Taphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblage associated with the hominins (Australopithecus sediba) from the early pleistocene cave deposits of Malapa, South Africa.

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorVal, A.
dc.contributor.authorDirks, P.H.G.M.
dc.contributor.authorBackwell, L.R.
dc.contributor.authorBerger, L.R.
dc.contributor.authorD'Errico, F.
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-12T09:11:21Z
dc.date.available2016-09-12T09:11:21Z
dc.date.issued2015-06-10
dc.description.abstractHere we present the results of a taphonomic study of the faunal assemblage associated with the hominin fossils (Australopithecus sediba) from the Malapa site. Results include estimation of body part representation, mortality profiles, type of fragmentation, identification of breakage patterns, and microscopic analysis of bone surfaces. The diversity of the faunal spectrum, presence of animals with climbing proclivities, abundance of complete and/or articulated specimens, occurrence of antimeric sets of elements, and lack of carnivore-modified bones, indicate that animals accumulated via a natural death trap leading to an area of the cave system with no access to mammalian scavengers. The co-occurrence of well preserved fossils, carnivore coprolites, deciduous teeth of brown hyaena, and some highly fragmented and poorly preserved remains supports the hypothesis of a mixing of sediments coming from distinct chambers, which collected at the bottom of the cave system through the action of periodic water flow. This combination of taphonomic features explains the remarkable state of preservation of the hominin fossils as well as some of the associated faunal material.en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThis paper was funded by the National Geographic Society, Gauteng Provincial Government, National Research Foundation of South Africa,African Origins Program, Evolutionary Studies Institute (University of the Witwatersrand), Carstens Trust, and the Australian Research Foundation (ARC DP140104282).en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationVal, A. et al. 2015. Taphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblage associated with the hominins (Australopithecus sediba) from the early pleistocene cave deposits of Malapa, South Africa. PloS ONE 10 (6): e0126904.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203
dc.identifier.otherDOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126904
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/21014
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.subjectArticleen_ZA
dc.subjectAustralopithecus sedibaen_ZA
dc.subjectbiodiversityen_ZA
dc.subjectbone structureen_ZA
dc.subjectcarnivoreen_ZA
dc.subjectcaveen_ZA
dc.subjectdeciduous toothen_ZA
dc.subjectfaunaen_ZA
dc.subjectfossil homininen_ZA
dc.subjecthyenaen_ZA
dc.subjectnonhumanen_ZA
dc.subjectPleistoceneen_ZA
dc.subjectpreservationen_ZA
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.subjecttaphonomyen_ZA
dc.titleTaphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblage associated with the hominins (Australopithecus sediba) from the early pleistocene cave deposits of Malapa, South Africa.en_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Taphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblage associated with the hominins (Australopithecus sediba) ....pdf
Size:
5.57 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Research Articles (Lee Berger Collection)
Research Outputs (School of Geosciences)