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Accepted Paper:

Mammal species turnover in Koobi Fora is correlated with hominin diversity and maps onto paleoclimate pulses.  
Susanne Shultz Mark Maslin (University College London) Fiona Jones (University of Oxford)

Paper short abstract:

We evaluate patterns of species turnover (1.4-4.2my) in Bovidae, Suidae and Cercopithicidae in the Koobi Fora region. Species richness in these taxa correlates with East African hominin diversity. Shifts in community composition over the period suggest shifts between open and more closed woodland habitat.

Paper long abstract:

The origin of Homo ~1.8my arguably represents the most fundamental shift in the evolution of modern humans as rapid changes occurred across the entire biology of our hominin ancestors. Body and brain size increased, life history became delayed, early Homo left East Africa to colonise Eurasia and there were minor revolutions in technology. Frustratingly, we have struggled to contextualise whether intrinsic or extrinsic evolutionary pressures drove these changes. We have recently argued that pulsed changes in the climate and geology of the East African Rift valley created novel ecological conditions that coincide with major events in hominin evolution. To further evidence the impact of extrinsic environmental forces, here we evaluate patterns of species turnover (1.4-4.2my) in three mammalian families: Bovidae, Suidae and Cercopithicidae in the Koobi Fora region. Species richness in these taxa correlates with East African hominin diversity. Shifts in community composition over the period suggest shifts between open and more closed woodland habitat. Moreover, both lake records and pedogenic carbonate data suggest highest species richness and turnover events are associated with pulsed shifts in climate. Together these data strongly suggest that major climatic changes in the East African Rift valley fundamentally changed the trajectory of hominin evolution.

Panel P24
Climate change, technology and palaeobiology in early hominin evolution
  Session 1