Wits Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI)

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Pliocene

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    3D techniques and fossil identification: An elephant shrew hemi-mandible from the Malapa site.
    (Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2011-11-07) Val, A.; Carlson, K.J; Kibii, J.M.; Steininger, C.; Churms, C.; Kuhn, B.F.; Berger, L.R.
    Conventional methods for extracting fossilised bones from calcified clastic sediments, using air drills or chemical preparations, can damage specimens to the point of rendering them unidentifiable. As an alternative, we tested an in silico approach that extended preparation and identification possibilities beyond those realisable using physical methods, ultimately proving to be crucial in identifying a fragile fossil. Image data from a matrix-encased hemi-mandible of a micromammal that was collected from the Plio-Pleistocene site of Malapa, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, were acquired using microtomography. From the resultant images, a 3D rendering of the fossil was digitally segmented. Diagnostic morphologies were evaluated on the rendering for comparison with extant comparative specimens, positively identifying the specimen as an elephant shrew (Elephantulus sp.). This specimen is the first positively identified micromammal in the Malapa faunal assemblage. Cutting-edge in silico preparation technology provides a novel tool for identifying fossils without endangering bone integrity, as is commonly risked with physical preparation.
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    Catalogue of fossil sites at the Buxton Limeworks, Taung
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, 1994) McKee, Jeffrey K
    The Buxton Limeworks, in the Taung district at the southeastern margin of the Kalahari Desert, harbours fossil deposits in the calcareous tufas spanning a time period from the late Pliocene to the present. Many such fossil sites, including the type site of Australopithecus africanus, have been exposed by quarrying and noted by various researchers since 1919. As many of the site locations have been lost in the past due to inadequate records and continued quarrying, an effort was made to relocate previously known sites and to discover new sites. There are now 17 preserved and recognized fossil sites in the Buxton Limeworks, the location and nature of which are documented here for future researchers.
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    Dinofelis barlowi (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) cranial material from Bolt's Farm, collected by the University of California African expedition
    (BERNARD PRICE INSTITUTE FOR PALAEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 1991) Cooke, H B S
    The collections made by the University of California African Expedition in 1947-48 at Bolt's Farm, near Sterkfontein, included some fine cranial and postcranial material of Dinofelis barlowi, associated with baboon skeletons and crania suggestive of a natural trap situation. The Dinofelis crania are described and compared with other species of this genus, generally lending support to Hemmer's view of a lineage D. diastemata, D. harlowi, D. piveteaui. The age of the deposit is estimated to be in the vicinity of 2 Ma.
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    New species and a new genus of Hippotragini (Bovidae) from Makapansgat limeworks
    (BERNARD PRICE INSTITUTE FOR PALAEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 1987-06-19) Vrba, Elizabeth S
    A revision of the Hippotragini from the Makapansgat Limeworks is proposed : a new species of Hippotragus is described, Hippotragus cookei, and fossils previously referred to cf. Oryx gazella (Wells and Cooke, 1956) and Hippotragus gigas (Gentry and Gentry, 1978) are assigned to this species. H. gigas is present in the Pleistocene Member 5, but not in the Pliocene Grey Breccia, Member 3, as had been formerly supposed . A new genus and species from Member 3, Wellsiana torticornuta, tentatively referred to ?Hippotragini, is described based on a frontlet that had been assigned to Damaliscus sp. (aff. albifrons) by Wells and Cooke ( 1956). The horncore piece previously referred to Aepyceros cf. melampus (Wells and Cooke, 1956) may belong to the same species as ?Hippotragini sp. nov. (Gentry, 1986) from the Laetolil Beds, Tanzania. The hippotragine fossils here discussed again emphasize that Makapansgat Member 3 contains a Pliocene assemblage that is more ancient than was originally thought, with particular affinities with the Laetolil Beds and also with the Pinjor Formation of the Siwaliks in India and Pakistan.