An artist’s rendition of an early human habitat in Tanzania 1.8 million years ago. Image credit: M. Lopez-Herrera / Enrique Baquedano / Olduvai Paleoanthropology and Paleoecology Project.
SciNews has a story about hominin evolution in eastern Africa. New research on the fossil record of mammals in east Aftrica has shed light on new perspectives on how climate and the environment affected the evolution of mammals, including hominins, over the last 6 million years. The study was published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
They found that the faunas of the Late Miocene and Pliocene (between around 3 and 6 million years ago) were mainly comprised of endemic species.
A change toward biotic homogenization, or faunal uniformity, started about 3 million years ago, driven by the loss of endemic species in functional groups and a rise in the number of grazing species shared between regions.
This important biogeographic transition matches closely the regional expansion of ecosystems dominated by graminoids and pastures of type C4, which grow better in warm and dry climates.
