of Zoology 251:205–231. Aubréville, A. 1938. La forêt coloniale: Les forêts de l’Afrique occidentale française. Annales de l’Académie des Sciences Coloniales, Paris 9:1–245.

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Richards, P.W. 1952. The Tropical Rain Forest: An Ecological Study. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 468 pp. Rosen, B. R. 1984. Reef coral biogeography and climate through the late Cainozoic: Just islands in the sun or a critical pattern of islands? Geological Journal Special Issue 11:201–262. Rosenzweig, M. L. 1995. Species Diversity in Space and Time. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 436 pp. Shepherd, U. L. 1998. A comparison of species diversity and morphological diversity across the North American latitudinal gradient. Journal of Biogeography 25:19–29. Simpson, G. G. 1964. Species diversity of North American recent mammals. Systematic Zoology 13:57–73. Smithers, R. H. N. 1983. The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion. University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 736 pp. Stuart, C., and T. Stuart. 1988. Field Guide to the Mammals of Southern Africa. New Holland, London, 272 pp. Thiery, R. G. 1982. Environmental instability and community diversity. Biological Reviews 57:671–710. Thornthwaite, C. W., and J. R. Mather. 1955. The Water Balance. Publications in Climatology 8, Laboratory of Climatology, Centerton, N.J. ———. 1962. Average Climatic Water Balance Data of the Continents: Part I. Africa. Publications in Climatology 15, Laboratory of Climatology, Centerton, N.J. Turner, A. 1990. The evolution of the guild of larger terrestrial carnivores during the Plio-Pleistocene in Africa. Geobios 23:349–368. Van Valen, L. 1973. Body size and numbers of plants and mammals. Evolution 27:27–35. ———. 1975. Group selection, sex and fossils. Evolutionary Theory 1:1–30. Van Valkenburgh, B. 1987. Skeletal indicators of locomotor behaviour in living and extinct carnivores. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 7:162–182. Van Zinderen Bakker, E. M. (ed.). 1969. Palaeoecology of Africa and of the Surrounding Islands and Antarctica, vol. 4. Balkema, Cape Town, 274 pp. Walker, A. C., H. N. Hoeck, and L. Perez. 1978. Microwear of mammalian teeth as an indicator of diet. Science 201:908–910. Werger, M. J., and A. C. Van Bruggen. 1978. Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa. Springer, Berlin, 1439 pp. White, F. 1981. Vegetation Map of Africa. UNESCO/AETFAT/UNESCO, Paris. ———. 1983. The Vegetation of Africa: A Descriptive Memoir to Accompany the UNESCO/AETFAT/UNSO Vegetation Map of Africa. UNESCO, Paris, 356 pp. Williams, P. H. 1996. Mapping variations in the strength and breadth of biogeographic transition zones using species turnover. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 263:579–588. Williams, P. H., N. D. Burgess, and C. Rahbek. 2000. Flagship species, ecological complementarity, and conserving the diversity of mammals and birds in sub-Saharan Africa. Animal Conservation 3:249–260. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder. 1993. Mammal Species of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1,206 pp.



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CHAP TER FORT Y-EIGHT

Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotopes in East African Mammals: Modern and Fossil THURE E . CERLING, JOHN M. HARRIS, ME AVE G. LE AKE Y, BENJAMIN H. PASSE Y, AND NAOMI E . LE VIN

Stable isotopes have become an important tool to study diets and behavior of fossil mammals, but the path to acceptance has been long and arduous. In 1978, DeNiro and Epstein published an important paper showing that mammalian tissues recorded valuable dietary information in their 13C/12C ratios in bones, collagen, and other tissues (DeNiro and Epstein, 1978). Shortly thereafter, Sullivan and Krueger (1981) and Ericson et al. (1981) proposed that fossil bone could be used to reconstruct diet from their isotope ratios. In 1982, Schoeninger and DeNiro (1982) showed that bone apatite and bone collagen gave different estimates of diets; these results were interpreted to mean that bone apatite was susceptible to diagenesis and that no dietary information could be obtained from fossil bone apatite. The matter rested uneasily for a few years until Lee-Thorp and van der Merwe (1987) published observations that stable isotopes in tooth bioapatite preserved a signal through geological time; they interpreted these results to suggest that bioapatite recorded diet signals that were preserved through diagenesis. This study sparked additional studies, especially concentrating on tooth enamel (e.g., Lee-Thorp et al., 1989). Several important developments followed in the early 1990s. Quade et al. (1992) gave conclusive evidence that initial 13C/12C ratios in tooth enamel were preserved during diagenesis by showing that the stable isotope composition of tooth enamel was different than diagenetic carbonates in the same sequences. Ambrose and Norr (1993) showed that collagen and bioapatite primarily recorded the protein and the carbohydrate sources of diet, respectively, and therefore collage and bioapatite may give different indications of diet. Ayliffe et al. (1994) used X-ray diffraction (XRD) to show that modern enamel was well crystallized but modern dentine and bone were poorly crystallized; in contrast, fossil enamel, bone, and dentine were all well crystallized, showing that bone and dentine underwent recrystallization during diagenesis. Wang and Cerling (1994) further showed that the isotope ratios for both 13C/12C and 18O/16O of fossil dentine and fossil bone could be compromised in diagenesis and that the process could be modeled using water/rock interaction. Some debate has ensued about the relative fidelity of

