Wits Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI)

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    Middle Pliocene Bovidae from Hominid-bearing sites in the Woranso-Mille area, Afar region, Ethiopia
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009-12) Geraads, Denis; Melillo, Stephanie; Haile-Selassie, Yohannes
    Hominid-bearing sites of the northwestern part of the Woranso-Mille research area, dated to between 3.7 and 3.8 Mya, yield 10 species of Bovidae. The evolutionary stages of the most common species fit quite well this radiometric age. The most abundant bovid is a new species of Aepyceros, of large size, with upright, lyrated horn-cores; it is clearly distinct from the impalas of younger sites in the same area, and from those sampled at Hadar. A new species of Tragelaphus is also common; its horn-cores exhibit reduced anterior keel and antero-posterior compression foreshadowing the most common form at Hadar. A single partial Ugandax skull, despite some primitiveness, may fit into the variation range of U. coryndonae from Hadar. Other tribes are rare; the virtual absence of reduncines is a major difference from younger sites, but the occurrence of a cephalophine and of Neotragus is worth noting. This assemblage unambiguously indicates an environment with a significant component of arboreal vegetation.
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    A new caprin bovid (Mammalia) from the late Miocene of Morocco
    (2012-12) Geraads, Denis; El Boughabi, Siham; Zouhri, Samir
    We describe here a bovid skull from the Upper Member of the Aït Kandoula Formation near Ouarzazate, Morocco, which can be dated by biostratigraphy to the late Miocene, Turolian-equivalent.We assign it to a new taxon, Skouraia helicoides, gen. nov., sp. nov. It has long horn-cores that are much inclined backwards, strongly spiralled in homonymous direction, very divergent, and have a strong anterolateral keel. The strong cranial flexure, broad basioccipital, and aegodont teeth demand inclusion of this new taxon within the tribe Caprini, a mostly Eurasian group with few African representatives. Skouraia must be an early offshoot of this tribe, but its highly derived cranial features suggest that the Caprini may have experienced, in the poorly known late Miocene of Africa, a broader morphological diversification than in Europe.