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High-resolution vegetation and climate change associated with Pliocene Australopithecus afarensis
R Bonnefille1, R Potts, F Chalié
1Centre Européen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Géosciences de l'Environnement, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6635, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, B.P. 80, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 04, France. bonnefille@cerege.fr
Summary
Early human evolution in Africa was influenced by climate change. Fossil evidence shows Australopithecus afarensis adapted to significant environmental shifts around 3.3 million years ago.
Area of Science:
- Paleoclimatology
- Paleoanthropology
- African paleoecology
Background:
- Global climate change during the Plio-Pleistocene epoch impacted African habitats and early human evolution.
- Linking hominin evolutionary responses to climate change requires robust evidence of climate-environment connections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the environmental conditions experienced by Australopithecus afarensis.
- To test how hominin lineages responded to climate variability.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of high-resolution pollen data from Hadar, Ethiopia.
- Reconstruction of past environmental conditions, including temperature and rainfall.
Main Results:
- Australopithecus afarensis demonstrated adaptability to significant environmental variability between 3.4 and 2.9 million years ago.
- A major biome shift, characterized by cooling (up to 5°C) and increased rainfall (200–300 mm/yr), occurred before 3.3 million years ago.
- This environmental shift correlates with a global marine delta(18)O isotopic shift.
Conclusions:
- Hominin species like Australopithecus afarensis could adapt to substantial environmental variability.
- Pollen data provides crucial evidence for understanding the interplay between climate change and hominin evolution in Africa.