the CO3 versus PO4 components in bioapatites, with some arguments being made that even during recrystallization the oxygen in the PO4 component could preserve the original signal. In certain cases, the interior enamel exhibits different isotope ratios than the exterior (Schoeninger et al., 2003a), which may be due to diagenesis or to enamel maturation patterns (Passey and Cerling 2002). Studies of sample treatments (Koch et al., 1997), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR; Sponheimer and Lee-Thorp, 1999), and trace element abundances (Sponheimer and Lee-Thorp, 2006) have also been used to study diagenesis processes with the conclusion that the isotope signal in enamel is much more robust than in dentine or bone. There is general agreement now that the 13C/12C and 18O/16O ratios of fossil tooth enamel are preserved in the Neogene geological record, although there is as yet no diagnostic test to assure that no resetting of the stable carbon and oxygen isotope signal of enamel occurred during diagenesis; dentine and bone are almost always recrystallized and are likely to have been compromised during recrystallization. The confidence arises from several forms of evidence. One approach is to sample different taxa that might be expected to have a large range in 13C/12C or 18O/16O ratios. For example, deinotheres always have low 13C/12C ratios even when other mammals have high 13C/12C ratios (Cerling et al., 1999). Hippopotamids always have 18O/16O ratios lower than equids, even when sampled from the same sedimentary unit (Cerling et al., 2003a), and should, therefore, have experienced identical diagenetic conditions. These observations lend confidence that diagenesis has not significantly altered the original isotope ratios in enamel. Many paleontological research projects in Africa now incorporate isotopic aspects to the work, and some isotope results are available from many study sites including Allia Bay (Schoeninger et al., 2003b), the Baringo Basin (Kingston et al., 1994), Chorora (Bernor et al., 2004), Gona (Levin et al., 2008), Fort Ternan (Cerling et al., 1996), Laetoli (Kingston and Harrison, 2007), Kanapoi (Harris et al., 2003), Langebaanweg (Franz-Odendaal et al., 2002), Lothagam (Leakey et al., 1996; Cerling et al., 2003a), Makapansgat (Sponheimer et al., 1999;

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Hopley et al., 2006), Sterkfontein (van der Merwe et al., 2003), and Swartkrans (Lee-Thorp et al., 1994, 2003). Studies focused on mammalian lineages also often use isotope analysis as part of the study so that comparisons or histories are available for bovids (Cerling et al., 2003b; Sponheimer et al., 2003), hippos (Boisserie et al., 2005; Cerling et al., 2008; Harris et al., 2008), proboscideans (Cerling et al., 1999), suids (Harris and Cerling, 2002), and even including some hominids (Lee-Thorp et al., 1994; van der Merwe et al., 2003, 2008; Sponheimer et al., 2006). The increased application of stable isotopic studies is due to careful work to reduce sample size and working with museum curators to develop conservative approaches to sampling, including collecting samples that would otherwise not be collected specifically for isotope studies, profile work, and innovative analytical techniques (e.g., laser ablation). In this review, we will discuss only the isotope ratios that are preserved in the carbonate component of tooth enamel. Phosphate studies apply only to oxygen isotopes and dietary information is lacking; likewise, collagen is rarely preserved in fossils older than some thousands of years. We first provide a background by discussing general aspects of stable isotope ecology in Africa, principally those processes related to effects of 13C/12C in different ecosystems and then those processes affecting 18O/16O ratios in the water cycle. We review isotopic analysis of the diets of extant African mammals and consider the dietary history of different mammalian lineages. We then discuss the correspondence between the isotopic evidence for the transition from a C3 to a C4 world and the palaeontological evidence for faunal change at the end of the Miocene and beginning of the Pliocene as shown by the faunal assemblages from Lothagam, northern Kenya. This faunal turnover is one of the most marked in the Cenozoic. Lastly, we discuss future directions of stable isotope paleoecology.

Background ISOTOPE TERMINOLOGY AND METHODS

Carbon occurs on Earth as two stable isotopes, 12C and 13C, with proportional abundances of 98.89% and 1.11%, respectively. Oxygen occurs as three stable isotopes, 16O, 17O, and 18O, with proportional abundances of 99.759%, 0.037%, and 0.204%, respectively. That isotope ratios can be more accurately measured than absolute isotope abundances was recognized in the 1950s, and the now-traditional isotope definitions and terminology were developed as a result. Isotope ratios for carbon and oxygen are expressed as 13C (Rsample/Rstandard 1 )*1,000 and 18O (Rsample/Rstandard 1 )*1,000, where Rsample and Rstandard are the 13C/12C or 18O/16O ratios of the sample and standard, and where the units are permil (‰). The 13C values of plants and bioapatite 13C and 18O values derived wholly from the CO3 component in enamel are referenced relative to the international standard pee dee belemnite (PDB). The 18O of water values, on the other hand, are reported relative to the standard standard mean ocean water (SMOW). The two reference scales are related by 18OSMOW 1.03091 (d18OPDB) 30.91.

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Isotope fractionation describes the phenomenon that different isotope ratios are found in isotopic equilibrium with each other in different phases. For example, the heavy isotope 18O is enriched in liquid water relative to water vapor; this enrichment is known as fractionation and is defined as a AB R A/RB (1,000d A)/(1,000dB), where a AB is isotope fractionation, and A and B represent two different phases. Isotope enrichment describes fractionation in units of ‰: eAB (a AB 1)*1,000. Isotope discrimination is similar to isotope enrichment except that isotope equilibrium is not necessarily attained. This is a useful expression to describe nonequilibrium processes such as the isotope enrichment from diet to tissue. Isotope discrimination is here defined as eAB* (R A/RB 1)*1,000, where the asterisk implies that the system is not necessarily at isotope equilibrium. Carbon in bioapatite occurs as CO3 substituted for PO4 and OH in the bioapatite (Ca5(PO4)3(OH) structure; approximately 0.7 mmol/mg of CO2 are evolved in the reaction of bioapatite with 100% H3PO4. Oxygen also exists in both the PO4 and OH positions; the PO4 can be chemically separated and the 18O of the PO4 component can be determined. For tooth enamel, this is a redundant analysis because both the PO4 and CO3 components are in isotopic equilibrium with the same fluid: blood plasma. However, for dentine, bone, and cementum, the PO4 component of bioapatite is more likely to be preserved through diagenesis. In this review we discuss only the results from tooth enamel, which, for most mammals, is sufficiently common that it can be analyzed for most purposes. Climate parameters discussed in the text include mean annual precipitation (MAP) and mean annual temperature (MAT). The values discussed are taken from the East African Meteorological Department (1975). CARBON ISOTOPES AND ECOLOGY

Plants use several photosynthetic pathways that have different 13C values. Plants using the C3 photosynthetic pathway, which is used by most dicotyledonous plants, have an average 13C value of about 27.5%; plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway, which is used by most tropical grasses and sedges, have an average 13C value of about 12.5% (Deines, 1980). In our discussion, we refer to C4 grasses; in certain cases, C4 sedges (and even more rarely, C4 dicots or CAM plants) may be an important component in certain mammalian diets. Figure 48.1 shows the 13C of ca. 700 plants from East and Central Africa; the 13C of plants using the two different photosynthetic pathways is well separated, and thus 13C is a useful measure of the fraction of C3 or C4 biomass consumed by mammals. Fortunately, dicots make up browse, and C4 plants are almost exclusively grasses in Africa so that the 13C value can be used to distinguish graze (grass) from browse (dicots). This distinction is blurred in higher latitudes and higher elevations because cool-season grasses use the C3 photosynthetic pathway. Likewise, prior to the global


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Xeric Mesic

Xeric Mesic Closed canopy forest

–40

–35

–30

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13C Histogram of 13C values of East and Central African plants (n 700) collected between 1997 and 2006.

