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El entorno geológico y la edad de Australopithecus sediba del sur de África
Paul H G M Dirks1, Job M Kibii, Brian F Kuhn
1School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia. paul.dirks@jcu.edu.au
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|April 10, 2010
Resumen
Se descubrieron fósiles de Australopithecus sediba en Sudáfrica, que datan de hace entre 1,95 y 1,78 millones de años. Estos primeros antepasados humanos fueron encontrados en sedimentos de cuevas, ofreciendo información sobre los antiguos paleoambientes africanos.
Área de la Ciencia:
- La paleoantropología es la paleoantropología.
- Geología Geología Geología.
- Cronología de la cronología.
Sus antecedentes:
- El yacimiento Malapa en Sudáfrica contiene fósiles de Australopithecus sediba.
- Estos fósiles están asociados con un conjunto de macrofauna de hace 2,36 a 1,50 millones de años.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Para detallar el contexto geológico, geocronológico, geomorfológico y faunístico del sitio Malapa.
- Para establecer la edad precisa y el entorno de deposición de los fósiles de Australopithecus sediba.
Principales métodos:
- Análisis geológico y geomorfológico del sitio Malapa.
- Datamiento radiométrico (U-Pb) de las capas de piedra de flujo.
- Análisis paleomagnético de los sedimentos.
- Análisis del conjunto de la fauna.
Principales resultados:
- Los fósiles de homínidos se encuentran en sedimentos clásicos depositados en el agua por encima de una piedra de flujo fechada en 2.026 +/- 0.021 Ma.
- Los datos paleomagnéticos indican la deposición durante el subcrono de Olduvai (1.951.78 Ma).
- Los dos ejemplares de Australopithecus sediba fueron enterrados juntos en un solo flujo de escombros.
Conclusiones:
- Los homínidos Malapa vivieron hace entre 1,95 y 1,78 millones de años.
- La deposición de fósiles se produjo en un sistema de cuevas, con sedimentos que se lician rápidamente en un entorno freático.
- El sitio proporciona un contexto crucial para comprender la evolución temprana de los homínidos y la paleoecología en África.
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