Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorLee-Thorp, Julia A.*
dc.contributor.authorLuyt, J.*
dc.contributor.authorSponheimer, M.B.*
dc.date.accessioned2009-09-14T07:30:16Z
dc.date.available2009-09-14T07:30:16Z
dc.date.issued2007
dc.identifier.citationLee-Thorp, J.A., Luyt, J. and Sponheimer, M.B. (2007). Tracking changing environments using stable carbon isotopes in fossil tooth enamel: an example from the South African hominin sites. Journal of Human Evolution. Vol. 53, No. 5, pp. 595-601.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10454/3432
dc.descriptionNoen
dc.description.abstractThe environmental contexts of the karstic hominin sites in South Africa have been established largely by means of faunal associations; taken together these data suggest a trend from relatively closed and more mesic to open, drier environments from about 3 to 1.5 Ma. Vrba argued for a major shift within this trend ca. 2.4¿2.6 Ma, an influential proposal that posited links between bovid (and hominin) radiation in Africa and the intensification of Northern Hemisphere Glaciation. Yet faunal approaches often rely on habitat and feeding preferences of modern taxa that may differ from those of their extinct predecessors. Here we explore ways of extending 13C/12C data from fossil mammals beyond denoting ¿presence¿ or ¿absence¿ of C4 grasses using the evolution of open environments in South Africa as a case study. To do so we calculated the relative proportions of C3-, mixed-, and C4-feeding herbivores for all the hominin sites for which we have sufficient data based on 13C/12C analyses of fossil tooth enamel. The results confirm a general trend towards more open environments since 3 Ma, but they also emphasize a marked change to open grassy habitats in the latest Pliocene/early Pleistocene. Mean 13C/12C for large felids also mirrored this trend.en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.subjectEnvironmental changeen
dc.subjectGrasslands, ¿13C;en
dc.subjectFossil enamelen
dc.subjectPlio-Pleistoceneen
dc.subjectSouth Africaen
dc.titleTracking changing environments using stable carbon isotopes in fossil tooth enamel: an example from the South African hominin sites.en
dc.status.refereedYesen
dc.typeArticleen
dc.type.versionNo full-text available in the repositoryen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.11.020


This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record