FIGURE 48.1

expansion of C4 biomass in the late Miocene (Cerling et al., 1997), most grasses likely used the C3 pathway even in tropical regions; thus, the distinction between grazing and browsing in the tropics can only be documented by stable isotopes in latest Miocene or younger fossils. It is important to note that different ecosystems have differing 13C values for C3 and C4 plants. For example, previous authors have noted that C4 grasses are more enriched in 13C in mesic ecosystems than in arid ecosystems (e.g., Hattersley, 1982, 1992); the average 13C value of grasses in the Athi plains (MAP 艐 800 mm, MAT 艐 18°C) is about 2‰ enriched in 13C compared grasses to the Turkana region (MAP 艐 200 mm; MAT 艐 29°C). The 13C of C3 plants also is related to the aridity (Ehleringer and Cooper, 1988); however, more xeric sites tend to have more enriched 13C values than mesic sites. The xeric ecosystem in the Turkana region is enriched in 13C compared to the relatively mesic ecosystem found in the Athi plains region. Closed canopy ecosystems can have very depleted 13C ratios; the plants growing in the subcanopy of the Kakamega and Ituri forests have averaged 13C values of 31‰ and 34‰ (Cerling et al., 2003b, 2004), respectively. The additional structure exhibited by these isotope differences in ecosystems provides both admonishment and reward. The admonishment is the lesson that there is no single mixing line between C3 and C4 ecosystems, but the reward is that the isotope method provides an independent check for a closed canopy ecosystem. Although sites of closed canopies are likely to be poorly preserved in the geological record, MacFadden and Higgins (2004) have interpreted closed canopy conditions based on very 13C-depleted 13C values. “You are what you eat” applies especially well to isotope ecology. The carbon isotopic composition of bioapatite is in isotopic equilibrium with blood bicarbonate. Several studies have documented the isotope enrichment from diet to bioapatite. Ambrose and Norr (1993) showed that the bioapatite 13C values are related to the bulk diet in

carbohydrate rich diets. Passey et al. (2005b) showed that the variation in isotope enrichment factors reported for different mammals (Tieszen and Fagre, 1993; Ambrose and Norr, 1993; Cerling and Harris, 1999) was related to the diet-breath enrichment: voles, rabbits, pigs, and cattle have isotopes enrichments of 11.5 0.3‰, 12.8 0.7‰, 13.3 0.3‰, and 14.6 0.3‰, respectively. Appropriate isotope enrichments are needed to interpret and compare fossil mammal assemblages. Lastly, it is important to realize that the isotopic composition of the atmosphere, which is the source of carbon in plants, has not been constant over geological, or even human, time scales. For example, we know that humans have significantly changed the 13C of the atmosphere due to fossil fuel burning. Today, the 13C value of atmospheric CO2 (8 ‰) is shifted from the pre-1850 atmosphere, which had a 13C value of 6.5‰. Any interpretations of fossil material must take into account the isotope composition of the atmosphere at the time those fossils were preserved and its influence on the 13C of plants growing in that atmosphere. Figure 48.2 shows the change in 13C of deep ocean carbonates from the Atlantic Ocean through the past 20 million years based on the data of Zachos et al (2001); this represents a proxy for the isotopic composition of the atmosphere over geological time because Atlantic deep water has had little time for modification due to its recent downwelling. These data show that about the time of the global change from the “C3 world” to the “C4 world” at the end of the Miocene (Cerling and Ehleringer, 2000), the oceans underwent a significant shift in 13C perhaps related to that change in global terrestrial ecology (Cerling, 1997). Furthermore, the middle Miocene, equivalent to the Monterrey event in paleoceanography, was a period of very positive 13C values for the ocean and, presumably, the atmosphere. Therefore, in early and middle Miocene times, it is important to know the isotopic composition of the ecosystem making up the base of the food chain.

2.0

13C

–1.0

–2.0 20

FIGURE 48.2 13C of benthic foraminfera from the Atlantic Ocean (data from Zachos et al., 2001). Heavy lines show the long-term average 13C values for the periods from 20 to 17 Ma, 17 to 12.5 Ma, 12.5 to 6 Ma, and 6 Ma to pre-Industrial times. The 1.5‰ shift in the atmosphere is shown as a solid line.

FORT Y-EIGHT: STABLE CARBON AND OXYGEN ISOTOPES IN EAST AFRICAN MAMMALS


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OXYGEN ISOTOPES AND THE WATER CYCLE

The meteoric water cycle determines the isotope composition of surface waters in East Africa. In present-day Africa, the 18O of rainfall varies from about 0‰ in the Ethiopian Highlands to about 6‰ in some high mountain regions (e.g., Mt. Kenya; Rietti-Shati et al., 2000). Globally, meteoric waters fall on or near to the relationship D 8 18O 10. When water evaporates it is preferentially enriched in 18O compared to D, so that the slope for evaporated waters is usually between ca. 3 and 5. Thus, Lake Turkana has a 18O value of about 6% although the inflowing Omo River, and local groundwater, has an average 18O value of about 2.3‰. Leaf water is highly enriched in D and 18O compared to source waters, which usually are on, or near, the meteoric water line. Therefore, leaf water is highly enriched in 18O and represents a source of water enriched in 18O compared to unevaporated groundwater or surface water. It is important to consider the effects of evaporation if animals derive a significant portion of their water from lakes (e.g., topi or hippos from modern Lake Turkana) or from plants (e.g., giraffes). This has particular significance in the potential application to paleoaridity (discussed later).

