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EARLY HOMINOIDS MAY HAVE SUFFERED DEATH BY VOLCANO
April 28, 1999Geological re-evaluation of deposits in which fossils of the human precursor Proconsul have long been found suggests that they lived in a semi-arid environment close to a then-active volcano (Kisingiri). Moreover the abundant hominoid fossils may represent "death assemblages" - whole populations wiped out simultaneously by "glowing cloud" eruptions.
The evidence comes from Early Miocene age rocks of the Rusinga Group, on the shores of Lake Victoria, Kenya. The Formation is dominated by fossil soil horizons (palaeosols) interbedded with pyroclastic flows, ash-fall deposits and other volcanic ejecta.
In between eruptions, the landscape became clothed in mostly dry, deciduous, single-canopy woodland with some closed-canopy evergreen forest in restricted, low-lying areas. Analysis of the carbon isotopes within the preserved organic matter suggests that the plants mostly lived in conditions of water stress.
Primates are thought to have evolved and thrived mainly in forest habitats from the Eocene through part of the Miocene. During the Miocene, conditions became more open, culminating in the expansion of grasslands and the development of bipedality among human ancestors.
The fossils of the Rusinga Formation form a crucial link between early arboreal primates and hominids of the more open-country habitat. This work shows that these human ancestors, and their associated flora and fauna, lived in drier conditions than had been supposed, on a landscape that experienced repeated catastrophic volcanic eruption.
Further information:
* Ted Nield, GS Science & Communications Officer - +44 (0)171 434 9944 FAX +44 (0)171 734 4301 Email nieldt@geolsoc.org.uk
* Dr Erick Bestland Email: besteric@isu.edu
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Geological Society of London, The
Primates are thought to have evolved and thrived mainly in forest habitats from the Eocene through part of the Miocene. During the Miocene, conditions became more open, culminating in the expansion of grasslands and the development of bipedality among human ancestors.
The fossils of the Rusinga Formation form a crucial link between early arboreal primates and hominids of the more open-country habitat. This work shows that these human ancestors, and their associated flora and fauna, lived in drier conditions than had been supposed, on a landscape that experienced repeated catastrophic volcanic eruption.
Further information:
* Ted Nield, GS Science & Communications Officer - +44 (0)171 434 9944 FAX +44 (0)171 734 4301 Email nieldt@geolsoc.org.uk
* Dr Erick Bestland Email: besteric@isu.edu
>ENDS>
1
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Geological Society of London, The
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