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Arid, mosaic environments during the Plio-Pleistocene transition and early hominin dispersals in northern Africa

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  • Iván Ramírez-Pedraza

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV)
    Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology)

  • Carlos Tornero

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB))

  • Hassan Aouraghe

    (Université Mohammed Premier)

  • Florent Rivals

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV)
    Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA))

  • Robert Patalano

    (Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
    Bryant University)

  • Hamid Haddoumi

    (Université Mohammed Premier)

  • Isabel Expósito

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV))

  • Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Instituto de Arqueología (CSIC-Junta de Extremadura))

  • Steffen Mischke

    (University of Iceland)

  • Jan Made

    (Departamento de Paleobiología)

  • Pedro Piñero

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV))

  • Hugues-Alexandre Blain

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV))

  • Patrick Roberts

    (Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
    Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
    University of Philippines, Diliman)

  • Deepak Kumar Jha

    (Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology)

  • Jordi Agustí

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV)
    Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA))

  • Christian Sánchez-Bandera

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV))

  • Abdelkhalek Lemjidi

    (Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP))

  • Alfonso Benito-Calvo

    (Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH))

  • Elena Moreno-Ribas

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV))

  • Aïcha Oujaa

    (Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP))

  • Hicham Mhamdi

    (Université Mohammed Premier)

  • Mohamed Souhir

    (Université Mohammed Premier)

  • Al Mahdi Aissa

    (Université Mohammed Premier)

  • M. Gema Chacón

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV)
    UMR 7194-Histoire Naturelle de l’Homme Préhistorique (MNHN/CNRS/UPVD))

  • Robert Sala-Ramos

    (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
    Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV))

Abstract

The earliest archaeological evidence from northern Africa dates to ca. 2.44 Ma. Nevertheless, the palaeoenvironmental setting of hominins living in this part of the continent at the Plio-Pleistocene transition remains poorly documented, particularly in comparison to eastern and southern Africa. The Guefaït-4 fossil site in eastern Morocco sheds light on our knowledge of palaeoenvironments in northern Africa. Our study reveals the oldest known presence of C4 plants in the northern part of the continent in a mosaic landscape that includes open grasslands, forested areas, wetlands, and seasonal aridity. This diverse landscape and resource availability likely facilitated the occupation of the region by mammals, including potentially hominins. Our regional-scale study provides a complementary perspective to global-scale studies and highlights the importance of considering the diversity of microhabitats within a given region when studying species-dispersal dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Iván Ramírez-Pedraza & Carlos Tornero & Hassan Aouraghe & Florent Rivals & Robert Patalano & Hamid Haddoumi & Isabel Expósito & Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo & Steffen Mischke & Jan Made & Pedro Piñero & , 2024. "Arid, mosaic environments during the Plio-Pleistocene transition and early hominin dispersals in northern Africa," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-52672-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-52672-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A. Benito-Calvo & H. Haddoumi & H. Aouraghe & A. Oujaa & M.G. Chacón & R. Sala-Ramos, 2020. "Geomorphological analysis using small unmanned aerial vehicles and submeter GNSS (Gara Soultana butte, High Plateaus Basin, Eastern Morocco)," Journal of Maps, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 459-467, December.
    2. Julio Mercader & Pam Akuku & Nicole Boivin & Revocatus Bugumba & Pastory Bushozi & Alfredo Camacho & Tristan Carter & Siobhán Clarke & Arturo Cueva-Temprana & Paul Durkin & Julien Favreau & Kelvin Fel, 2021. "Earliest Olduvai hominins exploited unstable environments ~ 2 million years ago," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
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