Alcelaphines (88) Buffalo (90) Forest buffalo (17) Waterbuck (30) Zebra (91) Warthog (41) Hippo (354) Impala (47) Elephant (231) Dikdik (21) Giraffe (25) –20

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0

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13C Box-and-whisker plots of 13C for representative large mammals from East and Central Africa. Forest and savanna buffalo are distinguished on the basis of where the samples were collected. Forest sites include the Aberdare, Mt. Kenya, Arobuke-Sokoke, and Ituri Forests. Figure includes data derived from elephant ivory (dentine) because diagenesis does not affect modern samples.

FIGURE 48.3

Review of Isotopes in African Cenozoic Mammals STABLE ISOTOPES IN EXTANT MAMMALS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF FOSSIL ASSEMBLAGES

Stable isotope analyses of extant mammals in Africa provide an important backdrop to the interpretation of fossil material. Modern analog studies show that stable isotopes are faithful recorders of animal diet and behavior today (e.g., Cerling et al., 2003b; Cerling et al., 2004; Sponheimer et al., 2003; Codron et al., 2006a, 2006b, 2007) and can be used as a template for interpreting isotopic data from the fossil record. In this section, we provide examples of studies done on extant mammals to illustrate the importance of understanding the stable isotope systematics of today’s ecosystems. Cerling et al. (2003b), Sponheimer et al. (2003), Codron et al. (2005), and Codron and Brink (2007) compiled extensive stable isotope data sets on extant African bovids. Similar compilations of stable isotope data have been produced for elephants (Cerling et al., 1999, 2007; Codron et al., 2006a), suids (Harris and Cerling, 2002; Cerling and Viehl, 2004), and hippos (Boisserie et al., 2005; and Cerling et al., 2008). Figure 48.3 shows box-and-whisker plots for a number of the large mammals of East and Central Africa. The most important results from these studies have to do with the use of modern analogues for interpreting paleoenvironments and the relationship of mammals to environmental parameters. Isotope studies of bovids agree very well with the dietary data, which were usually obtained by observation and fecal analyses in the 1960s and 1970s. This confirms the utility of stable isotopes as indicators of dietary behavior. However, there are several important differences between accepted dietary lore and stable isotope studies, and these have important implications for dietary reconstruction. Three large mammals stand out in this regard: elephants, forest hogs, and hippopotamuses. The diet of elephants has given rise to an enormous amount of both anecdotal data and observational data; stable isotope studies complement these

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observational data by quantifying the amount of C4 grass and C3 browse in diets. Extensive surveys from all of Africa (van der Merwe et al., 1988, 1990; Cerling et al., 1999; Cerling et al., unpub. ms.) of ivory and tooth enamel, both of which give strongly long-term average dietary estimates, show that elephants are predominantly browsers with long-term average diets comprising 70%–100% browse. Isotope studies of hair and fecal material (Cerling et al., 2004, 2006; Codron et al. 2006), both of which give short-term diet estimates, show that grass is strongly favored in the wet season and browse is favored in the dry season; this agrees with observational data but gives quantitative estimates of the importance of grass in the diet on a seasonal basis. There has been significantly less observational data on forest hogs and hippos, in part because of the difficulty in observing their detailed behavior; both are reputed to be grazers (e.g., Kingdon, 1979). Stable isotope studies are in direct conflict with these conclusions: Boisserie et al (2005) and Cerling et al., (2008) show that C3 –plants make up an important (ca. 10%–20%) component of the diet in many hippos and that this value can vary seasonally or over long intervals. Likewise, stable isotope studies of forest hogs living in a savanna environment (Queen Elizabeth Park, Uganda; Cerling and Viehl, 2004) document a diet that contains up to 20% grass in the rainy season but otherwise is an essentially pure dicot-derived C3 diet. In many environments, the forest hog has more negative 13C values than most other mammals, emphasizing its reliance on C3 plants for its diet. Part of this may be due to the smaller fractionation factor for suids than for bovids (Passey et al., 2005b) and in part may be due to a canopy effect (Cerling et al., 2004). Some of these aspects are illustrated in figure 48.4, which shows the relationship of grazers, browsers, mixed feeders, and carnivores in a single ecosystem. The average 13C value


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5

Tsavo NP 0

δ13C tooth enamel

–5

–10

–15 –5

0

5

δ18O tooth enamel FIGURE 48.4

␦13C and ␦13OPBD of large mammals from Tsavo National

Park, Kenya.

for hippos from Tsavo National Park is more negative than that for known grazers (oryx, buffalo, waterbuck, zebra), while elephants and rhinos are ⬎2‰ enriched in 13C compared to giraffes, dik-diks, and bushbuck indicating a measureable C4 component to their diet. Of course, there are always caveats. Figure 48.3 illustrates this point: warthogs from lower elevations (below 3-km elevation) have a diet that is nearly exclusively C4 biomass. However, one individual from Nechisar Park in Ethiopia is very depleted in 13C—not only one tooth, but two! We have reanalyzed the samples ab initio, and this specimen clearly had a C3 diet. Thus, 98% of the warthogs from low elevations have a C4 -dominated diet and one specimen (of ⬎50 individuals) has a C3 diet. Is this an individual from high elevations that was translocated? Such a possibility cannot be ruled out but seems very unlikely. If not translocated, then what was the diet of this anomolous individual? Thus, in our interpretation of the modern and fossil records, we have to recognize that such anomalies exist and make our interpretations accordingly. Oxygen isotopes have so far played a minor role in studies of modern African mammals compared to carbon isotopes; however, some studies show promise for developing oxygen isotopes to understand physiology such as obligate drinkers (e.g., Boisserie et al., 2005). However, different animals have different water strategies, and it is likely that oxygen isotopes will be used to compare animals using water resources in different ways. By example, figure 48.4 shows the ␦13C and ␦18O of mammals from Tsavo National Park, Kenya. The maximum ␦18O separation is between hippopotamus and giraffes, which differ by 8‰. Tsavo is semiarid bushland; in more mesic environments the ␦18O separation collapses to smaller values, suggesting a possible application to paleoaridity (Levin et al., 2006).

