Revised Biochronology of African Plio-Pleistocene Hominin Sites Using Cercopithecoid Taxa (WGF - Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship)

Summary

This resource is an application for the Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

Despite recent advances in chronometric techniques, the geological ages of many Plio-Pleistocene deposits containing early hominins, particularly those in South Africa, remain in doubt. Consequently, biochronology and relative faunal dating methods remain valuable age-assessment tools, and cercopithecoid monkeys have historically been among the most biochronologically useful faunal elements. The last major studies using cercopithecoids, however, were published 20-25 years ago; thus, a reassessment is long overdue. Over the past two years, this study reexamined all major African Plio-Pleistocene cercopithecoid collections from early hominin sites, revising taxonomy and faunal lists at each site. Radiometric dates for each taxon based on their distribution across sites were then compiled, and absolute dates across East and South Africa were correlated using shared taxa. In addition, the dentition of Theropithecus oswaldi was determined to be significantly correlated with geological age such that larger teeth in this lineage are tightly associated with younger geological sites (r2 ~0.85), thereby providing a highly accurate age-estimation tool not available previously. Results confirm some recent age estimates for important South African early hominin sites, and yet provide important refinements in the case of others. This revised assessment represents an important step forward in clarifying the timing of early hominin evolution.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• WGF - Support for Writing Projects   •
• Wenner-Gren Foundation

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Wenner-Gren Foundation

Notes

Rights & Attribution: This resource is an application from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and has been approved by the grantee solely for pedagogical purposes. Please do not cite, circulate, or duplicate any part of these documents without the express written consent of the author.

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