(10 Ma), and Namurungule (between 9.5 and 9 Ma). Here we briefly summarize those results and discuss the main dietary changes in some of the mammalian lineages through this time interval. Globally, the world changed in the late Miocene from a “C3 world,” where C4 plants were not abundant enough to make an unequivocal contribution to mammalian diets, to a “C4 world,” where some mammals had diets comprised of ⬎90% C4 biomass. Recognition of an “unequivocal” contribution of C4 biomass to a diet must be considered in the light of the known and estimated change in ␦13C of the atmosphere (figure 48.2) and the known shift of C3 plants to more positive values in water-stressed conditions. In addition, there is an uncertainty in the isotope enrichment between diet and enamel, although lab and field studies indicate that e* is 14‰ for bovids and 12‰ for suids; the total range is somewhat greater than this with rodents having enrichment values of 11‰ (Passey et al., 2005b; Podlesak et al., 2008). The first unequivocal indication of significant C4 biomass in the diets is documented by equids (Cerling et al., 1997). Prior to ca. 9 Ma, there was little or no C4 component in the diet, whereas by 6 Ma, equids from East Africa, Pakistan, and North America had diets dominated by C4 plants. On the basis of large African mammals with ␦13C values between ⫺8‰ and ⫺10‰ and a single individual with a ␦13C value of ⫺7.5‰, Morgan et al. (1994) argued that the radiation of C4 plants occurred in the middle Miocene. Their results are consistent with C4 plants being present in the mid-Miocene, but not in sufficient abundance to make up a substantial fraction of the diet of any mammalian group. Figure 48.5 shows that that there was an important expansion of C4 biomass in East Africa between the time of deposition of the Nakali and Namurungule formations. All mammal groups in the Nakali Formation, including equids, have ␦13C values that are consistent with an end-member C3 diet. Kingston (data in Morgan et al., 1994) has also documented a C3 diet for equids from Ngerngerwa in the Baringo Basin. Thus, it appears that when equids fi rst appear in the East African fossil record they had a C3 diet.

2 0 –2

␦13C

–4 –6 –8 –10 –12

Equid

DIETARY HISTORIES OF MAMMALIAN LINEAGES FROM STABLE ISOTOPES

The Turkana Basin and the Suguta Basin to its south have a very long record of mammalian fossils, extending back to the mid-Miocene. The record is especially well represented from ca. 7 Ma to the present in the main Turkana Basin, but important older deposits occur in the Suguta Basin at Nakali

Italicized number is the number of specimens.

Hippo Proboscidean

FIGURE 48.5 Box-and-whisker plots for late Miocene sites in the Turkana and Suguta Basins. Medians and quartiles are shown for the Nakali and Namurungule Formations and for the Upper and Lower Nawata Formations for equids, hippopotamids, and elephantids.



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By Namurungule times, the diet of equids had a very strong C4 component: 26 equids had an average 13C value of 2.3 1.7‰, with a range from 0.5‰ to 5.5‰ (figure 48.5). For comparison, extant zebra in East Africa have an average 13C value of 0.1 1.4‰, with a range from 2.1‰ to 6.6‰. In light of the 13C shift of the atmosphere due to human activities (1.5‰ since 1750) and that observed in the late Miocene (figure 48.2), the Namurungule equids had attained a diet that was clearly dominated by C4 biomass. Namurungule is now considered to be between 9.5 and 9.0 Ma (Saneyoshi et al., 2006) and may represent the oldest African assemblage to have a C4 -dominated diet. Chorora, in Ethiopia, is also a candidate for one of the earliest indications of a significant C4 component in the diet of African equids (Bernor et al., 2004). The emergent C4 biomass was exploited sequentially by different mammalian groups. Figure 48.5 shows that equids began to change to a C4 diet earlier than elephantids; hippopotamids show a steady increase in the fraction of C4 biomass beginning in the Namurungule Formation but do not attain the high level (90%) of C4 biomass in their diet even by late Nawata time. Thus, these three lineages show different responses to the possibility of C4 grasses in their respective diets: equids change rapidly from a C3 to a C4 diet; elephantids have a delayed response but attain a high level of C4 biomass in their diet by Lower Nawata time; hippopotamids appear to have “discovered” C4 grasses before the elephantids, but take a longer time for C4 grasses to reach a maximum contribution to their diet. Even longer-term trends in diets are summarized in figure 48.6, shows some striking features of diet histories of equids, suids, elephantids, and hippopotamids in East Africa. We summarize some of the salient features but note that with new data, these stories may change. Equids are the first large mammals to make the diet change from C3 to C4 biomass; this is in keeping with their hypsodont teeth. Elephantids make the transition to a C4 diet after equids; this is a fruitful area of research: what anatomical changes are associated with such a diet change, and how rapid was it? Most striking, however, is that the modern elephant diet has C4 grass only seasonally (Cerling et. al., 2004, 2006); grazing elephants, which were common for millions of years, only recently vanished from the African landscape. This has profound implications

5

13C

0 –5 –10

13C

0 –5 –10 –15 20

15

10

5

0

15

10

5

0

FIGURE 48.6 Long-term diet histories of equids, suids, probosideans, and hippopotamids in the Turkana Basin and related deposits. Data from Fort Ternan and Maboko are also included.

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for the maintenance of savannas during the late Cenozoic: elephants must have played a very different role when they were predominantly grazers than they do today as browsers. Deinotheres, a more conservative proboscidean, consume C3 biomass throughout their history. Suids make a gradual change to a C4 diet, as noted by Harris and Cerling (2002), with teeth becoming more hypsodont as the fraction of C4 biomass in the diet increases. Hippos have a wide range in diet; they show a tendency toward a C4 component in their diet once C4 plants become available (as indicated by equid diets) but have a mixed diet throughout their history (Harris et al., 2008). Sivatheres adopt a C4 diet in the Siwaliks toward the end of the Miocene but in Africa remain browsers until the late Pliocene (Cerling et al., 2005). These chronologies show that different mammalian groups responded at different times and in different ways to the new food source. Details about changes in seasonality associated with these changes remains to be studied. For example, elephants today are ca 75% “browsers” on an annual basis, where they have short intense periods of grazing during and following the rainy season. In the past they were ca 75% “grazers”—did they have a relatively constant diet throughout the year, or did they have intense periods of browsing, as the modern elephants do with respect to grazing? Likewise, in the tropics today, C4 photosynthesis makes up 50% or more of the total primary productivity (NPP). How different were previous ecosystems where productivity was likely dominated by C3 NPP: soils, erosion, and fire regimes all would be very different than today. We anticipate that future studies of changing diets with time will turn up more surprises and will lead to new understandings of mammalian behavior and competition. LATE MIOCENE AND E ARLY PLIOCENE FAUNAL TURNOVER AT LOTHAGAM

In this section we look at the evidence for marked faunal turnover from Lothagam, a richly fossiliferous late Miocene– early Pliocene site in the Turkana Basin, northern Kenya (Patterson et al., 1970; Leakey and Harris, 2003a). The Lothagam sequence provides evidence of major changes in East African landscapes and is one of the first in Africa where C4 biomass contributes a significant dietary component for many large herbivorous mammals. Major faunal changes took place during the time interval represented by the Nawata Formation (~7.5–~5.0 Ma). This coincidentally corresponds to the time that the hominin and ape lineages diverged. The Lothagam mammalian fossil record, comprising over 2,000 specimens, derives largely from three major stratigraphic units: the Nawata Formation and the Apak (~5–4.2 Ma), and Kaiyumung (~3.5 Ma) members of the Nachukui Formation (Feibel, 2003; McDougal and Feibel, 2003). The Lower Nawata is richly fossiliferous, but most of the fossils are from horizons just below or above the Lower Markers dated at ~7.44 Ma. Thus, the Lower Nawata fauna is slightly younger than that from the Namurungule Formation in the Suguta Valley (Nakaya et al., 1984, 1987; Itaya and Sawada, 1987) where the first evidence for C4 diets has been documented. The Lothagam succession documents many last appearances of lineages common earlier in the Miocene, together with the first appearances of lineages that dominate the later Plio-Pleistocene and the modern biota. Eleven Lower Nawata species do not persist into the Upper Nawata, and 10 new species are first recorded in the Upper Nawata. Excluding


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microfauna, 27 mammalian species make their last appearance in the Upper Nawata, and 13 new species appear in the Apak Member. The geological marker units do not necessarily coincide with times of faunal change. For example, primitive taxa typical of the Nawata Formation such as Stegotetrabelodon orbus, Brachypotherium lewisi, Palaeotragus germaini, and Nyanzachoerus syrticus persist into the Apak Member but are extremely rare. And species such as Nyanzachoerus cf. Ny. australis, which is the dominant suid in the Apak Member, are rare in the Upper Nawata. A possible hiatus in sedimentation just above the Purple Marker may exaggerate these differences in occurrences and could in turn be due to climate change affecting precipitation (Leakey and Harris, 2003b). The equids were the first mammalian herbivores to consistently exploit C4 vegetation. The Lothagam Equidae include Hippotherium cf. H. primigenium, the last representative of the first wave of three-toed hipparionines to invade Africa and known only from the Lower Nawata, and Eurygnathohippus species that represent a second migratory phase (Bernor and Harris, 2003). Only the earliest Lothagam equids had some C3 component in their diet. Eurygnathohippus species from the Upper Nawata and later horizons were all C4 grazers. The proboscideans were the second mammalian group to switch to a predominantly C4 diet. Proboscideans were diverse in Lothagam times (Tassy, 2003), although today they are represented in Africa only by Loxodonta africana. Deinotheres, which remained C3 browsers throughout their history, are represented by Deinotherium bosazi, which is present but rare throughout the Lothagam sequence (Harris, 2003a). Like deinotheres, the gomphotheres were also uncommon, but Anancus kenyensis is a rare component of the Nawata and Apak assemblages, and a trilophodont gomphothere is known from the Upper Nawata. The transition from a C3 to a C4 diet in gomphotheres appears to have been initiated during the time of the (earlier) Namurungule Formation and was completed by, or during, the Nawata Formation. Feeding adaptations in the Elephantidae include specialized modifications of their masticatory apparatus, dental eruption patterns, and dental morphology, the molars increasing in crown height and plate number and decreasing in enamel thickness through time. These adaptations increased the efficiency of processing a graminivorous diet, especially during dry intervals when food resources were short. In the Lower Nawata, the primitive Stegotetrabelodon orbus (with tusks in both upper and lower jaws) is the dominant elephantid and co-occurs with the rare Primelephas gomphotheroides. Only one specimen of S. orbus was recovered from the Upper Nawata and two in the Apak Member. The modern genus Elephas first appears in the Upper Nawata, and by the Apak Member, both Elephas and Loxodonta have largely replaced Stegotetrabelodon (Tassy, 2003). Isotopic analyses show that although the elephantids in the Lower Nawata were largely feeding on C4 vegetation three specimens, one identifiable as Stegotetrabelodon, had a significant C3 component. Later in the sequence, like the gomphotheres, elephantids fed almost exclusively on C4 vegetation (Cerling et al., 2003a). African suid assemblages underwent a major transformation at the end of the Miocene (Harris and Leakey, 2003b; Harris and Liu, 2007). At this time, immigrant representatives of the Eurasian Tetraconodontinae replaced the genera common earlier in the Miocene. Nyanzachoerus syrticus and Ny. devauxi, the two dominant species in the Nawata Formation are early examples of these immigrants. In the Apak Member, the early nyanzachoeres are largely replaced

by the more progressive Ny. cf. Ny. australis (only two specimens of Ny. syrticus were recovered from the Apak Member). Later in the middle Pliocene, a second wave of immigration from Eurasia gave rise to the three lineages of extant suids (Harris and Leakey, 2003b). The isotopic data shows that suids were slower than equids and proboscideans to exploit C4 vegetation. The Nawata Formation suids had diets dominated by C3 grasses although with some C4 component, and Ny. syrticus shows more positive 13C values in the Upper than the Lower Nawata. Suids with an undoubted C4 diet do not appear until the Apak Member. At Lothagam the Nyanzachoerus third molars increased in size, hypsodonty, and complexity as more C4 biomass was incorporated in their diet (Harris and Cerling, 2002; Cerling et al., 2005). The Hippopotamidae also underwent marked faunal change at Lothagam, with the more primitive Miocene forms being replaced by hippos with closer affi nities to the modern species and more developed aquatic adaptations (Weston, 2003). Isotopic evidence shows hippos to have been opportunistic mixed feeders throughout their evolutionary history. Interestingly, the earliest hippo Kenyapotamus had a mixed C 3/C4 diet as early as the Namurungule Formation. In the Nawata Formation, the slender limbed cursorial Archaeopotamus harvardi is the dominant hippo but two less common species, the small Archaeopotamus lothagamensis and an unnamed larger species, co-occur. Both have disappeared by the Apak Member when A. harvardi coexisted with aff. Hippopotamus cf. Hippopotamus protamphibius, the common hippo in the early Pliocene of the Koobi Fora Formation. The isotopic data indicate that A. harvardi and the larger unnamed species had largely C4 diets, and this together with the cranial evidence of slightly raised orbits and a wider mandibular symphysis indicates the onset of transitions to a more aquatic and grazing mode of life. The diet of the narrow-muzzled A. lothagamensis included a significant fraction of C 3 browse. The Rhinocerotidae were common in the Miocene but are generally rare in the Pliocene and Pleistocene and represented today in Africa by the browsing Diceros bicornis and the grazing Ceratotherium simum. In the Nawata Formation, the primitive hornless Brachypotherium lewisi is relatively common and the isotopic analyses of three teeth indicate a C3 diet. B. lewisi persists in the lower horizons of the Apak Member where two specimens represent the last record of this species. The analysis of one of these teeth indicates a mixed diet of C3 and C4 vegetation. The two modern rhino genera, Ceratotherium and Diceros, appear rarely in the Nawata Formation. In the Lower Nawata, all the rhinos had C3 diets, but in the Apak Member, five of the six teeth sampled were grazers, suggesting that early Ceratotherium had switched to a C4 diet by this time (Harris and Leakey, 2003a). The Giraffidae, a predominantly browsing family that was common in the Miocene, is sparsely represented at Lothagam (Harris, 2003b). In the Nawata Formation two species of Palaeotragus occur, and a molar of P. germaini from the base of the Apak Member is the last known record of this primitive giraffid. The earliest recorded Giraffa, G. stillei, makes its first known appearance at Lothagam in the Apak Member. Giraffids persist as C3 browsers throughout the Lothagam succession. Much later in time, in the early Pleistocene, Sivatherium maurusium evolved shorter metapodials, and isotopic analyses of specimens from upper part of the Koobi Fora Formation demonstrate the transition from C3 browsing to C4 grazing (Harris and Cerling, 1998).



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Bovidae are common at Lothagam, where the transition from a boselaphine dominated assemblage to one in which extant tribes predominate took place, but isotopic analyses of Lothagam bovids are still at an early stage. Initial results suggest broad agreement between other measures of diet such a hypsodonty index, mesowear, and microwear. The Carnivora show many first and last appearances in the Lothagam succession. The most notable of the last appearances are the Amphicyonidae, a family known primarily from the Northern Hemisphere from the Eocene to the late Miocene, and recorded sparsely in Africa. The Lothagam records are as young or possibly even younger than any Northern Hemisphere records. First appearances are more extensive and are mostly the earliest representatives of taxa with a significant subsequent presence in Africa. Several hold phylogenetically basal positions relative to later members of their respective genera (Werdelin, 2003). Isotopic studies of carnivores are difficult to interpret because they largely subsist on omnivorous or carnivorous diets. The turnover in the Carnivora likely mirrors changes in the herbivores on which they prey. A family that shows less obvious faunal turnover in the late Miocene and early Pliocene is the Cercopithecidae. Monkeys are largely folivores or frugivores, so the increase in C4 vegetation would not be expected to have had a significant influence on their diets. It is not until later in the Pliocene that changes in the cercopithecid fauna become more marked with the increasing dominance of Theropithecus and the radiation of the large bodied colobines (Jablonski and Leakey, 2008). One lineage of cercopithecids did switch to grazing, although detailed isotopic studies have yet to indicate exactly when and how this happened. At ~2.5 Ma, the highly successful and widespread, specialized graminivorous Theropithecus oswaldi becomes the most common monkey. It replaced the earlier Theropithecus brumpti, which appears to have been a more closed habitat species. Modern gelada baboons, Theropithecus gelada, are the only remaining modern graminivorous cercopithecids. Some of the most intriguing questions pertaining to the late Miocene-Pliocene faunal turnover relate to the emergence of the hominins. The hominin and ape lineages are believed to have diverged somewhere between 5 and 7 Ma ago. Thus the Lothagam evidence of faunal and habitat change at this time is extremely pertinent. The hominin record at Lothagam is unfortunately very sparse; there are only three specimens from sediments older than 4.2 Ma, and all were just above or just below the Purple Marker and thus close to the Upper Nawata–Apak Member boundary (Leakey and Walker, 2003). The isotopic evidence for a marked radiation of C4 grasses between 7 and 5 million years ago, and the evidence for changing taxa and diets in so many lineages of large herbivorous mammals coincides with the time of this crucial split. It is logical to conjecture that the radiation of C4 grasses would have provided a wealth of new feeding niches for large mammals and also invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, and birds—presenting new and plentiful dietary opportunities for early hominins venturing into these expanding and open C4 grassy habitats. At the time of writing, early hominins dating between approximately 6 and 5 million years are frustratingly rare—being represented by three taxa from sites widely dispersed geographically in Chad, Kenya and Ethiopia. Little is known of the life histories of these species, but their presence shows that by ~6 million years ago the earliest hominins had appeared

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and were occupying habitats that were probably dominated by C4 grasses. In summary, Lothagam, documents major faunal turnover at the end of the Miocene and early Pliocene when isotope analyses indicate significant ecological change. Lothagam records the last appearances of many taxa more abundant in the middle to late Miocene, when the large mammal herbivores were subsisting on C 3 vegetation, and numerous fi rst appearances of the basal components of taxa typical of the Pliocene and Pleistocene, when many new lineages made the transition to specialized C 4 grazing. However, the true reasons for the timing of and the response of different mammalian lineages to the change in C4 biomass remain an active area of research and speculation. The weight of the evidence on the history of atmospheric CO2 levels indicates that CO2 levels have been favorable to C4 plants for at least 25 million years (Tipple and Pagani, 2007), with C4 photosynthesis arising independently several times (Vicenti et al., 2008).

Future Directions for Isotope Studies There are some exciting new developments in stable isotopes with potential to yield more information about mammalian behavior. We briefly mention some of those here and anticipate their future realization. INDIVIDUAL HISTORIES

The study of sequential samples has already yielded detailed histories of individual mammals. So far, this has been applied principally to modern examples, but there is no reason why these methods cannot be applied to the fossil record. Recent developments in the understanding the tooth enamel maturation and the incorporation of stable isotopes into tooth enamel shows how the “input” signal is attenuated during enamel formation (Passey and Cerling, 2002; Passey et al., 2005a). The problem to be addressed before extensive applications can be made to either the modern or the fossil record is to understand the enamel maturation parameters and to develop inverse modeling methods to recover the original input signal. Figure 48.7 shows a short history of a fossil hippo canine on a scale approaching a single year: this individual had a diet ranging from almost pure C4 to pure C3 although the total isotope range in the tooth was less than 4‰.

Estimated

13C

C4

–5 –10 –15

FIGURE 48.7 Diet history reconstructed from a fossil hippo canine (Lothagam). Diet estimate based on inverse modeling method of Passey et al. (2005a); shaded area shows 1-sigma uncertainty for 75 inversion with maturation, measurement, and sampling uncertainties as described in Passey et al. (2005a).


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p p

FIGURE 48.8 Rodent molar showing laser ablation pits used for stable isotope analysis.

–500

1,000

1,500

2,000

Water Modern data from East and Central Africa show increasing isotope enrichment from hippopotamus’ and elephant/rhinoceros tooth enamel as water deficit increases. Modified from Levin et al. (2006).

FIGURE 48.9

MICROMAMMALS : SAMPLING RODENTS BY LASER ABLATION

Although the laser had been hailed as opening new possibilities for paleodiet studies a decade ago (Cerling and Sharp, 1996), it has found little use because microsampling using computer-controlled drilling has made it possible to sample small parts of teeth. Passey and Cerling (2006) improved on the earlier laser ablation methodology so that analyses could be made on teeth with very thin enamel. They showed that it is possible to sample individual rodent molars using laser ablation (figure 47.8) and that it is possible to obtain diet histories of rodent and lagomorph incisors. This opens up an entire new group of mammals, the “micromammals,” which have hitherto been sampled only rarely. None of the previous laser experiments have sampled pure enamel because of geometrical considerations. This hurdle appears to be behind us now. Likewise, this method has been used on hominin teeth because damage to the specimens is less than by conventional methods (Sponheimer et al., 2006). WATER RESOURCE PARTITIONING : IMPLICATIONS FOR PALEOARIDITY

Craig and Gordon (1963) found that evaporated waters are enriched in 18O compared to their source waters). Roden and Ehleringer (1999) applied the Craig-Gordon model to plant systems and showed that 18O is enriched in environments with low humidities. Carbohydrates produced during photosynthesis are enriched in 18O compared to their source water (Roden and Ehleringer, 1999). Animals derive oxygen from four sources: drinking water, water in food, metabolic water, which itself is derived from water in the food (primarily carbohydrates for herbivores), and atmospheric oxygen. Obligate drinkers will be less enriched in 18O than those animals that rely on leaf water for a significant fraction of their body water. Environmental aridity is characterized in terms of water deficit (WD), the difference between potential evapotranspiration (PET), and mean annual precipitation (MAP): WD PET MAP (Levin et al., 2006). Certain extant African mammals can be shown to be sensitive to aridity (e.g., giraffids), while others do not show a significant 18O change with

water deficit (e.g., hippopotamids, elephantids, rhinocerotids). Thus, the difference between taxa that are “evaporation sensitive” and those that are not can be used as an indicator of aridity (figure 48.9). Levin et al. (2006) show that this is promising for species living in East Africa, where meteoric water shows little seasonal variation at low latitudes. We anticipate that stable isotope analysis of fossils may be used as a measure of aridity for paleoenvironments. As of the writing of this chapter, we are beginning those studies.

Summary Stable isotopes are a relatively new tool in the paleontologists’ toolbox. Tooth enamel (but not dentine or bone) locks in a record of diet and environment for millions of years, can be used to evaluate assumptions about diet or environment produced by other methodologies, and can give new insights into the past. We now know, through stable isotopes, that the late Miocene witnessed a new food source for mammals— that of plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway, which are, primarily, the tropical grasses. Stable isotope studies of modern faunas show that the assumptions used for fossil reconstructions of diets is generally correct, but a few important discoveries have been made using stable isotopes. For example, hippopotamus’ diet contains more C3 biomass than is generally believed, and the forest hog is almost a pure browser rather than a grazer. Studies of modern fauna show a few important differences from the fossil record. Elephants, for example, rely on C3 biomass for the bulk of their nutrition, but fossil elephants in East Africa were predominantly C4 grazers for millions of years. Why did Loxodonta, the only remaining modern elephant, switch to browsing in Africa in the late Pleistocene? Studies of dietary lineages show that equids were the earliest large mammal group, apparently, to have a diet that was essentially fully C4 in nature. Other mammalian groups (elephantids, hippopotamids, suids) took longer to take advantage of this new resource on the landscape. Some giraffids



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even tried grazing: African sivatheres began grazing in the late Pliocene, and some became fully C4 grazers. Clearly, the next step is to combine additional stable isotope, micro- and mesowear, and morphometric measurements to understand the details of how different mammalian taxa adapted to a changing diet. The future of stable isotopes for refining our understanding of the Cenozoic history of East African mammalian paleontology is bright. Microsampling affords the opportunity to study rodents, mathematical modeling allows recovery of primary dietary input signals, and comparison of taxa shows promise as a paleoaridity indicator. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Packard Foundation. Work in Kenya was facilitated by the National Museums of Kenya and Kenya Wildlife Service. We are grateful to numerous individuals for assistance in the collection of samples for analysis. We thank Jim Zachos for making his carbon isotope database available. T.E.C. and J.M.H. thank Jonathon Leakey and Dena Crain for hospitality.

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